Open Mic Blues...

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Blindboy
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Open Mic Blues...

Post by Blindboy »

Somehow, through no fault of my own, I seem to have become 1/2 of the host band at our local bar (guitar/keyboard). We have no songs in common, have never practiced together, and have no set list, but for some reason, it seems popular with the bar owner and the patrons. :icon_whoknows: Tonight will be our third night. Hopefully some other musicians will show up. Last Monday night was actually pretty good (for smething like this). We had six or eight pickers get up and perform. It is educational to try to follow an unknown chord progression by watching the other guitarists hand, and try to anticipate the changes. :whistle:
I think tonight I will take my Strat, as I broke a string on the Casino last Monday, and the nearest guitar store is 70 miles away. :wall:
I may be no good at composing or recording (playing into a box makes me uncomfortable), but I have lots of experience at off the cuff, live trainwreck sessions. :oldie: Plus, I get my drinks comped. :beer: :big_smile:
"Throw yo' big leg over me Mama, I might not feel this good again!"
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Jim
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Re: Open Mic Blues...

Post by Jim »

Congrats BlindBoy!

That's a great "spot" to have found yourself in - whether you expected it or not!! :thumbsup:

I LOVE - as just has been happening at the jams I've been going to lately (part of this meetup.com thing I found as I was desperate to find other musicians to play with, and it's AMAZING how many others are also feeling exactly the same way! Hundreds, LITERALLY, of musicians just at home wondering WHERE and HOW to find others who like the same kind of music as they do, that they can easily get together to jam with. And THAT IS the key! It's not like you have to find an established band with an opening that happens to match what you play, or take the chances of trying to start your own, and then deal - if you don't already know the other people - with those horrible auditioning things, which really never are what, IMO, is the main thing to be looking for or how to be looking for it.

I think one or two rehearsals with ANY person (not under the stress of a FORMAL audition) will show a lot more realistically how the people really play, and MORE IMPORTANTLY, how they GET ALONG with you and the kind of band and music you're happiest with, and any other people you may already be playing with. I think it's the same at companies - they give these ridiculous "tests" both on the phone as the first step, and then often a written one (full of TRICK questions that almost anyone would screw up), when what is MOST important, IMO again, is HOW will they get along (on a personality level) with the other people in the department - which most usually seems to be where the biggest problems happen (people not getting along). Technical stuff can usually be learned, and if the person doesn't have a clue what he's doing, that will be obvious enough with a few weeks there (and most companies here have people on 3 months "probationary" employment anyway) but if they can't get along with the team.. well that's REALLY tough to deal with, and usually is a dead end.

Same with a band! You want someone that you (and and any band mates you may already have) will be compatible with and have FUN with, and you also need to find someone who's musical tastes (on a really personal, interpretation level) are compatible, or else it, and they, just won't work. The cool thing about these meetup jams is anyone can come and jam, and it will be pretty obvious if they "fit" in, so everyone's having fun and playing stuff they really love, and those people will have a BUNCH of meetup groups to pick from, so they don't have to be "fired" if they don't fit -- they normally don't feel comfortable and they're not having fun either, so they - on their own - move on and try another group (and there are a LOT of guitar groups in this area!) until they find the right one for them.

And, sometimes, people will show up who play stuff really well that you've never played before, but it's a really relaxed, everyone there to HAVE FUN atmosphere, so they can have as much of the floor as they want, and everyone else just finds out where / when they fit in, and after a little bit, you've got a real groove going on! And no pressure and no need to make $$$ - it's about having fun, meeting new people you like, and - of course - the MUSIC! And you can stay as long or as short as you need (although when it's really good, most people stick around as long as possible).

