Musicians check in here. If you play, tell us about it!

[djentleman]

I always had power trios over the years... slightly prog, slightly jazz, slightly funk... but really just classic rock power trio based. In 1989 when I was looking to expand my chord voicing abilities, I ordered a Carvin LB75 that I sent them Ultra light Rotosounds to use in its final set up. .090 low E and an extra higher string to make it EADGB. High C NEVER crossed my mind, I noodled around on guitar, so why would I put a high C instead of a high B When I ordered my 6, I played with B-c and B-b... but for fretless, the B-c works better for me, but I still switch it to B-b occasionally.

Indeed. I think it's all how you learned the instrument. I started on a conventionally tuned six string guitar, then switched to seven, later to eight... so I think of the fretboard from the top (highest string) down. All my chord/mode/scale motion is based off having that major 3rd interval in there. Drop tunings too: My brain really only likes them on the lowest string. I can drop the eighth on the eighter, the seventh on a seven, etc., and not get confused after the third Islay scotch.

I use super light strings on my 4, 6, and 7... Kalium balanced sets with .106 low B with a .079 E. My 5 string is set up like my upright... pure thump! It has some Labella Deep Talkin Bass flats. with .128 B and .109 E. My 7 string full set is .106 -.079 -.059 -.043 -.031 -.019 -.012 with the b and e unwrapped... it takes an extremely light and controlled touch, but the depth of tone is well worth it for the stuff I play.

All Kalium here too. Goes: G00/A00 .266 | D0 .210 | G0 .166 | C1 .130 | E1 .100 | A1 .080 I don't really have any "high" strings per se, so I go for tension to minimize excursion, and pop nicely with slapping (I mainly pick though as I prefer the attack in the mix).

My guitar wears old school Dean Markley 'light top / heavy bottom' strings... but I'm going to give Kaliums a try once I'm out of the DM since I was instantly sold bass wise when my friends Chris and Skip first came to market as Circle K strings.

Skip's the man! He's made it a lot more convenient for ERG and ERB players to get the strings they need for their respective instruments. Mad respect. I wanted to get a Quake 6 for my main bass, but again, the price (while perfectly fair for a custom builder) and turnaround time was too much for me at the moment. Not ruling it out in the future however.

Guitar strings are all D'Addarios. Giving the NYXL's a try next. They just have a great selection of singles, and the Nickel XL bass strings that I end up using on the seventh and eighth strings balance nicely (not too bright, not too dark) with the rest of the "guitar" strings. Despite what the haters like to say, I'm not trying to replace a bass with my ERGs.

Bartolinis are some good sounding pickups, I have a POS early 90s imported Hamer that I put a set in... completely woke it up. Bill Conklin makes a killer bass... not a fan of the back of the neck to body transition though.

I've always found them a little noisy, but by way of that, everything is coming through... it's easier to take away than put in something that's not really there to begin with... and I love the balance and response with the big strings. They just work. Big passives are quieter, but just don't do it for me. I also worry about GIANT magnets next to GIANT strings mucking things up.

As for the bass, I went with a Terra Firma singlecut because of the sheer extra mass and contact area (it's neck-through). With a subcontra, more is better to keep the energy in those big, slow moving strings.

 

[Hypnophone]

vape Suzette" data-source="post: 16515394" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch">

So it was YOU ... Hypnophone, who I have been listening to in the group, "Schroomville". I wasn't clear on who posted what, but you really cover the Allman Bros beautifully! It's quite a feat. You are in North Texas, so how close does that put you to Fredricksburg (sp? it's been many years) and Austin? I used to swim in Lake Travis and go to concerts at Armadillo World Headquarters before they turned it into a parking lot. Joni Mitchel was right after all. A parking lot ... gasp!!!!!!!!! I also used to go to The Rome In (when they were open) and I was the only customer in there one afternoon when Stevie Ray Vaughan was doing his sound check. I had no idea who he was, but it was while he was playing a lot locally with his brother in Double Trouble.

I bet I wouldn't recognize Austin anymore, but I could always find the house I lived in on San Gabriel. You must have heard Carolyn Wonderland out of Austin who was helped much by Johnny Winter before he passed on. She's wondrous. We have an office in Austin that we might transfer to in the future. A very far off future!

