Tim Smith

13 hours ago, Starship Krupa said:

A lot of good advice here. I'll add my .02.

A big mistake I made when I was learning full barre chords was that I thought I had to treat my index finger like a capo, holding down all 6 strings. Obviously, once you think about it, you don't need to fret behind the strings that are already fretted by your other fingers. So for instance, with an E shape barre, you only really need to use your index on the low E and the high B and E. This lets you curve your index finger, which is much stronger than when it's flat. Using a bit of @Byron Dickens pulling back with your arm muscles becomes more effective, too. I'm now at the point where I can play without planting my thumb. Of course I do use my thumb, but my hand doesn't cramp up from having to use my finger muscles and wrist tendons to clamp so hard.

The other thing is, yes, take it to a pro and have it set up properly for your playing style. A good luthier will watch you play for a couple of minutes in order to see how hard you pick and strum. People who play harder need higher action, people with a light touch on the right hand can drop it lower. I'm not a basher, so my guitars are all light action.

I've found that nut height is often overlooked in favor of bridge height. A good test is to capo at the 1st fret. If the guitar becomes much easier to play, especially campfire chords, then your nut is higher than it needs to be. Make sure your setup person pays attention to this.

Last, the book that helped me the most in understanding guitar setup and repair was Dan Erlewine's. I recommend it for any guitarist, even those who don't want to do their own setups. Just understanding what's going on is valuable for communicating with your guitar tech. And there are some things, like setting intonation on an electric when you change string gauges, that IMO, every guitarist should know how to do anyway.

As mentioned by others in this topic, if a guitar sounds good it IS good, no matter how or where it was built and how much it cost. Case in point: an anonymous neighbor of mine dropped off a CHEAP old Asian-made classical on my porch, complete with musty-smelling gig bag. It's so cheap that the headstock decal is a foil sticker. The frets were actually pointy on top and serrated. The bridge is held on with a pair of wood screws whose pointy tips I can feel underneath. The kind of sub-beginner instrument that used to put people off from learning guitar.

But it actually sounded okay, so I leveled and polished the frets, put on a set of really nice tuners that a friend had laying around, took the bridge down, and it's an amazing guitar. Stays in tune, doesn't have the cardboard box tone you'd expect, records really well, being a gut string, it's easier to play than my steel strings.

And rescue guitars are like rescue doggies: they return the love and are eager to please. If you think I'm kidding about that, I am not at all. I grew up reading Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang and watching The Love Bug, and have experienced it enough times to know that it's for real.

My favorite electric is a Squier Affinity Telecaster (absolute bottom of the line) that when I bought it for $15, was literally in pieces. Some dip5hit had obviously tried to smash it on stage, but y'know, if you try to smash a Tele on stage, what you end up with is a stage with holes in it. The neck and bridge and control plate had all been taken off the body and the bridge pickup was dead. Tuners were missing. Multiple chunks of the thick poly finish missing from the edges.

I put it back together,  put some Schallers on it that I had laying around, a Mighty-Mite AlNiCo in the bridge, laid some Krazy Glue in the edge dings to smooth them out, and good lord. I'm not lying, I have at least four friends (I've lost track of the actual number, to tell the truth) who have told me "if you ever want to get rid of that guitar, tell me immediately." And they are all guys who are into really nice US-made vintage guitars. When people pick it up and play it, they get this look in their eyes....

What do you have to do in order to get someone to lay free guitars on your porch?   Really I guess a Squire is a decent body with usually cheaper made hardware on it. Which means it won't tend to stay in tune as well. Not sure what a set of tuners go for?  Electrics seem to maintain a decent setup better than acoustics. You seem to know your way around guitar maintenance and the ideal guy for that guitar. That neighbor was wise to drop it there.

I'm to the point where I have my old Martin X as the tune tester in my studio and my other guitars are mostly in cases. If I get something , the plan is to pull out one of the better ones for tracking, but that Martin has seen a fair share of recordings. People try to EQ the bass off a guitar. With that Martin it mostly isn't needed. I have this old Laguna HSS people here probably remember me bragging about it when I bought it, and to me then it was wonderful. Even today aside from the cheap tuners it rocks going through the right setup. I see them going for a little of nothing online. You playing that guitar probably had a lot to do with how good it sounded.

4 hours ago, Pragi said:

Very nice guitar sound and singing .

That sounds very good, man....

