"Les Paul Guy"

[Billy Porter]

Regarding the other thing. I'm really gravitating to cheap gear because as a pedestrian guitar player I don't need the best. If that's the indie mentality, fine. I'll be looking for a cheap pointy headstock guitar soon.:jim

I only take 2 guitars to gigs. The Les Paul and another

I took my beat up modified Ibanez Blazer to the last 2 gigs we just played as I needed a guitar with a twem for just one song. Had it 30 years, cost me £100 and have since modded it to death

I ended up using it for the best part of the first one and a half hour set. Great sound and lovely to play. It killed me to leave my Tele at home and the Strat rarely gets played nowadays.

The Ibanez also has a wonderful jazz tone despite the Floyd Rose, Maple neck and Ash body

Apart from gigs and rehearsals the LP never gets played – but when I play it loud. That’s when I'm an LP guy

 

[Pat Boyack]

I know I'm going to get flamed for saying this but, well...actually, the Blues is easy.

Well at least you are living in the real world in that regard. Like I said before, I can tell guitarists who think that its easy because they play like it. Its not an attribute.

Doesn't really matter since the Blues isn't about that anyway. I don't know any Blues player who actually practices on a regular basis, and I mean "really practice", maybe the really technical guys like EJ, JB, GM, DT etc. do, but they aren't just Blues players.

NOW....I know I will be flamed for this....but....Again, more assumption based on ignorance. I know plenty who do. Including myself.

The cats that play the "real deal Blues" usually noodle the same scales all their life and still can play great Blues but it's rather easy from a strictly technical aspect.

......more of the same.......

We have one of the last real Chicago Blues guys living in my town and I don't think he even owns a guitar.

Wow! You are so lucky!!! Who is that?

Did you see the white house Blues thing last night on PBS? No way was Buddy Guy trying hard to play his guitar, he wasn't pushing the envelope on anything he just did what he always does. You and I may like it, others may not, but it wasn't difficult and to a neo-classical shredder......

I've jammed with shredders like Marty Freidman, he couldn't play Blues like Buddy if a haircut was on the line. AND seriously, even after saying that, when has BUDDY GUY in the last 20 years ever stretched it out? If you knew anything about the Blues you would know he has done nothing but the same thing. I like Buddy when he decides to get serious....seen it a few times, but not often.

it must seem bizarre when EC calls Buddy the "best guitar player in the world" or something like that.

Do yourself a favor and go back to when Buddy Guy was a real badass. You'll understand what Eric meant.

I'm not bashing the Blues here but it's understandable that a lot of Blues weekend warriors have a tiny chip on their shoulder when it comes to their technical playing abilities. I know, I'm one of them.

No offense, but you don't sound like a Blues player to me. You sound like a guy who likes a few players, again, sees 3 chords and 5 notes (more notes than that actually)......with no knowledge of the different styles, phrasing, etc....

 

[shred]

All you all need to chill and listen to this spoof track from current G&R guitarist Ron Bumblefoot Thal... Cool guy... Takin' the piss from shredders and Bluesers...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1GlBVIAOH8

Now that's what I call the blues... :headbange

 

[Pat Boyack]

All you all need to chill and listen to this spoof track from current G&R guitarist Ron Bumblefoot Thal... Cool guy...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1GlBVIAOH8

Now that's what I call the blues... :headbange

LOL I was about of edit most of my last post but I won't now, Shred.

But I will add, if its so easy, lets hear some Lighnin' Hopkins.....easy? Right.

 

[shred]

A little Greg Howe playing some cool blues type stuff...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Hyr4W0OCh0

 

[mistersnappy]

Do yourself a favor and go back to when Buddy Guy was a real badass. You'll understand what Eric meant.



.

Word. Stone Crazy is...

 

[mistersnappy]

One more...

I love this pic. "Player, Not The Plank".

 

[yeti]

LOL I was about of edit most of my last post but I won't now, Shred.
But I will add, if its so easy, lets hear some Lighnin' Hopkins.....easy? Right.

I'm glad you didn't, your post was perfectly okay with me and gives me something to think about, but let me adress just a few things. If I were new to the Blues and saw someone play like Buddy Guy did the other night (not that there was anything wrong with it) and I hear that he's heralded as the greatest thing since sliced bread then I might be confused, to say the least. Let's face it, the vocabulary is basically very simple, the guys that are good at it don't play more difficult stuff ( for the most part). I'm sure there are exceptions but I'm no Blues historian and to the average musician the Blues seems easy. Liszt on piano is hard, Paganini on Banjo is hard, Blues not so much. Doesn't mean that anybody can do it, but many of those who can don't work hard at it. If you graduated from GIT or something this might be difficult to understand. Speaking about the term"hard", that must be the most overused word in the English language. Everybody works hard, etc...well, I can tell you that most people work, but not all that hard. As far as me being a Blues player, I use a very basic vocabulary to play what comes into my head, I don't practice much and I use lot's of the same old licks, yes , I think I'm a Blues player :couch :2cool

BTW, the guy living in our town is Morris Holt aka Magic Slim. Great player who definitely has his own thing going.

