Low G - so that means instead of tuning to “my dog has fleas” (I swear that is how my mom has done it for 60 years) with the “my” starting high, you start low? I guess I would try to figure out what songs / styles I care most about playing and what they typically use and/or what strings are most readily available.
I got delayed in California due to the hurricane, so I was able to get 2 hours with my favorite vintage guitar dealer. Oy, he had some wonderful stuff, none of which I will be taking home with me - grr. I was focused on his old Martins - he has some gorgeous prewar small bodies and dreadnaughts. Always an education.
I do a lot of Pluck-strum or Pluck-strum-strum type stuff. I’m not sure how to describe it properly. I play a lot of old country and folk type stuff. Being able to pluck the top string and strumming would be great, rather than the way I do it now would be nice. (I don’t know if that makes any sense. I’m not sure how to explain it properly.) Besides, after what I paid for the damn thing, buying one string isn’t going to break the bank!
When we head out to Bainbridge Friday, there’s a music shop I want to stop at in Lynwood Centre. He has an old Gibson Uke I’d like to try. I also tried a banjolele at Folk Fest last week, and I’m trying to convince myself that I don’t really need it.
Hmm, I don’t know enough about uke playing to answer but I suspect it wouldn’t be hard to ask someone at your store or find out online.
That looks sweet. I love me an old Gibson - the first thing I did when I got home was break out my old Gibson acoustic and play it quietly. Man did it hold up to the stuff i was playing at my dealer friend’s!
Another possibly dumb question. When I put the PU selector switch in the middle position, should both volume controls be hot? I turned the neck PU volume control all the way off on my Epiphone Casino and tried to adjust the volume of the bridge PU. I get no sound at any setting.
Is the neck PU control supposed to control the volume when using both pickups?
(Apologies to electronic geeks if I mangle some of this.)
It’s kind of a weird situation when you’re using both pickups on a four knob guitar. When using one pickup, the volume control channels some amount of the signal to ground – at zero, ALL of the signal is going to ground, so there’s nothing left and you get silence.
When the pickup selector is set to both pickups, then both volume controls determine the volume, or the blend, of each pickup’s contribution to the signal. However, as you turn down either of the volume controls, you get more signal from both pickup sent to ground. Once you turn down one volume control all the way, all of the signal from both pickups bleeds to ground and you get nothing.
So, no, either or any volume control doesn’t control the whole signal, except when you turn one off. At levels above that, you’re affecting the blend of signal between the pickups. But if you zero either volume, you’ve effectively vetoed contributions from either pickup.
To return to your question: you have the neck volume off and want to just hear contribution from the bridge pickup. Well, change the selector switch to the bridge pickup only, and you’ll get what you wanted.
Thanks for the explanation squeegee. I didn’t want to use only the bridge pickup. I was trying to blend the two and was trying to check how much I was getting from the back PU at a low setting. I was going to adjust the bridge PU and then slowly bring up the neck’s.
I posted this link in the ‘Levon Helm/Robbie Robertson’ thread as well, but I thought it would be of interest to many of the folks here. This month’s issue of ‘Acoustic Guitar’ magazine has a cool article and interview with Robbie Robertson.
Heh - I picked that issue up in a music store while I was on the road, along with the month before it with Steve Earle on the cover. I think Acoustic Guitar is a pretty darn good magazine.
I noticed that Guitar Douchebag, er, Aficionado has Richard Gere on the cover this month, given that he is selling his admittedly incredibly cool collection. I love the photos in that mag but really can’t handle the overall tone and article. “How to pick an Armagnac that matches your vintage guitar.” Ugh.
Ha! I particularly enjoy their articles such as ‘keeping exquisite instruments out of the hands of undeserving plebes like musicians’ and ‘buy an expensive guitar to replace the dick that isn’t there’…
OK guitar gods, I have another question. A few months back I played an Epiphone Casino, unplugged, at a local music store. The biggest feature that caught my eye was how light it was. That was the first hollowbody I had ever held. The second thing I noticed was how loud it was, again, hollowbody. I thought I really wanted that guitar so I began a search and finally purchased on on eBay.
Now after having the guitar for a few months I am no longer all that crazy about it. The neck and action are fine, it is the tone I am not real happy about. I’m not sure how to describe it but maybe “muddy” is the word. And I don’t know if that is the P90s or the hollowbody or the combination.
So I am thinking of selling it and looking for a semi-jollow in roughly the same price range. I also have a an Ibanez Artcore semi-hollow with humbuckers but am not too pleased with the overall quality of that guitar. So I was wondering if anybody here could offer a suggestion on a semi-hollow in the same price range more or less than the Casino?
