I want to get into the surf thing and mix it with my blues style at some point.

Anyone have links or bands I should get into? I want to get a jaguar at some point but used, fender is ripping people off with the prices.

Thanks.

Shame on Fender for trying to turn a profit. How dare them for trying to make a profit & at the same time give people jobs in multiple countries. The nerve of them. Thats OK. By the time Congress & the Senate get finished with all their tax increases, none of us will have any spare income to buy gear with anyway. Those of us in California will get twice as hard. No worries.

...actually, macsareback ...last year when I first joined, I downloaded a truckload of mp3's from this very site (and still do occasionally) with original music done by the members. You'll see reoccurring patterns in the songs which belong to surf that you won't find in blues.

The podcasts (for download) have a great variety of first - third wave surf..

..and if that isn't enough, download the "music comp" in the left hand column. You'll have more 'surf' inspiration then you can poke a longboard at

.I also agree with Badash's comments.

Did I mention the video section in the forum - a great education in surf music there too.

What's more I don't get any commission for saying this ...

hope it helps
(I'm from a rock/punk/gospel/grunge/folk/techno background)

Tim O
oestmann guitar

tunes

clips

Why would you want a fender anyway? Look around... other companies have come around in the last 50 years... might find one that makes guitars that are 1000x better than the Sears quality fender stuff

I wanna play just like him when i grow up...

That's a funny clip Klas...I wasn't sure what was going to come out...

Even though I come from a "blues background", perhaps the surf style is "anti-blues"

...

It is an uneasy mix. There are some surf attributes..clean tone, reverb, strong strict time, techniques like tremolo picking and vibrato dips...composed tunes.

Much of it is blues form derivative, but improvisation such as in blues is pretty rare. There are some early blues players with an almost surf like tone I guess...some that specialized in instrumental music such as Freddie King (of "Hideaway" fame) and some of them were caught in an era when record companies tried to make them "surf-friendly" with little success.

Actually...maybe there are some clues there in Freddie King. I am most familiar with the EC version from Mayall's Beano album but here is the original from a TV appearance. (surf approved go-go girls included)

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

So...here we have a very riff based blues boogie (almost like a pianists left hand style), catchy simple and repetitive melodies with a couple of clearly defined sections, no typical blues bending, up tempo...a clean (yet almost "dead" percussive tone), you could easily see a reverb drenched version being regarded as "surf" just by adding the effect to this performance!

Freddie is the often forgotten of the three Kings (bb Kings, blues holler style, and Albert Kings extreme bending licks completing the trio) especially by newer players. His abilities were not lost on the early players like Clapton, but then everything changed in their hands in tone and attitude.

...

Perhaps the cross over evident here is something that was lost on many of the new generation of blues players...a sense of humour and wanting a good time! People did dance to the blues you know....hehehe! It's not lost on the older guys like BB who are still playing...they know how to have a good time and work as a unit...but a lot of guitar placed blues is kind of "guitar hero" stuff. Surf is kind of "anti" that kind of thing I guess.

Another aspect of Surf that is often overlooked by us guitar players is the importance of the drums...often these become the driving force of the more effective surf sounds. Songs like Pipeline and Hawaii 5-0 illustrate that, simple melodies that give a little form to almost drum solo's! You don't tend to find that in blues, and while the pounding drums are often toned down, players from Dick Dale and Bands like the Slacktone today still have the drums as a vital part of the compositions, not just a supporting role for the guitar, often the reverse.

....

So...I think it is going to take a lot of creativity to get the two streams to mix...but perhaps it can be done. Is it possible to have surf music that convey the same sentiment as the blues, I'm not sure, certainly it can convey music that is powerful in a different way.

If one went back to the original "function" of the blues sociologically you'd see that the blues, much as it might lyrically dwell on life's woes, it was a form that displayed a lightheartedness and was meant to lift you out of them. Surf music perhaps has the same intent, but a different aesthetic...but just as valid. But successfully mixing the two may be tricky.

Still...there are worse bedfellows than the blues with surf...some of the guitar "shredders" that have attempted a mix have made some of the worst "surf" I have ever heard!

...

