On the modern electric guitar
Re: On the modern electric guitar
The new used purchase.
I sort of feel like a sucker about aspiring to be intellectually rigorous when I could just go on twitter and say capitalism causes space herpes and no one will challenge me on it. - Hugh Akston
Re: On the modern electric guitar
Nice. Japan made guitars from the late 80s can be excellent. My Charvel is from that time period and I've always loved it.
"Sharks do not go around challenging people to games of chance like dojo breakers."
Re: On the modern electric guitar
I was watching this video when I noticed that one of the 3 (!) bassists (probably necessary to play this song live) was using a bass with a split head and what appeared to be an aluminum neck:
The Gene Clark No Other Band - No Other (live 2014) (good shot of the bass at 2:29)
I thought Travis Beans were the only basses with aluminum necks, but it looks like Kramer made some in the late 70s:
http://www.vintagekramer.com/alum.htm
I think the guy in the video is playing a 450B.
The Gene Clark No Other Band - No Other (live 2014) (good shot of the bass at 2:29)
I thought Travis Beans were the only basses with aluminum necks, but it looks like Kramer made some in the late 70s:
http://www.vintagekramer.com/alum.htm
I think the guy in the video is playing a 450B.
We live in the fucked age. Get used to it. - dhex
Re: On the modern electric guitar
Petty annoyance, guitar edition. So I bought this Fender Jazz Bass Special, and because I didn't like the EMG pickups in it, I bought a used P/J set of Seymour Duncan "Basslines". I have even seen these in the Duff McKagan signature model, so I figured, great, they're a reasonably legitimate choice. (Picture here. Although I notice that only the J pickup is marked "Basslines", where as both the P and J on mine are marked that way...that might be significant.) The original pickups are rarer than hen's teeth these days, so that's not even really an option.
So I strip out all the old electronics and go to put the new pickups in. The J pickup goes in reasonably easily, and the P pickup...doesn't. It's distinctly about 1/16" larger all around than the old EMGs. Who TF ever heard of P-bass pickups varying in size? But they do. Now I have to decide what I'm going to do, because it doesn't look like I can squeeze these into the routs.
So I strip out all the old electronics and go to put the new pickups in. The J pickup goes in reasonably easily, and the P pickup...doesn't. It's distinctly about 1/16" larger all around than the old EMGs. Who TF ever heard of P-bass pickups varying in size? But they do. Now I have to decide what I'm going to do, because it doesn't look like I can squeeze these into the routs.
I sort of feel like a sucker about aspiring to be intellectually rigorous when I could just go on twitter and say capitalism causes space herpes and no one will challenge me on it. - Hugh Akston
Re: On the modern electric guitar
...and now when I go to put the electronics in the body I learn that there are two common sizes of potentiometer bushings: 3/8" (which is about 9.5mm) and 8mm. And this bass body, being made in Japan, of course used the smaller type, and the high-quality pots I bought of course have the larger type. I could enlarge the holes a bit, but since the body is vintage and the pots are replacements anyway, I'd rather not do that. So back to ordering it is. I blame myself for not dry-fitting stuff right away; if I had done that I could have returned the too-big ones.
I sort of feel like a sucker about aspiring to be intellectually rigorous when I could just go on twitter and say capitalism causes space herpes and no one will challenge me on it. - Hugh Akston
Re: On the modern electric guitar
Finally got the JBS all wired up again. I ended up getting another cover for the Precision pickup and sanding it down until it would fit, and buying new smaller potentiometers, except for the TBX control, which is now only made in the larger size, so I had to enlarge the hole a touch with a reamer. That was nerve-racking, as I had visions of the finish cracking and flaking off, but everything went fine.
The only thing that isn't perfect now is that apparently I damaged the toggle switch with too much heat from the soldering iron, so now I have to replace that too. But that's a relatively minor annoyance.
The only thing that isn't perfect now is that apparently I damaged the toggle switch with too much heat from the soldering iron, so now I have to replace that too. But that's a relatively minor annoyance.
I sort of feel like a sucker about aspiring to be intellectually rigorous when I could just go on twitter and say capitalism causes space herpes and no one will challenge me on it. - Hugh Akston
Re: On the modern electric guitar
I've now got "Rocket Queen" by GnR and "I Can't Get It" by Hanoi Rocks fairly well down on the bass. One interesting trick I learned recently for trying to pick out basslines from a recording: adjust the pitch of the entire recording up a whole octave. The guitars and vocals become very thin and tinny, while the bass moves up into kind of a vocal range where it's a lot easier to pick out.
