Hi my favorite GSCafe people! I am fine and winter is still dumping snow on us. But in that it is March 24th, Spring just MUST be around the corner, and that's a happy thing. Well now, I was looking at git-tars today at Juneau's only music store, and I noticed a plethora (a whole bunch?) of Ibanez acoustic git-tars. In fact, the store seemed to really care a whole lot for Ibanez. And so, I played a nice one with a cut away neck that also had a plug in and pick up deal on it. The action was nice, and the guys want $525.00 for it, and with a 10% discount, I could get it for $475.00 And so, Socks, and the rest of youz, what's you take on Ibanez git-tars?
And, by the way, tonight, I have the privilege to play with some bluegrass musicians at a wedding reception at a local bar. The "Sandbar" as a matter of fact. One guy, Mike, has a really old "small box" Martin which is nearly as beat as Willy Nelson's nylon string acoustic. There is no hole in it, but man oh man does it have a nice sound! We practiced today in this guys garage, and they were really happy that I could figure out the tunes that I'd never heard before and play the break just fine. I was playing harmonica by the way, and to me, bluegrass and country is kind of simple to play and they were all excited. And so, we will be playing to an eventually drunken crowd, and so I figure that they will be very easy to please. But any way, wish me luck! And, you Git-tar officionados, tell me about Ibanez. Love you folks....
One guy, Mike, has a really old "small box" Martin which is nearly as beat as Willy Nelson's nylon string acoustic. There is no hole in it, but man oh man does it have a nice sound
Oooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My first Martin, was a 00-18.
Small body, but GREAT SOUND.
If I recollect correct -- it was made in (get ready for this) ----->>>
1918.
I (in my ignorance), got rid of it because it wasn't a *bluegrass guitar*.
Good to see you again and your gig sounds quite fun. Although I have no experience or suggestions on guitars, but the folks here certainly do.
As to not wanting to hang in the Way forum and read.....I don't frequent there either but I know there are plenty of folks that do and the archives and articles are abundant if nothing more was ever even said about the Way again on that forum. People that want to know the evil behind the scenes have more than enough to open their eyes. The day Paw thinks we can't participate in the other forums if we don't also bash the Way is the day I reckon he'll close us down but until then I have no guilt whatsoever that I don't read and join that forum and if you want to return to play away from that forum I see no laws in place around here that wouldn't allow it.
I have never owned an Ibanez but I have heard people say the same thing PB and others have said here("Lots of bang for the buck"). It makes good business sense,too, that if a store is going to bias their stock with a particular brand, they must be confident in its' quality. Lastly, a good quality instrument at $475 seems like a hard deal to pass up. Of course, with the kind of money you have lying around, maybe one of those Martins is more appropriate. Just funnin' wit ya!
On the harmonica stuff: I have never played bluegrass. Do you mainly use 1st position(same harp as key of song) or 2nd position(harp is a 4th away from key of song)? I'm also interested in what brands you favor(Oscar, Hohner, Suzuki,etc.) and your take on equipment, especially microphones. Sure am a nosy son of a gun, aren't I? Like Sonny Boy II said,"Don't start me to talkin', I'll tell everything I know."(Which ain't all that much, to be honest )
Ibanez is mass-produced at that price level. I would ask the store to take several out of the boxes, tune them up, and play each side by side. It's not fair to spring a request like that on a store, so make an appointment and let him know you intend to buy something.
You could also get the model # and check Harmony Central, among other places, and look for reviews and feedback from other owners. You will often find valuable comparisons with other brands and models that steer you to something better, sometimes cheaper, that you hadn't considered before.
I wish I'd known more about the Japanese knock-offs of American guitars - the so-called "lawsuit" guitars - back in the good old days. The internet is great for that stuff, if you take the time to search.
My 1978 Ibanez bass is a Japanese model and it's a knock off of a Fender P-Bass. The wiring was stripped out to make it passive and I'm determined I'm going to restore it to active again (that and a million other projects in life, right?) Anyhow, I found a great forum for Ibanez - I haunt this one also:
They're very informative and helpful on this board - you almost never see a flaming and not much snobbery (check out a classical guitar site sometime if you wanna experience that - holy cow!)
Howdy J Lingo! Welcome. The Ibanez advice posted 'sall good. Ibanez makes some good guitars in lots of price ranges. Browsing around I found this one that's about that price - an AEL50SERLV
Is it similar to this one?
