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Post by IndyBlues on Feb 23, 2007 20:14:57 GMT -5
Just curious to see what other musicians we have here on the 'Lounge. I have been a guitar player for the last 17 years. Started kind of late(21), but picked up up rather quickly. Started playing on stage with a band after 2 years of playing. Were some of the best times of my life. So, anyone else play?? Here is a pic of my Number One,... She's a hybrid put together from 2 different guitars. The body is from a 2000 Fender Lonestar Stratocaster,...Teal green metallic, Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates humbucker in the bridge, and 2 Texas Specials in the mid and neck positions. The neck is my favorite neck I ever played.....it is from a 1995 Stevie Ray Vaughan signature model Fender Stratocaster Plays like "buttah". I love this neck, it feels so right in my hands. It is a thick neck, kind of like a baseball bat cut in half, lol. It has a 12" radius fingerboard, and 6150 jumbo frets. She's my first wife, lol. 'Blues
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Post by Ragingblues on Feb 23, 2007 21:32:31 GMT -5
I'll have to take some photos for show and tell, but I too (as you already know from our phone conversation) am a musician/singer. I officially started playing bass in 1984, and began singing shortly after that. I also picked up guitar, drums, and piano/keys along the way. I sang/played around in a few local bands before joining one as a singer only, that played clubs weekly. After a couple of years of that, we upgraded to the point that we could start traveling on a band circuit around the Southeast U.S. I switched to a different band later on and continued playing farther west. After that band broke up (as they all seem to do), I came home and built my own studio of gear. I gave two more area band projects a chance over the last 12 years, but they suffered the same fate as the rest. I put out my own solo CD and still sell them around the world, though not in large amounts or anything. At 38 years old, I do music mainly for my own enjoyment now. I still plan to do more live stuff for my own satisfaction and to let my family see/hear me sing in front of an audience. There is far too much studio/recording gear/other instruments to include here, so I'll just list my two guitars: Black Fender Strat w/ custom parts (EMG pickups, locking tuners, Graphtec string path parts, etc...) Black Schecter Omen 6 w/ 24 jumbo frets BTW, that is a great looking strat there Indyblues! I love that color, especially mixed with the pearlescent pick guard. I know we have atleast 4 musicians around here. Can anyone guess who the drummer was/is? Ken
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Post by indianadirk on Feb 24, 2007 5:40:51 GMT -5
Iam not really a musician but iam facinated by guitars. And lateley ever since I saw this : I want to pick up a guitar and try to play that !!! www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c7gUFSSXXEBut I heard playing on a electric guitar is really hard just my 2 cts
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rick5150
Temple Guard
18 Down, 30 To Go
Posts: 114
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Post by rick5150 on Feb 24, 2007 6:38:30 GMT -5
I have been playing off and on for 26 years. My current line up is: Left to right... A burgundy Les Paul with gold hardware. A natural Epiphone 335 A black Kramer Baretta My newest addition is this replica of Eddie Van Halen's 5150 guitar: It doesn't get much more fun that this... Next up, I am putting together my own guitar - mostly courtesy of Warmouth.com. I need a project for the upcoming days when hiking will not be an option
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Post by Ragingblues on Feb 24, 2007 9:29:58 GMT -5
Welcome to the Lounge Rick! Nice collection of GTR's you have there as well. I have always wanted a 335, so I could get some of the fatter, jazzier tones, among other sounds you can only seem to get with a fat body. I have always had a soft spot for owning Les Paul too, but being more of a part time player/mainly a singer, I just couldn't justify buying one. I was guessing that you being a guitar guy meant the 5150 was a Van Halen deal. Glad to see you pick up that model of Kramer as well. What kind of amps/signal path do you guys use? I can see the Line 6 in one of Rick's shots, of course. But, I'm betting you have a few different kinds around the house too. I run through a Line 6 POD into my mixer, and send the signal out of the Mackie into an Art tube EQ, and a Digitech 2112 Tube Preamp/processor set on warm clean. I add a few basic effects through some rackmount modules before mixing it all together and sending it into the pro audio card, using the PC as the digital recorder. I would like to have a nice Mesa Boogie combo, but between the POD's versatility and the three 12AX7's I have in the mix, it's nice and warm enough for what I do. Ok, enough babbling from me.... nice looking stuff guys! Any recordings of you two in action, online or otherwise? Some of my stuff can be heard at www.kennydrew.com if you are bored enough to listen. Ken
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Post by indianadirk on Feb 24, 2007 10:30:27 GMT -5