Hmmm, Schroomville. Is that a place or has it anything to do with mycology? How did you get the name? Great music. You do play with bad asses ... hehe! I have been meaning to tell you that I was a member of "The Church of the Subgenius" now nearly since its inception!!! I converted as many people as I could! The church of Bob ... ha-ha!

WooHoo! Golly Suzette, where to start....
The Schroomers needed a drummer. So they got me.
I love Austin, and go down there when my schedule allows for that kinda foolishness.
As for the Church of the SubGenius, stay away from them! Them there folks ain't right in the head!
You were there for a Stevie Ray soundcheck? You, my dear are fortunate.
I could relay stories about my guitar-playin' friends and their exploits with the Vaughn brothers in the 80's, but I won't...

No, the name has nothing to do with mycology. There's only one or two guys that know what that means...
I think they named it Schroomville for the album covers. ...and that's a damn shame.

YeeHaw!!!!

 

[Hypnophone]

Wow man, You guys and your stringy twangers.....
....not that I have problem with that!

Dudes, have y'all seen what is being built by MOOG?

I know that y'all are not interested in anything keyboardy or drummy for that matter.

Screw it, check this out:
http://www.moogmusic.com/

 

[Hypnophone]

In case you have forgotten what the MOOG, HAMMOND, Bass, Drums, and lip flapper can do without guitar, please allow me to remind you.

 

[Vape Suzette]

Nice to hear from you Hypnophone! Yes, I really enjoyed your group. My husband did also. I studied at Berklee and N. E. Conservatory with legends, and then started performing with my teachers several years back. I opened for Bela Fleck and many other string prodigies, but I am sure no one in the electric scene has heard of the musicians I worked or open for. I am certain no one has listened to Muriel Anderson ... right? Sadly, I probably am right. That's okay, I am used to not being taken seriously at all ... haaa -- and I really am kidding -- for real!!! My husband plays piccolo bass and upright bass (standup) -- he's a Ron Carter fan and serious player. We just played last Saturday night. When David Bromberg was here, we had the honor of opening for him. I once lived in Phoenix, AZ (a very short miserable time) as a young girl before I hit Berklee and used to hang out at Chewies (sp?)

I enjoyed doing the Texas Ren Faire outside Houston in Plantersville (I think that's the name) when I was doing comedy, but I do not miss being on contract as a traveling comedic classical wench! I did however LOVE playing Houston Pacifica radio, 90.1 KPFT.
There were a few places there that were truly wonderful. Acoustic fingerstyle, classical and bottleneck is what I do best. And ALL 29 (LOL) of Robert Johnson's incredible work. I hung around with John Hammond for a while and became a blues enthusiast. Most of my friends have studied with my teacher and friend Paul Rishell who won the W.C. Handy award. I practiced and wrote a lot today and my hands are a bit sore, not to mention my eyes. Are you familiar with Michael Hedges, because he was a huge influence and I met him back stage at Berklee Performance Center. I still can't believe he's gone.

I miss New England something terrible. There is very little culture in the West. There is no place like Boston and we spend four months of the year working there. My friends put together a compilation CD entitled, This Ain't Austin, it's Boston! LOL! I enjoyed my time in Austin. I am glad to hear from several of my friends there that it's being kept WEIRD!!!!!!!!!!! Sincere thanks for writing, and GREAT playing! Keep Austin Weird!!!

 

[djentleman]

Wow man, You guys and your stringy twangers.....
....not that I have problem with that!

Dudes, have y'all seen what is being built by MOOG?

Is the rhetorical, or did they drop something new?

I know that y'all are not interested in anything keyboardy or drummy for that matter.

Oh, I'm a big synthesis appreciator. I do most of my stuff in the box, not much in the way of outboard gear these days, just some Roland and Korg stuff. Personally, I'm big fan of Native Instruments, Spectrasonics, Image Line, and Rob Pappen. Thems my mainstays. Eyeballing iZotope Iris 2 at the moment.

 

[James Hart]

Oh, I'm a big synthesis appreciator.