The way you've described it sounds like it's a soild guitar. As Satori described you have to try different guitars of any model to see how they're made and play. At any price there can be variances that would make one have specific problems. Usually the advantages and "good" things about a model are pretty consistent as long as there's nothing wrong with that specific guitar you're playing and trying.
Sounds like you like that one, so I think you know the answer!
Thanks for the insight folks. And, the guitar that you linked for me does look to be one of the two that I played at the music store. However, the one that you linked for me Socks, had a deal going on where the strings would buzz as if the action was too close to the frets. The other one that I played was a smaller box guitar that was ebony black and also a cutaway thing on the neck (it's really cool lookin) and also had the built in pick ups and plug in for an amplifier. I guess I should try them plugged in and amplified too, eh?
On the harmonica stuff: I have never played bluegrass. Do you mainly use 1st position(same harp as key of song) or 2nd position(harp is a 4th away from key of song)? I'm also interested in what brands you favor(Oscar, Hohner, Suzuki,etc.) and your take on equipment, especially microphones.
I almost always play "cross harp" which is what you referred to as "2nd position". For blues and bluegrass, that works best for me. I had never heard it called that, but what do I know? Haha! Thanks for the education on that. And, mi favorito is the Hohner Marine Band "Special 20". I have tried the Lee Oskars, and although they are very good, on numerous occasions, the reed plate grabbed my mustache and that hurts!. Also one time when playing a Lee Oskar, because the reed plate has a "different slope" to it (less gradual), it wore my lips out and they got numb and I couldn'y play for a while. I guess my lips gad become so accustomed to the Hohners that that slightest difference really made a difference. Funny, that. Maybe it's like a trumpet player's embouchre, and switching to a different mouth piece or something. And, I have never tried a Suzuki. I saw one for the first time just the other day when I bought a new Special 20. It looked nice, but I didn't want to try it when I needed the "tried and true" for that very evening. I will try one some time though...
Yah, good idea to try them plugged in. See how they sound through an amplifier or P.A. Also get them to show you what kind of range the tone adjustment has, if there is any.
My Takamine has a bass, midrange and treble slider adjustment in addition to the volume. Normally it doesn't need much added or taken out and I keep them at the middle "notch", and then depending on the volume I'm playing at I may fiddle with them a little, pull out a little bass and treble, add a little midrange. Just depends on the overall sound.
You're rockin' too Chatty!
Found a pretty cool program, although not directly guitar related, it's close if you want to record and have a decent rhythm track. It's made by Toontrack, EZDrummer
I've been using a couple different drum sources, my deck's percussion tracks (Yamaha, and sound good) and a standalone program named "PC Drummer Pro". I like it, occasionally will add some things from Acid Loops, if needed.
This EZDrummer has a pretty big library of sounds, and runs by loading into a VST program (like Sonar or Steinberg Cubase) as a VST plug in, then opening up as an instrument. When you do their interface opens up, looking like a drum kit, with the instruments laid out on the screen. From there you can pull different kits and styles and drill down to specific patterns. There's a lot of good ones "as is", and the adjustments seem pretty usable to shape the sound of the drum kit.
From there you click and drag the rhtyhm track into a track on your VST program and start building the track from there. That's about as far as I've gotten in looking at it, although there seems to be quite a bit more you can do with it.
It's always a challenge to find quick starting programs that allow you to get to work easily. This program seems to have a lot to offer. And if you look down under the "Recording Notes" section on that page, you may see a name familiar to you, maybe not. But either way, it's worth checking out. Under 200 bucks, not bad.
I like to use the "circle of fifths" as a reference point for a lot of musical concepts.(5th's are clockwise and 4th's are counterclocwise) If the band is in C and I want kind of a campfire sound or maybe a Jimmy Reed kind of sound, then I will use a harp in the same key----C.I visualize the circle and locate that "position" on the circle(C is always at 12o'clock)
Since the band is in C , I go(in my mind) to 12'oclock where I find--- C. It's the 1st "position" I come to in my search so playing a harp that matches that key is 1st "position".(Most of the notes are blow notes and not all that great for blues.) Now what I do is go counterclockwise one space and find myself at 11 o'clock on the circle.11 o'clock is the permanent home of F. This is a good harp for blues in C because most of the notes I'm going to use are draw notes and many are bendable which lends itself to a more expressive sound. So F is the 2nd "position" I arrive at in my search for the desired harp. If I want kind of a dark, moody, minor sort of sound, I move one more position counterclockwise from where I started(This is now the 3rd "position" I arrived at since starting my search). This brings me to 10 o'clock on the circle which happens to be the permanent home of Bb.