Ken , I really enjoy the sound of an electric guitar , and I love listening to your songs , even the small clips of your cover-band. When I have a job again , and some money after I completed my gear , Iam gonna get me an electric guitar and try to learn to play a bit over the internet. that link I posted of Youtube , the guy does alot of cool songs , just a riff , or whatever its called , but still the recognizable parts of songs. When I got into David Bowie's Music the love for the electric guitar came back this song , well ot particularly this version , but I love how the electric guitar is involved in this song youtube.com/watch?v=QDetQ18fw5Qjust my 2 eurocents;)
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Post by IndyBlues on Feb 24, 2007 10:41:42 GMT -5
Hey Dirk, it's not as hard as you would think. I used to think that when I was a teen, when I first wanted to learn to play,....but I talked myself out of it, thinking it would be impossible. I would suggest not spending a fortune on a first guitar and amp, or just get an inexpensive acoustic guitar. That way if you decide you don't have the patience for it, you won't lose alot of money. You can always ask us for advice and tips Ken, that sounds like an incredible little recording set up. I took a listen to your website,...you've got great pipes, man . I would love to start a band with you,..just travel would kill us, lol. Rick, nice trio of axes there. I absolutely love that pic of you rockin out. You look like a kid who just received his favorite toy in the world. That's the way a good instrument makes you feel. Playing guitar is one of the best things I ever learned to do. It's the best therapy in the world. Cures what ails ya, as they say. Let's see, my signal path right now is super simplistic. I sold alot of my gear over the years. I had just about anything and everything you could imagine,...Les Pauls, Paul Reed Smiths, Ibanez, Ovation, you name it, I owned it,.....even several vintage guitars that I am kicking myself for not keeping.....1968 Tele, 1965 AND '66 Fender Jaguars Amps I've had Marshall stacks, Mesa Boogies galore, lol. I owned a MarkIII, and a flagship Mark IV, a Triple Rectifier head,.... oh, it sickens me thinking of the gear that has passed though my fingers. Well, that's neither here nor there. Right now, I have the Strat you see above, and I run it straight into a little Marshall 1X10 combo. It does the job for my current situation,....being a non playing out, mostly home with my family, dad. If I decide to hook up effects, it will be a vintage Vox wah wah pedal, then a Ibanez TS-9 Tubescreamer re-issue, then straight into the front. My effects chain (through the amp loop) is my old favorite standbuys......Boss DD-3 Delay Pedal, Boss Super Chorus, and an MXR Phaser pedal. That's about it.....I like to keep it simple, especially now. 'Blues
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Post by Ragingblues on Feb 24, 2007 11:23:44 GMT -5
Thanks much for including me in your post Dirk. I'm with Indyblues... it's not as hard to get started as you might think. Where you go with it from there will depend on how much you truly enjoy playing. I also agree with the keep it cheap motto for first instruments. You can always buy something higher end later, but there is no need to waste money on something you may not really like doing after a few months. Used gear is perfect for this, BTW. I broke out both guitars of mine to snap a photo: I won't bore people with photos of studio gear, keyboard, and other stuff..... because unless you're a musician, those things don't usually grab people's eye like a guitar does. BTW, I play guitar... but don't fancy myself to be a full-time player by any means. In other words, I can play and record most anything I want, but can't just get up and jam with people off the top of my head most of the time. I am mainly a singer that picked most everything else up along the way, though I did play and record everything on my CD. Ken
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Post by IndyBlues on Feb 24, 2007 11:33:50 GMT -5
That Strat looks killer, Ken. I've always loved that "tuxedo" look on a strat. The EMGs are nice, too. Excellent for recording, keep all that noise down, lol. How do you like the Graph-Tech saddles? I had a set on an old guitar years ago, and they were really nice,...never broke a string(at the bridge, anyway). 'Blues
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Post by Ragingblues on Feb 24, 2007 11:50:31 GMT -5
Thanks much IB! Maybe I should add a bowtie to the neck to finish it off! I put the Graphtec string saddles, nut, and string retainer on it to keep the string path smooth. I don't think I have ever broken a string on that guitar either, though I mainly did it for the tone aspect. I also put Schaler (sp?) locking tuners on it, and over tightened the tremolo springs to reduce movement. Those Fender tremolo systems are pretty good at throwing things out of tune, even if you don't use it! ;D BTW, the EMG Silver series are the same ones used by David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. When choosing which series to put in it, that helped me a little. I decided that humbuckers were what I really needed for the lead tone I was after, though. That's why I ultimately bought the Schecter, which I love. It has a S. Duncan 59 and Special in it, which gave me two different tones to record with. Thanks, Ken
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Post by indianadirk on Feb 24, 2007 13:01:00 GMT -5
But Iam still curious who the drummer is
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Post by Ragingblues on Feb 24, 2007 14:22:18 GMT -5
If you are talking about my CD, Dirk.... I did drums on 7 of the 10 songs. I used a combination of programming drum machine sequences, loops, and live fills played by hand in many sections. Three of the songs had drums played by my long time friend Alan.
