kirk95
StarShip Captain
Joined: 14 May 2004
Posts: 278
Location: Austin, TX
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 Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 4:08 pm Post subject: Scott answers your questions - round 2.7 - 2/26/10 |
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Hi,
I was wondering what your experience with different nut materials was? It seems like you just trust John to put Tusq in all your guitars?
Recently I decided to change my graphite nut because it was binding really bad and I'm too lazy to put stuff in it every day, so I changed to Black Tusq XL. That one is really slick, it's impregnated teflon so you don't have to lube it at all but with a price: it sounds like shit. So i tried others and they all sound very different but by far the best sounding was the mammooth bone! The EQ change is pretty subtle, it's more about how the notes feel in a way, and of course they sound fatter. And not just the open strings, but the whole neck, despite what a lot of people say.
| Quote: | | Yes, I just trust John to use Tusq because he says it's the best. I haven't tried bone, or maybe I have and didn't notice the difference, but I'm not doubting there is one. I put graphite in the nut before every gig - it stays in tune and sounds great so I haven't had a reason to change. |
Scott do you think that we're going towards to the end of tube amps? i mean with so much evolution in modeling (check out fractal audio's axe-fx!!!) and only 2-3 remained factories around the world to built tubes do you think that in a 10 yrs period or something tube anps will not exist anymore?
| Quote: | | No, I think they're like vintage cars - people never get tired of them. I've heard the Axe-FX and also Eleven, and I think they're on their way to sounding comparable to a real amp. That being said, it doesn't mean that you're going to be able to find your own voice with it. What I've heard from the Axe-FX sounds good, but also very generic. I had Eleven here at my house and even though I got some good sounds from it, I couldn't get my personal tone. Actually I plan on working with Avid to make Eleven better, and they realize it's a work in progress. Maybe someday I will get my tone from it. Still, it still seems like science fiction when I think about selling my amps and speaker cabinets. |
hi again,what do you think of cornford amps,have you ever tried them and if yes which one you like the most.
| Quote: | | When I played some gigs at Tone Merchant's, I tried a few of them. I don't remember which models they were but I didn't like any of them - I thought they sounded thin. I remember thinking they probably sound OK for metal, but they'd never make it for the kind of music I play. |
also one more,you said somewhere that you judge when the amp works at its best so then you wont change any knob in order to adjust when pedals comes in.can you explain under what circumstances you take that decision?like, you just plug the guitar single to the amp and see when she sounds the best and then let the pedals follow on that? or you estimate how the pedals would sound having amp on a minor level than when she sounds the best alone?or maybe you try all those with rc booster on? hope you got my point
thanks and have fun ! see you
| Quote: | | When you tweak an amp, I suggest doing it with the pedal you use the most, which in my case is the RC Booster. Then it's important that any other pedals you add to your system will be compatible. In other words, they can't be overly darker or brighter. I love the DOD Overdrive 250, but it's way brighter than my other pedals so I don't use it live. The RC, SD-9, Fuzz Factory, and Octafuzz are very close to each other in brightness so I don't have to mess with the amp EQ when switching from one to another. |
Hello Scott, greetings from south of the border, Mexico, you have a lot of fans over here and we thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. I only have the two following to ask:
#1 - I own a Fender hot rod deville 2x12 and recently read on this board that you are using a HRDX and Mike Landau a HRDeville, I read that you both installed Celestion Heritage 65's, those are a little over my price range, so I was wondering if you've ever tried the Eminence Red Coat Private Jacks?, supposedly they are Eminence's take on the Greenbacks run at 50 watts, a little darker sounding, they also cost less..
| Quote: | | Sorry, I haven't heard those, but probably anything you put in there will sound better than the original speakers. |
#2 - Another poster asked you if you tried the Fulltone Full-Drive 2 Mosfet and you said that you where going to check it out at a music store, so I was wondering if you had the chance and if you liked it?
Thanks again Scott.
| Quote: | | Sorry again, it's on my list of things to try but I haven't been to True Tone since that question was asked. |
Hi Scott, Thanks for your help with speaker cab. I play on marshall 6100 head and was using 2x12 vintage 30 (16 ohm) cab. recently I've got 4x greenback (16 ohm) cab. For recording I've used 2 cabs to gain fatness by 8 ohm and the tone was much greater than running on 16 ohm. I've also put steel block 6 screw trem (after breaking shitty Fender arm:/) and replaced pickups to FL's and used few other advices from you. Thanks again, it more, that it was my first rec for a label. Your advices really improved the tone of our rec.
