any musicians in here?

[Dan Strain]

2 hours ago, Catt said:

"Audiophiles don't use their equipment to listen to your music, they use your music to listen to their equipment." -Alan Parsons

Hahahaha- I’ve never seen that quote, but it is SO true !! I sold high-end audio here in Nashville for a decade

[J Francho]

I've been playing out in bands since I was 15.  I currently play with my wife in a band.

 

[cheezyridr]

lucky for you guys, there ain't no pictures surviving, from when i was a working band.

it was the 80's then.  that means leather and studs and chains and spandex pants. 

some things are better left in the past.  ?

 

how about another guitar, instead?  this is my d'angelico premier mini dc xt. 

as a sweetwater exclusive, it came with seymour duncans and locking tuners. the bridge pick up is ridiculously hot, i think it tests out around 17 or something.  i'll eventually swap it out for something more reasonable, like a jb or something.  i'm not in a giant hurry to do it, because i'll probably change the pots too, i'm not fond of audio taper.

being a semi hollow, it's going to be a huge p.i.t.a. that's one reason i'm not in a hurry.  i may just farm it out to my luthier when the time comes, to save myself the hassle of fishing everything through the F-holes. 

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, cheezyridr said:

lucky for you guys, there ain't no pictures surviving, from when i was a working band.

it was the 80's then.  that means leather and studs and chains and spandex pants. 

some things are better left in the past.  ?

 

how about another guitar, instead?  this is my d'angelico premier mini dc xt. 

as a sweetwater exclusive, it came with seymour duncans and locking tuners. the bridge pick up is ridiculously hot, i think it tests out around 17 or something.  i'll eventually swap it out for something more reasonable, like a jb or something.  i'm not in a giant hurry to do it, because i'll probably change the pots too, i'm not fond of audio taper.

being a semi hollow, it's going to be a huge p.i.t.a. that's one reason i'm not in a hurry.  i may just farm it out to my luthier when the time comes, to save myself the hassle of fishing everything through the F-holes. 

Nice! I had some ole cheap version of an arch top with f holes back when I was in 8th grade

[cheezyridr]

there are a few "hidden gems" in the guitar world, i've been lucky enough to own a few of them.  here is one below:

 

 

it's a roxbury legend custom.  if you don't look close, you might mistake it for a prs mcarty.

it was a $250 guitar that came with stainless frets, rosewood board, maple neck, wilkinson trem,  mahogany body with a 3/4" maple cap, recessed speed knobs, grover kidney beans and a bone nut. i don't remember who made the pick ups but i swapped them for a set of burstbuckers i had laying in a drawer. the only thing about the guitar i didn't like was the finish. they used a poly that reminded me of what they put on deck furniture.  when it got warm, it was sticky. i used to have to scuff it with a scotch brite pad every couple months.

 

here is another one:

 

this is a canadian dillion 533

another $250 guitar that punched well above it's weight. maple body and neck, mahogany center block,  rosewood board, metric bridge and tail piece like you'd find on an epiphone.  i put grovers on it, a bone nut, better pots and caps, and a set of 57 classics. 

i loved this guitar,  but destroyed it and the one above in a juvenile fit of rage many years ago. the same day, i also threw one of these from a 4 story window.  18w all tube, point-to-point handwired 1x12 combo with a spring reverb. i deserve worse than the regret i feel  for having allowed myself to do that, but i'm glad i'm not "in that place" anymore

 

[TnRiver46]

I’ve got an Alvarez copy of a Martin D 35 with the 3 piece Brazilian rosewood back (no longer legal). I think it’s a mid 70s model, my aunt gave it to me 

[N Florida Mike]

On 12/18/2022 at 10:13 AM, scaleface said:

My Dad was a heck of a harmonica player. I picked it up at the age of 50 and we would sit around the camper and play them . I never became good  but still play it when I'm by myself around a camp fire .

My dad was too…

[N Florida Mike]

I’ve played a banjo for app. 35 years now. My parents and aunt were all musical, but esp. my mom.

My oldest son plays numerous stringed instruments, including guitar , banjo, mandolin, bass, and his latest love, ukulele.

We picked together for years, and got pretty good , until he went into the military and rarely came home…

This last year I’ve made a big effort to practice and have made a few you tube videos. I’m too much of a perfectionist though, and my banjo needs the head tightened to get the sound to improve. It’s on my list….

