Three minor musical advances

Three minor advances in music, for me:


1)  As I think I mentioned, a few months ago I bought an acoustic guitar for about AU$15 (around US$12):  nice tone -- but the bridge only allows the middle four strings.  And then when I was re-stringing it, I broke the D-string -- so it's just [blank] A [blank] G B [blank].  This set-up is making me play differently (I noodle around while watching t.v.), with more use of "drone strings" and playing up and down the neck, rather than across.


2) As I might(?) also have mentioned, for the last four(?) months I've had drumsticks in the car:  at stoplights I play the steering wheel.  My hand work is improving (although not my feet) -- but the interesting thing is that Tuesday of (I think) two weeks ago (so, April 2nd?), on the way in to work I noticed that my drumsticks (a matched pair) actually had a slightly different diameter:  and now I can't un-notice that.  So that's an extra level of sensitivity.


3) With the exception of two songs from about 15 years ago, all of my songs are either standard major/minor chords, or power chords.  But last night I wrote a song (verse and chorus guitar; no melody line or further arrangement yet) with a verse of major chords (but with a suspended 4th occasionally added on the A) -- but the chorus alternates between a D-major and the four thinnest open strings (which is D G B E -- so I guess a Gminor2?), and finally ending on a power chord with the root on the A-string, seventh fret.  So, something a little different.


I'm still not in a situation (or current inclination) to easily record:  one of these days...


--GG

Johnny Cash guitar trick

You learn all sorts of tricks, from all sorts of different sources.

Skip to 0:45:


Basically: insert a playing card under the strings below the nut. Then if you're playing barre chords, you can get a crisper "chukka-chuk" when you're doing rhythmic, percussive strums.

It makes sense in the video.


--GG

Someday a road trip

Sometimes I get funny ideas in my head.  Like:  I rather dis-like travelling -- but a few years ago I had the notion that it would be neat to live in Norway for a year.  But then I realized that I envisioned myself hiding out and doing woodworking and recording songs -- and I could do that more easily here at home (and not have to ship my tools and musical instruments overseas).

A variation of that occurred a few weeks ago, when I accidentally stumbled across the town of "Bell", in regional Queensland.  It's a few hours west of here, and pretty small:  hypothetically I could spend a few months there, recording and doing woodworking:  and driving there with a pickup truck or van full of tools and instruments would be far more feasible.


My latest thing is this:  I was reading an article in a guitar magazine this morning about ten great guitar shops in the U.S.; one of them was in Chicago; and I thought, "Wouldn't it be cool to have a used guitar from Chicago?"

And the thought developed:  I've never really been on a "road trip".  Family trips as a child don't count.

I drove from Tacoma to Portland, Oregon once, for business (about a three hour drive); and from Seattle to Pullman, WA once (about four hours).  And that's it.


So:  one of these days, fly into Oregon; meet up with Old Roommate; and do a road trip to Chicago.  Stop by a few guitar shops along the way (and whatever is of interest to him); drive, reminisce, stop at some truck stops and diners.

And when we get to Chicago, phone the store to ask how to get there without getting stuck in any of the dodgy neighborhoods.

Aim for getting a guitar.  But if a Fender Rhodes, a compelling tube amp, or some funky old synth, calls to me...

Bonus points if I buy a used guitar from a Chicago pawn shop!!!

Then drive down to Nashville (only eight hours away!  Had not realized it was that close!), book a few hours in a low-end recording studio, and record a demo -- just to say that I've recorded in Nashville.

And then drive back.


Not now.  Maybe in a decade or so -- when I'm about 55 or 58.

Not in the summer -- too stinkin' hot -- nor in the winter -- getting stuck in the snow. Either the fall or the early spring.  Maybe fall, so I can have Thanksgiving with my family before heading back to Australia.


The "fun" part will be trying to ship that stuff back.  Probably by ocean freight, not by air freight.  Depending on the volume.


--GG

Addendum: (3:55pm) -- Bring a guitar or other musical instrument (but one that I don't care about!) to sell at a pawn shop in Chicago.  That way I can also say that I pawned a guitar in Chicago.

