tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32041880248328297332024-03-12T19:01:46.679-04:00Sans DirectionDave Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15052163927020492687noreply@blogger.comBlogger784125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204188024832829733.post-55776190088931413752017-05-02T10:51:00.000-04:002017-05-02T10:51:25.122-04:00"Don't mind dyin' but I hate to see my children cry"My first introduction to the jam band scene was through Col Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit. I think I had it on cassette, which was a review copy sent to my student paper.<br /><br />I think.<br />
<br />
Later I tried Phish and Blues Traveler and such, but I am sure it started with ARU. Certainly some great players came up through them, including Oteil Burbridge and Jimmy Herring. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="https://www.jambase.com/article/jam-scene-patriarch-col-bruce-hampton-died" target="_blank">Jam scene patriarch Col. Bruce Hampton died on stage during the final moments of a benefit concert honoring his 70th birthday at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta on Monday night. Hampton passed out with nearly the entire all-star lineup for Hampton 70: A Celebration Of Col. Bruce Hampton surrounding him as the “Turn On Your Lovelight” finale was nearing a conclusion.</a> </blockquote>
I'm saddened, of course, but, as Alex Scolnick tweeted, what a way to go.<br />
Dave Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15052163927020492687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204188024832829733.post-27517658468262484312017-04-07T13:41:00.000-04:002017-04-07T13:41:28.756-04:00The One AlbumFrom <a href="https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/25514-the-one-album-that-changed-everything" target="_blank">Premier Guitar</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<em style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Most of us have a crystal-clear picture imprinted in our psyches—a stark moment of when our younger, more impressionable selves first heard a recording that blew our minds, and from that point forward, everything would be different. In those moments of discovery, turned obsession, worship, and deep learning, a bold appreciation and respect emerges for someone else’s expression. It’s the personal joy of experiencing art that moves you. In a human existence riddled with many uncertainties, inspiration is something to hold onto. The possibilities are endless with music, and the journey never ends. We hope you enjoy going down memory lane</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">.</span></blockquote>
Made me think. Reading the article, I'm left thinking "Luther is right about <i>Sacred Steel</i>. Reeves Gabriels is right about <i>Rock n Roll Animal</i>. Warren Haynes is right about <i>At Fillmore East</i>. Bill Janovitz is right about <i>Remain in Light</i>. John Jorgenson is right (and surprising, knowing is other work) about <i>Fragile</i>. Rick Nielsen is right about <i>Are You Experienced?</i> Alex Skolnick is right about <i>Van Halen I</i>. I don't see how Robbie Basho leads to Savages, but I'm willing to trust and follow."<br /><br />So, I'm thinking.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW7bpRbNMHYrnrD-eIVc0OSSl9IOQcb-9SoaYiwzhTNbv6x5Sw4rFlipMw3Y4r81bUYDf97Y8qXNxHPI8Lhs-HYrtvtnwrHtjtpkgT3XvHzv2SyBuOpwImTSgD8PgjSho1Zab7nRU2dCI/s1600/e00583eacd584b10bb4ad7c28a0e542e.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW7bpRbNMHYrnrD-eIVc0OSSl9IOQcb-9SoaYiwzhTNbv6x5Sw4rFlipMw3Y4r81bUYDf97Y8qXNxHPI8Lhs-HYrtvtnwrHtjtpkgT3XvHzv2SyBuOpwImTSgD8PgjSho1Zab7nRU2dCI/s320/e00583eacd584b10bb4ad7c28a0e542e.png" width="320" /></a><br />
And I'm thinking <i>Who's Next</i>.<br />
<br />
My connection to Robert Randolph, to Eddie Van Halen, to Jimi Hendrix, to Angus and Malcolm Young, to Steve Howe and Chris Squire, to Dickey Betts and Duane Allman, to Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner (the dual-guitar attack behind Aerosmith's "Train Kept A-Rollin'", as well as Lou Reed), and dozens if not hundreds of others: it all came <i>after</i> I learned to play guitar.<br />
<br />
But back in my early teens, I heard a lot of music, but it was the Who that made me think "Hey, I could do it." Unlike Eddie Van Halen (who I knew mostly through "Beat It" at that time), and the guitar heroes of the 60s and 70s, it seemed approachable, that guitar and music, while not easy, were doable.<br /><br />I think, considering what I was listening to, it was "Goin' Mobile", more than any of the other great tracks on what I think of as their best album, that made me want to pick up the instrument.Dave Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15052163927020492687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204188024832829733.post-30040711336248919952016-09-12T18:00:00.000-04:002016-09-12T18:00:12.475-04:00After Action Report: Church Slide First things first: I've seen suggestions that you drink coffee right before you take a nap, so when naptime is over and your body has metabolized the caffeine, you're energized and ready to go. So, as I sat awake at 1:30 am, knowing that call time was 7:30 am, I started thinking I should've had that cup of coffee right before I crashed, or not at all, instead of at 6 pm.<br />
<br />
Anyway...<br />
<br />
Starting at practice. Signal chain is Guitar > Wireless > Pedalboard > D/I Box > Hidden Amp > Mic > PA.<br />
<br />
Song list starts with slide guitar. I'm not Sonny Landreth, but the song didn't need that, but it needed someone who could do it. Made me happy.<br />
<br />
Normally, I bring my pedalboard because I know all the pedals, but I was asked to use their pedalboard, which includes a volume pedal, 2 "dirt" pedals, a compressor that I can't discern, a Line 6 DL4 delay and a Strymon Blue Sky reverb. I was hit with the following issues:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>My Number One is not optimized for slide playing. The action is high enough, but I go with <a href="https://www.ernieball.com/guitar-strings/electric-guitar-strings/slinky-nickel-wound-electric-guitar-strings#P02225" target="_blank">Ernie Ball Extra Slinky .008-.038</a> which makes it hard to not accidently fret and such. </li>
<li>My Number One is a Telecaster with standard single-coils, which were not powerful enough to drive the dirt pedals to have discernable dirt, which gave me a plinky clean sound when I wanted a dirty rhythm sound, which caused me to not play the way I wanted on some of the other songs. There was enough to get enough hair on it for the slide stuff, though.</li>
<li>Something caused all the hum to hum all the possible hum. </li>
</ul>
<div>
I didn't really debug the hum at first, but eventually I learned that the hum was between the wireless (turned off the pack; hum still there) and the volume pedal (heel down; hum gone). So, most of the practice was a struggle to not just sound like a beehive. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So, when it came time to play for real, I brought my Squier HH Tele. I love it; it's easily the lightest electric guitar I own, and I don't think I've put on new strings yet, so it didn't have the eights and the string tension was high enough for me do better with slide. The humbuckers were enough to drive the pedals to get the better distortion from the pedals, which meant that I could get enough of a rhythm crunch for the points I wanted it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Also, I was plugged directly to the pedalboard, so no hum!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
