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Post by GtrPlyr on Apr 29, 2012 9:23:25 GMT -5
Based on that clip it appears he's in standard tuning but a half step down. Here's my quick stab at the chords:
(chords below start at the 6th string from left to right)
D xx023x
D/C# x4x23x
G/B x2003x
Asus4 x0223x
G 320033
C x32010
A x0222x
Later on in the song he goes from the G chord to the A pattern below:
------------------ -2---2---2---2- -2---2---2---2- -2---4---5---4- -0---0---0---0- ------------------ followed by a C chord followed by an A.
Hope this helps out.
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Post by GtrPlyr on Apr 19, 2012 14:06:01 GMT -5
My first thought after watching the lecture/interview was like Jer's, that Fallon is trying to distance himself from the Mats comparisons. His band has been compared to them from the start, I have a feeling he's probably tired of it and is probably being disingenuous with his comments. Later on in the interview he says how a Paul Westerberg can write a song that changes peoples lives so you know the guy reveres him despite his downplaying of their influence.
As for his whole he wants to sell out stadiums and be on the cover of Time magazine and the whole if you don't sell many records you ain't worth much. That's all unimportant stuff that no true artist would believe or strive for. I definitely lost some respect for the guy with those comments. He seems fairly immature so you can't take any of it seriously mind you.
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Post by GtrPlyr on Apr 16, 2012 21:37:47 GMT -5
For electric I tend to gravitate towards the 10-46 gauge strings, though depending on the guitar I've gone as heavy as 11-52. Lately I've been going with D'Addario, but I still have packs of Gibson and Dean Markley laying around that I should use. For acoustic I go with 12-53 range, usually Martin or D'Addario.
For picks I like Heavy, usually over 1 mm.
That's too bad about Petty's guitars. I've always coveted his Rickenbacker collection.
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Post by GtrPlyr on Apr 16, 2012 9:31:28 GMT -5
Continuing with the tone theme.
What type of picks you folks using (thin, heavy, nylon, metal... ?) and what strings and gauges you favor?
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Post by GtrPlyr on Apr 12, 2012 9:18:04 GMT -5
Great examples anarkissed. I used to love playing "Rocking in the Free World" with a drummer friend of mine whenever we'd jam back in the day. The sound of Neil's guitar on that one just rages. I couldn't get that sound at the time, but I sure tried my best. Speaking of tone, here are some of my favorite specific examples: 1) Danny Cedrone - “Rock Around The Clock” - It’s such a pristine, big band swing sound, but really does rock… Definitely, and it has one of the greatest guitar solos ever. I finally got around to learning it a few weeks back. That solo is blazing, that guy was one of the first guitar shredders. 9) Eddie Van Halen - “The Cradle Will Rock” - Not so much the solos, but that crunch rhythm…Doesn’t seem real complicated; some overdrive with a really wide phase, I guess…Whatever, when he hits that intro, it always makes me feel like I’m 15 years old, the Preludin is starting to kick in, I’ve just smoked a joint, and I’m never going to die… The first half of that guitar solo is one of my all-time fave of EVH's. The somewhat jazzy chords underneath and the phrasing, perfect. And yeah, the rhythm sound is classic VH. Eddie sure loved the old flanger back in those days.
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Post by GtrPlyr on Apr 11, 2012 22:03:45 GMT -5
When I was younger I found it hard to get a tone I was happy with. I was using solid state amps and guitars that didn't suit me (things I didn't realize until later.) Eventually I got a tube amp and a Stratocaster and suddenly I was finding tones I actually liked. My go to guitars these days are my ES-335 and the Telecaster. Those coupled with my Fender or Vox give me tones I'm happy with. I also have an older Pod Amp modeling unit that sounds pretty good, use that for recording occasionally.
I also love the deep tones of my baritone guitar (tuned B E A D F# B low to high.) Something about that sound that inpsires me to play.
As for guitar players who have great tone, I've always thought Brian May had a great and distinctive sound. Mark Knopfler and George Harrison too for that matter. Albert King is another one... I dig freerider's picks too, all players with amazing tone.
