Rudi

re: Incognito I had this on a short list too. great name.

I can now almost play Gibsons. After getting used to a PRS scale (25”) it was fairly easy to adjust to the Gibson (24.75”) one. The narrower string spacing is still awkward though. How do you stop touching adjacent strings with the fretting hand? I have to mute pretty much everything other than the strings being plucked. Still a challenge. Last month (at Nevada Music) I tried a LP Doublecut & an Epi ES-339. Though the LPs are so frustrating because of that massive heel. Yesterday (at Andertons), a ES-390, ES-339 & an Epi LP Florentine. These were all rather nice. Returning later to the generous Jackson fingerboard was like driving down a 3 lane motorway after emerging from a bridleway. 15 years ago I could not adapt at all. I suppose I have changed somehow. I know some people use both Fenders & Gibsons. How long does it take to adjust to the difference (using the whole neck)? I am guessing about an hour’s playing?

The Jolly Beggarman - Mad Dog Mcrea

Band names. I have given this a lot of thought in the past. My bands name is ‘BLOWN OUT’. This was thought up in a hurry before an early gig, because we wasted a couple of months not being able to agree on a name. It can mean: 1/ the aftermath of an explosion. 2/ Being rejected by your girlfriend/boyfriend My virtual imaginary band (the artists on my personal recordings) is ‘UNWISE BILL and the SQUAWKING GENTLEMEN’. My first bands name was BWANNAA (Band With Absolutely No Name At All). I was later in BARE WIRES (an album name by John Mayhall’s Bluesbreakers) and The WALNUT MANOEUVERES (this is something a woman does to a man to prolong his ‘staying power’ errmm… apparently!) These are some names I suggested in the past that were never adopted. Your are welcome to them if you like: THE WHOLE IDEA (a description of ‘a concept’) THE CRUX (the absolute essence of an idea) OPEN VERDICT (A coroner declares an ‘open verdict’ when a cause of death is suspicious but uncertain. verdict =judgement)

The names you are debating dont appeal to me, but I'm not a good judge. The place names idea of Mikes is not bad. There is/was a local band in my area called 'Rufus Stone', named after a nearby district in the New Forest.

I bought a violin from a fellow who with his wife, played in an orchestra. He had made violins for himself and her, and he was selling this other one on e-bay. I cant recall what I paid, but it had failed to sell initially & he had to relist it a little cheaper. It is loud. Louder than any of those I tried out in my local store in Portsmouth. It hangs in my studio now. I like to think I may be able to use it on some recording however modestly (t will need to be pretty simple too) at some point.

no I remember you really did get it right once, but then carried on changing the EQ. I suppose I should have mentioned something?

I did try to play violin. I got to a point after 3 months where I could play in 3 keys badly. I loved it and only gave it up because my guitar playing started to suffer.

I will typically spend about 40 minutes per tone. I may tweak it at a later time for 5 minutes. Once I have 3 or 4 usable tones I dont bother any more and never touch them again.

KEEP YOUR LAMP TRIMMED AND BURNING – Rev Gary Davis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHayOpWimlM

Sweet Black Angel - Rolling Stones

God's Song (Thats Why I Love Mankind) - Randy Newman I recall Randy Newman singing this live at the BBC (In Concert). He introduced it thus: “tonight you will hear God speak, though me. I realise it’s a bit of a surprise, but it’s also a great honour.”

update to 'Hagstrom Deuce' thread I started in the guitar area of the forum. I tried out the Deuce at gigging volume on Saturday morning. I brought it out for the last few minutes having done most of the rehearsal with my usual Jackson Soloist. I was also trying out the Line-6 pod 400 signal processor (with the custom tones I had tailored to each guitar). Not an ideal situation to introduce 2 major changes at once, which is why I used the trusty Jackson for all but the last few minutes of the practice/jam. Jackson Soloist: The Line 6 worked out great. The extra volume brought forth more treble than I had expected. I was able to compensate using the guitar tone control. It worked perfectly. The extra ‘gain’ I had anticipated was there and in just the right proportion. No need for any tweaks of any sort. The Hagstrom Deuce: It worked out very well. A little louder & more distorted than the Jackson, so I may go back in (to the Line 6 unit) to back off the gain a little for the dedicated Deuce patch. The main exercise was to try out the Deuces pickups and they sound absolutely fine & better than expected. My electric guitars are now configured to the Line 6 pod to use the neck pickups exclusively. On the Soloist this a single coil and on the Deuce a split (HB) coil. They both sound excellent. Definitely the best sounds I have ever used. There is still a little work to do on the Deuce. This is the message I sent to Simon the luthier before the practice. I do think the Deuce will work out fine as a proper working guitar. As originally said, the carcass of the guitar is good. A few mods will improve confidence & reliability.

update: I tried out the Deuce at gigging volume on Saturday morning. I brought it out for the last few minutes having done most of the rehearsal with my usual Jackson Soloist. I was also trying out the Line-6 pod 400 signal processor (with the custom tones I had tailored to each guitar). Not an ideal situation to introduce 2 major changes at once, which is why I used the trusty Jackson for all but the last few minutes of the practice/jam. Jackson Soloist: The Line 6 worked out great. The extra volume brought forth more treble than I had expected. I was able to compensate using the guitar tone control. It worked perfectly. The extra ‘gain’ I had anticipated was there and in just the right proportion. No need for any tweaks of any sort. The Hagstrom Deuce: It worked out very well. A little louder & more distorted than the Jackson, so I may go back in (to the Line 6 unit) to back off the gain a little for the dedicated Deuce patch. The main exercise was to try out the Deuces pickups and they sound absolutely fine & better than expected. My electric guitars are now configured to the Line 6 pod to use the neck pickups exclusively. On the Soloist this a single coil and on the Deuce a split (HB) coil. They both sound excellent. Definitely the best sounds I have ever used. There is still a little work to do on the Deuce. This is the message I sent to Simon the luthier before the practice. I do think the Deuce will work out fine as a proper working guitar. As originally said, the carcass of the guitar is good. A few mods will improve confidence & reliability.