Thanks!  No rocket science involved there

You know the title of the thread almost invites negativity to me. I would say I'm probably uninformed about most modern music.

In a nutshell I see a lot of it like pop sauce. The sauce has that heavy programmed beat and some scantily dressed diva whose voice has gone through lots of correction and what she sings about is relevant to almost anyone on a very basic level, or it's about s-x .  Is that what's really selling? I dunno. Maybe sometimes.

Yep I have seen chemo first hand. Past it now, never want to repeat it. Thoughts and prayers for your friend. 

Why did it leave the middle open?

22 hours ago, kitekrazy said:

There was a similar discussion on another forum about not making music because of forums, having to update software, looking for new products.

These Cakewalk forums are like a woman's knitting circle.   

Since I am at my job until April 12th and it's a bland and very boring job, this is about the only thing I can do. I mean I will still probably drop by later but the dynamic will be different.  I will no longer feel compelled to sit in a small office for the whole day looking out the window at a nice day. I stop my several other forums and am mod on one. It's still like being a goalie waiting for a ball with a team of 80 year olds. But we tend to rush life along. I guess I still haven't learned that lesson.

Even though I know I'm as different as night and day from a lot here, I liked coming here, and if we all stayed in safe little circles we would never branch out. This forum has staying power. Not sure why? Maybe because the same people keep coming back. I don't think the product itself is anything enough in and of itself to keep anyone here, but I'm just an opinion.  I was "starise" here with many thousands of posts and when they transferred something went wrong and I lost that and just decided to use my name.

I do like looking at new products and getting updates to old ones. In fact, they were not initially going to allow a deals area. I'm glad they allowed it and cclarry has done a great job among others there. 

22 hours ago, ptheisen said:

I will admit that it feels like there is significantly more drama on this forum than on the forum of the other DAW I use.

I like safe riff raff, drama, well not so much. Trollery? I guess we have Wookie for that.  TBH I haven't found any fun forums with any of the other DAW software I have that are anything more than half empty doctor's offices. Boooooooring.

22 hours ago, craigb said:

No, no...  Having creativity and not being able to use it is a lot like trying to make love to someone else's wife when you have company in the house! 😂

.

I'll have to take your word for that one. I had a guy going after my first wife and I could have ended up in prison for killing him. He wouldn't come out to confront me.

Pretty sleek plan, get thousands of people using the free version and then add a paid version with more bennys.  

I like stand alone so far as I would not want to be connecting to a server every time I use the software. Might be tempting to try again based on what they offer.

I'm on the outside looking in right now with not a lot of motive to do otherwise.

I admire the british for their creativity. I'm guessing pwal is from across the pond.

They also had some great comedians. 

Backing tracks?

Sorry to hear about your bud/drummer. 

I was beginning to get the British vibe. What happened?

On 3/20/2024 at 1:19 AM, kitekrazy said:

Does Music Theory REALLY Kill Creativity?  No but forums do.

I know but I'm kinda stuck here for now. Not a bad place to hang out, well sort of

Having creativity and not being able to use it is a lot like trying to make love to your wife when you have company in the house.

Not that I have any, but I can't even try right now.

26 minutes ago, pwal³ said:

i stopped listening to mainstream music years ago, because you get to hear it in the shops and malls without permission anyway, that's how they sell it grrrr

Over here we get canned music in malls and restraunts. I was in the grocery store the other day and  I'm not sure what it was, but it was bugging the heck out of me.  For one thing they had it turned up far too loud. At that point is wasn't background music.

In places like Target , I would almost swear they did some kind of a study into playing musc that makes people want to shop .  Like move along, buy the stuff. Fast shoppers probably spend more money than slow shoppers.

13 minutes ago, pwal³ said:

so is not "following the rules" actually "cheating"?

Prolly not because I don't think those rules can be broken. i.e. jazz. You would just be combining rules in unorthodox ways.

I have been scolded by people who play piano for hitting the keys too hard, and unlike a keyboard where most only use a sustain pedal, the piano has three pedals. A teacher would say this is the "right way" some play the right way automatically while others don't.  Probably same with guitar. A person can know all of the "theory" and be a terrible guitar player, while others disregard all the rules i.e. Hendrix and blow the art form out of the water.

That's getting away from the theory though and leaning more into the ways we are supposed to play an instrument.  There could possiblty be limitations in playing an instrument the way they tell us to. In the case of guitar, many have been hacks and out played the pros. With violin, you pretty much have to play it the way they tell you  or you will limit yourself later on and only be a "top of the neck" player.  That's the difference between classical and folk. 

