Good God, I thought that my RD Artist was heavy!
Keep on Jammin’
BTW don’t forget to check out my newish Guitar blog Guitar Licks and Tips. I’ve got some great posts over there for guitar and music enthusiasts to go through.
Late in the Evening drumming
This is a song that I just love playing! It has everything a player, with heavy rythum guitar influences would want.
The rhythm is very catchy. It’s Simon and Garfunkel so everyone has at least heard the song one. The chord can be played in such a way that they all open with really big fat sounds to them!
The biggest thing about this tune is the drummer is and drumming itself. I can play the drums at a decent level but I would love to play this song the way that only Steve Gadd can.
I have never seen a drummer play with 2 sticks in his hand but this guy certainly does and he does it well!
If your a drummer looking at this post here is a challenge for you! Go get on your kit and try this one out. Wait until you reach 0:48 on the video counter at the bottom left of the screen. Try it out and get back to us! If your not a drummer, go and get the old pots and pans out or if your not that ambitious then do it air drumming style!
Enjoy.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDU9691Q-Uw&NR=1&feature=fvwp
Keep on Jammin’
The Dream Theatre Rock experience
I first heard of this band by my buddy Tony when we were standing next to the speakers at the Saga concert that I was at recently.
He had told me that his son that has his own band, loves this type of Rock. He quickly described it as a hybrid of RUSH, Saga, Yes and Heavy thrashing metal. These guys I had to check out!
I first headed off to what in the world is that obscure site called … oh ya, youtube and listened to a few of Dream Theater’s tunes.
This is the one song that really caught my eye. It was everything that Tony had told me about all wrapped up into one song.
The keyboardist sounded like a young Rick Wakeman near the beginning and the bass player sounded a bit like Chris Squire. The guitarist had that Alex Lifeson sound that he had on A Farewell to Kings album one minute then a hint of Permanent Waves the next! The vocalist at first sounded a bit like Jethro Tall then Michael Sadler from Saga.
Todays music in my mind, sometimes lack the feel of musical diversity. There is so much influence out there that bands just don’t tap into. Remember, there is no such thing as a completely new style that has never been heard of before. We may use multiple approaches/styles to create these new sounds but we all use outside influences to create our own individual stamp of music.
I now think that it’s time to let Rick be exposed to this style and see if he can incorporate some of this into his unique approach!
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Keep on Jammin’
Time to overhaul my Gibson RD – Artist?
This guitar is my baby! I have been through thick and thin with this thing. I now feel and fear that this perfect instrument has to be improved in one area and one area only.
I love the “character marks” on it, that means “wear and tear” for the uninitiated. The oxidization or colour change in the Ivory throughout the guitar, makes it look beautiful and vintage. The neck is perfect. The tuning pegs are still working quite well, stays in tune for ages. The active electronics need some work and I want to have that looked at. Now the only biggest drawback to it is the weight. If you ever had to play this thing for 2 hours while your playing live, you will know what I mean.
This is the only big obstacle that I have to deal with. The way to resolve this will tax my nerves to the limit.
By reading a great site in blog land, I’ve found that I have a little voice in my head pushing me more and more towards confronting this issue. The site is called Building the Ergonomic Guitar.
He says that the way to get the best results are to change to an ergonomic strap called “The Dare Strap“. This idea is the least invasive out there that he’s heard.
So I was just wondering if I should just router some areas on the back of the guitar to lighten up my load. I realize this sounds like some “Hillbilly that just fell off the turnip truck” idea but it may work? I am just asking for ideas here people. I don’t even own a router.
There is this guitar player in Brantford in the early 70 -90’s called Scott Merrit. The man was a god on guitar. He played in the open tuning style that I had only heard of at the time, but have never done anything quite like. I must admit that when he went into the local guitar shop called “Music and Sound”, I would just put down my guitar and pretend that I didn’t play. I know it was a fantastic missed opportunity by a little kid, but could you blame me I was in grade 8.
He was awarded a Juno for the best upcoming artist and vocalist in Canada in the mid 80’s. Scott had the same 1959 Fender Duo-Sonic that I have. The big difference between both of ours was that he had cut a handle hole in the upper right portion of the guitar where you might rest your right forearm on, while I left mine complete. It was the neatest thing to look at. While I was over at his place in high school, he showed it to me.
