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Post by grayn on Sept 26, 2023 12:57:40 GMT
Here's a nice video of Minor Swing, played really nicely and without some of the hyper gymnastics, many modern players tend to use. It's played on the Altamira M01, a lowish priced GJ guitar.
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Phil Taylor
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Post by Phil Taylor on Sept 26, 2023 15:25:00 GMT
I like this guys channel. Lots of solo gypsy jazz
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Post by delb0y on Oct 9, 2023 8:32:27 GMT
Just back from Malta (what a lovely city old Valletta is!) and consequently a week without playing puts me about eight weeks back in ability. So it's back to the woodshed to practice with a vengeance. Something I was thinking about whilst away and now want to try is to find a way to cut out all the sympathetic ringing on this new GJ guitar. I don't get it on the oval hole (or any other acoustic), but it's pretty bad on the D hole. A quick Google reveals this is a known issue on these cheaper (*) GJ guitars. I'm thinking a thin band of material or a rubber band fitted over and under the strings just above the nut. Luckily, for this style, open strings are pretty rare - almost all the chords I use are "jazz" chords so such a device wouldn't impede me. Lead playing, same thing really.
Anyone employ such a hack?
Anyway, I shall try a few things and report back!
(*) It's all relative!
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Post by Onechordtrick on Oct 9, 2023 10:23:07 GMT
Just back from Malta (what a lovely city old Valletta is!) and consequently a week without playing puts me about eight weeks back in ability. So it's back to the woodshed to practice with a vengeance. Something I was thinking about whilst away and now want to try is to find a way to cut out all the sympathetic ringing on this new GJ guitar. I don't get it on the oval hole (or any other acoustic), but it's pretty bad on the D hole. A quick Google reveals this is a known issue on these cheaper (*) GJ guitars. I'm thinking a thin band of material or a rubber band fitted over and under the strings just above the nut. Luckily, for this style, open strings are pretty rare - almost all the chords I use are "jazz" chords so such a device wouldn't impede me. Lead playing, same thing really. Anyone employ such a hack? Anyway, I shall try a few things and report back! (*) It's all relative! Had a similar problem with a mandolin and the fix was exactly as you suggest. I used a strip of leather that I weaved through each course of strings
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Post by delb0y on Oct 11, 2023 17:58:16 GMT
So following on from the previous posts I was unable to source a nice thin bit of leather, so I tried an elastic band. It sort of worked - but looked horrible and wasn't quite right. I put on my thinking cap and in the end cut a slim piece of rubber from a strip of rubber that came with a bike computer and was used to wrap around the bike handlebars if some packing was needed to get the computer to sit right. I have various such pieces of rubber of varying thickness. In the end the piece I used still needed a tiny bit more depth so I simply folded a piece of paper over a few times and put this beneath the rubber, then slid the whole lot right up against the zero fret. The beauty of this fix is it's almost invisible. You'll just see the edge of the white paper (should've used black!) in the video below.
Tone-wise it's far better - hasn't got rid of the sympathetic ringing totally, but probably about 80%. I can still play open strings, although the set-up seems to confuse my Snark tuner. I've read that the best solution is to buy a Dupont bridge, but they cost £80ish, and I've already bought new tuners on what was meant to be a cheap and cheerful experiment. Nevertheless, I daresay I will get that bridge one day...
Meanwhile, here's a quick version of All Of Me with the fix in place.
Cheers! D
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Post by martinrowe on Oct 11, 2023 22:19:01 GMT
I thought I just sent this so here's my second try. George Sansome asked a similar question a while ago - click on the gsans moniker about four posts down and you can see his question on his threads. Here's my answer - I think it worked: " I got these last year for my Mandolin and they work fine: www.amazon.co.uk/Inside-Diameter-Wearing-Resistant-Grommets/dp/B008AGMM6Q/ref=sr_1_6?crid=24N6K1LY6LDS0&dchild=1&keywords=rubber+grommets+white&qid=1615066690&sprefix=rubber+grommets%2Caps%2C158&sr=8-6They come up if you search for 'rubber grommets white' on Amazon. The ones I bought are for sale for £3.32 at the moment. You could see if anyone has used them for a guitar by looking at the comments. I took a chance and they fitted the mandolin. They're just rubber with a thin groove around the diameter where the string(s) sit and are fairly flexible. I don't know if they'll fit a guitar but they work fine for the Mandolin - they go in the spaces between the strings behind the floating bridge and dampen them. I'd think they would work behind the nut on a guitar as well. " It is a known problem on a mandolin and this is the solution. I would think that it should work on a gypsy guitar due to the floating bridge. Even if it doesn't you'll be able to say that you once bought some grommets - not everyone can say that. Hope it helps.
