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Post by scripsit on Jun 20, 2018 7:28:25 GMT
Only if you want to make electric noises.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Jun 20, 2018 5:21:37 GMT
You are looking for the same sort of amplifier that works for acoustic guitar. If it has sophisticated EQ controls (eg bass, mid, treble and specific frequency notch cut), so much the better if you need to shape your sound.
And, yes. the mini Marshall is a toy (I have one, and would like the bar fridge shaped like a marshall stack, too). Fun to plug an electric guitar into and set on the dirty channel when you want to be Jimi Hendrix while everyone elsewhere in the house is trying to sleep, but seriously under-powered for amplifying an electric instrument up to 'acoustic' level, and with no EQ adjustment.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Jun 16, 2018 1:00:02 GMT
Aha, but no picture back before you closed the box.
It's like picking up a magazine (for the articles, of course) but noticing that the centrefold is missing.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Jun 15, 2018 9:31:14 GMT
Francis, do we have a secret top bracing, now?
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Jun 8, 2018 13:31:42 GMT
I really dislike the dread size and shape, at least for playing sitting down. I find the right arm positions in particular become uncomfortable very quickly. Dreads are also ... how can I put this politely? ... very very ugly. I think it was Somogyi who pointed out that the box shape is based almost entirely on the necessities of industrial production (small side bends, big box which overemphasizes mid-range without fine tuning to give the impression of big bass etc).
I think the 000/OM is the perfect box, for both aesthetics and comfort. I prefer long scale tension (650mm or so), but increasingly am leaning to 12 fret body join as the best in terms of reach and sound.
Kym
Somogyi’s thoughts on the dreadnaught are very strange seeing as he has become synonymous with his “modified dreadnaught” shape that he and his disciples expound. Also, by the same principals, the Stratocaster (and before it the Telecaster) are probably the ultimate guitars designed for the production line, and yet, for many people these shapes define the very idea of an electric guitar. Imcertainly don’t think the dreadnaught is ugly, except when it has a cutaway, then it looks just plane wrong. In fact, I find any guitar with a cutaway a bit wonky, but I certainly appreciate the enhanced access it gives to the upper end of the fingerboard. The Stratocaster is the ultimate version of a comfortable fit (even though, yes yes it was designed for a production line), with the bevels that mould it to your own body when you have it strapped on. Especially compared with the crushing and shoulder damaging weight of a Les Paul over a three or four set night. I speak as someone that played a borrowed genuine 50s goldtop for far too long, back in the day. Yes, I came from a generation that basically had these as the two major choices (unless you were a country or, worse, Eagles fan, in which case you used a Tele and committed brain surgery on everyone in listening range with surgical trebles).
Pinching in the waist of a dread a bit further makes a surprising amount of difference to both look and ergonomics. Good old Ervin worked that out, although I'm not sure that all of the imitators do it for the same reasons. The guitar in my signature is based on a Martin 0000 shape, the box of which is about the same volume as a standard dread, but it's much more comfortable when it's sitting on my knee.
I find a well shaped cutaway to be quite beautiful.
Dreads just look like dreads.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Jun 7, 2018 23:33:57 GMT
I really dislike the dread size and shape, at least for playing sitting down. I find the right arm positions in particular become uncomfortable very quickly. Dreads are also ... how can I put this politely? ... very very ugly. I think it was Somogyi who pointed out that the box shape is based almost entirely on the necessities of industrial production (small side bends, big box which overemphasizes mid-range without fine tuning to give the impression of big bass etc).