I guess if Jimmy Page can use this guitar at all of their Knebworth shows for Misty Mountain Hop throughout the 70’s, then it’s good enough for me!
If someone has ever done this type of work on their guitar or is very talented with a router, can you give me some advice on the pro’s and con’s or even alternatives to this procedure?
Keep on Jammin’
My 1979 Gibson RD-Artist
Wow, is all that I have to say about this baby! It has a rounded like Gibson Explorer or Firebird body that is as heavy as a tank, seriously, come over and lift the thing! It has the wide neck with 22 frets that I love and has a great straight forward sound. It was one of the original guitars that had built in compression in it, oooooooohhh! When I got the balls as a high school kid, I took off the plastic cover that exposed it’s internal workings. It looked to me as the internal workings of a space ship. Opps, better not touch anything in there!
So my parents bought this guitar at Steve’s Music in Toronto. With me in tow, I tried out many guitars after getting over how many axes there was in this place. It was a toss up really between the RD and a Gibson ES-335, which is comparable to to RD if you read the WHOLE article below. I think that the main reason that I bought the RD was because it looked REALLY COOL! It still does.
Now for some boring technical reading, everyone comfortable yet?
Some time ago when the Gibson M-III was introduced to much fanfare, a lot of people could be overheard expressing awe at the possibilities of the switching system. But, as we’ve seen, this is only the latest example of Gibson’s long infatuation with complex switches. While the Les Paul Recording remains my personal favorite, it’s followed quickly by the often insulted RD Artist, occasionally referred to as the “Research & Development†Artist.
The RD line was originally conceived in 1975, officially introduced in 1977 and ultimately discontinued in 1982. The RD series was essentially Gibson’s response to the emerging success of companies like Alembic and B.C. Rich, which specialized in lots of switches with fancy electronic options. It’s curious to note that a Norlin subsidiary, the distributor L.D. Heater, of Portland, OR, handled B.C. Rich as well as Gibson guitars in the early ’70s. Early B.C. Riches used Gibson humbuckers obtained through L.D. Heater until Gibson found out. B.C. Rich switched to Guild and then DiMarzio pickups and took over its own distribution shortly thereafter. Maybe the RD was Gibson’s revenge?…
To execute this design, Gibson employed Robert Moog, of Moog synthesizer fame, and the man behind the last mach of the Gibson Maestro effects of that very same era.
The RD series was, admittedly, a little demented. First of all, its shape is sort of a retread Reverse Firebird, maybe the offspring of mating with a Guild Thunderbird (one which unfortunately didn’t inherit the built-in stand!). The maple body is comfortably contoured, though, and the neck solidly glued on for an overall pretty nice feeling guitar, sort of like an SG. Put a pillowcase over the body and you can get down with this baby.
The RD Artist was the top-of-the-line, with an unbound ebony fingerboard (the catalog said bound ‘board, but most if not all were not bound), block inlays, gold hardware, fancy bound pearl inlaid headstock and more comprehensive active features activated by a second large toggle switch. Pickups were two Gibson Series VI humbuckers with a threeway select, two volume controls, individual treble and bass tone controls, and a built-in preamp circuit with compression/expansion and bright/lead functions.
Unfortunately, Moog and Gibson didn’t just settle for a simple preamp switch like the B.C. Rich. Instead, we get another complex switching system on the Artist models. Here’s the skinny; bear with me.
The threeway pickup select and individual treble and bass tone controls are pretty clear and a very nice feature on any guitar. In the center position, the second threeway toggle switch is in neutral, making the guitar active but without the special circuits. In the forward position, the switch activates a bright/lead function which accentuates the treble frequencies. This works for both pickups.
In the back position, the active switch turns on a compression/expansion circuit. The compression function operates on the neck pickup only and reduces the fundamental attack time and “compresses†each note into a longer sustaining signal. In this mode, the output remains stable no matter how hard you play.
The expansion function (we haven’t moved the second toggle yet) operates on the bridge pickup only and “permits the player to play harder and louder without the note collapsing. Expansion offers a very fast, explosive response with a rapid decay,†says the Gibson literature.
Of course, either function works in the middle pickup selector position, too.
To read the full article go to Vintage Guitar Magazine and, look 1/2 way down the page. I too have just learned something as well!