Other than his drumming on those 3 songs, everything else was played, sung, and recorded by me (all guitars, bass, keys, vocals, backing vocals, and misc. percussion). I do play drums, but didn't have a set available to record with.
Ken
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rick5150
Temple Guard
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Posts: 114
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Post by rick5150 on Feb 24, 2007 19:18:13 GMT -5
Ken, you are a talented guy. Those recording sound great! I got the LP on ebay for under $600. It is only a LP Studio, so if you have a soft spot for a LP, you may want to start there... It just takes some patience and timing. Out of all my guitars (in the past and present) that Epiphone 335 is my least favorite to play. Maybe it is my build, but that big ole guitar body does not sit right with me. I have to actually hold it in position while playing it if I am standing. It kind of wants to point towards the floor, which is quite awkward. The solution is to wear it higher, but if I do that, I may as well wear a T-shirt that says "I am a giant dork" with it. Until I got the 5150, I favored the Kramer Baretta. That sucker never goes out of tune. I always hated the strat style tremolos. I heard an old trick for helping them stay in tune but it got messy. You take a little bit of vaseline and wipe it in the nut, then take a sharp pencil and rub it in each string slot until the vaseline turns black. The graphite from the pencil keeps the string from hanging up and the vaseline just holds the graphite in place. I used to use a fine graphite powder, but then I got a good Floyd Rose and do not worry about that anymore. Of course, if you feel it is due to the spring tension that will not help much. That is where the quarter trick came in handy for EVH's original frankenstrat. Too many springs or too much tension makes the whammy bar tough to push. Too little tension and the tremolo lifts off the body of the guitar and becomes a floating bridge. The trick was to loosen the spring tension and then place a quarter under the vibrato base to keep it from floating. Use a 1971 quarter, they work the best My upcoming guitar will have graphite saddles on the Floyd. We do seem to favor strat-style bodies. Interesting. If you guys could build your dream guitar, what would the specs be? Wood, neck, hardware, pickups, etc?
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Post by Ragingblues on Feb 24, 2007 19:56:24 GMT -5
Rick... that's a bunch! Like I said before, my main focus is as a singer. I do the rest on general musical ability and a good ear. I recorded the cover song clips from a brief band project I was in a few years ago too. So, those skills and my mixing situation have much improved since the CD was done in 2003. I certainly didn't want to be the only one to post some music or draw attention to it. It may be that I am the only one that already had some ready to go, but if you guys have anything to share, please do. I had heard the trick years ago, of wedging a block of wood in there instead of a quarter. You know you have some really specific experience when you can tell someone what year of quarter works best for that too. With those sorts of details coming out of you, you must be the mad scientist type of guy like Eddie Van Halen was with his older rigs, or even Eric Johnson is with his obsession over similar issues. I have been out of the music gear buying phase for a few years now, so I don't have a recent list of things I would want in a guitar. I chose the Schecter Omen 6 because of it's basswood body and 24 jumbo fret similarity to the John Petrucci (Dream Theater) model guitar, and the sculpted top/ set bridge like features of a Les Paul. I might have chosen Dimarzio pickups in the vain of John Petrucci also, but these Seymore Duncans have a nice warm and snarly tone to them that I like just fine. I haven't really played the Strat since I bought the Schecter, but then again... I haven't done more than noodle on the guitar in the last 3 years either. I guess my favorite guitar players would be.... John Petrucci, Neal Schon, Eric Johnson, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Eddie Van Halen, and Peter White. Though I certainly don't profess to play like any of them. ;D Thanks again, Ken
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Post by Ragingblues on Feb 24, 2007 19:58:50 GMT -5
I almost forgot.... Rick, do you do any recording at home, and if so... do you use/need any recording software or plug-in's? I'm not suggesting that I have more than you at all, but would be glad to... um... send anything you might want your way. Ken
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Post by IndyBlues on Feb 24, 2007 20:48:21 GMT -5
