jimmuller 

Yes, well, I was just being silly. My acoustic bike, I mean guitar doesn't have a whammy bar. No shifter, no brakes, no ball bearings.

auchencrow

Prove it! -or at least let us see your J-50.

rhm

Usually those wammy bar things can only lower the pitch, right? Some can either raise or lower it; this one can only raise it. I'd like to see what someone who's really good at it can do with it.

Gary Fountain

Bikes certainly miss out on the warmth of wood. I suppose we've got Brooks leather saddles though. Just love this thread - any more?

20grit

I can't say for that particular one, but it appears to workt he same way as the Gibson Vibra-rest. I've heard they were just shy of useless. This could be from people who didn't know how to use it properly though.

taos07

One of my classicals. Chris Carrington, Brazilian back and sides.

Oldpeddaller

at last - a fender!

auchencrow

Very nice taos07... I checked his website - lots of interesting pics and user testimonials. That must be some guitar.

taos07

It is very loud, but the top is way too thin. It has been repaired in several places.

bigbossman 

I'm visiting my brother this weekend, and last night he gifted me with a Fender Stratocaster, a small Fender amp, and a guitar stand.

Now I gotta learn how to play the damn thing.

auchencrow

Pics or it didn't happen BBM !

jfmckenna

Thin top will produce a louder sound. I'm sure you keep her stored in the right environment but as you know changes in relative humidity can wreck havoc on a guitar top. I just built a double top classical, talk about loud! And I'll never have to worry about the top splitting on this one.

That's a beautiful instrument.

taos07

Thankfully, the top has been stable while I have owned it. This is one of the loudest guitars I have heard that has traditional bracing.

bigbossman 

Forthcoming.

Also came home with a decent '80's Japanese Epiphone acoustic. I need to find someone to teach me how to play.

ColonelJLloyd 

That's a killer axe. I would love to play that one (sans sad little vibrato).

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

why do I feel like that little vibrato was made by someone like D'Addiro or GHS so you'd constantly screw your strings up and necessitate their replacement


Cool Gretsch

rhm

I used to fool around with a slide for a similar effect. You need an archtop guitar for this. Assuming you're right handed, you put the slide on the pinky of your right hand, and hold it up under your palm. After you strum or pluck the strings, you move the slide back and forth over the bridge, pressing it against the strings with your palm. It gives a BWOMP kind of sound; imagine a wahwah pedal on an acoustic guitar. The slide will also raise the pitch a tiny bit, like bending the note, but as long as the slide remains in contact with the bridge, you won't lose much resonance from the string. It's a cool technique, and I thought it had some potential, but I never mastered it. I'm not a lead player.

ColonelJLloyd 

Not really, right? A wah pedal is just a tone pot. That's different than changing pitch or volume.


Me either. I've never really had the desire (or the chops). That said, I've met way too many lead players who are truly lost when they need to play rhythm guitar.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

I consider myself a lead player. Although saying so kinda makes me feel like an instant Jerk

Its a bummer as a lead player when the rhythm section doesn't know how to listen to each other and the band as a whole. I don't know if that makes sense but I feel like each instrument needs to be listening to what every other one is doing. Playing good lead is easy when the guys you're playing with know how to interact.

I'll embarass the hell out of myself now and post a recording I made a while ago. This was a 3 piece unit, just drums, keys and me on axe. Restraint isn't my strong suit.
https://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=770305
If you can make it to around the 3:30 mark there's some Wah pedal usage.

rhm

The mechanism is totally different, of course, so what it does to the actual sound is also completely different. But either one gives the player an ability to manipulate the sound of the string, and the two can be used for (very approximately) similar effects. For example, if use your wahwah pedal to cut off the sound, strum a chord, then let the pedal up, you get a chord without the guitar's characteristic attack. For the that effect with a slide, you hold the slide on the strings, a few mm away from the bridge, pressing pretty hard. Now, when you strum, the strings will be vibrating with full force, but the vibrations won't reach the bridge, so the sound will be drastically muted; so now you slide the slide up over the bridge, and the vibrations will suddenly reach it, and your chord rings out; but without the guitar's characteristic attack. It's more of a BWAH than a WAH.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

Another way to do that is by manipulating the volume knob. That's why Chet Atkins had his volume control as a slider on the Pickguard. That's like a signature Chet Atkins sound.

Same effect is used on the Allman Bros. original recording of In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.

Dunlop Made a version of the Crybaby that doubled as a foot volume control. That makes it practically effortless to pull off volume swells like those.

ColonelJLloyd 

Nice clip, ZB! Wurlitzer or Rhodes?

I miss my Rhodes (had to sell it). I don't even know how to play piano, but it sure was fun banging fifth chords on that thing plugged into a Twin Reverb. Tasty tones for sure.

rhm

You're missing the point again, man! My Gretch does not have a volume control. It's acoustic.

To refresh your memory....

20grit

16" Lower bout?

Forget the effects. Play under a ceiling fan or partially break loose a brace inside the guitar. You'll get some awesome noises out of it. I've grown to really like the sound of my archtop with a loose brace. Pics of it to come tonight most likely. I might throw in some pics of my new Henderson as well. Not vintage, but definitely in the classic realm.

tcpasley

Yep, Wayne will tell you "The squeaky wheel gets the grease" when he's deciding on the next instrument to build. A friend of mine mowed his yard to get his guitar order moved up in the queue. Another friend rebuilt the engine in Wayne's '57 T-bird to get Wayne to build him a guitar. If you want a new Henderson guitar, plan on visiting him several times to "inspire" him. It's always interesting, and you never know who'll be there. Tim Stafford from Blue Highway was there the last time I dropped in.

tcpasley

Reduce, Reuse, Rebicycle