# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/61 "2010-02-04T12:02:18Z")
[QUOTE=E-Sabbath] How the heck do you drop a key or three (eg, drop D) without the strings going all loose or… all tight and snapping. [/QUOTE] You put on heavier strings. When I wanted to learn some System of a Down stuff I had to dedicate a guitar to it, they play in ‘dropped D’ tuned down a tone (so it’s actually dropped C) I put on a set of 011s and got an extra heavy bottom E (er, C). Turns out this works for early B52s stuff as well, Rock Lobster falls under your fingers nicely. I do the A type barre like this ```auto 5 x x x x x x <- index fingure 6 - - - - - - 7 - - x x x - <- little finger ``` ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/62 "2010-02-04T12:48:07Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > That must have been really cool! Details! Puleeze? Cool on your new guitar - a good semi-hollow is a fun thing. as for the Martin - I sent this email to a few guitar geek friends: > [@](#): > > I took the day off – I had a rollover day from last year I had to burn – and so I decided to check out Lark Street music, just across the GW bridge (scene of the death of Gwen Stacy, for you Spider-Man fans). It is a great, small vintage shop, crammed with a wide selection. I got to play a ’53 Tele which was amazing (it deserves it’s own email – great guitar), a ’63 Firebird was really great, too, and a new-made Linhal (I think) which I had never heard of. I didn’t try amps, really – just played unplugged since I wasn’t really in the market for anything – but he had a Trainwreck – apparently the last one ever built. I didn’t ask. > > On the acoustic side, they had an LG-2 (mine is better 😉 and a number of other wonderful guitars. They had a Gibson Roy Smeck Stage Deluxe, a 12-fret slope-shouldered dreadnaught I tried in Chicago and fell in love with – this one wasn’t nearly as nice. I was then trying Martins; I pulled down one that had a lot of honest wear, but wasn’t trashed, and strummed it. Holy Jesus – the earth moved; when I dug in, there was this spring and forward momentum to it – like it was a groove-moving sidewalk, just waiting for me to hop on. I’ve never experienced anything like it. I pulled back and looked at it – I asked the kid there “what _is_ this” and he just smiled and said “a ‘41”. I looked it over – there was a split on the peghead – not a break – that had been glued a long time ago. Otherwise, structurally sound. I played it again – and damn if the guitar doesn’t have a clear dynamic range, like tweaking the Volume knob on a Tele. When you dig in hard, the low-end blossoms out rich and full from nowhere – when you play delicately, it almost sounds small-bodied with the balance it provides. But it makes you want to smack on it and drive the chords – it’s like stepping on an accelerator and feeling this tiny lag before you’re boosted into overdrive. The neck was a fine medium neck – very playable and the guitar was so amazing I looked past the lack of chunkiness without a second thought. I asked the guy how much and he said “$17” – and he said it would be closer to $30 grand if it didn’t have the split. I meekly asked the owner Buzz when he got back if he might be interested in first edition books and he said sorry, no. Dammit. 😉 > > That guitar will haunt me – I totally get it now; that is the first WW2 vintage mahogany Martin I have ever played. ---
**Author:** ![BigShooter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f07891/32.png) [@BigShooter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigShooter)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/63 "2010-02-04T12:53:07Z")
**MwNNrules** - what’s with all this “defining” stuff?? Just play and have fun, man, jeez… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/64 "2010-02-04T18:49:22Z")
Here’s the poll section of the thread: _How many guitars do you own?_\* Me: 5, all electrics. Tele, SG, Schecter C1, Epi Dot, and a “super-strat” knockoff. \*using your definition of guitar 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/65 "2010-02-04T18:54:23Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > _How many guitars do you own?_\* Two, technically. The one I actually use is an Epiphone Les Paul Special II; it’s what I got last year when I started playing. We also own an old classical acoustic guitar (of unknown make and vintage), which once belonged to my wife’s uncle, and which he gave to her decades ago. Neither of us play it (she doesn’t know how to play at all), and it’s mostly a dust-collector. ---