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Post by GtrPlyr on Apr 9, 2012 14:46:30 GMT -5
Do you play the pedal steel much? I was tempted to pick up a used one awhile back and I was interested in seeing how I would do with a banjo, since I feel comfortable finger picking. Although, I do have to say, for some reason, I can't do forward rolls as well as doing backward finger roll, I think, ie, thumb, index and middle as opposed to thumb, middle and index....it always felt more "natural" to do thumb, middle, index. Are those Rockit studio monitors you have there? I don't play the pedal steel as much as I'd like, but I do enjoy the hell out of that instrument. I plan on using it on some upcoming songs I'm about to record. It adds such a nice color to tracks. Yeah, the backward finger roll feels more natural to me too. Thankfully a lot of banjo licks are p, m, i. I've always done some fingerpicking so the banjo came fairly natural. Getting used to the metal fingerpicks took a few days, but once I did the speed they allow is quite something. Nevertheless I still mainly play with just my fingers. Same thing goes with the pedal steel. The studio monitors aren't Rockits, but good eye as they're indeed KRK's (VXT8's.) My question for all of you is what made you interested in playing? I really got into records and listening to the radio when I was 9 or so. I found some cassettes my parents made of me singing with a friend when we were 5 or 6 so I guess music has always drawn me in from an early age. The guitar was the instrument that really captured my imagination at a young age. My Dad had that old acoustic lying around the house I mentioned earlier, so I started sneaking in his room when he wasn't around just making sounds and playing one string melodies. Making these sounds and music was totally enthralling. I was hooked. The appeal of playing instruments and trying to make music has not diminished for me at all over the years. Like freerider I got into it for the fun of expressing myself and having a creative outlet. It definitely wasn't something I got into to meet girls, it wasn't even something I connected with playing music at the time. Later on when I was in bands I could see the power being in a band could have on women, but it was never a motivation for me. Thanks for posting the Zevon guitar pics freerider. I remember you showed me those a few years back, and the coolness of it hasn't diminished one bit. Zevon is one of my all-time fave artists so you know how cool I think the whole thing is. Have you ever seen any pictures of Zevon playing your guitar?
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Post by GtrPlyr on Apr 8, 2012 20:02:59 GMT -5
Fun thread this has turned out to be. Here's all the gear and instruments I've accumulated over the past 25+ years. Yes, I am a bit of an instrument junkie. Martin HD-28V, Gibson ES-335, Fender Stratocaster, Eastwood Sidejack Baritone, Goldtone OB-250 Banjo, Carter Pedal Steel, Norman 12-String, Charvel Acoustic, Fender Precision Lyte, Sitar, Korg M1, Musical Saw, Fender Mandolin, Kala Uke, Pearl drums Epiphone Swingster & '99 Fender Twin Amp . American Vintage '52 Telecaster Reissue . Trinity College Bouzouki Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster & Vox AC15C1 .. '62 Precision Reissue & Bassman TV 15 . Danelectro 12-StringPulled out all my effects pedals a few weeks back. Some of these date back to the '80s. 90% of the time I usually just go with the Tube Screamer and an amp. Depending on the situation I sometimes go with the Tube Screamer, Peppermint Fuzz, Deja Vibe, Pulsar, Phase 100 and the Boss Analog Delay or some variation of these pedals. I pretty much never use the Octave, Roto-Vibe, Digital Delay or Wah pedals. I hope you guys post some pics, I love seeing what others are using.
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Post by GtrPlyr on Apr 7, 2012 22:52:44 GMT -5
I don't know how anyone else produces them; anyone care to share how they do it? That's a good question. I've never analyzed how I did it until now. I choke up on the pick so it's barely visible between my index finger and thumb, then pinch the string between my index finger and pick. Speaking of pinch harmonics, I'm prety sure Roy Buchanan was the first guy credited with using them. And chalk up another Dolly fan here, particularly the early solo records and the stuff with Porter. I love some of Dolly's early girl-group singles too: Speaking of country queens, I just started reading "Tammy Wynette: Tragic Country Queen" by the guy that wrote the Neil Young bio "Shakey." Pretty interesting read so far. I pretty much learned in a vacuum. Apart from a few other people showing me a few things( I was forced to take lessons for a few months after getting my electric. But quit shortly afterward and just learned by ear and through TABs from Guitar Player, Guitar World, Guitar for the Practicing Musician, etc. I did practice scales when I was younger but haven't done much of that over the past 20 years or so. I guess I've played for so long that most of what I come up with is instinctual. My fingers know where they need to go to get the sound I'm hearing, though half the time I don't necessarily know what scale or chord I'm using. - Todd Rundgren: Kinda like Dolly, he became known for something else - namely, songwriting and producing - so that his guitar playing tended to be overlooked...I like that he kinda took that Hendrix/Yardbirds sound, channeled it through his pop sensibilities, and put his own kooky twist to it. Todd is great. The Nazz stuff, his solo stuff, the producing, the guy has done it all. Something/Anything? is one of the best records ever too for that matter. I have a friend who is good friends with Todd, played me some rare demos a few months back, real good stuff.
