I'll jump in today as I have time and a couple of things on my mind for you. Lunch was beef stew and it was pretty good. I am feeling almost normal after a 3 week crud.
Todays G&L question is about string moving mechanisms. I have owned a Tele B-Bender and it was a fun guitar but it was hard on my shoulder and better for a younger guy. It is also quite heavy. G&L has the WR bender. Today I find a protorype Fender on CL which apprears to be like a whmmy bar (tremolo) that is run by pushing on the neck (activated by the strap pin like a b-bender. For those of you that have a bender, which one do you have and how do you like it. Do you think that a shoulder activated tremolo would be something that you would like on a G&L. Will Ray, if you are reading I would love to hear your comments on advantages/ disadvantages from your experience. The WR Hipshot certainly has a huge weight advantage. So G&L folks, what do you think of these benders?
Non G&L subject is stage lighting. This is not an issue for those of you that have venues where lighting is supplied. We play different venues, most of them do not have lighting/light technician. I have been shopping and have settled on some lighting and stands. The ladies in our band are very sensitive to bright lighting and do not like them. I settled for an On Stage truss lighting support which can be used without the truss where you have a very low stage ceiling. I also picked up 4 American DJ Pro 38B lights and have been testing them in my garage. They are LED lights. The ladies are coming over tomorrow evening to work on some new material and they will check them out. They are programmable to do many different effects/colors and also can be used on a DMX controller. I can't imagine us ever doing that but I am interesting in hearing what you do. Do you have lights that change patterns or do you pretty much set them up for constant non changing light. Let me know what works best for you as I have 30 days to decide if I like these lights or not. This is a band investment and people have complained about not seeing the ladies well enough and they both deserve to be seen. They don't ask about lighting us us old dudes up. Surprise??????????
-- Darwin
Last edited by darwinohm on Tue May 15, 2012 2:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Unfortunately, I know absolutely nothing about either of today's topics. Never even tried a bender of any kind (since College ;+), and I've never really had to consider stage lighting issues.
I will say that I am glad you are feeling better. Any stew left? Maybe Elwood can bake us up a loaf of sourdough to go with... Now THAT would be fine! - ed
I've tried the hipshot bender, it's a neat contraption and a lot cheaper than the alternative. I took it off after a month or so, I just didn't use it as much as I thought I would. Never seen a shoulder activated tremolo, but I cant imagine it being easier to use than the regular kind.
It's great when you play at venues that have a good PA and lighting system, its so much less work! Alas that only comes up once in a blue moon. We have a simple light truss with 4 LED cans connected to a DMX. It provides a nice backing light and light the drummer up, and two regular cans either side of stage provide the illumination for the rest of us up front. They're bright and hot, but that's part of it - you get used to it after a while. There's also this thing we use occasionally that changes colours with the beat. It has four lights in it, making it brighter and hotter than the cans. It stays home quite a bit
the led lights are the way to go. less bright, lighter, less power use, and less heat. you wanna have a couple of floods, a spot or 2 and if you want a light show, one programmable self contained unit to provide some effects. to me it's the music, i am not too concerned with a light show.
Darwin, what the heck kinda rooms are you playing that people can't see the stage? Does the fire marshall know how you are packin' 'em in?
I tended bar in a place that had fairly frequent live music I made a couple of observations. This place had a tiny stage, no special lighting at all. The stage was maybe 5x12 (feet). One thing I thought i noticed was bands that had lights had a little easier time engaging the crowd. And bands that managed their lights, ie turned them off/down during breaks and stuff, really got more benefit from them. In this place it seemed like just the added focus from the lights was most beneficial, flashing stuff and what not was that helpful. But that was a long time ago, and I know you can get more/better lights for less money now.
Mr. Runestone, I've been under the weather for about three weeks too. What is going on here!!! Minnesota Spring Fever? It felt like the earth's gravity was turned way up...
I've seen the bender you're speaking of; never tried it. Will Ray's is more up my alley. Although, I've owned neither. Do they even make them in lefty? Hmmm....
Lighting. I've been spoiled and never had to deal. Just show-up for sound check, bail, then return & burn. I feel your dilemma; ladies are like precious art and must be lit properly. Zap, insert joke here <--
I fingerpick as well so a bar is not the best setup for vibrato. However I have been experimenting with my beater
Squier, floating the bridge higher than usual and slackening the tension on the springs that I can hit the bridge with the back edge of my palm when I need to bend a few strings at a time. It's not as extreme as a b-bender but it works in a pinch.
With respect to lights, you may want to hold out for the time being and invest in (or build) some low cost LED-based lighting. I sat in on a lighting meeting for a new film studio with an electrician the other day and he was explaining that film production is moving away from incadescent and halogen lighting to LEDs for heat and energy efficiency reasons.
You sound like a handy guy, you could probably make your own lights with LED tape and some simple materials to illuminate the ladies and the gents without frying anybody.
My band bought some PAR64 LED cans last year and we have been using them every gig since. We did it on the cheap by buying some off shore ones that have sound activated programs built in - and thats all we use, we literally plug them in and let them go. Personally I would like a DMX controller as i am getting pretty tired of the constant flashing, so if you find one you are happy with please let me know.
Now that I have some input I will explain a bit more. These lights are LED and do no use much power or give off hardly any heat. They do have built in programs like Scott mentioned. They can be sound activated which I may use on the drummer. The ladies only want white light on them. I am going to try a slow fade change on Steve (lead) and myself as we are on the ends. The fade color change lights will be focused behind the ladies and will add some color depth behind them. I haven't invested in a DMX controller and see no need to. It would be great if it were programmed to a song list but we change a bit depending what the audience likes. The stage at this place is large enough but has florescent recessed 4 x 24" lighting in the ceiling. The dancers do not want them on. We have been booked at this place through the end of the year and have a lot of other gigs where we can use them. So that's my story and Ginny is convinced I have completely lost it and calls herself a band widow. Louis, I believe that these are about as green as we can find today but will undoubtedly be outdatet in a couple of years CGT, I am not looking for more projects and the last computer I built was a bit more expensive than I could buy a ready to go model. Miles, I am lusting for a Duesenburg with a vibrato. Some things don't change. Ed, some of Elwoods sour dough would have really fixed up my stew at lunchtime. Will, Minnesota has had some nasty stuff going around recently. How is that new Anderson doing?
As long as I am long winded I will make a big confession for some of you. I have been working on a song with some hot Bass work tonight. It is difficult and not in an open string key. I had it pretty well nailed but there was a lot of string noise. After a beer or two, I decided to Capo the first fret. What a difference. Now it is very clean and articulate. Bass players do capo!! , at least starting tonight. Is that cheating????. Time for another cold one -- Darwin
Great to hear about your gig schedule. Yeah, that sickness is finally leaving me. Finally. The Anderson has seen little play time so far. I've been spending the past few weeks dealing with the business end of music. Getting the business...
-- Darwin