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Post by grayn on Oct 12, 2023 6:52:54 GMT
Nice playing delb0y. The sympathetic string ring doesn't really bother me, as I play really hard on single notes and do a lot of muting on chords. But I see how it could get on your nerves and your remedy seems a good one. I always thought the ringing would be between bridge and tailpiece. I wonder if the longer scale and tighter tone on the oval hole contributes to no ringing?
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Phil Taylor
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Post by Phil Taylor on Oct 25, 2023 16:39:21 GMT
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Post by delb0y on Oct 26, 2023 12:20:30 GMT
That's lovely. Sven is a great player and has a really good GJ channel.
Must confess I've neglected my GJ playing for about three weeks. Had a week in Malta and when we got back I picked up a blues fingerpicking solo gig (a support slot - so probably only 30 / 40 mins) and have been busy working up a set for that. But I have a GJ jam next Tuesday and so am going to have to put some work in over the next few days.
Derek
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Post by gsans on Oct 27, 2023 8:32:17 GMT
As martinrowe mentions above, I was having trouble with unwanted resonance behind the nut on my guitar - tried a couple of things and I ended up with a small strip of dense foam underneath the strings behind the nut. I change strings pretty often and sometimes break them onstage, and the foam doesn't go anywhere when either of those happen. I also have a string mute which I use every now and then when I'm recording while using a capo past about the 4th fret. Sometimes if I'm playing hard the strings resonate behind the capo, which is particularly noticeable if I'm muting with my right hand. I bought a gruvgear fretwrap and it's perfect for this.
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Post by delb0y on Oct 27, 2023 14:16:09 GMT
I've been a bit unsure about the Gitane D500. That sympathetic ringing and the brightness on chords has been getting me wondering. But the little bit of rubber against the zero fret has cured the first issue and as the strings get older I suspect the brightness will fade a little. So anyway, I got the old Manouche Modele Jazz out and have been playing that, and a few things strike me:
1) With my (still) bad (but improving) shoulder the longer neck of the Manouche is far less comfortable than the 12 fret Gitane. 2) The Gitane is way easier to play. Didn't really notice this until I played them side by side. 3) Playing them side by side is a brain-scrambler as the difference length necks means my hands are going to the wrong fret on which ever guitar I play second, and the 9th fret marker is on the 10th fret on the Manouche (as it is for most GJ guitars). 4) I like them both, but I will need to work out whether I need them both, and if so, when would I play the 12 fret D and when would I play the 14 fret oval?
Here's a very quick run through on All Of Me(same rhythm track as I used earlier in this thread - played on the Manouche) to highlight the difference in lead tone.
Cheers D
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Phil Taylor
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Post by Phil Taylor on Oct 27, 2023 19:39:53 GMT
I've listened a few times and have come to the conclusion that I can't say which sound I prefer from the video through reasonable headphones. I suppose trad gypsy jazz guitars have a certain sound of which I suspect characteristics such as sustain and overtones aren't generally required. I could be wrong though. Sorry, not much help. Lovely playing though
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Post by grayn on Oct 29, 2023 6:32:00 GMT
Nicely played again, delb0y. Great tune that. TBH, I think your style of playing suits the D500. I mean that you don't adopt the hard picking technique and the D500's fuller tone suits the finesse you put into your playing. Both do sound very nice though.
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Post by delb0y on Oct 31, 2023 17:30:53 GMT
Used the D500 at today's jam session and it handled itself really well. Very loud. I mean... very loud. I was thinking it might be overly bright for the rhythm parts, but I was able to play soft through to loud, short and dry, or long and sustained, and all sounded good. Very pleased. We even do a bit of non-GJ stuff - some thumb-picking - and the D500 handled that very well, too.
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Post by grayn on Nov 5, 2023 8:39:03 GMT
Used the D500 at today's jam session and it handled itself really well. Very loud. I mean... very loud. I was thinking it might be overly bright for the rhythm parts, but I was able to play soft through to loud, short and dry, or long and sustained, and all sounded good. Very pleased. We even do a bit of non-GJ stuff - some thumb-picking - and the D500 handled that very well, too. Great stuff. The D500 is definitely a versatile beast.
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