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Posts Tagged ‘Guitars’

Is Using a Capo Cheating?

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , on May 2, 2011| 19 Comments »

I was reading a thread on The Gear Page about David Grissom explaining how to play a couple of tunes where he was using a capo. As usual with subjects that are potentially controversial, this thread had lots of posts, and most were replies to those who thought the use of a capo as cheating.

I’ve always been intrigued by this issue. I’ve used a capo for years for both acoustic and electric without even thinking about it. But there have been a few people throughout the years whom I’ve run across who say using a capo is cheating. I have a one word reply to that: Bullshit!

Tell that to James Taylor, or Paul Simon, or Davey Johnstone or even Albert Collins. They’re cheating? Ha! Especially with JT, there are some things that you just can’t do very easily without a capo when playing his tunes.

I look at a capo as a tool to help me play more comfortably. For instance, my Friday night solo acoustic gigs are four hours long. My first set is always at least two hours, and I play a lot of songs that require a capo. While I could play barre chords for almost all the songs, my question is, “Why?” If I have a tool that will let me play chords in the first position, it’s easier on my left hand.

What’s easier to frequently fret for a Bb chord, a standard G-chord shape at Capo III, or using an E-chord shape with a barre chord on the sixth fret? You could argue that doing a barre chord is pretty easy, but try doing that for all the chords in a song on an acoustic guitar. Lots of pain.

Here’s a James Taylor cover I do called “Something in the Way She Moves:”

I play that song in Db, so I play an A chord-shape at Capo IV. The opening riff is an A chord-shape that slides up to an Asus4 (add 6). Without a capo, you can easily pluck the 2nd and 4th strings. But to play that chord accurately according to the original composition, you need to pluck the 1st and the 3rd strings as well, which are open with a capo. Unless you have some super-long fingers (which I don’t have), then playing this chord is virtually impossible if you’re barring on the 4th fret.

So in the case above, the capo simply greases the wheels. A couple of years ago, a dude came up to me at the restaurant and asked how I played that tune. I put my capo on my guitar, to which he said, “Oh… You use a ‘cheater.'” I knew he was joking, but that statement irritated me a bit, so I took off my guitar, held it out to him and said, “Okay, if it’s a cheater, I want you to show me how to play it without a capo. If you can, then not only will I play it your way from now on, I’ll give you all the money in my tip jar,” which had about $50 in it. He politely declined…

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Gear Review: 1998 Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster

Posted in amps, GAS, gear, gear reviews, guitar, guitar gear, guitar gear reviews, Guitars, Music, musicians, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 29, 2011| 2 Comments »


Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster
Summary: Finally a Strat that I love to play. This one has been upgraded with Kinman pickups and an L. R. Baggs Ctrl-X X-Bridge pickup.Features:

  • Alder Body with 3-Tone Sunburst Finish (my favorite Strat Color)
  • 1-piece Maple Neck
  • 22 Frets
  • Rosewood Fretboard with Abalone Dot Inlays
  • Nut appears to be synthetic tortoise shell – very cool!
  • Locking Tuners
  • L. R. Baggs Ctrl-X Drop-In Tremolo/Bridge Replacement
  • Kinman Noiseless Pickups
  • 8.5 lbs

Value: ~$1500-$2000

Tone Bone Score: 5.0 ~ Wow! What a tone machine! The Ctrl-X pickup has tons of gain on tap, and will give you plenty of crunch when you need it! The Kinman Noiseless pickups really smooth out the tone, and flatten the significant midrange that tends to be in stock Fender pickups.

I love estate sales because you can find some real gems. A friend of mine happened to get a bunch of stuff at an estate sale recently, and picked up this fine specimen of a Strat. What drew me to it initially was the 3-tone burst, which I love. Of course I had to try it out, so we hooked it up to a cheapo amp, and I couldn’t believe my ears! I was expecting that typical bright Strat sound, but what issued – even from that cheapo amp – was a much smoother tone. The tone definitely spoke “Stratocaster,” but it was in another dimension. Of course, I had to take it home with me to bring into my studio and to gig with this weekend… 🙂

For me, I had all but lost hope with Strats. I just couldn’t find one that really appealed to me. But with the changes in this particular Strat, I’ve regained my faith. This is an absolutely killer guitar!

