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Dear Bill,
"Also alot of Eddie Bertrand stuff. For example his solos on "Scratch"
would sound different with lighter strings."
Well, Eddie Bertrand plays with me on my new CD's so the scoop is that
he now plays with 010's. And he sounds the same (when he wants to) as
he ever did in the old days. Eddie and I have discussed this ad
nauseum. Mostly, we're after new sonic territory which should be
obvious to all who hear what we've done.
"For example Dick Dale's "Night Rider" that just sounds right being
double picked on heavy strings being forced through a reverb tank."
You're right, Dick gets a very large tone on that tune. But that's his
sound. If I copied it, there would be little reason for the likes of me
in instro circles.
" I've always thought that the guitarists who I enjoy that use lighter
strings have a weaker sound than those I listen to who use heavier
strings."
It depends on your specific taste. We gravitate toward defending that
which we admire. We perceive our perceptions. By taking Dick's double
picking and mixing it up with neo-classical riffing from Pagannini,
Mozart, Bach and Yngwie, I've moved into my own turf (...err, surf)
with what I'm doing. Blend that in with Ventures melodicism and a dash
of Jeff Beck and you've got what I'm doing. The shift and sacrifice to
accomodate all these things at once makes heavy strings for me a
non-starter. For someone who likes the older trad style, heavy is the
way to go for nailing that sound. For my sound, quite the opposite.
"I agree, alot of tone does come from your hands, but still I cannot
imagine some surf songs sounding the same on lighter strings."
I sound the same no matter which guitar I use and generally, regardless
of type of string. This is because I have my own sound. As does Dick
who picked up MY guitar that night in Denver and sounded the same on
mine as he does on his.My setup was, arguably, less suitable for his
level of hand attack but that's because he needs that big string to
acheive the sound HE'S after. (Of course, he broke a string trying,
but I forgave him for that! :-) I do prefer nickel wound because they
last and don't exaggerate finger noise. (Fender 150's to be exact.)
Regards,
Les
On Monday, September 6, 2004, at 03:02 PM, supertwangreverb wrote:
>
>> Dear Supertwang,
>> I swapped strings to get lighter sets as well. That became
> especially
>> important as the 60's moved along and blusier styles took hold.
>>
>> Like I said in another post, my palm muting skill (which I learned
> thru
>> many years of messing about with pedal steel guitar) has served me
> well
>> in achieving very fast double picking speeds on lighter strings.
> This
>> was necessary to do both surf technique and bending on the same
> guitar.
>> I also use knuckle blocking for keeping strings under control at
> those
>> speeds.
>
> That's pretty good that you can do that Les. I agree, alot of tone
> does come from your hands, but still I cannot imagine some surf songs
> sounding the same on lighter strings. For example Dick Dale's "Night
> Rider" that just sounds right being double picked on heavy strings
> being forced through a reverb tank. Also alot of Eddie Bertrand
> stuff. For example his solos on "Scratch" would sound different with
> lighter strings. As much as you can say that tone comes from ones
> hands there is something to be said for using heavy strings and
> hitting them hard, exspecially in the surf genre. I've always
> thought that the guitarists who I enjoy that use lighter strings have
> a weaker sound than those I listen to who use heavier strings. I
> love James Burton and his playing was ahead of its time, however, his
> tone wasn't really all that great. But that's just an opinion I
> guess.
>
> Bill Aqua
>
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