|
|
Joined:
November 2004
Posts: 34
Location: Germany | Paul
I've seen this set up lot of times but I had never come so far that I build up a new guitar only for slide. With only 6 guitars including 3 on steel strings I have maybe the smallest collection out here :) .
You are useing a set of 13. strings, right? I know of small metal parts to support the nut but for raising the saddle you need more experience, I guess. Tell me about your set up. Is it something you can change quickly if you want(lets say in an hour or so). |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Paul, I too have sevferal of those Matt Smith slides. They are made by a husband/wife couple named Nunwell in Lakeville CT and they're great.
As far as a guitar to use them on I prefer the flat necks of the old Nationals. I didn't set one up for slide, it's just that the action on the style 1 crept up a bit and I never got it fixed. That stays in D tuning now. I use the regular guage 12-52. The same with my style O, the one with the better action gets played regular and the other in D for slide. I do need to look into heavier strings I think, sometimes the high string sounds whiney and weak, of course maybe that's my special technique. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Bill, I use a 13-56 set but up the 1st string to a .015 or .016. John Pearse does some reso sets in nickel & phosphor bronze gauged 16-59 which I intend to try.
Mukke, My slide set up is pretty straigtforward. I increase the nut height by about 1-1.5mm, and shim the saddle to give an extra 2-3mm at the 12th fret. I also adjust the truss rod so the neck has no relief. I make new nuts for my slide guitars rather than shimming. If I needed to change it back for regular playing I guess it would take about 20 minutes. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Paul, the baritone National came with Pearse strings, 16-64 phosphor. It's tuned down to C. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Mukke
Your Townes Van Zandt quote is absolutely correct, one of my favorite videotapes is a tribute to him featuring some of the best musicians in the world and that quote was stated by, I believe, Guy Clark's wife. You have it right.
Bailey |
|
| |
|
Joined:
November 2004
Posts: 34
Location: Germany | Bailey
We are on the same train then :) . By the way had Towns ever put his hands on an O? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | I don't think so, all the videos I've seen he was playing a Martin. But, you never know, he was contemporary with the best Ovations. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | I promoted some UK shows with TVZ in the mid-80's and he used a Martin D28. I remember it had an undersaddle pickup but no preamp and it was a nightmare trying to get a decent sound. On a later tour he used a Takamine. While I admire him as a songwriter he's a terrible live performer. He'd soundcheck then go to the dressing room and get shit-faced. Some of the shows were embarassing. There's a great Townes quote when he's asked by Susannah Clarke why he drinks so much and Townes replied "because there are people in India who are sober" |
|
| |
|
Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Anybody who wrote
White Freightliner
Pancho and Lefty
I'm Building a Houseboat in Heaven
For the Sake of the Song
For the rest of us to sing has to be forgiven his failings.
When you live in another world, life may be lonely as you try to communicate accross the space and time differences. Like us trying to have a conversation with our faithful dogs, they will never understand why we leave good food in our cupboards and refrigerators and don't eat it all when we get it. We will never understand why they don't see the beauty of a kitten.
TVZ was a unique and battered soul, and if he was a drunken bum, he was the best ever. Except maybe Dylan Thomas (I may have that name wrong, but it was Dylan, a great poet)
Bailey |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Bailey, I think you got that one right. And I agree with you, many of the more creative/soulful/insiteful/whatever have different music playing in their heads than the rest of us. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
May 2004
Posts: 295
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | There have been studies of the relationship between the creative mind and mental illness - in particular, bipolar disorder or, as it was known in the pre-politically correct days, manic-depression.
The numerous creative minds suspected of suffering from it are thought to have their bursts of creativity during their "manic" phases. The reluctance on the part of some with this disorder to take their meds was because the meds "flattened out" their personalities, taking away those creative "highs." The overindulgence in booze and other drugs is thought to be an attempt to self-medicate against the depressive phases. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
November 2004
Posts: 34
Location: Germany | Interesting question, do I like the personality of the musicians, songwriters, poets … I love? Well, they all have some negative aspects in their lifes. Most of them had serious drug problems. Looking on Keith Richards we maybe think, "that’s cool, this guy survived everything", but if you had ever been near a person who abuses drugs – you know what this means for the people around. Should I defeat them just because they missed the right lane?
There is no deeper blue
in the ocean that lies
as deep as the blue
of your laughing eyes
no sweeter sound
than your gentle sigh
no heart was ever so pure
This are just the words of a father to his daughter, When I sing this to my daughter, what do I care about what that guy has done the rest of the day. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Don't get me wrong, I think Townes Van Zandt was a true genius. I just think that performers owe it to their audiences to stay clean & sober enough to put on a credible live performance. What they do the rest of the time is up to themselves.
