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The Fret Files: the guitar workshop podcast

Started by The General, January 11, 2014, 12:11:00 PM

The General

Yeah, that auction was interesting...
The price estimates were laughable.
Of course, only a handful sold.

I saw an estimated low price of $240,000 on one of those guitars. Yikes. Wasn't a 59 burst or anything like that either.

Quote from: Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost on March 31, 2014, 11:24:25 PM

Is your "junior" project a Les Paul Junior?  There were some sweet versions of those!

Nice to make your acquaintance.  What are your current favorite guitars?

It's an LP junior, yeah. I really want to build an LP junior double cutaway with two gretsch pickups and a bigsby!

I just got a new fully hollow archtop with two mini humbuckers, so that is my current favorite guitar! It's a 1960's epiphone sorrento reissue. Which means it's shaped like a Gibson es125tdc but with mini humbuckers which Gibson never offered in an es125. There are a few models like this that were put together in the early 60s when epiphone was still an american made company that are great guitars. They don't make a lot of them anymore!

The reissue is really well made, with nice parts. It came with standard Gibson USA mini humbuckers, cts pots and wilkinson tuners. Usually when buying an epi, those are precisely the things I first need to upgrade before I'm satisfied. No cheap parts to complain about! Well the bridge was not great, it rattled on certain notes, but not after kinking the retaining wire in between the saddle screws. Still, I threw that bridge into the case and slapped on a tonepros TuneOMatic style bridge. Now it's like a hot air ballon full of buttery biscuits: warm and floaty but with that touch of crispy crunch on the edges when you bite down hard enough!

This is an excerpt from the 1962 epiphone catalog, it looks exactly like this:



I'm holding it in my avatar picture.

Quote from: guildnavigator on April 18, 2014, 05:34:54 PM
It's an LP junior, yeah. I really want to build an LP junior double cutaway with two gretsch pickups and a bigsby!

I just got a new fully hollow archtop with two mini humbuckers, so that is my current favorite guitar! It's a 1960's epiphone sorrento reissue. Which means it's shaped like a Gibson es125tdc but with mini humbuckers which Gibson never offered in an es125. There are a few models like this that were put together in the early 60s when epiphone was still an american made company that are great guitars. They don't make a lot of them anymore!

The reissue is really well made, with nice parts. It came with standard Gibson USA mini humbuckers, cts pots and wilkinson tuners. Usually when buying an epi, those are precisely the things I first need to upgrade before I'm satisfied. No cheap parts to complain about! Well the bridge was not great, it rattled on certain notes, but not after kinking the retaining wire in between the saddle screws. Still, I threw that bridge into the case and slapped on a tonepros TuneOMatic style bridge. Now it's like a hot air ballon full of buttery biscuits: warm and floaty but with that touch of crispy crunch on the edges when you bite down hard enough!

This is an excerpt from the 1962 epiphone catalog, it looks exactly like this:



I'm holding it in my avatar picture.

That's beautiful!  Please post a pic of the Junior when you have a chance.  I've never owned one, but I've played a couple that tempted me to sell a couple of my vital organs on the black market so I could to buy them.


BTW, when you first posted about my Les, the Dune reference went right past me.  I thought it referred to Guild guitars.  Lol!

The General

Quote from: guildnavigator on April 18, 2014, 05:34:54 PM
Well the bridge was not great, it rattled on certain notes, but not after kinking the retaining wire in between the saddle screws. Still, I threw that bridge into the case and slapped on a tonepros TuneOMatic style bridge

Those tone pros bridges are really nice. 
They don't rattle and they're really solid,
so they don't absorb string energy. 

Quote from: The General on April 18, 2014, 09:38:57 PM
Those tone pros bridges are really nice. 
They don't rattle and they're really solid,
so they don't absorb string energy.

I agree, I've got a les paul with tonepros tuners and bridge + the aluminum featherweight tailpiece. I think that after I did all of these things it became much louder unplugged! The set screws that you can tighten to clamp the pieces together seem to make a big difference too.

I'm not familiar with these wilkinson vintage style tuners, so far they seem to hold tune OK. I remember wilkinson mainly from their strat replacement bridges that were popular in the 90s.

I've got a couple sets of Grovers somewhere. I think keystone tuners might look best on this thing though. Maybe I'll just leave it.