**Author:** ![BigShooter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f07891/32.png) [@BigShooter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigShooter)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/66 "2010-02-04T19:19:24Z")
Mid 90’s Fender Lone Star Strat 2009 GhostTown S-Type 🙂 2008 GhostTown Quilt Top T-Type with P-90’s 1972 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe 2004 Ibanez Artcore Archtop 1967 Teisco Del Ray (my slide guitar) My own personal “Frankenstrat” featuring parts that were lying around the shop Mid 90’s Taylor 614-CE So I guess that makes 8 of them. #9 is around the corner though… ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/67 "2010-02-04T19:31:35Z")
> [@BigShooter](#): > > My own personal “Frankenstrat” featuring parts that were lying around the shop Wouldn’t that also qualify for the GhostTown moniker? ---
**Author:** ![BigShooter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f07891/32.png) [@BigShooter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigShooter)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/68 "2010-02-04T19:34:57Z")
Not really. All the parts were pre-manufactured parts from other guitars I’ve had thru the years. None of it was handmade by me… except the pickguard. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/69 "2010-02-04T19:41:27Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > _How many guitars do you own?_\* Just one, a 2008 (I assume) Mexican standard Strat, midnight wine with a maple fretboard. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/70 "2010-02-04T19:57:56Z")
09(?) Starcaster by Fender. Black. 09 Guitar Hero Stratocaster (360) black. It’s like a mini-me! ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/71 "2010-02-04T21:29:08Z")
1970’s Kay squareneck dobro 1996(?) Taylor 422R Washburn D-10 (my cheapest, and most favoritest acoustic) 1973(?) Ovation Custom Balladeer Yamaha cedar classical 1950’s Valco/Supro lap steel (bakelite! And it has the best pickup I’ve ever heard in it.) Washburn electric (I forget the model. Basically a Floyd-equipped superstrat shredder. I’m rebuilding it. Great body and neck, but crap electronics. $25 Craigslist score.) 1996 G&L ASAT Special (my #1 electric) 1970’s Electra Les Paul copy (awesome guitar. Matsumoku LP copy.) 1981 Ibanez AS50 semihollow (my #2 electric. Completely refurbished, with Gibson '57 Classic pickups.) G&L L-2000 bass ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/72 "2010-02-04T21:37:21Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > 1950’s Valco/Supro lap steel (bakelite! And it has the best pickup I’ve ever heard in it.) WANT! 😃 Okay - here goes - I have 8 currently: - Tele Special - homebrew [build](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=531055) (link to thread chain where I chronicle the building) - Telecaster homebrew build - looks like a '52 Reissue, but plays much better 😉 - Baby Taylor (currently used more by my kids…) - 2007 Gibson J-45 acoustic - 1946 Gibson LG-2 - small-bodied acoustic - the sweetest, simplest tone - 1980’s Japanese Les Paul replica by Burny (still threatening to sell soon) - 1973 Gibson Les Paul Custom - '54 Black Beauty Reissue, aka “[Gracie](http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n86/WordMan567/AAGracieandGracie-2006-07.jpg)” (link to pic of guitar + namesake) - my soulmate guitar and the one that opened my eyes to how a truly great guitar is different - nothing like a 70’s LP; this is just like a 1954 Les Paul Custom - 1957 Gibson Les Paul Special, in TV Yellow I have been trying to get some photos taken, but my Mr. Photographer friend and I have not been able to connect up…and I always have a few moving parts I am trying to swap out or upgrade, so this list has a shelf life of yesterday… ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/73 "2010-02-04T22:06:43Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Are you trying to describe an “A” style bar chord? e.g. a D major chord: > > ```auto > > 5 x x x x x x <-index finger > 6 - - - - - - > 7 - - x x x - <- ring finger > > ``` > > I can play this easily on an electric guitar and have the first string sound correctly. I can see this shape being very difficult