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Re: Stick stuff



At 02:00 PM 3/4/98 EST, KRosser414 wrote:
>>I've been facinated with the Stick for yearsnyears, principally because 
>of
>>the ability to play guitar+bass ranges together (or get in on that big
>>piano vibe!).  The one thing that concerns me is the tone of tapped 
>notes,
>>especially in the melody range.  I've tried just tapping on my guitar, 
>and
>>the tone is kinda lifeless and thin (and, I suppose, attack-free).  Is it
>>just me?  Is this something that can be improved with technique, or is it
>>just part of the instrument? 
>
>It's one of the biggest problems I have listening to Stanley Jordan, I 
>just
>can't get past that sound (and once I do, I'm not bowled over by his 
>aesthetic
>choices either).  I know there are other players like Jennifer Batten 
>that do
>two-hand tapping with all eight fingers that use distortion to beef up the
>'body' of the notes (as well as to increase the sensitivity, presumably) 
>but
>I've never heard her do it so I can't vouch for the results.  

I think Stanley Jordan is a really bad example for this. IMHO, he gets the
worst guitar tone I've ever heard in my life, and it has nothing to with 
the
tapping. It just sounds lousy. That coupled with his tendancy to totally
overplay and drag out the ending solo of a tune to the point where it's
longer than the all the rest of the tune, makes him really, really hard to
listen to. I saw him play live once, and was ready to walk out during the
second number. His tone literally made my ears hurt. I only stuck it out
because the next group was a trio with Johann Hellborg and Shawn Lane. They
were so boring and overplayed so much that I did walk out during the second
number....Herbie Hancock was playing the same night, and that was 
infinitely
more listenable....

wondering why I suddenly felt compelled to slag stanley jordan, 
kim
_______________________________________________________
Kim Flint                       408-752-9284
Mpact Systems Engineering       kflint@chromatic.com
Chromatic Research              http://www.chromatic.com