Scott Henderson Discussion

[AlexThanos]

Haha ok Scott thank you for being a good spokesperson for Suhr but also seeing it from a customer/musician point of view.

But all the weight of your guitars are weight with the SSC on so its still a considerable 7 ounce different between my total 8 pounds 6 ounce and your 7 pounds 15 ounce guitar isnt it???

Honestly this one reminds me more of your old album tone. The top end isnt as airy, mids are there not too scooped not too prominent. Bass sits just nice definitely.

Ok here is a small clip of a jam i did couple days ago. If you say ‘Alex you idiot that sounds good what are you fussing about go and play your damn guitar!’....then i shall do just that lol

Here it is
https://instagram.com/p/BcD17acBqBW/
https://instagram.com/p/BcC8nIVhvL0/

Thx Scott!!! 😂😂😂

[Scott Henderson]

Those weights are without the SSC - add 5 ounces and that's what they really weigh. I don't include the SSC because the weight of the guitar as compared to a vintage strat is what I want to know. BTW, a 6-screw bridge is a half pound heavier than a two-post, so take that into consideration too. Most Suhr guitars have either a Gohto two-post or a Floyd Rose.

Sorry, but the sound quality is pretty bad on those clips. Sounds like a strat to me!

[AlexThanos]

Oh wait the weights you tell me are weights without the SSC included??? Then i really got nothin to fuss about w my guitar and your heaviest guitar having 2 ounce difference! I thought mine was a pound over what its supposed to be which wouldnt be lightweight. Doi!!!

Ah darn if thats the case then i dont see why John need to waste resources. Ok let me really hear it few more days and decide. Thx Scott!!

Im gonna join your MI online class in January 😄.

[Scott Henderson]

Yes Alex, I'm really sorry that I completely forgot about the SSC. I don't factor that into the weight of my guitars because it's an extra 5 ounces which has nothing to do with the tone, except for stopping the hum. Yes, your guitar is only an ounce or two heavier than my heaviest one, which sounds great.

This is a personal thing with me, and I guess Jeff Beck shares this viewpoint, but I absolutely hate bass from the amp. I never turn it up past 1 and Jeff turns it all the way off. The bass comes from a 4x12 sitting on the floor and a guitar that has enough bass. I'm not an expert on Fender amps but on a Marshall, turning up the bass interferes with the mids and makes them sound thin and screechy, especially on high notes. It's kinda the "heavy metal" tone. My seafoam guitar has a lot of bass for a light guitar, but as I said, the resonance of the neck is a big part of the tone, so the weight of a guitar is not the complete analysis of what it's going to sound like - it's just a starting point.

[AlexThanos]

Hi Scott, i was wondering what the weight of your yellow one that you used in your masterclass videos and Tim n Pete Show. That one had quite a difference in tone than your seafoam green one. What do think and which one of those do you prefer? Thx

[Scott Henderson]

That one is only 1 once lighter than the seafoam, so basically they weigh the same. I'm sure there's a difference in tone because the yellow guitar has a roasted neck and body, and the seafoam is an older Suhr - before they started doing that. John says he thinks the roasting of the neck affects the tone more than the roasting of the body, but since every guitar sounds different, who knows? The yellow guitar is my favorite for recording, and it's the only one I own with a roasted body. Is that a coincidence? After this horrible year, why are people stupid enough to still think Trump is a good president? Why do people who call themselves Christians endorse a known pedophile for senator? You have to face it Alex, none of these questions will ever be answered.

[AlexThanos]

Well that took a really dark transition into Trump’s joke of the world administration. Im so sorry you guys hv to go through that. Here in Singapore we get screwed in many ways and we are required to take it like a good lil bitch but at least we are promised order and a stabil safe environment 😄....for the most part we get that. After al It is the most expensive city in the world 😁

Ok so i did a whole lot of testing on jazz and blues jams cranking up the mids more on my guitar. Honestly im starting to get used to the tone and bonding with it. Not the weight though because i take public transport daily 2 hours to and fro with my heavy Suhr and it does get heavy lol

Suhr has been keeping me updated on my replacement guitar. I have half a mind to just tell them not to go through all the trouble because i support John and his company.

