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Post by brianlux on Apr 8, 2012 12:07:56 GMT -5
Hey everybody, very interesting thread and great responses.
The first person to inspire me to play guitar was Jimi Hendrix. When "Are You Experienced" came out I was 16 and naive enough to think maybe if I got a guitar and took some lessons I could make sounds like Jimi's- sounds that were completely amazing to me. HA! Nice try!
Other guitarists who have been influences have been Mick Taylor, Peter Green and (both of whom I got turned on to through their work with John Mayall. Same with Eric Clapton but only his playing with Cream and Mayall- I haven't been a fan since. Pete Townshend was an early influence. And even though he is primarily known as a flutist, I really like the acoustic playing of Ian Anderson. I listened to a lot of Harvey Mandel's early work as well. Oh, and Mike Bloomfield. Jimmy Page too.
Sandy Bull was a big influence. I love the way he combined styles and was able to play several types of stringed instruments- even unusual ones like the oud- and getting to see him perform is something I'll always remember.
Larry Coryell influenced my interest in combing styles as well. Seeing him early in his career was amazing- watching fusion being born in flames was awesome. John McLaughlin was another in fusion who has done great work.
Neil Young has always been a major influence. As FreeRider pointed out, there's a simplicity about his work and yet Neil has a tone and a lyric style that is all his- a simplicity that defies imitation.
I can't say enough about the greatness of the great blues pioneers- Robert Johnson, Elmore James, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, Hubert Sumlin. Who am I forgetting?
As for song writing related to guitar I'd certainly put Paul Westerberg, Neil Young, Willie Nelson, Keith Richards and more recently, from Pearl Jam- Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard and Mike McCready at the top.
As for my own playing, I learned early on that it was going to be a tough go. I'm not a natural musician and I've always found learning new guitar techniques to be painfully slow. I'm still learning new things a little at a time though. I've been playing for about 44 years so I may well have the dubious distinction of learning guitar more slowing than any one on earth. I guess you could call my guitar style "slow cooking". HaHa!! But I love it and as long as I can still shake a little sound out of a guitar I'll never quit playing.
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 8, 2012 13:32:48 GMT -5
Hey everybody, very interesting thread and great responses.... Neil Young has always been a major influence. As FreeRider pointed out, there's a simplicity about his work and yet Neil has a tone and a lyric style that is all his- a simplicity that defies imitation. Agreed---there's nothing flashy or fast about his playing, but he's got a way with saying more with less AND his solos seem to fit the context of the song or something. And his great tone and vibrato with the Bigsby tremelo bar really makes his signature guitar sound. You and me both....I don't have enough time to slog thru song books or instruction DVD's, etc...and so I'm learning and picking up at a slow pace too and then just having fun practicing or playing what I do know. |
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 8, 2012 13:47:32 GMT -5
Really enjoying this thread...Had been hoping for a little more discussion of what kind of instruments you played, amps, effects, so forth....Really just making noise, but if you put enough phase and feedback in there, it sounds kinda cool... Well, my first electric was a Fender Strat that I "borrowed" from my older brother, ha ha....and over the years, I picked up some cheap acoustic guitars--cheap Yamaha folk guitar,etc...but at some point, I wanted a really nice tone and depth out of an acoustic and finally spent some big bucks (even though it was on "sale" ) for a Martin. I also bought a used and beat up Les Paul custom just for the pickups. There's no real value left in it---it's like a 1971 or '72, but the guy who had it cannabilized it and did his own custom stuff on it, but for some reason, left the pick ups intact. He was a Neil Young fan too and he installed a Bigsby tremelo on it but it was a poor fit and job....so, no vintage value to the guitar. Third electric guitar is a Steinberger that was owned by Warren Zevon; I got it an auction on the Zevon fan board. His son Jordan (really cool guy) held the blind auction and man, I dished out big bucks with my bid. I really didn't think I'd win, I just submitted an arbitrary dollar amount and went to bed. Next morning, Jordan Zevon emailed me over night and told me I was the highest bidder. It's a nice axe----after awhile, you get over the fact that Warren Zevon once played it, used, etc, and it just becomes a guitar. Jordan said he was happy that I played