Re: distortion, overdrive,fuzz,crunch,special sauce, secret goo

["L.Angulo" <labaloops@yahoo.com>]

with this conversation it occurs to me ive been playing acoustic only, i 
dont know what happened...though once a week i pickup my electric, plug it 
in distort the shit out of it and play a mean chord.Then i turn off my amp 
hang the guitar on the wall and go to sleep.It must be cold turkey...

www.myspace.com/luisangulocom


--- On Fri, 12/19/08, Krispen Hartung <info@krispenhartung.com> wrote:

> From: Krispen Hartung <info@krispenhartung.com>
> Subject: Re: distortion, overdrive,fuzz,crunch,special sauce, secret goo
> To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
> Date: Friday, December 19, 2008, 1:00 PM
> Great post,Bill.  
> 
> I can't say for certain, but the tilting point for me
> choosing to use and play with less distortion, was after I
> got into more genres (jazz, country, bluegrass, worldbeat,
> etc) that used more clean tones, and it occurred to me that
> distortion or high gain can easily be used as a articulation
> crutch. It did not take me long to realize that, given any
> prior, rippin' solo I had done using high gain and
> distortion, during my fusion/hard rock/progressive rock
> days, if I had tried to articulate the same or similar solo
> using a clean tone, it sounded like crap, sloppy, etc. I
> realized how much I was relying gain to play fast and still
> sound good.  And I have tested this with
> guitarists...someone will play a really fast and impressive
> solo, and then I ask them to turn to the clean channel, and
> the result is, most of the time, not good.  With high gain,
> you have this amazing compression and sensitivity of the
> strings that allows you to play very fast and
> fluid...mistakes in articulation are sort of
> "smoothed" over so that they aren't apparent. 
> In fact, I recall not even having to use a pick. With that
> much gain, you can basically finger the runs, using hammer
> ons and pull offs, and it still doesn't sound have bad. 
> 
> 
> Now, I am only speaking for myself here and not saying that
> anyone who uses a lot of gain is using it as a crutch. That
> would be an unfair assumption.  I am not trying to start a
> flame war here to slam those guitarists who like to use a
> lot o again. But I am stating what I think is a fact about
> what high gain allows you to do on the guitar because of the
> compression, overtones, sensitivity, etc, vs. if you were
> playing clean. And for me, it started to feel like cheating
> and forced me to start practicing the guitar clean, to see
> what I was really capable of in terms of my articulation and
> control of the instrument. The guitarists that really gain
> (no pun intended) my respect are those who can go back and
> forth and still main their articulation - Nels, for
> instance, but also many others, like Metheny, Fripp,
> Mclaughlin, Beck, and many others.   That is why I promote
> students to start with the acoustic guitar and gain a level
> of mastery on it before moving to the electric and a lot of
> distortion.  In fact, my father never let me buy an electric
> guitar and amp, until I had taken a few years of classical
> guitar lessons and proved that I could play a handful of
> songs with just the acoustic guitar, with no aid of
> technology. I suspect that has molded my outlook on this a
> bit.  It was as if I heard to earn the right to play an
> electric guitar and take advantage of all that technology,
> effects, etc.  
> 
> Kris
> 
> 
>   ----- Original Message ----- 
> 
>   "The massive distortion gets on my nerves after a
> while"
> 
>   I agree Krispen, I find that the distortion tone is often
> times the make or break point  for me, of whether an artist
> really  speaks to me, or not. Using distortion for many
> guitarists represents their lead voice, and in a way
> it's analogues to what a sax player develops,  when
> choosing an instrument, thickness of reeds, and embouchure. 
> Nels Kline has a great sense of effects application, and at
> the same time his heavy distortion sounds  can get pretty
> abrasive to my ears. Which I'm sure is the point. As
> they say one man's pudding is another man's poison.
> Give me a Scott Henderson, David Gilmour, Carlos Santana or
> Jeff  Beck any day of the week as their tones are always
> stellar. I think the danger with heavy distortion is that it
> can obscure a players personality and rob them of  dynamic
> range, not to mention making for a muddy sometimes
> indistinct tone.  I also realize that when you are trying to
> create sonic mayhem, distortion and fuzz can be your best
> friends. 
> 
>   [snip]
> 
> 
> 
>   Bill
> 
>    
> 
> 
> 
>------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
>   From: Krispen Hartung [mailto:info@krispenhartung.com] 
>   Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2008 4:37 PM
>   To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
>   Subject: Re: One Guitarist, One Drummer was: Altered
> Tunings
> 
>    
> 
>   Heh heh...yes. Sorry. John Morris is someone I work with.
> That was a habit based typo. :)  I meant Joe.  Damn, good
> catch!  No one else got that?
> 
>    
> 
>   Kris