Quote from: Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost on April 18, 2014, 08:03:49 PM
That's beautiful!  Please post a pic of the Junior when you have a chance.  I've never owned one, but I've played a couple that tempted me to sell a couple of my vital organs on the black market so I could to buy them.

BTW, when you first posted about my Les, the Dune reference went right past me.  I thought it referred to Guild guitars.  Lol!

I haven't really been working on the junior... It's just a bunch of parts!

I do not have any guilds in my house. THE SPICE MUST FLOW!!

The General

No podcast this month.  I'm exhausted, ok?  Gimme a break.


The General

Attn Guitar Freaks- I'm recording this month's Fret Files Podcast on Sunday. I have lots of emails to read but NO CALLS TO PLAY! - To participate in the show, please leave a message with your guitar tech related question or comment by calling 757-774-8482, anytime of night or day. I won't answer, it's just a voicemail. I will use your question in this month's podcast. For every call I receive, I'll cure a fatal disease. Think of the pride you'll have knowing that you made a difference. Not really, but I'd appreciate it.

www.fretfiles.com
https://www.facebook.com/thefretfiles

jazmunda

Do you accept calls from drunk Australians with no discernible musical talents?

The General

Quote from: jazmunda on June 06, 2014, 10:54:46 PM
Do you accept calls from drunk Australians with no discernible musical talents?
how dare you sir!


The General

Quote from: MV on June 09, 2014, 07:23:57 PM
The latest episode is now posted here.

Thank yeeew.

And Jaz, I didn't use your call. 
Sorry, but it's just not that kind of show.
Take your horse-porn elsewhere.

jazmunda

Quote from: The General on June 09, 2014, 08:39:17 PM
Thank yeeew.

And Jaz, I didn't use your call. 
Sorry, but it's just not that kind of show.
Take your horse-porn elsewhere.

http://youtu.be/D0nCnS-UJLs

Yeah baby!

Listening to Louie Shelton's flamenco-styled guitar solo work on the MONKEES' Valleri.

It kicks my ass. The rest of the song sounds like a slightly stoned high school marching band on football night in 1975, but there's nothing wrong with that.

(The Garland Owls were slaughtered by the Royse City Bulldogs, proving the archaic Statue Of Liberty Play could still misdirect like Dai Vernon's chop cup if utilized at the perfect moment.)

Was the selection of Garland's feathered mascot influenced by the machinations of a certain philanthropic Skull and Bone member residing in nearby Rowlett? It will never be known for sure. His house was demolished over eight years ago.

But this was rescued before demolition (and later stupidly sold by my former brother-in-law for a mere hundred bucks. CHRIST! IDIOT! See what happens when I listen to the Valleri guitar solo? Makes me want to kill a former family member.)

The stuffed owl was easily seen in the original photo, half hidden by the second gentlemen from the left, back row:

Heather Wade

Quote from: Camazotz Automat on June 18, 2014, 02:45:50 PM
Listening to Louie Shelton's flamenco-styled guitar solo work on the MONKEES' Valleri.

It kicks my ass. The rest of the song sounds like a slightly stoned high school marching band on football night in 1975, but there's nothing wrong with that.

(The Garland Owls were slaughtered by the Royse City Bulldogs, proving the archaic Statue Of Liberty Play could still misdirect like Dai Vernon's chop cup if utilized at the perfect moment.)

Was the selection of Garland's feathered mascot influenced by the machinations of a certain philanthropic Skull and Bone member residing in nearby Rowlett? It will never be known for sure. His house was demolished over eight years ago.

But this was rescued before demolition (and later stupidly sold by my former brother-in-law for a mere hundred bucks. CHRIST! IDIOT! See what happens when I listen to the Valleri guitar solo? Makes me want to kill a former family member.)

The stuffed owl was easily seen in the original photo, half hidden by the second gentlemen from the left, back row:

Yes, of course.  And... I am impressed by your catch of that.

Quote from: (Redacted) on June 18, 2014, 06:39:16 PM
Yes, of course.  And... I am impressed by your catch of that.

I am impressed by the juxtaposition of you and The General on the podcast.

Always a fantastic result.

The General

Thanks Cam. 
Your mind is like a Rube Goldberg machine.
I mean that in the most respectful way.