I sort of feel like a sucker about aspiring to be intellectually rigorous when I could just go on twitter and say capitalism causes space herpes and no one will challenge me on it. - Hugh Akston
Re: On the modern electric guitar
Any tips for approximating Duff's tone?JD wrote: ↑06 Jun 2020, 17:38 I've now got "Rocket Queen" by GnR and "I Can't Get It" by Hanoi Rocks fairly well down on the bass. One interesting trick I learned recently for trying to pick out basslines from a recording: adjust the pitch of the entire recording up a whole octave. The guitars and vocals become very thin and tinny, while the bass moves up into kind of a vocal range where it's a lot easier to pick out.
ETA: Rocket Queen is just plain fun to play on drums.
" i discovered you eat dog dicks out of a bowl marked "dog dicks" because you're too stupid to remember where you left your bowl of dog dicks."-dhex, of course.
"Come, let us go forth and not rape together"-Jadagul
"Come, let us go forth and not rape together"-Jadagul
Re: On the modern electric guitar
A P/J bass, playing with a pick, and having a somewhat trebly, "clanky" tone with some overdrive should get you 90% of the way there. I wouldn't swear that you couldn't do it with only a P pickup, but I think the J pickup is an important factor in giving the tone a bit of edge and brightness.
I bet it is fun on drums - it's a very rhythm-section-driven song.
Here's the isolated bass track I used to learn it: (bah, I keep forgetting Youtube is broken here now)
https://www.you tube.com/watch?v=IvsSi9ZSs0I
I sort of feel like a sucker about aspiring to be intellectually rigorous when I could just go on twitter and say capitalism causes space herpes and no one will challenge me on it. - Hugh Akston
Re: On the modern electric guitar
After 30 years of playing guitar, I have finally gotten an acoustic guitar (acoustic-electric, so it still technically fits in with the thread title). I think I've secretly wanted one of these ever since I saw a brief mention of them in Denyer's Guitar Handbook many years ago. It was in very rough shape when I got it, but it's cleaned up pretty well. The electronics were nonfunctional, but looking at it I'm pretty sure the only problem is that a wire to the jack is broken.
I sort of feel like a sucker about aspiring to be intellectually rigorous when I could just go on twitter and say capitalism causes space herpes and no one will challenge me on it. - Hugh Akston
Re: On the modern electric guitar
I thought Ovations were cool until I played a buddy's 12-string Ovation, then realized I don't like that it is always sliding off your lap.
"Sharks do not go around challenging people to games of chance like dojo breakers."
Re: On the modern electric guitar
I'll give that a shot, thanks. Listening to some of Duff's isolated bass tracks made me realize that he works a lot of ghost notes into his lines. That kind of stuff is a few years away for me, so for now, I'm working on getting the basic bass parts down. I also didn't realize he plays with a pick.JD wrote: ↑07 Jun 2020, 16:22A P/J bass, playing with a pick, and having a somewhat trebly, "clanky" tone with some overdrive should get you 90% of the way there. I wouldn't swear that you couldn't do it with only a P pickup, but I think the J pickup is an important factor in giving the tone a bit of edge and brightness.
I bet it is fun on drums - it's a very rhythm-section-driven song.
Here's the isolated bass track I used to learn it: (bah, I keep forgetting Youtube is broken here now)
https://www.you tube.com/watch?v=IvsSi9ZSs0I
" i discovered you eat dog dicks out of a bowl marked "dog dicks" because you're too stupid to remember where you left your bowl of dog dicks."-dhex, of course.
"Come, let us go forth and not rape together"-Jadagul
"Come, let us go forth and not rape together"-Jadagul
Re: On the modern electric guitar
Is that common? I use to hang around with my roommate's rock star wannabe friends and I don't think I ever saw that.
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Re: On the modern electric guitar
It's not unheard of, but among bassists, being only or primarily a pick player is looked down on.
" i discovered you eat dog dicks out of a bowl marked "dog dicks" because you're too stupid to remember where you left your bowl of dog dicks."-dhex, of course.
"Come, let us go forth and not rape together"-Jadagul
"Come, let us go forth and not rape together"-Jadagul
Re: On the modern electric guitar
You get different sounds with a pick. And you get different sounds depending on the pick you use. I frequently use a pick playing bass. That plus the amp I use (which is an old solid-state Peavey Keyboard amp...) gives me a nice growl when I want it.
I don't know that I've ever heard people looking down on bass players using a pick, but there's always someone who is gonna look down on other people to make themself feel better for whatever reason they can come up with. You just use what you can to get the sound you want.
