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Post by benttop (Steve) on Dec 16, 2006 2:54:00 GMT -7
Three different people in our band came up to me at three different times and gushed about my playing and my sounds tonight. First the singer (d'OH!) who is a fledgling guitar player at home. Then the sound man (What the hell?) and he even shook my hand! Then the light guy comes over and wants to know all about how I'm getting the tones I had tonight. All three are frustrated guitarists I guess, but it was nice to have them all pile on the same night! The Stingray was just sounding gorgeous tonight - that Grosh Tele I tried to sell has earned it's rightful place on stage with me. It sounds so amazingly good through the Stingray. It is making me play a whole different way, and causing me to think differently about my approach. And the BB preamp was just working GREAT tonight - stepped on my Budda Wah while I had the BB turned on and OH MY GAWD - there's the Wah sound I've been looking for! You can't have much better than all that. So how'm I supposed to sleep?
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Post by taswegian on Dec 16, 2006 7:23:26 GMT -7
Steve, that's an incredibly inspiring post! I love the fact that you're still chasing the ultimate tone, still excited by it all, and still doing things as a player that suprise those around you and finding new approaches that inspire yourself. And that you achieve so much joy from just playing out. Awesome dude! Invisible karma +
Dr Z and Grosh guitars=inspiration!
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Post by Bill on Dec 16, 2006 8:31:09 GMT -7
Three props in one night, woo hoo! It's funny...sometimes I look out and see a half lit patron in the audience, and then he'll come up at the end of the night and compliment the playing and/or tone. It SHOULD register as a non event, but I appreciate comments from anyone. And when they come from a source like your singer, sound and light man, that's all the better! You know when your playing is over the top, and you also know when your rig is sounding tight... it's always nice when someone, even one person, acknowledges it.
Of course there's always the flip side. Once we were playing "Sky is Cryin", and a group of three guys got up in the middle and walked out looking disgusted. As they walked past the stage one guy yelled out he could play it better than I could with one hand behind his back. ;D...hey thanks for your helpful thoughts!...and so it goes playing the bars.
As for your BB, I'm still anxiously waiting on mine. It was shipped out of WA Tuesday, destination the east coast (long haul)...hope it shows up today.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Dec 16, 2006 11:31:07 GMT -7
Thanks guys. It sure is nice to get a heartfelt complement once in a while. And the Stingray was sounding SO good last night - whoa! Gotta play out again tonight, so I'm looking forward to it. Last night when I first plugged in was the first time I had the Stingray set up since a couple weekends ago and as always, I played a few notes, and started grinning.
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cosmo
Full Member
Posts: 156
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Post by cosmo on Dec 16, 2006 16:19:52 GMT -7
It is great to get compliments--much deserved, I'm sure. For me, I often play in jam situations through silverface Supers, and when I get a compliment, I'm pretty sure the BB is at least partly responsible. Nice post!
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Post by telejas on Dec 18, 2006 9:47:16 GMT -7
I like it better when someone compliments me on my tone more now-a-days than when someone compliments me on my playing. It means that all the time trying out amps and money invested in to gear isn't a worthless and overlooked effort.
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Post by Bill on Dec 18, 2006 10:09:47 GMT -7
I like it better when someone compliments me on my tone more now-a-days than when someone compliments me on my playing. It means that all the time trying out amps and money invested in to gear isn't a worthless and overlooked effort. Ya know, I agree with that. I spend a lot of time and money chasing down good tone, more on it than on chops. I bet if you did a poll with Z owners, most would rather be complimented on tone than technique. Of course it doesn't hurt to have it all wrapped up like BW.
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Post by billyguitar on Dec 18, 2006 12:39:30 GMT -7
I usually get this comment, "Hey dude! I request you take a break!". I hardly ever play where there are other musicians. Occasionally there might be someone who plays. They usually compliment me on my style and say stuff like they'd like to learn the kind of stuff I do. I thank them and answer any questions I can. A while back we played a benefit for a local harmonica player who's friends with the band, who by the way has just been inducted into the country music hall of fame! He had a harmonica playing friend of his from Nashville named Charlie McCoy come to town to be the main attraction, another country music hall of famer who's been on more hit records than you can shake a stick at. When we played our set Charlie came over to me and wanted to talk. He said I must've been a rock 'n roller before I started playing the swing blues. I said I was. I don't know what he meant be he was very chatty so I guess it must not have been an insult!