That said, can you please listen to this clip i made at home w a Badger 35 with bass on 0, mids 8-9, treble 4, gain 6 w a Maxon SD9 on your setting and tell me if its vintage enough? I woudnt be able to compare but im sure you would recognize it way better. How is the tone to you vintage enough?

Sorry to keep bugging u with this but i hv no other way of knowing. Living in the most expensive city in the world and buying a premium guitar really doesnt go together so i need a peace of mind .... so i dont go crazy like your beloved and revered blond president.

Here are the clips...last one i promise 😁
https://instagram.com/p/BchXr8vhP_1/
https://instagram.com/p/BchdTTmBzPX/

Thx again Scott. Oh n please dont ever stop Guitarwank!

[Scott Henderson]

No disrespect intended Alex but it's not my favorite tone - not because of the guitar though. Sounds like you have the mids cranked way too much, and your tone knob is up too high for my taste. Also, bass on 0 isn't going to sound good with that small of a cab - my bass is on 1 or 2, and that's with a 4x12 sitting on the floor. The difference between bass on 1 and bass on 0 is huge, at least on a Marshall. So to my ears your tone is pretty spiky, aggressive, with no bass that I can hear - but if it fits your style, you shouldn't listen to my opinion. I can only tell you what I like and what fits my style.

[AlexThanos]

No disrespect taken Scott i thank you for the input! Yeah my mid is higher than usual trying to get more of that tone from your MI video demoing the superimposed pentatonic...i thought that would get it and also to compensate for the heavier guitar. And the bass is on 0 because Badger has a big low frequency bass which will rumble to my neighbors 😄.

Ok well i guess my guitar isnt lacking in mids then?? Thx for taking a look and giving inputs i can only gauge based on what i hear off youtube. I will try all those tips though and see if itll sound better.

Scott im thinking of joing your MI online January course is it gonna be a live thing? Will i need to be up at 3am to hv those lessons? I wanna learn more of your chord melody playing and get deeper into the style.

[Scott Henderson]

I don't know where you put the tone on your bridge pickup but I never have mine above 5 unless I'm recording the paper part of the speaker. Back in the old days there was no tone knob at all for the treble pickup, and it sounds great on some old recordings, but I'm sure the mic placement and EQ was used to tame it down. Live I'm sure it caused some eardrums to bleed. You'll get a much fatter sound out of that pickup if you turn down the mids, add some bass, and turn down the tone knob, making up for it by turning the treble up on the amp. Just a suggestion.

The MI online videos and the live lectures are archived so you can watch them anytime, but to ask questions you'd have to be online at 12PM LA time, which is 4AM for you... ouch. They chose 12PM because we have a lot of students in Europe.

[AlexThanos]

Well geez Scott i will definitely do that thanks so much for the tip! I had my bridge tone around 4 with the Maxon tone on 0. The treble on the amp was pretty low i guess thats why i turned the bridge pickup tone knob up a bit more. I had no idea doing it the other way around would sound better. I used your Badger 18 settings as a guide i know you had your mids on 7 there w Bass on 0 and treble on 4 right?
Ill definitely try your tips! From what you hear you dont hear missing mids from a heavier strat though?

Oh darn 4am?! How often does that happen? Will i still get a lot if i dont join the live chat? Or can i send a question and watch the chat when i wake up? I sleep at 1am gotta work and send kids to school by morning everyday thats not gonna be easy as much as i’d like to participate 😄

Also quick question, which do you prefer over Torpedo Live and Suhr Reactive Load with the ACE cab simulator pedal?