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Post by GtrPlyr on Apr 7, 2012 16:40:20 GMT -5
Clarence"Gatemouth" Brown but he wasn't as proficent as Buchanan. Clarence is another fave of mine. His "Down South in the Bayou County" and "Bogalusa Boogie Man" are two of my favorite records. Such diversity on those records, from blues and country to rock 'n' roll and soul. He does it all so well. cool that you dig some jazz too. do you still tune into your local jazz station, if you still have one? I don't seek it out, but I do catch Jazz on the radio every so often as the dial in the car is often tuned to CBC. They play all kinds of genres: Indie, blues, jazz, soul, country, classical. What you hear depends on the time and day you tune in. Mostly my jazz listening is on vinyl too. A good jazz record on vinyl is hard to beat. As for Herbie, I'm not big on his fusion stuff, more into his melodic '60s bop stuff. Same goes for Miles and the other jazz cats, I tend to like the more melodic stuff. A few months back I pulled out some old jazz chord sheets I have had for ages. I love playing old standards, the chord voicings are so cool on a lot of those songs. Really great exercises for my freting fingers too.
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Post by GtrPlyr on Apr 7, 2012 13:33:16 GMT -5
Good to see Glam Rock get a mention. I'm a big fan of that stuff, particularly T. Rex, Mott, Slade, Suzi Quatro, New York Dolls and Sweet.
You're not the only one that was into Jazz freerider. Heck I still listen to it. Particular faves are Davis, Hancock, Kirk, Getz, Coltrane, Morgan, Rollins, Coleman, Pass... A big yes to Bert Jansch, love his music. There sure were some great acoustic players coming out of England around that time: John Martyn, Davey Graham, Nick Drake, Richard Thompson, and some great ones out of the U.S. too like John Fahey and Leo Kottke. I dig all those guys, such masters.
Speaking of underappreciated guitarists:
The emotion that Roy put in his playing was something. One of the greats.
And this guy is always fun to watch, such an amazing player:
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Post by GtrPlyr on Apr 7, 2012 8:35:25 GMT -5
There was a nice back page article by Patterson in Harp Magazine quite a few years back about his love of the Mats Wiser. Here, found it:
From Harp Magazine:
How the Replacements Changed My Life by the Drive By-Truckers' Patterson Hood
In the Fall of 1985, I was writing record reviews for the school paper at the University of North Alabama in my hometown of Florence. Not exactly a banner time for rock, and an even crappier time for my life.
Four years of bad grades and about seven different majors has rendered my dreams of an alternative lifestyle--i.e., one that involved a steady income and something people used to refer to as security--total pipe dream. It was time to grow up and face the music. Time to deal with the consequences. First, though, I had to review this album called Tim by some band called the Replacements.
Tim came roaring out of my speakers like an out-of-tune train wreck. The singer could barely carry a tune, and his voice sounded ragged out. The songs sounded more like '70s arena rock than punk rock, but the band sounded as though it couldn't even tune, much less play. Then there were the lyrics: I couldn't get them out of my head (the ones I could decipher, that is).
When it was over, I played it again. And again. By the time I actually wrote the review, I had already declared it "Album of the Year." Within six months I had dropped out of school, and with a rallying cry of "if these fuckers can make a great album, why can't I?" I was on my way to undeniable impending rock-'n'-roll stardom. ("It beats picking cotton and waiting to be forgotten.")
Nothing ever goes as planned, but no record has ever, before or since, captured the essence of my feelings as completely as Tim did. The sound. The playing. Sometimes completely boneheaded, sometimes beautiful and poetic, and sometimes all at the same time. These songs summed up all the loose ends of my misguided life, and they kicked my ass into trying to find a way to do something about it. (I grew to love Paul Westerberg's singing, too.)
Only recently, I was given the actual lyrics to "Bastards of Young" and realized that I had interpreted a key line wrong. "Unwillingness to claim us/ You got no wars to name us" is an amazing line, but I had always thought it was: "Willie Nelson claim us/ You got no wars to name us."
Perhaps it's time for me to go back to school.
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Post by GtrPlyr on Apr 6, 2012 12:11:29 GMT -5
Good idea for a thread freerider.
I'll start off with influences. Who influenced your guitar playing? Have you been able to get out of the copy cat mode?
Around 11 or 12 I remember becoming interested in guitar thanks to guys like Ace Frehley, Jimmy Page and Pete Townshend. I didn't have a guitar of my own so I started to mess around on my Dad's horrible El Degas acoustic guitar with strings a half inch from the fretboard. When I was 14 I finally got my first electric guitar and that's when I really started to immerse myself in all things guitar.
Influences/inspirations have changed over the years. The early days it was the usual Hendrix, Page, Clapton, Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, Tony Iommi et al. Then for a spell I was into shredders like Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, Vinnie Moore, Eric Johnson, Steve Vai...