First pedal on my board is an always-on EHX LPB-1 to get my clean volume about the same level as my dirty volume. I dial my gain to the point where I'm well in the grinVd on my dirt pedals. I'm thinking 1) adding at least the capability of more output for the guitar is a good thing, and 2) perhaps I go for too much crunch on those pedals. My "lead" distortion is a Washburn Soloist, which was inexpensive and I think is beginning to show signs of failing, and I'm considering a replacement. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Strymon is a very ambient-safe reverb, with a shimmer set on the Favorite pedal, but I was able to make it work for the slide, and I'm thinking I need to get something, maybe more like an EHX Holy Grail to go at the end of my chain. It's really good, but not me.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Consider heavier strings</li>
<li>Consider higher output pickups for the Number One</li>
<li>Practice with less distortion to get better and braver</li>
<li>Price a reverb pedal</li>
<li>Price a lead-tone distortion pedal</li>
</ul>
</div>
Dave Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15052163927020492687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204188024832829733.post-47787772756792228472016-08-01T17:38:00.002-04:002016-08-01T17:38:34.914-04:00After Action Report: <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkR4bZ43QkxI2BvfXmou-yGBM7DTJ_riiVWBx1EIj4gwn44BlrdCLQ349B-vQbUHkp0nL_zDSomgnqOUnTwEDIE_U7epz_zzIOsW235z4wSCvt9WbrrWeOZ8KsJq2MewZvUAGHNVnH7EU/s1600/the_band.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkR4bZ43QkxI2BvfXmou-yGBM7DTJ_riiVWBx1EIj4gwn44BlrdCLQ349B-vQbUHkp0nL_zDSomgnqOUnTwEDIE_U7epz_zzIOsW235z4wSCvt9WbrrWeOZ8KsJq2MewZvUAGHNVnH7EU/s640/the_band.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div>
<br />
This was a few weekends ago, where I ably backed <a href="https://www.reverbnation.com/gregjones5" target="_blank">Greg Jones</a>. I'm the one on the right, hiding behind my hat. You can tell it's me by the murdered-out #1.<br />
<br />
This was after one rehearsal, and I was really uncomfortable with a lot of the material, so I spent more time looking at my feet, my chord sheets and pedalboard than is good. I'm sure most pics of me that day would look identical to this, with me not looking out at the audience. I need to work on stage presence.<br />
<br />
Greg plays Americana, and I felt one song really worked with a slap-back guitar, along the lines of Luther Perkins. I can play a rockabilly boogie-woogie in Perkins' strange kind of way, but when it came to playing a lead, I just kinda doubled down on the rhythm. The slapback boxed me in, in a way that the dotted-eighths of the Edge and so on never really did.<br />
<br />
But, I enjoyed the songs, playing, playing in front of people, and playing with another drummer. And yes, to get the right sound, we used a suitcase as the kick drum.</div>
Dave Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15052163927020492687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204188024832829733.post-76379937102634168062016-05-23T13:41:00.000-04:002016-05-25T11:28:18.008-04:00What The Sam Hunt is going on?I don't listen to radio. If I hear new music, it's largely EDM-based or indie rock from Spotify. So, it's a rare thing where the hot new thing on radio hits my ears.<br />
<br />
This is Sam Hunt.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HUAUsbbhRmc" width="480"></iframe><br />
<br />
What do I think about it?<br />
<br />
I'm not a great fan. <br />
<br />
But, I'm okay with it.<br />
<br />
Time was, "country" was the barely-changed-from-Scotland-and-Ireland music of Appalachia. That's a big chunk of the Carter Family songbook, but it isn't all. Plenty of their songs end with "Blues" and fit the format. They might not be Blues quite the way that Memphis Minnie might've done it, but they were Blues: 12-bar with AAB rhyme scheme.<br />
<br />
And if the Carter Family weren't bluesy enough for you, "T For Texas" by Jimmie Rodgers should be, and both were there in Bristol, Tennessee, at the beginning of Country music. Making black popular music palatable for rural white audiences is a part of what Country has been about since the beginning.<br />
<br />
Western Swing, like Bob Wills and his "Faded Love" and "Big Ball's in Cow Town", is an attempt to make Swing music palatable for rural white audiences.<br />
<br />
Honky-Tonk, like Hank Williams' "Hey Good Lookin'", is an attempt to make black string-band Blues palatable for white rural audiences.<br />
<br />
Rockabilly, like "Blue Suede Shoes" by Carl Perkins, is an attempt to make Jump Blues palatable for white rural audiences.<br />
<br />
That isn't the only tendency in country, but I believe I have shown that this is a core one.<br />
<br />
The above track, Sam Hunt's "Make You Miss Me", is an attempt at a Slow Jam. Is it good? I don't know. When I want a slow jam, I go to Tyrese. But it certainly fits the genre. Which means, while I might not like the song (or maybe I do), it fits in tendency of Country music to take on aspects of Black music.<br />
<br />
And it's an alternative to current country basically being 80s hair metal with a banjo in the mix.Dave Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15052163927020492687noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204188024832829733.post-32983452339630373852016-01-25T17:04:00.000-05:002016-01-25T17:04:18.451-05:00Fishman Makes Tele Pickups<div><iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5_ZEnsNl9WE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<div> Greg Koch is the funniest man in music these days, and here he's showing off the new Fluence pickups from <a href="http://www.fishman.com/">Fishman</a>. I couldn't make them sound as good as he does, but he certainly makes a case for them here. <br><br> I might want a PowerBridge up in there, too. </div>Dave Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15052163927020492687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204188024832829733.post-35070558223691901392016-01-05T10:14:00.002-05:002016-01-05T10:14:44.241-05:00After-Warranty Report: Kliq TinyTuneI didn't just <a href="http://sansdirection.blogspot.com/2016/01/after-action-report-improvise-adapt.html" target="_blank">complain on my blog</a> yesterday.<br />
<br />
I made an Amazon review. A three-star Amazon review.<br />
<br />
I also got the order ID, registered the <a href="http://kliqmusicgear.com/tinytune" target="_blank">Kliq</a> pedal, and submitted a report of faulty gear.<br />
<br />
They took my address and shipped me a new pedal. In fact, I know it's in town already.<br />
<br />
We'll see how long the new one lasts, but I have to say their customer service is right on. After a few times playing out, I might revise and extend that Amazon review.Dave Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15052163927020492687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204188024832829733.post-53930562399796965292016-01-04T13:59:00.001-05:002016-01-04T13:59:25.162-05:00After-Action Report: Improvise, Adapt, OvercomeFor Christmas, I asked for and received a <a href="http://kliqmusicgear.com/tinytune" target="_blank">Kliq TinyTune</a> tuner, which I placed at the end of my pedalboard, taking off the EHX Signal Pad I had used as my mute. There are three things I needed on my board that a tuner pedal provides:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Muting.</b> I play in church, so it's play-sermon-play, and I like redundant volume control. I turn down both on the guitar and the volume pedal, but if I forget to turn off dirt, there can be a hum that goes to the amp and can be heard on stage, even if the sound guy routinely mutes those mics.</li>