I'm more of a Hammond and Rhodes kind of guy... Owned a mid 60s B3 (with Leslie) and an early 70s EightyEight (with speaker cabinet base... guts removed for a hotrodded preamp, I used an old 70s Ampeg bass head to drive the speakers). Only keyboard I have now is an old console piano... not that I can play much, but it entertains me. The wife does take lessons occasionally when she gets the itch, my daughter will get lessons once she can grasp them.

(only shot I have online)

Dudes, have y'all seen what is being built by MOOG?

Nice stuff, not my thing... though I could definitely have some fun with their gear.

I studied at Berklee

Jealous... I made it through the audition process in the 80s, my folks were NOT hearing anything about going to college for my hobby... pulled my college funds In hindsight, I was a flake and would have dropped or flunked out from lack of discipline.

 

[Vape Suzette]

Hi, James:

The black and white cat matches the keyboard! My cats used to walk and tap at the keyboard -- especially our Siamese. I wish we could have it repaired. I like piano and still do not play because of practicing on my 5 guitars 6 -- 8 hours a day. I am working on harp guitar a lot these days.

It is so inspiring when you are around healthy ego musicians who want to see you succeed more than anything. I stay around people like that as often as possible. When around negative players I do not even bother. I am so much older now and have been playing soooo long that at this point I just am enjoying it more than anything. Discipline can be found when truly playing for yourself and it is never too late to develop genuine prowess on any instrument you have a calling for.

I don't know if anyone is old enough to remember Richie Furay. ? I hang around in his orbit and places like that now. We found a town out here that reminded us of a quaint New England town, and we were so happy to play at this coffee house we found there filled with string-finger contortionists!!! They were wonderful players, and my husband and I had so much fun talking with all of them. I can hardly wait to go back! They wouldn't let us leave! I am so inspired. We sit around quoting Leonard Cohen ... lol! "There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in."

 

[djentleman]

I'm more of a Hammond and Rhodes kind of guy... Owned a mid 60s B3 (with Leslie)...
(only shot I have online)

Sweet, nothing beats the ol' B3 + Leslie combo (or a lot of things plugged into a Leslie, for that matter). That falls under instruments (virtual, in my world), not snyths. Toe-may-toe/Toe-ma-toe, perhaps. Must be nice to have the real deal.

 

[djentleman]

My cats used to walk and tap at the keyboard --

That's what they do. My now ex G.F.'s cat loved to sleep on my Korg sampler... probably because the pads got warm. Was always wiping black hair off it.

 

[Vape Suzette]

That is so funny! My cat was this tiny, delicate lilac point who passed last year and she was 16. She used to sit on our first computer monitor -- you know, the big glass monitors ... ? And she would create all kinds of havoc for us when she would throw up into the monitor and on the keyboard! Sorry to be so graphic, but she was such a character. She would beat up her huge big brother who was a darling blue point with a neurological disorder. But she was aware he wasn't right in the head, so she mostly watched over him. I would not let her near our string instruments! She would have destroyed them. We have several vintage instruments around here and thankfully, they are no longer being tarred from cigarette smoke.

My husband and I have been listening to Esperanza Spalding quite a lot lately. My husband was born in Phoenix and I remember how terribly hot it got there. The temp has risen since we left. The last time I was there was for a friends funeral who drank himself to death and I remember thinking it might be like this on Mars. I thought I was going to die from heat stroke. I lived in Scottsdale for a year and a half and then moved to Boston. It's great more musicians are finding this thread! How long have you been vaping?

 

[djentleman]

My husband was born in Phoenix and I remember how terribly hot it got there. The temp has risen since we left. The last time I was there was for a friends funeral who drank himself to death and I remember thinking it might be like this on Mars. I thought I was going to die from heat stroke. I lived in Scottsdale for a year and a half and then moved to Boston.

You kinda of acclimate to it. I've lived here more than anywhere else at this point in my life, in two different stints, with some time in Portland, Oregon in-between. The 110+ doesn't really bother me so long as I have access to the shade. It does get old by the end of the summer. It's just cooling down now. It's not my favorite place in the world, but it's where my career is right now. ¯\(°_o)/¯

How long have you been vaping?

About three years now.

