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Almost everything comes back to 4 in one way or another.
I try to break it up by doing shuffle rhythms and such that make my thumb doing more work bc it makes the music more interesting by adding the offbeats. I got the idea from watching Bernard Purdue play drums, specifically his “Purdue Shuffle,” which has something on every beat but isn’t at all busy.
Counting “1 and a 2 and a 3 and a 4….” etc gives you time to think about where you’re placing the notes.
Got a chance to play some slide on a rosewood OMG recently and it was revelatory. Really deep and growly, just great. It’s a really good design.
Tuning down is one thing….it reduces tension on the guitar, and that’s fine up to the point where there’s not enough tension to drive the top.
Tunings that increase pitch are another kettle of fish entirely. Steven Stills’ EEEEBE took a bridge off an old dread of mine, as did GBDGBD / EBG#EBE some time after (dobro tuning) on an old Harmony. Most instruments just can’t take the increased stress of higher-pitched tuning using light or medium gauge strings, especially those built before doming tops was common, and so they fly apart or fold up or get ski-jump necks.
The only tuning I’ll use on my ‘good’ instruments that has anything higher than standard is John Fahey’s Sunflower tuning, CGCGCE, where the C is the only thing tuned high (B up to C)….I know SCGC and Martin (and so forth) build good instruments, but I’m not about to destruction-test.
I’m pretty sure that’s why acoustic slide guitars made for those tunings have HUGE necks and tailpieces. The large and sometimes square necks preload the neck and body, and the dowel stick through the body helps keep the body from folding up – and that includes metal-bodied instruments.
It’s also probably why solidbody lap steels can take much higher tunings – they’re a solid chunk of wood with sheets of mother-of-toilet-seat-plastic slumped over them, and they don’t deform under tension. (Speaking of which, does anyone have one cheap?)
A small FBT 2A powered speaker is 300 W and relatively inexpensive on the used market.
They sounds great – very warm – and she can plug her mixer into it.
/mh
It IS sad. I’ve sailed down the coast in a 52’ boat and seen great whites investigate to see whether the boat contained tasty treats…..makes my blood run cold to remember.
They’re some scary beasts, the tigers of the sea, the apex predator. So sorry for the family left….
Yeah, the suspension in those things doesn’t do much. I helped a friend fix a late-fifties Chevrolet, but he redid the suspension on all four corners to make it a usable vehicle.
Playing in that tuning requires a little rewiring and rearranging to keep the melody lines where you want ‘em.
They are also great for filling out tracks. But by itself it can be a little hard to take.
Hope you find a good 12.
I’ve played with the Spire app and it’s pretty neat. Setting it up to record when I’m working with a click really is useful for getting my time together. And, it should be noted for relentless self-flagellation when my time is bad.
Daniel, I did see the Soundbrenner, and I’m considering one. An audible click has been my go-to but this may be more helpful.
