Broken Nail in Bm

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VikingBlues
Posts: 4466
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2010 7:44 pm

Broken Nail in Bm

Post by VikingBlues »

Well - this weekend I've been playing guitar like a horse running on three legs due to that doggy over there ------->

While playing games with him (when he wasn't busy looking out of the window) he managed to break my right hand index finger nail on his teeth. :angry: I tried to go back to using a pick (I did use a pick for nearly 40 years) but all I played that way was tonally bereft. :sad:

So I ended up just messing around this evening with a backing track in Bm and trying out different guitars while avoiding use of the index finger as far as possible.

It's ended up not too bad I thought - maybe the index finger's not as key to my playing as I thought?

Hagstrom Viking Deluxe (both pickups) to around 0:40, Daisy Rock Candy Special (my wifes) (both pickups) to around 1:15, Yamaha Pacifica (once mine, now eldest sons) (middle pickup) to around 1:50, Tokai LC85 (both pickups) to 2:20. Then Hagstrom Viking Deluxe (Bridge Pickup from this point), with backing from Tokai to 2:55, Tokai with backing from Hagstrom to 3:25, Hagstrom with backing from Tokai to 4:00, Tokai with backing from Hagstrom to 4:35, and finally both Tokai and Hagstrom on lead to the end.

There are variations in tone down to the individual guitars, but they are all through the same amp, reverb and delay settings, and there's tonally not as much difference as I expected there would be. :think: I guess it shows the influence of amp and player is pretty strong. It does remain though that the better the guitar the easier the musical notes fall and the easier the hammer ons and pull offs and bends are which adds to the fluency.

Of course the Hagstrom, Daisy Rock, and Tokai are all Humbucker guitars so they have a basic type of sound that will be similar. The Daisy Rock may be a "girls" guitar with a more compact fretboard for smaller hands but it does have nice blues in it. To be honest the Yamaha now feels a bit weird to play - very light weight guitar and the longer string length does feel odd, but I thought it would sound more different to the others than it does.

Anyway for what its worth if anyone wants to listen go ahead ....

download/file.php?id=9

I would be interested to hear how much other players feel is the relative influence of guitar / player / amplification on the tonal sounds for them.
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BrokenNailBm01.mp3 - (4.77 MiB)

An improv a day keeps the demons at bay!
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Blindboy
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Joined: Sun Apr 04, 2010 3:34 pm

Re: Broken Nail in Bm

Post by Blindboy »

That's a cute doggie.

Sounds good! I like the different guitar per verse approach. That is cool :thumbsup: I have thought about doing something similar, using different guitar and amp combos, but am still kind of overwhelmed/intimidated by the whole computer recording thing. :roll:
The whole guitar/amp/player equation is complex for me. I have played a crappy strat style guitar through an awesome boutique amp, and it sounded great. I have played a killer SRV strat through a crappy amp, and it sounded pretty poor. The crappy strat style guitar did, however, play fairly well, even if the electronics and wood were junk. I believe that a playable guitar and a good amp are key. The player is, naturally, the main factor in the equation, though. How many times have we heard someone play a rig like our own (or play on our own rig) and sound totally different from when we play it? :music2: :amp:
"Throw yo' big leg over me Mama, I might not feel this good again!"
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leftyslim
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Joined: Sun Apr 04, 2010 11:30 pm

Re: Broken Nail in Bm

Post by leftyslim »

Sorry about your nail, VikingBlues... I've never had anything quite that bad happen to me, but I remember getting just a tiny little cut on my left (fretting hand) index finger about 2 1/2 years ago, and I couldn't play the way I normally did at all- in hindsight, I'm glad it happened, because when I got home I dug out that little glass tube of mine, and really got going on slide.

I did have a teacher, though, who had a fingernail split right down the middle- I'm pretty sure it was one of his fretting fingers too! I remember he told me how it happened, something about a very heavy propane tank, I think :eye_rub: Didn't affect his playing very much from what I heard, though!

I think the track sounds great, too :thumbsup: That is interesting how the guitars sound similar- what kind of amp was that? I've always found that :amp: > guitar_fire:: when it comes to the overall tone of the thing, like Blind Boy has had experience with. I've played my brother's little ol' Squire Stratocaster through my Deluxe Reverb, and it sounded many times better than my Stratocaster through a little solid-state somethin-er-other.
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VikingBlues
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Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2010 7:44 pm

Re: Broken Nail in Bm

Post by VikingBlues »

leftyslim wrote:That is interesting how the guitars sound similar- what kind of amp was that? I've always found that :amp: > guitar_fire:: when it comes to the overall tone of the thing, like Blind Boy has had experience with. I've played my brother's little ol' Squire Stratocaster through my Deluxe Reverb, and it sounded many times better than my Stratocaster through a little solid-state somethin-er-other.
In this case not so much the amp as the interface to the PC - a Vox Tonelab ST with an AC30 setting. The Tonelab is a very similar set up the the Vox VT amp I usually use and each of the guitars sound quite similar through the Tonelab to what they do through the amp - theTonelab and the amp both have at least have one tube / valve in them so I suppose they have a little bit more credibility than some of the interfaces / amps I've used in the past.

I know what you mean about "the little solid-state somethin-er-other". :sad: I've used quite a few of those and they all had a magical ability to make almost any guitar sound pretty bad and quite alike. :wall:

Question - although the amp is a major factor in the sound, is it other peoples experience that the higher quality the amp / recording set up the more the tone of the guitar comes through and the more noticable the difference between guitars becomes? It's been true in my case so far but I'm still on the low rungs of the ladder for quality of amps.
Blindboy wrote:That's a cute doggie
I missed that comment when I first read your post and answered you BB. He is cute isn't he, although he is a bit of a wolf when it comes to chasing wildlife - I think I'd forgive him pretty well anything though.
An improv a day keeps the demons at bay!
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