 

[Pat Boyack]

I'm glad you didn't, your post was perfectly okay with me and gives me something to think about, but let me adress just a few things. If I were new to the Blues and saw someone play like Buddy Guy did the other night (not that there was anything wrong with it) and I hear that he's heralded as the greatest thing since sliced bread then I might be confused, to say the least.

I agree and have been saying the same thing about Buddy for years now. But he doesn't care. Here is a guy who was literally staving when he met Muddy Waters in the 50's. Five years ago he lost more than half his wealth in a divorce and still came out of the courtroom with a grin on his face. He plays what he plays for the big payday. In 2003 I was on a Jazz Fest in Spain. I guess because it was a "Jazz" event Buddy started with 5 songs that were hard core Chicago Blues...and I'll tell ya, he floored me. It was incredible. But then he turned his Cyber Twins up and stunk up the joint. At least for me he did but the thousands there ate it up.

And there is the problem, many people who are experiencing the Blues for the first time will see Buddy or some other half ass player who never got over SRV and think, "What is so special about this music?" Its sad but has been happening for 15-20 years now. And that includes the awful song writing that is still being produced in the genre....and the labels who put this crap out....ugh. And people wonder why the Blues is going the way of Jazz.

Let's face it, the vocabulary is basically very simple, the guys that are good at it don't play more difficult stuff ( for the most part). I'm sure there are exceptions but I'm no Blues historian and to the average musician the Blues seems easy. Liszt on piano is hard, Paganini on Banjo is hard, Blues not so much. Doesn't mean that anybody can do it, but many of those who can don't work hard at it. If you graduated from GIT or something this might be difficult to understand. Speaking about the term"hard", that must be the most overused word in the English language. Everybody works hard, etc...well, I can tell you that most people work, but not all that hard. As far as me being a Blues player, I use a very basic vocabulary to play what comes into my head, I don't practice much and I use lot's of the same old licks, yes , I think I'm a Blues player :couch :2cool

I don't agree that its easy. From an amateur stand point it seems that way...but it's not. And I can play Bach and the other classical stuff. To me THAT's easier because its mainly ascending and descending harmonic minor scales. Not much room for originality, you just play what has been written. The Blues is far from that and if the musician works on it its very individualistic.

BTW, the guy living in our town is Morris Holt aka Magic Slim. Great player who definitely has his own thing going.

Oh, I know where you live! Slim has a history of not having a guitar. I would say he is a rarity and loves being a big fish in a small pond. I never really understood his popularity. But to each his own. :salude

 

[Bluefinger]

This whole "Blues is easy to play" thing cracks me up each time. If you look at it from a technical point of view you haven't understood what it's about anyway.

Maybe some think blues is just what the average weekend noodler dishes out. This line may be worn out but blues is very easy to play but very hard to play right. If it is so easy, why aren't there more good blues players than good jazz players? It's such a complex thing if you are willing too take a closer look. How many of those who say that blues is so easy can play Blind Lemon Jefferson style fluidly, nail a Lightnin' Hopkins rhythm, accompany a harp player with all those jazzy, dancing licks like Robert Lockwood did without ever getting in his way, swing like Bill Jennings, have all the fiery energy like Buddy Guy in his hayday, play with the razor sharp elegance of T-Bone Walker or make the listener's hair raise like Muddy did with just a couple of the most intense slide notes you have ever heard?

IMHO even from a technical point of view blues is complex and hard to play .. it's just different things you have to pay attention to. Just show me one blues player who says it's all simple and who's playing really impresses me

 

[1fastdog]

Different musical idioms have their framework.

People either play interestingly or they don't. Blues pentatonic is certainly not complex as sclaes go, but handling it evocatively and in alyrically interesting manner is a much different deal than being easy to stay "in key", as it were.

The original point of the thread is concerning presumptions based on what someone pulls out of their case rather than what they do to massage the air.

 

[Bluefinger]

I can't remember anybody telling me that he didn't expect me to play jump blues just because I play a LP ... but if you wear a pinstripe suit and a newsboy cap, nobody expects you to play Led Zep I guess

 

[Pat Boyack]

Different musical idioms have their framework.

