Conference napalm::guitar

    I'd have to say that it's a combination of factors, in spite of
    what people might think about themselves. As far as I'm concerned,
    I feel that the equipment I'm using is more of a limiting factor
    than anything else. I know there are some people who *have* to play
    a particular guitar through a particular amp, but if I could afford
    twenty guitars and five amps I'd be a lot more satisfied with the
    music I could produce. Of course, I'd also have to have a crew to
    move it around, set it up, store it, repair it, etc. But I like
    to use a wide variety of sounds when I play, depending on the musical
    context, and I always look for equipment that is versatile rather
    than for a specific sound.
    
    I do think there is a certain disadvantage in this approach. Equipment
    that produces a wide variety of sounds can never produce any of
    the sounds quite as well as equipment designed just for that sound.
    It all depends what you are looking for. For me the flexibility
    is more important.
    
    One thing that I've always wondered about is why some successful
    (wealthy) musicians who could afford to buy a lot of equipment don't.
    Some seem to be satisfied with a particular style they have developed,
    and never try to go beyond it. I think if I was practicing as a
    full-time musician, and I had the money to blow, I would at least
    experiment with different equipment to see what it had to offer. I
    respect musicians like Stevie Wonder and Frank Zappa who seem to be
    more interested in exploring new possibilities in sound than feeding
    back the same old stuff.
    
    - Ram 

    
    I think there is a negative effect when playing with equipment other
    than your own, i.e. the action isn't right, the strings are the
    wrong gauge, the guitar is pink...8^)  8^)  8^)
    
    I know that on my own instruments I get a slightly different sound
    from each one, due to the fact that they are set up with different
    types of wood, electronics, etc. but the bulk of the sound is still
    me.
    
    I remember going to see Jack Bruce back in '81.  I always thought
    his dirty tone with Cream was due to using a Gibson EB3 and Marshalls.
    In '81 he was using a fretless Spector and a Trace-Elliot rig,
    super-clean in most folks' hands, yet Jack had his trademark grungy
    sound.
                 
    

    I know that I sound about the same on all of my 9 guitars (I've
    never gotten rid of any of mine - except a Strat that drove me crazy
    - over the years). I know when I read in Guitar Player magazine
    that somebody is now endorsing some new brand of guitar, & I listen
    to BEFORE and AFTER recordings, I don't really notice much difference
    in the feel of the music, or style. I would guess that most people
    seek a certain sound & diddle with their amps until the guitar,
    effects and amp sound like they want them to & then play. I'm as
    capable on any guitar that I play on. I ususally have the same guage
    strings on all of my electric's & I use the same rule on my acoustics.
    
    							Jens
    

    I think there is a difference in how I sound playing different 
    guitars. Factors like fret size, scale length, and construction
    of the instrument (like the Les Paul) make certain guitars want
    to play different things. The Paul is better for long, sustained
    notes. The Strat is better for fast pickin' country-bebop. The
    Hollowbody is better for jazzy stuff. I like the LP with a dirty
    crunchy sound, the others with a clean sound. I like the Strat
    to sound bright. I like the hollowbody to sound mellow. Even though
    the licks in my head are the same, the different instruments seem
    to favor different subsets of licks.

    I notice that electric guitarists seem much more concerned with 
    the 'hardware' aspects of playing than are acoustic guitar players.  
    This tendency seems most pronounced among rock'n roll players.
    While part of this can be explained simply by the greater amount
    of equipment required for electric guitar (amps, effects, etc), 
    there seems to be a broader gap than can be accounted for by this 
    one factor.                            
    
    For example, in an earlier note the author said that certain
    types of used electric guitars (non-strats) are now available at
    bargin prices because most of the top players are using strats,
    but that this situation could change overnight if a few of these
    players switched instruments.  Contrast this with the situation
    among acoustic players:  I doubt if any but the most avid fan even
    knows what brand of guitar their favorite acoustic guitarist uses.
                                                                
    Another example: look at the percentage of notes in this conference
    that concern the question of what brand of strings people prefer.
    I've been to a number of masters classes for classical guitarists, 
    and have yet to hear anyone ask any questions about what brand of 
    strings the instructor prefers.
    
    In my case, the question of how much my playing is limited by the 
    instrument I'm using is answered every time my instructor borrows
    my guitar to demonstrate something.  It's obvious (read: painfully
    obvious) that I've got a lot of practicing to do before this becomes
    a big factor.
    
