Saturday, September 25, 2010

New Bass

I was so thrilled with my strat, that I went ahead and got a jazz bass from the same company (www.rondomusic.com). While it desperately needs to be setup, I am loving it right out of the box. I plugged her into my rig for the first time today and decided to record an idea. That idea turned into a little snippet of a song that I may or may not ever finish. I'm just being honest. I didn't spend too much time on it and all the bass stuff is just improv, so don't judge it too harshly. Ok? Sheesh. You guys are kinda brutal.

The bass sports a natural finish ash body (that looks great), maple neck, and rosewood fingerboard.  The neck is the perfect shape for my hands.  Not at all like the huge chunk of wood that I called a neck on my previous bass.  For the recording below, I'm using both pickups (neck all the way up and bridge at about halfway) with the tone turned all the way down.  I wanted to see how warm I could get the tone and she didn't disappoint.  I ran it straight into my TubePre and then directly into my 003.  After I tracked, I compressed it a little and ran it through some amp modeling software.  Thats it.  Take a listen.




As always, I'd love to hear what you think. I know that there isn't much of a vocal idea there, but you'll have to just use your imagination. Imagine me writing something cool. It couldn't hurt. Right?

Peace,
Peter Jones

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Stratocaster Examples

As promised, here are some recordings I quickly did this afternoon.  Emphasis on quickly.  So the recording consists of a simple and short riff that cycles through all of the possible pickup configurations.  Because adding tone knob demonstrations would be a ridiculous and pointless, I decided to record the neck pickup with the tone knob set pretty low and the middle pickup's tone knob set pretty high.  This will help emphasize when I switch pickups and (hopefully) shows off the tonal range from the stock electronics.

The recording progresses as follows:
1.) Neck
2.) Neck and Middle
3.) Middle
4.) Middle and Bridge
5.) Bridge



The signal chain on this recording is Strat --> 003 DI input.  It doesn't get any more raw... er(?) than that.  Most people never hear a guitar that raw, so I decided to run that raw recording through some amp modeling software to get a more familiar (and livelier) sound.



This is the same recording as above.  Its just running through IK Multimedia's Amplitube software.  The emulated amp I was using for this example is a Fender Twin Reverb.  The "mic" used to record this fake amp was a Shure SM57 set in the "far" setting.  I didn't touch the controls (except to turn the reverb down).  I used the default settings (essentially everything set to 12:00).

So that is a little example of what a budget strat sounds like.  Remember everything is stock at this point.  I haven't even changed the strings.  This is what an SX strat sounds like right out of the box.  Let me know what you think.  My first major change is going to be swapping out the stock pickups.  I want to go noiseless so I'm looking at the Fender Noiseless Pickups, Lace Sensors, and the Fralin Split Blade pickups. Any and all recommendations are greatly appreciated. Whats your favorite strat pup?

Peter

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

SX Hawk

So... I got a Strat. I don't think you heard me. I GOT A STRAT! While I haven't been playing guitar for very long (and to be perfectly honest, I'm not that great of a player), I have ALWAYS wanted a strat. Sorry for yelling at you so much in this post. I'm just excited. The problem is... I haven't been in a position where I could afford a Stratocaster. I mean lets do the math.

An honest to god MIM Fender Standard Stratocaster
$500 (plus tax)An honest to god Fender American Special Stratocaster
$800 (plus tax)
An honest to god Fender American Standard Stratocaster
$1000 (plus tax)All the way to Artist series and custom Fender Stratocasters being well over the $2000 mark.

Well, I don't like any of those numbers and neither does my wallet (I just felt it shiver a little bit because it could sense that zero key being tapped a few too many times). So once you purchase this small piece of American music history you have to get it setup, get an amp (or 2) that it sounds great through, some great pedals that define "your sound", and potentially some after market pieces like new pups, tuners, strap pegs, pots, switches, and caps. Now that $500+ guitar has turned into a $1000+ investment. Worse yet, you now want a killer Tele because you want a different "color" and you need to start this process over again. If you're smart (and can swing it) you save up and buy the Tele, but odds are you sell your "old" Strat so that you can afford the Tele, so you can fix it up, so you can figure out that you really miss that super Strat that you had that one time. Silly. Right? I didn't want to be THAT guy, so I went hunting for a great deal and what I found was SX.