I think the 000/OM is the perfect box, for both aesthetics and comfort. I prefer long scale tension (650mm or so), but increasingly am leaning to 12 fret body join as the best in terms of reach and sound.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on May 7, 2018 12:23:19 GMT
D'Addario EJ24's work well for me for those tunings and standard - 13, 17, 24, 32, 42, 56. Agree: I use these for missionary tuning on a long scale (650 mm), too. I find the not-12 gauges provide good feel and intonation, even with big fret stretches. <Arnold Schwarzenegger voice> You should stop using those girly-man strings </Arnold Schwarzenegger voice> Kym
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Post by scripsit on May 3, 2018 13:07:25 GMT
Forget the oil/wax/'guitar product'. Warm water, rubbed off with a bit of tee-shirt. For both fret boards and guitar bodies.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on May 2, 2018 0:41:04 GMT
Nigel
Your demonstration videos normally use a flat pick/hybrid player. I find it difficult to tell what the innate qualities of a guitar are when a plectrum is used, because so much of the tone seems to come from the thickness of the pick and the angle and attack technique.
Disclaimer: these days I only play fingerstyle (with a thumb pick), so I think I've trained myself to appreciate a certain sound. My own early experience when I swapped to acoustic guitar after many years of playing electrics exclusively, was that the flat pick provides a range of signature sounds which is different from those possible with fingers and nails. That's why I gave up on hybrid picking.
The weakness in my argument, of course, is that I still use a thumb pick, for which I blame Martin Simpson.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Apr 12, 2018 8:51:38 GMT
That also seems to be Al Petteway's favourite C-based tuning, although he does use others. I think he likes the familiar DADGAD intervals over most of the strings.
Kym
[EDIT: I just looked at my tab stash, and it seems Peter Ratzenbeck likes it too.]
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Post by scripsit on Apr 9, 2018 8:56:01 GMT
DADGAD can be quite limited and sometimes a bit thin sounding. English guitarist Martin Carthy sites this for never really having used it a great deal. Nearly everything is played inD (and related capo keys). Playing in G makes a nice change but in the main I think Carthy's criticisms remain valid. Most of Simon Fox's stuff uses keys other than D or drifts between keys: he's quite complicated melodically. I don't know what the big deal is about playing mostly in one key, anyway. The majority of the great blues players had their favourite keys and stuck to them, and the ones that used tunings rarely did much outside the obvious. Al Petteway is another player who gets a lot out of DADGAD, and likes to reuse shapes and runs, hence is often in D or related with a capo. I don't hear this as 'thin sounding', and admire the fact that he can mix celtic/new age/blues licks into attractive packages in the same piece. Like most musical things, it's a matter of taste. Csus2 is OK, Gsus4 doesn't make much sense to me for noodling, but I find Orkney to be reasonably flexible. I think it's a matter of muscle memory once you're familiar with a few pieces in the different tunings. I must admit, I don't do the theory stuff well beyond the 1, 4 and 5 stuff. Kym
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Post by scripsit on Apr 9, 2018 7:22:28 GMT
I have his DVD, he does not do it for me. I find it very hard to concentrate on his style of music. If you want to get into DADGAD follow Simon Fox John ... who also is fond of 5 or 6 fret stretches in some pieces, although most of his stuff is much more accessible/manageable than PB. Kym
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Post by scripsit on Apr 9, 2018 4:11:30 GMT
PB has a longer finger reach than the majority of guitarists, certainly much more than mine.
When he was touring Australia and offering master classes a few years ago, he suggested that participants become familiar with "L'Alchimiste" from his "Intuite" album. It's a lovely piece, and you should be able to find it for purchase.
I gave up on attempting to play his versions of "Wu Wei" and "L'Alchimiste" after some months of effort: I could never get either piece sounding smooth and natural, mainly because of some horrendous fretting hand transitions and painful necessary left hand finger plants.
Good luck.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Mar 27, 2018 1:38:44 GMT
A lovely arrangement, well played and excellently recorded. Kym
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Post by scripsit on Mar 5, 2018 23:00:33 GMT
D'addario EJ17s on everything. I buy them online in sets of 10. I get about a month out of them on a guitar played every day.
They're cheap, sound very good for the first couple of weeks after changing, adequate for a while after that, and behave when it's time to restring (I like to cut the ends about 3 fingers past the capstan before winding on) on both slotheads and paddleheads.
Kym
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