    -- John
       

    re: .5 point well taken but then I don't care what strings, amps etc
    that my heroes use it's the damn mags that seem to care...I fixed
    that, I quit buying the mags....
         
    My acoustic hero plays martin guitars mostly....
    
    dbII

    re: .5
    
    Your point is well taken, but I think the answer is simply that
    the "hardware" for acoustic instruments has less effect on the
    playability and overall sound than it does for electric instruments.
    This is partly a result of the fact that acoustic guitars have been
    around for a long time, so the techniques for making good ones are
    pretty well understood by a lot of people (the technology has
    "matured"). This leads to less variation among instruments, and
    a more consistent result.
    
    Electric guitars, on the other hand, are a relatively new innovation,
    and the technology for building guitars, strings, amps, effects,
    etc., is still evolving. There is constant experimentation being
    done, and a great deal of variation among instruments and
    configurations. While you are probably correct in saying that some
    people go out and buy equipment just because their idol uses it,
    it is much more likely that they do so because they like that
    particular sound, and are reasonably sure that if they use that
    combination of equipment they will get a similar sound.
    
    Just as an example, I have seldom (possibly never) heard a Martin
    acoustic guitar that did not have an excellent sound. Furthermore,
    Martin's, Guild's, Gibson's, etc., each have a charateristic sound
    across their whole line that is fairly well known and easily
    recognizable.
    
    On the other hand, I couldn't say this about electric guitars from any
    manufacturer. There are a few guitars such as Les Paul's, ES-335's,
    Strats, etc., that have been around for awhile and have fairly
    recognizable sounds. The same applies to Marshall, Fender, Boogie,
    etc., amplifiers. But even among guitars and amps of the same make and
    model there can be a tremendous difference in the sound and feel.
    I have seen Strats that were beautiful to hear and play, and I have
    seen ones that were practically unplayable.
    
    One more aspect to this is that electric equipment is more complex
    and therefore more difficult to select than acoustic equipment.
    Most acoustic guitars don't even have adjustable bridge height,
    what to say of individually adjustable saddles, adjustable pickup
    height, pickup selectors, tone and volume controls, passive and
    active electronics, etc. And the range of string gauges that will
    work on an acoustic is much narrower.
    
    Personally, I am much more confident when I buy acoustic instruments
    that I am going to get the result I expect out of them than I am
    when I buy anything electric. I think that accounts for the much
    greater amount of information in this notesfile regarding electric
    equipment. It's not necessarily that there is that much more interest
    in electrics. It's just that it's much harder to keep up with the
    technology.
    
    - Ram
   

    Let me reinforce what was just said about variations in playability
    among electric instruments.  The Fender Stratocaster looks at first
    to be about as basic and generic a piece of equipment as you could
    imagine.  It's just a slab of wood, bolt on neck, single coil pickups,
    a simple (but elegant) bridge/tremelo, etc.  The entire thing was
    designed as much for manufacturability as for playability.  In my
    experience, it amazes me how much difference there can be between
    two of these instruments in sound and feel.  They go from completely
    dead to so good you want to cry.
    
    /rick

    Funny that the direction of the discussion has moved towards acoustic
    guitars. I happen to play my acoustics heavily at home but rarely
    live, and the Electrics are haevily used live, but only occasionally
    are the acoustics used live. I don't really pay attention to what
    people are playing (as far as brands go), because that ain't what
    makes them tick. I never like the way other people have set up thier
    acoustic guitars, but then again, I'm as picky as can be. The funny
    thing is that I tossed a pickup (A Strat pickup that I rewound with
    heavier wire - fewer turns, around 1000, but added magnetics - some
    bar magnets out of a Mitey-Mite pickup that was bad) onto my junker
    acoustic & added a piezo transducer under the bridge & hook these
    up to a small pre-amp & then run them thru my stomp boxes & I swear,
    nobody would ever have suspected that I was playing an acoustic
    guitar. I use this guitar for almost all of the guitar parts when
    I record in my home studio. It sustains real nice, just like a Les
    Paul is supposed to, and I can get biting treble, just like a Strat.
    Take it out of the recording environment, it sounds pretty mediocre.
    Al this says is that recording studios can change the color of a
    guitar without much trouble & you may never find an instrument that
    sounds like you want it to, & feels right too. Those of us who are
    cheap-skates can often discover magic tricks, if we play with our
    toys.
    
    I prefer acoustic guitars (I don't own anything with a whammy bar
    on it), & I think that they force you to play a certain way & they
    respond with their own natural voice, where an Electric can be made
    to be more of a multiple personality instrument, depending on various
    factors. Since I practice to improve my guitar style, I tend to
    prefer to work with just the guitar & no imbellishments.
    