18 hours ago, Byron Dickens said:

Music theory is not rules!

Maybe not. That was sort of how I always seen it.  One can either do something and explain later it or explain something they  do or don't do.Or just do it with no need to explain it.

Like " I did this, now what is it?" . A music major would dissect it into what they think it is according to the rules. But while music is an explanation of tone associations and groups, it's the scientific way of looking at it. At the very least, we tune before we play and make sure we are all in the same key often not caring about the system behind it.

Many musicians will not play a notated piece exactly as written, so some creativity can be there in the interpretation of it, but if playing covers that needs to be pretty spot on.

I remember when I was dating this girl who was long distance and at the time we still had the old telephones. So I was hooked on the song Telephone Line by ELO. Every time I heard it I thought of her and how I wanted to be with her again, which incidentally was probably the main motive for them to write it, for all of those lonely ones out there. 

Teen love is magical. Probably a lot of hormones too. 

I  stopped listening to the top ten. Probably should give a listen now and then just to see if anything interesting is happening.  I  tend to associate some music with events or people.

I once layed under one of those. Thank goodness I was asleep.

7 hours ago, Matt Rayner said:

Tim, do that C and F with your thumb and occasionally hammer on and off (hammer off?!) your 2nd finger on both chords. How many songs do you recognise ? 😵‍💫

Good point.

I should add , thanks cclarry for putting this up just the same. It is a great set of synths and keyboards no doubt. Maybe they will eventually reduce the upgrade price.

Same here.

Never been to Britain, so this was the nostalgia I've never seen there. Man everyone there looked like the beatles. 

As anywhere else I imagine things have changed...obviously.

OK I will do that but I'm not sure which list? 

Interesting. Never ventured into guitar pedal land. That's a nice sounding grunge pedal.

Instead I chose to buy a handful of those combo units, the POD HD500, the Zoom combo and the one I use most TC Electronic. Guitar Rig is great too but who wants to drag a computer out? What I have found with these combination effects pedals is they have maybe one or two tones I really like and I hate the rest.

 I have envied the simplicity of just having a pedal with knobs to do what you want it to do. No menus, no fuss, and you get to select the ones you like. 

I don't know why they call it music theory. It really isn't a theory it's a scientifically proven set of music rules.

My first training was musical scales and all of that interconnectedness that happens musically between notes and scales. There is something to be said for sight reading, knowing keys etc. 

At one end of the spectrum there are those who are really just human music computers incapable of making music unless it's on a page in front of them. They can't make music without the page. At the other end are those who don't prefer the written page. 

I have had the priviledge to have been in many different circles. One of my best friends played as a Nashsville studio musician and tours. He had guitar theory. I'm not sure how much of it he uses, but man can he play. He is seldom looking at anything unless he is just glancing at the the key if it's a tune he isn't familiar with. 

Another friend of mine is a classically trained pianist and is training in Baltimore to professionally conduct orchestras. I played under him a few times and with the other guy. Both very nice people. One is far more layed back, he's like here let's play this. The other guy is like a human metronome. If he hears anything off by 1/2 beat he knows it. Not that the other guy doesn't too. I play better under the layed back personality and feel more tense under the human metronome. 

Having been in both orchestras and bands I can say hands down I prefer the band any day. Both use the same rules, so I'm not sure why one is just more fun and less rigid to me personally. 

Bands playing covers is probably no different than orchestras playing the classics in terms of creativity I don't see how it's there if all one does is play another's material. 

Playing one's own material is creative. A little theory never hurts, like if you sing which keys do you sing best in? I have a low range and a high range and in some songs I am changing up ranges in one song. That's generally the only reason I might use a different key. Or if a key is easier to play I might change it.

I never learned to read bass clef and when I have sang in chiors I mostly had a tenor part. The way I picked it up was singing next to a person who was a good sight reader and a tenor, but that sort of short circuits the brain after awhile because your brain wants to see the notes in treble clef.  I'm still not "good" at that but I can squeak by. Simply learning how my part was supposed to sound helped.

When I played bass guitar we generally didn't use notation. We used chord charts, so I would just play around the low notes. I consider myself a hack on bass, but I have played it quite a lot. It's just a guitar that's lower and missing strings . It uses a different technique though. Never used a pick.