Fit and Finish

The previous owner tragically passed away a few years ago, and the dude was a total gear nut! As a result, he just didn’t play his gear all that much, and so the guitars that were in his collection were in absolutely pristine shape. This particular Strat has the most signs of usage, but there is absolutely no major scratches, and just a tiny ding on the neck. Other than that, the guitar is perfect. The rosewood fretboard is in particularly great shape, and still retains a gorgeous sheen. The abalone dot inlays are a great touch. Here are some pictures:

Playability

Unlike a lot of Strats that have really narrow nut width, this Strat’s 9.5″ nut radius is perfect. The neck is a gentle C and even with my short fingers, I have no problem reaching the lower strings high up on the fretboard. The shape of the neck is simply terrific, and provides a nice balance between solid-feel and speed. I could play this guitar for hours and never get tired. It’s really a player’s guitar.

How It Sounds

As I mentioned above, it sounds like a Strat, but it has a much smoother tone. This is due to the Kinman Noiseless Pickups that replaced the original “noiseless” ones on the stock Strat (don’t have the stock ones, but don’t want ’em). This Strat also has tones of sustain, which really surprised me. It’s not on the order of a Les Paul, but it sustains a lot more than other Strats I’ve played in the past. The Kinman pickups also add a lot of depth and complexity to the tone, picking up subtle harmonics that give the tonal presentation a real 3-D effect – it’s almost reverb-like. How cool is that?

On top of that, the original owner replaced the tremolo with an L. R. Baggs Ctrl-X system. This adds yet another pickup to the bridge that has all sorts of gain; very humbucker-like, but retaining the single-coil characteristics – there’s just more of it. The Ctrl-X system is cool in that you can switch between going fully magnetic to blend with Ctrl-X or fully Ctrl-X. The full-on Ctrl-X is great for soloing!

To demonstrate the gain differences, here’s clip I recorded this morning (actually, the two clips were included in my previous article that I wrote this morning). But here’s the first:

Finally, here’s the quick song that I recorded this morning that has the rhythm part in fully magnetic mode in the 4th switch position (neck/middle). The lead is played in the first position with the Ctrl-X system:

Both clips were recorded using my Aracom PLX18 BB Trem, a fantastic 18-Watt Plexi clone. I was originally going to record with my Fender Hot Rod because the guitar sounded great through it. But my problem with Strat tone came from switching to vintage Marshall-style amps like my PLX that have lots of midrange. Strats just didn’t sound right to me with these amps. But this one blew me away!

Overall Impression

It’s difficult being a gear freak and having so many avenues to evaluate great gear. I have to have this guitar. Period. It’s completely changed my view of Strats!

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I Finally Found a Strat That I Like

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 29, 2011| 2 Comments »

I started out as a Strat guy. Then when I moved over to vintage Marshall-style amps, just couldn’t stand the reedy, thin sound of my Strat with my amps. It sounded fine clean, but the overdrive sound was horrid. Well I finally came across a Strat that has much more balls than my old one. It’s an American Strat that has been hot-rodded with noiseless Kinman pickups and an L. R. Baggs Ctrl-X upgrade, which places a pickup in the tremolo bridge called the X-Bridge pickup. This includes a three position switch that functions similarly to a Les Paul switch: Fully up is magnetics only, middle is a mix of X-Bridge and magnetics, then all the way down is X-Bridge only, which is produces a fat, gainy tone.

I think that’s the problem that I had with my Strat and other Strats I’ve played. They don’t have enough gain to really push my vintage Marshall-style amps. But with the X-Bridge, I can get enough gain to push my amps to their sweet spots. I should say that that’s only for my non-master volume amps. It works great with my Fender Hot Rod; in fact, I was playing around yesterday and getting gorgeous overdriven tones with that amp using this guitar.