 

[James Hart]

Sweet, nothing beats the ol' B3 + Leslie combo (or a lot of things plugged into a Leslie, for that matter). That falls under instruments (virtual, in my world), not snyths. Toe-may-toe/Toe-ma-toe, perhaps. Must be nice to have the real deal.

Synths have come a LONG way, and if I was a touring keyboardist... I would have a digital piano with Rhodes tones AND a digital B3. I got my Rhodes from my kb player of the day who had finally had it lugging the thing and bought a very legitimate digital replacement. I got rid of the B3 for lack of room and the Rhodes because I was relocating in the early 90s and my guitarist at the time made me a sweet offer on it.

That said, I dig acoustic and analog... I use tube amps and stomp boxes even with bass. I am in the prototyping process of a Universal tube instrument amp to handle bass, guitar, keys, harp, etc. Not sure if there will be a market for it, but I've been teaching myself tube base electrical/audio engineering to bring my ideas to the real world. Worst case... I will have spent a few decades tinkering and having fun, best case, maybe I retire from the real world to sit in my shop building tube gear for profit

The black and white cat matches the keyboard! My cats used to walk and tap at the keyboard -- especially our Siamese. I wish we could have it repaired. I like piano and still do not play because of practicing on my 5 guitars 6 -- 8 hours a day. I am working on harp guitar a lot these days.

That was Annie... we lost her 8 years ago, she was far too young That picture was probably 14 years ago... she was sweet but INSANE! Her favorite thing was to snatch dried out used tea bags from the trash. She would growl over them like they were her pray The piano is in the process of being sanded down and painted. I'm putting it in a small Nautical themed living room so the wife wants me to stain it weathered grey and coat it with liming wax (to look like old weathered white wash)... and then stencil some Nautical crap on it. I don't mind, it'll likely look pretty cool when I'm done... but all I care about is that it is in tune and functions

Harp guitar is an interesting instrument! Bizarre concept... makes me think of Michael Hedges. I'm pretty set on my 7 string bass and upright lately, the rest get very little time. Sometimes I think about picking up an alto sax again, I played one from 4th to 12th grade... concert and jazz bands. Marched one year, but I found no joy in that.

It is so inspiring when you are around healthy ego musicians who want to see you succeed more than anything. I stay around people like that as often as possible. When around negative players I do not even bother. I am so much older now and have been playing soooo long that at this point I just am enjoying it more than anything. Discipline can be found when truly playing for yourself and it is never too late to develop genuine prowess on any instrument you have a calling for.

I play every chance I get... and have pretty much sworn off playing with others since the locals are either middle aged guys still thinking they have a shot at being rock stars playing metal and grunge, people just looking for an excuse to escape their family to party, or jazz purists trying to be exact copies of their idols and expecting the other players to be exact copies of their idol's sidemen. Nobody just wants to hang out and create/express themselves. I just play for me now and the occasional virtual session for players from my past.

 

[Vape Suzette]

Hello James:

Cats really have some unique idiosyncrasies! She must have thought the tea bag was a mouse and the string of the tea bag the tail! I'm sure your piano will look gorgeous after refinishing it. I had the L.R. Baggs Anthem pickup built into my 1976 vintage Guild D 50 just 6 months ago. I was listening to View From Space by Muriel Anderson. It accompanied the astronauts on the space shuttle Discovery. She also did the sound track for Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Woody Allen). If you ever get the chance to watch or listen to her perform, she is like no one else. I also genuinely like her as a person. There is a great harp guitar teacher right here! It's nice not to have to count on the east coast for everything!

I play a lot of Hedges and have slapped my harmonics for so many years, that the luthier I take my instruments in to says I must have the neck reinforced where it meets the body. Nothing is wrong yet, but he is absolutely right. All of the tunings I use make for some nice voicings. Slapping and tapping has added more percussion and texture than nearly any other technique I use -- and I have incorporated slapping harmonics into some bottleneck pieces to add a lot of extra sound. The miniature orchestra!

