Same guitar, different player: what a difference!

Lango-Django

Dear guitar friends,

As some of you know from my previous postings, I've become somewhat of an evangelist for mounting one's Ischell "inside box" pickup inside the guitar.... the sweet spot for my guitar was right below the bridge, between the A and D strings, but of course guitars may vary.

Will


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I play guitar and plectrum banjo in a trio in Buffalo NY most Sunday nights. Every now and then we get musicians who want to sit in, which I always enjoy because it gives me a chance to hear what the band sounds like when I'm not playing.

On our last gig, a very fine young guitarist named Jared (sorry, I don't know his last name!) asked to sit in. He didn't bring his own guitar, so I loaned him my Michael Dunn guitar, the one with the Ischell pickup mounted under the bridge.

I am attaching two different sound files, first one of Jared playing "Rhythm Changes" with the group, and second one of me playing and singing one of my 20's/30's faves, "I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me".

These were recorded by our bass player/sound man, who records every gig with a USB stick plugged directly into our SoundCraft mixer and PA.

Jared was playing the exact same guitar as me, with the exact same tone and volume settings, but you probably wouldn't have guessed that from the recordings, because in his hands the instrument sounds very different... to my ears, at least!

As you will hear, Jared is a much more accomplished guitarist than I am, very much at ease with gyspy jazz, and also a taste for more modern be-boppish sounds.

Me, I'm what they used to call a "moldy fig"... you'll hear an obvious reverence for Eddie Lang as well as Django, and a propensity for staying kinda close to the melody when I solo. Probably I tend to play more in the middle register than Jared does. And unlike him, I'm looking for a big fat full sound when I play rhythm.

Together, these recordings make me proud of just how responsive my guitar/pickup/PA are to the touch--- Jared sounds just like Jared, and for better or worse, I sound just like me... what more could you ask of a pickup?

Anyway, this is all to say that I truly believe that if YOU mount your Ischell pickup inside your guitar, it's gonna make YOU sound like YOU!

Will

Bones

Hey Will, those files would not play on my PC?

Buco

You gotta use iTunes to play the aiff files.
Download files then open iTunes>File>import file to library, then you can hear it.
Yeah Will, you gave us an assignment.
Pretty cool though, sounds good.

Lango-Django

Oopsie, so sorry everyone.

I am reposting those attachments below in proper MP3 format.

I've added a third MP3 of a fine bluegrass guitarist also named Will who sat in the same night, and he also played the same guitar with the exact same settings! But as you'll hear, he gave my guitar a real Appalachian Tony Rice-ish sound.

We don't usually have bluegrass musicians joining us when we play, but this guy plays guitar in the same bluegrass band that our group's bass player plays in.

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Once again, apologies for my tech F-up!

Will

BillDaCostaWilliams

Thanks Will,

Really interesting comparison. The bluegrass player sounds even more distinct to my ear - hard to believe it's the same instrument.

(The "reefer person" update gets a chortle!)

Bones

Hey Will, do you ever try having the bass player switch to 4-to-the-bar when you solo with no rhythm guitarist behind you? Might help fill up the rhythm section a bit?

Lango-Django

That's a good suggestion, Bones, I'll mention that to him.

This thing of playing without a rhythm guitar or piano is still a bit challenging for me but I've almost gotten used to it now and one of the keys for me has been just to stick to my knitting and ignore the accompaniment...

AndrewUlle

you can also play these files on VLC media player.