We had a meetup jam last Saturday night, and there were two loose "groups" (people who had played together before and so knew what they wanted to play and did it well) but also let anyone else have the floor between songs they did, and I LOVE to improvise to music I've never played - even never heard - before. It's helps me to grow as a player and lead guitarist, and once they've playing, I can quickly figure out what key it's in and after a few lines of the song, I pretty much know where I can fit in, and what the feel of the song is and I start hearing what I want to play inside before I play it more and more as the song goes on, and it was REALLY a blast!! One "group" there did more folk/Dead kind of music, and the other one, which came and stayed later, was very much Blues based, and one guy was the one who almost always started the songs, and sang and played rhythm, and there was a guy with a dobro on his lap doing slide leads and I was able to play whatever fit in and it worked! They guy who was leading the Blues stuff said, a couple of times, that (because of where we were sitting), he couldn't SEE what I was doing, but he sure liked what he was hearing! Which is super to hear - and I just said that it didn't matter if he couldn't SEE me play as long as he could hear it and liked what he heard - and he laughed and said that was right. And I just started doodling around with "Tears in Heaven" and someone heard it and urged me to play it, and everyone just quieted down and I played it (very rusty as I hadn't played it in a while and screwed up many parts) but I got a good round of applause at the end and compliments about being a really good guitarist (despite my feeling that I hosed it up) and that felt really great!

So I get what you're saying, and I feel the same way, and again, my congrats to you on being the host (half the host- whatever) and playing with people you hadn't before but sounding good and enjoying it! That, to me, is QUALITY music time!!! :thumbsup:

Jim
My driving philosophy about making music is that you can reduce it all down to one note if that note is played with the right kind of sincerity.
- Eric Clapton, interview 1974

James V. Signorile, ASCAP
(Court Jester)
http://jamessignorile.com
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Blindboy
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Re: Open Mic Blues...

Post by Blindboy »

Thanks Jim. :big_smile:
Yeah, playing out is big fun... as long as SOMEONE knows a song. :motz: . Tonight wasn't so hot. :whistle:
I did have fun listening to a guy playing "War Pigs" on my rig ('70's Strat through Fender Custom Shop ProSonic). Definately the first time any Sabbath has been played through it, and probably the last. :haha:
I freaked out one guy before we started... I haven't played the Strat in a while, and the neck was a bit warped. I tweaked the truss rod with an allen wrench, but that didn't help. This guy watched me loosen the truss rod, then lay the guitar face down on the floor. I put one foot on the neck/body joint, and the other foot on the middle of the neck, then yanked up on the headstock several times. Then I flipped her over, put a foot on the body and one on the headstock and yanked up on the middle of the neck. The guy came over and asked me just what the h*ll I was doing. I explained it to him, then plugged in a tuner, and what do you know, It was a half step sharp, but totally in tune with itself. I retuned it and it stayed in tune for the whole night. Gotta love a good road guitar. :big_smile: (I wouldn't do this with just any guitar, but I have had the FrankenStrat for twenty years and am familiar with her idiosyncracys)
Hopefully we can get a rythm section going for this gig, and maybe a setlist :rofl: . Meanwhile, it is kind of fun, and it keeps me playin'. :music1:
"Throw yo' big leg over me Mama, I might not feel this good again!"
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Strummer07
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Re: Open Mic Blues...

Post by Strummer07 »

Blind boy ..............you are sure some guitar tech !! .what a technique !! :thumbsup:

and whats more it worked !!
"Death is just a heartbeat away"
lyric from "Out in The Fields"
Gary Moore 1952-2011
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VikingBlues
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Re: Open Mic Blues...

Post by VikingBlues »

That IS what's called "tough love" BB. Good for you - you know your guitar and don't listen to the doom and gloom merchants who'd have you taking your guitar to a tech for pretty well everything including string changes.

Really like the sound of the music scene in your part of the world - there's not enough fun and enjoyment in music making but it sounds like you've got a nice share of what there is of it over there.
Keep playing and keep letting us all know about it. :thumbsup:
An improv a day keeps the demons at bay!
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Jim
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Re: Open Mic Blues...