:)Ultimate Guitar,...great question, Rick. Let's see. It would be a Stratocaster, since it is my favorite of all styles. The neck would be hard rock maple, amber, super-glue finish(basically sealed wood, but bare feeling) The fingerboard Brazillian Rosewood, because I love the rich color and smooth feel of it. 21 frets,....22 is for wankers(just kidding ) Old school clay dot markers on the fretboard. Bone nut 6150 Jumbo frets,....tall and narrow. Beautiful bends and sustain for days with those babies. Old School Kluson tuners(like vintage strat tuners.) I feel these are the best tuners, for me. I never have a problem going out of tune. I hate the modern strat tuners, although I love the locking sperzels. I just don't like the modern look. I love the vintage look. Hey, I'm old school. The body would be made of Alder, a very light(4 lb average) dry plank. I like the look of see through finishes, especially a nice sunburst,....BUT,...and that's a big but,.....I absolutely LOVE Lake Placid Blue. My absolute favorite color. I used to own a 69 Camaro RS in that color, with white ralley stripes,.....don't ask I would use a moto pearloid pickguard(or mother of toilet seat, if you will) sort of like on my guitar now, only with a slightly aged appearance. Just a tad more yellow. Very slight. I hate the bright white of my pickguard now,..cheapens the look of it. The bridge would be a Fender Custom Shop Vintage/Modern 2 point tremolo. This is basically the vintage strat trem, with only a 2 pivot point system, as opposed to 6 screws. Probably add a set of Graph-Tech saddles. I never use the tremolo,....ever. I always lock mine down. Not with a block or anything, just put all 5 springs in the back, and tighten up the claw, so it can't move even with the most outrageous bends. the thing is, I prefer the sound of the guitar with the springs in back,....for some reason, it seems to add to the sustain. The vibrations resonate throughout the body this way. My guitar sounds loud as hell, even unplugged. Almost like an acoustic. It gives it a great "bell-like" tone. I also leave the back plate off, because you can get some fraky sounds scraping the pick on those springs(right Rick ). The pickups,....now this is tough. I love Fender Texas specials, but I want to try something different. I would love to try a set of those Kinman Noiseless pickups. I haven't read up on them in years, but back in the day, they were the cats meow. Beautiful fedner tones, with zero noise......and no batteries! I am not sure if I would want another ful size 'bucker in the bridge, although I'm so used to it now with my SRV/Lonestar. It takes away from the vintage look, but the only single coil sized p'up(pronounced PUP, short for pickup, easier to type, although now I've typed too much explaining,.....I digress) that ever kicked butt(in my book) is the SD Hot Rails. That thing just screams. I'll decide on a final bridge p'up when the time comes. Only thing left is the straps,....strap locks, only thing I ever use. I throw vintage looks out the window, over dropping my baby on the floor during a solo. The set up, well, I prefer slightly high action. I remeber reading long ago that most of the big heavy players, use pretty high action,...SRV, EVH, Buddy Guy, etc. Don't know if that's true, but it sure helps with the sustain. I absolutely HATE fretting out. I want that note to ring til the COWs come home,...no pun intended. My action isn't super high, but most of my friends don't like playing my guitar. They say it feels like an acoustic....I think that's more because of the string guage... I guess this is the final aspect,.....D'Addario Light Top Heavy Bottoms. .010-.013-.017(plain)-.030-.042-.052 This again, caused by my SRV influence. He, on the other hand used .013-.058,...these are finger killers. I ahven't tried braving those waters yet. Sorry so long, but I had to be thorough. I will try and find a pic of this dream guitar, or as close as I can get. 'Blues
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Post by Connecticut Jones on Feb 24, 2007 21:09:02 GMT -5
See.. Myself i don`t play Guitars.. or know anything about them.. thats my spanish teachers thing.. ( btw Rick... He'd probably die for that les paul.... he had one.. but his Girlfriend snapped the fret board.. it was an '83) but i do play the Harmonica. And every harmonica player knows that the "holy grail" of Harp amps is the '59 4X10 fender bassman... I played with one this time me and my blues brother jammed with a local garage band, and let me tell you.. It had FANTASTIC sound.... but the guy was playing a Wal*mart bass through it.. so i plugged in and played some of my favorite tunes.. so..
Kudos to you guys who can actually play guitars... I personally believe harp isn`t hard to play..but it sure is gratifying..