because he didn't like the idea that his dad's guitar would be put behind glass like a museum piece or something. It's got great EMG pick ups in it....two are humbuckers and one is single coil and it's got a great blend of sounding like a Strat but with some extra punch. I had been using a cheap Yamaha practice amp but after college I was finally able to scrounge some money together and actually pay for a okay amp: a Carvin 30 watt re-issue. Classic tube sound. It's way more amp than I need....I can't turn the damn thing past 1.5 on the master volume as the tiny crapbox I live in starts to crumble, windows vibrate, etc...neighbors get pissed. ;D First pedal effect I got was a cheap MXR micro-flanger. Couldn't afford to get the full MXR 90 or whatever it was. That was fun to use. And then I got a Boss distortion pedal---don't use it much anymore, but I've got it. The tone controls had too much of that metal kind of sound---a little too harsh, brittle. I wanted something a little warmer. And now, the industry has these amp simulators and all.... |
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Post by brianlux on Apr 8, 2012 14:38:15 GMT -5
Really enjoying this thread...Had been hoping for a little more discussion of what kind of instruments you played, amps, effects, so forth.... First of all, FreeRider- great story about the Warren Zevon guitar. That guy was amazing and being the big fan you are, I'm glad you got it! My first guitar was a white Aria. I only bought it because it look a little like Neil Young's Gretsch White Falcon- hahaha! No way! I wish I'd kept it anyways because I had the pick up replaced with Dimarzio humbuckers and it just needed new tuning machines and would have been a cool guitar. My first amp was an original '65 Fender Deluxe Reverb. I moan every time I think about the fact that I sold it thirty years ago for something like 50 bucks. Ooooohhh... My first acoustic was a new '74 Martin D-18. I put my '65 Chevy Impala up as collateral to borrow the $500 it cost me. Now that turned out to be a good idea and I still have that baby! I have an unusual 80's red Squire Strat with dual humbuckers. It's a great little guitar that I helped one of my nephews pick out and it sounds better than some of the higher priced strats I've heard. The nephew didn't continue playing and sold it to me- we both got a good deal. I also have a '72 reissue Fender semi-hollow body telecaster with dual humbuckers like the original pictured with Paul on Suicane. My Godchildren bought the guitar for me which was very very sweet but I struggle with it- it has an awkward feel in my hands for some reason. I've bought and sold a few "beach guitars"- something to take camping but they all sounded like crap so I compromised and bought a laminate Martin DX-1R for about $450 figuring it would be better to take camping than my D-18 only it sounds GREAT and I worry about taking it out as well... but I do anyway. That guitar is a great value and I'd buy it again without hesitation. I also have a red Epiphone dot semi hollow body that I got "Like new" from Musician's Friend- the only time I've bought a guitar sight unseen but oh, did I luck out. It was cheap and sounds awesome. Wishing I'd kept my Deluxe, I bid on and won a Fender Deluxe II on eBay. It's a great amp but way too loud for my nerve damaged ears so that one's going on Craig's list soon. Same with the black Les Paul Studio I was sent in replacement for a 90's studio that was life-time warranted. The neck went out of adjustment and I sent it to Gibson and they couldn't fix it so replaced it instead. It's also too much for my ears to be played at the volume required to sound good so I'm going to Craig's list that one as well one of these days. My other amp is really a sweet little Airliner 62-9012A made by Montgomery Ward that I picked up cheap about 10 years ago. It has two inputs, one volume and one tone knob and that's it. Not even a power-on light so I have to be careful to remember to turn it off. It's a great little tube practice amp. The only other amp I could want now would be an original Fender Princeton tube but they're rather pricey these days. I have a Chandler Industries Tube Driver that needs cleaning and maybe tube replacement- it has potential but sounds awful as is. My only other stomp box is a DOD Supra Distortion that serves only to make me sound even more of an amateur than I am but I did make a cool tape one night several years running the DOD through my little Airline amp cranked up and covered with piles of pillows. Kind of a fun experimental sort of thing. |
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Post by anarkissed on Apr 8, 2012 19:40:55 GMT -5
Brian, I was interested to see your comment regarding the Epiphone dot...I've always wanted a semi-hollow body, and wondered what those were like...MF lists several Epiphone semi-hollow bodies that look interesting, as well as those Ibanez Artcore series...