<li><b>Tuning.</b> Nobody wants to sound out of tune.</li>
<li><b>Verification.</b> There are three systems: Guitar -> amp hidden back stage, Amp mic -> PA system, and PA -> on-stage in-ear monitors. Especially when the system is being set before or after a significant event, it is easy for problems to arise in one of these systems, and if the sound man is busy elsewhere, it can be difficult to diagnose where the problem is. With the tuner last, you can <i>know</i> your signal is getting to the end of your board and (likely) out to the D/I box, so the problem isn't you. This is crucial, if for no other reason than to have cast-iron evidence you can yell at your sound guy.</li>
</ul>
<div>
First time I took the board out of the house, I found that the pedal was stuck in the "on" position, meaning it was only in mute/tune position. Far better than it being stuck in bypass, but it did mean I was quiet. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I've been torn between two pedals recently. My Washburn Soloist, switchable between overdrive and distortion, sometimes sounds acceptable and sometimes sounds horrible, so I don't trust it. My Digitech Death Metal has too much gain, and I struggle to find a way to make it sound like something other than a hive of angry bees. I've found the secret is to cut back on guitar volume. I'm still not sure of the use, but that's where I'm stuck right now, with my Bad Monkey as my go-to dirt pedal. These Digitech pedals have two outputs: To Amp and To Mixer, and I was able to use that as a splitter to allow me to feed the tuner without killing my output.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I also had extra power and the Soloist around, so I put that in the chain and turned the volume to zero to mute. I suppose I could've done the same with the Death Metal, but oh well. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As a tuner, I'm happy with nearly everything about the Kliq. I have another tuner, about the size of two normal pedals, and the size of it makes it useless to me. The Kliq is the size of the TC Electronic Flashback Mini, so the size is right. It's bright enough and fast enough, and the price was right. I hope to get the registration and warranty issues worked out soon so I can get another tuner on my board. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I should also mention that I broke a string mid-song. I had replacement strings, but should've had a second guitar instead (and usually do). As the SEALs say, "Two is One, One is None", so be prepared.</div>
Dave Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15052163927020492687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204188024832829733.post-35463890059197290812015-12-16T11:58:00.001-05:002015-12-16T11:58:18.174-05:00On Third GuitaristsIn general, there are two roles a guitarist can play. There's the "lead" roll, and there's the "rhythm" roll.<br />
<br />
With the lead role, you play leads, riffs, solos, contributing to the melodic aspects of the music. With the rhythm role, you play riffs and chords contributing to the rhythmic and harmonic aspects of the music. In essence, you make the bed that the lead guitarist, singer, etc., jump on. I think a canonical example is AC/DC, where Angus Young played the leads while his brother Malcolm banged out the rhythm. It is hard to be wholly a lead guitarist in a vocal-lead band, because your lead playing could get in the way of the singer.<br />
<br />
There are guitarists that combine these. Eddie Van Halen is always playing the song, always playing notes and riffs. You could hear just his guitar track and know he song. He has the freedom to do this because he's the only guitarist, leaving the whole space open for him to play with. Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones and Johnny Marr of the Smiths (and others) also have styles where their parts are equal parts rhythm and lead playing.<br />
<br />
There are very few bands where there are three guitarists. Classic Motown studio tracks had many guitarists, but each had their pocket and went for a small amount of harmonic space, as was explained in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_in_the_Shadows_of_Motown" target="_blank">Standing in the Shadows of Motown</a>. In a drastically different style, Iron Maiden currently has three guitarists, because Adrian Smith left, was replaced by Janick Gers, and then returned. There's Gers-led material that became part of their show, so they got together and developed three-guitar arrangements.<br />
<br />
This is the key. <b>Each guitarist has to have a role</b>, a harmonic and rhythmic part in the music to take. This takes planning, time and experience.<br />
<br />
I came into practice last night as one of three electric guitarists, supplemented by two acoustic guitarists. Acoustic guitar in a rock band becomes more-or-less a tuned snare drum, really setting the rhythm of the piece. Lead guitarist has a lot of fairly clean Strat work, singer/guitarist is hitting the rhythm/grit aspects, and for the life of me, I don't know where my Tele fits in to all this, which means, when I try to fill spaces, I step on other people's toes. This, on top of the gremlins of the venue, make me profoundly ambivalent about playing this music.Dave Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15052163927020492687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204188024832829733.post-4430025727990222932015-12-08T14:32:00.002-05:002015-12-08T14:32:39.125-05:00<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/P27tTNP7SFc" width="420"></iframe>
<div>
You may be cool, but you're not "Change Your Own Strings On Stage In The Middle Of The Song" cool, like B.B. King, starting about 3:15.</div>
Dave Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15052163927020492687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204188024832829733.post-6377563496904779892015-11-09T15:16:00.002-05:002015-11-09T15:16:57.135-05:00After-Action Report: Derp!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd0RTp10xArUm9L_VtFQKZFNndEvgJXQvt_xayx9v2EmqUpPE4QcPwpo50Jdl73wnu_CLuswKsrpdapjgU0SAIqYne4PlVvQooAmqBLfIgVSdkeKQ4k216wRNKW5_MT_dR0BX9bVwDiUI/s1600/IMG_20151014_081038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd0RTp10xArUm9L_VtFQKZFNndEvgJXQvt_xayx9v2EmqUpPE4QcPwpo50Jdl73wnu_CLuswKsrpdapjgU0SAIqYne4PlVvQooAmqBLfIgVSdkeKQ4k216wRNKW5_MT_dR0BX9bVwDiUI/s400/IMG_20151014_081038.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
I was set to play on Sunday. I had all my gear together and set aside, and knowing the show-up time was 6:30pm, I was watching Disney-Pixar shorts on Netflix at 6pm when I got a text.<br />
<br />
<i><you're showing up, right?></i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><yeah, getting ready to show up at 6:30></i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><that's when we start playing></i><br />
<br />
So there was a lot of Derp!, a hasty loading of the car, the <i>slightest</i> of soundchecks, and, despite all that, a reasonably decent gig. I knew the songs, mostly, so I didn't embarrass myself too much.<br />
<br />
I did some, though. The first is the partscaster you see to your right. Despite the pots you see sticking through the control plate, it has no controls. It's pickup-to-jack. It's a partscaster, built from a factory second body from Guitar Fetish, a $5 bridge pickup from Reverb mounted to the body, and a neck salvaged from my son's first guitar, a First Act instrument where the body broke near the tremolo bridge mount. It's proudly a mongrel, and I've enjoyed it as a bedroom guitar.<br />
