kirk95
StarShip Captain
Joined: 14 May 2004
Posts: 278
Location: Austin, TX
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 Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2012 3:18 am Post subject: Scott answers your questions - round 2.26 - 12/30/11 |
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What version of the ML pickups do You use? The 6.0K ohms or the 6.4K ohms?
Would they also work for a clean tone?
| Quote: | | I use the 6.4k "Standard". The 6.0k is called the "Classic". Both are great for any kind of tone you want from a strat style guitar. |
Hi Scott!
I was in Bologna at Bravo Cafè on 3/11. It was the first time i saw you on stage. Really GREAT! Unfortunately there weren't so many girls eheh
| Quote: | | Yeah, my wife's friend loves my shows. She calls them "pick of the dick". |
As a guitarist I only want to ask how do you "re-enter" in the jam after a drum break, do you count the bars in your head?
or just listen and feel what the drummer (what a drummer Dennis ) is about to do? or something else?
Sorry, my english is really bad.
Thank You&Best Wishes
Francesco
Italy
| Quote: | | If you don't understand or can't follow the break the drummer is playing, all you can do is tap your foot and hope you come out in the same place he does. Jeff and I have asked Dennis how to keep our place during some of the insane stuff he plays, and his advice is "don't listen to me, because if you do it's gonna fuck you up". So we just watch each other's foot tapping - then at least we're together. Sometimes we hang in there and sometimes we totally loose it, but it's fun either way. I actually enjoy those moments when after one of his solos, we'll look back at him like "did we make it?" and he's smiling and shaking his head "no". One time during his solo in Mysterious Traveler, I was keeping my place in his solo fine so I yelled back "is that all you got, bitch?" Then he proceeded to lambaste my ass - his arms were moving so fast I couldn't see them, and he had this evil grin on his face. Of course Jeff and I completely lost one, and after the tune he said "you ain't gonna say that again, are you." I said "no sir". |
Hi Scott!!
What is your favorite drumjoke?
I love this one...
What has 3 legs and an asshole?
A DRUM STOOL!
| Quote: | | The only other one I know is - What kind of people like to hang around with musicians? Drummers! |
Hi Scott!
What are the aspects of a well tuned room for recording guitars?
All the best!
| Quote: | The best acoustic panels you can buy are here:
http://www.primacoustic.com/index.htm
I'm in the artist section, raving about them. I noticed a huge improvement in my tone when switching from Auralex foam. The size of the room obviously makes a difference - bigger is usually better, but I make do with a room which is about 13' x 13'. I have panels covering about 30% of the room, and bass traps in the corners. I believe having a wood floor helps the tone, and I set the cabinet directly on the floor, without wheels. |
Hello, Scott. No question, just a comment. I recently watched the Rush in Rio, Rush Time Machine Tour 2011, and Jeff Beck Live at Ronnie Scott DVDs. The thing that was striking (other than the fact that these are veteran musicians who take pride in live performance and play their asses off) was the number of attractive women in the audiences enjoying the music. That was particularly surprising in the case of Rush, whose music has always been rather esoteric. There may be hope for your band on the woman front yet.
| Quote: | | I love to joke about it because the occasional sausage fest is funny, but after touring for the last few months in Asia, South America, and Europe, I noticed that there were more women in the audiences than ever. The east coast tour of the US was still mainly guys, but jazz shows in the US attract mostly musicians. |
Have you tried the Gotoh 510TS-SF2 bridge? How does it compare to the fender vintage bridge?
Thanks!
| Quote: | | No, I stopped experimenting with bridges about ten years ago, when I decided that for me the Fender vintage bridge, even with all it's problems, will always get me closer to the sound of an old strat than anything else. |
Hi Scott. I have been a fan of your playing for many years. I have always listened to blues and in the past few years I've gotten deep into jazz and fusion. I played bass in a jazz-blues band for a few years. Now, I just got a spare strat style guitar from my guitar player and I'm inspired to start playing guitar. I quite well versed in music theory and I was pretty competent on the bass. Do you have any tips for a complete beginner like me when it comes to playing guitar?
| Quote: | | Start transcribing, which is a polite way to say steal licks from records. You'll eventually learn how to make whatever you learn sound like you, but for now, start learning to phrase and get good tone by listening and learning from the great guitarists in your record collection. Also, get a good private teacher - that's a must for a beginning guitarist. |
How much would you expect the sound of a guitar built with mediocre wood to improve if I put in Suhr pickups, a fat steel block and new saddles but retain the old base plate ?
| Quote: | | The guitar on Tore Down House was a very mediocre Fender reissue strat with Suhr V60LP pickups. They dramatically improved the tone of that guitar. About the bridge, you didn't say which one you have. If it's a two post bridge like the Fender American, putting on a steel block and traditional saddles (as opposed to the block ones, which in my opinion don't sound as good) will improve the tone, but it'll never give the guitar as much bass as a Vintage 6-screw bridge. Without that bass, it won't sound like a real strat. |
Have you ever broken a string on stage ?
