# 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:** 326
**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:** [May 10, 2025, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6506 "2025-05-10T03:26:58Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > I went to the guitar show today. I resisted buying the $30,000 stereo because I would have been straight up murdered for it, no matter how cool it was. I didn’t originally catch that those spheres were the speakers. I thought they were, I don’t know, a pattern in the carpet or something. This site goes into the history of this unit and shows several examples of where it showed up in films back in the day. If you had bought it, I would’ve let you store it in my house until everything cooled down. > **[The Clairtone Project G's](https://www.clairtone.ca/projectg/)** ---
**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:** [May 10, 2025, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6507 "2025-05-10T04:25:38Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > If you had bought it, I would’ve let you store it in my house until everything cooled down. Heheh, I’m not sure that it would ever cool down if I bought a stereo for the price of a car (even if that is a reasonable price for _that_ stereo). Thanks for the offer, anyway. 😀 Gorgeous Jazzmaster! Hmm, did anyone ever actually play Jazz on one of those? ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2025, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6508 "2025-05-10T04:53:25Z")
Ooh, very nice!!! I’ve mostly been a fan of the painted headstocks on fenders, and it looks great here. > [@scabpicker](#): > > Hmm, did anyone ever actually play Jazz on one of those? Duh, yes. Ever heard of jazz legend J Mascis? He has one of them most iconic jazz tones sending the Jazzmaster through stacked Big Muffs and then into his ultra clean Marshall stack. ---
**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:** [May 10, 2025, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6509 "2025-05-10T05:14:35Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Hmm, did anyone ever actually play Jazz on one of those? There were a few. Joe Pass used both the Jazzmaster and a Jaguar for a little while. There’s another name I recognized but now forget that stuck with the Jazzmaster for quite a while. But generally, no. Leo mailed some out to various jazz artists back in the day and as I recall, most mailed ‘em right back. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/7bByNpAx150/hqdefault.jpg "Joe Pass plays Fender Jaguar") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bByNpAx150) ---
**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:** [May 10, 2025, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6510 "2025-05-10T21:33:00Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Duh, yes. Ever heard of jazz legend J Mascis? He has one of them most iconic jazz tones sending the Jazzmaster through stacked Big Muffs and then into his ultra clean Marshall stack. Well, if you think of rock as being based off of the blues, which is a _type_ of jazz…nope, I can’t make it work. > [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > There were a few. Joe Pass used both the Jazzmaster and a Jaguar for a little while. Thankya! That was more what I was thinking of. He gets a very nice jazz tone out of that Jaguar, too! ---
**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:** [May 10, 2025, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6511 "2025-05-10T23:14:20Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Thankya! That was more what I was thinking of. He gets a very nice jazz tone out of that Jaguar, too! Spent a little time reading about that era of his career. It’s a bit dark, really. He was in rehab for a heroin addiction and could not afford a guitar. The facility he was in loaned him a guitar or two from their library of recreational equipment. Even the Gibson ES-175 he was later known for using was a gift that he otherwise couldn’t afford. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2025, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6512 "2025-05-11T02:03:57Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Well, if you think of rock as being based off of the blues, which is a _type_ of jazz…nope, I can’t make it work. Ha, I hope you got I was being very sarcastic! 🙂 J has the complete opposite of a jazz tone. But he is very famous for playing a Jazzmaster and has a signature model. They should call his the Fuzzmaster. ---
**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:** [May 11, 2025, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6513 "2025-05-11T05:43:47Z")
Hehehe, yeah. I’ve seen him play several times and the only time he wasn’t playing a Jazzmaster was when he and Lou switched and he was playing bass. One of my guitarists has his Squier signature model.They’re pretty great! I’d love to have one of the Fender Japan purple sparkle ones, but I don’t really wanna pay for one. 😀 [https://reverb.com/item/87594671-fender-japan-j-mascis-signature-jazzmaster-purple-sparkle](https://reverb.com/item/87594671-fender-japan-j-mascis-signature-jazzmaster-purple-sparkle) ---
**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:** [May 11, 2025, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6514 "2025-05-11T21:49:13Z")
Oh yeah. I’m a sucker for a purple guitar. [![](https://i.ibb.co/ynJTBzsb/IMG-2607.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/ynJTBzsb/IMG-2607.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2025, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6515 "2025-05-11T23:43:42Z")
My favorite part about when they switch is I believe they continue to use their same amps and signal chain. J goes from fuzzed out guitar to fuzzed out bass. Lou does end up playing a clean guitar though and I know his bass sound is pretty driven so maybe in the video he is playing through the Marshall instead of the Ampeg or he turns off whatever he is using for overdrive. Jump to 5:04 in the video below. BTW, I wish I happened to be at this mall when they decided to put on a show. > **[Dinosaur Jr - Westlake Mall - 08/25/24](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGJBDaYDtkc%2F)** > > Dinosaur Jr - Westlake Mall - 08/25/24Setlist00:00 1. The Lung04:36 (break)05:04 2. Garden08:15 3. I Ain't12:45 (break)13:30 4. Kracked16:08 5. Sludgefe... ---
