Calling all guitarists

[ChrisSnyder]

As a guitarist myself, I'm delighted to join this thread.
I'm currently learning 'Supermassive Black Hole' by Muse. One of the greatest riffs ever. Been on their performance last year - Matthew is a genius!

[kassonica]

57 pages and still going strong

I guess gtr bands are not really on the way out then

[zed]

Welcome to the forum Chris!

I guess gtr bands are not really on the way out then

I would venture to guess that guitar driven music is about to make a big comeback. Once people figure out that the world isn't actually going to end this year, it'll be the 1960s all over again!

[kgdrum]

As a guitarist myself, I'm delighted to join this thread.
I'm currently learning 'Supermassive Black Hole' by Muse. One of the greatest riffs ever. Been on their performance last year - Matthew is a genius!

I never really heard Muse until the Grammys 2011 and they knocked me out!
WOW!! those guys can really play!
Very interesting band, who in this day & age play like a real band, with their own sound and style(shocking)very cool.
Yeah also glad to see a new face, welcome Chris

[BKK-OZ]

I guess gtr bands are not really on the way out then

Why, was someone talking about their demise?

Notice, that no-one ever says, "...oh, that's a 'keyboard band'..."?
Guitars are cool, and chicks dig them. Plus, we're the first ones finished packing up after a gig and therefore more ready for action, unless you count vocalists, and sheesh, that is a whole other story!

Anywaze, back on to gitars...

I am still looking for my next friend. I know it will be a lap steel, but I just can't decide. There are some people making some nice hand-made Weissenborns, both straight acoustic and semi-acoustic, and ever since (Mr Frodo practically forced me to buy) my Casino, I have really appreciated the benefits of being able to sit down, unplugged to mess around with a semi-acoustic.

Then again, I do like the idea of getting something antique and historical, and given that lappy's were the first electric guitars, there are some really cool (and useful) guitars from the 30's, 40's, etc.

I just dunno.

[Gravity Jim]

Too bad you're on the other side of the globe, BKK... I'm thinking of selling my 1955 Valco-made Oahu six-string lap steel. It sounds gorgeous, with a huge split humbucker that's incredibly balanced and full range. On the other hand, even though I don't play it as much as I thought I might, I'm in no rush to sell.

Big guitar news here is changing the pickups in my Zencaster Strat-style for the first time in fifteen years. I loved the EMG SVs that were in it, but had grown a bit weary of the plucky, percussive 3k bump in the curve, and had been thinking of a set of SAs for some time when EMG introduced their new X-series pickups. So I went for a set of SA-Xs. Wow. More of everything I loved, way less of what I didn't.

Here's my homemade sample. Just some guitar store noodling in all five positions, starting with the bridge. No pedals, straight into an Egnater Rebel 20, mic'ed with a Shure KSM32 about two feet away from the cab, just a taste of 'verb in the effects loop.

http://www.gravitymusic.com/audio/EMG-X.mp3

I also dumped the pickups in my otherwise wonderful PRS SE Singlecut in favor of a set of Seymour Duncan SH-1. They're awesome.

[Frodo]

Notice, that no-one ever says, "...oh, that's a 'keyboard band'..."?

They don't say it in specific terms, but people are well aware of the "trickery" or "cheating" that goes on with computers. We're quietly aware that "keyboard and computer bands" have invaded the market and that brilliant guitar work deserves more appreciation that it gets (or has gotten).

DAWs really have been keyboard-centric for a very long time. Only recently have guitarist been taken seriously enough that amp emus (etc) have become standard or expected with DAWs and plugins.

Notice, that no-one ever says, "...oh, that's a 'keyboard band'..."?

We ALL say it.... Not in so many words, but people (imho) who appreciate good music production can tell when it just plain feels good-- when it's genuine and coming from the heart, when it's being made on the spot and not with the mouse.

We are increasingly of the awareness of when it's fabricated and when it's genuine... and I'm including the visceral consumer in with the pack.

Milli Vanilli, anyone?

***

btw--

I was hoping that this thread would zero in on guitarists' perspectives in computer world. Guitarists are NOT denizens in this world. Guitarists are among the top-most important innovators in music world who are alive today and who refuse to be underestimated.

STILL CALLING ALL GUITARIST!!

Long live the guitar and their users!! It's such a beautiful instrument in all its forms. There are so many guitarists who do things that put keyboardists to shame--- and that comes from a keyboardist!!!

The guitar is great. That's the best understatement I can come up with off the cuff.

[HCMarkus]

I always strive to incorporate real guitar - played by a great guitarist - in my productions. Fingers on strings bring it all to life.

[BKK-OZ]

The guitar is great. That's the best understatement I can come up with off the cuff.

Well said.

Interestingly, at least to myself, is the fact that while I couldn't play a lick on the keyboard to save my life (I do know what all them keys are for, just never got into playing keys) whenever I need to work out a melody, I hunt and peck on the keys, not the guitar.

Thank goodness I never wanted to be a lead player!

Methinks it is something to do with the what I think of as the 'geometry' of the guitar, versus the linear nature of keys. I mean, I can of course play a melody on the guitar, it is just that I always think in terms of chord shapes on the guitar, and I don't 'see' the melody so easily.

Too bad you're on the other side of the globe, BKK... I'm thinking of selling my 1955 Valco-made Oahu six-string lap steel.