I play traditional bluegrass standards, mostly Scruggs and Ralph Stanley tunes…

[cheezyridr]

got a new toy for christmas!  thanks santa clause! 

i am, right now, about to test it out.  i'll let you all know how it went

 

[J Francho]

Dude, that's a dope pedal. 

[cheezyridr]

On 12/29/2022 at 7:06 PM, J Francho said:

Dude, that's a dope pedal. 

 

must be why i like it so much.  i've been called a dope for ages ?

 

i sat down to explore what it can do. i looked up after only playing with the delay stuff, and 3 hours had passed. i haven't used it in stereo mode, haven't set any presets, and haven't used the toneprint  stuff yet. i also don't have the expression pedal - yet.  i'm really happy with it. of all the delays i ever had, this is the only one so far that doesn't color my tone AT ALL.   even though it does so much, the controls are really easy to use, even for a dummy like me.  when i run it stereo, it opens up a whole lot more options depending on how i wire switches on my board...that i will have to reconfigure, because now it's way too small to fit what i will be using.  so in the future, a new (bigger) board and power supply, and probably a second a/b/a+b switch. funny how just a few months ago, i thought a small board would be just fine.

?

[J Francho]

You ever mess around with a particle pedal? I use it on my drums sometimes. It's sick. Check it out. 

[islandbass]

On 12/29/2022 at 4:55 AM, N Florida Mike said:

I’ve played a banjo for app. 35 years now. My parents and aunt were all musical, but esp. my mom.

My oldest son plays numerous stringed instruments, including guitar , banjo, mandolin, bass, and his latest love, ukulele.

We picked together for years, and got pretty good , until he went into the military and rarely came home…

This last year I’ve made a big effort to practice and have made a few you tube videos. I’m too much of a perfectionist though, and my banjo needs the head tightened to get the sound to improve. It’s on my list….

I play traditional bluegrass standards, mostly Scruggs and Ralph Stanley tunes…

Awesome!!! Maybe you ought give the ukulele a try. I did and like your son, I’m loving it. I’m currently working on my rendition of  Michelle by the Beatles. But just in case you didn’t know what an ukulele could do:

 

Okay, so he’s using a baritone ukulele but still it’s a neat rendition. 
 

A little jazz… by some of the best ukulele players I am aware of. 
 

And since you’re a banjo guy ?

 

[roadwarrior]

My ears can't hear that fast!

[cheezyridr]

20 hours ago, J Francho said:

You ever mess around with a particle pedal? I use it on my drums sometimes. It's sick. Check it out. 

 

oh, you mean this? i won't be tricked! hahaha  that's one of those pedals that i'd play with for hours and hours making sounds but no actual music.  i once owned an eventide pitchfactor that tricked me like that. it was alot of fun, but i eventually sold it because all i really did was play with it.  i've learned to excersize self control with pedals, if i'm not careful, i'll own a mountain of them

19 hours ago, islandbass said:

Awesome!!! Maybe you ought give the ukulele a try. I did and like your son, I’m loving it. I’m currently working on my rendition of  Michelle by the Beatles. But just in case you didn’t know what an ukulele could do:

 

Okay, so he’s using a baritone ukulele but still it’s a neat rendition. 
 

A little jazz… by some of the best ukulele players I am aware of. 
 

And since you’re a banjo guy ?

 

 

the hendrix one was cool! i liked it alot.  however, i'll see your japanese uke player, and raise you a tsugaru shamisen duo. in my mind, this is how freebird would sound if it was written by a japanese guy:

 

 

Edited January 1, 2023 by cheezyridr
i was briefly under a coldate capsular induced modulation of singular unit activity, in the mesophonic reticulation of the cerebrum

[islandbass]

1 hour ago, cheezyridr said:

 

oh, you mean this? i won't be tricked! hahaha  that's one of those pedals that i'd play with for hours and hours making sounds but no actual music.  i once owned an eventide pitchfactor that tricked me like that. it was alot of fun, but i eventually sold it because all i really did was play with it.  i've learned to excersize self control with pedals, if i'm not careful, i'll own a mountain of them

 

the hendrix one was cool! i liked it alot.  however, i'll see your japanese uke player, and raise you a tsugaru shamisen duo. in my mind, this is how freebird would sound if it was written by a japanese guy:

 

 

Dang!  That was cool! Indeed you one upped me,lol. I realize “it ain’t easy  bein’ cheesy” (Chester/Cheetos reference)  so I fold, lol. 
 

