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"The Birthday Concert"....now we're talkin' T-Bone! I've heard the rendition of Happy Birthday from it, pretty cool tune. I've only heard good things about Kramer, basses, in general that the necks are very true and the sound has a lot of range throughout the models. Aaaah. That's a musician talkin, there, sir. Damm glad to meEt ya! :) This thread's all good. Speaking of bass players, Tommy Shannon, Double Trouble. Not too shabby.

Chatty, it would have been interesting to see SRV develop his music over the years. He has some very admirable qualities - he was always "on", I've read there aren't very many recordings of his playing that're clunkers. He had his sound, he was a master of it, no question about that. It would have been great to hear more!

T-Bone, you could go a couple different ways with your strings - flat wound "ribbon" strings or roundwound. Rotosound makes a well known line of the round wound. Fender makes a well know line of the flat/ribbon. Right now my son has a fretless Fender Jazz with Fender flats on it and it has a really nice warm, smooth sound. The Jazz has light tan lines where the frets would be - as you say, much easier to be in key. It has a sound like you're describing I think but will get some funky thump going too. I've grown to like them although I do have to really concentrate or I slip and slide. The round wounds on a fretless will add a brighter and louder tone, as I'm sure you know. Musicians Friend sells quite a few - buy the short, medium or long scale, "based" on your need. :) Jaco Pastorius used the Rotosounds on his fretless Jazz bass, and got a very smooth sweet tone and a very funky bright tone out of them. I've read that Joe Zawinal of Weather Report thought JP played double bass when he first heard a tape of him, prior to JP joining Weather Report. Apparently he was surprised when he showed up with an electric bass but dug that Jaco sound.

That's going to be Stevie Ray Vaughn, Chatty, known for that year Strat. Hendrix played a right-handed Strat, left handed, etc. but never tuned a 1/2 step lower till later in his career or used heavy gauge strings, regularly . (SRV went up to .013's I've read). That's "heavy".

EBay sounds like the place, act2! Hope you do well. Chatty - tunings - I've only worked with a few, open "G", open "E" and "C". If I can ever get more guitars, I'd like to keep one in each of those tunings.

Be Cool - the Movie So Oaks, this is the followup movie to Get Shorty...? John Travolta? Worth seeing? I liked Get Shorty, but didn't see this one when it was out. I'm probably more like Mr. Lingo, regardless of the style, I can get something out of it, although I don't listen excessively to "C & W". Buck Owens died awhile back, and the Buckster isn't really my cup of tea. But I do like some of his music and I like the general tone of his chunky twangin' Telecasters. But it's not in heavy rotation at my house, y'know. Still, I have to respect a man who would name his band "The Buckaroos". That right there, props, y'know? I like Keith Urban, but don't really consider him "country", although that's what everyone calls it. I guess it is. Is "Sweet Home Alabama" country music now? Dunno. Maybe this thread should be in the "Doctrinal" forum.

It is relaxing, isn't it? It's a very soothing, almost caressing sound I think. It's got the feel of waves, coming and going. And the references to Santo and Johnny's "Sleep Walk" are easy on the ears. Ed Gerhard has a very woody, authentic sound. Niiiiiice... On Gerhard's site he mentions a "high string" guitar - a very nice sound if you've never tried it. It's also called "Nashville" tuning, or a "High 3rd" in some cases where just the 3rd string is an .011 or so, and tuned an octave higher. The overall sound of the high string tuning is harp like and will add a whole nother sound to a rhythm track. Kind of like having the high end of a 12 string playing. Sweet.

Chatty, that Crossroads was a memory buster! Thanks... :)

Yeah, Cowgirl, that Fender - could be good! What's the model, any idea? It should say it on the headstock. Some nice sounds, dobros and acoustics. Ed Gerhard sounds great! Some nice late night, kickin' music, for your baby, anytime. Greg Liesz, lap and pedal steel player. His tone is one I'm working on, using a straight picking style it's got a lot of bends. It's got a long intro that sets the song nicely. Santos Dream A 128kbs mp3 - it sounds really good full wav, if anyone wants but it's a big honker.

