Cool Floral Teles from Fender Japan

Those in the know are well aware that many of the coolest, best made Strats and Teles come from Fender Japan, and this floral Tele, one of a series of kimono-inspired floral designs, shows it. Hat tip to Guitarz for making me aware of these.

Indianola, as played by Eilidh McKellar

Stratoblogster annonted Eilidh McKellar as a Strat-o-Sister, sure, but notice the lack of top horn on her guitar. She's one of us Tele pickers. Come to think of it, when Robbin Ford (whose song she's playing) plays single coils, doesn't he play a Tele too?

I love a top-bound sunburst Tele. Don't you?

The Lick: Post-Game Analysis

I played the Lick a lot this weekend.

As presented to me when I saw it first, it was a Dorian lick: 1 2 b3 4 2 b7 1. I could force a Dorian mode lick into an otherwise major scale bit, but that's not thinking modally. Also, it's forcing a minor third where the listener is expecting the major third. So, as I played it, it was more 2 3 4 5 3 1 2. In the context I got it in, it was an F-heavy C song, and as it is in C, the 2 is D, and where I played it, it followed chords going to G, and of course D is the fifth of G, so it just layed on nice.

If you don't know this lick, learn it. Now.

Because everybody else knows it and uses it.

Everybody.

Note To Soundmen

I play with a multi-effects processor, into a D/I box. I generate no sound except what the guitar does acoustically and what you let get through the PA system.

During soundcheck in venues where there is no monitor mix, when we're asking for more or less sound, I will ask for enough volume that I can hear myself. I am sensitive to the idea that others don't want me to completely overpower what they're doing, and that, in a guitar/keys/vox setup, the singer wants to take most of the queues from  the keys.

This means, at the end of sound check, I am literally running at the lowest volume I can effectively hear myself at. If you decide to lower my headroom, there might be a place I can push myself, but you are giving me a choice between not being heard and sounding like a garbage disposal.

I do not want to be a prima donna.

I do not want to be silent.

I do not want to sound like a garbage disposal.

If given a choice between silence and garbage disposal, I will pack up my gear mid-song next time. Just watch me.

Did 2011 Develop A New "Umbrella" Without Telling Me? Or, "Yes! Oh My Gosh!"

And, of course, the sources :

How To Not Suck, Chapter 23: Failure to Plan is Planning to Fail

I am subscribed to the Flatpick-L mailing list (although I rarely read these days) and I checked in and saw poster Bryan Kimsey post the following:

I'm reading the FGM with Grant Gordy on the cover and I saw a statement that struck me; "if you don't have a goal when you're practicing, then you're not practicing."

He went on to explain how, to him, he plays guitar without goals because it is the one area in his life where he allows himself to not be goal-oriented. Good for him, but not everyone is him. Personally, I have two or three points providing goals for my guitar playing. There's what I want to play and what I actually play.

What I want to play tends to come with technical limitations. I want to learn to play against a tap-tempo delay. I want to play with a guitar synth. I would love to have a computer interface and program effects that relate to how I'm playing the instrument. I have no audio interface or software. I have no piezo bridges. I don't have a tap tempo delay pedal, and I cannot interact with those goals until I take steps forward in my gear acquisition, which is not going to happen any time soon.

What I actually play is what I play every Wednesday and every other Sunday at church. Each song has challenges and parts to learn, but very little of it is challenging. My goal, at best, is to get a sense of the changes, a sense of the melody, and get this lick or that lick under my fingers so I don't have to think about it when the time comes. Sometimes, I have to work through the sounds on a track -- it has a sitar-like bit and a digital delay set for the U2 thing here, and then a distortion here -- but that's not really practice.

So, my suck comes from a lack of direction (see blog title), but the way of not sucking is to set goals and practice to work toward them. Without the goal, you're just playing.