Post by Jim »

KEWL!! (never actually used that spelling of Cool before, but I've seen it used and just felt like it today.. :) )

That is what makes a GREAT road worthy guitar indeed! EC was incredibly attached to Blackie, as we all know, and he played it at virtually every concert for 15 years... but many of those 15 years were the worst of his drunken daze (sp on purpose for days!) . I think in his autobiography, or somewhere he was being interviewed, he said he FELL on Blackie while extremely drunk, and broke the neck!! :yikes: :yikes: Probably it wasn't like in two separate pieces, but it was screwed and unplayable as it was. His tech of many years (Dickinson I believe) took Blackie and glued that friggin' strat's neck back into proper configuration, and fixed up the visual appearance of the wood, etc. and the next gig Blackie was... so says EC ... good as new!! :thumbsup: Clapton said that was the moment he REALLY bonded with Blackie, because it meant to him that he and Blackie were meant for each other, and that Blackie could take whatever he did to it (and he is VERY rough on ANY guitar he plays, as his tech says, he plays with a great deal of force (one reason the strings are changed every day between shows) and just LOOK at the physical condition of Blackie, especially the back of it!! It's not just "buckle rash" on the back, it's a total obliteration of most of the paint and probably a part of the wood itself has been gourged out from the looks of it! Yet - it took that lickin' and kept on tickin'! :D Amazingly great road guitar for the greatest, IMO, guitarist of his generation, but not one who treated the tools of his trade (including his brain and the rest of his body!) with "tender loving care"! :tongue:

There was an article last week I think, from the Guitar Center that bought and houses Blackie and other of Eric's prized guitars that he auctioned off at Cristie's for his Antigua center (Crossroads), that shows Eric there (for an interview he promised them) also taking time to take out and play, once again, his beloved Blackie and I think the 335 that goes back even further and he said was THE Crossroads Guitar. But he mainly seemed to want to play Blackie again - and I'll bet not another soul in the world but the guy who owns Guitar Center could probably even get to TOUCH a FINGER to Blackie, it's so precious - and after all, it did cost them a million dollars! ... but there's no way to say NO to Eric Clapton if he wants to play his dear Blackie or other guitars he made his reputation with, or even if he felt like falling on it again and breaking it (but then all the Blackie-clones made by Fender out there would have to be altered as they would no longer be the way Blackie IS now! :D ). Well, he wouldn't do that, and he said Blackie was still PERFECT - the fretboard was a little worn as he remembered it - but still completely playable, and with PERFECT action, just as it used to have.

The only thing I didn't like was that those pics, for the first time, really had him looking OLD, IMO, maybe because his hair was longer again, but he had it brushed back in a way he didn't usually have it, but whether it was that or just actual aging, he looked definitely older (to me) than the last time I saw him either on video of him with Beck, or when I saw him with Winwood in June 2009 (less than a year ago). Maybe getting up on stage somehow brings some youth back to him!

Anyway - that's great you could do that with your strat, that you knew it SO well, and I think that means it IS "YOUR" guitar, and congratulations on finding your guitar soul-mate! I hope my Goldie would be able to take THAT much of a "licking" and still be "ticking"!! :rofl: :D Thanks for that story!!

Jim
My driving philosophy about making music is that you can reduce it all down to one note if that note is played with the right kind of sincerity.
- Eric Clapton, interview 1974

James V. Signorile, ASCAP
(Court Jester)
http://jamessignorile.com
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12bar
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Re: Open Mic Blues...

Post by 12bar »

Jim wrote:There was an article last week I think, from the Guitar Center that bought and houses Blackie and other of Eric's prized guitars that he auctioned off at Cristie's for his Antigua center(...)
Yes - see viewtopic.php?f=3&t=33 :wink:
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HalfBlindLefty
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Re: Open Mic Blues...

Post by HalfBlindLefty »

Blindboy wrote:This guy watched me loosen the truss rod, then lay the guitar face down on the floor. I put one foot on the neck/body joint, and the other foot on the middle of the neck, then yanked up on the headstock several times. Then I flipped her over, put a foot on the body and one on the headstock and yanked up on the middle of the neck. The guy came over and asked me just what the h*ll I was doing. I explained it to him, then plugged in a tuner, and what do you know, It was a half step sharp, but totally in tune with itself. I retuned it and it stayed in tune for the whole night. Gotta love a good road guitar.
Priceless BB :lol: :rofl: Remind me to never let you even near my "First lady" :away:

:wink:
A long time ago, in the old forum : Registered: Mon, 27 Nov 2006. Wonder were the other old members all went....
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Jim
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Re: Open Mic Blues...

