Category: Guitar

I Live to Play Guitar Again

Whatever it was that I did this weekend, it worked. I had very little pain in my hands during last night’s band practice. Every now and then it would flare up just to remind me that it was there, but it was never bad and it didn’t last long.

So what was the cure this time? Increased practicing on my own? Starting to warm up an hour before rehearsal started? Stretching sooner? The double shot of Advil I took just as rehearsal was starting? Playing my Les Paul instead of my ES-335?

Or did I just relax and not tense up the way I usually do.

I don’t know. Some combination of all of them? I don’t know, but I’ll try the same routine next week. With the pain out of the equation, I was able to concentrate on what I was doing and I felt much better about the quality of my guitar playing. My singing too, although who cares about that, amiright?

We played a bunch of new songs, and for the first time since I started mic’ing the room the recording sounds half decent. The vocals still need to come up and maybe the guitar needs to back off a bit (fat chance of that happening, amiright?). I even did a tiny bit of mastering this time. It’s just a stereo track. I put a compresser on the whole track, added a little eq, and just the tiniest touch of reverb. I also unmuted the left side of the drums.

What do you think?

Prep-Time Part 1

Practice is at 6:00 tonight. A little after 1:00 I did some prep work. The Les Paul hasn’t been played in a few months and the strings were rusted and grimy. I took off the strings and gave the neck a serious wiping down. It helped, but it’s not perfect. I need to polish it but can’t find my bottle of goop right now.  
I put on a new set of strings and played through my homework (four songs) a few times. I played sitting and standing, and all four new songs sit around the 2nd fret, which is usually what triggers the pain. No problems at all. Maybe I just need to relax when I play with other people around.
We are going to eat dinner soon. After that I will play again for another 45 minutes or so. I’m also planning to bring a bottle of Advil to practice too. Hopefully all of this combined will keep me mostly pain free tonight and I’ll actually be able to focus on playing the damn guitar as well as I can for a change.

Determination

Oh yeah, I will play better at tomorrow’s practice.  I will.  Oh I will.

I’m taking a different guitar.  Not because the 335 had anything to do with last week’s trouble, but because karma and the cosmos and shit.  Yeah, Robbo’s on the desperate side.

   
 
And while I still haven’t shelled out the $1500 for a Fender Twin Reverb, I do still have a software simulation of a Fender Twin Reverb.  

  

Music from this Past Weekend

I told you all that I played really poorly at this past weekend’s practice, and that the pain in my hand was significantly worse than ever before.

Did I also tell you that I recorded most of the practice and didn’t notice until we were done that one of the two mics on the drums was muted on the mixing board? Other than that the recording is almost okay. Next week I have to turn my vocal mic WAY up and maybe nudge the PA output up a smidgen. Also maybe turn up the guitar a bit. As for the drums, un-mute the right channel (you fat idiot), pull the low end up a little more (again) and maybe turn both channels down a hair so that the crash cymbals don’t blow your brains out when you’re listening with headphones on.

Oh yeah, and don’t play the guitar like a quadriplegic with the IQ of a salmon egg. That will help improve the quality as well.

Here are a few songs from Sunday. I picked the ones with the fewest colossal guitar screw ups, although the guitar is a touch out of tune on the Gaga tune.

Awful

My guitar playing at practice tonight was probably the worst it’s ever been when other people were in the room.  I’m stunned they didn’t sack me on the spot.  My hands hurt so much I just couldn’t make them do what I needed them to do.  It was just awful.  What if this never goes away?  What if it gets worse?  What if I can’t play anymore?  When does it get so bad I have to see a doctor, and what if the doctor tells me I’m done for good?  I am literally scared.

Gear

I have a bad case of gear acquisition syndrome tonight. I’m starting to think about playing scratch cards at the lottery agent/gas station down the street from us. If I hit a big ticket I can get that $1500 Fender Twin Reverb and maybe one of the four or five distortion pedals I’m curious about. This is starting to annoy even me.

Amp Confusion

I think I’m falling out of love with my amp.  I have a Marshall Valvestate VS265.  My friend Larry owned one and it had a feature that I absolutely drooled over.  Three switchable channels.  One clean, two distorted.  That’s not too unusual, but the part that I thought kicked ass was that all three channels had their own separate volume.  Meaning I could use one channel for rhythm and another for leads and the leads could be at a significantly louder volume and not get buried in the mix.  Abso-freakin-epically-lutely awesome.

I bought it in 2003 before my first gig with Break Even.  At the time I felt it was a little toppy, but Steve the other guitarist played a little bassy and the two tones meshed together fairly well.

Today?  I’m sick of being so trebly.  I can’t seem to find any bottom end no matter what I do.  It’s making me fall out of love with my amp.  So what do I do?  I’m considering buying a distortion pedal and only using one channel.  If I can get a fatter, warmer sound that way, it might be good.  The alternative is a new amp.  I spent the evening watching sales videos for Fender Twin Reverbs.  Yes they are usually on the top heavy side, and I’d need a distortion pedal, but something about it is making me want want want.  Sadly I don’t have $1500 lying around.

Gear… My kryptonite.

More Rush Pics

Just a few more pics from the Rush show last night. Epic, my friends. Utterly Epic.

They played four songs that I had never seen them do in person, one of which I had never heard them do on recording either. This is from that song, but no spoilers here. I had to take this because, is that a Paul Reed Smith 12-string???
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I had read that during the break they took after the last tour Geddy Lee added a collecting obsession to his existing wine and baseball memorabilia collecting obsession. The new one being bass guitars. We saw a lot of new and interesting instruments last night. This of course is not one of them. I’m pretty sure the Green Fender Jazz made an appearance last tour. Oh well.
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Ever since the late 80’s, Neil Peart has been playing with two drum kits. One, the great big sucker he always has in front of him, and the other a smaller mostly electric kit that would spin around to his front from time to time. Over the years the two kits sort of blended together into one 360 degree monster kit. This tour? There were two kits… just not at the same time. This is the first of the two, which he used during the first set.
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This was the second kit. A replica of his old 1970’s kit, which he called “Chromey.” Note the tubular bells in the back. Ever since seeing the Exit Stage Left video from 1981 I have been wanting to see Neil stand up and play some damn tubular bells. Unfortunately, that was replaced by his MIDI marimba thingie before I managed to see my first show back in 1987. Last night though… dream fulfilled! Tubular Freakin’ Bells!
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On the second song of the first set, Alex Lifeson played a Rickenbacker guitar. Later on, Geddy Lee played a Gibson Bass. It was like the 1970’s just flipped itself upside down and turned itself over backward. It was just so weird.
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Is that one of those weird new Gibson ES-Les Pauls? A semi-hollow version of the ultimate solid body guitar. Not sure I get the point of that.
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Geddy with a Rickenbacker. Back in the 80’s that was all I really wanted in this world. Just to have Geddy Lee stop playing those little Steinberger things, or that weird Wal thing. Just play a Rickenbacker.
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Again, this is more like it. Alex with his Gibson ES-355. And all was right with the world.
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Next week we see them again in New York. I can’t freakin’ wait!