Am I saying that an SX Hawk is of the same quality as a Fender American Standard? Hell no! What I'm saying is that the SX Hawk delivers where I wanted and takes a back seat where I expected. First of all, I should probably mention that this is a $100 guitar. That is not a typo. This is a $100 guitar. At that price, one might expect little more than a piece of cardboard with some strings glued on; but you would be sadly mistaken. The major selling point for this axe is how much guitar you get for a hundred beans. In this particular case you get a solid alder body (with a 3 tone sun burst finish), maple neck (bolted on) with an ebony fretboard, a tailpiece (similar to a les paul), and your standard 3 single coil pickup configuration with typical 3 knobs and 5 way switch. Anyway you slice it, its a Strat. Again, not an American Standard. From my research, QC on these babies aren't nearly as high as Fender and some people have gotten some lemons. I would also like to mention that there are quite a few people that review SX guitars as if they were replacement guitars for their $2000 custom shop axe and I think that is simply unfair. Anyone that reviews this guitar with the mindset that it cost them $100, should be absolutely floored by the quality of the instrument. The sunburst on my Hawk is fantastic (to be honest I was a little worried). While the wood on the neck is a bit "knotty" (a little wood humor there in case you missed it), it is smooth and feels great. Appearance wise, this baby is gorgeous. I was truly surprised when I opened up the box.

So... how does it sound/play? Again, this was quite a surprise. I came in to this project expecting to immediately gut this guitar and start over with brand new pups, electronics, tuners, etc. I am rethinking some of these purchases at this point. I'll probably still do all of that stuff, but its not something that I feel has to happen right away. In fact, I'm planning on buying an SX PJ bass and Tele before I ever start modding the Strat.

Setup
The setup out of the box isn't perfect, but is more than playable. To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, I will start to compare the SX Hawk to my first guitar which is an Epiphone Les Paul Standard. To get perspective we are talking about a $100 SX vs. a $500 Epiphone.

Action
The action on the SX Hawk was leagues better than the Epi LP. While the strings on LP were/are miles too high, the SX strings were/are pretty much perfect for me and my playing style. Some people like their strings right on the fret board, but I like mine at around the standard string height recommended by Fender. Again, very happy with the action right out of the box. I do have to make some adjustments at the bridge to adjust string length, but its actually a hell of a lot closer than my Epi.

Tuners
One of my primary concerns. I have had nothing but problems with my Epi and I expected the same from this but worse. I was pleasantly surprised. My LP has Grover tuners and I'm constantly retuning. My low E string goes in and out of tune depending on how hard you strike the string so its impossible to tune properly and there is so much binding at the nut on the G string (yes, thats what she said) that it is impossible to get the string in tune (and that is with lubing the nut with graphite). In contrast, the SX has been a dream to tune. While there is a bit more play on some of the tuning machines than I would like, they stay in tune for days and I've had few binding issues (with stock strings and no lubing of the nut).

Pups/Sound
These are pretty decent actually. A bit generic, but it sounds like a Strat. Admittedly, quite lifeless, but this is where I expected the guitar to let me down. At the same time, I can say the same thing about my LP. The pickups function, but they aren't something you pee your pants over every time you strum a chord. This is my first single coil guitar, so I was a little annoyed with the 60 cycle hum, but it was something I expected. I'll probably swap out the stock pups with Lace Gold Sensors. These pickups cost more than the entire guitar and with an entire electronics overhaul, I plan on sinking quite a bit into the guts of this little guy ($200-$300). But if I can get this inexpensive Strat to sing, it'll be completely worth it.

All in all, I couldn't be happier with my purchase. I've only had it for a week, but I feel like I've already gotten my $100 out of it. I look forward to modding it and seeing what kind of sounds I can get out of this baby. I plan on doing a few recordings with stock gear and tracking the progress as I make upgrades, so keep your eyes pealed for that.