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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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Jer
Beagle Scout
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Post by Jer on Apr 8, 2012 20:03:56 GMT -5
Aaaah.... gear!
I played a 70s Ampeg v4 through an early 80s Marshall 4x12 bottom for most of the 90s after seeing/hearing Dan Murphy so many times and loving their tone. That shit got too heavy though, and I wanted real overdrive which you can't get out of a v4 without a pedal. I paid $75 for the v4 (and $75 for a second one that I sold for $650 a few weeks back) and still keep it around for recording bass. Best bass head I have ever heard but I never use it for guitar anymore.
After a little experimentation I moved over to an early 80s Marshall JCM 800 50w head (before they bastardized Marshalls with a million unnecessary enhancements). It's a great head, super loud. Even in the biggest rooms I play I never turn it above 2. It has that killer Marshall overdrive. I did hundreds of shows with it and still have it but only use it for recording these days.
In the late `00s I downsized to an Avatar 2x12 cab. Still keep the Marshall 4x12 around for recording but I'm too old to cart it around to gigs. Avatar is a great little boutique cabinet maker in Idaho. The cab is great and easy to move around.
Last year I stumbled on a Matchless Cheiftan head in a small music store in Western Michigan. I obsessed about it for a week before going back to pick it up. It's a really great head, class A so it has some of that chimey-twang, but it has killer overdrive and a lot of character you just don't hear much. That's my rig these days - Matchless/Avatar.
I run the overdrive just a little to the clean side to get the country/americana sound and use a Boss Overdrive when I need to Husker it up a little. I use a Boss EQ for boost (got that on tour in Mass in `95 for $30), but have a MXR Line Driver coming which was recommended by a friend. I use 2 Boss tuners on stage, one in-line for tuning mid-song and one on bypass to mute between songs.
I've got more guitars that I should because I just can't seem to bring myself to sell them. My most valuable are a 73 tele custom, original candy-apple red and a newer LP Custom Shop. My favs, though are my new-to-me LP Junion (`91) with the P90 and the best guitar I've ever owned - my 94 tele standard. That tele will stay in tune for 2 gigs in mid-winter while the LP JR barely makes it through a song, but I love `em both.
These days I am all into either vintage or boutique. Had my eye on an all original 60s Fender Bassman amp a couple weeks ago at a local store that was reasonably priced but didn't jump on it. I'm temped to call them and see if it's still there but I know that would be it.. and the last thing I need is another amp. I'm also thinking about picking up a Reverend guitar. That's a Michigan based company that makes very affordable but really killer guitars.
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 8, 2012 22:15:40 GMT -5
GtrPlyr, pretty cool stuff!!! Your photos indicate you're living up to your screen name! 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? @jer, how about those Matchless? I haven't had a chance to play thru one---there are no retailers that carry them in my area. In fact, I screwed up when Jordan Zevon offered to get me an amp a cost! He used to work there and vouched for those amps.....but I had just threw down a big bid to get his dad's Steinberger guitar as mentioned in a previous post above. I've heard of Reverend....one of the guitar players in Fu Manchu (stoner rock band from Southern Cal) uses them. They look good and they sound good. has anyone heard of Agile guitars? Co-worker of mine bought one on the recommendation of his guitar luthier guy---Korean company but the craftsmanship makes you think you're damn near playing a Les Paul. AND it costs substantially less. You could almost buy a Gibson decal and just paste it on the headstock and you'd think you were playing the real deal. I played it and it had good action, sturdy, and there was nothing wrong with it. He bought it because his luthier and repair guy said today's Les Paul's are really about the branding.....he feels they gone downhill in quality control. Maybe, I dunno....