<br />
But I rarely plug in my bedroom guitars, and I found while playing it, in front of people with only the most minimal of soundchecks, that the ringing highs I love while playing it unplugged turned into a shrill icepick when going through my pedalboard and the venue's amp. I generally tilt my pickups a little toward the high strings, in order to balance string volume. Plugging into my Frontman 25R with knobs at 12 o'clock, I went in with a screwdriver and reversed that. We'll see next practice how that goes.<br />
<br />
A key part of my pedalboard is the volume pedal. I love to swell in, working with my delay pedal to get a keyboard pad effect. But, they've been having problems with hum, and so there's a noise gate on the amp mic. Which means I pick quietly and get nothing, and I pick louder and I get a surprising pop from out of nowhere. I've talked to the sound guy, and next time, I'll have time to get that worked out better.Dave Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15052163927020492687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204188024832829733.post-339723446207228832015-08-16T15:06:00.001-04:002015-08-16T15:06:09.153-04:00After-Action Report: That Was Swell<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4A8VuoekBic/UgwjRqNNpMI/AAAAAAAARnE/rIixYDq_BGI/s1600/20130814_200322.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4A8VuoekBic/UgwjRqNNpMI/AAAAAAAARnE/rIixYDq_BGI/s400/20130814_200322.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
Ach. I'm <i>sure </i>I used that one before.<br />
<br />
This was a six-piece band: drums, bass, electric guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar and vox, vox, vox. I was guitar number two. My pedalboard is comp -> boost -> volume pedal -> Bad Monkey OD -> dirt 2 -> tremolo -> kill switch -> Flashback delay, set up with minimal warble and about 4 repeats. The boost was on all the time, giving me a little more volume. I plugged into a D/I box connected to a mic'd Egnator backstage, and there was a grounding issue that lead to a persistent buzz in the connection. I know that's not my board's fault, so that's not an issue that I'm going to spend too much mental energy on.<br />
<br />
I had a recurring lick in the first song that required slide, and I liked it, but there were three notes, defining a D chord: A- F# D-A-F# D-A. I had my pedals set to make my slide sing -- comp, boost, Bad Monkey, delay -- and I rode the volume pedal. I'm told the effect was great, that my parts worked well within the song, but I am not a huge fan of standing around with a muted guitar, waiting for the end of the chorus for my part to come around again.<br />
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Much of the rest of the set list had me taking the place of the keyboard, playing long swelled chords to take the place of a synth pad. Another guitarist suggested I tune between songs, especially while doing that, because sour notes run into a delay pedal stay sour a long time. Problem is, I own a tuner pedal, but I don't use it because it's <i>huge</i> and I want the pedalboard space. So, I've been using a headstock tuner. I love it, I really do, but I left it on another guitar, which I noticed in practice, and somehow, it had been left on and now is dead, which I noticed right before we started to play.<br />
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I love that phones and tablets now have tuner apps, but while they're great for bedroom players, they really don't work onstage, especially if they're playing music over the PA while you're trying to tune. So, I was stuck with no way to determine if I'm in tune.<br />
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The SEALs say "two is one, one is none", and I left myself with no means of tuning.<br />
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Tuner pedals have other benefits besides being able to tune. First one is that they're a kill switch. I don't play with terribly high gain, but even when you don't have a rig that'll make horrible noise without you if you don't kill the signal, they're useful. Another wonderful thing about tuners is that you can use them to tell where your signal problem is. Put the tuner toward the end of the board and, if you can still tune, you know that the problem causing no audio is after the board.<br />
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So, next on my guitar pedal wish-list is a tuner. Thinking a <a href="https://reverb.com/marketplace?query=korg%20pitchblack" target="_blank">used Korg PitchBlack</a> or the like.<br />
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Beyond that, I'm thinking that something that's less OD and more distortion would be a good addition, so I can get a solid angry GRR when I need it. My previous dirt 2, a Washburn Soloist, has recently started being the quietest thing ever, which is exactly what I do not need. Of course, I have a Digitech Death Metal pedal that contains <i><b>all the gain</b></i>, which makes it unusable for any music I expect to play. I think getting something Klon-like will be in the same class as the Bad Monkey, so the EHX Soul Food is off the table, so I'm thinking about something fuzzy, like a Big Muff Pi.<br />
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I like the idea of adding a reverb pedal, like a <a href="https://reverb.com/marketplace?query=catalinbread+topanga" target="_blank">Catalinbread Topanga</a> or <a href="https://reverb.com/marketplace?query=electro-harmonix%20holy%20grail%20nano" target="_blank">EHX Holy Grail Nano</a>, but the venue I play in is large enough that it gets that effect naturally.<br />
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I played decently, at least as far as being-in-tune could carry me. I enjoyed myself and, by and large, didn't bring the side down. Most problems were beyond my control, so I didn't worry about them. If the only things to mention in the after-action are technical issues, then it's a good day.Dave Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15052163927020492687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204188024832829733.post-66354408408281792692015-05-11T12:27:00.002-04:002015-05-11T12:28:09.424-04:00Pete Townshend played a Telecaster<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX7tKmf65gnJFH71CgC_xQ8NQ_tavpEnaAgJ2QZ35ZGmX_Al29ClWaU1Wy8GCD2yvj-p26Ep-4OYq8cpNnlXNixQyJ-eMxf6vomHS8mXC3s1yUY-S8Iu1x3I1s_SzhF789hbx1PER_xQ0/s1600/PeteTownsend.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="550" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX7tKmf65gnJFH71CgC_xQ8NQ_tavpEnaAgJ2QZ35ZGmX_Al29ClWaU1Wy8GCD2yvj-p26Ep-4OYq8cpNnlXNixQyJ-eMxf6vomHS8mXC3s1yUY-S8Iu1x3I1s_SzhF789hbx1PER_xQ0/s640/PeteTownsend.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I suppose you can call that "playing".Dave Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15052163927020492687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204188024832829733.post-9637745128133722382015-02-05T10:37:00.000-05:002015-02-05T10:37:38.633-05:00Blowin' ThroughListen to this
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="450" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/189547459&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%"></iframe><br />