Quote from: The General on June 19, 2014, 12:19:03 AM
Thanks Cam. 
Your mind is like a Rube Goldberg machine.
I mean that in the most respectful way.

Cut and pasted into résumé.

If you later receive a phone call from "Joker" at Furniture Liquidation Blowout attempting to verify my references, ignore him. He's the owner's son and I've already heard he likes to throw his weight around.  I'm applying anyway.

(His father told me on the sly that I will take his son's place/title soon.)

saucerlike

I'm so behind on podcasts right now, I have about 3 or more episodes of fret files, gabcast, & spec sheet to catch up on.  Damn this summer weather  ;) .  I'm also one of those guitar "players" that spends more time reading about guitar shit than actually playing.  Anyways thanks for keeping this going, I'll have something relevant to add eventually when I stop procrastinating.

I didn't photograph this. I keep meaning to get by there and shoot it myself.

But it's such a great photo I had to share, of the Vitagraph Building, 508 Park Ave, Dallas, TX; the building appears prominently in the Robert Johnson Story/Mythos due to the recordings made on the third floor in 1937.

A nice place for EVP experiments, I'm sure. Or just general ghostbusting.

I mean, you can tell by looking at it, right? There's probably some unrecorded Robert Johnson tunes floating in and around the building's aura, just waiting to be revealed.

Heh.

Quote from: Camazotz Automat on June 24, 2014, 12:00:48 AM

There's probably some unrecorded Robert Johnson tunes floating in and around the building's aura, just waiting to be revealed.

Heh.

Or maybe his last words, "You mean you are really are the Devil and all that hoodoo mumbo jumbo we did at the crossroad that night was for real?  Shit!

From The Fret Files, episode 5, Guitar News:

When you heard him play it at the fretboardjournal.com it sounds just like every note is a drop of honey coming off his fingers.

(Redacted)'s comment regarding Bill Frisell's playing on his recently (2014) recovered guitar he sold in 1978.

The guitar had not been altered during this span of time, but essentially, appeared as if it had been "altar-ed" all these years.

Quote from: Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost on June 24, 2014, 12:57:25 AM
Or maybe his last words, "You mean you are really are the Devil and all that hoodoo mumbo jumbo we did at the crossroad that night was for real?  Shit!

In a different universe,  I wonder if people go down to the crossroads and sell their souls to be better croquet players?

And then the Cloven One produced a golden mallet, onyx balls, ivory balls, and wickets made from twisted white angel hair rope. And he beguiled me to participate in a game he called "Crash of the Moons." Since that night, I am unable to lose in the sport. I have no regrets.

Quote from: Camazotz Automat on June 24, 2014, 12:00:48 AM
I didn't photograph this. I keep meaning to get by there and shoot it myself.

But it's such a great photo I had to share, of the Vitagraph Building, 508 Park Ave, Dallas, TX; the building appears prominently in the Robert Johnson Story/Mythos due to the recordings made on the third floor in 1937.

A nice place for EVP experiments, I'm sure. Or just general ghostbusting.

I mean, you can tell by looking at it, right? There's probably some unrecorded Robert Johnson tunes floating in and around the building's aura, just waiting to be revealed.

Heh.


Someone needs to go shoot impulse responses in that room for reverb convolution. Would be amazing to have an IR of that space for adding space to acoustic guitars or vocals.

Quote from: Camazotz Automat on June 24, 2014, 01:23:17 AM

In a different universe,  I wonder if people go down to the crossroads and sell their souls to be better croquet players?

And then the Cloven One produced a golden mallet, onyx balls, ivory balls, and wickets made from twisted white angel hair rope. And he beguiled me to participate in a game he called "Crash of the Moons." Since that night, I am unable to lose in the sport. I have no regrets.

I've seen the Devil when he was working the croquet grift.

