Size Matters!!

This one may require more editing and conscious thought. I don’t mean to string you along, but I haven’t quite gauged where I land on this issue.

When I was a child I played whatever strings I could get my hands on. Thank goodness for Rusty or whatever his name was at the music store next to Church’s Chicken!! I’m sure I wreaked havoc on both my intonation and feel, because I would often restring the B string with the extra E string that came in the pack, or some other ridiculous nonsense. I didn’t get it. At the time I was still so new to the game that I hadn’t developed preferences yet. Other people, likely, develop a real aesthetic very early on. I’m not that guy. I lacked the financials and the discernment.

When I had a little more experience I bought SIT strings because my brother went to school in Akron and they were decent and cheap. I favored a heavier gauge for my Strat copies, always 11’s or 12’s, at least. But my Strat copies were bullet proof or had incorrect truss rod adjustments so the strings gave me a consistent feel. Note that my guitar setup was terrible. I did it myself without sufficient knowledge, and my intonation was wrong at the fret and at the bridge, and my action and relief were wrong strings to neck. Most of those instruments could have been brought into better playing condition by a pro, but who would spend 30 packs worth of strings on getting a professional setup for a guitar that was going to get knocked around on a daily basis, toting it from school to rehearsal and to practice? It just didn’t make sense.

I also thought that SRV and Jimi Hendrix played heavier gauge strings, but that may not have been as it seemed. Jimi definitely detuned up to 2 whole steps down, and SRV was going lighter gauge the older he got. In my standard tuning, without guitar techs, I thought my deficiencies were the result of my own poor technique.

Once my hands became strong enough, and after I had been relegated to bass guitar often enough, I developed a very strength-centered, high exertion playing style that seemed natural enough when I played my own guitars, but seemed completely inappropriate playing the guitars of guys that already had figured out that basic guitar setups were crucial. I knew an awesome guy that had 7s on his shredders, and although I loved what I could do on it, I had very complex and irrational feelings about a guy that was content to play 7s on a serious guitar.

(Side note: people often get their children terrible starter instruments. I get it. But I wouldn’t have done that back in those days for my own kid. But especially nowadays starter guitars (and flutes and keyboards, etc.) are of far higher quality than those of yore. Likely it is the developments in cad technology that account for this. Back then, and in some cases, currently, some manufacturers are criminally negligent in an attempt to make a “working” instrument. This frustrates the child and sets their playing back a great deal. Since lower price instruments are now more competitive, performance wise, and more consistent in their manufacturing build quality, an argument could be made that you get more for your money. But a higher end instrument that a child loses interest in will maintain a resale value that will be beneficial in the long run. That is, if your child is not one to tear it up. With advances in AirTags and trackers, you might even be able to prevent them from losing them on the bus ride home!)

Eventually I got job, my own guitar and had a car and could buy the strings that I wanted and afford the repairs that I needed. Very slowly, over decades, I have finally come to a startling conclusion.

I would have originally said that Guitars come from the factory a certain way, and that vision should be honored to some extent. If possible, restring it once or twice with the factory gauge strings and live with the designers vision of what the guitar should be. There is merit there. But after that, just put tens on. On everything. The jazz boxes, Strats, Teles, Gibsons and acoustics. I will admit to having 12s on my Ovation, but forget them on anything else acoustic. Maybe 11’s, but 10’s. (Okay, I also probably have 12s on one other acoustic, but I will probably sell it, with haste.)

I get that neck length and string angle and everything play into it, and that if I get used to it, it will ultimately be a good thing that I can feel the guitar and instantaneously adjust to someone else’s vision of correct string gauge. But why? … on my own axes?

Again this alludes to the fact that I play with digital modelers and can consciously and concisely set applicable tone parameters for whatever perceived beefiness that is necessary. I find this even easier on real amps, though.

At this point though, my best playing happens on an axe that is set up correctly, with tens, is electric, is turned up very loudly, but I am playing very softly. It’s just my groove. I often still crave the light top/ heavy bottoms that I used to use. But at the same time I have less call to play chunky distortion, which Lt. Top Hv bottoms excel at. But I still hanker for them on the clean tones of solo guitar. I still prefer a wound g string, as well.