Do You remember a great guitarist -- Buster B. Jones? Chet Atkins tried to get him out in front of a major audience, but he was stage shy and also severely addicted to alcohol. For a short time I studied privately with Guy Van Duser, and wish I could have studied with Buster Jones instead. I have all of his teachings on DVD and have learned more from him than many overpriced private lessons. He drank himself to death in 2009. What a LOSS! I learned Linus and Lucy by Vince Guaraldi through his DVD teachings, and when I sat down with Muriel Anderson, she played it exactly the same way. He influenced so many.

I'm writing all the time and am working on an adagio that is taking all my time and effort in counterpoint. I need my husband to play it with me because the lines intertwine and overlap. Several musicians that I know back in the north east have been popping up in the background of cooking shows on PBS! Well, it's a living!!!

 

[Vape Suzette]

Hi, DeJent!

Yes. people are amazingly adaptive! I managed while I was there and I remember taking my mother to Sedona -- and for her it was the trip of a lifetime. We took her there twice and she was very old by the time I was only 16 --17 because she had me in her early fifties. I had no other siblings and she had been told over and over she would never have kids. Anyway, sorry I go off topic so often. It's been a rough few years with four major surgeries and several minor surgical events -- lol! It has changed me a bit I fear!

It used to be so much cooler there this time of year. My husband was shocked at how the temp has been creeping up so slowly but if we had stayed, I may have not noticed it. My husband went to Sunny Slope and graduated first in his class and got a full scholarship, but was not even aware of this thing called competition. He's a space shot alright! Completely oblivious! So we applied to a bunch of different colleges and chose Boston for both of us. We would choose the rudest city in the country! The people can be shockingly rude, but the coffeehouses and music venues everywhere can be warm and accepting.

I'll bet people like Lyle Mays love the new synthesizers. Metheney, too. Many I am sure, I know I love it when I have heard what several musicians have done to enhance their compositions. We have so much trouble hauling our instruments that anything more to add and we'd never gig again. We'd need a bus!

 

[James Hart]

I'm writing all the time

I hit youtube with all the names you mentioned... good stuff, I believe I have seen all of them in the past, but not familiar enough to recall the names. I love that style of play, my Grandfather was a guitarist from 9 until death... both kinds Country AND Western (his joke not mine... he was a farm boy form Iowa who often wore a teeshirt stating he was a Geetar Player). One of his main idols was Chet and that is how he played (not with that level of skill). I have a few reel to reel tapes of his playing I need to get transferred to my computer some day.

Nothing wrong with getting paid for backing tracks to cooking shows! I've had stuff used on radio and local TV commercials... one pop song I'm on was used as the lead in for a local radio station traffic report for a while and I use to do jingle sessions in the early 90s. I never really pursued it as a career, but did support myself with it for a short while.

I love old Guilds... I actually have a 64 Starfire V that was my Grandfathers, That and an old Univox tube combo live at my folk's place. My father bashes out some chords from time to time so I let him use his father in law's old set up.

 

[djentleman]

That said, I dig acoustic and analog... I use tube amps and stomp boxes even with bass. I am in the prototyping process of a Universal tube instrument amp to handle bass, guitar, keys, harp, etc. Not sure if there will be a market for it, but I've been teaching myself tube base electrical/audio engineering to bring my ideas to the real world. Worst case... I will have spent a few decades tinkering and having fun, best case, maybe I retire from the real world to sit in my shop building tube gear for profit

It's not a bad idea. I fully expect things to move more towards FRFR (Full Range Frequency Response) in the future, with those types of amp/speaker setups and powered personal arrays becoming more and more popular. It's really about the small-to-medium venue market (which is the biggest chunk of the musician populous), as most essentially don't have adequate sound reinforcement, so you rely on A LOT of stage volume to create the end result. We were already considering adding more of that ethos into live performances in my last band. Myself and my other guitar player were using powered JBL pairs (4 total)... however, with a central mix element, something like the mid-range of the bass could be bussed in there too (we just never got around to it), but his lows could go to the sub by themselves where they belong. It'd be the same amount of gear, but instead of lugging in gear for the individual instrument, it's part of a more comprehensive system with separation and overlap in the right places. Heck, everyone could have the same powered array, and you just network them to a central hub and assign your channels appropriately.