I've got few more questions if you don't mind:
1#I've got problem with Maxon SD9 - I realized, that it begins to breathe when I go down to 6-7 with my volume pot. I feel, that giving this baby more signal, the sound is very compressed and while playing with the band seems to be more quiet than my clean. Have you noticed it using your setup?
| Quote: | | Yes, the SD-9 has a lot of compression when you hit it hard with your guitar signal. This sounds like a dumb answer, but if it sounds quieter, just turn up. I'm used to playing a little louder with the SD-9 than I do with the RC Booster which has more dynamic range. |
2# I also use a Yamaha/Soldano t100c combo and I'd like to experiment with other 100watt+ speakers (it has stocked Celestion G12H100). Can you recommend any?
Thanks' a lot for your time and advices!!! All the best and keep rockin'
M.
| Quote: | | The only high wattage speakers I've heard that I really like are the Celestion Heritage 65's. |
PS: one more question - about string gauges - you've posted, that in the regular tune you use 10. Due to playing in 2 bands I have to retune or use another guitar. I play on 11 strings on both situations. I've tried 10s on "E" setup and it was too "light" for me, my fingers "tangled" between the strings and I couldn't reach "clear bending" notes.
Do you have similar feelings while turning to 10?
Thanks again! All the best!
M.
| Quote: | | 10's tuned to E and 11's tuned to Eb feel about the same to me. I switch between them all the time and the only thing that bothers me is the thinner tone I get with the 10's. |
Hi Scott,
Have you try the Xotic EP-Booster?
Gees I think I have to go to Rome to see you...to bad what a shame.
Thanks
Sandro
| Quote: | I like the RC Booster much more. Rome is March 6 & 7 - see you there!
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Hi Scott,
Ever try a Diezel VH4?
| Quote: | | I tried a Diezel but I don't remember which model. All I can remember is that it sounded great and had a distortion channel that was very comparable to the OD-100, but it was so heavy it felt like it was nailed to the floor. |
Hey man, just wondering what your take on pedal switchers such as http://www.voodoolab.com/switcher.htm is. This particular model is true bypass (a good thing), but I'm wondering if there is a tonal price to pay from all of the additional length it adds to the signal chain?
| Quote: | | Most switchers have buffers so I hate them, but I saw on the site that this one also has a non buffered input and gold plated relays, so if you have pedals that aren't true bypass, this looks like a good unit. If the cables are short going to the pedals, you're not adding that much. Mike Landau told me that you can go through about 5 true bypass pedals before things get weird, and I've found that to be true. |
Also... how are you attaching your pedals to your pedalboard and what are you using power it? It's hard to tell from the pic on your site.
I just have to say... It really sucks that you can't tour your own country. I guess if your not Britney Spears you can't tour and make any money here.
Thanks,
Mark.
| Quote: | Yeah, it definitely sucks. I recently had a conversation about that with Oz Noy, as I've talked with many jazz musicians about it. They all say the same thing I do - thank goodness for Europe, Asia, and South America.
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Hi Scott!
Thanks for getting me hip to those G12-65 Speakers! What a difference!
| Quote: | | Glad you like them! |
What Lovepedal cot50 version are you using for recording? 3 knobs or 1 knob?
Or is it gone already?
regards
Spooney
| Quote: | | It's a one knob. It sounds awesome - very vintage and creamy sounding. |
Have you seen those girls singing your song on Azerbejdzani TV?? Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y4SVSnOCSw
| Quote: | | I have now - thanks! Wow, finally a little inspiration! They're good, and hot too! Maybe I'll think about this when I play my next gig for 300 guys and 3 girls. (the waitresses) |
When I was using a guitar synth, I got frustrated at not being able to switch between guitar and synth tones quick enough, so I modded a volume pedal to crossfade between the two.
I keep intending to lash up something similar to do quick crossfades of different guitar tones, for a call/reponse type thing. Is that something that would interest you? I've only seen Morse's rig with something similar but his was all in/out per volume pedal, no crossfades.
| Quote: | | I don't really have any use for that type of system. |
PS Have you tried the Digitech Timebender delay? The one where you can set up 6 mutitaps by strumming the timing on the guitar?
| Quote: | | I don't like the taps to be in sync with the music so that probably wouldn't interest me. |
PPS +1 on Landau! He's the king of breadth of tones. Most of the recent tones I've chased recently have been Landau influenced.
| Quote: | | Nobody alive gets better tone than Mike. |
Scott,
First, thank you for all the years of great music. Hope to see you back in Half Moon Bay this year.