Thx much Scott! 😊

[Scott Henderson]

What we need to remember is that when we use the EQ on an amp, we're EQ'ing a speaker cabinet. Totally different cab, totally different EQ. My settings won't work for you unless you're using a 4x12 with Greenbacks. You have to rely on your ears. Mike Landau comes to my gigs sometimes - one time he asked me if he could look at my amp settings and he was very surprised. He said "wow isn't it weird how we all do it so differently?" I don't know his settings but he plays though Fender combos a lot, so his settings must be very different from mine.

On your Badger, try keeping the treble and mid close to the same place - that's helped me a few times with that amp. Also, it'll help if you turn up the SD-9 tone control to 1 or 2. On 0 the pedal chokes and sounds weird and honky.

I think the Suhr Reactive Load sounds much better than the Torpedo, but those are the only ones I've heard.

You can email your questions to MI Online and they'll be read during the live lecture - get your sleep!

[AlexThanos]

Oh wow thx much for the tips Scott youve no idea how much i appreciate that. Ive been studying your style of playing for a good 10 years now. I learn other peoples style as well but for some reason your style of playing is the one i love playing the most...it keeps me happy and makes me tolerate weird stupid people a lot better haha. I cant always use this style of playing in church gigs but blues and jazz gigs it seems to be the style that i can express myself the most with.

So i should just start everything on 12 oclock and work from there amp setting wise? I use the Bogner 2x12 cab because it has a greenback and a G12H in a diagonal pattern. I prefer it over the V30 that Suhr provides.

So when you set an amp do you set your guitar tone w tone knob rolled off and pedals on and work the amp from there ? Or do u strum your guitar with volume and tone on 10 and get the amp to sound right then adjust the guitar to taste?

Yes i remember you said tone on maxon shouldnt be on 0 i forgot that ill turn it up a bit. Its really not the easiest thing to learn tone from youtube.

I have a closeup high quality video when i was on stage with you doing soundcheck when we met for Tribal Tech Jakarta gig its in the harddrive of my old broken laptop i should probably dig those out and recover it 😄.

Thx again Scott really appreciate it!

So for the MI lessons will we be playing with you live while we learn or just learning from videos?

[Scott Henderson]

Amp builders usually suggest that all knobs at 12 o'clock is a good place to start. My mid and treble are always close to 12'clock, but I turn the bass down because the 4x12 has tons of bass.

About gain, I plug directly into the amp - I want it to be completely clean with my guitar volume on 6, a little crunchy on 7 or 8, and really crunchy on 10. Then the pedal does the rest of the work.

My tone knob changes depending on the pedal - it's usually on 3 or 4 with a high gain pedal like the SD-9, and around 5 with a boost pedal.

In the live lectures, the students see me and hear me talk and play, but I only see text questions from them.

[AlexThanos]

Hey Scott just wanted to drop in and update everyone on the Suhr experience. I figured since I brought up the complaints I need to mention the solution just to be fair to John and you.

Well, can I say...John Suhr is the man. They sent me a new one weighing 7 lb 11 oz (w SSC weight so around 7lb 6oz guitar weight). They built 2 for me and the other one was 7lb 5oz w the SSC so that would be too light. They let me pick the weight, let me play mine while they built me the new one and sent it to me.

After comparing the 2 guitars I can honestly say the older heavier one wasn't bad at all it was perfect for rock blues crunch stuff but the new lighter one had a more singing mids and highs so I guess in both case I can be happy with either.

I held the neck on this one and felt a HUGE difference than the older heavier one. This neck felt so good its amazing! No fret buzz, everything was perfect!!!

I took the neck off to bypass the treble bleed and saw John's signature on it. I asked John if he did my neck John said yes so imagine my big surprise he would do that for me....NOT Scott Henderson himself. He really went the extra mile for me and I can't be happier with the one I have now.

Thx for the listening ear and consulting me without throwing me under the bus like a lot of the TGP guys did when I brought the subject up.

Good luck on your new record, can't wait!.... and why are you not gigging Singapore????!!!! Arrrrgh!!!