# The Great Ongoing Guitar Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [January 31, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172 "2010-01-31T23:20:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 253
**Author:** ![Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dread_pirate_jimbo/32/3897_2.png) [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dread_Pirate_Jimbo)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/5044 "2017-10-02T02:00:06Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Stumbled onto it on YouTube when I Googled how My Bloody Valentine gets their sound: [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ewJwKDHAhcU](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ewJwKDHAhcU) > > Good research, solid talking heads, nice variety, including smart focus on women-written riffs and the silliness of some aspects of riffages. Smart inclusion of Nile Rodgers. Doesn’t mention Sunshine of You Love, which is the biggest WTF moment to me, but there are others. Otherwise a great way to spend an hour. Excellent video! I like the descriptions of the pivotal moments in the evolution of guitar playing. 🙂 And I LOVE me some Nile Rodgers. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/5045 "2017-10-05T04:08:30Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’d enjoy see the PLEK machine leveling frets. Gibson uses them. It’s cool that a small shop, making basses has one too. It’s a cool machine. It’ll cut nuts and rout for inlays among other things. Over time. All of my guitars ran through his Plek. When I still lived in Seattle and worked at Microsoft, his shop was on my way home. I dunno what the breakdown of his overall workload is, but knew of him mostly as guitar repair for the stars (and other schlubs that walk through the door). Even though it’s a very busy shop, he always had to walk through every detail of what I wanted done. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/5046 "2017-10-18T18:58:40Z")
I’ve started looking at McCartney’s masterpiece, Band on the Run. I got the Guitar Recorded Versions TAB. There’s seven guitar parts. Wow!!! 4 electrics, 2 Acoustics, a synthesizer or guitar. Imagine how awesome it would be for a band to cover this (with all the guitar parts) live. Where the hell to start? Geez. This song is a monster. It’s really three songs in one. I’m starting with John Konesky’s (Tenacious D) lesson. He’s created a nice Acoustic arrangement. Distilling down some of the many, many riffs in this song. It’s going to be interesting to compare what he’s doing with the Tab. See which parts he’s using from the seven guitars. I’ll be working on this one for months. 🙂 I’m going to take it slow. One bite at a time until I’ve eaten the entire thing. 😃 I have my regular practice schedule that I can’t let slip. I’ll squeeze in some time each day for Band on the Run. It’ll be a good winter project while I’m stuck inside. Doesn’t matter how long it takes. A song like this is worth learning. The chords are absolutely amazing and unusual. Here’s John Konesky’s lesson. I’d love to find a video of him actually performing Band on the Run. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/hHHQLvgqIgM/maxresdefault.jpg "Paul McCartney and Wings - Band on the Run - Acoustic Guitar Lesson") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHHQLvgqIgM) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/5047 "2017-10-18T19:11:50Z")
I plan to record a cover of Band on the Run next summer. I’ve dreamed of playing it since high school. I could learn it quicker by just focusing on the rhythm and chords. I will play it that way when I’m learning the vocals. Konesky has me inspired to take it to the next level and learn some of the riffs. Play the intro and breaks. I’ll post a link next summer when the cover is finished. ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/5048 "2017-10-18T19:23:00Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Tab is very useful because it identifies the string and fret position of each note. And it’s been around for hundreds of years (before the guitar had six single strings). I’ve read about and I think I’ve known musicians who find it hard to improvise and have to rely on charts. A frustrating problem for them and hard for others to understand, so it’s a bit of a mystery, despite the clarity of the metaphors. Speaking of which: > [@](#): > > For me that would be like taking a road trip to the Grand Canyon without a map. A map, or maybe a photo so you’ll know when you get there. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/5049 "2017-10-18T19:24:46Z")