Tom, a quickie take on Townsend, who deserves a book in his own right - Yes, he's a very accomplished rock guitarist, known for his creative rhythm technique. It would be impossible to imagine the Who with any other sound. Denver - he had a very simple style, fingerpicking/folk style. Definitely good for his style of music. His songs are so well known that the music goes along and doesn't get noticed a lot but it's a perfect match to what he's writing and singing about. Crossroads - yeah! Would love to camp out for that! Thanks for the offer Tom. You may have a row of cars outside your place someday. *testing testing* Houston to Ala - Keb Mo' status, please? Pul-eaze? :)

The Dragonfly is a pretty guitar, thanks Chas! Plays very much like a Strat, but is a little livelier, in the body. The Tele's right out of the box, production line. It's a different design for Fender, has a slim contoured body making it a very comfortable hold, and a set neck. The pickups are Dimarzio's. There's a single/double coil tap on the tone control to switch between sounds. It doesn't have a stock Tele sound, although the stock Tele sound is more or less in it I've found if the tone knob is rolled off just a tad. But it pushed really nice, and the neck is very nice for my hands. I really like it, in fact just changed out .010 rounds on it, which it really liked and put on a new set of .09 rounds.

Yow! Beck and Carlos! That would be firey. Beck and Santana would be sort of bookends I bet - Carlos is very expressive from what I've seen, whereas Beck is more contained and focused, like the music is flowing down to the fingers and out. I"d love to hear any of "Truth" today, must have been great! Nice seats for that Buddy Guy concert. He's something, very much a Banner Bearer for the Blues.

Invisible Dan-if you do decide you're up for making pickguards, I've got a couple in mind too. Would be interested.

Good question Tom. Two views of the band's history are contained HERE AND HERE. The one focuses some attention on Page's history and influences, but covers how each of the three- Claption, Beck and Page - came through the band. The second has an overall history. At that time the music scene in England was pretty active, to say the least, with pop bands all over the place. These guys were less pop, and so filled a spot for "musicianship", on blues guitar styles. I"ve got my preferences of course, and they're debatable. Beck would have been, to my mind, the most accomplished at that time. Clapton was certainly growing quickly, but if you've ever heard the version of "Stepping Out" he did with Clapton and the Powerhouse (with Steve Winwood singing and playing organ in that band, also doing an early version of Crossroads that's completely different than the later Cream version, much funkier) you'll get a feel for his development at that time. Page was never a favorite of mine, just a few things here and there. While an instrumentalist enjoys the opportunity to improvise freely, it's also a breeding ground for snooze-fests. I think that's why some ensembles shine briefly but without challenges and change they'll tend to stagnate. These guys moved around a lot and in the process were challenged as they went. Clapton with John Mayall, definitely. Beck managed to keep his groove going in his own band, with Rod Steward fronting, and primarily doing structured songs with great solo's. Page went big-time with Zeppelin. So while the Yardbirds were more pop-oriented, they offered some interesting opportunities for these guys to step up, make some dough and get seen by more people. It was definitely a good gig for them, It sounds like while it wasn't fully satisfying it had it's rewards. And as a result The YB's made it's own mark.

