Here's something you don't see every day

uwe · April 28, 2011, 04:36:59 PM

Leon is a gear snob (you are allowed to own Gibsons, Gibsons, Gibsons, one or two Fenders and a Gretsch - all other brands are lesser ones; amps have to be tube and feature the Marshall logo) and in many ways more conservative than I: His Firebird had to be sunburst, no other fin was acceptable. He did buy an 80ies Kramer cheap a while back because he wanted something "with an 80ies headstock".

The band (Vegas Accident) is as yet without a bassist as they haven't found someone yet to their exacting visual standards. He has to be tall, glammy, skinny as a rake and dedicated like hell. And play with a pick close to the bridge with a sharp, bony sound. All of which forces them to do without a bass player for the time being, on their demos they play the bass themselves. Leon is a skillfull bass player (he prefers Fender Jazz basses of all things!) and - don't you just love kids - never fails to point out that he is not only faster than dad on bass, but can also slap and tap on bass too. How I hate the brat for it! He's together with the curly haired one part ot the two-pronged lead guitar attack of the band while the drummer sounds like Tommy Lee in Rammstein.

They have a plan. Having justifiably identified Sweden as the current glam rock Mecca of the world, they want to move there in summer for a 12 month stay of "making or breaking it". The other two are a couple of years older than him (they saw him on the street looking like he does and asked him if he played guitar, he affirmed, incredibly clichée ...). So my son, who is only turning 17 in June, is proposing to me now to finish school this summer after 10th grade already and then move as a still-minor to Sweden with his two twenty-something buddies. I am torn. Between the realisation that this is probably the way to do it if you want to give it a real attempt and my Über-Ich which warns me that he needs a comprehensive education should sex, drugs and rock'n'roll not be sufficient on his CV in the future. And of course he knows how to get me with questions like: "Dad, will there ever be a better time for me to give it a try than now?" I try to console myself with the thought that Sweden is not LA and people don't get shot there. And there is always hope that his new girlfriend might talk him out of it.

Dave W · April 28, 2011, 04:53:53 PM

If his girlfriend talks him out of something he really wants, in time that will turn into resentment. If he convinces himself that he'd rather be with her in Germany, that's a different matter.

And tell him that size matters but speed doesn't.

uwe · April 28, 2011, 05:12:54 PM

You're raising a very sore point there, Dave! He wins on that count too and I don't mean height! Well, at least I had it in my genes ...

Highlander · April 28, 2011, 05:28:32 PM

TMI...

uwe · April 28, 2011, 06:56:38 PM

Ken, a man my age and a father of an endowed teenager must live up to certain things. The cruelty of nature ...

Freuds_Cat · April 29, 2011, 01:35:21 AM

Quote from: uwe on April 28, 2011, 05:12:54 PM
You're raising a very sore point there, Dave! He wins on that count too and I don't mean height! Well, at least I had it in my genes ...

or his Mums?

uwe · April 29, 2011, 04:35:16 AM

You sure have a knack of pulling the rug from underneath one!

True, Martina always had a masculine side to her (I liked to cook and she didn't), but now you have me really wondering ... $:-\$

uwe · April 29, 2011, 04:46:26 AM

Quote from: Dave W on April 22, 2011, 05:22:20 PM
He plays guitar. I think Uwe bought that Les Paul for him.

Leon would be adamant for me to correct this: I bought the Flying V (a faded budget version) and the FBird (a regular Gibson USA one), he bought the Custom Shop LP with his savings second hand from someone working at a guitar store for a good price. But since the other guy plays an LP too (or a B.C. Rich Mocking Bird or an Epi SG Doubleneck, you can probably guess the influence not only in the hairdo ...), Leon says: "Two LPs are just too much, it's too phat, we sound best when I play the Firebird and Renaud his LP." That Custom Shop LP is a wall of sound and sustain and the overwound Doug Aldrich (Whitesnake) Suhr pups he has put on expands those traits even more. Nice harmonics feedback though.

Freuds_Cat · April 29, 2011, 07:14:28 AM

Quote from: uwe on April 29, 2011, 04:46:26 AM
Leon says: "Two LPs are just too much, it's too phat,

Tell him I said he needs to listen to more Humble Pie

uwe · April 29, 2011, 10:47:07 AM

Actually proves my point as Frampton had a very percussive LP sound, not that creamy sustain normally associated with them! But of course there is also Thin Lizzy which for most of their career featured double Paulas too.

The dif is that most Les Paul players in hard rock settings today sound more like Zakk Wylde (or Slash) than Peter Frampton as far as tonal density goes. And who would want two Zakk Wyldes in one band I ask?!!!

LPs are iconic guitars and have a lovely lead tone, but in the hands of most people they get in the way with dense rhythm playing. I should know, I was in a band with an LP rhythm guitarist for years and when he changed to a Tele our sound really lit up and I could finally dial the treble and presence on my bass sound back!

Highlander · April 29, 2011, 03:04:19 PM

Quote from: uwe on April 28, 2011, 06:56:38 PM
... The cruelty of nature ...

(I did state on a previous thread that I had concerns over "compensation issues" and Ze Kollection, Uwe)

Hmm, tell me about your childhood... In this case, I'm happy to waive me fee (... for the book, the appearance fees, the university circuit, the film rights...)

PhilT · May 01, 2011, 08:46:27 AM

Quote from: uwe on April 29, 2011, 10:47:07 AM
Actually proves my point as Frampton had a very percussive LP sound, not that creamy sustain normally associated with them! But of course there is also Thin Lizzy which for most of their career featured double Paulas too.

The dif is that most Les Paul players in hard rock settings today sound more like Zakk Wylde (or Slash) than Peter Frampton as far as tonal density goes. And who would want two Zakk Wyldes in one band I ask?!!!

LPs are iconic guitars and have a lovely lead tone, but in the hands of most people they get in the way with dense rhythm playing. I should know, I was in a band with an LP rhythm guitarist for years and when he changed to a Tele our sound really lit up and I could finally dial the treble and presence on my bass sound back!

Our guitarist bought an LP. I thought I was going to like it, but I don't. I couldn't have explained why, but I think you just did.

Talking of Telecasters and tone - Steve Walwyn

Dave W · May 01, 2011, 01:18:15 PM

Or you could have the best of both worlds.

Freuds_Cat · May 01, 2011, 03:30:32 PM

Quote from: Dave W on May 01, 2011, 01:18:15 PM
Or you could have the best of both worlds.

That looks amazingly right.

I can match it in reverse with my Les-o-caster

Neck scale is the same as a LP. Its funny watching regular Tele players start playing it trying to work out whats different.

uwe · May 02, 2011, 04:02:18 AM

I've said this before, but I believe (and my ears hear it) that just like a Firebird is Gibson's closest approximation to a Strat sound, the Flying V is Gibson's Tele in sound. All the guys that used a Flying V in the fifites got that middish twang out of it (thanks in part also to the sustain-removing Bigsby). Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash makes his Flying Vs twang to this day, because he doesn't use a lot of distortion letting the guitar sound like it is.

A Tele is of course sharper with all the maple and the single coils, but the Flying V is similarly sparse in the frequencies it takes away from other people. Which is also a reason why (besides the look) it became so popular in Heavy Metal, especially in twin lead guitar scenarios, you can distort the hell out of it and it still doesn't sound like mud.