As I got into playing in my own bands and songwriting my influences really started to diversfy. Here's a few of my biggest musical influences, or inspirations if you will:
Joni Mitchell (her chord voicings and use of alternate tunings got me to see the potential of the guitar beyond standard tuning. To this day I still use a lot of alternate tunings in my own songs.)
The Beatles (all of them including George Martin) - Their melodicism, inventive arrangements, production and overall songwriting prowess is something that inspires me everytime I hear them.
Bob Dylan - More for the words and songs rather than his playing.
Prince - For his playing, songwriting and especially his multi-instrumental prowess. He made me want to try being a one-man band in my little home studio.
Neil Young - For his emotional voice, songwriting, playing and uncomprimising artistic vision. An inspiration on many levels.
Curtis Mayfield - His guitar playing and powerful music have been very inspriing over the years.
Sly & The Family Stone - Big influence on me as a musician.
Other big songwriting inspirations for me not already mentioned are: Harry Nilsson, Jagger/Richards, John Prine, Warren Zevon, Loudon Wainwright III, Paul Wesberberg (naturally), Randy Newman, Tom Waits, Van Morrison, Pete Townshend, Ray Davies, David Bowie, Stephin Merritt, Jeff Tweedy, Marvin Gaye, Stax, Motown...
And a few other guitar inspirations to top things off: Roy Buchanan, Lightnin' Hopkins, Eddie Hazel, Tom Verlaine, Richard Lloyd, Albert/Freddie/B.B. King, Richard Thompson, Lindsay Buckingham...
As for sounding like any of those people, I don't know. I've never been good at straight copying anything, I always end up putting my own slant on things. Not sure I have a distinct sound, I'm probably too eclectic stylistically for that to be the case.
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Post by GtrPlyr on Apr 6, 2012 11:23:52 GMT -5
I love Hoot too. To me it's their first great record, and the one that created the template stylistically of what was to become the classic Mats sound: ramshackle rockers, funny throwaways, softer introspective stuff, warped plagurizing of others songs, etc.
To make a comparison to another Minnesota artist, I'd say Hootenanny is to the Mats as Dirty Mind is to Prince.
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Post by GtrPlyr on Apr 6, 2012 10:00:39 GMT -5
I've listened to Hayes a few times over the past couple of years, written some good songs, but I don't draw much of a similarity between him and Westerberg in style or overall sound. As far as new country-ish artists go, I'd probably say Justin Townes Earle is closer to Westerberg in spirit than Hayes.
I like Matthew Sweet's "Girlfriend," good power pop/folk-rock record but definitely doesn't scream for Westerberg/Mats comparisons. Though I can see how your friend would think you'd like it nonetheless freerider.
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Post by GtrPlyr on Apr 4, 2012 10:01:37 GMT -5
Last time Bruce played Detroit he thanked "Ohio" twice before Little Steven subtlety told him he was in Michigan. I've seen that sorta thing happen before, awkward . Let's face it, that's not even an age thing either. I've read so many stories of touring bands where after a few weeks/months on the road they lose all sense of where they actually are. All the hotel, soundcheck, show, and repeat day-in-day-out can make anyone lose touch with their surroundings.
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Post by GtrPlyr on Apr 1, 2012 13:00:12 GMT -5
I do love the P.W. country-ish stuff. I'd definitely go for a country album if he ever did one, though I think he's at his best when he doesn't stick to one genre or sound for a whole record.
I haven't listened to much Ryan Adams over the past 6-7 years--though my girlfriend still buys his stuff so I have in the car every so often--but was a fan of Whiskeytown and some of the early R.A. records. Not sure who'd win in a songwriting showdown, both have written some great songs, but as far as who is the more "unique" and influential talent my vote goes to P.W. easily. Ryan's a very talented guy, but to my ear he's more of a pastiche of his influences whereas Paul has more of an individual voice/sound in my eyes. And has Ryan ever done anything as interesting artistically as "49:00?"
