At some point I'll be killing my appetite with some crackers, a banana and maybe a raw carrot.
Expect horrid imperfection and this might even look pretty good.
With five questions and a few topics to touch upon....please find something and chime in.....
"Chasing tone" is often used pejoratively as if finding your voice of choice were fruitless and never-ending. Yet if you care at all about the sound of your instrument you spend some time and probably some money focusing on tone. Some people are eclectic while others attempt to duplicate one musician's sound…….probably from a song or album rather than the gear and settings the musician actually uses. (Who has the opportunity to see the gear and settings up close?)
#1. What are some examples of tones you really love and try to explain what it is that you like so much about them?
I don't have time to give an answer to this one.
G&L Topic:
Rustic / Roadworn: Paying top dollar for brand new beat up gear while something fairly new with scratches, chips, dings, and pitting from actual use over time is less desirable in the marketplace? G&L has not been around long enough to have any authentically vintage/worn instruments, broadly speaking. There are no 1950's G&Ls. This is one category where G&L exists as an imitation Fender.
#2 What do you think of the Rustic concept?
I don't get it at all.
Alternatively, I want to throw out a complment to G&L for all of the fine finishes being offered. The finishes may very well be enough for me to ignore that serial number plate.
Non G&L Topic:
Effects / Stompboxes
#3 What was the first effect you heard in person hooked up to a guitar that made a strong impression on you?
Mine was the Maestro Phase Shifter. It was one of the first phase shifters. This was the mid 70's. It was operated with your hands with knob/switches but there was an optional foot switch available as well. It could either rest on a flat surface or be mounted on a microphone stand. It did not have many options. They had switches not dials but each could build upon the other to achieve about 6? different variations.
In my mind there are two types of phase shifters. Those that sound like shweeeeoooooo shweeeeooooo in a cylindrical spiral and those that sort of splash and reverberate like water. The Maestro sounded like the water. An example that comes close is what Peter Frampton used in Lines On My Face for the live version on Frampton Comes Alive. I know he was combining a phase shifter with a Leslie rotating speaker cabinet but the result is a close approximation of the Maestro Phase Shifter effect.
Anyway I had not learned to play guitar at the time. A friend was very very good and we would go down to a guitar shop in town and I would watch and listen mesmerized by his playing. He knew most songs I requested. He tested out a lot of gear but the Maestro took the prize. It conjured images of rippling water and a rainbow of colors as he played. I have since grown relatively numb compared to the impressions something like the Maestro left me with.
Back then it was routine for small crowds of musicians to hang out on the weekend at this guitar shop. People would grab the goods off the display shelves and sit around the isles jamming on new Les Pauls and Strats. Only the rare collector gear was off limits. Eventually the owners decided this was not to their advantage and the jam sessions stopped and trying out gear was restricted to what has become common practice just about everywhere today.
Beyond listening and imagining with the radio, records or sometimes television and movies, this was my introduction to guitar playing up close and personal.
#4. What was your introduction to guitar playing up close and personal?
I recall asking one of the owners of this shop if he knew what a musician used to achieve a certain sound. He offered a discouraging response something like, "50000 watts, 20 years of playing, custom this and that." Had he only known the money to be made by having the correct answer and stocking it in his shop.
I was asking about Robin Trower's rig (effects also used by David Gilmour, Santana and others), specifically the Shin-ei Univibe, only I could not find anyone that new what he used. I did not have a name for it. No one sold any vibe effect where I checked. All you saw that had any resemblance were phase shifters which were just coming out at the time. In fact I only learned of the Uni-vibe about two years ago. I am just returning to playing guitar after 25 years and not looking closely at gear. Now they are everywhere…….clones at least. When I was actively playing no one sold a vibe type effect.
Final question:
#5 Is there a favorite effect that you have or would like?
Mine is the Neo Ventilator. It is either this or an actual Leslie rotating speaker cabinet. These are the only thing that get the rotating speaker sound right.
I apologize for the commercial aspect of the following video but stick around for the performance at the end. Lance Keltner uses the Ventilator effect as tastefully as can be done. It is a great jam, he has a great tone and plays slide guitar quite well.
[youtube]0rJumySTfuc[/youtube]
.........wish I could tune up this post.
-- Darwin
Ha!
