In a little rowboat

Man I am really excited...ive been a Farm Aid member for years, just got my tickets...and then they announce Wilco for the event...plus Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Dave Matthews+Tim Reynolds

http://www.farmaid.org/site/c.qlI5IhNVJsE/b.2723647/k.2B7B/The_Lineup.htm

tickets general public on sale Sat july 25 at 10 am est

I've never played one, but I've found yamaha guitars, on the whole, to be pretty darn good guitars. Can someone explain to me how a guitar with a solid sitka spruce top, and a rosewood back and sides, is $299? There's got to be a catch, obviously. Is there a such thing as rosewood laminate??

Absolutely such a thing...more common than not on import guitars...the catch is the incredible amount of glue in the instrument coupled with a lack of human craftmanship and poor quality control...most asian factories turn out a fairly consistent product which is often lacking in many qualities...short cuts and shoddy hardware are also common...yamahas generally have a decent rep, but i prefer other brands in that price range (takamine, seagull)...

I use a sanding shellac and steel wool method. Nothing wrong with just hitting it up with tripple o wool.

 

I hit with a wet 600 sand then a few light sessions of shellac(french polish)then let it air out an hour or so and hit with fine steel wool till you can"t see any major scratches. I just did this to a bass with good results, for the body I just used steel wool alone,I like the neck a little faster of a feel than wool alone.

 

Not rocket science at all, but I coud do it for you.

I should have referred you to Oceanman in the first place...what was i thinking...wish i could go to luthiery school

Hey man, do you have a preferred french polish technique you favor, ive really wanted to get into that...beats the crap out of spraying, and tru oil is only good for some projects

Can people weigh in with their invaluable thoughts on all things J-45? I have wanted one for a long long time and I am getting closer to convincing myself that it's time.

 

What are your thoughts on used vs new? I know that Gibson has the rep for a period of clunkers. Better to find a banged up one that is older and/or vintage? Stick with a new one?

 

If new, Rosewood? Mahogany? TV?

 

I know that it all boils down to the sound and feel that I like, and that I should play as many as I can because each one is different. But I'd love to hear your thoughts/experiences/etc. I'd also love to hear if you think I should try a different brand/model to compare or if others are better.

 

thanks folks

J-45s vary wildly from guitar to guitar. I would recommend playing as many as you can get your hands on before you make a decision. For what it's worth, I really like a lot of the newer ones Gibson's been making (really light resonant bodies with thick necks), but you'll have to form your own opinion.

These really are timeless work horses...i think Gibson acoustics are about as inconsistent are any brand out there...the whole 60's-80's period you could buy 3 of the same model, and have sometimes drastic variations in construction...i have owned 3 vintage Gibsons and while i enjoyed them, I decided i was a Martin guy, and let them go...

Clunkers, yes, but thats sort of their charm, I love the chunky fat sound of a gibson, while some folks think the extra wood is a tone killer, I rather think it adds to projection and the stability of the guitars...if it were me, id go with the mahogany sides/back, and if you have the chance, demo a new one next to an old one...Gibson is making some nice acoustics these days...

whats you got?

I was at the show last night and I couldn't tell what it was. I pointed it out to my wife and mentioned that there's a bit of a discussion/controversey about what amp it is. As it was coming out of my mouth, I tried to stop it, but I couldn't. It just came out. She looked at me like I was crazy and (I am paraphrasing) asked me "what the hell is wrong with you people?"

If she only knew...

man there are so many to add to that list...im suprised not to see the Fender Blues Jr on there...amazing value! Same with the Orange tiny terror

tung oil or gun (tru) oil will give you the opposite results...sanding in general is a iffy proposition

Never heard of using a brown bag...seems like youd get better results from just playing a whole lot

Id stick with the steel wool until you almost get to wood (im still speculating a bit on what exactly you are going for)...and as i said you can get rougher grit wool which might speed things a bit...wipe the neck clean with naptha in between rubbings, this will clear the metal residue and keep the dust from mixing with the oils from your hand, making it tacky...

Entirely possible, noting Jeff's preference for doing live takes...could be mic bleed causing that sound...

I use a Sony minidisc Hi D system...its small, the discs are re-recordable, and you can choose your own microphones...granted its 5 year old technology, but i love mine...in the right mode, the HiD recordings are drag and drop on top my Mac with USB

With recorders you basically need adjustable record level, good battery life, long record time (memory), and a bass roll off...i prefer units that allow my to select my mics and have phantom power...