Post by Jim »

12bar wrote:
Jim wrote:There was an article last week I think, from the Guitar Center that bought and houses Blackie and other of Eric's prized guitars that he auctioned off at Cristie's for his Antigua center(...)
Yes - see viewtopic.php?f=3&t=33 :wink:
YUP! That's it! I should have known you'd have already had that on here... :wall:

I'm sure you saw the other article on WheresEric.com about that article, but with more photos of EC with Blackie and other guitars :

http://whereseric.com/eric-clapton-news ... tar-center

and

http://www.guitarcenterblog.com/?p=838

Did you notice in the Guitar Center interview, where Eric said :

"It was a fantastic experience to play Blackie one more time," he says. "Something is just magical about that guitar. Maybe it's all the tender loving care I've given it over the years.

Oh yeah - the "tender loving care" .... man, I'd HATE to see a guitar he was ROUGH on!!! :yikes: :yikes:


You know, looking at the horrible pic of him at the top of the main GC interview page, and the other pics, I think those glasses (with the thicker rims vs. no rims or wire rims) might also be part of what is making him look older, but there's also something about his face... just has a "I've gotten old" look to it that I haven't seen before. But I DON'T CARE as long as he keep playing them BLUES!!! :thumbsup:

Jim
My driving philosophy about making music is that you can reduce it all down to one note if that note is played with the right kind of sincerity.
- Eric Clapton, interview 1974

James V. Signorile, ASCAP
(Court Jester)
http://jamessignorile.com
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Blindboy
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Re: Open Mic Blues...

Post by Blindboy »

HalfBlindLefty wrote:
Blindboy wrote:This guy watched me loosen the truss rod, then lay the guitar face down on the floor. I put one foot on the neck/body joint, and the other foot on the middle of the neck, then yanked up on the headstock several times. Then I flipped her over, put a foot on the body and one on the headstock and yanked up on the middle of the neck. The guy came over and asked me just what the h*ll I was doing. I explained it to him, then plugged in a tuner, and what do you know, It was a half step sharp, but totally in tune with itself. I retuned it and it stayed in tune for the whole night. Gotta love a good road guitar.
Priceless BB :lol: :rofl: Remind me to never let you even near my "First lady" :away:

:wink:
I would never treat someone elses guitar that way, besides, I'll bet your Lady doesn't misbehave like mine. :lol:
"Throw yo' big leg over me Mama, I might not feel this good again!"
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MojoJim
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Re: Open Mic Blues...

Post by MojoJim »

That's a great story! Every time I think about it I can just see that guy watching you with his jaw on the floor. It just cracks me up.

It sure sounds like fun where you are. We love the recordings from your parties - you should see if you could record something at the bar and post it.
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Strummer07
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Re: Open Mic Blues...

Post by Strummer07 »

Jim wrote: looking at the horrible pic of him at the top of the main GC interview page, and the other pics, I think those glasses (with the thicker rims vs. no rims or wire rims) might also be part of what is making him look older, but there's also something about his face... just has a "I've gotten old" look to it that I haven't seen before. But I DON'T CARE as long as he keep playing them BLUES!!! :thumbsup:
Jim
I too thought he was getting a lot older looking when I saw him at hard Rock Calling Hyde Park in mid 2008, I don't think the hair helps .. but I am guessing that as he's receeding .. he might want to compensate for that with the longer harir .....but his dress sense has also gone 'off' ....I know we live in a more casual world .. but he's wearing old gardening clobber !!.........something a bit sharper would make him look a lot younger I reckon.

Still ..........who are we too judge ?? .he's his own man .he'll do precisely what he wants and good luck to him.hes earned that right

Regretably tho .......... he is getting old !..aren't we all !!
I'm younger than him but only by a smidge ...........3 years and 8 days to be precise .and once you hit about 55 it all kinda blurs into one anyway .I still think of myself as young .but occasionally the body just does not agree with me !!

Mind you after all the raveges of his life ( excesses of just about everything possible and imaginable !!.....dirty lucky bugger !! :lol: ) and what he's put himself through in the late 60's the 70's and 80's.....its a bloody wonder he doesn't look like Keef Richards !! :yikes:

Still, I guess as a world class musciain .its not what you look like , its what you sound like that we care about

Still luv 'im tho !! :D

20th May with SW at Wembley .1) I won't get the bloody date wrong and 2) I'll tell you what he looks like and sounds like then.