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Squaw
Star Scout
You're the only one that you are screwin' when you put down what you don't understand~ Kristofferson
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Post by Squaw on Apr 8, 2012 22:18:05 GMT -5
I'm almost ashamed to admit this but the only guitar I’ve ever owned cost me thirty bucks, case included! I bought it from an ad in the newspaper. No name, nylon string with the sweetest, most mellow sound you’d ever hear. I’ve had people who owned very expensive guitars borrow it because of its crisp, pure notes. I have a traditional mountain dulcimer by Doty with the Dolly Parton signature butterfly pattern he designed. That set me back around $400 about 20 years ago. I’ve never owned any other equipment. Wait, throw in a twenty dollar M Hohner G key harmonica and that’s it! Try not to evny me guys!  |
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batfink
Dances With Posts
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Post by batfink on Apr 9, 2012 6:57:31 GMT -5
Nice to see this isn't only a fan site but a site for music lovers. My question for all of you is what made you interested in playing? Usually to impress a girl is what you hear about the most. Paul should check this thread out, looks like he has enough musicians here to put together his band. Everyone here knows Paul's material better than the average hired gun he could get. Good idea for a thread freerider!
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 9, 2012 9:02:49 GMT -5
I'm almost ashamed to admit this but the only guitar I’ve ever owned cost me thirty bucks, case included! I bought it from an ad in the newspaper. No name, nylon string with the sweetest, most mellow sound you’d ever hear. I’ve had people who owned very expensive guitars borrow it because of its crisp, pure notes. I have a traditional mountain dulcimer by Doty with the Dolly Parton signature butterfly pattern he designed. That set me back around $400 about 20 years ago. I’ve never owned any other equipment. Wait, throw in a twenty dollar M Hohner G key harmonica and that’s it! Try not to evny me guys! Squaw, there's something to be said for simplicity! What matters the most is if you're happy with the sound of your gear and if you're happy with how it enables you to express yourself! Quality over quantity, you know?  Like Paul said at one point, "It's just wood and wires." |
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 9, 2012 9:10:59 GMT -5
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 9, 2012 9:26:11 GMT -5
Nice to see this isn't only a fan site but a site for music lovers. My question for all of you is what made you interested in playing? Usually to impress a girl is what you hear about the most. Paul should check this thread out, looks like he has enough musicians here to put together his band. Everyone here knows Paul's material better than the average hired gun he could get. Good idea for a thread freerider! Thanks, batfink....for me, no, not to impress a girl. Since I took woodwind lessons as a kid and then played in the symphonic band and jazz ensemble in school, I had an interest in music to begin with....I didn't really develop a deep academic interest in it, though! I was never one to stay home and practice scales and all that crap. I think hearing some of the Mississippi delta blues fancy finger picking on an acoustic caught my attention and I thought it was so cool, I wanted to learn how to play the guitar. And then there's also the pleasure of just making sounds and as a way to express yourself, or duplicate the feeling you get from hearing a favorite song. Music is/was a catharsis for me, to get certain feelings out that maybe you can't really express in any other way. |
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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 FreeRider on Apr 9, 2012 16:18:50 GMT -5
Yeah, I think the pedal steel would add lots of cool coloration to songs---those volume swells and that lilting voice it has. KRK'S---nice! Here's a photo of Zevon and his Steinberger: warrenzevon.org/37.htmlZevon is one of my faves too---guy could write a lyric and paint incredible stories inside your head with the music. |
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Squaw
Star Scout
You're the only one that you are screwin' when you put down what you don't understand~ Kristofferson
Posts: 544
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Post by Squaw on Apr 9, 2012 17:30:28 GMT -5
I'm a Zevon fan too. What a great piece of music history you have there FreeRider.
