jwhitcomb3

Don't know how this album escaped me for 40 plus years, but Billy Preston's "Encouraging Words" is flat-out brilliant. What an explosion of joyous and funky music! http://www.allmusic.com/album/encouraging-words-mw0000618856

Sounds like they are pushing their luck. The Taurus line resolves differently from the opening run of Stairway. Also, the Stairway run has a counterpoint where the high A walks up while the low A walks down. Taurus just walks down the root. Besides, Stairway has several motifs, and none of the others conceivably draw on Taurus.

Glorious!

Very sad day. While I didn't hold out hope for the return of Hamer USA when Fender shut down the brand, it was good to know the fine Hamer craftsmen were continuing making high end Guilds and Fender acoustics. As sad is it is to see a beloved brand go, losing this kind of talent from the industry is a major loss. Best wishes to those who lost their jobs, and here's to landing on your feet.

Very cool! I never knew about these.

Amp mostly. And mostly modeled amps. Sometimes with a modeled overdrive pedal in the chain.

If these guys acted like ADULTS, they never would have been Kiss.

So far I've avoided buying new stuff this year by rediscovering the stuff I already have. For example, I popped a set of flatwound strings on one guitar, and it transformed the instrument. It changed the sound, the feel, and the response (not so easy to bend these suckers), which led me to changing my approach and evoked some very interesting sounds. Similarly, I've gone back to my modeling synths and effects and explored some of the nooks and crannies that I'd previously ignored or not fully understood, and have had some exciting results. (OK, granted, I'm kind of cheating here, since with a Roland GR-55 you could dial up new sounds for years and not come close to the bottom of this thing). All kinds of things to try. Re-order your effect chain. Try new picks (shapes, sizes, materials). Play with capos, including exotics (partial and harmonic). Try a different tuning. A different string gauge. Pretend your pickup volume and tone controls only go to 5 and then re-voice your amp settings. And, dare I say it... Sign up for guitar lessons!

I see a large difference between high end acoustic and archtop guitars from the lower end stuff, but the range compresses with solid body electrics. Material selection aside, I don't see much value that handcrafting of the body of a solid body guitar adds. And if a machine can get a neck in the ballpark, a good luthier can tweak and dress it most of the rest of the way for much less than a fully handcrafted neck. There is certainly value in skillfully joining the neck and body, but with modern machining tolerances and automated quality control, this too is becoming less noticeable in machine made instruments. When you get to acoustics and archtops, I believe there is much more art in tapping/listening to tops and braces. That doesn't mean that a machine can't churn out a good sounding acoustic, or that a skilled luthier won't occasionally build a dud. After purchasing three acoustic guitars currently valued north of two grand, I spend most of my time playing a China made acoustic that I bought new for $270 delivered. The bracing inside is rough as hell, the wood isn't very attractive, and there are several irregularities in the fit and finish. But after working the nut and adjusting the truss rod it plays great and sounds terrific. I haven't yet sold off any of my high end acoustics, but I wonder if enjoying the idea that I have these in my closet outweighs the opportunity cost of, say, a nice vacation with my family. I haven't touched my Hamer 30th Anniversary Ltd for a year. I played it some for the first year I owned it, but since then I break it out of its case for a day or two a year, marvel at its beauty and enjoy the great tones it puts out. It is a great guitar, but not a great fit for me, so back in the case it goes. For the last six months I've almost exclusively played that Luna acoustic (AMZ 100), a MIM Fender Strat (with stock electronics but hardware upgrades), and a Carvin Fatboy HF2S. I never feel like I'm slumming when I play them. They just feel good to play. It is likely I will part ways two or more of my higher end instruments soon. More cash in pocket, more room in closet.

ProTec Contego fan here.

Much too hard. I think I'll enroll in the "Buy No Yachts 2014" group instead.

And make sure you use the original strings.