Couple of questions:
1. Maybe I just haven't read enough, but I don't see very much mention of Nomad during discussion of TT material. I love the flow of this album, and the general mood it sets. There is something seriously captivating about it that I can't nail down. What are your thoughts on this one? Was there something in particular you had in mind when writing for this album?
| Quote: | | I have no idea - that's like 20 years ago. I don't remember what I was thinking when I wrote my newest tune last month. All I can remember about Nomad is listening to it about a week after it was mastered and thinking that my playing totally sucked ass, so I haven't heard it since. I have no doubt that if I heard it today, I'd either puke or break into hysterical laughter. Don't get me wrong, I work hard on my records and I'm happy and grateful when people like them, but I've come to the realization that my assessment of my own work seems to follow a strict formula. When it's finished, I think it's really good and I'm actually proud of it, and then about one week later all I hear is what's wrong with it and I never listen to it again. For me it's like having a good dream - the record is killer and everything's going great, then I wake up and realize it's a piece of shit. I've seen other musicians listen to their recordings years later and gloat about how good they are (Zawinul, for instance). But then I think, wait a minute, his records ARE good. Maybe someday I'll make a record I can be proud of for years, but if not, I'll always enjoy the dream. |
2. The requisite gear question. Now that you're working with (essentially) channel two of the OD-100 only, how does the RC come into play? Is it always on, just adding a little more dirt and body to an already crunchy amp? Also, do you stack it with the SD9 for leads, or switch it off before bringing in the Maxon?
| Quote: | | Ah, a question I can feel confident about... Yes, it's adding to an already crunchy amp. I don't combine it with anything - the SD-9 has plenty enough gain by itself. I use the RC probably 80% of the time, since it has enough gain for solos, and cleans up beautifully for chords when I turn down the guitar volume. I use the SD-9 for high gain legato solos. Sometimes I turn them both on if I want over the top distortion - more an effect than a tone I'd use for a solo. |
Thanks for your time Scott. This really is a great resource for hopeless tone nerds. Much appreciated.
-Drew
Hi Scott,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y4SVSnOCSw
Maybe you should play in Azerbaijan, I thinks you'll have a lot of Girls for fans : Look what they play on tv for the local semi final of the Eurovision ( Eurovision=European music awards : every country in Europe select a band, people vote and there is a big European TV SHow (Eurovision) once a year ) If this band is selected and win the final they are going to represent their country whith your song. If the Azerbaijan wins the award : the song is going to be played everywhere in Europe during one year so you'll eventually get a bunch of royalties.
I can't wait to see you next monday for your show in Germany, I'll bring some friends...
Laurent
| Quote: | | Royalties would be nice! I'll be hoping they win! I haven't played in Karlsruhe for awhile so I'm wondering if the guy who spins around in circles will be there. He's always fun to watch while playing psychedelic solos. |
Ciao Scott,
I read a new Tribal Tech recording session was planned for this January, can you tell us something about it.. music/sounds.. rel. date.. etc.?
Thanks a lot!
Claudio
| Quote: | | Willis is coming to LA at the end of May for the basic tracks, but we haven't talked about what we're going to play, and we probably won't, we'll just play and see what happens. |
Hi Scott-
first off, thanks again for your time... it' a real privilege! I don't have any questions, just some remarks and such...
a) Kenny G. has asthma. I'm not kidding. *insert joke here*
| Quote: | | Then he should probably retire, not just for his own health, but more importantly, for ours. *insert snare drum here* |
b) In your Q-and-A sessions over the years you've mentioned several books to read, the Kenny Werner book and "Compassion and Self-Hate". I've studied guitar here in Nashville under a guy by the name of Stan Lassiter, who is also a fairly well-known martial artist. His main forte is Bagua-Quan... blah-blah-blah. It's stunningly amazing how well music and Chinese internal martial arts translate into each other, with internal martial arts being the skill of using your internal energy to create power, as opposed to, say, karate, where muscle power is used to create inner peace. Again, blah-blah-blah. I've come across a book that propelled my guitar shenanigans into hyper mode, and I'd just like to share it with you and the readers of your forum: "Cheng Hsin: The Principles Of Effortless Power" by Peter Ralston.
I'm not going to tell you what to read, because... well... you're Scott Fucking Henderson... hahaha , BUT... if you're ever out of things to read, I'd invite you to check this book out. Based on the book-recommendations you've given so far, this book might resonate quite well.
F.
| Quote: | Thanks for the recommendation - always good to have something new to read on the plane. Oh, and thanks for giving me the opportunity to diss Kenny G.
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Hi Scott!
Thank you very much for taking time for this .
