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Post by FreeRider on Apr 29, 2012 15:11:10 GMT -5
ahh, good find on the full article!
Ok, while most of us can't afford a boutique amp, has anyone used an equalizer pedal at all in their chain of effects to try to modify tone? Does it make any difference trying to tweak it like that? Or are we just stuck with the tone controls with the amp, the tubes (assuming you have them) and our pickups?
I wish I had the time and money to experiment with all those components to find that sound and tone. Eddie Van Halen has said in early interviews about how he'd hand wrap his own pickups and experiment with trying to make his own pickups but he didn't know enough and just had a volume knob and one tone control on his home made guitars.
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 29, 2012 15:04:51 GMT -5
nice work up, GtrPlyr...I probably should've watched the vid. But doesn't it sound on the CD as if he's playing it in open tuning?
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 28, 2012 17:58:06 GMT -5
stryder,
the hard part is that Paul uses a lot of open tunings...but you can probably figure out the basic chords in the tune, but what makes it different is the way it sounds in the open tuning, the other strings and drones that give a little something different. In standard tuning, you're always going to be a little bit off. Add in that he's using a 12 string only enhances the chord voicing he gets.
I haven't figure this one out, though.
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 27, 2012 9:38:17 GMT -5
Interesting...these boutique amps really kind of intrigue me now. I found Jordan's old email address, I will see if he responds or something and to hear what else he was to say about his time working at Matchless.
Thanks for the info on Swart Amps....
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 25, 2012 14:33:58 GMT -5
Wow, thanks for the info....looks like you got a nice deal. Especially if you don't find many listed for sale! NOT cheap at all....I took a look at their website. Even the 15w amps are high priced. I don't think I'll buy another amp over 15w. I'm really using the amps for recording now, no stage performances. What's the saying? Small room, small amp; big room, big amp? Or as Keith Richards said (I think), "All you need is the right guitar through the right amp!" www.matchlessamplifiers.com/index.htmlThey have some sound clips so you can evaluate if you dig their tone and all. Maybe I can reach out to Jordan Zevon and ask him about Mark Sampson and Bad Cat amps, assuming the email addie I have for him is still good. Still don't think I could swing that price range unless it's on layaway for the next several years!
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 25, 2012 9:46:15 GMT -5
Yeah, love my setup and my tone. It took me years to get a tone I was really happy with.... Ideal sound in the studio is whatever is best for the song and interesting. The song has to be the king and every sound and performance should be dependent on what is appropriate. Add in the fact that it's subjective and art and your answer is that there is no one correct answer (imo). Ideal sound live is a bit more restrictive. You want to have great tone, obviously, but you ideally would like some diversity, depending on the style of music you play. We tend to suffer from a bit of an identity crisis between power-pop and alt-country, so I need both a good, overdriven distortion sound and more of a chimey, just-slightly overdriven sound. I also need a good boost for leads. I am able to accomplish that with the Matchless, a boost pedal and a Boss Overdrive pretty well.... Jer, what made you go with Matchless amps? There are no dealers or stores near me that carry them so I can't check them out. But I recounted earlier that Jordan Zevon told me he could get me a Matchless amp at cost after I just won his dad's Steinberger in an auction. I had no more money to spend after that acquisition and couldn't take him up on the offer! But Jordan vouched for them and said he worked there for a short time and knew the guys. In your opinion, what does the Matchless do for you and your sound. What do you like about it?
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 25, 2012 9:37:17 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. Interesting that you mention picks. I had a friend many years ago who encourage me to use these Gibson picks in a shape that are more rounded on the wide end of the pick. I'm not sure what they're called but one person referred to them as banjo picks. So the other day I found a medium to medium+ pick in the standard shape most players use and noticed that the sound was different and works well for some songs but I had a hard time staying with it because my hands are so conditioned to many years using the Gibsons. Anybody else here had similar experiences? I think I had an really old Gibson heavy pick somewhere. Since I'm not that proficient at flat picking, I don't quite notice what the difference/preference is with the more rounded part of the Gibson wide parts. Also, I don't always use the pointy tip of a pick....sometimes, I use the fat, wide part. I dunno why; sometimes it's a just a tactile "feel" thing.
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 25, 2012 9:28:11 GMT -5
That just kills me....Townshend is using a Gretsch! I always thought that semi-hollows were hard to handle because of feedback and all (but come to think of it, doesn't Ted Nugent use semi's?). Excerpt from May/June 1972 Guitar Player Pete Townshend PT: I never really got into old guitars until Joe Walsh (James Gang) rang me up one night and said, “I’ve got something for you,” because we buy one another presents. He buys me old concert amps and I buy him synthesizers and we have become very good friends. Anyway, he said, “I’ve got something for you,” and I said “What?” and he said, “A 1957 Gretsch.” GP: Chet Atkins type? PT: Right, with real f-holes. I said, “Great, cheers, man,” and it turned out to be a real knockout. I was being polite. I opened the case and it was bright orange and I thought, “Ugh! It’s horrible, I hate it.” I went home and went into my studio and plugged it in and it totally wrecked me out, it’s the best guitar I’ve got now. It’s the Chet Atkins model, with double pickups, f-holes and single cut-away. GP: Doesn’t it have a mellow sound, though; it doesn’t “chunck”, does it? PT: Oh, I used that guitar on every track on Who’s Next, it’s the best guitar I’ve ever had. It’s the finest guitar I’ve ever owned, it’s the loudest guitar I’ve ever owned. It is so loud, man, it whips any pickup that I’ve ever come across. It’s maybe six or seven times louder than anything I’ve come across. If I plugged it in my amp tonight, normally I’d be working on volume 6 or 7, but I would work this guitar on 1. Read the rest here: blog.gretsch.com/pete-townshend-discovers-gretsch-magica-gift-from-joe-walsh-makes-history/2001/10/A Gretsch! Who knew it would sound so killer in the studio? I had never thought about that before: a guitar for recording versus a guitar for the stage and performance. Check out this other page: www.thewho.net/whotabs/gear/guitar/gretsch.htmlSome nice photos of the axe....