My set up:

Minidisc

faq site

Example of microphones

Im sure there are newer models that use flash memory and are smaller, but they generally have integrated mics, which i dont care for...im interested in what other s use

I have done this...steel wool is definitely the way to go, you can get harder grit pads at Home depot...the trick is to wear it down with the least amount of pressure so as not to scratch or scar the finish...it takes a while because you have to go almost down tot he wood...im not sure why youre using the polish, im going to assume the finish on your gibson is nitro, some polishes react badly with nitro

Absolutely bad idea to use sand paper, even small grit, youll spend too much time resanding to cover the mistakes and scratches

you should inquire here: reranch forum

j

Funny you should mention it -- I've got the Emerick book on reserve at the library, so I'm glad to hear it's a good read. Unfortunately, the Nashville Public Library system does not have "Recording The Beatles" at any of its branches. That may go on the Christmas list this year -- it seems like the kind of book that would be good to own (much like the Beatles Complete Scores -- one of the best presents I've received).

 

As for good Beatles stories, I also enjoyed Tony Bramwell's "Magical Mystery Tours." It's always cool to hear stories from people who were actually part of the Beatles' experience.

yup...RTB was around $100 when i got it over the holidays...id consider scanning it for you, but itd take me a year to do it...

I get a kick out of all the old stories, and even more a kick out of how some of the little details change depending on which '60's refugee is telling them

j

Band was in great form. Would have been nice if they had come on stage BEFORE 9pm, knowing the 11pm curfew was looming...

 

One other gripe. I've got a good paying job, I bought the CD / Album / T-Shirt / Tote package for $50, I feel it was worth it... I like to get the posters to the shows that I attend. $25 for a show poster now? Is someone kidding me? As I said, I can afford it, but out of some sort of "principles" I just couldn't do it... Anyone else feel this way? Oh yeah, most of the T-Shirts are up to $25 a pop now...

 

I guess I'm just getting old...

not old, just out of touch...those are cheap compared to most bigger bands

I was looking into getting a macbook for the garageband software since i hear such good things about it. The apple website and tutorials suggest that you can plug directly into the laptop. Perhaps not surprisingly, most forums that I have read on the topic say that doing so is a terrible idea and that one should/must use an audio interface, like an MBox.

 

Can anyone weigh in with their thoughts? What does the interface accomplish?

I have gone exclusively to GB for all of my recording needs after messing around with so many others...it is my opinion that GB is more than most folks recording at home need, it has a shallow learning curve and never crashes...i have done 3 albums on my GB/MacBook Pro setup with stellar results...there are alot of snobs out there (man i seem to be saying that alot lately) but if you get results you like, who cares how you got them? Some people outgrow GB, but I haven't...I do have to gripe that the new version of GB has a bunch of crap built in to generate revenue for Apple (like downloadable guitar lessons, how to play and record videos, etc)...that just takes up HD space...

I would not recommend going direct into the input jack for a few reasons...for one, you can easily overload the internal soundcard which is inherently noisy as it is...another is that the preamp inside your mac isnt very good, meaning you wont get much clean gain...if you use a mic, youd have to go thru at least one adapter, and then youd have to worry about gain/recording levels...

I would recommend getting some kind of interface, then you wont have to worry about basic but annoying things like matching impedance and pushing clean dBs from your laptop, youll be able to use more and varied inputs (mics, guitar jacks, RCA cables), and the A/D D/A process is more efficient...many interfaces run on firmware which does a lot of the work that the CPU would have to do alone...i started recording with this--> Griffin iMic

there are tons of them out there, i prefer to use the Alesis multimix 16 firewire alesis make smaller versions and they are cheap...i can record many live sources at once, get channel by channel eq and effects, and its firewire so latency is not an issue...the preamps are good and clean, and i like having knobs and sliders at my control in real time (i can always go and tweek/eq in GB after getting the take)...i have no crashes, no latency issues and it integrates well into iTunes

Wow, you can't argue with that. If it's good enough for the Beatles . . . As far as I'm concerned, George Martin and the Beatles are the bible of how to use the studio. It's hard to believe that most of the work they did was recorded on a four-track (with track-bouncing, sure, but four tracks nonetheless -- Abbey Road was fairly late in moving on to an eight-track, so those few recordings utilizing and eight-track were done elsewhere).

 

Oh, and speaking of the Beatles and direct input, I've always enjoyed the story George Martin told about Lennon being so excited about direct input (if I recall correctly, this was after they ran a guitar through a leslie speaker -- the first ones to do it), that he asked to have his voice done in the same manner (I believe this was for "Tomorrow Never Knows"). Martin responded that he would have to have an operation to install a jack in his throat.

 

As for the book, I need to check that out. As a teen, I read Mark Lewisohn's track-by-track examination of all of their studio recordings (I believe it was called "The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions"). It was basically a studio diary (who played what, how many takes, what takes were used, how the songs came together, etc.), but the book you mentioned looks a lot more technical -- and I mean that in a good way.