Same with piano. I would just play the tune based on the chord structures. The violin is in E and that translates well to mandolin. Heck if I could play it on violin mandolin should be a breeze. Never owned one.

One area I have some interest in is baritone electric guitars. Just curious how different it would be to play one. Not even sure what the ranges are for one. 

We have lots of things now that can spoil us like Ableton's introduction of scales and tunings. Cubase already had something similar.

On 3/15/2024 at 8:01 PM, Shane_B. said:

They aren't really known for their fullness for lack of a better term. They are known for being bright.

That said, one of the best sounding Martin's I ever heard is their Made in Mexico 000. The MIM ones have the HPL sides and backs and it really adds a fullness I didn't hear in the US all wood ones.

I had the opportunity to play 7 or 8 lefty Martin's at a guitar shop in Des Moines one time. The best sounding one ended up being MIM 000 to my ears because it had a fuller sound than the others. IMO.

I'm not sure where the X models are made? Is that Mexico? As a guitar to just sit around noodling on it, I love it. THe Martin factory is not a terrible traveling distance from me. We were there once to take the tour, but the factory was closed at the time so no go. The Taylor definitely has more projection for sure.

I remember reading about the science of tuning a hand made violin. There's a lot involved in carving that back to resonate properly and you can tell the difference playing a hand made one and a factory made one.

Must be very similar for guitar. I noticed the Taylor has an intentional bulge on the back. None of my other guitars have that and it does make a difference in the sound.

41 minutes ago, Matt Rayner said:

Bloody that's great! And what a super guitar sound you have.
Congrats mate.

Edit: What's that AKG mic? Can't find it on Google.

Thanks @Matt Rayner

Sorry, my mistake It's an Audio Technica 4043a. That mic is my general workhorse mic. 

The KSM 44 I would describe as less crisp which makes it work well for vocals.

The strings I used in that recording were pretty beat up and oxidized, so I ended up putting a  52,42,32,15,11

set on.  I can't tell that I lost any tone.

Not sure if I'll ever play great barr chords. I was playing the F holding the low string down with my thumb which works pretty well. I'll keep trying. The smaller guage helps with all fingerings. Not in a  big way, enough to notice.

On 3/16/2024 at 1:34 AM, Matt Rayner said:

Tim, I've had Gibs.., umm, guitars in my hands costing thousands that were practically impossible to play and completely impossible to tune due to the nut being  higher than my doorstep.  True!

Setting up a guitar ain't too hard. It's a balancing act between your truss rod, the nut then the bridge. It's pretty simple to do once you've had it explained.  Having said that,  the bridge is easy on an electric (up or down), but not so much on an acoustic (down and...aargh! Too far down!) - so take it to someone who can do it. And, at the same time, ask them to fit a proper bone nut and bridge. You can get blanks of AliExpress for peanuts. It's also worth asking them to check if your frets are level. One or two invariably need a tap if they're a bit high.

Thanks Matt,

I have tweaked the truss rod on a few of my guitars. A friend of mine  showed me how to sight down the neck. My birthday was Saturday, and my wife was in a "get whatever you want" mood, so we ended up at guitar center and it's a big one compared to the one closer to me. It's the mega guitar center for the area.

I really wasn't planning to buy anything but a mic stand. But I always go to the guitars both electric and acoustic to check them out.

It was mostly run of the mill chinese guitars, but I did see a mitchel made of mahogany I liked, still low end but had a decent tone and setup. I was playing it but there was some kid in there playing too, and you know how it is for anyone who has ever been to a GC.  Then we seen another little glass room no one was in, so I went in there to play the Mitchell. I picked up a Martin X mahogany off the wall in that room and that guitar just sounded dead to me compared to the Mitchell which was significantly less expensive. My standard Martin X has better tone. Then I seen it, a used Taylor. Even used it was a 1500 dollar guitar and I told myself I'm just going to try it. Well nothing else even came close. Never heard body harmonics like that before, like music after the music! Compared to the Mitchell it had a more round tone. I would decribe the Mitchel as harsh in the highs.While the Alvarez sounded pretty good. Nothing like this guitar. 

I should mention setup was also excellent. Cons- no built in tuner. Output is ok direct. Weaker on my wireless. Ended up buying it and even made a recording with yesterday  using an AKG 4043a single guitar mic and my shure KSM 44a for vocals. I took an additional output from the guitar. Here are the results.