Here’s Konesky at his best. Incredible guitarist. I won’t be learning this any time soon. LOL [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-OnA3WpaD50/hqdefault.jpg "John Konesky - Custom Agent - www.JohnKonesky.com") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OnA3WpaD50) ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/5050 "2017-10-19T04:13:19Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I wish that I could play entirely by ear. So many people listen to songs and work out the chords and melody. Oh yeah, that’s simply a learned skill, much like reading music. You learn a lot of songs that way, and you eventually can just hear what they’re doing. It’s even better when you can tell where they’re going beforehand. I’ve messed with my brother more than once because I could play along with a song convincingly the first time he played it for me. > [@aceplace57](#): > > For me that would be like taking a road trip to the Grand Canyon without a map. I might eventually get there after a couple weeks of wrong turns and frustration. But, I still wouldn’t know the exact route back home. I can understand that metaphor. Similarly, I can get to many places that I can’t tell you how to get to without pointing at a map and simply saying “you go there”. I know how to get there by more than one way, and can explain theoretically how you could, but I’m hopeless with street names and I can’t give turn by turn directions. With my current band, I have started many songs thinking “hmm, I don’t quite remember what the chorus is” when we begin it. But the drummer does his fill at the right moment, and I play the chorus as it was written like I’m a robot. “The landscape looks like this, so you need to turn right here.” > [@aceplace57](#): > > Sheet Music helps me visualize how the music is organized. Like a map shows the symmetry of the streets. My equivalent of this is the layout of a bass neck. I can play keyboards or steel guitar, but I’m visualizing all of the tonal relationships on the neck of a bass. After learning the piece, time signatures get relegated to the “feel” of the piece. Almost everything else is reliant on a pattern. Music without a pattern (e.g., the meandering second half of The Plugz’s [Reel Ten](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H7KcasScIU)) is a giant memory game. Bach, on the other hand is a breeze. That stuff is easy to hold in your head once you understand the idea behind it. > [@aceplace57](#): > > I agree with Wordman. What matters is playing and enjoying music. How you do it really doesn’t matter. Absolutely. Again: as long as you’re satisfied with the results, who cares how you got there? Thanks for providing some answers about how the world looks from your perspective. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/5051 "2017-10-19T09:51:41Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Here’s Konesky at his best. Incredible guitarist. > I won’t be learning this any time soon. LOL > [https://youtu.be/-OnA3WpaD50](https://youtu.be/-OnA3WpaD50) He’s really good. Thanks for sharing. Do you know what tuning that song, Custom Agent, is in? I’m hearing a low D, but couldn’t tell if it was Dropped D or DADGAD. What I like is that his dense fingerpicking style is used to sell a melody while establishing a clear driving groove. None of that acoustic open tuning atmospheric, waggle your guitar for vibrato bullshit. He’s moving you in a song way, not in a technique overkill way, if that makes sense, while using a killer technique. Musical. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2017, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/5052 "2017-10-19T10:07:50Z")
A link to SoundCloud, the podcast **No Guitar is Safe** from Guitar Player magazine featuring Jude Gold: [Stream 13 - John 5 by NO GUITAR IS SAFE • Podcast w/ Jude Gold | Listen online for free on SoundCloud](https://soundcloud.com/guitar-player-magazine/episode-13-john-5) This podcast is good, I’ve listened to several. Gold is a journeyman player and journalist - he’s been touring with an incarnation of Starship and writing for GP for years. He idolized Marc Maron’s WTF podcast - and interviews him in another episode - so Gold’s approach is like Maron’s, but focused on digging into guitar geekery, not psychotherapy stuff ;). **John 5** is better that you and me in all things in every way. He’s not Jeff Beck or Julian Lage, but he’s a Vai, Satriani, Guthrie Govan level master of all styles, with specific highlights in metal and country Tele work. All of that is on full display here - so much great guitar to hear on this podcast. This interview is amazing because John is an articulate journeyman who tells a lot but reveals a lot more in what he doesn’t say. His time with Marilyn Manson is discussed, along with David Lee Roth. Manson sounds like an abusive jerk, and DLR like an imperious jerk but John 5 presents both breezily. Enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/5053 "2017-10-20T11:40:32Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > He’s really good. Thanks for sharing. Do you know what tuning that song, Custom Agent, is in? I’m hearing a low D, but couldn’t tell if it was Dropped D or DADGAD. > > What I like is that his dense fingerpicking style is used to sell a melody while establishing a clear driving groove. None of that acoustic open tuning atmospheric, waggle your guitar for vibrato bullshit. He’s moving you in a song way, not in a technique overkill way, if that makes sense, while using a killer technique. Musical. I’m not sure either. It does sound like an alternate tuning. 🙂 I had no idea Tenacious D featured a guitarist like John Konesky. He has serious chops. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/5054 "2017-10-20T18:30:55Z")
I took apart my Strat yesterday and put it back together to tighten a loose connection. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/5055 "2017-10-20T18:50:01Z")