Guitar ancestor

When I visited home (i.e. Seattle) for Christmas, my dad gave me a CD-R of a bunch of scanned family photos.  Just tonight I finally got around to looking through them.

Two of them have my grandmother's brother (long since deceased), in 1937, playing a guitar:  I've posted one of the photos here.

That's pretty neat; I had no idea that anyone in the family, prior to Guitar Cousin and myself, played the guitar.


--GG

I like this guy's stories

Cynical Co-Worker sent me a link to this guy's YouTube channel.  I like his stories.  Here are two of them.

Difference between a $100 and a $1,000 guitar


Always tell the truth


--GG

Mark Knopfler's guitars

Depends on how much you like guitars, or Mark Knopfler/Dire Straits.



A little slow-paced -- but, nice.


--GG

Found it but will leave it

So, I kind of found my original, first guitar today in a pawn shop. The one that was stolen in a burglary after I moved to Australia. But, I'm not going to buy it.


My guitar was an Ibanez Roadstar II. They have the same basic body shape as the green guitar pictured above. But whenever I do come across them, they have three single-coil pickups, rather than dual humbuckers (which the green guitar above -- a totally different brand -- has). And they sometimes have (from memory) pickguards, which my guitar (as the green guitar above) also lacked.

To the left you can see the photo of me with my eyes closed and wearing a cowboy hat (??!! -- well, it was green...), with my original guitar. It was Midnight Blue. As you can see, I ''decorated'' it heavily -- partly because I was young and impetuous, but mostly because -- without a pickguard -- it was pretty darned plain.

Because of the decoration, I named it ''Gypsy''.

Anyhow: saw an actual Ibanez Roadstar II, dual-humbucker, **very** much the same to my guitar (except for many large chips taken out of the body). US$270 asking price: a very reasonable price.


But, I'm not gonna get it, because:

-I've spent more than I anticipated on this trip, already.

-For $200-$300, I could get a very decent ribbon microphone instead. That would be far more useful for my musical aspirations.

-I **already** have a dual-humbucker guitar.

-Even with unbolting the neck -- thereby essentially folding the guitar in half -- it would still be a pain to get it back to Australia.

-And, it's just not the same. It's actually a very plain-looking guitar. I'd probably want to gussy it up -- and that would make it a different guitar than Gypsy. (It would be a little like a guy marrying a redhead, just because his first girlfriend was a redhead. If that's the only reason, then it's a little pathetic: trying to recapture old times instead of moving on.)


That being said, I kinda wished I had plugged it in and tried it out. So, maybe my thoughts will change.

But, probably not.


--GG

(Addendum, 1/29/12: Didn't go back. I'll be visiting my folks again in about half a year. If it's still there, I'll at least take a look at it. If not: ah well.)

Restoration of mojo

A few years ago I bought a green Stratocaster-shaped electric guitar with dual humbuckers. I bought it, used, at a pawn shop. Usually I try out a musical instrument before buying it -- but this one was (if I recall) AU$115 (that's a good price), and was structurally sound -- so I figured that even if the electronics needed repair, the inexpensive price was worth the labor.

Well, I got it home, and I couldn't get my guitar cable into the hole. Popped off the access plate in the back, and discovered that someone had jammed black rubber into the hole. Or at least some sort of black hard substance -- maybe construction adhesive? Regardless, I'd have to replace the input jack before I could use it.


Again, this was a few years back.


On July 23rd of this year, I bought a replacement input jack for my green electric guitar.

And then it took until December 6th or so for me to actually make the repair.


Once I made the repair, I discovered that the pickup selector was wonky. Or maybe it was one of the pickups. Either way, the three positions did this: bridge pickup only; bridge pickup only (instead of both pickups); neck pickup, but about 10% of the volume of the bridge pickup.

I had another look at the electronics, but it's hard to get around in there (everything's crammed in). And the pickup selector switch is installed in such a way that it's gonna be **really** hard to remove.