Not to hijack this thread,

Yes, the Lewisohn book is a must read, i have it as well, and the Recording the Beatles book is its natural successor--600 pages of amazing details, way beyond the scope of any other beatles gear/studio reference ive ever seen, and i learned so much, it was like taking a college level recording class...the Geoff Emerick book Here, there and everywhere is also very good, although not as technical, but oh the stories!

$400 for a custom Mid Fi Electronics "Pitch Pirate/Glitch Computer" I guess i'll be saving up!!

ugh sounds like it could end up being like my other impulse buys, the ones that get one use and then sit in the closet (prunes and custard, moogerfooger, dod 404, modded RAT, subdecay)

DI gets a bum wrap...while i by far prefer micing guitars, DI can be really useful, especially with tube preamps...

Yes there are a lot of snobs out there, but i always point out that a good third of the guitars and easily half the bass tracks on the beatles albums starting 1968 went DI into the board...if its good enough for them...

Before someone calls me out on that statement, this book is my source, Ive read it twice: http://www.recordingthebeatles.com/

j

check this: http://media.photobucket.com/image/wilco/thornberrie/000_02071.jpg?o=6

 

If you look closely you can see the outline of two speakers (12"s) and the mic is on one. The speakers are offset, making it a 50w low power twin. Whether its a Fender (vintage or RI) or a Victoria, only time can tell...

Are you the Bionic Man? I can barely see cab...however i am still sure as stated its a twin or something similar...

angle is hard to determine exact dimensions, im thinking that looks more like a tweed tremolux, circa 56...although it could be a twin or a bandmaster from same era...

im sorry i did i miss the pic of this amp?? link??

Nice...good luck...

I just bought a jazzmaster, and am about to get into a vintage martin, otherwise id be looking harder at your casino

These CIJ guitars, are they still being made? If not, when were they in production? '80s? I always hear they're as good as or better than their USA counterparts.

 

Anyway, sounds like you got a bargain. What color did you get?

looks like i need some polish...my two electrics

Ive already named the jazzmaster Mr Hanky

well...i went take some pics and my battery need recharging...so screw that

I wasnt sure how to start out playing it...i knew i needed to doo some mods, but i had decide whether to pull a before and after, or to just go ahead and mod it, then play it...

so...put a mustang bridge on it (although there are ways to make the stock one work, i play with .11s and real heavy low strings (Slinky heavy bottoms, .52-.42.-.30.-.22wound-.14-.11)...

The biggest grip about CIJ jazzmasters online is the pickups are too strat-like, so i swapped the neck pu out with a novak p-90, and put a new cap in on the bridge...the p90 has a shielding plate under it, so i only had to put copper shielding under the bridge pick up and on the non-stock pickguard (the cavity is painted with shielding paint)...i had to adjust the floating trem and intonate for the heavy strings...no noise whatsoever...

then plugged it in to my Fender DRRI straight, no effects...im pretty impressed: wonderful chiming highs, wickedly rich lows and terrific string balance...it takes a while to get used to the '2 guitars in one' set up of the controls, but after a bit i figured it out and am blow away with the number of sounds and tones i am able to get out of this thing...chording and arpeggios are a pleasure...and the low strings drone...

The strings below the bridge are fun to play with, some cool sounds there, but more importantly, they resonate ALOT, giving out wonderful harmonic overtones and more than compensating to the lack of sustain (as compared to my les paul)...the guitar really sing, and the thing feels more like an acoustic than almost any electric ive ever used, certainly more than any fender...i have not had too much buzzing, which often a problem, but im not sold on the really thin frets and string bending is no easy on this neck (its a jazz-master, not a blues master), so that stuff ill have to do on the gibson... i worked a bit trying to emulate the Impossible germany solo, it was hard to get the trem parts the sound was dead on...

two biggest cons, so far...as i mentioned, the trem bar is way to low, i have to find a way to add near an inch to its height...and the extra length of the arm means you have to pick right over the neck pick up, which is awkward..the other problem is that the volume knob is very easily turned, and i tend to downstroke right into it, ducking the volume lower in mid song, but this is an easy fix...

I can easily see why this is the go-to guitar for so many folks, it is unique, extremely flexible, very resonant, and wonderfully quirky...i dont know if itll be my number one yet, as i play in a lot of different groups, but its going to get alot of use...

Arrived today (damn ups, late, and the day after my record release party)...ill get some pics up...to my surprise, it turned out to be s*** brown, not black, hahaha, kind of cool...

I have replaced the bridge with a mustang set up, not sure about the buzzstop yet...its much more resonant than a strat, not as loose feeling as a tele...

ok what i am hating is the trem bar...it is too close to the body to push down much, i really can only use it by pulling it up and vibrating it...i cant pick and hold the bar at the same time either...part of it might be that im used to a bigsby on my les paul, but i cant use it worth dick...do they custom make these somewhere...theres no bending this thing to where im used to having a bar

need a cab to get from the strings to the neck!