advertisement


Guitar talk: acoustic, bass, classical, twelve string? You name it!

Status
Not open for further replies.
gavreid said:
I'm the same with LZ. I was also never into shredding for the sake of it - ever heard e.g. Paul Gilbert trying to play Gary Moore, one of the big 'talents' of his generation but he just can't seem to get any feeling into his playing? I only liked guitar music if there was a strong melody to it, I like tasteful fills and strong songs plus the odd solo, Mick Ronson springs to mind just now.
Click to expand...

The more I look and listen to Gary Moore, the more I see what a freaky player he was.

He would do these shreds that were totally in keeping and could hold a single note like Gilmour too.
 
matthewr said:
For someone who loves guitars, I don't actually like much guitar music. All forms of metal have never been my cup of tea but also all the blues rock based stuff from the 60s and 70s has always left me cold.

I don't even like Led Zep very much and have never owned any of their records.
Click to expand...

I like proper blues, e.g. John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters etc and would certainly suggest that was worth a look if you haven’t already mined it. I’ve likewise never had any time for metal aside from a short time where I found Napalm Death and their ilk somewhat amusing.

Bizarely I do own very upmarket and collectable Classic Records audiophile cuts of the first four Led Zep albums (they came in with a collection). They are just sitting in my collection as an appreciating asset really, I’ve never connected with the band at all beyond maybe a couple of tracks on the first album, and Whole Lot Of Love remnds me of one particular pub and time-period. Not something I’d ever dig out to play. My main problem with all those blues rock bands is they are entirely negated by Jimi Hendrix. There is just no point to them as say Electric Ladyland is just in a whole other ballpark, as is say A Tribute To Jack Johnson by Miles Davis. Its like trying to copy say Durutti Column, there just isn’t anywhere further to go in that direction!

My favourite guitarists these days are the likes of Kenny Burrell, Grant Green, Wes Montgomery, George Benson etc I guess, i.e. very much jazz. It doesn’t influence what I play as I can’t do that sort of stuff at all! I’m still a fifth-rate punk/new-wave guitarist, if that.
 
It's just the blues rock stuff traditionally associated with guitars that never really clicked with me. But pretty much anything else.

In terms of playing I am pretty terrible. But then I saw a youtube video on "what to learn next for improving guitarists" and it turns out I know more than I think and I suspect I am at the level lots of people get stuck at because you need a) lots of practise and b) talent to get past.

Currently trying to learn SRVs "Pride & Joy" because it's just such a great freaking tune to play even badly. I can do the intro and almost, sort of half do the main shuffle. And it's such a fantastic guitar tone which just needs a tube screamer

PS Jazz is easy. Just play all the notes you normally miss out :)
 
matthewr said:
PS Jazz is easy. Just play all the notes you normally miss out :)
Click to expand...

Just need to get the order right, and you’re there.

No-one has mentioned one of my favourite rock-blues players. Rory Gallagher. If I could play a tenth as well as him I’d be extremely happy.
 
To us, he was the Man.

Saw him in the Ulster hall c. 1978(ish). Broke a string early in the opening number - Souped Up Ford - but just kept going all the way through a 3 song blitzkrieg medley. We then met him coming out of one of the local hostelrys at about 2am that morning - how's it going lads/nod of the head and a smile. Lovely genuine guy.
 
Love listening to guitar but totally useless at playing. I recently acquired this beauty - Fender Squier Telecaster Thinline (thanks so much @Whaleblue !) and am thoroughly enjoying it. I'm a total beginner - when I last played, 10 years ago, it was mainly finger picking / folk style but now I am trying to get used to using a plectrum and maybe picking out some tunes. I don't really know what I'm doing but it's fun to pause, most days, and play a little. I have a basic practice amp so a very simple set-up.

IMG_3004 by Ian123_running, on Flickr

The last good guitarist I saw was the session leader in a 'play what you bring' bar in Barcelona last month. He played like he was born holding a guitar. Amazing.

