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Post by scripsit on Oct 23, 2018 10:57:29 GMT
when I started to learn fingerstyle, ten years ago or so, I began with thumbpick and fingernails (thank you, Martin Simpson).
This is still the case, although I am a great admirer of Al Petteway, who often abandons the thumbpick when he wants a particular sound (I think he's had hand problems/arthritis, by the way). It's a different sound for certain pieces, and I've tried every once in a while, but I feel I've got much more control with thumbpicks.
My nails are strong, so I haven't needed to go to acrylics.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Sept 27, 2018 9:16:06 GMT
Andy, what's the power arrangement on yours? There is no place selling them in Oz, so I have nowhere to go to try one out.
Buying directly from the States probably means some sort of conversion device or plug to provide the DC power in.
KYm
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Post by scripsit on Sept 20, 2018 6:25:35 GMT
I remember reading that this album was recorded in the flat they shared, rather than a 'proper' studio, over the course of an afternoon and night.
Given the portable tape decks and corresponding microphones of the time, it's surprising that it sounds as good as it does.
I've got no idea of the guitars they were using, but the recording technology alone would flatten the lushest instrument.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Sept 18, 2018 12:47:11 GMT
By definition, a harmonic is a higher frequency than the fundamental by whatever proportion: the harmonic is determined by the fundamental, but is always some multiple of it (ie, higher).
The bass E of a guitar is about 82 Hz (as a fundamental note), and that is as low as you can get on this particular instrument which sounds like a musical note.
When you record acoustic guitar, it is common to use a 'high pass filter' as EQ, which takes out everything below (say) 50 Hz, which is usually room and reflection noise, not directly from the guitar itself. It's probably a good technique for sound reinforcement, too. Anything below the bass E fundamental is probably mud. You will find some people expect it because they think this is what amplified sound should be like.
Unless you are using the face of the guitar for percussion, I can't see the point in trying to produce very low tones through the PA.
By the way, the 'mid' tones , 300-500 Hz, are what most people hear as bass when you crank the volume.
I think you need to do some experiments where you get out of front of the speakers while you are playing and listen to what happens as EQ is varied.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Sept 18, 2018 9:28:22 GMT
Check your machine heads: I've had strange rattling noises on only some notes which were eventually traced to a loose washer under the capstan of one machine head.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Sept 17, 2018 8:02:16 GMT
Francis
It seems a pity to leave it at 12 frets only: even if you don't normally need access to (say) fret 15, a capo on 2 or 3 can soon run you out of notes.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Aug 20, 2018 11:39:22 GMT
He is an extraordinary performer- his piercing blue eyes and commanding stance are just mesmerising. He is probably one of the coolest 70 year guys I’ve ever seen 🙂. And the way he plays the Strat is like nothing else I’ve heard. I think if John Coltrane was a guitarist and not a tenor sax player, he would sound something like Thompson. Robbie His electric playing is what I find particularly unimpressive: the stuff I've heard mostly what we would have called in the old days 'running the scales' over chord changes.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Aug 15, 2018 8:43:30 GMT
Just tried 4th fret harmonics on the multiscale. It's intonated for DADGAD, and usually tuned in that. In normal playing position I use the side of my little finger (at least on the unwound strings), and don't really look at the frets except generally.
I laid the guitar on my lap, and used my left thumb to generate the harmonic, so I could see where it was most effective.
The pressure has to come down slightly on the nut side of the fret for a good, clear ringing harmonic. I think the 'fret 3.9' thing is correct.
For the 9th fret harmonics it's the same story: contacting the string slightly towards the nut rather than over the fret. It's the same note as at the 4th fret.
Where you pluck the string with your right hand affects clarity, too.
I don't think I've ever played a piece where I've had to use a natural harmonic at 9.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Aug 15, 2018 1:22:16 GMT
I did a brief internet search and found general agreement on electric guitar sites (they like to get the harmonic squeal going before tromping the whammy bar) that the '4th fret harmonic' is actually found at what would be the 3.8 to 3.9 fret placement.
So, visual placement of the left hand finger is not going to be the best approach.
I'll try tonight and see if what works for me is actually somewhere around the mythical fret 3.9
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Aug 14, 2018 23:34:54 GMT
My own fragments or noodles never seem to be developed into full tunes, because they usually sound naff to me after I've worked on them for a bit.