So:
1st "position" in C uses a C harp
2nd "position"(cross) uses an F harp
3rd "position uses a Bb harp ------and so on.
I recently made a stage organizer based on this concept for a well known guy in Cleveland who is going blind and has trouble finding his harps in dark juke joints. With the organizer, he can reach for the harp at the 3 o'clock spot and know he will always find an A harp(2nd position/cross harp) when the band is in E.
Thanks for the education Waysider. I have never known what you just said. But I have applied it over and over. Funny thing, that.
And Socks, both of those git-tars have the adjustments that you spoke of. I'll give it a go on an amp. And, by the way (another dumb question), just what is the different between a "P.A." and an amplifier? I know that "PA" stands for Public Address, but since it also does "amplify", why is it different from and amplifieP.S.
Pray for me. Yesterday at work, I hit myself in the nose with a big old 1 and 1/8 in wrench! I was tightening the bolts on a big flange and the wrench slipped off and whacked me straight on the bridge of my nose! I look like a raccoon! And it's not the pain I need prayin for, it's my self esteem! Haha! :blink:
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J0nny Ling0
Hi my favorite GSCafe people! I am fine and winter is still dumping snow on us. But in that it is March 24th, Spring just MUST be around the corner, and that's a happy thing. Well now, I was looking at git-tars today at Juneau's only music store, and I noticed a plethora (a whole bunch?) of Ibanez acoustic git-tars. In fact, the store seemed to really care a whole lot for Ibanez. And so, I played a nice one with a cut away neck that also had a plug in and pick up deal on it. The action was nice, and the guys want $525.00 for it, and with a 10% discount, I could get it for $475.00 And so, Socks, and the rest of youz, what's you take on Ibanez git-tars?
And, by the way, tonight, I have the privilege to play with some bluegrass musicians at a wedding reception at a local bar. The "Sandbar" as a matter of fact. One guy, Mike, has a really old "small box" Martin which is nearly as beat as Willy Nelson's nylon string acoustic. There is no hole in it, but man oh man does it have a nice sound! We practiced today in this guys garage, and they were really happy that I could figure out the tunes that I'd never heard before and play the break just fine. I was playing harmonica by the way, and to me, bluegrass and country is kind of simple to play and they were all excited. And so, we will be playing to an eventually drunken crowd, and so I figure that they will be very easy to please. But any way, wish me luck! And, you Git-tar officionados, tell me about Ibanez. Love you folks....
JL
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dmiller
Oooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My first Martin, was a 00-18.
Small body, but GREAT SOUND.
If I recollect correct -- it was made in (get ready for this) ----->>>
1918.
I (in my ignorance), got rid of it because it wasn't a *bluegrass guitar*.
This was back in 1970 something-or-other.
(sob sob sob!!!)
Let me see if I can find a pic, of one similar.
The one I had, was a helluva good sounding box.
Some lucky person has it today. :(
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dmiller
PS --- AND NOW --- what's ticking me off --
is I can't remember where I got it from, and to whom I sold it!!
My second Martin, was a D 12-35 (twelve string).
I sold it to a lady, who ended up in Chicago.
She got married to a guy who had many guitars,
and they decided to sell that one (among others).
Somehow -- she found out where I was (pre-internet days),
and wondered if I wanted to buy it back (for less than I sold it to her for).
Me (in my ignorance -- again), said No.
Someone give me a *DOPE SLAP*!!!
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dmiller
Jonny -- HERE'S A LINK FOR IBANEZ, from Wiki.
Good sounding instruments. :)
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polar bear
Dear John-lol
Buy the Ibanez, I've had a few and they are like tanks=indestructable. If it sounds good grab it. Well made.
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ChattyKathy
Jonny,
Good to see you again and your gig sounds quite fun. Although I have no experience or suggestions on guitars, but the folks here certainly do.
As to not wanting to hang in the Way forum and read.....I don't frequent there either but I know there are plenty of folks that do and the archives and articles are abundant if nothing more was ever even said about the Way again on that forum. People that want to know the evil behind the scenes have more than enough to open their eyes. The day Paw thinks we can't participate in the other forums if we don't also bash the Way is the day I reckon he'll close us down but until then I have no guilt whatsoever that I don't read and join that forum and if you want to return to play away from that forum I see no laws in place around here that wouldn't allow it.
