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Underground > Radio & Music >

Perverted Guitar

12:51 / 31.08.01

I am a horrible hack on the guitar. I disguise this by extensive use of alternate tunings, which it a lot of fun. Anyone else play with the strings in such a way? And don't give me the Rev. Gary Davis quote about how alternate and open tunings are an excuse for shoddy craft- I know and admit it!

I've been around the block with DADGAD, I like it, but it's almost become my satndard tuning. Currently, I'm in EAEAAE. Fun to crash around with, swell for Indian raga-esqe stuff.

What do you guitar perveters do?

The Return Of Rothkoid

14:57 / 31.08.01

The capo is your friend. Also, you might want to check out a cool thing called a Third Hand, which can finger individual strings for you - more cool drone stuff.

Still, when in doubt, use effects and play with a slide. Seems to work for most, Blixa Bargeld on through...

Alternate tunings? Here and here.

[ 31-08-2001: Message edited by: Rothkoid ]

z3r0

15:17 / 31.08.01

I wrote a song using DADGAD once. It came out pretty strange, but really beautiful. I don't know any other alternate tunings... I suck at guitar playing, too, but then again I'm only the rhythm guitar in the band... :P

Rollo Kim, on location

16:18 / 31.08.01

I tune down to open C. You never break strings that way, and your sustain goes on for days. There are loads of ways you can expand your playing without getting technical: use a bow, use a length of metal rod, use a hairdryer, use delay [use delay!!!! sound like a dozen guitars at once!]. Personally, I like to make the guitar sound like anything other than a guitar.

18:44 / 31.08.01

Yeah, I've been known to capo a thing or two in my life. I stole a trick from Greg Brown (I think)- rasping notches into my capos at various places.

Lately I've been avoiding capos. I never got the hang of the slide either, probably because of my finger shape (long and thin- can't keep the friggin' thing on!). And while I do have a 'lectric, I really avoid it. It sits there, Squire-pompous, unplayed. Sure, I pick it up once a month, fiddle around, and think 'what an oddity,' as it put it back down after six chords and a rippin' surf-punk solo suitably short and dangerous.

I tried using a bow after I saw a Led Zepplin tape, my girlfriend nearly killed me after I she saw it afterwards. Looked like Phyllis Diller's hair.

I've considered some monster mutations to my acoustic, primarily 'cause I hate it and it hates me. This Indian fellow, Bhatt by name, shaved out his fretboard (the back) and strung up a bunch of free standing drone strings, like a sitar. Anyone pull anything like that off? I'm a little sheepish because I can't afford another guitar if I spoil this one.

A

07:08 / 01.09.01

I find it easier to make up chords than mess about with tunings, but DAEABE is pretty good, even though i only have one chord for it.

When it comes to making NOISE with a guitar, the tuning fork is your friend. You can slide it up the neck, hang it over the strings, let it resonate in front of the pickups, or just beat the shite out of your guitar with it and it sounds great.

I don't own one at the moment though (my old housemate had one) so i'll have to get round to acquiring another one. I hope they're not too expensive.

Don't stop a'rockin'

Adam

07:08 / 01.09.01

I don't play the guitar sadly, but I'd like to think that if I did I'd sit around all day doing this sort of thing.

After filling my head with the back catalogues of Sonic Youth and The Jesus & Mary Chain, bands who play guitar normally are starting to sound so boring.

Oh, and paraphrasing a member of the J&M Chain:
"We'd been playing for two years before we discovered what a guitar tuner was for."

good attitude.

The Return Of Rothkoid

10:34 / 01.09.01

There's information about making a microtonal guitar, or using interchangable fretboards here... though I think I'm not brave enough to try it on anything more than an el cheapo, to begin with...

19:01 / 01.09.01

If you own a slide, open g tuning can let you get down with some soul-suckin blues guitar.

Molly Shortcake

04:31 / 02.09.01

A friend of mine moddifed his Guitar for Industrial music. He took off all those metal strips (whatever they're called) on the neck and resanded the entire thing so he could get synth like slides out of it. Never heard it myself, but am under the impression it sounded amazing.

[ 02-09-2001: Message edited by: Ice Honkey/Grim Rapper ]

14:11 / 04.09.01

Do any of you guitarists live down south and want to hook up for a jam? My preferences are well documented in the "Bang the Drum" topic in the Magick.

Oh - they're called frets. You can buy guitars like this, but it's more commonly used for bass.

Has anyone here ever sexually molested a chapman stick? I reckon this instrument should be redeemed from prog hell and turned into a blistering punk weapon.

[ 04-09-2001: Message edited by: expressionless ]

17:48 / 04.09.01

My friend Harry uses all kinds of altered tunings.
I have one I'm sort of fond of (have a battered acoustic I keep tuned this way): E A D A C D (I think that's it).
It works really well for songs in Em or C.

17:51 / 04.09.01

quote:Originally posted by Theo Kalypso:
This Indian fellow, Bhatt by name, shaved out his fretboard (the back) and strung up a bunch of free standing drone strings, like a sitar. Anyone pull anything like that off? I'm a little sheepish because I can't afford another guitar if I spoil this one.

I tried building a simple, fretless sitar but the resonating strings never resonated -- possibly because I was using a soft wood.
Depressing, that.

19:45 / 04.09.01

Odd that it didn't work. One of the reasons I favor alternate tunings with a lot of redundant unisons is that the open strings will resonate when a matching tone is produced. All along I assumed it was something to do with string tension, rather than the wood. Hmmmm. I'm intrigued. Where were your resonating strings placed?

12:43 / 05.09.01

Directly under the main strings.
I made a neck out of a pine plank, stretched 13 long pieces of #3 gauge copper fishing lead wire across it under seven other, fatter strings (banjo strings are nice and long). There's also an actual gourd I used to make a resonator, but it's open on the back (the plans I was adapting were actually for a homemade vina, which is an Indian instrument with two open gourds on either side of the neck. I only had room for the one.)
I never play the thing now, and am seriously considering disassembling it and using the parts to build a kora.