Great thread btw
 
Anyone tried the Waves PRS amp simulation plug-ins? I've had them for a week or so now and I've been floored by the experience ($49 at the moment). They work too as stand-alone apps so you don't need a daw and all that gubbins, just a cheap Focusrite or somesuch and a buffer (like a BOSS tuner say)

prs-supermodels.png

https://www.waves.com/plugins/prs-supermodels
 
It has power amp modelling but the WoS is more about cab and mic sims and rack/studio effects.
 
Spent a fair bit of time the last while trying to get 'a nice tone' from the two LP / Humbuckers type guitars - and trying to understand the relative importance of the pickups / volume and tone settings / and the amplifier settings. There are endless videos around showing how to use the volume and tone settings front and rear to create a variety of tones - which works even on my cr@ppy amp (..to a degree).

Then came across a further video by the (usually) controversial Scott Grove:


Bit of a long video, probably not worth watching all the way through unless you have to much time to burn. The essence of it is that the best tones are invariably found by just cracking the volume and tone controls on the guitar pickups round to full (or pretty close) - to give the amps the best signal to work with - and then sort your sound preferences out using the controls on the amp.

I can see parallels with the higher end boxes in the audiophile world, where 'tone' controls are viewed as unnecessary additions in the signal path, and viewed as a bit of an anathema.(He is a custom guitar builder by trade, and puts his money where his mouth is by excluding volume/tone controls on his own creations.)

A bit of experimentation suggests - again on a pretty poor amp - he may not be too far off the mark. (Also happens to confirm I need a decent amp sooner rather than later. which is another matter.. :()

I was wondering - what's the general experience out there for finding and nailing down the best tone: play around with anything and everything until you hit a sweet spot, or do you have some kind of rules and structured approach like our man above ?
 
-alan- said:
I was wondering - what's the general experience out there for finding and nailing down the best tone: play around with anything and everything until you hit a sweet spot, or do you have some kind of rules and structured approach like our man above ?
Click to expand...

I think a lot depends on whether you have a guitar with the type of volume knob that robs treble as you turn it down or not, and if so whether that suits your style/taste or not. My Yam SC1200 doesn’t seem to do this, the volume just seems to make it quieter/louder. As such I tend to set things up so my Boss BD-2 is starting to ‘crunch’ with the guitar on 6-7 on both vol and tone, which makes for a lot of range just using the guitar’s controls and pickup selector. Same with a good fuzz pedal, you want to control that with the guitar vol knob, not the knobs on the pedal as I understand it.

PS I’ll watch the vid later and see if I change my mind any!
 
Excellent, I’ll be interested to see how you get on. The Crimson kits do look really nice quality. My only concern with them is once you’ve paid for the kit, pickups, finish, necessary tools etc etc you could probably have bought one of their rather cool Raw Series, maybe even a Custom!
 
Tony L said:
Excellent, I’ll be interested to see how you get on. The Crimson kits do look really nice quality. My only concern with them is once you’ve paid for the kit, pickups, finish, necessary tools etc etc you could probably have bought one of their rather cool Raw Series, maybe even a Custom!
Click to expand...

I know, that's absolutely right, but I have all the hardware already, a good guitar toolbox, and some Monty's pafs! My right arm's bu**ered so I will need to do it all left handed - that's the real issue.
 
When restringing my £50 ‘70 Yam classical earlier I had my first go with the Crimson Fretboard Restorative stuff I bought a while back. It seems really nice stuff, far ‘gloopier’ than the lemon oil that came with my Gibson kit and seems to sit there far longer rather than evaporating off. I very much doubt I’ll be using lemon oil again.
 
For those who only occasionally watch “Guitar of the Day” from Norman’s Rare Guitars on YouTube, presenter Mark Agnesi is leaving to join Gibson as “Director of Brand Experience”.
 
Stunsworth said:
For those who only occasionally watch “Guitar of the Day” from Norman’s Rare Guitars on YouTube, presenter Mark Agnesi is leaving to join Gibson as “Director of Brand Experience”.
Click to expand...

I've watched GotD religiously from the beginning. It won't be the same without Mark but that's a great move by Gibson inventing a high profile position like that. I wonder if the move's in anticipation of Norm's retirement in the next few years, he's clearly selling off his 'collector-grade' stock.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.


advertisement


Back
Top