As an example of the effect the X-Bridge has on gain, here’s a comparison clip. The first part is just the magnetics, then the second part is played the same with the same chords and same pick attack. Gives you lots of gain. 🙂

I’ll tell you what: The X-Bridge seals the deal for me.

Next, here’s a short song applying both magnetics and X-Bridge. The rhythm part is played with just the magnetic pickups, and the lead is played with the X-Bridge. I have the amp set with the volume at 6 on Channel 2 of my Aracom 18-Watt Plexi combo and the tone at 3pm (optimum for a Plexi).

Where I had the amp set, it was just at the edge of breakup for the Strat in magnetics only mode. Then when I engaged the X-Bridge, I got a nice gain boost that pushed the amp over the edge. That gives me a nice, light overdrive that adds just a tiny bit of compression and sustain.

This is really profound for me because I had all but given up hope on Strats, even though I love their tone. My old Strat just doesn’t have the balls that this one has. It’s just way too thin and bright; which reminds me that the Kinman pickups are absolutely fantastic! They have a bit deeper tone than a vintage Strat pickups – I have the ’57 Tex Mex in my MIM Strat – and THEY ARE NOISELESS! No more 60Hz hum! 🙂 Frankly, I didn’t know too much about these pickups, but they’re apparently very popular replacements among Strat and Tele players. They’re not cheap at $300 for a set, but they’re well worth the money.

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New Gear: Source Audio Guitar Envelope Filter

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 19, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Awhile back, I mentioned that one of the next pedals I was going to get besides my Timmy was an envelope filter. I was really digging the Electro-Harmonix pedals, but then got contacted by Jeff at Source Audio who was saying that they were working on a new guitar envelope filter, following the bass envelope filter they recently released.

If you’re not familiar with Source Audio, they build the SoundBlox line of pedals. What makes these pedals different is that they can be manipulated on the fly with a motion sensor ring called the HotHand Motion Controller ring. I’ve always been intrigued by these pedals, but haven’t had the chance to try any out. Until now. I hopefully will be getting a couple of their pedals for review soon, and I have to tell you, I’m excited!

The envelope filter has a TON of cool sounds, so you can get all sorts of vowel tones out of it. With the motion controller ring, you can even get variable wah sounds! THIS IS COOL STUFF!

In any case, here’s the demo video they just released of the new guitar envelope filter:

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A Powered Cable? R&M Introduces the Power Wire

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on April 19, 2011| 2 Comments »

I was looking around for new gear to talk about and ran across this video at Guitar World:

All I can say is… interesting. As said in the video, the power wire has a tiny amplifier built into the jack that connects to your guitar powered by two long-life batteries.

Not sure how I feel about it, which is why my reaction was a lot more mild. It’s certainly cool, adding more gain to your input signal. According to the R&M Tone Technology web site, the cable comes in 0-6dB gain options. I guess the thinking is that more gain gives you more dynamics, but it also changes the overdrive point of whatever drive pedals you’re using, or if you’re going straight into the amp, where your amp breaks up.

I would actually see this as a benefit for single-coil, or low-output humbucker-equipped guitars, where that extra gain will get you overdrive earlier on. Not sure how I’d like it with hotter pickups such as the ones that are in my Gibson Nighthawk Reissue.

But at $39.00 for a 20 footer and $43 and $47 for 30- and 40- foot cables, it might be worth it to try out. For more information, visit the R&M Tone Technology site.

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Fighting With My Guitars II

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , on April 16, 2011| 2 Comments »

A few years ago, I wrote a post entitled, “Fighting with my guitars.” This was inspired by a post from a now-defunct blog called, IG Blog, where Ig talked about different guitarists “fighting” with various quirks in their guitars and overcoming them to be more expressive. In my most recent post, the discussion turned to this very subject; fighting through quirks in gear.

When I re-read my original post from a few years ago, I chuckled because the way I fight with my guitars is that I actually sort of pick a fight with them. Oh, not by banging them up, but simply by not changing my strings until one breaks. In fact, if a string breaks, I just change that string, and leave the others on.