    As for the Rags, like guitar player magazine, it's interesting to
    know what people are playing on, but, it's also not usually all
    that important, since some great part of the sound comes from the
    creator if the music. In general, those that are interviewed have
    little actual concept as to what they are doing. I guess if they
    totally understood it themselves, they would probably be bored with
    it.
    							Jens 

    	Speaking of the mags, I think that this is a good way to gain
    exposure to new products (guitars, amps, effects) that can help
    a person create their own sound. This is obviously more true toward
    electrics than acoustics but I believe that new inroads are being
    made in the acoustic area all the time. Not being able to attend
    NAMM every year, I find publications very important in knowing what
    tools are available to the guitarist.
    
    Don

    Remenber too that electric guitar players expect a lot more from
    their instruments (whammy bars, single coil/humbuckers, locking
    nuts, ultra-low action for finger-taps at the 24th fret, 24-fret
    necks, etc.) Acoustic guitar is rather limited in the 'special
    effects' department. That's one reason why electric guitarists
    pay so much attention to their hardware.
    
    -Dave

    You are correct. There are lots more options available to the
    electric guitar (I go 6 of them, versus 3 acoustics, so there must
    be a reason). It all depends on what you want to do. I used to practice
    solos on my Electrics (love my 64 Gibson SG), but I found that I
    was putzing alot with trying to get my effects to get a certain
    feel. This is what they are for, so, it ain't a bad thing to do.
    At the same time, I've been trying to improve my style & went over
    towards jazz for a while & found that the acoustic guitar is a good
    place to be if you want to 'not be able to use effects'. I found
    that after the initial flurry of new ideas with the stomp boxes,
    I sort of lost direction & tended to get lost in the things that
    were coming alive thru the stomp boxes (I have 2 distortion boxes,
    2 phase shifters, a flanger, analog delay & chorus unit), and really
    didn't sound so special without them. Hence I started working with
    my acoustic guitar.
    
    I also string my acoustics real light (not as much sound, but more
    of an electic guitar feel), so the transition from one to the
    other isn't as painless. Of course, you run out of frets a lot
    quicker on the acoustic guitar (2 of mine have the neck joining
    at the 12th fret), but, that doesn't seem to stop me when I switch
    to my electric.
    
    Both mediums are quite useful to me. I'd hate to not have both
    as an option.
    
    Re .11  None of my guitars have Whammy bars, or locking nuts,or
    exceptionally low action. I do use both humbuckers & single coil
    pickups. I prefer not to have some things on any of my instruments.
    However, you're absolutely correct, you have tons of options on
    electrics that are not possible on an acoustic. Thats the advantage
    of both.
    							Jens

    To me I like to get intimate with one guitar. I also am either
    motivated or demotivated by the sound of the guitar. Some sounds
    turn me completely off others on, which inspire me to say different
    things with the guitar. I guess that says it all for me.
    
    Tony

    
    	Qualitative aspects of a guitar...whew! There sure are a lot!
    Pickup position is one. The harmonic series produced by a vibrating
    string is a function of the distance from the bridge in inches or
    whatever. There is, and always will be, a "strat" sound that cannot
    be duplicated by a Les Paul, because of the existance of the middle
    pickup on the strat. A Paul does not pickup at that part of the
    string, therefore, it cannot have the sound found only at that
    particular distance. A popular sound too, I might add.
    	The type of wood found in the body, the type of pickups and
    even the impedance of the circuitry used for volume and tone controls
    contribute significantly to the sound quality.
    	Devices designed to embellish the sound come in 3 basic flavors,
    those that change the sound by a direct transformation of the signal
    time function into something else (Metal pedals, distortion, guitar
    synths, etc), those that change component frequency amplitudes of
    the signal time function (tone controls, EQ's and envelope filters),
    and those that add replications of the original signal to itself
    (phase shifters, chorus's, delays) Since you usually dont want to change
    the sound of an acoustic guitar into something completely different,
    devices in my first example catagory are usually avoided. The other
    devices are commonly used on acoustics, I believe.
    	Amplification....even the speaker has a transfer function...
    
    	Through analysis of the Factors mentioned in the replys to this
    note, one could decompose anyone's "sound" to the necessities of
    it. Who knows what Factors "matter" in trying to get Jerry's sound
    or perhaps EVH's? You may find that the number of factors to consider
    is somewhere around 50; from the fret scales to the type of speakers
    used. I've noticed that the guitar player from Max Creek had his
    sound down to a "tee", so, it can be done.
    