Shipping isn't really an issue - so far almost everything I have found here in Oz has got a premium price on it, prob. because someone took the time to ship it here. So I have been looking @ Olivia's Vintage, Elderly Music, and a few other US based places, and they all seem to have much better deals than one can get locally.

This has long been the case regarding musical gear in the land of Oz. People here forget that we now have the technology to get these things imported ourselves. To reinforce that point, for example, there is a guy locally trying to sell some of his lap steels via eBay. None sell at the prices he puts on them, and when I pointed out that I was genuinely interested in some of his gear but his prices were too high, he called me 'a time-waster!'. Foolish boy, I gots $$ in the bank, just waiting for him to sell at a reasonable price.

In terms of the one you mention, so far, it hasn't made it onto my radar. I have been looking @ National Empires (I just love the look), Rickenbacker Model Bs, and a few others, of slightly older vintage. I'm especially interested in the ones from just before the war, they seem to have reached a peak of both design and manufacture, then the war came, and with materials shortages and the eventual advent of the Les Paul, early Fenders and so-on, the market seemed to degenerate into lots of student instruments. (Not saying yours is a student instrument!)

[mhschmieder]

I've been putting the finishing touches on a synth-pop album the past few weeks, and decided to experiment with electric guitar just for kicks.

As it turns out, I was able to replace some sawtooth synth leads -- and even some square leads -- with electric guitar, to great effect. It works best if not all the way through the song, so that it doesn't change the "genre" unwittingly. The "live guitar" layered atop synths and synth drums, adds that special organic ingredient that brings it all to life.

Not that I have anything against well-done all-synth music. Some of my favourite bands were synths-only (at the time). But many of them now incorporate live guitar and/or drums on stage, and it does add more energy and excitement without taking away from the synth textures.

[mhschmieder]

My Vox AC15HW1X hand-wired 15 watt 1x12 Alnico Blue combo amp arrived at the office today. I can't take it home until tomorrow as I took BART today (as I usually do). It will need a hand truck, as the box more than doubles the weight! But that leaves me confident the tubes will be alright.

Everyone talked me into going combo vs. separates with Box, but partly it's because only the 30 watter is available as a separate head, and I already know I love the one I bought as I've tried it several times. But I might want to augment it with a 2x12 30 watter using Greenback G12's later on. Those are two distinct Vox sounds, and I love them both!

[zed]

Not that I have anything against well-done all-synth music. Some of my favourite bands were synths-only (at the time). But many of them now incorporate live guitar and/or drums on stage, and it does add more energy and excitement without taking away from the synth textures.

The only all-synth recordings I have truly adored are Stevie Wonder recordings from the early 1970s. And even there the songs had the benefit of Stevie playing on a real drum kit in order to bring real life and dimension to everything.

I'm afraid that even Stevie lost me when we hit the 1980s with all those boxed synth sounds and digital consoles. I have no doubt at all that you managed to improve on your project by incorporating some real guitar. I also know that the right synth lead can sound very cool and yummy.

Did you use some electric piano? Does that count as synth? Can definitely add some niceness.

My Vox AC15HW1X hand-wired 15 watt 1x12 Alnico Blue combo amp arrived at the office today.

Sweet. I want one. I've got a VOX Pathfinder right beside me in the studio, as well as a VOX ToneLab, but I would love to step it up to what you just got with the Alnico Blue speaker. That would make for some good tracking, and I love the AC15 tremolo.

[mhschmieder]

Well, the specific bands that still sound great to me 20-30 years later are Human League and early Depeche Mode. Most of the other all-synth bands sound a bit thin to me now, even though I love the songs. In most cases, real drums would have helped, followed maybe by real bass (especially once the DX7 took over from the analog synths).

It's an interesting observation about guitar livening things up even in that genre, because I have just completed work on close to a hundred legacy projects these past few months, most of which sounded "great" in their original conceptualizations done mostly on the Yamaha MOTIF. And I was so used to hearing them that way, that it took many listens to "accept" my revised versions that are more fully orchestrated with a greater variety of sound sources and timbres.

So I liken it to a composer's "study" piece vs. a later orchestration. Both are valid, and sometimes the original can be a charming reference that is more focused on the core goals of the composition, stripped naked. But long-term, I think you are right that a listener's interest remains piqued when there is something a bit more organic layered atop the "programmed" parts (if one also considers keyboard-triggered sounds to be in that category, since it is hard to make a fully keyboard-based production truly sound like a full band of strings, winds, drums, etc.).

And perhaps this is what draws so many of us computer-based musicians to this thread, as we keep rediscovering the magic of the guitar every time its demise has just been announced (e.g. "hip-hop killed the guitar star").

[mhschmieder]

I tried every single feature and combination of features on my Vox AC15HW1X last night, to make sure I don't miss a return window as with the Jazzmaster whose neck ends up needing a lot of work.

This is a WONDERFUL amp, but a bit awkward to carry, being a bit larger than I seemed to remember from when I tried it a few times at GC. Every setting is musical, and it has incredible range, with some unique features that I've never seen on other amps.

I haven't had a chance to try it with more than a couple of guitars yet, due to the hour that I am getting home from work these days. I look forward to really letting it open up this weekend.

[mhschmieder]

BTW, it seems almost sacrilegious to play my Vox amp with Jim Marshall having just passed.