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 24, 2012 13:08:42 GMT -5
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 18, 2012 9:30:36 GMT -5
Hey, I heard Petty got his guitars back! Culver City police arrested a security guard, I heard.
And yeah, a 1960's era Rickenbacker would be pretty cool to have
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 16, 2012 9:58:05 GMT -5
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 16, 2012 9:57:45 GMT -5
I like using Martin or Ernie Ball thumbpicks with a medium sized shank; flat picks are medium, no real preference for brand.
For strings, I switch between D'addarios and Ernie Ball, light gauges, starting at .10; I find going down to like .09 gives it a feel as if the strings could easily break when you do some bending and it just doesn't "feel" right to me . So no extra light. The Steinberger, of course, needs double balled strings, those are light as well.
I don't know if going to a higher gauge would give me better sustain, and I don't need to let power chords to ring out endlessly, so....I just stick with a light gauge. I dunno if higher gauges would help with rhythm playing....I heard that Pete Townshend used higher gauges, like starting at .12 because he'd bash his SG's and Gibsons around with the windmilling.
For acoustics, I use Dean Markleys, Martins, and Elixirs on occasion.
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 15, 2012 9:44:58 GMT -5
Well now that you mention it, where is Blue Oyster Cult??!! They were responsible for lots of field keg parties and bongs being passed around in my high school... ;D Interesting research....why don't they want us to know who's on the voting panels? And where were they on November 22, 1963? Sounds to me like they don't want the public to know that the record industry types are probably influencing the voting! But why are entertainment lawyers at the table??!! What's up with that? Perhaps I'm too harsh on the HoF when questioning its meaning.....after all, if it makes fans happy to see their fave band/artist being recognized, great. And it's fun for the fans to see the performances too.
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 14, 2012 22:57:12 GMT -5
Nice find on that quote, sivad!
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 14, 2012 22:55:09 GMT -5
again, not debating the merits of anyone getting into the Hall, I see it more as too much of a subjective thing anyway to get drawn into these college dorm arguments about it. and so what does it really mean? it's nice to be recognized....but recognized by whom? Who are these voters? where's the transparency? Is an artist validated because some rock critics or music professors/academics, or whomever is part of the voting panel, says so? Or is an artist validated from the response and loyalty of his/her own fan base?
But as an entity that is capable of being a source for music history and to remind/educate people about its roots and the pioneers is worthwhile. The other stuff? Ehhhh, I dunnno. Perhaps it's just not something I don't take too much stock in. I'm rather blase about it, if you haven't figured out already!
But as far as the commercial art versus the high art? While it's a non-profit, it still needs to make money. I don't think it can function solely on donations and grants. They just can't use the profits to pay the board of directors and things like that. It has to be plowed back into the entity. That means the Hall has to have people come thru the turnstiles and spend money. And to get people to come in, you just can't have a bunch of early pioneers and seminal influences that no one's heard of or are familiar with. So you kind of have to find a balance with putting popular acts and artists in there that the people like.
So really, I don't care about Axl's decision....but I can see where the fans of GnR might like to see him there with other band members. Maybe he just suck it up and do it for the fans. I dunno.
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 14, 2012 19:18:45 GMT -5
Hey, very cool! Glad it was a decent turn out for Tommy....it's been awhile so I don't recall how big the venue is in the back. but if I remember, it's got a decent stage set up. Hope the drive back down I-95 wasn't too bad.
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 14, 2012 13:55:53 GMT -5
I hear you---I'm not saying that they didn't get some things right. Sometimes their decisions are a bit curious regarding inductees. I'm neither pro nor con Axl's decision. I'm just saying that the HoF isn't necessarily a place to get validation and am questioning its real significance to an artist getting inducted.
They're a profit making entity because they can't just praise high art---they're caught in that tension between commercialism and art as well. If they put in seminal influences and artists that the greater overall populace haven't heard of, don't know of, well they're not going to last as an institution. So, the more popular artists of the day need representation, even if it was popular dreck....
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 14, 2012 9:14:00 GMT -5
Does it matter if Axl is being petulant or a non-compliant for whatever reason that bounces around in his head? Remember, this is the RHoF we are talking about. Is the validation from some ambiguous panel of "experts" that meaningful? I've said it before, this place is a joke because it can't find the balance between recognizing artistic accomplishments apart from the commercial accomplishments. Popular success doesn't always equate to high artistic level. My god, Chuck Berry's highest charting hit was "My Ding a Ling"....what about the other 20 or 30 other songs he wrote that are seared into the psyche of the American culture?
The ONLY good thing it has done is to recognize the early pioneers, those old bluesmen and women, etc, that would've been easily long forgotten. At least they got THAT part right, I think.
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 12, 2012 16:08:36 GMT -5
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 12, 2012 14:54:51 GMT -5
bside, he is or will be playing in the back of a coffee shop! They do have a nice stage set up, though, a litle more professional than you think but it's still a coffee shop with beer and wine.
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