TABS
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009|
PAUL solo: Easter Song - Basic Version
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Archive for the ‘TABS/Gtrs/Gear’ Category
Live Acoustic Rig
Monday, April 20th, 2009| Live Acoustic Rig | ||
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| O.K. fellow gear heads, here’s the nitty gritty on my live set-up for Mary. The pick up system is a Trance Audio Amulet/AcousticLens System. It mounts inside the guitar, underneath the saddle. This is cool: there are 2 pick ups; one for the treble strings ( E B G ) and one for the bass strings ( D A E ). There is a converter/preamp mounted inside the guitar, from there it goes to a stereo guitar cord out. So you have special cords and jacks that accommodate the stereo cord ends in your line. Stereo guitar cord goes into the main Amulet preamp ( small blue box ) that has a master volume knob. Out of this preamp the signal is split back again. 1 output for treble pick up, 1 for bass to send out different signal paths for each respective pick up.From there both signals are further preamped and EQ’d for beefier quality. The treble pick up signal goes into a Rane ME 30 Graphic EQ, then into a Lexicon Alex effects unit which I use for reverbs. Important trick here; I only use reverb on the treble strings, I keep the bass string dry. There is a tiny amount of bleed of reverb onto the bass, because the pick ups sit side by side inside the guitar, and I like this subtle bleed. So this trick gives the melodies that are usually played on the treble strings their own space, a separate sound color from that of the bass strings. The reverb lets the melodies hang on the treble strings while I keep the tighter sounding chugga chugga rhythm parts going on the bass strings. Last gizmo in that chain is a Behringer Ultra-G D.I. box.
The bass strings signal path ( after coming out of the main Amulet preamp ) goes into a L.R. Baggs Para Acoustic D.I. box. I love the Baggs unit. This is my bass signal third preamp, EQ and D.I. box all rolled into one. It has lots of EQ capability, XLR or 1/4 outputs, accepts phantom power, are built rock solid, and is easy on batteries. AND they aren’t expensive. Sounds great on fiddle too.All my connecting cords ( except the stereo cable ) are George L’s cables. These cables sound MUCH better than the average guitar cable. Compare this cable to another and hear for yourself.A Keal road case holds everything safely together. The case was custom designed and assembled by Randy Schwartz and Paul Kaiser. |
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STRINGS 80/20 Bronze Medium gauge .013 .017 .026 .035 .045. 056 12 String set: Elixir Polyweb 80/20 Bronze Light gauge .010 .010 .014 .014 .023 .009 .030 .012 .039 .018 .047 .027 Electric Strings: D’Addario XL nickel wound .011 .014 .018 .028 .038 .049 PICKS Tortex green ( medium heavy ) |
Tunings
Monday, April 20th, 2009
“The Butterfly” - April 2009 GUITAR USED
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Meet Mary & Margie
Monday, April 20th, 2009Meet Mary
Mary is a Washburn DC 60 E, serial # 62304. I purchased it new on September 6, 1991 for about $800 at The White House Of Music in my home town of Waukesha, Wisconsin. This model was produced only for about 5 years. Aside from when they were first available, I’ve only seen a few ever since they came out in the early 1990’s. What sold me on the guitar is the unique 24 fret (2 octave) neck. Very rare for any guitar, and unheard of for an acoustic. What keeps me playing her is the incredible tone, it has SO improved with age. And it is a warhorse! Takes a beating on the road and has held up amazingly. For example:
Due to a drunk patron, Mary took an upside down dive off a 3 foot stage in New York City in 1993 and came out with only a tiny ding. By rights that should have broken the headstock off. In Temple Texas, a metal footswitch dropped on it from several feet up when the guitar was lying on the stage floor without a guitar stand. Dumb idea. Mary also survived Tropical Storm Allison, a flood in Houston on June 8, 2001. The car I was in got stalled in high water, was pushed to higher ground, but the water kept rising. Thankfully the water never got higher than the rear wheels after that. I had to leave the guitar in the trunk as my girlfriend and I waded thru chest high water to flee to a nearby hospital for shelter for the night.
Recent repairs & modifications have been done by Tom Oatley. Tom was Jimmie Vaughan’s guitar tech for 5 years, and was also a tech for the Dixie Chicks recently. Of special note is the beautiful hand made metal cross he himself made after receiving the idea for it in a dream! It’s purpose was to cover the hole in the side left from the original electronics panel. The pick up system he installed is a Trance Audio Amulet System. This pickup system I was turned onto by Michael Hedges, who used a prototype model. It’s what captures all the body knocks and hand nuances on the guitar.
Other mods have been done by Luthier Del Langejans of Holland, Michigan. The man makes guitars that will make you melt. He’s made guitars for guys like Phil Keaggy & John Michael Talbot.
Another important addition are brass bridge pins on the bass strings. Again, I got the idea from Hedges, but then was convicted to make the change after hearing for myself when I played Willy Porter’s guitar. Brass pins add a huge amount of volume and tone. Both very good things!
The neck & headstock is 1 piece of mahogany which I find amazing. Several pieces of wood at least are normally used for this step. And mahogany being a soft wood makes for easy neck vibrato when you shake the guitar with love.
Meet Margie
“Margie” is my new girlfriend! She’s a 2007 Taylor 354ce, serial # 20071114023, purchased in January 2008. It was an outer space experience the first time I played her at Strait Music in my now home of Austin, Texas. That same outer space experience continued the 2nd & 3rd times too before I purchased it. It is a writing tool extraordinaire!! Oceans of sound. I tune it in DADGAD, but a 1/2 step lower still. Huge sound! Who ever invented the 12 string should get a medal for being extraordinarily cool.
A common trick I do w/Margie is to capo also at the 5th fret in the tuning I mentioned. This is a fantastic balance of bass, middle & treble. The melodies I often play on the middle 2 strings, the lower strings work the bass range, and the top strings work as drones or harmonies. 3 parts-that’s the key to a full sound. I employ the capo like this on “The Bloodhound”, “Mayim” & “Metamorphosis” on The Butterfly.