I don't have Beckology Chas, but it sounds like the one to have. People Get Ready is a great tune, I agree. Guitarists??? Sight READ???? Oh my. You're going down the road now Chas. It's a fact that many of the most accomplished guitarists in all genre's haven't read music or built their repertoire from the written note. Yet, the instrument lends itself to personal experimentation and learning. So waddya gonna do? Your husband's got the Stuff. What else is there? :) I probably liked "Truth" the best of all the Beck albums, and it was the first. His playing just keeps getting better it seems, but I did like the combination of Stewart and Beck. I saw them too at the Fillmore, shortly after that first album and Rod Stewart was just getting out of that phase where he says he'd get off behind the amps when he was singing - he was out front for most of the vocals but he'd kind of drift off too sometimes. It was a good combination - Ron Woods was solid on bass, and Beck was off to the right, facing at an angle to Stewart, just ripping. He had a gold ring on his left hand he used for little slide parts, just slipping down a note here and there for effect. Very nice sound, Les Paul through a bunch of Marshalls. BLASTing. T-Bone, yeah, that feel Clapton's got is immense. He really put down a mark with his vibrato, that way he moves the note. That articulation usually has a lot to do with identifying a player's sound. Some guitarists have a nervous fast sort of tweaky vibrato. Claption's is a signature sound, one of those that is now learned as part of the bag of styles every guitarist has to be able to play in the popular realms. It's also a good launching pad too for your own sound, a place to start. And Harrison. George. The "Quiet" Beatle. Sort of the world's brother. It would be hard to leave him out, as he definitely had a range of styles he played, including blues. He never really settled on that style it seemed, and seemed to be one of the Great accompaniests. He served the music and the spirit of his band. I don't think a musical effort could ask for more than that. He always had lots of great little riffs and hearing the story told now he didn't write them all, but he played them, adding his own style to it. And he definitely sold a few Gretsch's for them over the years, I'm sure just by playing them.

Dang Paw. You beat me to it. I was gonna say .... Old Spice. And of course, Cool eyewear.

T-Bone, thinking about the British guitarists and the popularity of blues - Clapton, of course. Jeff Beck Jimmy Page Peter Green Keith Richards Alvin Lee Must be more, lots more. The guy in the Animals, Hilton Valentine, played some nice stuff on their first couple albums I remember. Think he played a Fender, a Strat. Very straightforward, solid stuff. "British Blues" was definitely different coming out of that generation of players. Chuck Berry was an influence of course. Jimmy Reed. Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, and the Kings - B.B., Albert and Freddie. Stylistically I think Peter Green kicked tail playing. Saw him in a very early version of Fleetwood Mac at the Fillmore in San Francisco. He and the other guitarist were s#$t faced for their first set, and did some pretty xxx-rated lyrics. I don't remember all the details of the night but he played great, had a Gibson, a 335 I think it was. One of the things Clapton added to the technique of the standard blues lines was the way he used the "blue note", the flatted 3rd. Where the American style of the Kings and others was to stretch it up or down around the major 3rd and typically end a phrase on the root or the 5th, Clapton's style grabbed it and pulled it right up to the major 3rd and added a wider smooth vibrato to it, and used it to end or connect phrases. It was noticable, more like Albert King than B.B. but not the same way Albert K. stretched it up. So many of the earlier attempts at Berry's double-stop style were pretty - interesting though. Where Berry had that tone up and funky and full, a lot of the British guitarists had a thinner tone and it often sounded weired, to me. Like on the Kinks "You Really Got Me", that solo has a good tone but it's hard to figure out what he was trying to do with it. :) I think the energy spoke loudly though, even still. And Jeff Beck, probably my favorite of them all for some of the stuff he did. He's still kickin' it. Onery. He played in Oakland at a theater there a few years ago and the reviewer I read raved about it. Would love to see him again now. The review said there was no microphone onstage and Beck said nothing when he came out, or all night and beyond a wave now and then and at the end, he just played. And pretty well, from what the review said. :)

I hear ya Chas. Doesn't seem that long ago though in some ways. Hope to see what you come up with Dan! I've seen metal pickguards, which isn't even that exotic anymore. I suppose anything that was flat enough and cut to fit could be a pickguard. In'ersting project you've got going there.

Ala, I figured. Welcome ye! T-Bone, that's true. I gotta head out for the day but giving that some thought. Very true! Dan, I'll hunt around, not sure who might have that but it seems like there'd be a source somewhere.

Dinner calls. I'll be back.

Sniff sniff - I smell a purchase coming! Tell us more, Mr. T. :) Oh yeah. Badge has the Mystical Magic in it. Great tune.

