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
5 x x x x x x <- index fingure
6 - - - - - -
7 - - x x x - <- little finger
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:
MwNNrules - what’s with all this “defining” stuff?? Just play and have fun, man, jeez… 
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
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.
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…
Wouldn’t that also qualify for the GhostTown moniker?
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.
Just one, a 2008 (I assume) Mexican standard Strat, midnight wine with a maple fretboard.
09(?) Starcaster by Fender. Black.
09 Guitar Hero Stratocaster (360) black. It’s like a mini-me!
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
WANT! 
Okay - here goes - I have 8 currently:
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…
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.
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)
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…
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!
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.
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!)
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?
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.
[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
