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Re: Creative Alternative Tools for Guitar Looping



I've seen Brad Barr (from The Slip) take an old strand of a broken string, and make a knot around one end and tie it loosely to his d or g string, so he could pull it back and forth, or holding while soloing, causing crazy slides and pulls to sound mid solo. He also had a tiny little handheld amp, and he would use it to feedback into his larger fender amp, while running the knotted string back and forth, making awesome long tones.


On Fri, Apr 1, 2011 at 11:17 AM, Kevin Cheli-Colando <billowhead@gmail.com> wrote:
Tom Carter of charalambides and others played lap steel with large
pieces of sidewalk chalk, scraping them off on the strings as he went.

Also, Nels Cline kept a large metal coil spring in his back pocket for
more string scrapes last time I saw him.

Just to add more to the list.

And don't forget alligator clips on the strings and chopstick in
between them (for odd whammy bar effects are various intervals)

Kevin

On Fri, Apr 1, 2011 at 11:10 AM, Rick Walker <looppool@cruzio.com> wrote:
>
> Speaking of cool guitar tools, like the 'Harmonics Capo'
> here's a few that that I really like and have used a lot.
> (what are some others?)
>
>
> _The 'Third Hand Capo'_
> allows one to capo individual strings for interesting and quick 'altered
> tunings'
>
> _http://www.google.com/products/catalog?client=safari&rls=en&q=third+hand+capo&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=3425282320810705673&sa=X&ei=5QmWTdyzMazOiALF_OmcCQ&ved=0CE0Q8wIwAw#ps-sellers_
>
> Only $13........this is a device that you could use multiples of for
> interesting tunings,  although, in the long run, I think
> I prefer just rapidly retuning the guitar, manually.
>
>
> _The 'Piranha Bow'_
> allows a person's strumming hand to have the texture of a bow.    Fantastic
> for rapid rhythmic work.
>
> _http://www.piranhaguitarbow.com/_
>
> At $40, there not cheap, but he used to have a deal where he'd give you
> three if you bought two......don't know if he still honors
> that deal (I bought them for $25 at the time) but it's cool to get three
> people to go in on a buy and two of them
> played at once on an open tuned or lap steel guitar produces some very hip
> results
>
> _'Suzuki Method 16th scale Violin Bows'_
>
> http://www.google.com/products/catalog?client=safari&rls=en&q=1/16th+violin+bows&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=10589079992227454761&sa=X&ei=DRCWTfCpEKXkiALdrJTgCA&ved=0CEcQ8wIwBA#ps-sellers
>
> At $19, these miniature bows are fantastic for playing electric guitar.
> I've had a lot of interesting results by using an open tuning on a guitar
> and then using
> two of them, one in each hand.   You can bow rhythmically close to the
> bridge with your right hand
> and bow slowly over Barre Harmonics with the left hand to create really
> beautiful textures.
>
> Because the electric guitar neck is flat , one has three different options
> for playing
> 1) bass lines  on the lowest string    2)  melodies on the highest string
>   3) full chords by playing across the whole fretboard
>
> _'Vegetable Brushes'_
> These come in various colors and various degrees of stiffness to provide
> alternate strumming textures
> (not unlike lightly brushing over the strings with the tips of one's
> fingers)
> My wife hipped me to this approach by using a ball point pen or a drum stick
> to rake over the strings to provide
> new 'rubato' textures for strumming.................it makes 'smears' of
> sound instead of really articulate rhythms.
>
> _'This Rad Pick that my brother gave me years ago'_ that has four gradiated
> plastic picks on one side and three on the other so
> that every time you pick the guitar,  it has the effect of a 'flam' of four
> individual picked sounds together......
> .......like an ersatz 48 string guitar effect.    Not sure what it's called,
> though.
>
> _'The Jellyfish Pick'_
>
> http://www.jellifish.com/techniques/videos/bow-4-qt.html
>
> At $12 a cool pick with multiple steel rods that allows for picking or mild
> bowing techniques
> _
> 'Little Easter Island Tiki Head Blue Plastic Martini Stirrers'_
> fantastically balanced to be able to play a prepared or open tuned lapsteel
> guitar like a hammer dulcimer.
> Awesome because they can be used as a tiny slide as well as a tiny hammers.
>
> _'Clitoral Vibrators or Egg Vibrators'_
> especially if you can find the kind that have a short chord with a remote
> speed control.
> You just turn it on,  let it dangle on a lap steel or prepared guitar and
> then fuck with the speed............very nice random stuff occurs.
>
> _"An Multiple Allen Wrench Plectrum"_
> This was made famous by Thom Morello of Rage Against the Machine.......you
> space the Allen wrenches out and use them as
> a 'flamming' plectrum.
>
>



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