When I was promoting gigs regularly in the 80's I was involved in some serious trainwrecks. Steve Young so totally wasted on whiskey & heroin that he could hardly speak, never mind play and sing. Bert Jansch so pissed-up that he walked onstage, sat on his stool, looked at the audience, mumbled "aaah fuggit" fell off his stool and crawled offstage without playing a note. Then there's Roy Harper who was a total space cadet, on & off stage. I have a great Harper/drugs/Adamas story that's way too involved to get into here.
Just a couple of years ago I saw Glen Campbell do a killer set playing great guitar, then he returned for the second set totally blitzed and totally embarrasing. In the early 90's I saw a Steve Earle show where he was so f&*ked-up that we asked for our money back and we had to get unpleasant with the promoter to get it. Good job we were mob-handed, the security guys were huge.
You know, if any of us here turned up for work drunk & stoned we'd get fired. Just because you're a songwriter or performer it doesn't give you license to sell your fans short. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
September 2003
Posts: 782
Location: Waurika OK | well said Paul T. As a pro. you have more credib ility than those of us who tinker with music.
thanks, noel |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 873
Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | Originally posted by cwk2:
Paul, Do you like glass or metal slides?
i like a chrome dome if the action is set for slide. too heavy for low action in which case it is a toss up between an 11/16 deepwell thin wall craftsman socket, and a piece of 1" ss sailboat stantion with a glued in leather liner (or a piece of vinyl garden hose) to make it fit the finger better.
i'm a famous blues player from happy hour until last call. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 873
Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | Originally posted by cwk2:
Bailey, I think you got that one right. And I agree with you, many of the more creative/soulful/insiteful/whatever have different music playing in their heads than the rest of us.
if you can do something creative that you let someone else capitalize on it begins to eat away at the creativity until it takes an altered state to get yourself to the place that was natural before. sometimes that altered state, pushed further, becomes a refuge instead of a tool and begins to be the choice over creativity. if you screw up people see less oportunity and look elsewhere. for the artist, a subconscious triumph over pressure.
on the otherhand, i play with several part time musicians/songwriters that are truely aweful unless they get "loose" first. none know when to stop and generally get to the other end of the aweful curve. if we all knew how much of anything was enough and when to say no, our lives would probably be much less frustrating. and though i understand all of this i can't seem to practice it.
"hi my name is russ. i have been a yesaholic for over 50 years" |
|
| |
|
Joined:
May 2004
Posts: 295
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | Russ - "Yesaholic"? As in Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman, and Bill Bruford?
There's definitely a line that can get crossed from "relaxed" to "out of control." Jazz guitar giant Joe Pass used to have a glass of wine before going on stage, but that's where he drew the line. (At one time he was into the hard stuff - heroin.) That (the glass of wine) was all he needed to loosen up a bit.
I play better after a beer, maybe two. Any more than that, don't turn on the tape recorder... |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Russ, do you mean the Harris Chrome Dome, now made by Latch Lake? They're nice slides, a little too light for me, but great for double-stops & single-string stuff |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 873
Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | Originally posted by Duncan J:
Russ - "Yesaholic"? As in Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman, and Bill Bruford?
There's definitely a line that can get crossed from "relaxed" to "out of control." Jazz guitar giant Joe Pass used to have a glass of wine before going on stage, but that's where he drew the line. (At one time he was into the hard stuff - heroin.) That (the glass of wine) was all he needed to loosen up a bit.
I play better after a beer, maybe two. Any more than that, don't turn on the tape recorder...
i'm a yesaholic as in russ swider. i can't speak for the other guys. i have a hard time saying no to another gig i don't need, a new band that needs someone who regularly plays to help get them going, another practice because someone won't practice their part on their own, 3 levels of guitar class i teach, two or three guitar projects for friends while mine are on hold, several charity functions and non profit groups, etc etc and yes when someone yells tequila por la banda, i accept my shot.
i saw tvz at armadillo headquarters early in early 70's. since then he had a few people say "sign here kid, i'm gonna make you a star". had he been happy as a local hero, and said "no, la vida is good enough for me", maybe he would be in a different head space now. many of us would be better off learning to say no. especially when a guy wearing a suit worth more than your car says he is going to make you rich. the tiny percentage of success stories in music probably don't help the ballance of small guys make wise financial decisions. i play with lots of professional musicians and none of them became wealthy from music.
i guess if joe pass was a smack hype he had already "crossed the line" an has since found a place where it "works" with a glass of wine. lots of musicians (artists) cycle several times until they find peace or relief or escape somewhere on the curve.