| Quote: | | Back in the Tribal Tech days when I was using .009's, about a million times. I hardly ever break strings now because I change them before every show and use .011's tuned to Eb. Even on gigs where I need to be in E and use .010's I rarely break strings. The front edge of the hole in the saddle can be sharp and there's a lot of pressure there from the string - that's usually where my strings break. John fixes it by rounding that edge with a Dremel on the E & B saddles. |
I have to tell you, I've been reading your responses on this forum for quite a while now and I absolutely love the Joe Zawinul stories. One more please!!
| Quote: | | I love this one. We were driving to a gig when Joe just blurted out "Henderson, your solo in Medicine Man is too fuckin' long." I said "yours is twice as long as mine", and he said "yeah, but mine is good". |
And lastly, who would you prefer between a Labrador and a Beagle ?
Thanks a lot Scott!!
| Quote: | | They're both great dogs, but being a previous Beagle owner (twice), I can tell you they aren't for the weak hearted. They're incredibly clever escape artists, can easily jump over a 6 foot fence, and they follow their nose to infinity. I've gotten "we found your dog" calls from over ten miles away. |
Hi Scott,
Excuse my English.
Looking forward to the new TT CD, any new CD with your trio soon? (Looking forward X2)
| Quote: | | I'm writing for the new trio album. |
Could you please tell what kind of tubes do you use on your HRD? I know they are 6L6 and 12AX7, but I would like to know the brand and where your HRD starts breaking, 4, 5 volume?
Thanks a lot for this!
| Quote: | | I use JJ tubes in my HRD. The lead and crunch channels suck, so the clean channel is the only option, and it's cleaner than I'd like. 4 is about max for the amp - it doesn't get much louder after that, just muddier. I use more gain from the pedals with the HRD than I do with my Suhr head, which is always on crunch. |
Hey Scott. Thought you may want to add a caption to the above photo. Haha.
| Quote: | | From what I've read about Miles, the caption should read "Hey kid, get the fuck out of my shot." |
Hi Scott,
I had a great time in your show in Tel-Aviv!
some questions...:
1. I bought the PX5D and it sounds great with your patches. Thanks!
I tried several headphones with it (hd600, dt880, v6, ksc75) and I think it sounds best with an ATH-AD900 phones.
How does the effects (like tremolo, complessor, delay, chorus etc.) in the px5d, when played with an amp, compare to other multi-effects like the M9 ?
| Quote: | | I've never compared the two. I've never played the PXD5 through an amp - only through a PA at workshops and my stereo system at home. The M9 was made to use with an amp - the PXD5 was made to use with full range speakers. |
2. I have a GDS 18 watt TMB amp, which i think is similar to your Suhr Badger. Can you get a tone like your tone in "The litigants" with it? I can't seem to get even close...
3. How do you compare your tone with the HRD and SD9, to your tone with the OD100 and RC Booster? is it like 90% there?
Thanks!
| Quote: | | For me its more like 50%. First of all you have to factor in a 1x12 vs. a 4x12, which is a huge difference, then a Marshall type amp vs. a Fender, which is also huge. Out in the audience hearing it mic'd in the PA, my friends who've heard both say that the HRD setup sounds good, but not as good as the Suhr. |
Hi Scott,
I was in Bologna last November. Great show. It was not the first time, but it's always great to see you play ... Unfortunately the room was microscopic and my position was exactly next to Jeff - a great bass player not only because it sounds very good - ... still was a great lesson in bass guitar and even drums! If one day I decided to play bass or drums I'll remember!
I remember great shows in Bastia Umbra with Tribal Tech in '97 and in Rovigo with more "blues stuffs" (great performances from the CD "Well To The Bone!") in 2004. I was also at the clinic in Rovigo ... very interesting (I remember the lesson as if it were yesterday)!
Now only two questions:
- About the software for the practice in Round 6 you say: "Just My Digital Performer practice sequences with an Korg M1 as the sound source."
Are there some simple software to create backing tracks fast?
| Quote: | | Band In A Box is the one I'd recommend. The grooves aren't the hippest, but you can put sequences together fast, and it's cheap. The Yamaha QY100 is hardware, but it's grooves are better and it's very easy to use. |
- Have always been impressed by the use of vibrato bar in your phrasing, have you shortened the bar? If yes, why?
- When and where a new shows and clinics in Italy?
Sorry for my English ...I'm just a crap!
Bye!
| Quote: | Ha ha. You reminded me of the South Park "More Crap" episode where they discovered that Bono was actually a huge piece of crap. I guess they needed a big name to pull it off - I would have chosen David Foster.