on an acoustic, but on an electric it requires practice and patience for most folks, but is quite doable. That’s the one. Something to work on. I don’t think I’ve tried the pinky method Small Clanger pointed out. I’ll give it a shot. Usually if I need the 1st string to sound I’ll scrunch my middle, ring, and pinky fingers on the 2,3,4 strings and fret the 1st with my index and just blow off the 5th string. Guitars currently in my posession: A Yamaha 12-string beater that the bass player in my old band gave me. G&L F-100 that bought in the '80s. I pull it out every now & then and remember it needs a fret job. Taylor Grand Auditorium ‘base’ model 714 I got in I think 1992. American Standard Strat I got in 1993 or 4. and that was it, until… My ebony Gibson Les Paul ‘Standard Traditional Pro’ that I bought last year after coming into some money. It’s awesome and the guitar I play 97.5% of the time, even my old fingerpickin’ stuff. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/74 "2010-02-05T00:28:18Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Here’s the poll section of the thread: > > _How many guitars do you own?_\* Let’s see… 1937 Gibson L-37 archtop (hopefully sold Real Soon Now) 2006 Huss and Dalton DM Early 90’s three-bolt G&L Legacy (Sparkle purple!) 2008 G&L Asat Special Bluesboy. Late '80s Korean B.C. Rich (disassembled, partially stripped, waiting to be made into _something_) ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/75 "2010-02-05T00:52:37Z")
Right - I go away for two days, and now I’ve got all these different things to throw my two cents in over. I have five guitars - **Big Bill** is a Yamaha Classical from the early 1970s with a laminate top. Currently working as a baritone guitar. **L’il Ed** is an Classical made for me in 2001 by Edward Klein. **La Mouette de neige** is a Seagull steel-string acoustic made sometime in 1993. **Big Ed** is a made in Mexico Power Telecaster - it has a stereo output with 3 single coil pickups and a Fishman piezoelectric pickup in the bridge. The signal can be split and eq’d separately and sent to two different amps. Very fun instrument. **Lorne** is an 8-string custom made for Lorne Lofsky by David Wren of the 12th Fret sometime in 1983. Lorne is the one I use the least because it’s by far the most awkward of the lot - it’s essentially a Tele neck but with two extra strings, so there’s not a lot of room for your fingertips. On the other hand, it’s exquisitely simple to do Breau Barres… And at this very moment, I have two other guitars on rent - **Ralph** is an Art of Lutherie 12 string **Pierre** is a La Patrie concert classical strung as a baritone instrument. Speaking of baritone guitars, what I’ve been doing for the last couple of months is taking a regular classical and tuning it down a minor third. (1st - C#; 2nd - G#; 3rd - E; 4th - B; 5th - F#; 6th - C#) For a while, I tried using Extra Hard Tension strings, but the resulting tone quality was too flabby. What I now do is take a pack of Normal Tension strings, but put them on one string higher, so what would normally serve as a 2nd string B is now a 1st string C#. Then for the 6th string, I was using the E out of an Extra Hard Tension set, but it wasn’t cutting it, especially in a drop ‘D’ (well, okay, drop ‘B’, but this is confusing enough without bringing facts into it.) Now, I have a store of .052, .054 and .056 inch strings to use down there. I think when I get back home, I’m going to set Big Bill up with some .056, but for now, because Pierre the beater isn’t my guitar, I’m taking it easy on him with a .054. So, repertoire - I have 3 songs by John Beckwith, 2 songs by William Beauvais, 2 Schubert arrangements, a Fauré arrangement and a Lenny Breau song all of which I’m polishing to record for a demo. In particular, the Schuberts and the Fauré are what require the Baritone guitar. The key I need for the Fauré is Db, and it’s just awkward on a standard tuning. On the Baritone, what looks like E major is Db. It’s the same with the Schubert one is in Gb, the other is in B, so on the Baritone that’s like playing in A and D, respectively. The question had been asked about 7 string guitars - different guys come up with different tunings based on what they most want to do. My friend Paul tunes his seven in straight major thirds - C, G#, E, C, G#, E, C going from first to seventh. Other guys have tuned theirs in