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On the suggestion of <a href="http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/21656-last-call-where-the-author-gets-off-his-lazy-ass-and-takes-a-jazz-class">John Bohlinger</a>, I'm taking the <a href="https://www.coursera.org/course/improvisation">Jazz Improvisation</a> course from <a href="https://www.coursera.org/">Coursera</a>. I've taken MOOC courses before, but always tend to peter out before the end, because I never carve time out to do it.<br />
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My gig prep time is similarly lazy, in that I maybe listen through the song a few times before practice, play at practice, and go back to the points where my failure to prepare stand out, and learn to nail those parts. Just-in-time rehearsal, so to speak.<br />
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I had the title before I hit record. The big difference between jazz and rock music is that, with rock, if you determine the key to the track is G major, you can play G major all through the song, no matter where. If there's a gear-change modulation, we've moved from G to A, and I can play there for the rest of the song.<br />
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With jazz, not so much. Instead, you're given chord changes, and what you play depends on what chord is going on at the time. At least, that's the rule for pre-modal jazz. I'm not sure what the rules are for <i>Kind of Blue</i> through <i>Pangaea</i>/<i>Agharta</i>, but that isn't important for this post. Line is, when John Coltrane passed out the chords for "Giant Steps", they didn't know the tempo was going to be that fast, and pianist Tommy Flanagan fell off.<br />
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A rock player can be distinguished in a jazz context by the way he things "I'll play in G" (or, because of horn players, Bb) and not pay attention to the specific chords going through. "Blowing through the changes", I'm told they say.<br />
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I was going to try to not do that. I went through the chord sheet and at least tried to sketch out what scales were usable where, to pull a Gmin7b5 into an arpeggio (G-Bb-Db-F) and get some clue as to what to do. Then, I plugged into my recording rig (for the second time in my life), figured out how to tell the Mac to use the USB input and not the mic, how to tell GarageBand I want to hear myself <i>and</i> the track, learned the keyboard shortcuts, and recorded the above.<br />
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First, <i>man</i> that's fast. Not faster than I can play, but faster than I can think, and there weren't clear signposts saying "You're on the F minor now". My saving grace is that you can go crazy with chromatic notes with jazz, where most musics I play, that's not so good. "If you play a sour note", the line goes, "play it again, play it like you meant it, and people will think you're playing jazz."<br />
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I <i>have</i> been trying to play to other jazz on occasion, especially "All Blues", and I'm finding that the tools I go to for most everything just don't work there. The brightness of the bridge pickup is too harsh, distortion and overdrive give a growl, and there's no reason to growl. Neck pickup into a clean amp is all the music needs, and that's all I gave it, and those lessons carried over into this. I could use more engineering, because the direct-to-board playing gave me a percussive click on picking that was not remotely welcome. So, I knew what to sound like, but jazz tone is not jazz playing.<br /><br />Ultimately, though, I blew through the changes. I didn't even blow through the changes. Or maybe I acquitted myself reasonably well and I'm just too self-critical. Tell me, I'm listening.Dave Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15052163927020492687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204188024832829733.post-13599207771396360912015-01-13T13:22:00.000-05:002015-01-13T13:22:21.947-05:00My New Toy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I got a $35 Factory Clearance body and a bridge from <a href="http://www.guitarfetish.com/">GuitarFetish</a>.<br />
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I got an $8 Squier Tele pickup from <a href="https://reverb.com/">Reverb</a>.<br />
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The neck came from a First Act mongrel (Gibson-style 3-per-side headstock, Tele body, Strat pocket, tremolo bridge and controls, single bridge humbucker pickup) that self-destructed years ago.<br />
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Nut is from another guitar, but really fits neither, so I have a capo on the first fret, making it effectively a zero-fret guitar.<br />
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I took the control plate, jack, and strap buttons from other projects, mostly hardware replaced on other guitars. I lost my old jack cup, so black duct tape is serving.<br />
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And, for now, it has no electronics besides a pickup and a jack, yet I still reversed the control plate, because that's how I roll. I'm torn between volume-only ("EVH"), volume w/ push-pull or push-push kill switch, volume/tone/kill, old Esquire wiring, Eldred "cocked-wah" wiring and leaving it just like this. I have a wiring harness I might stick in and leave alone, just to be like that.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDbrYR5zV9pYQPQt6PMAeDIFW8tseGFWcvY5GsYMNRm8uFhOFOGlm3uiolzu3bfs8TVQgcUHnkLPSA7o7MrP2hQzFvht3WcyAf1oWJRzEYgebn70DHY3XICCEJfKhheggnDDi5VK85nds/s1600/20141205_203545.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDbrYR5zV9pYQPQt6PMAeDIFW8tseGFWcvY5GsYMNRm8uFhOFOGlm3uiolzu3bfs8TVQgcUHnkLPSA7o7MrP2hQzFvht3WcyAf1oWJRzEYgebn70DHY3XICCEJfKhheggnDDi5VK85nds/s1600/20141205_203545.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
Because is is a cheap factory reject body (and I still need to work on it to get the neck sitting right, so the high E stays on the neck), I feel free to modify the body in any way I feel like. I have vague plans of carving cool stuff into it with a laser cutter, and I've recently been inspired by <a href="http://imgday.com/2012/12/1978-les-paul-owned-by-johnny-hickman-of-cracker/">the art on Johnny Hickman's "Lucky 7" Les Paul</a>, but looking good pales in comparison to playing good, so that can wait. And I'm thinking about getting another, Tele-style neck, but honestly, I like the way this neck feels.<br /><br />My #1, besides my #1, is called "Johnny" because it was signed by John 5. My white Tele-style was signed by Bill Kirchen, so I call it "Bill". My dual-humbucker Bullet Tele has yet to be named, and the same with this one. Over time, it'll reveal a personality and receive a name.<br />
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I'll set up a camera and play something with it soon. Last time, the mic was close and the amp was far, so you only got the acoustic sound. I'll move an amp closer, or maybe DI it, and try again.Dave Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15052163927020492687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204188024832829733.post-12593987989403279752014-12-15T12:33:00.002-05:002014-12-15T12:33:29.416-05:00Guitar Strings 101: The Three Bears<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We all know the story of Goldilocks, the young lady who thought she could mess with bears' stuff and not get the claws. The finer points of breaking and entering aside, it remains a good metaphor. <br />
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Strings come in ranges, measured in inches. Ernie Ball Regular Slinkys are 0.010 to 0.046 inches, high E to low E. The significant string is the thinnest, corresponding to the highest note. In this case, these are called "tens". <br />