When She Go - God Street Wine

Since you are asking, I feel bound to say that what you are being asked to do seems entirely reasonable. But there is something I find strange. If he cant understand your writing, why not help him write them himself, or append what you've provided? None of this seems like a big problem to me.

If I get a good idea. I go with it alone. With collaboration, you have to be open minded and receptive. Suggestions are fine, but listening is more important.

I can hear a difference too. The problem is that the difference could well be down to the difference in the players (Lee & Rob). Mike you posted this before on 'Gibson & Unpotted Pick Ups'. Here was my response: In my link, Will claims 100% empirical proof. I’ve watched this twice (it’s about an hour long). It’s hard to follow and even harder to concentrate for that long. I actually think that wood may affect tone despite Will’s proof. I can’t explain why because I’m speaking of a personal perception which is subjective (hearing). If I am right I think wood makes a very small difference. But I also find Will’s point about compression waves beyond challenge. So there is a dichotomy in my understanding between subjective perception and empirical evidence. There is a guitar, the Peavey AT200, which can be entirely out of tune, but play with perfect (e-signal) intonation. At what point does the string become useless? Presumably when it loses tension entirely and stops vibrating. But the wood body will vibrate acoustically in response to the plucked string. You will be able to feel this, but what you hear will be an entirely different tone wave. The signal from the vibrating string is altered after it has been struck to produce a note in perfect tuning. Though this doesn’t prove anything, but it helped me to understand one of the key points made in the link I provided, that the pickup cannot respond to the vibration in the wood unless it is partially microphonic, as in an unpotted pickup. http://www.guitarplayer.com/miscellaneous/1139/review-peavey-at-200-powered-by-antares-auto-tune-for-guitar/24004

We have a small 3d printer where I work. Impressive stuff. As for the guitar... Its looks like the printers could be cheaper than the guitars. Also, he's still using wood in the construction for 'tone'. Mahogany for Gibson sound & maple for Fender sound. This is contentious stuff. The whole premis of tonewoods is challenged now with sceptics claiming it all to be entirely mythical.

What kind of music are you doing? What form does the 'writing down' take? Is it charts for sight reading or just a few notes of chords and a structural outline? If its something everyone can follow, why not give it a try. If it turns out that only he understands it properly, or that its a slow way of working, then point this out & suggest trying your informal way.

Plastic Guitar from 1953 Maccaferri: I have always wondered why we still make guitars out of wood (especially electrics). I did a quick web search using ‘plastic guitar’ and found this gem. The first link is a demo of the Maccaferri being played. It sounds wonderful. Plastic was not taken any more seriously in 1953 than it would be now. This is a shame. It certainly does not have the moisture problems with atmospheric changes that wood does. PLAYED https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuB2hprvfdc INFO http://orgs.usd.edu/nmm/PluckedStrings/Guitars/Maccaferri/10458/G40Guitar.html These days we have carbon fibre guitars (RainSongs) of course. Because carbon fibre is regarded as modern with hi-tech applications it has gained more acceptance. But even carbon fibre is substantially plastic anyway. I'd love a Maccaferri or a Rainsong.

Rum Runners - Robert Hunter

Another! With a great (early) solo by Gary Duncan... sweet Fresh Garbage - Spirit

Maybe it was you that put the Ghost Build link up before then. But I have seen it. That was why I asked a while back about whether Gibson do make all of their guitars in the USA as this (or another similar expose by Scott Grove) calls this into question. I still find it strange that with Gibson's custom shop they would still pay a 3rd party luthier to build a guitar for a celeb guitarist.

I find songs when practicing or improvising. Having found them I try to work out what they are. This week, I have been practicing scales using a 5 note repeating phrase as follows. Rising: It starts- ROOT, 2ND, 3RD, 2ND, ROOT then climbs by starting at the 2nd. 2ND, 3RD, 4TH, 3RD, 2ND continues by starting at the 3rd 3RD, 4TH, 5TH, 4TH, 3RD and then the 4th 4TH, 5TH, 6TH, 5TH, 4TH and continues to rise until reaching the octave before reversing on the way down again. Early on I realised the first 3 or 4 phrases were the beginning of a song, but didnt know the name of it. I figured it out today. The bold blue text of the lyrics are the phrases I recognised. They begin on the 2nd (When I'm awfully low) through 3rd (When the world is cold) and 4th (I will feel a glow*) * 'glow' : last note deviates from my phrase I think. "The Way You Look Tonight" Some day, when I'm awfully low, When the world is cold, I will feel a glow just thinking of you And the way you look tonight. The song below begins at 1.03