Dasein

I always liked the look of Jeff Beck's Orange Jackson Soloist, though my recollection was that it just didn't agree with him.... It looked very unique

NIce - loved the entrance of the second guitar at 1:40 - there was something almost sublime there.

socks... 8 pair. bumper year right there!

Holy shit - you guys are old!

I was listening to this and my first thought was - this is a song that The Sweet should have recorded - it's got a Sweet vibe (having never heard it before). Then I did some google and found out that The Sweet just covered it ..... on their 2012 album titled New York Connection.

Because it's fitting for warriors to go out this way.

Mad respect and sentiments of loss ---- onward and upward to all -- your skills will find a home as will you all. Really sad but optimistic for you to find a better more stable place to be. Regards Rob

No head shaking man -- the neck of the guitar is a wonderful puzzle and you'll spend your whole life learning how to coax out its secrets and mysteries. Your next challenge is modes. Figure out where the Pentatonic scale and positions super-impose over the modes --- wait till you figure that one out.... My dad exposed me to modal, be bop jazz from when I was a kid. I liked it, but wasn't familiar with modes until I watched the Charlie Parker movie. I have looked it up, but I still can't grasp exactly what it is in it's simplest nature. Any help appreciated. This video sorted my modal questions out straight away, it's all about drone notes. Drone the first note of the major scale then play the major scale and you have Ionian, now put your drone note on the second note of the major scale and play the same major scale as before, you have dorian etc etc, great video. Just search "rob chapman modes" into Google, it's the first hit Geoff Will do. Just reading this thread has me steered in the right direction. I also play a deviation of the pentatonic (blues scale), located at the same starting points but with an addition couple of notes. What is this? I use it back and forth with the pentatonic. Sometimes it sounds great playing to a key that is not the root in a simple chord progression, like using A when the root is D but A is secondary or something. If that makes sense. I am sorting things out, hopefully after after the video and reading Fretboard Logic SE I just ordered I will be able to see things with a larger scope and explain things clearly. Example for A, playing the scale down starting with the little E string. I repeat these notes at the same 5 pentatonic points. 6th = 8,7,5 5th = 8.6.5 4th= 7,5,4 3rd= 7,5 2nd= 8.7.5 1st = 8.7.5 As Luc pointed out -- this A Aeolian scale in this position (which corresponds to the classic pentatonic box) is the same notes you'll find in the c Maj scale.... So you just learned something --- that the classic pentatonic blues box overlays on the natural minor key position named from the 6th note of the major scale..... you can play C Ionian, D dorian, ... ect... this will help you open up the neck -- using this same knowledge -- what modes do the other 4 pentatonic positions overlay on? Can you figure that out?

This is right -- though the trick is to not think about it as a G major scale --- you want to unlock the unique tonality of the modes in reference to its root and relationship to the chord or key you are playing in/over --- not it's ionian cousin.... this can be tricky but it's what's happening when you hear guys like Vai say "I hear a little e Lydian there... changing to a B bla bla bla bla..." Usually that means he really has established an ear for the unique tonality and use of a particular mode (or in the case of some guys -- is full of shit).

This is a great way to start to explore modes --- they can be and are that simple to begin with. Take each mode as a pattern up and down the neck and visualize those in relation to the pentatonic boxes ---- you've just opened the fretboard up and freed yourself from getting stuck in a box. That's awesome. What comes next is understanding and nailing the unique context of each mode itself as they relate to different keys and moods --- basically harnessing the power of the individual mode and it's unique ability to create a specific tonality.

No head shaking man -- the neck of the guitar is a wonderful puzzle and you'll spend your whole life learning how to coax out its secrets and mysteries. Your next challenge is modes. Figure out where the Pentatonic scale and positions super-impose over the modes --- wait till you figure that one out....

Guitar wise I've got a tele, a strat, and a std (and maybe a Jazz bass) on my wish list - plus a nice Jazz Guitar (Gibson or An old Ibanez Benson). I want a really nice midi controller (Keyboard) more recording software/hardware, a couple of pedals maybe ----- a few new mics.... And drums -- real drums. We are in the middle of construction of our new roasting facility (with new cafe and commercial bakery) and I'm fantasizing about the roasting warehouse as a band space.... Just might happen.

Isn't Monkey Man in C#?

This - i went right to that part to listen

Isn't in Hans Christian Businessman the children's author?

To be fair (and a spoil sport) I just want and expect more for myself than this. There's nothing smart here -- it's lowest common denominator stuff. This is diet coke at best. EDITED: to remove some smart assed comments.