My biggest gripes with small rock clubs is the lack of subwoofers, and the complete inability of most places to get a solid kick drum into the mains... which sucks for metal in particular. Someone just needs to make a kick drum insert that is a FRFR speaker set, with a simple sound module in it and a trigger pad for the beaters on the back of it. Anything you get off the PA, frees up space for the vox.

I don't know about tubes, though. They seem to be the first thing that gets ditched in a live environment because they're fickle, fragile, and a hassle. With stuff like the Kemper out there getting so close to the ballpark, it's almost a no brainier. Even a cranky Luddite like Glen Fricker is keen to point out that 98% of the audience isn't going notice or care. You end up lugging around an expensive box of hand wired goodness and glowy glass for little reason. Good power and good speakers are probably more important, because while going DI with something like a modeler sounds like a good idea (we tried for a while), the wedges aren't generally enough to get the feel... or hear what's going on, both on stage and for the audience, and you end up crowding the PA. It could be argued that an array gives the audience something MORE representative of your sound than not, because your mic(s) and placement (through the impulse) are what they hear and not wherever they're standing with respect to your 4x12 loaded with Celestions or whatever.

Your idea is sound though, IMHO. Maybe something with a hot-swappable power section, so you could leave the tubes in the studio, then take solid state power on the road. Gives nice flexibly and power options as well.

 

[djentleman]

Hi, DeJent!

Someone Googled it and ended up on Stevie T's vid. Not sure it's the most flattering sell, but accurate and entertaining at least. Also, my apologies for the "Will it djent?" thing. I started the meme way back on ss.org like seven years ago or something... now no one can post a YouTube vid of their custom hurdy gurdy or whatever without someone asking it. My bad.

So we applied to a bunch of different colleges and chose Boston for both of us. We would choose the rudest city in the country! The people can be shockingly rude, but the coffeehouses and music venues everywhere can be warm and accepting.

I've only visited Boston a handful of times, but never considered it for a domicile destination. Mainly because of the weather, and yeah, the Northeast attitude gets old as well. Agreed upon that.

I'll bet people like Lyle Mays love the new synthesizers. Metheney, too. Many I am sure, I know I love it when I have heard what several musicians have done to enhance their compositions. We have so much trouble hauling our instruments that anything more to add and we'd never gig again. We'd need a bus!

It's interesting, it's going both ways at this point. With the Eurorack craze, all the modular stuff is coming back en vogue. Boutique companies left-and-right. Roland is on board with the Aria modular stuff, and speaking of Moog, I saw just last night that they've got a Eurorack modular that just dropped. The synthwave (which I love) and vaporwave movements have brought back an interest in the '80s stuff too and Roland (under the guise "Roland Boutique") just dropped three modules based on the Jupiter-8, Juno-106, and the JX-3P units of yesteryear. And Korg's got the Arp Odyssey. I usually thrive off additive, granular, wavetable/sample based, and spectral synthesis, but those retro-futurist sounds will always sound the part to me as well. I grew up on Blade Runner, John Carpenter movies, Miami Vice, etc. I'm seriously G.A.S.-ing for some of that stuff. Who needs money, anyway?

 

[James Hart]

Your idea is sound though, IMHO. Maybe something with a hot-swappable power section, so you could leave the tubes in the studio, then take solid state power on the road. Gives nice flexibly and power options as well.

Without going into too much detail, it is a blended preamp design that has seperate EF806 and 6SL7 signal paths each with a unique tone stack and gain control. I plan to mate it to a pair of KT66, KT88, or KT120 for 50, 100 or 150 watt versions as well as a preamp only version. In theory it will be able to be bright & compressed and loose & fat at the same time... and built for hifi frequency response. Thinking big picture, I already bought the domain http://www.mythicamps.com/ with the Preamp being called the "Yggdrasil" and the 150 watt version called the "Odin", the 100 watt called "Frigg" and the 50 watt called "Baldr" All 3 will have a preamp out for driving powered speakers

I started the meme way back on ss.org like seven years ago or something

HA! I'm a member there... hardly ever post, rarely remember to visit. Joined in 2007, haven't visited since Sept 2013

 

[Vape Suzette]

Wow! So much tech talk! Well, it beats politics or television.

Question: Do any of you like Tommy Emmanuel?

And another question: Do people ever post their work from youtube on this thread?