Part of why I started doing this years and years ago was economics. I just couldn’t afford to do wholesale string changes very often. But now, I prefer well-broken-in strings over new strings because to me they sound smoother (I actually don’t like the brightness of new strings), and more importantly, they make me work harder to get a good tone.

I can do this because my hands just don’t sweat that much. I have friends whose hands sweat so much that they have to change strings after every gig because their strings will start corroding within a few days. But me, I just leave ’em on until one breaks and then I just replace that string. For instance, with my acoustic guitar that I gig with at least twice a week, I finally changed my third string a week ago. The strings on that guitar have been on for over four months! 🙂

Granted, I will do a wholesale change anyway every six months or so to clean up the fretboard and remove pick dust that I can’t get to easily. But my strings for the most part just stay on until they break.

I know, sounds a bit quirky, and it probably is, but it forces me to work hard, and in turn, I feel much more expressive because of the tension that creates.

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You Look Marvelous…

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , on April 14, 2011| 7 Comments »

…but can you play.

For those of us that remember back in 1985, during the heyday of MTV, Billy Crystal put out a video featuring his Saturday Night Live persona “‘Nando” called “You Look Marvelous.” In the video, he says, “My father told me, ”Nando don’t be a schnook. It’s not how you feel, but HOW YOU LOOK!'” Well, as I mentioned in a previous article, looking good is one thing, but playing good is entirely different matter. 🙂

I will submit that how you feel is ultra-important to playing well. Again, I’m going to draw a parallel between golf and guitar. Recently, I stepped up to playing with fairly expensive golf balls. Up to that point, I couldn’t really justify playing with “tour” caliber balls because I was just getting back into the game; so I opted with cheap balls that I didn’t mind losing should I hit an errant shot. But I’ve been hitting a lot more consistently as of late, so before my last round, I purchased some balls that cost about $43 per 4-pack. That’s quite expensive. However, the way they felt and in turn made me feel when I hit them compels me to always buy those.

I wrote an article about that on my golf blog. After I wrote it, I saw yet another connection that I could draw from golf to guitar; and that is that how you “feel” when you’re playing totally affects how you play. If you don’t feel comfortable with your gear, you’re going to fidget and f-up. You’re going to be constantly adjusting to find the comfort zone.  If you’re stressed out – as I covered in a recent article – you’re going to mess up, and completely limit your creativity.

So the moral of the story is the exact opposite of “You Look Marvelous.” It’s not how you look, it’s how you feel…

BTW, here’s the original video. It’s hilarious:

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New Gear: Fender Announces the New “Pawn Shop” Line!

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 12, 2011| 2 Comments »

No, this ain’t an April Fools joke. Fender has just announced a new line of guitars called the “Pawn Shop” line of guitars under the tag of: “Guitars that never were but should have been…” What a cool concept, and the coolest concept I’ve heard from the Fullerton company in a long long time. Essentially, these are “official” parts casters, borrowing from a base model but putting new twists on them. I won’t bore you with details because they’ve just released a new site dedicated to the three new Pawn Shop guitars. Here it is:

http://www.fender.com/products/pawnshop/index.php

The one I like is the “Pawn Shop Fender ’72.” This has a semi-hollow Strat body, a Tele neck with rosewood fretboard, and two humbuckers. YOWZA!!! I totally love the concept! In any case, check it out.

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Stay Loose, Play Better

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , on April 12, 2011| 3 Comments »

Yesterday, I wrote an entry in my golf blog about staying loose, and how important it is to stay loose, both mentally and physically, to have an effective golf swing. All this came out of a drill I learned in a recent lesson that forced me to loosen up both mentally and physically to allow my swing to simply flow. The result has been much longer distance, much more consistency, and really important for this middle-age, overweight body, a lot lest strain on my back. 🙂

This morning, I thought about that article and realized that staying loos applies to playing guitar. I gig a lot – at least three times a week – and one thing I’ve learned is that when I’m tight and tense, I just don’t play very well. I don’t have much feeling, and I end up getting more stressed as the set goes on. If I’m stiff, I’m sure it shows up in my performance, and that’s not enjoyable for ANYONE.