The next trio tour is in Europe, June 2012. I hope to have some workshops with Ladybird Project in May. |
Hello Scott and greetings from Greece once again! Here are a few more questions for you:
- When writing a non-instrumental tune, how do you find yourself writing the vocal parts of the tune most of the times? Do they come up on your head (together with some basic lyrics I guess) and you just try to record them somehow before you forget them, or you find them on the guitar first?
| Quote: | | They're melodies played on an instrument first. I aways used a harmonica/accordion type patch on my synth because it's the most vocal sounding. Then I came up with the lyrics, a process that sucked so hard that I never want to do it again. |
- Could you share some of your recording and touring plans for 2012? Is there any chance we will see you in Greece with your trio, or with Dennis Chambers and Jeff Berlin?
| Quote: | | Touring is mentioned above. I'm recording with Jeff Berlin & Dennis Chambers in January, and I'm still writing for a new solo album. Hopefully I'll have enough music by summer. |
- Are you using the Providence Anadime chorus now (http://www.providence-ltd.com/hotnews/index.html#0831)? Did this replace the mighty Arion SCH-1, and could you make a comparison between the two?
| Quote: | | It didn't replace my Arion. It's apples and oranges - they both sound great, just different flavors. |
- And last but not least... I'm about to buy a Strat (alder body, maple fretboard, 3 single coils + Suhr SSC system), and I'm a bit uncertain about which pickup combination should I choose.
From what I've been hearing (and you together with Mike Landau are obvious tone references of course), the Suhr ML Standards are a great choice, and I'm leaning towards them for the neck and middle positions. For the bridge position, I'm not sure if it would be the best for me to stick with the ML combo, or prefer a V60LP or something else, because I'm mainly interested in using it for some clean or semi overdriven chord playing, and some fuzz solo playing a la Eric Johnson (my HSS guitar is all I need when it comes to lead solo playing in the bridge position, that's why I'm more interested in having an SSS Strat for another flavour), and I'm not sure if the higher output of the ML bridge pickup would be the best solution for me... I'm talking about this type of silicon Fuzz Face tone here (4:56 - 5:16): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZruE7E_4OU
So, would you say two ML Standards on the neck and middle positions together with the V60LP (or something else I'm not familiar with) on the bridge would make a nice combo, or the 3 ML Standards would be the way to go, and that I would still be able to get these tones that I described before, too?
Sorry if I said too much, and thanks for keeping this place interesting and entertaining.
Cheers,
Andreas.
| Quote: | I've never been a fan of using a different single coil pickup in the bridge position. Ever since I've played strats, all three pickups have been the same, at least in theory. Fender was, and is, pretty inconsistent with their pickups, whereas John's pickups of any type are exactly the same.
A V60 is brighter than an ML, so that would be my last choice for the bridge pickup in that combo. I'd go with ML Standards, all three the same. |
Hi Scott.
We all know that you like a fat tone, and for sure we all do too.
My luthier said that if he builds me a Strat with a cedar body I'd have a fatter tone (he says cedar will give me more low-mids, making the guitar sounds a lot fatter than alder).
I'd like to know if you already played a Strat with that specific body wood, and if not, do you think a Strat with another body wood will effect the tone that much ? Why do you like alder for your guitars?
| Quote: | | I've never heard a guitar made from cedar, but I've played alder, ash, swamp ash, basswood, mahogany, and maple top guitars. Of all those, alder is the darkest and that's why it's my favorite. Quite a few players of vintage strats seem to agree. The weight of the wood is a huge factor as well, and alder is very inconsistent in that area these days. I like the guitar to weigh about seven and a half pounds - if it's heavier, it's usually scooped sounding, and if it's super light, it's usually bass shy. |
I have a Fender Hot Rod Deville, and installed g12 65's in it. It really sounds great. I keep mids and bass all the way down (i was having some trouble with my les paul getting a little bit congested with these knobs a little higher), presence all the way up, and treble depending on which guitar i'm going to play. Do you feel the same with your guitars ? Do you think that's a particular thing in this amp that the mids and bass congest the tone a little bit or it's the pickups and guitars ?
| Quote: | | Your settings sound about right with a Les Paul, which has much more midrange than a strat. On my Deluxe, I have the mid and treble on 5. Like you, I turn the bass off and presence all the way up. |
Have you tried SD's Antiquities pickups ? Worth the price ?
Glad if you could help!
| Quote: | | I've tried them - they sound OK but in my opinion John's V60LP's and ML Standard's sound better. |
Hey Scott. How do you set your SD-9 when using it with the hot rod deluxe?
