Sad and Woeful

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

Sad and Woeful

Post by VikingBlues »

It's been a bad week at work and it's getting worse. Only my holidays coming up in just over a week is keeping me going. Eventually managed a take tonight without a spasm of bum notes.
"Woeful Dilemna". PRS SE with middle position through Tonelab LE on a Vox AC30TB setting with a bit of reverb. David Wallimann Backing Track in E. I was wanting to return to my melodic base after recent jazzy excursions which I have found to be a bit unsettling.

download/file.php?id=1087

From a few days ago - "Sad Strat". My "Strat" was upset at being left out of my "Any Old Git" piece when I used the other three guitars. She felt blue, so I let her play some blues. "Slow Down Blues" backing track from FreeGuitarChords.com. "Black 2x12 setting on the Tonelab LE which I believe is Fender Twin Reverb. Deliberately left the sound pretty dry on this one. I'm not sure if going for 10s as strings on the strat so I could get a wound 3rd string was the best option - I like the volume on the 3rd string being more in line with the other, but I seem to have lost some of the benefits from bending the lighter 9s.

download/file.php?id=1088

I'm liking the way I'm not having to use the DAW to tweak the sound at all when I'm using the Tonelab LE.

As always, I'd be grateful for any comments / advice.
Attachments


"Sad Strat" - Strat with Vox Tonelab Black 2x12 setting.
Sad Strat Tonelab LE Black 2x12 Strat Test.mp3 - (3.09 MiB)


Woeful Dilemna - PRS SE Vox Tonelab LE Vox AC30TB setting
Woeful Dilemna Tonelab LE AC30TB PRS.mp3 - (2.78 MiB)

An improv a day keeps the demons at bay!
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MikeJackal
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Joined: Fri May 21, 2010 10:28 pm

Re: Sad and Woeful

Post by MikeJackal »

Two great tracks, particularly like the sad and woeful, always my favourite kind of song. As for the strings you should check out Ernie Ball Hybrid Slinky strings, they come with 9, 11, 16, 26, 36, 46. So you get the nice thin top strings for bending with the the benifit of the thicker third string.
"You Only Live But Once, When Your Dead Your Done...So Let The Good Times Roll" - B.B. King
"I'm So Lonesome I Don't Even Have Me No Friend, I've Done So Much Crying Will I Ever Laugh Again" - Peter Green
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2WheelsOfBlues
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Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2010 10:59 pm

Re: Sad and Woeful

Post by 2WheelsOfBlues »

Like them VB.

i almust want to say have more bad weeks :yikes: , but no, :naughty: that goes to far.

I like both songs, every song have his own character and that perfect there will no 2 songs be the same then :thumbsup:
play guitar like the wind, mysterious but definitely present....
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VikingBlues
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Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2010 7:44 pm

Re: Sad and Woeful

Post by VikingBlues »

Thank you gentlemen. I appreciate your taking the time out to listen and for your positive comments. :D

I've been a bit restless recently and unable to settle to anything - so it was nice to get a bit of flow to some music making. I'd been playing the "Strat" just before I did the recording with the PRS. The PRS feels like a toy guitar by comparison - so much lighter and the neck feels so small - fortunately it doesn't play like a toy.
MikeJackal wrote:As for the strings you should check out Ernie Ball Hybrid Slinky strings, they come with 9, 11, 16, 26, 36, 46. So you get the nice thin top strings for bending with the the benifit of the thicker third string.
Thanks for the suggestion Mike. i used a similar sort of hybrid set to that on my Hagstrom for a while though it was 10s gauge on the top string and thicker on the lower -I think it was a Rotosoaund set. The trouble is I'd have a volume problem on my "Strat" with any set that has a 3rd string that isn't wound. The pups on my "Strat" are very much a "vintage" style. Due to this the polepieces have been set to be balanced for volume using a set of strings where the 3rd in a wound string. I believe for whatever reason that being wound makes it quieter.

You'll see what I mean from this picture of the neck pickup.
Higher vintage style polepiece on the 3rd string - "Strat" neck
Higher vintage style polepiece on the 3rd string - "Strat" neck
100_0094sm.jpg (151.03 KiB) Viewed 5171 times
If I have a plain 3rd string I can try and adjust for it by attempting to use less of an impact on the 3rd string when playing, but it's not ideal - the volume is perfectly matched though with the wound 3rd string. 10s seem to be the lightest gauge around where there are wound 3rd strings.

BTW - I've seen there was a strong disagreement between Leo Fender and Ernie Ball about the 3rd string. Leo saying should be wound and Ernie disagreeing.
An improv a day keeps the demons at bay!
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MikeJackal
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Re: Sad and Woeful

Post by MikeJackal »

The third string on the hybrid set is wound, you basically get the three lower wound strings from the 10's and the top three strings from the 9's. as for volume, if you cant get an even sound using them you could always slightly lower one side of the pickups to compensate, thats what I did with my strat when i had it.
"You Only Live But Once, When Your Dead Your Done...So Let The Good Times Roll" - B.B. King
"I'm So Lonesome I Don't Even Have Me No Friend, I've Done So Much Crying Will I Ever Laugh Again" - Peter Green
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VikingBlues
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Re: Sad and Woeful

Post by VikingBlues »

MikeJackal wrote:The third string on the hybrid set is wound, you basically get the three lower wound strings from the 10's and the top three strings from the 9's. as for volume, if you cant get an even sound using them you could always slightly lower one side of the pickups to compensate, thats what I did with my strat when i had it.
:thumbsup: Thanks Mike - I hadn't realised the 3rd was wound on the Hybrids - I couldn't see mention of it on the places they were selling them.

I think the way the polepieces are I'd lose too much volume on the top string if I dropped the overall pickup height - there would be more downward effect on the 1st string than the 3rd. It's a shame the polepieces aren't individually adjustable. When played with a normal set of strings all 5 of the strings except the third are in nice balance on volume. With the wound 3rd all the strings are then in balance. So to get the advice on a set of 9s with the wound 3rd is ideal - I miss my tone and a half bends on the lighter top strings! :lol:
An improv a day keeps the demons at bay!
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