What do you play? Consistent in gauge across the board, or do you change gauges so that your Gibson feels like a Fender?

In Bass Guitar I still do prefer a heavier gauge on anything greater than or equal to a 5 string. But it comes down to an economy of sorts. The 5 strings should have the same gauges as the 4 string plus the extra string. This cuts down on waste and logging which guitar is set up for which set of strings.

Check out Rick Beato talking about string gauge in his YouTube video, and holler back at me about how wrong I am!! Note, I reserve the right to edit this nonsense when my sleep debt is less than the 12% it is currently!!!

A final note, the quality of guitars I play is nowhere near the quality of instruments I see out there in public, whether you see pricing or finish as the yardstick. Perhaps I lack the discretionary ability to discern, still to this day, between the guitar quality and this would affect my decisions about which ways to outfit the original instruments. I definitely prefer guitars that are Strat in shape and neck relief and do not enjoy playing steel string acoustics, in general. This is likely a technique issue, but I think full disclosure should include my natural bias.

Picking Plectrums

I am very, perhaps inordinately, focused on tone right now, if that’s even possible. I harbor unpopular notions. I embrace amp modeling and technology. I only have two tube amps. (Peavey classic 4x10) (Kustom tuck and roll Silver Bass amp into matching 4x10 cab)

I rock the Fender Mustang IV, but even more often I rock the Fractal Audio AX8. I have cabinets and speakers that I rock at home, but there has been an evolution towards frfr speakers and array speakers that has completely changed the game. I have IEMs but I don’t even know if they work right now.

All this to say that I am super interested in improving my tone. I feel a weird type of something that I am sure must be a self-esteem issue of feeling like everybody has better tone than me! I’m working on it from both sides. But the biggest thing on my mind right now is the interface between my brain and the guitar, which is my fingers, thumb and plectrum.

I came from a different era where Big Stubbies and metal picks dominated my early years. I like big picks. I have big hands. I like using my hands the most. But that is how I play sitting down in private. Out in these streets I have a new plan.

I rock these wood picks from Revo Straps that are my all time favorite. The shape is better for the attack that I want. I like the mellow sound of the wood, but I also like the rigidity of the surface and their shape. Many picks that are wood are too thick or lack the proper edge to get the sound I want. These picks are a perfect blend of durability and tone. I have found nothing that comes close. Full disclosure, I go through a lot of these, but mostly only because I play on the river, outside in the weather, and often I forget to take everything out of my pockets and run them through a washing machine cycle. I do not recommend that type of harsh treatment. Otherwise, they remain sturdy and as they wear, they get even better, though they start off wonderfully, as well.

I am interested in finding stone plectrums that will give me a harsher attack, but that is mostly for wanting an effect or special sound occasionally.

As of right now, I’m interested in what other people think and believe about that interface to the guitar string being a specific material. Does amp modeling make you more interested in all of the minute decisions affecting attack like it does for me? (I feel that wood picks do a poor man’s compression with less presence than a thin pick and better feel) What picks do you use?!? What advice do you have for my tone? Hit me up, and let’s discuss in a format that is open, at your leisure, for topical communication and shared info. Thanks in advance.

Zen and the Art of Music

There is a desire I have to be the strong, silent type. A man of action, not words, with irrefutable, concrete evidence, as opposed to wordy diatribe, as my legacy. I believe, strongly, that one should engage in personal, private reflection, that unceremoniously elevates mindfulness as a means to accomplish one’s personal goals. Thusly I will expound, at length, with video and audio support, publicly, my means to honoring these basic tenets.

There are a great many varied topics that I study at length, and pursue in a methodical fashion, if, like me, you define methodical fashion as watching YouTube and hitting up wikipedia multiple times a week. It is very important to separate fact from delusion, recognize one’s own distance from the topic, and be open to the possibility that your mind can be changed in the face of important, novel thought.

So quickly, allow me to expound on what is likely obvious to most but was not to me.