    	Joe Jas
    

    Of course, there are the 'one of a kind guitars' that sound pretty
    good also. My favorite was an electric 6 string made out of a toilet
    seat (saw this one in Los Angeles - the guitar player could make
    it sing). I agree with Jas, everything makes a difference in some
    small way. I found that Jimi Hendrix played a right handed guitar
    as a lefty & this ment that the pickups were essentially installed
    upside down. Those of you who know how the Strat Pickups were made,
    will recall that for some reason (unknown, thou lots of odd
    explainations exits) Leo Fender decided to put the magnet under
    the B string a little further away from the strings than the other
    magnets. Well, the real light guage strings were not as loud on
    the B string as they could have been, but, they sounded fine for
    Jimi. Since his pickups were essentially swapped around, this placed
    the errant magnet under the A string instead. You can't just casually
    flip the Strat pickups around without doing a little wood carving.
    
    It's little things like these that make each guitar design special.
    I love the wide frets on the Gibson's & hate the narrow ones on
    Fender's. Why? I'm used to the wider ones & play differently because
    the guitar neck feels wrong to me.
    
    My wife couldn't understand why it was I got irritated when I had
    to put .009 inch E strings on my guitar, since I alway used .008's
    unless I needed a quick replacement string. She said 'How can you
    tell if it's 1000th of an inch thicker or not', Then she felt a
    .008 then a .009 & found that it's real easy to tell them apart.
    I don't know how many countless hours that I spent discussing guitar
    strings with other musicians, but the opinons are infinate!
    
    							Jens
    

    Can I question 'illogic'? Just this once?????
    
    Didn't Hendrix simply play a right-handed guitar as a lefty, without
    re-stringing it?
    
    This would leave any pickup/string anomalies in the original
    relationship, with the odd magnet still under the B string.
    
    Yes?
    
    Edd
                                                 
    
    

    That was my impression too, but from what I've read in the MUSIC
    note on Hendrix he apparently played guitars set up in a variety
    of ways, some of which included reversing the order of the strings.

    Who knows?
    
    - Ram

    I've looked at many, many pictures of Jimi Hendrix, and in every
    one clear enough to actually see the differences in string gauges
    the fatter E string was on top.  i.e. Jimi took a right handed guitar,
    reversed the order of the strings, and played it left handed.  This
    means that "A" string was indeed over the "B" magnet pole (and vice
    versa).  In MUSIC notes someone claims to have seen pictures of
    Hendrix playing normally strung Strats upside down (little E on
    top).  While I don't dispute this, my guess would be that he may
    have been borrowing a guitar at the time and just went with it.
    Based on the number of pictures and films I've seen, I'd say this
    was the exception and not the rule.

    /rick

    I don't know, When I look at some of my old albums, he's playing
    it upside-down. It appears that the strings are thicker where I
    would expect them to be, if he restrung it for a lefty. Of course
    there is the song on the Electric Ladyland album, where the liner
    notes say something on the order of 'We dropped the speaker in a
    bucket of water & miked it until the speaker disintegrated'. I 
    don't remember the song name, but there is one on that album with
    a very unique guitar sound on it.
    
    I've never been able to get a good explaination of why the B string
    magnet was set up this way on the Strat. I'm sure that there is a 
    reason for it. As for Hendrix, He tried all sorts of bizzare things.
    I didn't like everything that he did, but I wouldn't it put it past
    him to play the guitar in anyway that was possible. Just to avoid
    any argument about how good  Jimi was, let me just say that I spent
    lots of time trying to learn to do what he was playing, but, I never 
    was that successful.
    
    Somehow, I'll bet you play a Strat, at least occasionally. I play
    mostly guitars with humbuckers on them, usually with switches
    that allow me to cut out one of the coils as needed. I like the
    sounds of these instruments. I set my coil screws to what ever
    height that I want them & never have they been set up like was
    done on the Strat's pickups. To each there own.....
    
    		Jens_who_builds_his_own_guitars_the_way_he_wants_them

    If'n you want the pickup to sound like the strings are upside down
    Semour Duncan makes a strat replacement pickup just for that purpose.
              
    It's the SSL-1, vintage stagged strat pickup, the promo material
    mentions the "hendrix-like" sound...I used to have a set on my old
    strat...they're nice pickups...but the difference is barely audible
    
    dave