Kathy
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waysider
Hi, Jonny
I have never owned an Ibanez but I have heard people say the same thing PB and others have said here("Lots of bang for the buck"). It makes good business sense,too, that if a store is going to bias their stock with a particular brand, they must be confident in its' quality. Lastly, a good quality instrument at $475 seems like a hard deal to pass up. Of course, with the kind of money you have lying around, maybe one of those Martins is more appropriate. Just funnin' wit ya!
On the harmonica stuff: I have never played bluegrass. Do you mainly use 1st position(same harp as key of song) or 2nd position(harp is a 4th away from key of song)? I'm also interested in what brands you favor(Oscar, Hohner, Suzuki,etc.) and your take on equipment, especially microphones. Sure am a nosy son of a gun, aren't I? Like Sonny Boy II said,"Don't start me to talkin', I'll tell everything I know."(Which ain't all that much, to be honest
)
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satori001
Ibanez is mass-produced at that price level. I would ask the store to take several out of the boxes, tune them up, and play each side by side. It's not fair to spring a request like that on a store, so make an appointment and let him know you intend to buy something.
You could also get the model # and check Harmony Central, among other places, and look for reviews and feedback from other owners. You will often find valuable comparisons with other brands and models that steer you to something better, sometimes cheaper, that you hadn't considered before.
I wish I'd known more about the Japanese knock-offs of American guitars - the so-called "lawsuit" guitars - back in the good old days. The internet is great for that stuff, if you take the time to search.
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ChasUFarley
My 1978 Ibanez bass is a Japanese model and it's a knock off of a Fender P-Bass. The wiring was stripped out to make it passive and I'm determined I'm going to restore it to active again (that and a million other projects in life, right?) Anyhow, I found a great forum for Ibanez - I haunt this one also:
http://www.ibanezcollectors.com/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi
They're very informative and helpful on this board - you almost never see a flaming and not much snobbery (check out a classical guitar site sometime if you wanna experience that - holy cow!)
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coolchef
hello jony ole man
nice to see ya
i don't have an ibaniz but i have a friend who does and he loves it
i hear him play once a week at my club and he does some great stuff with it
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socks
Howdy J Lingo! Welcome. The Ibanez advice posted 'sall good. Ibanez makes some good guitars in lots of price ranges. Browsing around I found this one that's about that price - an AEL50SERLV
Is it similar to this one?
The way you've described it sounds like it's a soild guitar. As Satori described you have to try different guitars of any model to see how they're made and play. At any price there can be variances that would make one have specific problems. Usually the advantages and "good" things about a model are pretty consistent as long as there's nothing wrong with that specific guitar you're playing and trying.
Sounds like you like that one, so I think you know the answer!
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ChattyKathy
You rock!
I love your post on that thread of Jonny's.
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J0nny Ling0
Thanks for the insight folks. And, the guitar that you linked for me does look to be one of the two that I played at the music store. However, the one that you linked for me Socks, had a deal going on where the strings would buzz as if the action was too close to the frets. The other one that I played was a smaller box guitar that was ebony black and also a cutaway thing on the neck (it's really cool lookin) and also had the built in pick ups and plug in for an amplifier. I guess I should try them plugged in and amplified too, eh?
Edited by Jonny LingoLink to comment
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J0nny Ling0
Waysider, you asked:
I almost always play "cross harp" which is what you referred to as "2nd position". For blues and bluegrass, that works best for me. I had never heard it called that, but what do I know? Haha! Thanks for the education on that. And, mi favorito is the Hohner Marine Band "Special 20". I have tried the Lee Oskars, and although they are very good, on numerous occasions, the reed plate grabbed my mustache and that hurts!. Also one time when playing a Lee Oskar, because the reed plate has a "different slope" to it (less gradual), it wore my lips out and they got numb and I couldn'y play for a while. I guess my lips gad become so accustomed to the Hohners that that slightest difference really made a difference. Funny, that. Maybe it's like a trumpet player's embouchre, and switching to a different mouth piece or something. And, I have never tried a Suzuki. I saw one for the first time just the other day when I bought a new Special 20. It looked nice, but I didn't want to try it when I needed the "tried and true" for that very evening. I will try one some time though...
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socks
Yah, good idea to try them plugged in. See how they sound through an amplifier or P.A. Also get them to show you what kind of range the tone adjustment has, if there is any.
My Takamine has a bass, midrange and treble slider adjustment in addition to the volume. Normally it doesn't need much added or taken out and I keep them at the middle "notch", and then depending on the volume I'm playing at I may fiddle with them a little, pull out a little bass and treble, add a little midrange. Just depends on the overall sound.