[attachimg=1]

The General

Speaking of Robert Johnson (or RoJo if he were alive today), have you fellows heard the theories about how those recordings are sped up and should actually be slowed down by as much as 20% in order to hear the songs like he played them?

http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2010/may/27/robert-johnson-blues

Interestingly, I always felt that they were because in order to play a lot of his songs like they appear on the records, you have to capo up to the 2nd fret.  That always bothered me.  Why the hell would he have capo'd up to the 2nd fret?  It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me as a guitar player.  Why play in F# when E is just right there, and on an acoustic guitar with only 12 frets clear of the body?  No, I always believed that we were hearing sped up recordings.  That's why they sound so damn ethereal and unnatural, because they are.  Slow them down, and he sounds way more like Son House.  And his falsetto starts to sound a lot less like Prince.  And his vocal vibrato starts sounding way more natural.  There's a big controversy about it, but I really think they are slowed down.

Here's a rebuttal that says it ain't so...
http://www.elijahwald.com/johnsonspeed.html

Quote from: The General on June 25, 2014, 10:46:05 PM
Speaking of Robert Johnson (or RoJo if he were alive today), have you fellows heard the theories about how those recordings are sped up and should actually be slowed down by as much as 20% in order to hear the songs like he played them?

http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2010/may/27/robert-johnson-blues

Interestingly, I always felt that they were because in order to play a lot of his songs like they appear on the records, you have to capo up to the 2nd fret.  That always bothered me.  Why the hell would he have capo'd up to the 2nd fret?  It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me as a guitar player.  Why play in F# when E is just right there, and on an acoustic guitar with only 12 frets clear of the body?  No, I always believed that we were hearing sped up recordings.  That's why they sound so damn ethereal and unnatural, because they are.  Slow them down, and he sounds way more like Son House.  And his falsetto starts to sound a lot less like Prince.  And his vocal vibrato starts sounding way more natural.  There's a big controversy about it, but I really think they are slowed down.

Here's a rebuttal that says it ain't so...
http://www.elijahwald.com/johnsonspeed.html

I had not heard that, but your hypothesis makes sense.  I've always thought something was a little off on those recordings, and just chalked it up to the technical limitations of the day (I also wonder how accurately the recordings of the great female blues singers of that time captured their voices).  Twenty percent seems like an awful lot, though.  I remember reading that much of "Layla" was done at 5%, which gave me great comfort after years of beating my brains out trying to play along and keep up, and feeling like such a sausage-fingered incompetent because I couldn't.  Since the RJ songs as we know them aren't ridiculously fast, it seems like a 20% reduction would really make them drag.  It would certainly be worth playing around with just to see what happens, though.  Do you have the machinery to do it?

And if there is a difference, I have to think it was unintentional, because it's hard to see what would have been gained by doing it deliberately.

Quote from: The General on June 25, 2014, 10:46:05 PM
Speaking of Robert Johnson (or RoJo if he were alive today), have you fellows heard the theories about how those recordings are sped up and should actually be slowed down by as much as 20% in order to hear the songs like he played them?

Yes, "TheeGee," I have certainly heard about that. And let me tell you, after researching it, and after believing I understood it, and after making a decision, I then read a convincing argument against it.

I was as confused as ever.

I was... (wait for it)  at a crossroads.

I'm glad you brought the speed controversy up and value your take on it.

Guildnavigator's suggestion regarding 508 Park Avenue is intriguing.

Speaking of esoteric sonic locations. Here's a place where I'd like any of the talented guitarists connected to this forum to record.  It's the old (1929) Baker hotel in Mineral Wells, TX that is scheduled for restoration. Thank God. Finally. A city willing to restore instead of demolish. 

The good citizens of Mineral Wells recently approved a sales tax reallocation to help the investors with the project. A few attempts at restoration have fallen through before, but this time, I think it's got a good chance. The guy leading the investors has a good track record in other cities doing the same type of project. It's a beautiful fucking building that should not be destroyed.

Imagine the acoustics of this monster, hahaha.

Oh wait, I said "monster." Is Monster Cable going to sue me?  Those bastards.

Observe:

Baker Hotel; Exterior.  Mineral Wells, Texas.

Check out that tower. If that isn't an appropriate vaginal temple to lock and load H. R. Giger's remains, then I don't know my H. R. Giger from my Gerard Di-Maccio.

Bless you OMNI magazine, for twisting me early on. (if I recall correctly, Eddie C understands my need to keep H.R.G. firmly and perpetually ensconced in skull real estate.)

The General

Episode 6 is now posted...
http://www.ufoship.com/?p=1615

[attachimg=1]

This month's episode features an interview with author and Danelectro expert Doug Tulloch.

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