Timbre and overtones. If he can't hear the difference then all the better for me that he'll miss the gem and I'll find the prize next time I buy a guitar. Last time I bought a guitar for myself I was in Singapore -- I went into a Tom Lee Music there and they had about 400 acoustic guitars in stock and on display. I spent 2 days playing through them, rejecting and isolating the good from bad until I had my shortlist of about 10 to 15. I'd already found my guitar at that point but I went further and paid to restring the last 10 or 12 before continuing to test and play. The next day I walked out of the shop before it closed with a guitar that was amazing. Total time spent was about 12 hours over 3 days --- I was a 24 year old kid at the time (Holy shit? The last guitar I bought was 20 years ago -- bloody hell, that shit ain't right) and the guys at Tom Lee had never seen anyone spend that kind of time to buy a guitar before. They didn't know what to make of me. I blew their minds when I bought the strings and restrung that last group (leaving them overnight). For me it was an amazing experience - to compare that many instruments virtually unmolested in a big guitar store (the acoustics had their own floor I think so nobody playing eruption or Stairway or Crazy Train). Every guitar played was a revelation as I compared them. Same makes, different makes, same models, different models. Was fully prepared to lay out the big money and buy the best guitar they had there (With only the absolute top shelf stuff like vintage Martins and Taylors really off my list as this was to be a travel guitar), and in the end, to my enormous surprise, I walked out with a humble Yamaha FG-421 for around 400 Singaporean dollars that sounded and played better than anything in the shop. This guitar has been all over the world with me, from the Himalayas to the Mekong Delta - To the moors of Devon, and the streets of Antwerp. I've handed it over to more people to play in more places wondering if I'd ever see it again - and as I sit here typing this the guitar rests beside me on my couch. The point to this is that every instrument has individual characteristics that define it. And the more you play it, the more in tune to those characteristics you become as a player - the more you are able to exploit and suppress them as necessary. The more you are able to evoke the magic and suppress the suck. Instruments are individual -- even mass produced ones. If this guy can't hear the difference that's his problem. He wont be selling me a guitar nor will he ever be touching one of mine. He can bully his way through life slapping people in the face with a bag of dicks -- I'll just keep playing my guitars.

That's a gorgeous guitar. Have you named her? I'd love to know the history of it and the graphic.

Those granite type finishes are so cool. Do they have a name?

Thanks guys -- The credit is shared for this one but the obvious largest part goes to Jim -- the execution alone was incredible and I really feel he vested himself in the piece and the guitar really shows that. There's a bit of a Beatles vibe going on with it as well which is totally cool. I have no idea how this was painted - it looks like it was hand drawn or outlined first then coloured in but I have no idea really. I wish I could have seen WIP photos (who knows they may be out there - anyone with factory contacts) but I never asked for any during the build. I love this era of guitar graphics though - totally indulgent - this was hopes and dreams stuff. Does anyone have any photos of Jim actually painting? I'd love to see those. Rob

Here's some photos of my guitar and some background: From about 1988 I knew I wanted to get a guitar built from someone. Hamer was at the top of my short list for several reasons -- the obvious quality of the instruments - inspired design/innovation - the fact that the local Hamer dealer was awesome - best guitar shop in Vancouver at the time (Mainly Music)... When the Cali made it's first appearance I was in. I wanted a custom Cali with my own custom paint scheme. My first guitar (a Fender Lead III) was all black --- My P-Bass was black and White --- so I knew I wanted some colour. My original thought was a a paint scheme that resembled a Jackson Pollock type thing https://www.google.ca/search?q=jackson+pollock&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=1SkTUbPNMqn2igKl6IHIDg&biw=1920&bih=925&sei=-SkTUemYEoH9igLm3IHYDg Then one day Steve Vai showed up on the cover of a guitar magazine with his guitar and it was back to the drawing board. I was pretty pissed and didn't know what to do next. All my life I used to draw -- it was more like doodling than drawing --- little interconnected lines and patterns on my notebooks and binders-- very fractal geometry type stuff with a more organic free form feel -- one motif in particular used to repeat - this eye shape or fin-type shape. With no specific idea beyond colour and guided by the motif I sketched out 3 examples in colour from a tracing of a Californian I made from a Hamer catelog -- front side only. I put together a cheesey little design brief and sent it off to the factory basically saying "Here's three examples of what I'm looking for -- don't replicate these just use them as a theme or a guide" and for the back I said go free form --- let whoever the artist is put his stamp on things. The guitar I got back was amazing --- Totally followed my themes and motifs --- I never even talked to Jim or anyone at the factory beyond that initial brief I sent down. The front was very cool -- followed my flow and general idea - O'Connor added some shading and gave it dimension --- I had none of that -- and on the back he totally went organic and cool. Love them both. Cost of the paint was maybe $900 ? I don't remember -- but I'm totally stoked and love the guitar to this day -- but man when I pull it out I think people automatically assume I have an old spandex wardrobe. For the record: I have no spandex wardrobe, old or otherwise.... OK - Maybe one piece but don't tell And here's some of my own stuff drawn in the mid to late 90's I salute Jim where ever he is today --- he did an amazing Job and I'm very proud and pleased to own this guitar.

I don't know if others share this experience but I know something happens to me when I hit record -- my playing gets all self conscious. I have this more when I'm the one doing the recording vs recording for someone else.... like my anxiety about capturing the performance makes me perform anxiously. I'm much more fluid and expressive when others record me. Did you experience anything like this? Did wearing the recording engineer hat change the way you played?

I'd love to see a definition of fusion debated -- especially as it related to your top 15 mins. What defines it? Also -- what makes good vs bad fusion ?

Here are a couple of mine - not sure if I've posted these before:

I was going to come in here and throw turds all over Winger like an internet tough-guy - but KIp and Reb are likely to join the forum and I'd have to take them all back so I'll just say nothing and keep smiling. Cool to see the world united in Hamer love, though everytime I see a photo of Kip it looks like he's smiling just for me and I start to feel all tingly inside and I don't know why.