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Squaw
Star Scout
You're the only one that you are screwin' when you put down what you don't understand~ Kristofferson
Posts: 544
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Post by Squaw on Apr 9, 2012 17:42:43 GMT -5
Nice to see this isn't only a fan site but a site for music lovers. My question for all of you is what made you interested in playing? Usually to impress a girl is what you hear about the most. Paul should check this thread out, looks like he has enough musicians here to put together his band. Everyone here knows Paul's material better than the average hired gun he could get. Good idea for a thread freerider! Yes, definitely the impressing the girls thing. OK, that was a joke! It's another way of getting enjoyment from the song. Who hasn't started singing along to a favorite song that's playing on the radio? I like your idea of Paul giving some of his fans a chance to audition for him. There's probably a few people on MWT that would be good enough. I wouldn't, but I can fetch stuff like a trained retriever and make a mean cup of coffee! Yeah, he needs me there. |
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 10, 2012 14:34:10 GMT -5
Nice to see this isn't only a fan site but a site for music lovers. My question for all of you is what made you interested in playing? Usually to impress a girl is what you hear about the most. Paul should check this thread out, looks like he has enough musicians here to put together his band. Everyone here knows Paul's material better than the average hired gun he could get. Good idea for a thread freerider! Yes, definitely the impressing the girls thing. OK, that was a joke! It's another way of getting enjoyment from the song. Who hasn't started singing along to a favorite song that's playing on the radio? I like your idea of Paul giving some of his fans a chance to audition for him. There's probably a few people on MWT that would be good enough. I wouldn't, but I can fetch stuff like a trained retriever and make a mean cup of coffee! Yeah, he needs me there. Ummm, I don't think I'd be in the pool of candidates to audition for him! I don't call myself a musician nor am I really a guitarist. I'm a hobbyist or enthusiast at best! I could help change guitar strings, if that helps.... I'm a Zevon fan too. What a great piece of music history you have there FreeRider. Thanks, Squaw...but like I said, after you have it, and you play on it, you kind of forget who owned it and who played it, the reverence fades away. It just becomes another really nice guitar. But what makes it personal, though, is that the guitar strap came with the Steinberger and you can see where the leather cracked and split where the button hole is, and Warren just used electrical or duct tape to keep it intact! |
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 10, 2012 14:56:24 GMT -5
Hey everybody, very interesting thread and great responses..... I can't say enough about the greatness of the great blues pioneers- Robert Johnson, Elmore James, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, Hubert Sumlin. Who am I forgetting? You know, I once read a Clapton interview and he said when he got his hands on those old Robert Johnson records, it was too painful for him to listen to at first. I was so curious that I went out and got them too....it was just hard to listen to because they weren't some clean recordings, these were 1930's recordings, real scratchy sounding, one microphone used to record in Johnson's hotel room. But once I got past the sound quality, I got what Clapton was saying. Johnson had this real mournful sound in his voice, when he moaned, it just sounded so forlorn and desperate. But it's interesting to hear his original guitar riffs and then hear how guys like Clapton "modernized" the riffs when done on the electric guitar. |
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 11, 2012 13:36:19 GMT -5
Tone:
do you like your set up and your tone? Is it elusive? What would your ideal sound be like?
I like the sounds I can get but it's not necessarily what I want. It's hard to craft a sound when you don't have gear to tweak it as much....I certainly don't have the money or time to re-bias a guitar amp and experiment with different tubes!
I've always loved that powerful tone that Townshend got from his SG and Marshall set up. I like Eddie Van Halen's tone, that "brown sound", distortion. Hendrix's Strat tone. And I gotta say I marvel at Neil Young's tone....warm tube sounds. Although I've read where some solid state amps are pretty decent enough these days to get you that warm tone/sound.
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