EliasMooseblaster

I don't know who said it, but I'm sure at least one music writer has contended that if he hadn't had those bad acid trips, he could have been bigger than Clapton. Even BB King was a fan, apparently: "[Green] has the sweetest tone I ever heard. He was the only one who gave me the cold sweats." I feel fortunate that I got to see him play around 1999/2000 - even if he was a shadow of his former self, he still knew his way around the instrument.

Oh, believe me when I say I've been intrigued by the possibilities of baritone guitars - particularly electric ones! Unfortunately Open C isn't a full-on drop in the guitar's range - if anything, it expands it - so I have strings running CGCGCE. I'm in the dilemma of quite fancying a slightly heavier bottom string, but not wanting to go heavier on the top. But then also wanting to be able to play in standard tuning comfortably...I'm aware that the "traditional" BassChat solution would be to buy an additional acoustic guitar that I can dedicate just to Open C tuning!

Normally, I like a 13-56 set on my regular acoustic. It works well for standard tuning, and the odd bit of drop D. I have, however, recently got into Open C. 13-56 works OK, but I'm conscious that the bottom string, tuned from low E to low C, starts to feel a bit floppy under the thumb. I notice that String Direct carry a few variants with a heavier bottom string: 13-57, 12-59, 13-59, 13-61. Has anyone else tried any gauges like this? I'm eyeing up the 13-59 Newtone set - pending advice from your good selves - but I am also a bit wary of bringing the same string set up to standard tuning. Should I be?

That is an absolute stunner. Somehow, it feels even more rock'n'roll to think that the body wood is also incredibly toxic!

Putting my bass players' hat back on...are we just more aware of our EQ, and the way it affects the way our tone sits in the mix? I wonder if the fact that we have to achieve "presence" in the mix, in the face of more limited audibility, is the reason that bass amps are much more likely to have a graphic EQ built in than guitar amps are! I've certainly played with a few guitarists who didn't realise that cranking their amp's bass control might have sounded great in their bedroom, but just coated a band mix in sonic wool. And in the interests of balance, there are still bass players who think that active pickups and onboard EQ are the devil's work, and will only consider passive basses. (Almost me: I only own one active bass to ten passives!) I hadn't heard of those before, but I'm very intrigued! Speaking on direct substitutions, I did stumble across the "warm stone" developed by AMT: https://amtelectronics.com/new/amt-12ax7ws/ Not sure how they compare to "the real thing," but whilst I've been quite lucky with valve amps so far, I would be happy to consider a more reliable alternative if it sounded as good!

^ I'll second this. I never bother playing the high fifth with this shape. The lowest four strings give you root, major third, dominant 7th and ninth, which is all you really need to give that chord its character. Hell, if you're playing in a group, I'd even leave out the root - let the bass take care of that and free up a little space in the mix!

Active pickups and onboard EQ! I'm being a little facetious, granted, but how many bassists do you know who play active basses, or at least have one in their armoury? How many bass amps have separate active and passive inputs? Now do the same count for how many people you know with active guitars - I know one, and I suspect I'm above the average in that regard! I'm not going to try and argue that active pickups and onboard EQ are the future that we're in denial about. It just seems quite striking to me how the bass community accepted and embraced this new technology, and now has an entire sub-population who will only play active basses...and yet you almost never hear about it among guitar players.

Even if the tone of the HB wasn't up to par (which it might well be, of course), the Wilkinson pickups that Vintage use are cheap enough that you could pop a new set in and make it sound...well, like a Vintage SG, I suppose!

Thank you very kindly!

As starting points go, you could probably do worse than a guitar designed by a successful female guitarist: https://www.uberchord.com/blog/st-vincent-anne-clark-guitar/

'tis me indeed - thank you very kindly! (Fair point re the popshield - I probably should have thought of that before attempting such a close-miced vocal!)

Indeed, that helps enormously - you may have just saved me a lot of money! Fortunately I have a large diaphragm condenser, with appropriate outboard phantom power, which I'd actually been thinking about connecting before, to add a bit of "ambience" to the sound. I might give that a try on tomorrow evening's live stream.

A very good point - I looked at some demos after posting the above, and was struck by how many people were using guitars with piezo bridge pickups! Mine both have magnetics: one has a magnetic pickup of unknown provenance in a "lipstick" style housing, built into the body; the other has a Fishman Neo-D which I pop into the soundhole when I need to amplify it.

I realise a lot of modern acoustic guitars have preamps built in; unfortunately mine don't. Mine have passive pickups, which I use for live performance. Whilst the sound is perfectly serviceable for plugging into a PA system, I wonder if an outboard preamp might improve things. The (possible) need has become a bit more pronounced as I've been live streaming over the last few weeks, where I've been plugging the guitars straight into a little Behringer mixer with very limited EQ and no effects. The tone isn't bad, but I wonder whether a preamp/DI might "bring it to life" a little more. I see that companies like Behringer and Hotone make inexpensive preamp+DI boxes...anyone know whether they're worth a punt?

Guitars? Four. In the electric corner, a Mex Fender Tele and a Vintage VS6 (SG copy). In the acoustic corner, an Epi AJ-100 and an Ozark resonator. Basses? Erm...I had to stop and count. You can probably guess where my primary loyalties lie.

Thanks very kindly for the link. That does sound like a really nice bit of kit - I can see why you're enjoying it! I thought the neck-middle combination sounded particularly nice. Reminds me of a time when three-pickup Teles seemed to be much more commonplace*. *About 15 years ago, maybe? Or did I just imagine that?

Subtly interesting design: if your eyes first fall on the top of the body, you could be forgiven for thinking it was a Strat, but if you were start at the bottom corner, you might reasonably assume it was a Jazz bass! Is this a new series they've released? I'd be very interested to hear how it sounds.

Think you've made the right call there. I didn't realise they'd have those pickup surrounds on as well - probably enough going on without a pickguard as well! Have to say, the Fender-style neck on the Les Paul body shape looks a lot better than I'd anticipated!

It's a lovely idea - perhaps if you were to extend the scope to other heavy-but-fragile items? After all, how many of us have ordered glassware or ceramics only to have them arrive upside down, with chipped rims and broken handles? I'm sure a body like the MU would back it if musical equipment were listed as a specialism. There are probably enough horrifying pictures of splintered violins and cellos floating around social media to make such a service seem appealing!

I played at a Viking Festival in the middle of last year. I knew mine was going to be the first set on the weekend's music programme; what I didn't realise was that it was also the beginning to pretty much the entire event. So I played a set to a group of people dressed up in Norse togs, carrying drinking hons and replica battleaxes, who didn't yet have enough alcohol inside them to get properly rowdy. The most sedate bunch of Vikings I've ever seen, but a very friendly bunch.

Hmm...in their current states, I'm personally inclined towards the one with the pickguard, though I might change my mind once the neck is on!

I do like the way this Tele's going! Only question is: will it cover your picking hand with rust when you play?

Well, bugger me. I had a similar experience to Mr Marlowe above: I assumed that the sound I preferred was the Gibson. I was really quite surprised when it turned out I'd enjoyed the Vintage more. There wasn't a great deal between them, though: listening to the two neck pickups on a clean setting, I honestly thought I was struggle to hear much difference at all. It was only when the bridge pickup got involved, I preferred the slightly deeper, fuller sound of the one on the Vintage. The Gibson one just sounded a bit tinny to my ears, particularly in the middle position, where it didn't seem to complement the neck pickup as well as on the Vintage.

Is that 'Blackwaterside'? Lovely playing - the metal body certainly gives it a very different tone.

Is this peculiar instrument in your possession? I'd be very interested to hear how it sounds!