Guitars, basses and other noisemakers

mjp

Founding member
That's pretty clever.

It reminds me of figuring out ways to play through the living room stereo console when I was a kid. Those things had massive tube amplifiers and 12" speakers in them. You could really make some noise.
 
Hi guys

I've come to realize I really like the sound of telecasters for rock. At least I think so

So for a while I've been playing with the thought of looking at some of them to see if I bond. Before I do so, however, I would like to ask in which direction I should go.

For a good tele ROCK tone, is there anything I should avoid - either for playability or tone etc?
 
I need money to spend on all of these great ideas for guitars I have.. But here's the latest one - a twangy hollow body guitar.

Both guitars gretsch vs epiphone are in about the same price range, and as far as I know they both have reasonably comparable tone. I play indie and post-punk revival sort of stuff, and usually play clean, but when I put on the distortion, I really let it roar. A hollow body could be good for feedback.

My current guitar (which will continue to be my main guitar) is a Fender Tele.

I'm basically just wondering which people prefer. There's a new Casino out, but it's only in a limited run and I doubt I'll have the cash to get the guitar before they're all sold.
 

hoochmonkey9

Art should be its own hammer.
Moderator
Founding member
Well, to be fair I've never seen anyone play this song with their eyes open.

Wait, that's not true. There was this open mic night a few years back at Bearly's House of Blues here in town. Sloppy Craig did a version where he made a point of maintain eye contact with the audience. He would pick someone while he was playing and stare at them until they looked away and then he would pick someone else. This went on the entire time he played. I should put played in italics, because he didn't have a guitar, just a big board with some uncooked spaghetti glitter glued to it. It may have been spaghettini, I didn't get a good look.

Anyway, Sloppy Craig rubbed the pasta and sort of opened and closed his mouth, not actually singing, and really if he didn't say "This is 'May This Be Love' by Jimi Hendrix" before he started I would have had no idea what he was on about.

He did his thing for about 45 minutes until he started crying and while he stared at me with tears on his cheeks I put a five dollar bill on the stage and left.

I would have preferred to hear him not play "Hey Joe," but Sloppy Craig gained a new fan that night.
 
I just spent the better part of an hour scrolling through this thread. Good stuff. I may have posted the following elsewhere on this site at some point, but not in this thread and while it's not about noisemakers per se, it's about synched-up noise transmission at large concert events. While there is Grateful Dead content here, it's not about them. Very interesting stuff about Eventide Clockworks:

Eventide Clockworks - Watkins Glen
 
Cool article, Purple Stickpin. Oddly enough, the Grateful Dead is at the root of many live-sound innovations. I'm in the business of live sound and a surprising number of us are former Dead-Heads.

As for the delay: we also have to delay signal going to stage monitors (wedges) for many percussionists because they hear the transient attack on their instrument then hear it over the line array delayed by milliseconds and it throws them off. I have a cool video I took standing behind a drummer at a big show that illustrates this phenomenon. I'll see if I can find it and upload it.

EDIT: re: Watkins Glen. I was having an argument about which living musician has played in front of the most people in their career. I came up with Bob Weir of the Dead as the obvious answer. He performed at Woodstock, Watkins Glen, Englishtown raceway in '77, The US festival, and Altamont. Thats well over a million right there. Then he's been touring constantly since '65, playing to ever-increasing audiences (in size) and larger and larger venues and is still selling out stadiums today. Who has played in front of more bodies than Weir?

Edit 2: Weir was at Altamont but I don't think the Dead performed there that day.
 
Last edited:

Hannah

Your host
Moderator
Founding member
which living musician has played in front of the most people in their career.
I think there are a lot of arena bands from the same era that drew (or still draw) similar-sized audiences and played way more shows than the Grateful Dead. The answer to the question is unknowable, of course, but if there was a list, I'd be surprised if any member of the Dead showed up near the top.

It would probably be someone we'd never even think of. Cab Calloway or REO Speedwagon or something. ;)

Or more realistically it's probably the Rolling Stones. Who else goes out and plays nothing but football stadiums for entire tours every few years?
 
It's living people alive now. So no to Cab Calloway. The Stones would be a contender. But the Stones never played Woodstock etc. Also, as you said, the Stones only tour every few years. Even in the 70's and 80's they'd do a big tour every three or four years. All the other arena bands are playing to decreasing audiences. I think I'd still put money on Weir being in the top five.

If there's a disqualification for Weir it's that he was playing to the same 10,000 people in every arena across the country.
 

Hannah

Your host
Moderator
Founding member
I would think a week of dates on any Stones tour would equal one Woodstock as far as audiences are concerned. So I'm not sure playing a small number of mega-shows gives anyone an advantage over 50 years of playing stadiums (even though, yes, the great oracle of Wikipedia says there have been only 21 Stones tours in those 50 years).

I only bring up the stones because they consistently play to (what seems like) the largest audiences. I know there are a lot of road-warrior bands who've played many times more shows than the Stones, but likely to many times fewer people. I'm sure there's some industry publication (or used to be) that tracks attendance numbers. So maybe your answer isn't unknowable. :)

If there's a disqualification for Weir it's that he was playing to the same 10,000 people in every arena across the country.
ZING! Ha.
 
Yes, Grateful Dead actually didn't play Altamont, despite being part of the organizing body. They were on the bill, but after hearing/seeing what had happened to members of their crew and to Marty Balin, they opted out.
 

Bukfan

"The law is wrong; I am right"
Speaking of the Stones, this statement by Yoko Ono upset a lot of Beatles fans on Facebook. ?
FB_IMG_1607273466846-2.jpg
 
It's hard to argue with an opinion. And I don't necessarily disagree, but in terms of concise output, the Beatles destroyed the Stones. On the other hand, the Stones were certainly more prolific over a long period of time. And at times, I'd rather hear Let it Bleed than Let it Be (actually, almost always). But I'll take the best of the Beatles over the best of the Stones.

But I respect Yoko even more for saying this. Sensitive fans can go pound sand. I can't understand why fans get their knickers in a twist when anyone criticizes a band (or a writer or a snarling wife on the balustrade).
 
Last edited:

d gray

tried to do his best but could not
Founding member
well, now we know why she broke up the beatles - she was secretly working for the stones, and infiltrated the fabs
in order to commit internal sabotage.

she's even worse than we all thought!
 

Bukfan

"The law is wrong; I am right"
Damn, it´s a rock and roll comedy website! I should have checked but when I saw that bit about Yoko Ono posted on a Facebook page for Beatles fans I took it at face value. How embarrassing. ☹️
 
Top