To get back to the thread .I don't think he's going to be doing any open Mike stuff .... nor on stage Guitar tech-ing
"Death is just a heartbeat away"
lyric from "Out in The Fields"
Gary Moore 1952-2011
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Blindboy
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Re: Open Mic Blues...

Post by Blindboy »

VikingBlues wrote:That IS what's called "tough love" BB. Good for you - you know your guitar and don't listen to the doom and gloom merchants who'd have you taking your guitar to a tech for pretty well everything including string changes.

Really like the sound of the music scene in your part of the world - there's not enough fun and enjoyment in music making but it sounds like you've got a nice share of what there is of it over there.
Keep playing and keep letting us all know about it. :thumbsup:
Thanks VB. You know, I have never taken a guitar to a tech. I have always done any work myself, or had my dad do it (he was a luthier, he even worked on the "Fool" guitar once).
As far as "fun and enjoyment" goes, it is the ONLY reason I make music. :thumbsup:
JimRR wrote:That's a great story! Every time I think about it I can just see that guy watching you with his jaw on the floor. It just cracks me up.

It sure sounds like fun where you are. We love the recordings from your parties - you should see if you could record something at the bar and post it.
Yeah, it was pretty funny :lol:
It is fun here, although we have lost several prominent members of the music community here in the last couple of years. We may do some recording at the bar, but we need to get a rhythm section and a set list going first. I'm glad y'all like the trainwreck sessions. It's fun to have recordings of jam parties and be able to share them with folks who appreciate it. :peace:
"Throw yo' big leg over me Mama, I might not feel this good again!"
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Re: Open Mic Blues...

Post by 12bar »

Blindboy wrote:(...) or had my dad do it (he was a luthier, he even worked on the "Fool" guitar once).
:yikes: More details, please!

So you have it in your genes...
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MojoJim
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Re: Open Mic Blues...

Post by MojoJim »

Blind Boy - I've been thinking about your story and trying to visualize what was actually going on. If I have it right you were not just trying to adjust the angle where the neck joins the body - like you do with the truss rod. You were actually reshaping the curve of the wood in the neck. Right? Now that's a bold move! :yikes:

I've been afraid to do anything to my Strat and my Martin. I even spend a day or two getting ready when I want to put on new strings. I'm still intimidated by actually having these beauties. :baby:

But it's time to start down that learning path. I've been reading about intonation so maybe I'll try to check that on my own as a first thing to do. :think:

I'm with 12bar - "More details please". Wasn't your father a famous musician?

You're a brave man. :pray:
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Blindboy
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Re: Open Mic Blues...

Post by Blindboy »

JimRR wrote:Blind Boy - I've been thinking about your story and trying to visualize what was actually going on. If I have it right you were not just trying to adjust the angle where the neck joins the body - like you do with the truss rod. You were actually reshaping the curve of the wood in the neck. Right? Now that's a bold move! :yikes:
Actually, the truss rod adjusts the curvature of the neck itself, not the angle where it joins the body. On a Strat, you can adjust the angle of the neck by removing the neck and carefully shimming the pocket, then reattaching the neck. It is important to make sure that there are no gaps or voids between the neck, the shim, and the body. On a set neck guitar, like a Gibson, it is a much bigger deal. :yikes:
The truss rod is for adjusting back bow (the neck bows backward, making the strings too close in the middle of the neck) or frontbow (the neck bows forward, making the action too high in the middle of the neck). My problem was frontbow. Adjusting the truss rod wasn't working, so I helped it along. Keep in mind, I have had this guitar for more than 20 years and am real familiar with her.

Dad was (still is) a musician. I don't know how famous he was, but he was world class. Mostly, the people who had heard of him were other musicians. He did a lot of session work back when session men rarely got recognition.
As for the "Fool"; he was working at a guitar store in Hollywood when the Cream came through. The story goes that EC dropped his guitar at the hotel and damaged something. The store was already lining up equipment for the band, so a roadie brought it down for repairs. I think that was the first time Dad had seen that paint job and he was pretty impressed.
"Throw yo' big leg over me Mama, I might not feel this good again!"
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12bar
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Re: Open Mic Blues...

Post by 12bar »

Thanks!!!
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