All the best!
| Quote: | | It's important to tell you that the SD-9 performs a different function with the HRD than it does with the Suhr. The Suhr is a crunch amp, so the SD-9 is my high gain pedal - volume all the way up, gain about 2 o' clock, and tone just barely on. The HRD is basically a clean amp, so the SD-9 becomes more of a boost pedal. I set it the same, but if it's more of a rock gig, I crank the gain all the way up. If I need high gain, I combine the SD-9 and RC Booster, with the RC Booster's gain all the way down. |
one more: do you think that choosing a sunburst finish over a solid finish would affect the tone in any way?
| Quote: | | I don't know - that's a question for John. I know the less paint, the better, but I don't know how much paint goes into a sunburst finish as opposed to a solid color. Definitely stay away from candy apple colors - way too many coats. |
Hello Scott.
What is your take on treble boosters?
Lots of people swear by the formula of a crunchy/overdriven amp + a treble booster = the tone.
But typically they cut off a lot of the bass frequencies.
Much obliged.
All the best.
| Quote: | | The last thing I need is treble, so they're not for me. If you were putting the mic on the paper and using a really dark guitar, I guess a treble booster could be useful, but I doubt if that's a very fat sound. |
Hi Scott
just one question. is the neck on your suhr guitar based on an other guitar(like your ibanez) what you say that is like gibson fender or ibanez? sorry for my english
| Quote: | | My first Charvel had a D neck, and that was the first time I played one. Since then, my Ibanez guitars had them, and so do my Suhr's. D necks have less wood on the back and more on the sides, which is the opposite of a C neck. The D neck is closer to most Gibson's than a C neck. |
Hi Scott,
Few questions:
You've mentioned Meshuggah as worth checking out heavy machinery band. I'm courious what is your opinion on Tool. Not only from guitar sound perspective, but also overall music. Danny is one of my favorite rock drummers btw;)
| Quote: | | To be honest I've only heard them once, when Danny played me their new record. The tones and overall sound of the record was amazing, and they're obviously good musicians, but the tunes didn't appeal to me that much. |
In what kind of situation do you use your SG? Have you recorded with it recently?
| Quote: | | Not recently. It sounds best for rock power chords a la AC/DC. As far as soloing with it, it's my thinnest sounding guitar, so I don't use it much for that. |
Could you share with us what's your approach to mic'ing cab? Do you place your mic more or less in the same place or does it depend on recording room? I recorded recently with modded old bluesdeville with eminence speakers and realised, the sound was much more natural when you mike it from back. Have you ever experienced something similar? Do you mike you cab also on the open back side?
| Quote: | | I don't like open back cabinets in my recording room, probably because the room is too small. I tried micing the back of a cab once but it was too dark for me. The room definitely makes a huge difference - in my room it sounds best to put the mic about an inch towards the side of the cabinet from the center of the cone, and the front of the mic is about an inch from the grille cloth. If I want different tones, I move the mic towards the paper and turn up the tone on my guitar. Putting the mic on the paper and turning the guitar tone to 10 is the most traditional sound. I miked my guitar like that and compared it to Deep Purple "Made In Europe" and it matched exactly. I love Ritchie Blackmore's tone, but for my style of soloing, micing closer to the cone and turning down the tone on the guitar is better. |
Have you met Mr.Dumble personally? Have you ever tried one of his amps?
| Quote: | | I've known him for many years. He modded my Fender Bandmaster. I've tried many of his amps - they're not for me. I like Marshall style amps more. |
And one digression at the end: I've heard about you for the first time from one girl, who had Rocket science and VTT original CDs, no idea how she got it-till now you can buy only your 2005 live album in my country locally. Another girl has fallen in love with me when I played her your live CD few years ago. Now she is my wife and mother of my little daughter, we've seen your gig in Warsaw some time ago and she love your playing and tone. I know few other girls in Poland, who knows and love to listen to you, Mike Landau, Oz and others.
GREAT thanks for answering all our questions!! You can't even imagine how much inspiration you gave people and how many doors are open now... All tke best and keep rockin'
M.
| Quote: | | Polish girls are cool! |
Hello Scott,
Have you ever tried any pedals by Wampler? They make a Brad Paisley and Brent Mason model pedal... Just curious if you tried any.
Have a great 2012 man... thanks a lot for taking the time to answer questions!
| Quote: | | I haven't heard those - I'll ask my pedal guy about them. |
Hi, Scott,
Have you tried Custom Audio/Dunlop Wah?
What your plans for 2012 (cds, books, videos)?
| Quote: | | Answered above. I'm done with books and videos. The companies that produce them don't pay shit anymore. Magazines occasionally ask me for columns, and the money they offer is definitely not worth the time. |
Listening and transcribing your music a lot diminished lines pop up. Any thoughts you could share about this scale?
Hope you and your family have a great new year.
Zep
| Quote: | | I don't teach on this forum, but I will say that using diminished is a great way to color your solos in a way that doesn't sound very "out", at least to my ears. |
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