Just thought i'd say hi and let everyone know who i am before i start
shooting my mouth off on stuff i know nothing about. :}
I'm dave, and live the suburbs of St Paul, MN. My playing goes through
different phases of interest, where i pick up some body of technique or
pursue some theory or sound in my head. And currently, i'm back on a jazz
kick. I'm not much for chops, but i'm pretty good at sounding like
myself!
My physical technique is changing in interesting ways right now... for
years, i have played acoustic mostly fingerstyle and electric almost
exclusively with a pick. Now suddenly, i'm playing electric with bare
fingers, and acoustic with a pick (and playing simpler, folky stuff on
acoustic, but that's another story). The fingers thing is nice. I'm
working on playing solo lines with my bare thumb (and Wes Montgomery style
octaves, but it will be a long time before i feel i do that well), and
picking out more precise chord voicings with bare fingers. I'm also able
to apply the highly personalized finger-strumming i do on acoustic to
jazzier chords, although it's harder when i have more to mute.
A good chunk of my sense of jazz comes from what i listen to at the
time... these days, i'm listening to a lot of electric Miles Davis -
Tribute to Jack Johnson, Agharta, Bitches Brew, etc. I'm also really into
"Yo Miles!", a tribute album to this period by Henry Kaiser and Wadada Leo
Smith. In a slightly mellower vein, i've been jamming along with Mingus.
Basically, my ears are drawn to a different place than the mainstream jazz
guitar traditions. I don't listen much to either traditionalists or
fusion players. The jazz guitarists i like tend to be people like Marc
Ribot, Bill Frisell, Steve Tibbetts, David Torn, Sonny Sharrock, etc...
people who push hard for a unique tone as much as a personal sense of
melody and harmony.
Here's a practical question for the group to chew on... i recently got a
new axe, a Gibson Blueshawk. I like it a lot, but it definitely needs new
pickups. The stock set is a pair of "Blues 90" pickups which are the same
size as a P90 soapbar, but not the same construction. I'm thinking of
replacing them with either Fralins or Rio Grandes. Anyone have experience
with either brand and want to say yea or nay? I'm trying to get a tone
that's capable of a nasty edge when i turn it up, but can also speak
clearly on complex chord voicings, and i love the sound of the classic
P90, especially on semi-hollow and hollow guitars. Any other suggestions?
As you may have noticed, once i get going i tend to keep going. :}
-dave