As JohnnyB noted, I'm a fan of the Babicz bridge (on my Strat as well as my Tele). I bought it just because I palm the bridge and don't like the feel of a traditional Tele bridge. The Babicz looked more comfortable, and it is. It is also extremely well machined, allowing very fine adjustments to be made precisely and then locked down. Unless you change string gauges, you're locked in and string changes are a breeze. I'm not a traditionalist, I like gear that is well made, functions as designed, feels good to play and sounds good. I brought my Tele to a jam session a few weeks back and several very good players took a turn. There was no mistaking it was a tele. A buddy of mine built a custom part strat, and selected a Babicz after trying mine. He loves it. His tech (a traditionalist) hates it. Whatever. Those of you who know me understand that while I am interested in your opinions, and will provide mine, I don't much care if you agree with me. But Babicz kicks ass.

I am enjoying my Holdsworth Signature Fatboy 2. My only beef with it is the neck is sensitive to humidity changes, so I've had to get after the truss rod a fair amount. But it was a fresh from the factory order, so perhaps it will settle out over time. The S22 pickups sound fine to me, both split and in humbucking mode. This one has caught my eye:

I enjoyed the video. If there's a sound difference between a maple board and a rosewood board, I've never been able to identify it.

Terrible news. Scott Miller in April, and now Faye Hunter. Mitch Easter must be in a state. So sad.

Part of the problem is I never really understood what sparked a song even when I was writing. If I sat down and said "I'm gonna write a song," I ended up with crap. There was no consistancy to my writing. Sometimes I'd be playing guitar and a progression or riff would come. Sometimes a melody. Sometimes a lyric phrase. A drum loop. I even woke up one morning with a new song in my head, more or less fully formed. One song came to me when I was driving. Part of the problem may be knowing so much music. Now when a melody comes to me, I associate it with a known song, rather than trying ot make it my own. You said it, brother!

Thanks for the suggestions and encouragement.

Other than a short jazzy instrumental, I haven't written a song since 2006. Before that, I would write 6 to 12 songs a year (with one crazy creative patch when I wrote about 25). Of those, I can listen to about a third without cringing. I never tried to sit down and write, something would just set me off and then I'd get into songwriter mode and write, revise, and arrange until I at least had a servicable demo. The well has dried up. Maybe it's parenting duties, maybe law school just chased away my muse. Too old to rock'n'roll? The rare times I start to feel a spark, it fades like a mirage. Have you ever had an extended dry period? Any suggestions?

Yep! I more or less stopped playing guitar for the two years I worked at MOTU. Crazyi busy, and since I was working with music gear all day I wanted nothing to do with it when I got home. My skills are marginally improving, thanks in part to taking my first batch of lessons in several years. Which is to say, once I incorporate these lessons my skills will remain flat for a while and then decline again until the next set of lessons (for my 60th birthday, perhaps?).

Electrics: 10's on Fender scale, 11's on Gibson scale, sometimes a "heavy bottom" set for extra oomph. I keep my electrics in standard tuning. I'm thinking about trying flat-wounds on my Carvin Fatboy when/if it arrives. Acoustics "Light guage" (which may be 11's or 12's, depending on brand) for standard tuning, "Bluegrass guage" for open D or DADGAD.

Love the Cure's "Push" too. Great use of open strings.

In 1986 I was at a college radio convention in New York City, and the Hoodoo Gurus were playing at the showcase. At dinner with my girlfriend before the show, we overheard a voice in a distinctly Australian accent say, "We come all the way to the fookin' United States and all we get are the fookin' 'oodoo Gurus!"

Paid the most for my 30th Anniversary LTD. Both my Lowden O32 and Huss & Dalton 00-SP have eclipsed it in value. Add up the value of the four guitars I spend the most time playing and it doesn't approach the value of any one of those three.

Hmm. A crap guitar that can't be tuned, or buzzes, or has dead spots, or is a tone suck in general won't be helped by a good pickup. I'd order them 1. guitar, 2. amp, 3. pickup. 0. player 1. guitar 2. amp 3. pickup 4. pedal Problem is, my player is very expensive (trust me, lots of $ invested in the player in my case, and still requires regular and expensive up keep). But my player doesn't sound very good. Thus, the sound coming from my good guitar, moderate amp, and descent pedals, sounds crappy. Yep. However, since my playing ability (or lack thereof) is a constant*, I've removed it from my equation. *Well, maybe not a constant...the amount of alcohol I've consumed is a factor...I'll go have a coupla beers and get back to you.