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Post by Bill on Dec 18, 2006 19:28:35 GMT -7
Well the Xotic BB finally arrived, and I definitely dig this pedal with the Stingray. At this point early on I'm pretty happy with the gain down around 9:00/ 10:00 (just like the Keeley BD-2), and vol up at noon. Very responsive, lots of gain on tap, fat & smooth, a little more compressed & a bit less bite than I like...but all in all a killer little pedal. As always, the jury is out until a loud rehearsal (tomorrow), but I'm expecting it'll do real good.
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Post by billyguitar on Dec 18, 2006 20:06:02 GMT -7
I do think the BB is one of the more natural overdrives I've ever heard.
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Post by stratdev on Dec 22, 2006 2:44:53 GMT -7
About 8 years ago I got a comment in a bar that literally changed the way I play. I had become known around Philly as the BB Guy...spent years on that minimalist approach analyzing BB's tendencies and nuances. This well-dressed elderly gentleman was sitting right in front of me and we finished the set with BB's "Don't Answer the Door." When we were done he signaled me to come over and says, "Friend, you really nailed BB there." I was flattered, but then he reached around the back of my head and pulled me so he could speak right into my left ear. "The problem is, son, he already did it." Hit home like a brick... I had spent years trying to nail someone else's sound and had no real style of my own. It was the best constructive criticism I ever received...I owe that guy but never got his name, nor saw him again...
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Dec 22, 2006 6:43:42 GMT -7
Well BB King is mighty fine training material...
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Post by zdogma on Dec 22, 2006 6:54:43 GMT -7
Well BB King is mighty fine training material... Agreed. I think there's a lot to learn from BB, not just the licks. He really knows how to put on a show and works the crowd like no one else.
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Post by billyguitar on Dec 22, 2006 8:59:58 GMT -7
I think that guy must've been one of the undercover Blues Police. I imprinted on BB when I was in Junior High. Almost 40 years later it still comes out in my playing and I'm proud of it. It comes out in little things, a vibratoed note, a bend, it's all good. He was/is a huge fan of Louis Jordan. He did a whole album of it recently, sadly not very well. We play a lot of Louis Jordan stuff now and I mix up a little BB into it every chance I get.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Dec 22, 2006 10:03:13 GMT -7
Yep. Can't imagine BB King using a BB Preamp though...
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Post by dock66 on Dec 22, 2006 14:19:50 GMT -7
The man can play and entertain the crowd. Much love for BB.
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Post by billyguitar on Dec 22, 2006 16:17:48 GMT -7
I'll watch BB anytime I can!
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Post by stratdev on Dec 26, 2006 2:10:10 GMT -7
Yep. Can't imagine BB King using a BB Preamp though... How come? That's exactly the kind of thing one would do to put their own "stank" on the BB King thing! I've been using my Stang Ray and an Analog.Man KOT... for BB stuff with a tele or my Z-28 or Deluxe Reverb with a strat. I lookin' more for the emotional BB sound (mixolydian and chromatic runs, the big punctuating single octave accents, etc), not a dead-on tone copy (though I used to use a 335 and try to do just that). I get a kick out of the kids trying to match SRV note for note. Imagine they will be the next version of the "blues police." I like mixing stuff up...we do a bluesy version of Edwin Starr's "25 Miles." I do a highly modified version of Zappa's solo in "Zombie Woof" in that song. It just seems to fit and moves the tune in a different direction. Another odd example is using Mike Bloomfield-esque licks in Luther Ingram's "If Lovin' You is Wrong I Don't Wanna Be Right." Just tryin' to avoid parroting back re-hashes of the expected treatments. These are a couple examples that actually work... believe me, I've concocted hundreds that don't!!!
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