I hear ya Chatty. EC's really got the "heart" that comes through in his playing. He does blues the best, and when it informs and sets the foundation for other stuff, he can really take off. He needs a song, a place to put down and play. Like on that tune, One Track Mind. It's in a great guitar key, which figures. At the end he comes in on the verse, which is a C# minor turnaround, lots of space for soloing and you figure he's going to hit that spot somewhere in the song. But the turnaround to the hook - A, A minor, E, F#7, A, A/B is SO sweet. The dobro/slide takes it through the vocal parts, but that section holds a lot of gold in it and I'd have liked to hear what he could do with it. It's got that feel where it could go on and on, sort of a major/minor "Badge" thing almost. That's what's tough for a lot of musicians, the struggle to find a "home" for their playing. One of the best gigs, I think, for an instrumentalist is accompanying a singer/songwriter, like a Norah Jones, or James Taylor. Jackson Browne, Gregg Allman, Sheryl Crow, Tom Petty, Shawn Colvin. They have great bands, and typically very unique guitarists who craft their playing to the songs and styles they play on. I'm just ramblin'. Ramblin' on my mind. :)

Yah, Chatty, I checked it out - Back Home is a mild pop collection. I like that tune, as it's kinda funky, uses his voice to good effect and gets some licks in at the end. But he's prone to doing these kinds of releases, and I has to confess while they're not great, they allow him a reasonably dignified career at his age. I admire the ability to maintain a career as he has, while keeping the integrity of his earlier playing intact. It's hard not to like Clapton. "Have You Heard" with the bluesbreakers, "White Room" with Cream show his range and emotional ties to his music. But then he's got quite a few snoozers too. For years he was kind of like the Ringo Starr of guitar - you knew he could play, but he was kind of idling. Then he'd share the stage, and always graciously it seemed, yet be one round away from a serious burning. (example, the Crossroads performance with Carlos Santana, not the most creative musician but one who's very serious on the get-down when he plays. EC had to crank it up a notch, nice to see) Still, anyone who's got the nick "God" has something to deal with. Expectations have always been high. Seeing the televised concert of the Cream reunion was a moderate disappointment. Nice to see them playing, doing the tunes. But his earlier tone and fire is pretty much patented now and achievable with very little effort. So what's a diety to do? :) He does a good job of being himself it seems. He's always seemed to emit an air of meloncholia, not uncommon amongst musicians. On one extreme you could almost see him fading out and away, deep into himself. He's certainly not the "greatest" guitarist in the world, and he knows that. But he's made a significant mark. So he probably has to balance the desire of everyone to get one last great guitar-god performance out of him with just doing what he enjoys, playing the guitar. I would hazard a guess that he's surrounded himself with people that keep him engaged, moving, playing and recording, getting stuff done. Some of that comes out in releases like this I think. My 10 cents.

I get it Chas - Hawgs! Fat finger moments I have known, oh the moments!

Yes, it seems short, I'll try it again. That sound is very bright, responsive. Nice. The personality of an instrument is always unique, "who" it is. The tuning that goes into a handmade instrument is such a big part of it. I've found assembly line guitars have them too, based on the template design. But because wood has so many variables, even when controlled, there's always an individual "soul" in each one. :) Quietly waiting. On the other hand, it's a hunk of glued wood and a little metal and stuff here and there. But anything built with intelligence and purpose is going to have it's day, so to speak. It may be as planned, or a complete surprise. Like electric guitars, and Telecasters. I think I like them because they were designed to be simple, straight forward and consistent in their tone and playability. Yet, they're contrary lovers. :) not to be courted lightly or to reveal their secrets to the casual acquaintance. If you want the sound you've got to do the work. But, in the words of those great philosophers "Ratt", "Loving you's a dirty job, baby, and I'm the man to do it". But Tele's at their heart are the Girl just like the Girl that married dear old Dad. They're pretty much a complete package. Affordable, but only for awhile. If you get the Right One and walk the aisle with her, no amount of money will ever buy her away. And of course, there's others....SO many more.