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Jazz players and Stevie Ray Vaughn play with thicker strings, believing the greater mass gives the pickups more to get signal from. They hurt most players fingers, especially if they do something as foolish as try to bend them in standard tuning. Thrash metal players tune down from standard tuning, and the heavier strings make up for the slackness. This range starts at .011 and goes up from there, and we'll say that these are "Papa Bear" strings, too heavy for most uses.<br />
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Big bender types, like B.B. King, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, crazy bending country players, and the guitarist who writes this blog, go for thinner strings because they bend like butter, and if you want more signal, you can always turn up the amp or something, but they require self-control, so you only bend when you want to and don't bend/tighten until they break. This range starts at .008s, and is "Mama Bear" territory. <br />
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Somewhere between is the "just right", where you can bend what you want, but the strings are tight enough to not bend accidentally, where they don't hurt you, but you don't wreck them when tuning up or something. For some, it's .010s ("tens"), for some it's .009 ("nines"). Some makers even have a .0095 set. This is "Baby Bear", and since some guitars with tremolo systems are very hard to set up after string gauge changes, players get adamant. (Teles like mine are easy and forgiving in this regard.)<br />
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The same ideas are true for acoustic guitar, but since there's actual physics of making audible sound involved, and most acoustic players don't bend strings, the "Baby Bear" range is more like .011-.012 for the high string.<br />
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<b>If you are an inexperienced guitarist:</b> I suggest you go with tens, until you can express a reason related to your playing. Not "This guitarist plays heavy strings", but "I can't get the bends I need" or the like. If your fingertips hurt, you're squeezing too hard, which is pulling you out of tune, making your changes slower, and hurting your fingers. There is no good in it, and you're far better off getting your fingering together before you start playing around with other string gauges.<br />
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<b> If you are shopping for a guitarist but know very little about guitar:</b> This is not the place to guess. Ask them. <i>They will tell you what they play</i>, in greater detail than you really want. If they play with a tremolo system — if they have a strange metal arm sticking out of their guitar — there is a balance between strings and springs that needs to stay constant, or else they need to spend hours with screwdrivers and hex keys and tuners getting it back. The player in your life will tell you the gauges, the brand, the product line, and, if you get it wrong, it's like giving a fruitcake, socks, or an ugly Christmas sweater: they'll try to smile to be polite, but inside, they're groaning.Dave Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15052163927020492687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204188024832829733.post-29448818737756108432014-11-05T12:25:00.002-05:002014-11-05T12:25:43.460-05:00Cover Me Up<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ed-0V1kfAPY" width="480"></iframe>
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"Cover Me Up" by Jason Isbell. <br /><br />Arranged and performed by Cameron Mizell. <br /><br />Played on a Telecaster, like all songs should be.</div>
Dave Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15052163927020492687noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204188024832829733.post-49404455597341259372014-10-20T12:43:00.001-04:002014-10-20T12:43:48.696-04:00All The Buzz<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWE49uLChW5jvs6aM2nmnVTTcWRG5CuDtXLFnsGtMlMctj4Rn5zeDJSx-lVG1k0qlr48Qm9J4ZZdv7_PTqzIfCBRpGHuwfrp9Q-_0eppI41yRdXVdGmj8IMWl2w-wWNVydedmkTszD9No/s1600/SSPX0445.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWE49uLChW5jvs6aM2nmnVTTcWRG5CuDtXLFnsGtMlMctj4Rn5zeDJSx-lVG1k0qlr48Qm9J4ZZdv7_PTqzIfCBRpGHuwfrp9Q-_0eppI41yRdXVdGmj8IMWl2w-wWNVydedmkTszD9No/s1600/SSPX0445.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My baby.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I play guitar for my church. The core of my rig is a Boss GT6, but I've found it impossible to have a solid clean tone without the dirty tones just blasting it for volume, so I have a board with a compressor, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPJn_kt_6G8">Washburn Soloist distortion</a>, <a href="http://digitech.com/en-US/products/bad-monkey">DigiTech Bad Monkey</a>, <a href="http://www.ehx.com/products/lpb-1">EHX LPB-1</a> clean boost, <a href="http://www.ehx.com/products/signal-pad">EHX Signal Pad</a> attenuator, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWsmS197qKc">Danelectro Cool Cat</a> tremolo, and <a href="http://www.morleypedals.com/dpla.html">Morley Little Alligator volume pedal</a>, which I connect into the input of the GT6. The pedals are connected mostly with the kind of cables in a jar next to the cash register at Guitar Center. I power the board with a <a href="http://visualsound.net/1-spot-power-supply/1spot/">Visual Sound 1Spot</a>, and normally, it's been no problem.<br />
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Signal starts with my #1, a mid-80s Telecaster I added a four-way switch to, which is my #1 guitar.<br />
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Yesterday, toward the end of service, I noticed a small buzz coming out of my system. I nudged some pedals and got a big buzz. I used the volume pedals to drop the volume and tried to figure out where the buzz was coming from. After service, I poked and found that switching out the cable connecting the board to the GT6 caused the buzz to go away, and switching in two longer cables brought the buzz back.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivaig9TdU8H0p3lSl_p5i3sGzn02mF2TuzGN_ebeewvZgHE-LFoAEm0D8SxlFIunwaSZJBDPX-_nRGuR_ZkWFzsrNfYAVVzz3XvUfc1WfVglGfMMhQkdnLVbHgOpSzXKb3PEl4JHHngxU/s1600/20140308_142044.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivaig9TdU8H0p3lSl_p5i3sGzn02mF2TuzGN_ebeewvZgHE-LFoAEm0D8SxlFIunwaSZJBDPX-_nRGuR_ZkWFzsrNfYAVVzz3XvUfc1WfVglGfMMhQkdnLVbHgOpSzXKb3PEl4JHHngxU/s1600/20140308_142044.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is close, except I swapped locations for the Signal Pad <br />and Cool Cat, and swapped out the Death Metal, <br />which as too much gain for anything I need. I should redo <br />with the dirt pedals in the front row. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Yesterday evening, setting up to play again, I simplified to just Tele -> GT6 -> DI, and immediately got all the buzz in the world, and found that, by turning down the volume on the guitar, I could change the pitch of the buzz. I expected either 1) nothing would happen, showing the problem was in the pedalboard, or 2) the volume would go down, showing the problem was with the instrument or involved the single-coil hum. What I got surprised me and I could base no diagnosis on it.<br />
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I was handed a loaner guitar and the issues went away.<br />