**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:** [May 12, 2025, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6516 "2025-05-12T01:58:33Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > Oh yeah. I’m a sucker for a purple guitar. Hehe, so am I. Mine was originally a natural Squier 70s Classic Vibe Jazz. I really am not fond of brown guitars, so I used Krylon Glitter Blast on it. Sadly, I got impatient at the end and used a different kind of clear for the very top coat, so it crazed a bit. It still looks great from 3 feet away, though. [![](https://tunes.drawerdevils.com/tunes/Jazz_Front.jpg) ](https://tunes.drawerdevils.com/tunes/Jazz_Front.jpg) The back shows of the boat paint effect really well. [![](https://tunes.drawerdevils.com/tunes/Jazz_back.jpg) ](https://tunes.drawerdevils.com/tunes/Jazz_back.jpg) > [@wguy123](#): > > My favorite part about when they switch is I believe they continue to use their same amps and signal chain. Hehehe, they’re surely plugging into their original signal chain at the switch there. No reason those Marshall cabs can’t handle a little fuzz bass. Mine loaded with GT75s is actually a pretty decent bass cab. Just don’t expect it to get really thumpy. ---
**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:** [May 17, 2025, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6517 "2025-05-17T21:39:34Z")
Heh, I went to the estate sale of an acquaintance of mine, and couldn’t resist picking up his Electromatic Bo Diddley model guitar. It’s the square one. Needs a bit of work (all of the pots are loose, for example). [![](https://tunes.drawerdevils.com/tunes/Diddley.jpg) ](https://tunes.drawerdevils.com/tunes/Diddley.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6518 "2025-05-18T00:07:23Z")
What was that case originally for? ---
**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:** [May 18, 2025, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6519 "2025-05-18T00:57:34Z")
I have no idea. It looks like it could fit my Classic Creep Bass, which is almost the size of a Thunderbird. I’d been planning to look for a case that would fit that bass, and will have to try it out. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6520 "2025-05-28T20:37:53Z")
Anybody got one of these [robotic tuners](https://www.amazon.com/Automatic-Metronome-Electric-12-String-Alternate/dp/B08N325W3L/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8)? I kinda scoffed a bit when I first became aware of these, but reading the reviews is changing my mind. That, and the fact that the only thing I feel like “playing” nowadays is my Danelectro 59x12. I love it, but I think it’s acting as some kind of barometer what with it always going out of tune in the sharper direction. I’m getting real close to pulling the trigger. ---
**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:** [May 28, 2025, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6521 "2025-05-28T21:18:26Z")
I have the Roadie 2. It lives in a drawer unused. My complaints: 1. I don’t know what it’s published accuracy is, but in practice, it ends up off more than I find acceptable when doing my own tuning. I can hear the sour notes in chords. I suspect the problem is that it has to have a bigger tolerance for what it considers to be ‘in tune’ because of the inherent slack in the system. 2. It can get ‘stuck’ endlessly bouncing back and forth between too sharp and too flat, just grinding back and forth without settling on a spot for a while. 3. Every once in a while, it takes a giant detour, either aiming for an octave down or up for no reason. Mostly, I find it significantly slower and more cumbersome than either using my clip-on [Polytune](https://www.tcelectronic.com/product.html?modelCode=0713-AAE) (a miracle of technology\*), the tuner on my [pedalboard](https://www.fender.com/products/tone-master-pro), or the [Peterson strobe tuner](https://www.petersontuners.com/products/istrobosoft/?srsltid=AfmBOoqIgI_E97XjHRLXHDRYvnX0QaLkeGxiXCvx3kungW9MEMRMQZ3K) I use for intonation. It solves a problem I didn’t have while making what worked for me worse. \*the Polytune lets you strum all the open strings at once and shows you which ones are sharp or flat in one single bar graph ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6522 "2025-05-28T21:50:35Z")
I sure hope the problems you had with the 2 were resolved for the 3, because it’ll be here tomorrow. This is my only impulse buy of the month, I tell myself. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6523 "2025-05-29T15:04:37Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Anybody got one of these [robotic tuners](https://www.amazon.com/Automatic-Metronome-Electric-12-String-Alternate/dp/B08N325W3L/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8)? Interesting, but a bit expensive. And apparently it only does one string at a time. With some guitars, especially if they have a floating bridge, you have to iterate over the strings several times, as the changing tension as you adjust one string affects the others. Could end up as rather a slow process? To be honest I’m quite happy with my ~30 year old seiko chromatic. ---
**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:** [May 29, 2025, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6524 "2025-05-29T15:16:54Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > With some guitars, especially if they have a floating bridge, you have to iterate over the strings several times, as the changing tension as you adjust one string affects the others. Yup. All three of my electrics right now have floating bridges. Day-to-day tuning is like a quick tuning pass followed by a second fine adjustment pass. Bigger tuning moves, like when putting on new strings, involves several iterative passes. In those cases, I tune E, A, and D twice before moving to G, B, and E. The fat, bottom strings have the biggest interactive effect on each other. But yeah, that was the core of my gripe with the Roadie **2**. Tuning each string was much slower than doing it manually, and it added up across the whole iterative process. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6525 "2025-06-02T16:03:13Z")
I’m on my third day of becoming a slide legend. In all my decades of fooling around with guitar, I never once tried an alternative tuning. A couple videos has me in Open E. Happily, muscle memory is working, and placement of the slide is becoming second nature. My rudimentary finger picking style works pretty good for what I’m doing. Right now, I’m figuring out a part for one of my simpler pieces that has all majors and sevenths and thankfully only one minor. I probably should watch a lot more tutorials if I really want to be proficient, but I’m not that smrt. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172.md?page=325) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172.md?page=327)