One thing that just blows my mind is how cultures from all over the world have developed stringed instruments independently of each other. Part of my heritage is Filipino and I did not know until about 5 years ago that there exists a string instrument from the Philippines. It is called a hegalong. It only has two strings and it’s sound reminds me of a sitar, shimasen and mandolin. 
 

If you ever played any of the Castlevania, games, then you just might recognize the music. Introducing the hegalong:

 

The guy playing is super-talented musician and composer. Diwa de Leon.

 

[cheezyridr]

18 hours ago, islandbass said:

Dang!  That was cool! Indeed you one upped me,lol. I realize “it ain’t easy  bein’ cheesy” (Chester/Cheetos reference)  so I fold, lol. 
 

One thing that just blows my mind is how cultures from all over the world have developed stringed instruments independently of each other. Part of my heritage is Filipino and I did not know until about 5 years ago that there exists a string instrument from the Philippines. It is called a hegalong. It only has two strings and it’s sound reminds me of a sitar, shimasen and mandolin. 
 

If you ever played any of the Castlevania, games, then you just might recognize the music. Introducing the hegalong:

 

The guy playing is super-talented musician and composer. Diwa de Leon.

 

 

i did play castlevania, all the way back in the late 80's/early 90's when things were still kinda pixellated. for the life of me though, i can't remember the music. 

that was a cool video. the notes sound similar to a piano until he starts to bend them. i would guess (i don't actually know)  it's because of scale length, and small body. maybe string tension too, i don't know what the open strings are tuned to.  cool stuff! if you like that guy, you might also like the hu, (mongols)  maybe also 12 girls band(chinese). you probably already know about luna lee (s. korea) who plays classic rock on a gayageum.  there are also lots of bands from japan and china that play rock on traditional instruments, or a mix of old and new stuff.

 

 

 

 

i love to listen to the erhu, it's one of my favorite sounds.  my musical taste is all over the place. most of my friends hate riding in my car, and constantly say to me "can't you play something normal?"?

[islandbass]

1 hour ago, cheezyridr said:

 

i did play castlevania, all the way back in the late 80's/early 90's when things were still kinda pixellated. for the life of me though, i can't remember the music. 

that was a cool video. the notes sound similar to a piano until he starts to bend them. i would guess (i don't actually know)  it's because of scale length, and small body. maybe string tension too, i don't know what the open strings are tuned to.  cool stuff! if you like that guy, you might also like the hu, (mongols)  maybe also 12 girls band(chinese). you probably already know about luna lee (s. korea) who plays classic rock on a gayageum.  there are also lots of bands from japan and china that play rock on traditional instruments, or a mix of old and new stuff.

 

 

 

 

i love to listen to the erhu, it's one of my favorite sounds.  my musical taste is all over the place. most of my friends hate riding in my car, and constantly say to me "can't you play something normal?"?

I like the Erhu too! If I ever come across one, I’d try to learn to play it. 

Ghibli’s Castle in the Sky with an erhu

Same song OST for reference

 

As for the hegalong, I am told the top string is is kept to being a drone, open note and that the second string is where the action is had. However, that is probably not set in stone. As for the tuning, I couldn’t tell you since I don’t know myself, but if I had one, I would experiment with 3rd, 4th, 5th spacings and if possible, even octave spacing (akin to sound garden’s Mind Riot - I think all of the guitar strings are tuned E, which is odd for a guitar but it’s pretty cool. It gives the guitar a unique sound).

 

Lastly, thanks for the new rabbit hole for me to jump into with those artists. I am looking forward to it. Any maybe you and I normal and everyone else isn’t, lol. 

 

 

[cheezyridr]

14 hours ago, islandbass said:

I like the Erhu too! If I ever come across one, I’d try to learn to play it. 

Ghibli’s Castle in the Sky with an erhu

 

 

 

so beautiful!  who doesn't love miyazaki stuff?

do i not have the coolest shower curtain?    

[islandbass]

4 hours ago, cheezyridr said:

 

so beautiful!  who doesn't love miyazaki stuff?

do i not have the coolest shower curtain?    

I hereby confess, that is not only one heck of a shower curtain but one of the coolest/best I’ve ever seen. Good ol’ Totoro. ?

 

Ironically, I discovered ghibli music on a completely random encounter around 2017-2018. I was looking for relaxing music I could work to and came across some piano version on you tube. The piano music struck a chord with my ear. I was thinking, hmm… this is really good. Even enough to figure out most of the first piece on the piano by ear. 
 

From there, I discovered more of this studio ghibli music by Joe Hisaishi and then Miyamoto’s works.