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Sweet Vibrato - Monster Mike Welch

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 2:30 am
by Hellhoundsonme
How do you like this young fellow vibrato?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY6wVp22DkA

Re: Sweet Vibrato - Monster Mike Welch

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 10:39 am
by fenson
"Monster Mike Copy Cat" :thumbsdown:
Peter Greene (your link), Mike Bloomfield (Mr Monster homepage vid)... anybody else?

My opinion though... Sorry, apologize for what is probably my very first negative comment over the internet.
Usually just shut up but could not resist this time... :shy: I sware I'll never do it again!

Re: Sweet Vibrato - Monster Mike Welch

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 12:01 pm
by 12bar
A bit harsh I think, it's a tribute and for a tribute he does quite well... :big_smile:
Most Blues players started copying but some miss the point when to go your own way.
This is the reason why I like for example Buddy W. much more than Joe B. :think: although he's technically superb.

Re: Sweet Vibrato - Monster Mike Welch

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 1:49 pm
by Hellhoundsonme
You make a great point how Blues artists copy each other. I swear I can hear Albert King and BB King in some of Otis Rush's songs. I am noticing it in a lot of Blues artists that I have come across.

I have got to be honest, I am going to do all the copying I can, and if I can get that good of a bravado, I will be one happy fellow

Re: Sweet Vibrato - Monster Mike Welch

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 2:53 pm
by 12bar
Or SRV, he has borrowed a lot from Albert King, but he was still easy to recognize because he had his own style.

Re: Sweet Vibrato - Monster Mike Welch

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 8:37 pm
by Hellhoundsonme
12bar wrote: Wed Feb 21, 2018 2:53 pm Or SRV, he has borrowed a lot from Albert King, but he was still easy to recognize because he had his own style.
And that is what I hope to do as well...one day. :D

Re: Sweet Vibrato - Monster Mike Welch

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 9:31 pm
by VikingBlues
A good vibrato can make for some fine listening - Peter Green, BB King, Paul Kossoff, three of my favourites, and many others besides.
A big part of the players attributes of those that play the slower soulful stuff ...... my favourite. :D

Makes sense to borrow certain qualities from great players, but it's a good thing to then mould those techniques to get a style of your own if you can. If only because it means you sound like more than just a bad copy of someone better! :lol:

For me the main thing is that the music should then connect on an emotional level. :tears: :banana:

Re: Sweet Vibrato - Monster Mike Welch

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 9:35 pm
by Hellhoundsonme
VikingBlues wrote: Wed Feb 21, 2018 9:31 pm A good vibrato can make for some fine listening - Peter Green, BB King, Paul Kossoff, three of my favourites, and many others besides.
A big part of the players attributes of those that play the slower soulful stuff ...... my favourite. :D

Makes sense to borrow certain qualities from great players, but it's a good thing to then mould those techniques to get a style of your own if you can. If only because it means you sound like more than just a bad copy of someone better! :lol:

For me the main thing is that the music should then connect on an emotional level. :tears: :banana:
I love the slower soulful Blues as my favorite Blues form. In fact, I just scoured Amazon and bought several pretty nice slow blues songs, and I updated my Band in the Box (BIAB) program with slow Blues realtracks.

When I get some time on the weekend, I am planning on having a lot of fun with the BIAB backing track software.

Re: Sweet Vibrato - Monster Mike Welch

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 11:30 pm
by mjo
Ah-ha ... and lol. "monster" mike was the the "player who shall remain nameless" from an earlier post I made. He knows every lick in the book .. and he's not afraid to use them. He's very accomplished, gotta give him credit, but not much fun to listen to.. just my opinion.

As for vibrato I like BB, so much that I've always done it his way ( more side to side than up and down ). More recently I've been working with an up and down motion ... different but also good.
...give me some old Billy Gibbons any day ... " you know my ba-abe, be bringin 'em .... ho-ome " ... :wink:

-best,
Mike

Re: Sweet Vibrato - Monster Mike Welch

Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 4:17 am
by Hellhoundsonme
mjo wrote: Wed Feb 21, 2018 11:30 pm Ah-ha ... and lol. "monster" mike was the the "player who shall remain nameless" from an earlier post I made. He knows every lick in the book .. and he's not afraid to use them. He's very accomplished, gotta give him credit, but not much fun to listen to.. just my opinion.

As for vibrato I like BB, so much that I've always done it his way ( more side to side than up and down ). More recently I've been working with an up and down motion ... different but also good.
...give me some old Billy Gibbons any day ... " you know my ba-abe, be bringin 'em .... ho-ome " ... :wink:

-best,
Mike
Thanks for the background on Monster Mike. I was unaware of him until recently and I can see he is probably well known around Blues Guitar circles.

I have to tell you Mjo, I get mad at some of these guys because my vibrato stalls out before long and you have the song of the string grinding or something. Mike and others somehow seem to retain their volume throughout their vibrato.

BB's vibrato, that Butterfly vibrato, is for me as positive and uplifting as the Blues he plays, but it is a little to tight and high frequency. I tend to favor Otis Rush's vibrato as the vibrato I most like.

Re: Sweet Vibrato - Monster Mike Welch

Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 10:43 am
by fenson
mjo wrote: Wed Feb 21, 2018 11:30 pm Ah-ha ... and lol. "monster" mike was the the "player who shall remain nameless" from an earlier post I made. He knows every lick in the book .. and he's not afraid to use them. He's very accomplished, gotta give him credit, but not much fun to listen to.. just my opinion.
Only copy Cats remains nameless :lol:
He knows every lick in every book and entire solo as well and just like with lick not afraid to use them 'note for note' :mercy: M.W.

According with the ONe and Holly EC, there is at least 3 different vibratos... Vibratos is probably one of the most diffucult guitar technic to really get...
Once you got it, the most difficult is to figure out when and wich one to use...

Re: Sweet Vibrato - Monster Mike Welch

Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2018 12:22 pm
by 12bar
Even EC changed his vibrato style during the years. In his early years it was more of a BB King style wrist vibrato, later it was a "whole arm" style where only the fretting finger touches the fretboard.

Wrist from the 60s:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzFm2rEukrw during Cream (from the famous interview EC didn't take too serious :lol: )
sometimes he uses it nowadays:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APWhx97QvxE
vs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJjpPshvio4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUbpwNWmjfI

The classical style is used on electric by Mike Oldfield:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp66wX0OkPQ

Interesting quote:
How did you develop your own unique finger vibrato style?

In my early days, I never used finger vibrato at all. I originally carved my reputation as one of the "fast" guitar players. Then I heard Eric Clapton. I remember saying to him, "You have a strange style. Do you play with that vibrato stuff?" Really an idiotic question. But he was a nice guy about it. Right after that I started working on my vibrato. It took about two or three years for me to develop any technique. Around '68 or '69 you suddenly hear it in my playing.