An interesting player, and perhaps my fav is Jeff Beck...constantly evolving, he continues to make great "hot rod" inspired instrumentals and retain "guitar Hero status"...much of his music has lots of surf attributes...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV7OAWs2Q30&feature=related

Tunes like this show some "surf" attributes perhaps. Again, the importance of the drums...almost sound effect type playing, inovative use of the tremolo arm vibrato, composed sections, conveying a mood (in this case hot rod's instead of the ocean).

Other aspects of JB's style is the adoption of "ethnic" melodies...like the beautiful "Nadia"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYqN-3JEe1Y...also true to the melody renditions of "day in the Life" or "Over the rainbow" are aspects of playing a "song" over the solo.

A tune like "people get ready" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omjS9QxZ-8w&feature=related done san's rod stewart, shows how true he can remain to a tune...a hallmark of much of the surf sound and alien to much blues where "improvisation" and "licks" now rule.

Still...not "surf" per se, but having some of the features of the surf tradition and instro's with a clear blues influence. Mixes a lot of influences successfully though, including the newer electronic sounds of drum'n'bass in there...not bad for a guy who's 60+ !

...

So...perhaps it can be done...but I have yet to hear it done convincingly...tunes like SRV's Lenny http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YIHvK5WN7I would fit well with a lot of surf tunes and certainly has the "feel" of the surf aesthetic while still retaining the blues thing.

I'd be interested to see what "kind of blues" that could be come up with...or any successful blues/surf marriages...or is surf truely the "anti-blues"...

pete

oh...and with JB you could do worse than go back to the Yardbirds work for some of the garage rock aesthetic and tunes like Jeff's boogie to see the '50's rock influences and even the anthemic things like Beck's bolero that have an almost Telstar like intent...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1hijzkOrnk&feature=related

1 Mahogany HSS squier strat with trick wiring and noiseless SD JB pups...

other 1 Baby blue telecaster with tremolo, Fender WR-HB and DIY sustainer...

amp...fender hotrod deluxe + 15" cab!

macsareback
What other brands are there? Not many companies make single coil guitar anymore.

huh? I think you'll have a hard time naming five brands that DONT make a single coils guitar????? Im having a hard time naming one, actually.

Rules to live by #314:
"When in Italy, if the menu says something's grilled, don't assume it is."

https://www.facebook.com/The-Malbehavers-286429584796173/

HBkahuna
Shame on Fender for trying to turn a profit. How dare them for trying to make a profit & at the same time give people jobs in multiple countries. The nerve of them.

Oh please. FMIC owns so much shit it's not even funny. They sure as hell don't need to charge what they do for their products. "Trying to turn a profit" is a gross understatement.

I like a lot of what SurfAce says - simply, though, put on a surf drum beat (Ventures, Hawaii 5-0) and play a LOT of the same 12 bar blues riffs you already know.
Mix major and minor chords, and have fun!

Frugal guy that I am, I never saw the providence in buying brand new gear, especially when there's so much more out there on the used market and we have the advantage of Craigslist and Ebay. If you buy well you can always sell it back for most if not more than you originally spent. Let's not trash FMIC though, they employ a lot of people (though not as much as they did a few months ago ) I think it's already been proven on this forum that compared to their prices in the golden years and adjusted for inflation, they're much cheaper now.

Danny Snyder

"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party

Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF

Last edited: Mar 02, 2009 12:00:32

Jon
FMIC owns so much shit it's not even funny. They sure as hell don't need to charge what they do for their products. "Trying to turn a profit" is a gross understatement.

I must really take issue with your statement, Jon. Here is my evidence:

image

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Squier-CLASSIC-VIBE-Stratocaster-60s-Electric-Guitar-?sku=519339

If FMIC was so into just increasing their profit, would they introduce what is by all accounts a remarkably good guitar that you can buy new for $350? It seems that Fender is basically giving us all a choice of many different price points, especially when you consider all the Mexican-made Fenders. You may think that US-made Fenders are highly overpriced, whatever that means, but we can all still buy many good Fender models for much less - they're just not made in the US (but some people would say they are just as good).

It's true, nobody's above criticism, but it seems to me that a company should be mostly criticized for producing sub-standard products, not for making profit. After all, they're not holding a gun to your head to force you to buy anything...

Ivan
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