When I detect that I’m stressed out – I usually catch it – I simply take an early break. Get a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, then mingle with my audience a bit. As I usually have friends in the audience, I’ll go to their table and chill a bit. The idea is to take my mind off the gig, collect myself, then go back at it. The net result is that I can pick up my guitar, and start being expressive once again.

At my church gig, as the band leader, it is easy to get stressed out, but I’ve learned to just quietly take band mates aside and just tell them directly something like, “Dude, that wasn’t very pretty…” and chuckle a bit. Then I’ll just suggest they try something else. That corrects the behavior, but then to get over my tightness because of the stress, I simply remember why I’m doing what I’m doing, and doing music for church isn’t about me or the group. It’s about the congregation, and helping them have a better worship experience. If I’m tight and stressed, it shows. Period. And especially in a worship setting, people pick up on that fast because they can tell when you’re forcing it.

But the net result of staying loose is that you free your mind, and it allows you to turn on the creativity and expression. You just can’t do that when you’re pissed or stressed out. I’ve seen some great performers in the past whom I could tell were stressed. They seemed to be in their own world. It’s not very enjoyable.

So stay loose, leave your stress for outside the venue, and ROCK ON!!!

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Don’t Let Your Ego Get the Best of You

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 9, 2011| Leave a Comment »

I mentioned in a previous article that I play a lot of golf (to be honest, golf and fine wines are my other obsessions besides guitar). While golf and guitar may not really seem very similar, having garnered a bit of skill in both, I can tell you that there are lots of similarities; especially when it comes to gear.

It was an absolutely beautiful spring-like day here in Silicon Valley, CA, so I took a couple of hours to go to the range to practice and what I witnessed at the range today compelled me to write this article. I was about a quarter of the way through my bucket when up walked a guy who kind of made me chuckle. He was decked out in obviously expensive golf clothing: Clean, white and pressed bermuda shorts; white polo shirt with collar upturned; a Fila sweater vest; topping it all off with a Titllest visor advertising his Titlest players clubs (“players” as in low handicap to pro). But even worse was that it was clear that he was looking for a stall to “show off.” What made me laugh was how he was watching people swing. He passed plenty of stalls before he finally picked one two stalls down from me where there were a couple of decent players hitting on either side of him. Talk about Alpha-male syndrome.

Having played for many many years, I’ve noticed that these kinds of players come in two flavors. They’re either REALLY great players (most probably pro), and their clothing is just decorum – though showing off is never a good thing, but at least they have something to show – or they’re total wankers who buy equipment that is far beyond their ability to play effectively because it’s “the best” or most expensive, never thinking that perhaps they should go with gear that will help enjoy the game. Let me tell you, having played with players clubs, you better be able to make great, consistent swings because the sweet spot on those clubs is much smaller than beginner or game improvement clubs.

I watched the guy warm up, and it looked like he had skills. His practice swings had a nice, fluid motion, and his body position at ball address was decent, so I figured he’d be a low handicap player. Then he swung at the ball for real. I had to step away from my own hitting because I started laughing. The guy swung like his torso and limbs were connected to tight rubber bands. It was the jerkiest motion I had ever seen, completely overpowering his club. The net result was that he hit EVERYTHING right and with a huge slice.

I laughed because he reminded me of the “rocker” dudes that go to Guitar Center. They certainly look the part, but then you hear them play. Some are actually pretty good, but most tend to be fairly one-dimensional in their playing, preferring speed over musicality. I suppose that’s okay to just play a single style, but they add insult to injury by cranking up whatever they’re playing, with no regard for the other customers in the store. A lot of times, it’s just not a pretty sight.

I guess I’m just taking exception to the attitude: Hey! Look at me! Forget about how I sound – I sound great, and am a legend in my own mind – but don’t I look great?!!! Well, confidence is one thing, but as Frank Herbert wrote in “The Lazarus Effect,” “No one likes an a@#hole.”

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