I've recently been trying to build up repertoire of other people's tunes, for playing live without tab or other prompts. It takes ages. If I'm not hungover or tired I can now string together about 25 pieces in three tunings, although I need to do this in 'sets' rather than straight through or I'll cramp my hands up. This includes a few pieces that I've struggled with the technical side/hard bits for literally years, so committing stuff to memory actually helps get through some barriers.
With tab always available and an emphasis on recording, there was much more tendency to say 'bugger this' and lay a tune aside for months or years if I was having difficulties. Unfortunately, persistence seems to be an essential part of most aspects of trying to become a half decent musician.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Aug 14, 2018 23:22:26 GMT
I can get clear harmonics at the 4th fret on my 650 mm slothead, and my multiscale (655 mm to 635 mm) paddle head, both 12 frets clear of the body. Fingernails or thumb pick.
I use uncoated strings, 56-13.
I expect there is an intonation issue with the guitar that you have difficulties with, or you are not allowing for height above the frets: I find clear natural harmonics require some muscle memory for good left hand placement on any guitar, and may not be produced by lining up visually exactly over the fret crown.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Aug 1, 2018 23:16:02 GMT
Multi-scale can give the impression of better intonation because the bass strings in a properly intonated (ie deliberately adjusted and set for a particular tuning) lower tuning tend not to flop around as with a conventional scale length where down tuning throws the desirable tension out and makes for occasional misfretted sour notes. Doesn't change the fact that you have to decide to intonate the 'E' string as a 'D' or 'C' or whatever at nut and bridge when you're setting up the guitar. So, he's talking rubbish.
I'm disappointed with Dream Guitars demonstration videos now: firstly PH does the samples and he does not have Al Petteway's touch (or consistency, or use the same tunes on most guitars). More to the point, they have changed their microphone and preamp setup from the original (cheapish) tackle, and, I suspect, they alter positioning and settings to make every guitar sound as good as possible. The end result, after the volume is pumped up, is that every guitar sounds identical, which is hardly conducive to understanding what the different luthiers are trying to achieve.
I know it's a commercial operation, but five years ago or so their demos were a useful and free source of aural information which helped understand how different quality sounds could be achieved by different guitars.
And, as a personal prejudice, why does everything have to look like a Somogyi? I'm so over Florentine cutaways.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Jul 23, 2018 8:27:29 GMT
I think your physics colleague has it wrong.
Some of the sound that we recognise as 'guitar' comes from the plate vibration; the top and back. This why when recording you can point microphones at various parts of the guitar body (or above the shoulder of the player or whatever).
However, most of what we hear as 'the low end', also recognisably a guitar sound, comes from low-pitched 'Helmholtz' type resonance of the volume of air inside the guitar, for which there needs to be some sort of opening to the outside air.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Jul 18, 2018 22:59:00 GMT
You could consider the bridge to be a brace: it's just that it's an external one.
Just as the other (internal) top braces contribute to volume, tone and overtone production of the guitar, the bridge plays a part, too.
Unless you've got bridge pins rattling around in the holes, they, once inserted, become part of the bridge.
The overall mass of the bridge seems to be a key factor in guitar sound (there is a big section in the Gore books about this, and reducing weight is one of the reasons for using carbon fibre, ebonising light weight wood rather that using ebony and so on). If you don't like the sound of a particular guitar, swapping out plastic or wood pins for brass or titanium or depleted uranium will (perhaps) change it, at least if the top is lightly built.
By the way, if the strings are seated properly (and as Colin suggests, slotted pins help achieve this), you can take the pins out completely, once you've tuned up to pitch.
I've tried this on a cheap Martin dread, but could detect no audible change with the pins out. Feels a bit insecure, too, like having one's fly open.
Kym
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Post by scripsit on Jun 20, 2018 13:10:37 GMT
Electric guitar amps are designed for electric guitars. That means they usually have a focus on high mids, and often involve speakers/cabinets that only deliver this range efficiently.
Acoustic amps would properly be PA systems, because acoustic guitars create sounds from about 80 Hz up to about 1100 Hz (overtones deliver above the top E and can go considerably above that). The modular acoustic amps usually have speaker and EQ possibilities to approach the ideal in a small package.
You'll have to try your electric mandolin through some amps to see what it sounds like, but electric guitars through acoustic amps tend to sound more like acoustic guitars, or at least they tend to have a wider range of delivery, even from wound electromagnetic pickups.
Kym
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