The interface between practice, muscle memory and discovery is directly in my face as I gently assist my daughter in finding out who she is. Fascinatingly she is a Big Emotion person who largely remains optimistic and excited. Too often these types can get bogged down by outside forces robbing them of their joie de vivre as ever changing landscapes require ever evolving strategies to minimize plateaus or even setbacks. This constant grinding can wear on one’s soul, if they even have one, and slow the already lengthy process of achievement.

Practice for this young child is a lofty goal. There is very little interface that she wishes to have that does not, in some way, involve an audience to her herculean effort and struggle, usually me. As a people pleaser, it may be easy to conspicuously practice, but nearly impossible to buckle down and do work without witness. It should go without saying that though the origin of this behavior is, of course, absolutely foreign to me, I find it fascinating. Conspicuous practice is the thin semantic veiling of what is actually performance, which is certainly crucial to development in many fields. But only in deliberate, repetitive drill will we create a new default movement that will become reflex.

Somewhere in this building of reflex, deep within the meditative aspect of mindfulness to the task at hand, an appreciation of ergonomics develops. This is a natural by-product of knowledgeable and present attention, as healthy repetition involves reducing the amount of exertion to create each deliberate action sustainably. This type of rote learning eschews the ostentatious displays and grimaces that seem to dramatize performance as a barely controlled, even painful, super human exertion. Great theatre, but poor technique results. But it should be argued that no matter how this repetition is initiated, ultimately it serves a grand purpose.

Somewhere in this repetition the mind subconsciously begins to perceive patterns and similarities between seemingly disparate actions or forms. Deep within the brain, neural synapses initiate intellectual anastomoses, platforming, and further buffering experience and buttressing previously earned knowledge. As the amount of these experiences grows, without conscious thought, new and original thought and action form, spontaneously, miraculously, unceremoniously, covertly, and, seemingly, accidentally from the structured deliberate labor. But, indeed, this is no accident. That original and unique, individual expression comes from such humble and ubiquitous beginnings should come as no surprise to those that consider that all actions undertaken deliberately or suffered randomly combine to create that one of a kind experience that leads to innovation. Wherever experience, physiology and mental capability interface with the truth of ergonomic movement and intention, innovation is inextricably linked.

But sometimes these gains can be so subtle, as to almost go unnoticed, and only within fairly objective consideration, or under great stress, can we even detects these enhancements. (Miyagi, LaRusso, et. al, 1984)

With unwavering determination, quietly, presently and deliberately undertake these repetitions with an assuredness that the results are already palpable.

If you are teaching another, please kindly keep in mind that actual pain is a significant indicator demanding immediate reflection, and attempt a new technique simultaneously in order to remain cognizant that patient focus on the genuine effort being made, not obvious “result” is the real task at hand. Also kindly remember that mistakes are so central to the process of true learning that they should be given scrutiny, and even welcomed hospitality, but should you feel the need to adopt them, they were never mistakes in the first place. Never compare the external results of your practice with those of anyone else, because you necessarily lack the context with which to be making a viable comparison.

I hope this makes self evident that the conciseness of thoughtful deliberate action, plus the randomness of simply living, create what ultimately becomes innovation, necessarily, because you are the only entity with this exact experience. This makes your utterance into the world unique and worthwhile. Expand it at every opportunity. Listen to pain, especially, and adjust accordingly! Even critically, and objectively note the criticism from others, though, very cautiously. But always embrace where you are and let that feed you. Remember that you are exactly where you should be, so that you can let those thoughts go and get closer to what seems like the truth, which is intentional symbolic expression and thought from intellectual inception to inspired creation. Mistake, as a word, connotes poorly, Choose whether to try more relaxed, deliberate repetition, or to explore which ways that a new path may be more applicable than a wrong turn to describe what you are playing. Practice being present in the moment with your playing by being less judgmental and harsh with yourself. Plenty of others will handle that slog for you.

You may be hoping that at this point I will retreat quietly back into whichever essentially oiled, crystal bedecked, weighted blanket I popped out from under, but if you’ll excuse me, I must be on my way. I need to practice.