P90’s take a little getting used to, and can seem muddy because they’re high-ish output. Have you tried just turning the guitar down a little, and turning up the amp? From about 7-10 you get similar volume from the pickup, but more oomph at 10. If you’re used to just turning the guitar to 10 and fiddling with the amp, this be new territory for you, and if you want a cleaner, try dialing it back a little. What kind of tone are you looking for?
Have you tried an Epi Dot? It’s a budget guitar, but quite a few people like them. I own the entry-level “studio” version, and like the guitar, but wish to change the electronics out, which is pretty involved with a semi hollow.
Thanks for the response squeegee. I usually have both the amp and guitar at low volumes settings. I doubt I have ever turned the amp past 4-5 and the guitar at the lowest possible for the most part.
I payed around 550usd for the Casino including having it sent to Guadalajara. They sell for around 700 new in the USA and this one is in perfect condition. I had thought about the Epiphone Sheraton which is about the same price. I also wondered about maybe a Gretsch G5122 but I believe they are hollow body although they have humbuckers.
I have also been watching eBay for older model Guilds like the Starfire IV. They are more expensive but I think I can get around 800 to 9000usd for the Casino here in México and hopefully around 300usd for my Ibanez so if I am patient I might be able to acquire a nice older model.
I will see if the local venders carry the Epiphone Dot. I need to buy some picks so hopefully they have a floor model to play. I know when I tried the Casino they also had a BB King model on the rack.
I’m trying to comprehend this – you have the amp low (what kind of amp?) and the guitar low, and it’s muddy? Really? That sounds at first blush like a very clean arrangement. That said, I don’t know what kind of amp you have, or what tone you’re going for. Can you please elaborate?
Agreed - CBEscapee, it would helpful to hear about how you have every dial set - both on the amp and the guitar. If you are looking for a full “diagnosis” list the name of every control on the amp and where you have it set.
Granted, a hollow body guitar can sound “muddy” - less highs, more mids and lows - but they can also bright if you have the amp and guitar set correctly. If you have any effects in the chain, please include them, too.
Have you tried it using the bridge pickup (pickup selector switch in the Down position, so the pickup closest to the bridge is sounding), with the Tone control on the guitar up to 9-10, the Volume maybe 7 or so, and the amp’s Tone controls around 5 or higher, especially the Treble control? How does that sound? And let us know if you have the amp set clean or crunchy…
I am playing it through a Fender Frontman 212R, 100w amp.
My clean channel amp settings are usually Volume 5, treble 5, midrange 4 and bass 4. Reverb set from 4 to 6. The guitar volume set around 2 (otherwise it gets loud very quickly) and the tone control I move around depending on what I am playing.
On the drive channel, drive set about 5 and volume 3 to 4. Treble around 5-6, midrange 4 and bass 4. I usually turn on the midrange contour function. Reverb about the same.
If I go for more distortion (not often, usually just goofing around) I turn the gain up to 7-8 and volume down to 3. Reverb turned all the way down. Again the guitar volume is usually at around the lowest setting.
If I play a 12 bar blues chord progression (say G7, C7, D7) using the neck pickup, the low tones really take over. The middle PU position is a little less muddy and the bridge is just to twangy for rhythm.
Hard to get past the observation that it sounds like you have way too much amp - your controls all sound like you could play with them to dial in a decent tone, but the amp is so powerful that you are lowering the volume to a point where it impacts your tone. Have you tried playing the guitar through a smaller amp?
I guess I could try to find a smaller amp to check the tone. I had no idea that it could be a problem of that nature. None of my other guitars seem to have the same problem. I have a Strat, a standard Tele, a Tele HH FMT, a Danelectro U2 with lipstick PUs and the Ibanez semi-hollow with humbuckers.
If I play a chord progression with a swing rhythm on the Casino, the low tones that start with the downstroke completely overwelm the high tones on the upstroke, which is the harder stroke. My other guitars don’t seem to have this problem.
Can’t diagnose from a distance. Pickup distance from strings? Learning how to dial in P-90’s? Something wrong with the casino’s circuit? If you aren’t happy you aren’t happy. Can a tech check out your rig with both a Strat tone you like and your casino to compare and help diagnose??
Yeah, sorry CB I haven’t got much else either. If you have several other guitars whose tone you don’t like through the same setup, and this one where you don’t, then yes, it’s time to move on. I do find the low end of my Dot kinda muddy for some things, but I always figured it’s the budget electronics. I do like it for some things and not for others, just like most guitars, but the boomy low end can be a pain. Maybe this is just a semi-hollow/archtop thing that other players just adjust for. That axe is my sole experience with non-solid guitars, so I don’t have any other points of comparison, and was hoping an amplified archtop player might jump in.