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This morning, I plugged my #1 into my amp at home and it sounded just like I'd expect.<br />
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I honestly have only the slightest idea as to what went on. I've had problems at that venue before, and the problems I've had with buzz there, I've had nowhere else. Then again, I'm normally either into the DI at church or my amp at home (or elsewhere).<br /><br />My thoughts about the fix include:<br />
<ul>
<li>taking the #1 to the shop and see if my rewiring is problematic</li>
<li>moving up to the next level for patch cables</li>
<li>going from a 1Spot to a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power or the like</li>
<li>finding a means to have a special ground for my gear</li>
</ul>
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I'm in a confused state on the issue, and will have to plug things in and try things out to try to solve things. Any comments or suggestions?</div>
Dave Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15052163927020492687noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204188024832829733.post-39393213789150800552014-10-18T14:08:00.000-04:002014-10-18T14:08:11.199-04:00Walking Bass for "Without God"<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/IBoFgnJBP_c" width="420"></iframe><br />
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This is Robert Randolph from the album <i>Sacred Steel Vol 2: Live! </i>This is before Family Band, before playing with Clapton at Crossroads. My favorite version of this is from the album <i>The Word</i>, which was Robert playing with the North Mississippi All-Stars and John Medeski on organ, where they just pump on this jam for seven minutes. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Word/dp/B00005M98F">Get the album.</a><br />
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There's a bass part that gets repeated for a long time that goes something like this:
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<pre>G +------------------------------------
D +--3---------0-1-2-3---------0-1-2-3-
A +----0-1-2-3---------0-1-2-3---------
D +------------------------------------
</pre>
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I could play it for a long time before I got what was going on there.<br /><br />What's going on is, it outlines an F chord, starting with the octave, dropping to the major third (A), then climbing chromatically through the fourth (Bb), flat fifth (B), perfect fifth (C), jumping to the major sixth (D), minor seventh (Eb), major seventh (E) and back up to F. I hadn't really broken up what else was going on, so in my mind, I was categorizing it as being about the A chord, not the F chord.Dave Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15052163927020492687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204188024832829733.post-2127762525012131262014-07-22T13:16:00.002-04:002014-07-22T13:16:28.554-04:00That Went BetterIt's been a while since I've written up anything, and that's largely because I haven't been playing much to write about. I <i>did</i> play last Sunday, though.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2E6-5C5L-8HwE_o3BATIT64aFaJhxq1Fk1hMzh4pjCg0Ro19BQYw3txMpu7L_NkelC0H1jPygUPMBMHNxHRES90AyjpLiDMV7U53e3s9ii2PTxG7iC8TdixbcmXXaFxINySJs6kbm6as/s1600/2014-01-26+19.51.15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2E6-5C5L-8HwE_o3BATIT64aFaJhxq1Fk1hMzh4pjCg0Ro19BQYw3txMpu7L_NkelC0H1jPygUPMBMHNxHRES90AyjpLiDMV7U53e3s9ii2PTxG7iC8TdixbcmXXaFxINySJs6kbm6as/s1600/2014-01-26+19.51.15.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My #1 with colorful reflection and a skinny western-style strap.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I bring my #1, a 1988 MIJ Fender Tele, and my newer HH Squier Bullet Tele as a backup. I took to getting skinny western-style guitar straps, but with my recent weight loss, I've found they hurt my collar bone, so I swapped in the 30-year-old wide strap I've mostly used for my acoustic.<br />
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I've put my amp pedalboard (currently comp > Washburn OD > DigiTech Bad Monkey OD > EHX LPB-1 clean boost > EHX Signal Pad attenuator > Danelectro Tremolo > Morley volume pedal) in front of my Boss GT-6 because I've found it very easy to choose settings that change the sound without the volume that way, while doing the same with the GT-6 is more difficult, and the sound of GT-6 through a PA is different than the sound via an amp, so I can really only do it before practice/soundcheck/service where there's a time crunch.<br />
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What made it interesting to me was the styles I had to cover. We started with "Alive" by Hillsong Young & Free, which had me hit a bright and clean disco tone with a very loose right hand, followed with "Your Love Never Fails". I hit grainy arpeggios with the Bad Monkey while the acoustic player held the major part of it.<br /><br />At the end, there was a surprise substitution of "Revelation Song", which was great for me, because it's a song I know by heart and have a lead in. There were a few train wrecks and we could've gone with another run-through, but by and large, I think we nailed it, which always feels good.<br /><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/QT8X_lK5aYM" width="480"></iframe>Dave Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15052163927020492687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204188024832829733.post-89984083244280736732014-03-03T10:22:00.000-05:002014-03-03T10:22:35.458-05:00That Went PoorlyI played at church Sunday morning, and call time is 7:45am.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3AmfUOG60430oQKSemV9tZFHLm7o6ignX3XNJuoYlI1l5I81sD1Z4jVYHhXLERGezku4MAWe3QU4MW62VnpSnpxoC3IY5oI48DhEch2xoj3k-b-NVQjc9ENgWOJAHJ1QJhrPrTS5irR4/s1600/20140302_123411.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3AmfUOG60430oQKSemV9tZFHLm7o6ignX3XNJuoYlI1l5I81sD1Z4jVYHhXLERGezku4MAWe3QU4MW62VnpSnpxoC3IY5oI48DhEch2xoj3k-b-NVQjc9ENgWOJAHJ1QJhrPrTS5irR4/s1600/20140302_123411.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
It snowed the night before, so the roads were slick, which meant that I was later than I wanted to be.<br /><br />We play through Avioms for stage monitors, and they come with a headphone jack. I had a pair of Shures on-loan from the church, and they had been sounding worse and worse, to the point that, on the practice for this week's practice, I finally gave up on them. I brought my work headphones home precisely so I could use them for service. And somewhere between home and church, they broke somehow. I was able to use the worship-leader's pair, as he was using someone else's loaner higher-end Shures, but when I found out, I almost cried.<br />
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Because I slept well from 10pm to 2am, then woke up, and because of a headache that could've been illness, could've been caffeine withdrawal, or any humber of other things, I could not sleep for more than a half-hour after that. So, I was coming into this situation tired and with a headache. In fact, between the headache, the sleeplessness and the snow, I was considering calling in sick.<br /><br />In general, when given a choice between playing a lead part and playing big chords that fill the sound, I'm asked to play big chords, and through the many years of playing, I have come very able to play the rhythm parts to songs I don't know, just by reading the charts. I find it improvisational and fun. But, I found at practice, he wanted me to play the lead parts. Which I did not know.<br /><br />Practice was Thursday, and so was the funeral of the drummer's family member, and practice without the drummer makes everything suck.<br />