i couldn't begin to compare one person's mental make up with another's. the individual mind makes a fingerprint look like polished glass by comparison. what worked for joe pass and eric clapton didn't for jimmy hendrix and janice joplin. in your quest for what it is all about, what works for you is a personal choice, right or wrong. same for me. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 873
Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | Originally posted by Paul Templeman:
Russ, do you mean the Harris Chrome Dome, now made by Latch Lake? They're nice slides, a little too light for me, but great for double-stops & single-string stuff
yes paul, that's the one. i have an older one and it is a bit heavy for low action. really great for the curve of a fretboard since they aren't flat like most tube style slides. i haven't tried a ceramic slide yet. what is your opinion? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
November 2004
Posts: 34
Location: Germany | This becomes a really interesting thread ...
My last post was about what the lyrics of a song mean to me - and that is quite independent from the life of the songwriter, I guess. I just feel the same in that tiny aspect of live and he has been the one who had put that into words and music. Words that I wouldn't have never been able to find, honestly.
On the other hand, Paul you’re right, if you pay for a gig – the performer should be willing to give you show worth the money. Here you can find a lot of snobs, even in the more expensive category. We once went to a Cure concert in Berlin. We hitchhiked 5h, passed the former GDR border, paid 60DM for the ticked, which was an arm and a leg for us, just to have 45 min of Cure on stage after a horrible opening band and no extras, (encores, additions … how do you call it?). That was annoying. But, on the other hand, if Shane MacGowan not have been fallen boozed from the stage one evening, that would have been only half the show of the Poques :) .
Telling sorries, heres another one: Once my friend and I we both were hired as stage hands for a Jethro Tull concert. That afternoon my friend was standing at the stage waiting for some orders what to do with the monitors, - no break since we started hours ago - when Ian Anderson with the band arrived. First my friend was pleased, thinking: “wow, that big guy cares for the sound check himself!”. Well, Mr Anderson just went over to him to tell him to “move his ass” from the stage. Then he turned over to another technician and asked something like: “What was that gangling sluggard doing over there?”
Do I still have JT records? Yes I do, great music. :) But what was this a**h*** thinking who he is? |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Originally posted by musicamex:
i haven't tried a ceramic slide yet. what is your opinion?
I buy porcelain & ceramic slides for sale in the UK from Luther at Bigheart. Glazed & Polished ceramic is fine, unglazed is a waste of time. Wall thickness has a big influence on the tone. Frankly I'd get hold of one of Matt's glass dome-end slides and be done with it |
|
| |
|
Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Originally posted by Mukke:
Do I still have JT records? Yes I do, great music. :) But what was this a**h*** thinking who he is?
Then there's the time, when I was young & had less decorum than now, that I punched John Stewart's lights out.........fame and talent doesn't diminish the asshole factor. Just a few months ago a promoter friend of mine, who is usually the nicest guy you'd ever meet, decked Ryan Adams because he was acting the superstar prick. Maybe it's just a Geordie thing.
As for McGowan, I think he's written at least one of the finest contemporary folk songs ever ("A Pair of Brown Eyes") But as an individual who has to function in the real world he's a very sad case. Like Townes I respect him for his art but despair for him as a human being. His audiences over here are mostly yobs & animals. A Shane McGowan gig is not a healthy place to be and frankly a performer too drunk to perform is a joke without a punchline. Songwiting aside The Pogues as a live act had very little to offer apart from the pantomime of McGowan falling around pissed and inciting the audience to violence, The Popes even less. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | I agree that in order to make it work you need to be able to give the audience what they came for.
I can't help but laugh however when I think about the great true saying from my friend Debanjo Rheinhardt "I only drink when I work". |
|
| |
|
Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | I can agree with all sides here, I had a brother, now deceased, who was a full fledged alchoholic who drifted in and out of my life, usually hitchhiking in broke, setting up a TV repair job with my help, and then slipping into worse and worse situations, until he would one day disappear and show up in Nashville with his daughter after he had totally wore out his welcome here in New Mexico. He played bass with us and did good until he got drunk, danced with the ladies while we were playing and complained about the band because it needed a bass player. I had a janitorial business and stored equipment at his apartment for which I paid some of his rent. He hocked my Honda propane powered floor polishers 3 propane tanks and left me a note telling where they were as he left town.
The discomfort of dealing with this type behavior made me wish for him to stay away even though he was my brother. There was no way to change him after he became alchoholic, even though he had been very successful and hard working when younger, and fell apart along with his bad marriage.
No matter how talented or smart, dealing with them is next to impossible and I have sympathy for anyone who has to. I detected a little of this feeling among those who knew TVZ well on that tribute show.
Bailey |
|
| |
Blues on Ovation?