straight fourths. Bucky Pizzarelli, George Van Eps and Howard Alden all had/have a low A for the seventh string. Lenny Breau liked to have a high A for the first string. My 8 is usually kept in 1st - A, 2nd - E, 3rd - B, 4th - G, 5th - D, 6th - A, 7th - E, 8th - A, but I have been known to drop the 6th and 7th strings and play it as if it were a 3 string bass. I don’t see why a Chapman isn’t a guitar - anytime you use a hammer on (ligado ascendente for us classical guys), you’re tapping rather than plucking the string. I remember the youngest member of Los Romeros played entire passages with left hand alone. Plus, you can pick/pluck/strum on a Chapman - you just don’t have any open string sounds… ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/76 "2010-02-05T02:58:01Z")
Nice post, **Le Ministre**. You’ve got me thinking about hauling out one of my lesser-used guitars and putting heavy+detuned strings on it, just to see what that’s like. Sounds like fun! > [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > **La Mouette de neige** is a Seagull steel-string acoustic made sometime in 1993. Babelfish tells me, so it must be true: “The Gull of snow.” Or I’m guessing that that is what the French (or French-Canadians) call a seagull, but reverse babelfishing “seagull”-\>French = “mouette”, so maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/77 "2010-02-05T03:12:10Z")
Babelfish is telling you the truth - a seagull, in French, is la mouette. ‘La Mouette de neige’ was a line I had in ‘Le Vampire et la nymphomane’, and yes, it really does mean the Seagull of Snow. The entire show was this bizarre, off the wall piece of French surrealism that even the francophones in the cast could not completely figure out. La pauvre mouette was what fellow cast members called my guitar, as I learned most of the piece by playing my line melodically… ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/78 "2010-02-05T06:02:26Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > Babelfish is telling you the truth - a seagull, in French, is la mouette. ‘La Mouette de neige’ was a line I had in ‘Le Vampire et la nymphomane’, and yes, it really does mean the Seagull of Snow. The entire show was this bizarre, off the wall piece of French surrealism that even the francophones in the cast could not completely figure out. La pauvre mouette was what fellow cast members called my guitar, as I learned most of the piece by playing my line melodically… Dude, wow, you’ve got eclectic hobbies. Thanks for the clarification! I’m trying to picture someone delivering that line: "Hark! The Seagull of Snow! (Dunn Dun Dunnnn!) 🙂 > [@Le Ministre de l'au-delà](#): > > Big Ed is a made in Mexico Power Telecaster - it has a stereo output with 3 single coil pickups and a Fishman piezoelectric pickup in the bridge. The signal can be split and eq’d separately and sent to two different amps. Very fun instrument. How do the pickups map to the stereo channels? I’m imagining a very elaborate set of switches which send one of the four pickups to “left”, and one of the other pickups to “right”, right? ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/79 "2010-02-05T07:12:54Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > 1970’s Electra Les Paul copy (awesome guitar. Matsumoku LP copy.) No Kidding? My super-strat knockoff is an Electra Phoenix. I’ve actually liked it a great deal, but these days it’s not a guitar I play daily or even often. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Mumble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Captain\_Mumble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Mumble)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/80 "2010-02-05T07:45:51Z")
[quote=“squeegee, post:64, topic:527172”] Here’s the poll section of the thread: _How many guitars do you own?_\* snip QUOTE] Being a lefty is a pain in the wallet '96 Maton EM225C acoustic 6-string '93 Maton ECW80 acoustic 12-string '65 wood-bodied Dobro '94 Danelectro S2 set up for slide in open G '86 Legend ‘Strat’ - frankenstein’d with DiMarzio and Duncan pups and Kahler whammy '93 Samick ‘Les Paul’ frankenstein’d with DiMarzio and Duncan pups and Gotoh 'heads-rewired for splits and phasing '97 American Standard Fender Strat '08 Ravenwest DS300 ‘Les Paul’- sweetest tone ever '92 Vester ‘Fender Bass’ -Mitch [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172.md?page=5)