I don't know that I've ever heard people looking down on bass players using a pick, but there's always someone who is gonna look down on other people to make themself feel better for whatever reason they can come up with. You just use what you can to get the sound you want.
"Sharks do not go around challenging people to games of chance like dojo breakers."
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Re: On the modern electric guitar
The only exception I can think of off the top of my head being Chris Squire.
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"This thread is like a dog park where everyone lets their preconceptions and biases run around and sniff each others butts." - Hugh Akston
"That's just tokenism with extra steps." - Jake
Re: On the modern electric guitar
I imagine a good player is comfortable with both. That being said, it reminds me a bit of matched vs. traditional grip in drumming. Plenty of old school guys sneered at matched players.Highway wrote: ↑16 Jul 2020, 11:01 You get different sounds with a pick. And you get different sounds depending on the pick you use. I frequently use a pick playing bass. That plus the amp I use (which is an old solid-state Peavey Keyboard amp...) gives me a nice growl when I want it.
I don't know that I've ever heard people looking down on bass players using a pick, but there's always someone who is gonna look down on other people to make themself feel better for whatever reason they can come up with. You just use what you can to get the sound you want.
" i discovered you eat dog dicks out of a bowl marked "dog dicks" because you're too stupid to remember where you left your bowl of dog dicks."-dhex, of course.
"Come, let us go forth and not rape together"-Jadagul
"Come, let us go forth and not rape together"-Jadagul
Re: On the modern electric guitar
I've certainly seen some of the attitude of "real bassists play fingerstyle (on a Precision of course), playing with a pick is for uneducated pop-punk bassists" but I've also seen a lot of pushback on that attitude. There's still a feeling that using a pick is mostly for punk and metal or is "cheating", but even that's not universally true: Rob Trujillo and Steve Harris are famous for being fingerstyle metal bassists, and plenty of other bassists like Paul McCartney and Sting have been known to use either fingers or a pick depending on what they feel the song calls for.
I sort of feel like a sucker about aspiring to be intellectually rigorous when I could just go on twitter and say capitalism causes space herpes and no one will challenge me on it. - Hugh Akston
Re: On the modern electric guitar
I'm not a huge Kiss fan, but "Detroit Rock City" is a lot of fun to play on bass.
I sort of feel like a sucker about aspiring to be intellectually rigorous when I could just go on twitter and say capitalism causes space herpes and no one will challenge me on it. - Hugh Akston
Re: On the modern electric guitar
How the Late Rock God Eddie Van Halen Hacked His Guitar
I'm poking around, and all of a sudden I touch this huge blue thing and my God, it was like being punched in the chest by Mike Tyson. My whole body flexed stiff, and it must have thrown me five feet. I'd touched a capacitor. I didn't know they held voltage.
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Re: On the modern electric guitar
That reminds me, I got an Epiphone Firebird as an anniversary present! Epiphones can be a little hit and miss in the QA department, but this one is really nice. IMO there are way too many "Firebirds" out there that aren't much like vintage Firebirds: bolt-on necks, full-size humbuckers, etc. This one is completely vintage-correct with the exception of not having banjo tuners.
I sort of feel like a sucker about aspiring to be intellectually rigorous when I could just go on twitter and say capitalism causes space herpes and no one will challenge me on it. - Hugh Akston
Re: On the modern electric guitar
Speaking of this, this article popped up on my news feed today: Megadeth’s David Ellefson: Why I Play Bass With a Pick, Even If People Give Me ‘Sh-t’ For It
His points basically boil down to
- it's easier to switch back and forth between bass and guitar if you're writing for both
- it can be easier to get a good tone in the studio
- don't be a snob about it
I sort of feel like a sucker about aspiring to be intellectually rigorous when I could just go on twitter and say capitalism causes space herpes and no one will challenge me on it. - Hugh Akston
Re: On the modern electric guitar
My Frankenpeavey project is finally coming together! The electronics are not really hooked up, but I twisted some wires together just so I can hear something out of it.
I sort of feel like a sucker about aspiring to be intellectually rigorous when I could just go on twitter and say capitalism causes space herpes and no one will challenge me on it. - Hugh Akston
Re: On the modern electric guitar
Is it missing the strap buttons or are they in a location that is hidden?
"Sharks do not go around challenging people to games of chance like dojo breakers."
Re: On the modern electric guitar
Oh yeah, and the strap buttons aren't on it yet either.
I sort of feel like a sucker about aspiring to be intellectually rigorous when I could just go on twitter and say capitalism causes space herpes and no one will challenge me on it. - Hugh Akston