Cj
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Post by Ragingblues on Feb 24, 2007 22:04:26 GMT -5
Well, I have 3 harmonicas too, but I don't claim to be able to play them. One note at a time doesn't count in my book, so I guess I would have to learn from you CJ! IndyBlues, It's a real shame you don't have more specifics about what you really want in a guitar. ;D I love that color and think it makes a great choice myself. Oh yeah... when I bought the strat and finished all the customizations to it, I put some of those SRV style 13's on it. Coming from bass guitar where I was a big Geddy Lee fan, they really weren't so bad. They were a booger to bend, no doubt! But, the biggest problem was that they actually pulled the tremolo up from it's set position. the tension was so strong on those puppies that I decided to drop down a size. I eventually worked my way down to 9's, but it took a while. I really did like the pure ringing tone those big strings had though. Ken
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Post by IndyBlues on Feb 24, 2007 22:16:22 GMT -5
IndyBlues, It's a real shame you don't have more specifics about what you really want in a guitar. ;D Haha Haaaa,......sonava... ;D Yeah, Rick asked, and boy did I answer. I didn't realize how long winded that was till I finished. As far as heavy strings go,...yeah,, you have to really crank the spring claw all the way down, and use 5 springs,..or that bridge is airborne, lol. 'Blues
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Post by Connecticut Jones on Feb 25, 2007 12:58:55 GMT -5
since nobod else has said it.. " wouldn`t it be nice to maybe get a band together sometime?"
CJ
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Post by indianadirk on Feb 25, 2007 13:32:12 GMT -5
HEHE\ The Raiders
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rick5150
Temple Guard
18 Down, 30 To Go
Posts: 114
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Post by rick5150 on Feb 25, 2007 18:07:58 GMT -5
Not yet. Well, sort of. Yes. Uhm... I used to use an old Fostex multitrack cassette recorder and liked the simplicity of that. Then I bought a Roland unit that took so long to figure out how to use, that I rarely bothered to record with it. That unit recorded to ZIP disks. But I recently bought a Tascam Portastudio DP01 and it is pretty easy to use the basic features. I am hoping to record some stuff soon, but once the nice weather gets here, I will be hitting the trails. 'Blues, it cracked me up that you would write a novella as a response and then abbreviate "pickups" to PUPs. ;D Here is what I am looking for in response to my own ultimate guitar question: Fender style maple neck with the 6150 jumbo frets. I am one of those wankers who prefers the 22 fret neck, too. While I am on the neck, I will go with the gold Gotoh Schaller-style tuners. The body will be alder - prefereably 3-tone black/red/yellow like this (but w/humbucker in the bridge position). I hate taking a nice piece of wood like that body and covering it with a pickguard, but since I have to, it will be black - like this: The pickups - I rarely use single coils, so I have no idea what to get for the neck and middle PUP, but I will either go with a Seymour Duncan TB-11 or maybe the Custom shop '78 (which is a bit pricey at $160.00) It adds back some of the 'oomph' that the bright-sounding alder body gives up. Of course, I will be putting a gold original Floyd Rose with graphite saddles. I almost exclusively use Ernie Ball Super Slinky 9's and I do not expect that to change. I like low action, so the setup will be as low as I can get it.
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Post by Ragingblues on Feb 26, 2007 11:32:47 GMT -5
Beautiful guitar body you have picked out as well Rick! I think one of the most important things about a recording process is that it's comfortable for a person to use. If it adds stress, it slows or even ends the recording/writing or any music. I was just offering if you were interested, but am glad you have a system already in place. Ken
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Post by IndyBlues on Feb 26, 2007 11:57:17 GMT -5
I'm lovng that body pickguard combo, Rick. They do make a nice looking sunburst finish. I was hoping to get a nitro-cellulose finish for my project, but Warmoth only offers poly finishes. Poly is bullet proof, and a better choice for longevity of the paint, but nitro ages with the wood over time. Decisions, decisions. 'Blues
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Yan
Treasure Seeker
Posts: 291
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Post by Yan on Feb 26, 2007 23:07:04 GMT -5
Well I don't play any guitar at all... 'cos I'm a drummer! A drummer with no drums that is, 'cos I live in an apartment on the 2nd floor . But I do have a pair of congas, a snare drum, a few shakers, chimes, rain stick... I played drums in High School for 4 years in music class about twice a week ( it was a big band type of ...band!) and loved it. You can say that I have a natural talent for it. Then I met some guys and we started a basement band doing cover songs. We did a few "gigs" but never more. We were all in our teens and had great fun... Today at 36, I play once in a while at home just for fun, I slap on those congas practicing rythm patterns, but I do miss playing the drums... My friend who was the singer of the band (he was also a drummer) now is part of the world renowned Genesis tribute band The Musical Box he's their drummer and I'm very proud of him!
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