Here is my attempt at Dick Dale's version of "Hava Nagila" from his '63 Capitol debut album "King of Surf Guitar". I always thought that was one of his most exciting tracks - and one of the most challenging to play. The relentless tremolo picking takes its toll pretty quickly! But it was very influential on my own playing. (I was listening to the original track on my iPod and played along.) Hope you like it!

Ivan
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It just kills! My guess is the Mrs wasn't home this afternoon because that is loud! This is not the song you walk out on stage and jump into unless you have warmed up thoroughly!

Is that a genuine blonde BM? I have drip edge that is in for just that conversion.

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Thank you guys! I really appreciate that, especially Fady's lovely comments. I love this place! It's been home for many years. Though I've been on FB for a while now, I would never want to give up SG101. I do wish people would post more here, but what can you do. I try to spur things on occasion. I'm just glad to see that it's still going and there are still people involved!

David, yep, it was crankin' (especially relative to my small music room)! And yep, the Mrs was most certainly NOT at home! No way I could get away with that if she were. The settings were: the middle pickup; Amp: Normal channel, Vol 6.5, Treble 6.5, Bass 5.5, Presence 10. Reverb unit: Dwell 5, Mix 5, Tone 6. Finally, that is indeed a genuine '62 Bandmaster, though the output transformer has been upgraded. The cab is a '68 drip-edge Bassman that I recovered in rough blonde/oxblood (it was badly beat up when I got it) and stuck a couple of EV 12Ls into it. (Now the cab may as well be nailed to the floor - it would be equally movable!) It was actually sold to me on eBay as a Bandmaster cab, but they screwed up. I was fine with it, it's a slightly bigger cab than the Bandmaster's so I thought it might also sound a bit bigger, maybe a bit more bass. But I did have to get the top holes redrilled for the Bandmaster head, though.

Thanks again, fellas!

Ivan
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Ivan, you sounded absolutely AMAZING! Seriously, you nailed it my friend. The only thing I would do differently is remove the oxblood and put gold sparkle in... Kidding!

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Awsome job, Ivan!

Back in the 90s, I saw Dick Dale at 'The Brick By Brick', in San Diego.
I'm guessing that most of the people there were new to his music; they were obviously having a good time, but it didn't seem to me that they were actually familier with it. (As Pulp Fiction had just come out a few years earlier, I think they knew Misirlou, and probably not much else.)

About halfway through the show, he stopped to chat with the audience, and asked if anyone had any requests. No one was shouting much of anything.
At the top my lungs, I shouted 'Hava Nagila'. He looked in my direction, and I shouted it again. We made eye contact (I was probably about 10 feet away from him), and he smiled and nodded. I shouted it a third time, but not nearly as loud.

He said, "Hava Nagila, yeah, we can do that one." He turned to the band
(Ron Eglit was on Bass, I forget who was on drums), cued them up, and counted it off, and tore into it. I still get goosebumps thinking about it.

I've seen most of my Guitar gods, but none of the rest of them has ever played a song because I requested it. Good times. That was a night I'll never forget.

Cheers, Clark

-Less Paul, more Reverb-

-Cheers, Clark-

-Less Paul, more Reverb-

Dig it! Ivan, when you guys are live and get to the inevitable (or two) DD songs have you ever incorporated this one?
Thanks so much for being the mouse that roared while the cat's away. Have to do the same thing here "to insure the domestic tranquility." ;)

Been considering having a spare baffle done for the Vibrolux & sticking a really in-your-face 12 in there. (Have to settle on a speaker that complements my Gomez tank.) Sometimes ya just want to move more air.

Wes
SoCal ex-pat with a snow shovel

DISCLAIMER: The above is opinion/suggestion only & should not be used for mission planning/navigation, tweaking of instruments, beverage selection, or wardrobe choices.

Badger wrote:

Dig it! Ivan, when you guys are live and get to the inevitable (or two) DD songs have you ever incorporated this one?

The Space Cossacks did. We recorded it twice - once a rough version for our demo cassette, and then later on in the real studio - that version came out on the Never Mind the Bolsheviks comp. The Madeira has stuck with The Victor and Night Rider, and on very rare occasions Taco Wagon (never recorded).

Thanks so much for being the mouse that roared while the cat's away. Have to do the same thing here "to insure the domestic tranquility." ;)

I suspect pretty much all of us are in that same boat!

Been considering having a spare baffle done for the Vibrolux & sticking a really in-your-face 12 in there. (Have to settle on a speaker that complements my Gomez tank.) Sometimes ya just want to move more air.

I remember a discussion, probably on SG101, about this very issue some years ago, and the consensus I believe was that 2x10s will move more air than 1x112. If you really want to be able to move more air, the best thing to do, I think, would be to get a 2x12 closed-back cab and plug in your Vibrolux into that one, bypassing the internal speakers. I do that sometimes with my Vibroverb (at home only, though), and the thing just comes alive! It really becomes a fire-breathing dragon at that point.

Ivan
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IvanP wrote:

I remember a discussion, probably on SG101, about this very issue some years ago, and the consensus I believe was that 2x10s will move more air than 1x112. If you really want to be able to move more air, the best thing to do, I think, would be to get a 2x12 closed-back cab and plug in your Vibrolux into that one, bypassing the internal speakers. I do that sometimes with my Vibroverb (at home only, though), and the thing just comes alive! It really becomes a fire-breathing dragon at that point.

You're right (no shock); I remember that discussion. I was referring more to the sonic difference in a 12 vs. 10 but the idea of a 2x12 cabinet around just for grins (kripes, where am I gonna put it?) is appealing - so between you & Stratdancer that's 2 votes. Hmmm.

Oh, yeah - just fired up Never Mind the Bolsheviks again; forgot to look there.

Surf_Skater wrote:

Thanks for sharing this Ivan. If you keep playing like that your right forearm is going to get bigger than the left!

No kidding, who needs PT? I can attest the man will give you a full handshake.

Wes
SoCal ex-pat with a snow shovel

DISCLAIMER: The above is opinion/suggestion only & should not be used for mission planning/navigation, tweaking of instruments, beverage selection, or wardrobe choices.

Wouldn't all weirdo stalkers deny that they're weirdo stalkers??? I'm not sure your defense really holds! ;)

My hand is not resting on the strings or the guitar at all when doing that aggressive double picking. You've got put your whole arm into it, at least from the elbow down. There are many different ways to do this, and if you search for 'double picking' or 'tremolo picking' on SG101, you will find multiple threads with people offering a great deal of helpful advice on how to do this without hurting yourself and being able to keep it going for the length of a song. Some people are big believers in double-picking from the wrist, but I just don't think you can get the same aggression and power that DD's version of Hava Nagila requires. I do often double-pick from the wrist, and in that case you get more of a mandolin sound, which is great for certain things, but not for the massive DD-style aggression. Anyway, I honestly don't know how it would be possible to engage in any kind of double-picking while resting any part of your hand on the guitar or the strings, so I'm a little puzzled there. I think you basically have to float the hand above the strings. And then it's a matter of practice to move from one string to another smoothly. I hope that helps.

As far as my pick, I think I hold it in a very standard, usual way. Maybe one thing: I tend to have only the very tip protruding from my thumb and forefinger when double picking, to have minimum surface of the pick attacking the string, in order to facilitate speed and minimize drag. As a result I'll often shave off the tip of my forefinger fingernail due to it dragging a bit on the strings, from the pick tip being so minimal. That's about the only thing I can think of that might be any different.

Good luck! I hope you master the technique in no time!

Ivan
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