Peace,
Peter

Monday, April 12, 2010

Hang Drum?

I'll admit it. I am a lover of the abnormal and unusual. If that abnormally usual thing just so happens to be a musical instrument... Uh... yeah. Side note: it took me literally 5 times to try to write an appropriate response to how excited I get when I find a new weird instrument and that was the best I could do. Moving on.

When I find a new weird and interesting instrument I immediately do two things.

1.) Wonder how many of my friends have known about this their whole lives and secretly hate them for keeping this wondrous invention a secret.

2.) Scour the series of tubes that is the internet to find out as much as I can about this newly discovered item that I will ultimately obsess over.

Why am I revealing this deeply personal detail about my inner feelings and thoughts? Because I want all of my faithful readers to suggest a new and cool instrument that fits the already mentioned criteria? Hell nah! I've accidentally stumbled on a gem that is so good I just had to tell everyone that reads my blog about it. Hi Mom and Dad.

WARNING! The video you are about to see is so terrifically amazingly awesomely stupendously cool that anyone who views it, must be prepared to want one of these really really badly. You have been warned!



Unfortunately, these are REALLY expensive. If you are fortunate enough to be on your way to Switzerland and happen to have $1000 U.S. to buy one, you are a lucky man (and/or) woman. If not, these babies are running at least 3 times that much on ebay or craigslist. In fact, the only one I could find was going for $6000. In other words, I won't have one for a VERY VERY long time, buts its going on the list.

Peter

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Recording Weekend

I spent (essentially) the whole weekend in a recording studio. Groove For Thought is working on its new album, so we spent Friday night and all day Saturday recording a new song. We were originally planning on recording this weekend at Bellevue College, but (in typical GFT fashion) things didn't really go according to plan.

Day 1
Even though Kelly specifically requested that the heat be turned off in the recording studios (because they are noisy and not because he is a sadistic jerk... why would you even think those horrible thoughts about him... for shame), the heating was still on when I arrived at 4:30 (a half hour before the session was supposed to start and a half hour after the heating was supposed to be off). After a nice walk, a confusing conversation, and a lengthy wait; we finally got the heating turned off. Crisis avoided right? Well... it seems that the lab tech decided that that day was the day to update the system software on the computer in the recording studio. Of course (boy I sound negative tonight), that fell on its face. The tech had the wrong discs and even after he was done (loading the wrong system software), the computer wouldn't boot. At this point, about half an hour after we were supposed to have started, we decided to drive to our rehearsal/recording space and just do the session there.

Once we got to our rehearsal/recording space (which was called Penguin Studios last I heard) things went pretty smoothly. We got a surprising amount of work done before we were too tired to keep going and despite our late start, it was an enjoyable experience.

Day 2
After a good night's sleep on the couch in the studio, I woke up to Kelly doing some editing on the tracks that we laid down the night before. Because "Penguin Studios" is a home studio, it has been a bit difficult to record there during the weekends because of stray noise (neighbors mowing lawns, dog barking, airplanes flying overhead, etc.). So, Brennan, Kelly, Jeff, and I started to come up with plans for an isolation booth (keep in mind that at this point I've been awake for roughly 10 minutes). Brennan and Jeff ran to a local hardware store with the plans while Amanda and I laid down some (dope) tracks while the morning was still young and the risk of lawn mowing was still pretty slim. Once Brennan and Jeff returned, construction began and the first food run took place.

Again, after an unforeseen (yet completely necessary) setback; things went relatively smoothly. We worked until about 11:00pm. Even though we had a few setbacks, I think we all left the studio happy.

Peter

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Angel

I finally got around to finishing up a song I started... a year and a half ago? It was interesting to come back to this track after so long and really hear how much I've grown as a musician/recording engineer/mixing engineer. I uploaded it to my music myspace page here. So go check it out and let me know what you think. I'm pretty sure the only people that actually know about this blog have already heard it, but not THIS version.

Peter