People either play interestingly or they don't. Blues pentatonic is certainly not complex as sclaes go, but hadling it evocatively and lyrically interesting is a much different deal than being easy to stay "in key", as it were.

But that pentatonic scale, in minor, is combined with the major pentatonic scale. So its just not one set scale. Once you understand that then you are moving in the right direction. And like I stated and so did Bluefinger, its more than just a scale.....

 

[Bluefinger]

But that pentatonic scale, in minor, is combined with the major pentatonic scale. So its just not one set scale. Once you understand that then you are moving in the right direction. And like I stated and so did Bluefinger, its more than just a scale.....

I don't think in scales anyway ... that just confuses me. There are minor and major pentatonics, chord arpeggios, diminished scales, chromatic passing tones, ... you can use all twelve notes in a simple chicago blues solo ...

 

[yeti]

This whole "Blues is easy to play" thing cracks me up each time. If you look at it from a technical point of view you haven't understood what it's about anyway.

Maybe some think blues is just what the average weekend noodler dishes out. This line may be worn out but blues is very easy to play but very hard to play right.

I think that's what I said earlier...

It doesn't really matter since the Blues isn't about that anyway.

I think we were talking about preconceptions in settings where mostly

average weekend noodlers

get together...the local blues jam at your favorite watering hole, or did I misunderstand?

 

[yeti]

People either play interestingly or they don't. ....
The original point of the thread is concerning presumptions based on what someone pulls out of their case rather than what they do to massage the air.

This! I'd love to see someone pull out a Steinberger with Transtrem and play great Blues through an Eleven-Rack. That would certainly turn some heads at the local blues joint.

 

[Kim R]

Kim, that is TOO cool you got your SG back!!! Not so sure how "full blown Norlin" a 70 is though, besides the volute, isn't it pretty much same spec as the post '66 big guard SGs? I know the cutaway bevels aren't as sharp, and the different neck joint, but the heart and soul is the same, correct? Now the '71 SG Deluxe....with the funky body, odd neck joint/angle front mount control panel....THAT'S what screams Norlin to me...

Kris,

Sorry for the delay on this - just way too much work for me recently.

You're quite right, my '70 SG Standard (which might also be a '69) has a mish-mash of specs that mostly harken from the mid-sixties, but not all:

Small headstock
Tiny volute
Double ring Klusons
Three-piece mahogany neck (BIG and chunky, but tapered to 1 5/8 at the nut)
Celluloid Inlays
Indian Fretboard
Tiny, short tenon neck joint
Bathtub pickup rout
Big guard
T-Tops
Lyre Vibrola, nylon saddles, domed ABR washers
1-piece body (beautiful hunk of mahogany)
Brass can in the control cavity
Witch hats
Black case, gold lining, silver "Gibson" on the lid

When I was a kid, Dad and I installed:

USA PatPend Grovers
Middle T-Top (3rd, ala Custom - wired in parallel with bridge pup)

And most oddly (Norlin influence), the guitar came stock with "fretless wonder" frets. They're still in place :hmm

The guitar has such a big, punchy voice. Think of the solo in Lennon/McCartney's Nowhere man.

Best,

 

[shred]

I've really tried to stay out of this one but... :fu

It's always better to have more applied theoretical knowledge and technique than not... The more tools you have, the better your ability to express yourself. Look, there are naturally musical and unmusical players in all styles, but having more chords, scales and licks at one's disposal is never a bad thing, so why limit yourself?

A good example of this, is Gary Moore playing with Albert Collins at Montreux 90... Albert is limited to playing in different keys with a capo, because he only knows how to play in open position --even though he's been playing a I IV V his entire life-- yet still somehow manages to play a m2 (4:17 on) for 11 consecutive bars and doesn't even realize it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR2KEk523TM

Why play 50 year old licks badly when contemporary players have given us better solutions to these musical problems?

I'd rather listen to a jazz player trying to play blues than a blues player trying to play jazz --especially with a capo...

 

[mistersnappy]

One thing that others have alluded to regarding playing Blues (or any style really) is finding a distinctive voice. By virtue of us all being individuals, we are all distinctive, but, you know what I mean- a voice that alot of folks would recognize as being unique and stands apart.

Why is it that one player can take a group of influences and make something unique and another may only sound like another player, as good as he/she may be? This seems to be beyond knowing styles or theory. If I could bottle up whatever *that thing* is, I could sell it and buy a few Bursts! :hmm :rofl

This short article has an interesting take on what makes up "style" or voice: http://chronicle.com/blogs/brainstorm/an-artists-got-to-know-his-limitations/34624

 

[yeti]

Can this guy play the Blues?
http://youtu.be/JqFbG_qpyXI