My question: when you were touring Europe with Zawinul Syndicate back in 1989, you used to play a song which name I have been struggling to identificate for years with no success at all. I am currently transcripting the head tune for study, but since I just don't know how to send you a MIDI file, I'll try to give a text description instead. Please excuse the post length, any detail may be important:
I first heard the song in the live show performed on July 16th, 1989 in Barcelona, Spain. From its duration about 13:21 minutes and some post in this very forum, I've learnt this "Unknown title" was likely played too in Lugano, Switzerland, two weeks before, although it's not been featured in the official Munich DVD.
About the song: basicly, it is a progressive "tension raiser" to lead into Cornell Rochester's fierce solo, which acts as the coda. Its air is mostly an "arranged improvisation", I am aware of this paradox .
The head tune looks pretty complex, harmonically odd, and full of "impossible triplets", phrase breaks and syncopations. I can hardly tell a common key tone to start thinking from, I guess it's the use of diminished scale both in soloist and accompaniment which gives this "disorientation effect".
The song starts with this main single-line tune played upbeat in unison by Joe and you. Actually, this is the only time where the tune is played (there's no later return to melody). Four bars later, the rhythm section joins in a fast-paced tempo, very boppish, about 150-152 bpm. They go silent again for another break 4 or 5 bars before the tune ending, to leave you alone again in unison with Joe. This whole section takes one minute (38 bars, if I'm not wrong), then your solo starts. Gerald Veasley plays few sparse notes along this tune, mostly the first one of each bar, aside some comping chords (since Joe and you are entirely focused on the melody); the whole bass part often sounds chromatically ascending or descending for several consecutive bars.
Your solo starts fast-bopping for a few bars, it seems over Ab. After a short aggresive break with distortion, busy vibrato bar, powerful open E7#9, we are back again in former boppish phrasing. Later, it takes tempo and mood drastically down to slow swing, there for a while in a "late night" blues solo groove, and then getting into speed again for a final unison arrangement with bass and drums, ending in a sudden break, the key to the next keyboard solo part.
This latter solo takes place over some tense bass fingering patterns, heavily based on continuous half-tone steps low and down, sounding like a bumblebee. Everything keeps on adding more and more tension, Joe phrasing in diminished scale and, finally, at its peak, Mr. Rochester's solo comes in, mimetizing first into the current groove, then getting looser until he's left alone to develop the solo... and finish the song on his own.
And that's all I can say, fortunately . Just add the song is a blast and your playing was -already- astounding, I'm short of words. Wish I could give you a nice puppy in exchange . Lots of thanks, I hope we'll meet again in Southern Spain, maybe we'll have to push our friend at EMMECI a little...
Best regards from Cadiz,
Jose.
| Quote: | Wow, I'm really trying to imagine that tune but I'm not having any luck. Make a standard midi file of the main melody and send it to my website - if I hear it I'm sure I'll remember it. By your letter it sounds like this isn't on any of Joe's records, which is weird because as I remember, we recorded everything we were playing live, or it had already been recorded before I joined the band. Are you sure you have all of Joe's records? I'm pretty sure every tune I played with Joe was either on Dialects, The Immigrants, Black Water, or a Weather Report record.
Update: I heard the midi file, and I guess we didn't record everything we played - Joe must have bailed on that one. I don't think it had a name other than the key he considered it to be in, like "D tune" or something like that... anyway, it was hard to learn because it's fast and pretty weird. Peter Erskine came to a gig one time and said to me, "you sounded good on the head of that fast tune", meaning "your solo sucked". Like I give a shit what he thinks anyway, but I thought that was pretty rude. Many times Dave Carpenter asked him to come and play with us at La Ve Lee but he said "I don't play with guitar players." Anyway, I liked that tune and wish Joe had recorded it. |
hey scott, hows the tribal tech recording going? I hope all is well!!!
scott, have you ever thought about putting some of your tribal tech or blues tunes as backing tracks (minus the guitar parts obviously)?
i'm pretty sure there's quite a few of us that want to buy those!! I know I would!! you can get quick money too!!
hey how about your fellow suhr artist guthrie, you talk to him much? or maybe jam with him? boy he's such a killer player!!!
take care scott!!
| Quote: | The Tribal Tech record starts at the end of May. I've actually thought about doing a backing tracks thing but just never found the time. Hopefully that'll happen in the future.
I've only met Guthrie a couple times. He came to see me play on a Kinsey gig once, and his comment to me was, "well, that was interesting." I got the impression he didn't like it much. I've only heard him a few times - to me our styles of music and playing are from opposite planets. I respect his amazing abilities on the guitar, but the whole shred thing has never appealed to me very much. |
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