You're rockin' too Chatty!
Found a pretty cool program, although not directly guitar related, it's close if you want to record and have a decent rhythm track. It's made by Toontrack, EZDrummer
I've been using a couple different drum sources, my deck's percussion tracks (Yamaha, and sound good) and a standalone program named "PC Drummer Pro". I like it, occasionally will add some things from Acid Loops, if needed.
This EZDrummer has a pretty big library of sounds, and runs by loading into a VST program (like Sonar or Steinberg Cubase) as a VST plug in, then opening up as an instrument. When you do their interface opens up, looking like a drum kit, with the instruments laid out on the screen. From there you can pull different kits and styles and drill down to specific patterns. There's a lot of good ones "as is", and the adjustments seem pretty usable to shape the sound of the drum kit.
From there you click and drag the rhtyhm track into a track on your VST program and start building the track from there. That's about as far as I've gotten in looking at it, although there seems to be quite a bit more you can do with it.
It's always a challenge to find quick starting programs that allow you to get to work easily. This program seems to have a lot to offer. And if you look down under the "Recording Notes" section on that page, you may see a name familiar to you, maybe not. But either way, it's worth checking out. Under 200 bucks, not bad.
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waysider
Jonny
Thanks for the response on the harps.
Here's my logic behind using the term"positions":
I like to use the "circle of fifths" as a reference point for a lot of musical concepts.(5th's are clockwise and 4th's are counterclocwise) If the band is in C and I want kind of a campfire sound or maybe a Jimmy Reed kind of sound, then I will use a harp in the same key----C.I visualize the circle and locate that "position" on the circle(C is always at 12o'clock)
Since the band is in C , I go(in my mind) to 12'oclock where I find--- C. It's the 1st "position" I come to in my search so playing a harp that matches that key is 1st "position".(Most of the notes are blow notes and not all that great for blues.) Now what I do is go counterclockwise one space and find myself at 11 o'clock on the circle.11 o'clock is the permanent home of F. This is a good harp for blues in C because most of the notes I'm going to use are draw notes and many are bendable which lends itself to a more expressive sound. So F is the 2nd "position" I arrive at in my search for the desired harp. If I want kind of a dark, moody, minor sort of sound, I move one more position counterclockwise from where I started(This is now the 3rd "position" I arrived at since starting my search). This brings me to 10 o'clock on the circle which happens to be the permanent home of Bb.
So:
1st "position" in C uses a C harp
2nd "position"(cross) uses an F harp
3rd "position uses a Bb harp ------and so on.
I recently made a stage organizer based on this concept for a well known guy in Cleveland who is going blind and has trouble finding his harps in dark juke joints. With the organizer, he can reach for the harp at the 3 o'clock spot and know he will always find an A harp(2nd position/cross harp) when the band is in E.
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ChasUFarley
Circle of Fifths:
I must admit I don't understand a lot of music theory - stuff like this helps. I'm glad I was blessed with a good ear and some rhythm...
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dmiller
Chas --- perhaps this *circle of fifths* will help. ;)
(or maybe not!!!)
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ChasUFarley
HA! Love it!
You know, I wondered if there was something like that on the web but didn't take time to look for it... I'd love a t-shirt of that...
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dmiller
All kidding aside -- some others and I, were talking about the old Hee Haw show on another forum.
I got to looking for clips of it on You Tube, and found this video of Roy Clark.
As usual -- he's impeccable with his picking,
but I was struck by the beauty of the guitar he was playing.
What a GOOD LOOKING/ SOUNDING AXE!!!
HERE IT IS.
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ChattyKathy
He was probably the reason I watched the show. :)
Thanks David.
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J0nny Ling0
Thanks for the education Waysider. I have never known what you just said. But I have applied it over and over. Funny thing, that.
And Socks, both of those git-tars have the adjustments that you spoke of. I'll give it a go on an amp. And, by the way (another dumb question), just what is the different between a "P.A." and an amplifier? I know that "PA" stands for Public Address, but since it also does "amplify", why is it different from and amplifieP.S.
Pray for me. Yesterday at work, I hit myself in the nose with a big old 1 and 1/8 in wrench! I was tightening the bolts on a big flange and the wrench slipped off and whacked me straight on the bridge of my nose! I look like a raccoon! And it's not the pain I need prayin for, it's my self esteem! Haha! :blink:
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ChattyKathy
I was just talking about raccoons to Rocky. :blink:
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ChattyKathy
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