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Post by GtrPlyr on Mar 21, 2012 10:15:08 GMT -5
True, good point. But even if he didn't feel any strong connection to the material, it doesn't mean it's bad or that someone won't like it. He himself was kind of dumbfounded in knowing that Lennon thought "nowhere man" was a throwaway tune. So is the artist necessarily a proper judge for what should get released? Like you had mentioned previously, Paul probably does need another person to review the work---and maybe Darren is that guy but I don't know if Darren actually makes the final decisions about what songs are to be released. Who really knows how a group will respond to which songs? I remember reading an interview with Neil Young and he said that all hit songs should be accidents. You shouldn't try and "make" a hit, that it has to happen naturally, where the skies open up and a shaft of sunlight streams through the clouds and hits you. Agreed freerider, I don't necessarily believe the material he's discarding is bad just because he seemingly doesn't think much of it. A lot of great songs are disliked by the artists that created them. I suppose they're too close to the material to be able to assess it objectively, and maybe their own standards are insanely high on top of that. I've read quite a few interviews were an artist says they were gonna ditch a song, and a producer, band memember, or friend comes in and says, "what, are you crazy, this is fantastic." That Neil Young quote is a good truism for songwriting in general. Ideally all music should be created naturally, without an eye on the charts or any of that other nonesense. Lord knows the radio would be better if that truly was the case
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Post by GtrPlyr on Mar 20, 2012 20:00:17 GMT -5
Yeah, that gets me wound up as well, the idea of him just erasing over material. The stories of Paul recording over existing tracks sorta reinforces my belief that he isn't all that strongly connected to a lot of the material he comes up with. You hear songwriters refer to their songs as their children and there goes Paul throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I hope by now, assuming he's still recording in the digital domain, that he's made the switch from ADAT to harddrives. This way there will be no need to delete anything. You never know, maybe Paul's got new gear and the learning curve is the reason why we haven't heard anything in a while.
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Post by GtrPlyr on Mar 14, 2012 17:16:17 GMT -5
I've been enjoying this thread. Guess it's time to enter the fray. Does anyone think they're spoiled by listening to Paul's music? Do you think he's raised the bar as a songwriter? Yes, I find myself with that problem. Whether I want to or not, I do compare Paul's music to new music and usually find the new stuff too bland and generic. I can definitely relate to this sentiment. Though I still believe there are a handful of really great songwriters out there doing their thing in an umcomprimsing way, some arguably writing better songs than Paul is these days. As for Paul raising the songwriting bar, I'm not sure he has, but he definitely belongs to a small and elite group of peers. He's definitely a songwriter with a knack for clever and inspired couplets, melodies and chords, but more than songwriting, I feel his strongest forte is his ability to convey raw emotion and passion through his playing and singing. That to me is what he brings to the table that so few others do. No doubt he's written some classic songs, but he's also written a lot of tossed-off songs that are fairly mundane musically and lyrically. The Westerberg delivery is what saves a lot of these average songs I feel. In someone elses hands a lot of those songs would be quite forgettable. I think Paul's songwriting batting average would probably improve if he spent a bit more time on his craft. There's nothing like a great song that happens in 15 minutes, but the reality is the best stuff often comes from refining what you have. It's like writers say: writing is all about rewriting. To me that applies to songwriting too. I think good songwriting often happens through a series of stages: 1) You capture a raw unedited stream of ideas and feelings to tape or paper, then 2) You refine the raw clay of these ideas and shape them into something more interesting and unique. Of course the Initial creative spark is where the emotion and heart of the song often resides, but without refinement you may not being doing justice to these ideas and feelings, and you end up with something uninspired and cliched sounding. My way of thinking is, if you have a good song that means something to you, it will inspire you to make it better, and you'll still be able to do it justice on take 3, 4, 10, or whatever. Now the so-so songs on the other hand are the ones that need to be captured quickly as they don't have the lasting power to fuel the creative spirit long-term. If an artist has a song they don't want to work on for more than one or two takes, well maybe the song isn't all that good or meaningful to them in the first place. I get the impression that Paul has a hard time focusing on his songs for any real length of time these days so everything ends up sounding tossed off and undercooked. Now I love the whole did-this-on-the-fly recording/songwriting style, but I also realize its limitations. As someone who dabbles in songwriting, I find that this method is great for getting the meat of a song down. But for me, I often come up with better or improved ways of saying or playing something over a period of time. I may start a song on guitar and realize later that the song actually needs a piano, or banjo, or pedal steel or whatever to take it to an even better place. It's these sort of experiments with a song that can vastly improve them. But if you never take the time to work on lyrics, arrangements and production everything can end up same-y same-y and generic. Some artists thrive and have the discipline and ear to do good work by themselves and know what to keep and what to shelve. But those people are in the vast minority. And even then, almost all benefit from an outside source at some point along the creative process. I think Paul's ADHD or whatever you want to call it definitely puts him in the category that would probably benefit from some outside help on ocassion, whether that be a band, producer or both. You know, someone to push, challenge and inspire. Even if it's just having someone come in after the initial tracking to overdub some other instruments or re-record a drum part or whatever. Of course, if the muse isn't there no amount of help will matter. Hopefully that isn't the case in Paul's case.
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