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The final two pieces are the first two songs. The first song has an unaccompanied guitar lead-in, and the second song is in a slower tempo, but the worship leader wanted them to segue, so the first song was given a slower tempo to match. I learned the lead-in on Friday, but I learned it at standard tempo, not the slower tempo. And even if I had it down on Thursday, I couldn't have practiced it slowly with the drummer, because the drummer was not there.<br /><br />So, we <i>never</i> were able to have that intended intro come off as planned. I was too tired to adjust the timing. I was unprepared coming in to play that lead lick that slow. Broken gear and exhaustion pushed me off my game. (I had my walking-around headphones, which, having a third channel for the mic, did not it well in the jack, but it could've worked too. Remember, kids: Two is one, one is none.) There were other leads, and I handled them well, but the beginning is the one I judge that morning by, and by that, I judge that I came in and stunk up the place.<br /><br />Give me a chord progression and a tempo, I can find something cool to do with it. Give me a strong composed lead and change the tempo from the recorded version and I fall down, it seems. And knowing how you suck is the first step to stop sucking like that.Dave Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15052163927020492687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204188024832829733.post-40006896858068774572014-02-28T18:48:00.001-05:002014-02-28T18:48:22.704-05:00Bill Monroe picked a Tele<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/AEb3-RC2DBI" width="480"></iframe><br />
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Redd Volkaert's pink Tele, even. Too cool for words.Dave Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15052163927020492687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204188024832829733.post-5698236115124255762014-01-29T15:18:00.001-05:002014-01-29T15:18:51.637-05:00Have to credit the new image<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSMtYPbgpSyj45R5hmPE5FJPB-bDW7WocLsa2VV8mVF7xRrPnxmMJd_p9uGzf5WkD-WootK75DV40h67W8r7zEEl9Hcz_JzSdH1nIW6MP3nPcAPaW5_FMzyatJ4Wz8_9MEqT1z8ykFq_E/s1600/Tele.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSMtYPbgpSyj45R5hmPE5FJPB-bDW7WocLsa2VV8mVF7xRrPnxmMJd_p9uGzf5WkD-WootK75DV40h67W8r7zEEl9Hcz_JzSdH1nIW6MP3nPcAPaW5_FMzyatJ4Wz8_9MEqT1z8ykFq_E/s640/Tele.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br />That guitar is an x-ray of a 64 Tele reissue, part of <a href="http://guitarkadia.com/emon/guest-post/the-true-adventures-of-the-great-guitar-x-ray-project/">Project X-Ray</a>, getting a deeper picture into classic guitars. It really shows how bear-bones the thing is. There's also shots of some harp guitars, guitars made by C.F. Martin and Orville Gibson, and some golden-era Gibson's and Martins. The project started to see if there's a difference between the Gibson instruments built pre-WWII and those built by the "Kalamazoo Gals" during the war. <a href="http://www.vintagesteelguitarart.com/vintage_steel_004.htm">Check it out!</a></div>
Dave Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15052163927020492687noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204188024832829733.post-19691218188695388722013-08-20T09:53:00.001-04:002013-08-20T09:53:44.875-04:00NGD Squier Bullet HH Tele<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4A8VuoekBic/UgwjRqNNpMI/AAAAAAAARnE/rIixYDq_BGI/s1600/20130814_200322.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4A8VuoekBic/UgwjRqNNpMI/AAAAAAAARnE/rIixYDq_BGI/s400/20130814_200322.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Guitars, left to right: <br />
1986 MIJ Fender Tele, murdered out by owner, <br />
2013 Squier Bullet Tele, murdered out by factory.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I saw a deal on Musician's Friend and couldn't resist. It's a <a href="http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/squier-bullet-telecaster-hh-blackout-fsr-electric-guitar">Squier Bullet Telecaster HH Blackout FSR</a> and cost me $150. I was getting a new gig bag (seen in the background) and could not resist.<br />
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Honestly, I like the look of a maple neck on an all-black body (heavily influenced by Sting's video for <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiPiRKbNCWY">"Fortress Around Your Heart"</a> — I should get a black Strat with a big CBS headstock some day) so I've been thinking of getting a maple Squier neck off eBay for it.<br />
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I was a little worried, because I've played budget guitars from even decent brands that had issues, and getting a guitar you never touched is somewhat worrisome. The biggest issue I've had is frets that stick out of the side of the neck. But this guitar has none of those issues. As you might guess from the picture, I've played it out once. The humbuckers have higher output than my #1 guitar's single-coils, which means I'm going to have to set up another set of patches to my pedalboard so that the output is about the same.<br /><br />Right now, it is my "working" guitar, as I'm not liking the stage buzz on my old Tele, I have to work out some issues and maybe get some new pickups for my Hohner Steinberger copy, and my white Tele copy has some fretboard issues above the 12th fret, making it only good for rhythm playing. That means I won't do any mods until I have another guitar fully functional. But, when I get to that point, I have so many ideas for this thing. Since it has a six-saddle bridge, I could easily put on a <a href="http://www.graphtech.com/products/product-categories/electronics">GraphTech Ghost</a> system and fairly easily switch between acoustic and electric sounds on it. No, wait: Looks like <a href="http://www.graphtech.com/products/brands/ghost/product-detail/pn-8163-00-ghost-pickup-tele-3-barrel-saddles?id=089bc32b-c00f-4fe2-9dfb-3e2ec481f74c">GraphTech now sells 3-barrel Ghost saddles for Teles</a>. They didn't before. Maybe I should put that in my #1? And when I do, switch to <a href="http://www.seymourduncan.com/products/electric/telecaster/high-output/hot_rails_for_t/">Seymour Duncan Hot Rails</a> to up the output?<br /><br />Or maybe not. I've been thinking of that mod for over a decade. Anyway, eventually I will have the HH set up for volume-tone-switch, like my #1, instead of switch-volume-tone. That's the non-negotiable.Dave Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15052163927020492687noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3204188024832829733.post-55701281635221877132013-08-20T09:19:00.001-04:002013-08-20T09:19:15.078-04:00Lap Steel Synth<div>
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<br />I've been curious about getting a guitar synth setup and putting it on a lap steel for a while. This shows me that it'd be everything I'd want and more. The "Crazy Vibrato Opera Singer" patch, if used with single notes and not chords, seems like it'd be all the setup you need to simulate theremin playing.<br /><br />That is, if you're playing it like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPZQi2m7i9Y">Clara Rockmore</a>, not <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JtLHa3q37w">Jimmy Page</a>.</div>
Dave Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15052163927020492687noreply@blogger.com0