> [@Barbarian](#): > > I took apart my Strat yesterday and put it back together to tighten a loose connection. The wires weren’t soldered to the pots? I can imagine a loose connection would be very annoying. A friend guitar had a loose wire on his jack that needed soldering. It wasn’t a Strat. Some cheap knock off. ---
**Author:** ![Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enter_the_Flagon)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2017, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/5056 "2017-10-20T22:29:44Z")
> [@Barbarian](#): > > I took apart my Strat yesterday and put it back together to tighten a loose connection. Good job. That’s why Leo Fender’s my hero. If you had that problem with an ES-335 you’d have to sell it (says the guy who really wants an ES-339). 🙂 Halfway through the John 5 interveiw, **WM**. Very engaging. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2017, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/5057 "2017-10-21T14:55:38Z")
> [@Enter\_the\_Flagon](#): > > Good job. That’s why Leo Fender’s my hero. If you had that problem with an ES-335 you’d have to sell it (says the guy who really wants an ES-339). 🙂 > > Halfway through the John 5 interveiw, **WM**. Very engaging. Bwahahahahaa, nah. You just have to know how to put the pots back in after you assemble the wiring outside of the guitar. I’m not saying you won’t end up _wishing_ you’d sold it the first time – but by the third time you do it, it’s easy (says the guy who’s re-wired his 335 copy a few times). But yeah, it’s a lot more of a production than just popping the cover off and hitting a joint with some solder. I’ve seen tools that people use for this kind of operation. I just use string to drag everything through the right holes. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/5058 "2017-10-23T16:40:16Z")
Link to Gear Page thread with the eBay link in the OP: [Steve Howe's "The Les Paul" on Ebay? | Page 2 | The Gear Page](https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/steve-howes-the-les-paul-on-ebay.1876892/page-2#post-25100298) Hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enter_the_Flagon)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/5059 "2017-10-23T17:41:58Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Link to Gear Page thread with the eBay link in the OP: [Steve Howe's "The Les Paul" on Ebay? | Page 2 | The Gear Page](https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/steve-howes-the-les-paul-on-ebay.1876892/page-2#post-25100298) > > Hilarious. Yikes. This guitar brought to you by ipecac. I was a big Steve Howe fan, but for $30,000 you’d have to include a new Honda, and he’d have to drive me around in it, and wash it once a week. Wonder if selling that guitar means he gave up reefer? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/5060 "2017-10-23T17:47:30Z")
I ran across Keith Urban teaching 30 songs in 30 days on YouTube. It’s part of his promotion for his line of guitars. What’s cool are the lessons he does for his own songs. There’s at least five that I’ve seen. I can’t recall ever seeing a major artist teach his own songs. He’s teaching slides for the intro of Kiss A Girl. First, he shows how he plays it. Then an alternate easier way. I’ve never seen anyone come out of a Barre chord into a slide. The one going down the neck isn’t too hard. But, then he lifts up his first finger and goes up the neck for a slide. I find coming out of the Barre chord and doing that very hard. That backwards stretch is tough. Have you guys tried slides like this out of a Barre chord? Skip to the 2 min mark. Keith is a very good teacher. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FzChT7k7nes/hqdefault.jpg "Lesson 19 Kiss A Girl") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzChT7k7nes) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/5061 "2017-10-23T20:32:23Z")
**ace** - yes, setting up my fingering so I can drop one finger down and slide out of a chord is a standard thing. Probably has an Italian phrase for it and everything 😉 Songs like **Message in a Bottle** by the Police and **Dirty White Boy** by Foreigner (in Open G) have moves like that off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2017, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/5062 "2017-10-23T20:55:36Z")
I hadn’t seen slides out of chords before. I have used slides playing lead. The backwards move from the G Barre into a slide is much too stretchy for me. I’m glad he showed an easier method from open chords. ---
**Author:** ![BlutEngel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blutengel/32/7323_2.png) [@BlutEngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlutEngel)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2017, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/5063 "2017-10-25T01:47:35Z")
I had to stop playing 12 string when I came down with arthritis. 6 string at times was almost impossible. But new advances in RA medications have enabled me to play again, and SWMBO surprised me with a 12 string for Christmas. I’m relearning how to play 12, and rediscovering what a challenge it is and how much fun it is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172.md?page=252) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172.md?page=254)