So, I've decided to just leave it. I did a comparison with my fake Telecaster, and despite the fake Tele having single-coils, the green guitar's bridge humbuckers sound fuller, yet brighter than the Tele. Although it could because of the fresh strings on the green guitar.


Regardless, after fixing the input jack I rocked out for the next three evenings in a row with the green guitar. After Gypsy, my very first electric guitar, was lost in a burglary in 2004, I've not felt "the mojo" with another guitar: other guitars have been **functional** -- but didn't have the "pizang".

This one does. :)


--GG

My tastes

Because I dislike having to wait around without anything to read (if I have something decent to read, I don't mind waiting), I keep a few half-read magazines in the map pocket of the car.


Over the last week, I've noticed that none of the woodworking magazine ads make me go "Oooh..." Example:

This is probably because I've reached a stage where I've amassed enough (used) woodworking hand tools to do what I need to do. (Still need a lathe and a bandsaw, though.) Now I need to clean them up and start **using** them, and developing my skills. I don't need to buy any more of 'em.


Some of the guitar magazine ads (guitars; guitar amps; effects pedals) make me go "Oooh..." Example:


I can always use another effects pedal. ;) And one of these days it'd be nice to have a tube amp...


But, the recording magazines. Yowza!!! I mean, check **this** out:Or this:


Yowwww-zaaaa...!!!


Sadly, these things ain't cheap -- so I'll probably never bring myself to actually get one of these. But if someone gave me a choice between some $3,000 flat-screen t.v., and one o' those blue things (above), I know which one **I'd** choose.

Partly 'cause it's a **tool**: you can do useful things with it. And partly -- dunno. Aesthetics, I guess. And it has lots of knobs and switches.


Different tastes. Whenever I show my wife ads for effects pedals or recording gear, she just shrugs. ;)


--GG

Maybe a little TOO cheap

Sorry: this one's for the guitarists out there. I'm kinda tired, and thus not going to interpret the technical stuff.


About a half year ago, I bought a quasi-Strat (used, pawn shop, probably around a hundred bucks). Finally got around to changing the strings and setting it up a bit. Was adjusting the intonation last night, and bottomed out on the adjustable bridge: i.e., couldn't bring the saddles any closer to the tail end of the guitar. Turns out that the bridge was installed about 1/4" of an inch too close to the neck: that is, the 12th fret is only vaguely near the halfway point.

Woulda thought that correct bridge placement would be a basic requirement of guitar building -- even for el-cheapo guitars.


I'll eventually move the bridge -- but it'll involve filling in the current hold with a correct-sized block of wood, and moving the whole thing back a bit (or, buying a "fixed" bridge -- I've already jammed a block of wood next to the current "whammy" undercarriage, thus neutralizing it).

Not difficult -- but it puts it onto the "projects" list, rather than the quick and easy "intonate guitar" entry on my mental "To Do" list.


Ah well: at least the electronics work.


--GG

Interesting websites on electric guitar pickups

Interesting (to me) websites on guitar pickups.

The first one -- http://www.aqdi.com/cgi-bin/database.cgi -- methodically compares a wide range of guitar pickups, and provides a frequency response curve. Also has a nice little Java-based simulation of what happens when you tweak the capacitance and the potentiometer resistance. Neat-o!

The second site -- http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/pickups.php -- talks more about the theory, and at the bottom of the page gives the four general tonal qualities of pickups with the strong/weak magnet, many/few wrappings of the wire. Makes me want to start experimenting with winding my own pickups...

The third site -- http://www.ocduffpickups.com/faq.html -- clarifies what "handwound" pickups are, and other good information. In some of the sections I wonder if the writer accidentally says the opposite of what she or he means sometimes (e.g. "is not" rather than "is", "stronger" rather than "weaker"). But I could be wrong.


Regardless: good stuff!


--GG

Video guitars

Two interesting video mods to electric guitars -- both involving video displays.


#1:




#2:




Neat-o!


I'd enjoy either one. Wouldn't like the price, though. ;)


--GG