A double neck guitar looks like a set of Siamese twins. With two separate and distinct necks and a single, wider-than-average body, the instrument really does appear to be two independent entities joined by a common body. This description is, in fact, not too far from the truth. The benefit of the double neck guitar is that it essentially allows the musician access to more than one instrument at a time. To take the most common example, consider the typical double neck guitar. This instrument has one neck with twelve strings and one with six. The musician can, at any point during his or her performance, choose to switch between the two necks. This freedom of choice allows him or her to double the kind of music he or she can produce. Hence, to play the double neck guitar is to essentially play two instruments not simultaneously, but at least back-to-back.

The concept of the double neck guitar is not a new one. Instruments similar to this have been around for at least a few hundred years. A double neck version of the Russian guitar, for example, was popular in the beginning of the 19th century. Today, however, double neck guitars are generally Western-style electric instruments. As mentioned, the most common models have twelve strings on the top neck and six strings on the bottom. However, some versions have six strings on one neck and only four on the other. Fretted instruments are most common, but sometimes only one neck will be fretted and the other fretless. In fact, almost any combination of guitar characteristics is possible with these instruments. Some models eve have three, four or five necks. Such guitars only increase the variety of music that can be played on a “single” instrument.

Although double neck guitars have traditionally been simply standard electric guitars, bass instruments have gained popularity in recent years. Double neck bass guitars are often tuned differently, an approach that significantly widens the player’s range. Other models vary the use of frets or the number of strings. A more unusual approach is to have a double neck instrument with one neck set up as a standard electric guitar and the other set up as a bass guitar.

The double neck guitar is, needless to say, rather startling in appearance. This no doubt contributes to its popularity with a number of musicians in famous bands. After all, not only does the double neck guitar allow the artist to increase his musical variety, it also ensures that a great number of people will be staring at his instrument. These musicians are usually bassists, and they include Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Slash of Guns N’ Roses, Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi and Eddie Van Halen of Van Halen.

It should be mentioned that while the harp guitar is a relative of the double neck guitar, the two instruments are not the same. The harp guitar features unstopped strings that are designed to be plucked like those of a harp. The double neck guitar’s strings, on the other hand, are invariably meant to be played like those of a guitar.

My Links : Cheap Bass Guitars

G.E. Smith – Moonalice.jpg, originally uploaded by Thechadweb.

HK posted the following questions in the comments:

is that your guitar at the top of this page? what is it?

Yes, that is my guitar. It’s a Fender Starcaster.

Now, HK didn’t ask, but for the record, here’s a bit of backstory on my Starcaster. In 1997, I had some cash to burn and a jones for an electric guitar. One day, I was over at DeLaRuss’s apartment and got a chance to play his recently acquired Starcaster. I picked up the thing and was smitten.

Not long thereafter, I wandered in to Chelsea Guitars on 23rd Street in NYC. I asked them if they had a Starcaster in stock, and they did, although it wasn’t on display. As the guy went to the back of the shop to fetch the guitar, I heard someone say, “A Starcaster, huh? Do you play the blues?” I looked over – it was G.E. Smith (pictured above). That kind of sealed it for me.

Also for the record, I later learned that I paid way more than DelaRuss did for his Starcaster. Oh well. I stayed within my budget, even if I overpaid. A fair price is what a willing buyer pays a willing seller.

This telecaster style guitar was built my son and I.  It is really what some people call a partscaster project because I bought most of the parts and assembled them rather than carving the guitar out of a piece of 200 year old gnarled driftwood and having it finished by a Zen priest Japanese sword polisher.  It is actually the third guitar we have built. 

The body is Ash, in three parts. We stained it with a Dark Oak stain, then spent ages finishing it off with Danish Oil.  When finished it did look rather like a piece of Tudor furniture that had once lived on a Pirate ship, so we decided to continue the piratical theme which is why we called  it “The Black Pearl” after Jack Sparrow’s ship in the Disney film “Pirates of the Caribbean”.  The neck is a second hand Allparts neck I got for just over 50 quid on eBay, and I finished it with an extra very thin layer of lacquer.

It has Wilkinson gold machine heads, a Bigsby style tailpiece tremolo arm,  a Wilkinson bridge with roller saddles and ebay scratchplate and control panel.  I got most of the electrical parts from Axesrus with the exception of the pickups.  They are Seymour Duncan pickups which came from Crazy Train Music, and they are a bit different from the usual Telecaster pickups.  These look exactly like the traditional Tele set, but are in fact humbuckers with the coils stacked vertically instead of side by side.  The coils have a tap between them, and the guitar is wired so that either pickup or both can be switched from single coil to double coil by pulling and pushing one of the control knobs. You can  just about see in one of the pictures below that one knob is pushed in and the other pulled out. There is no tone control in the circuit, just two volume knobs.

The tremolo arm is exactly like a Bigsby, and works the same.  It’s a far east knock off, and is perhaps one of the ‘licensed by Bigsby’ items, just without the stamp on it to say so.  I have a genuine Bigsby on my Gretsch, and the only difference I can see is that the Gretsch Bigsby is made of a duller metal, more like gunmetal.  The quality is about the same.  The Far Eastsby cost a lot less, though, at about a third of the price of a genuine item.  

There is a slightly cheesy decoration on the shoulder of the guitar, where we nailed a piece of a horse brass that has a skull and crossbones motif in the middle.  We also hunted around until we found the right ‘aged brass’ finish knobs and strap pins.  The control panel is finished in shiny gold, though you can’t tell from the picture.

This is one of my absolute favourite guitars.  The neck had to be shimmed with small pieces of brass to get the angle right for the higher than normal bridge, necessitated by the tremolo mechanism.  I spent ages setting it up, tweaking the truss rod and getting the shims just right.  The action and intonation are now spot on, and the sound  is fantastic.  It even stays in tune after you use the tremolo!The switchable pickups give everything from clear twangs to heavy growls.  In fact, I strongly recommend these Seymour Duncan pickups – STK T1 and STK T3 Vintage Stacks. They are a bit pricey (something over a hundred quid for the pair), but they really made the sound on this guitar. 

Until two weeks ago, I had never heard of Biffy Clyro.  Then I noticed a big poster for their new album as I was driving home from work.  A week later, I was in my local music shop looking for a red Stratocaster, and I tried a Fender Mexican build Standard.  It was OK, but in a mediocre sort of way.  I then tried another of the same (but this time a white one) just to see if the red one was a rotten apple.  No it wasn’t.  I found the Mexican build Standard Strats to be universally disappointing.  The necks felt dry and although smooth, as if they had been rubbed down ready for another coat of lacquer that never happened.  Although there is little you could point at specifically as being bad, they just felt…mediocre.  I have a 1975 Japanese built Strat that is much much better.

The reason I wanted a red Stratocaster is quite simple really – Pete Townshend plays one.  His has a Fishman Bridge with a built in piezo transducer and pre-amp.  The jack output is stereo with the Piezo on one channel and the normal pickups on the other.  There is a stereo guitar cable which goes to a splitter box and from there you can route the two signals any way you like, mixing or processing as you want (or as Pete wants).  As a long time Pete Townshend fan, I wanted to try the same setup just because I like his guitar sound.  Obviously the colour of the guitar is not important, but I liked the look of the red strat. 

Squier Simon Neil Stratocaster by Fender

Back in the shop, after being disappointed by the Mex Strats, I noticed another red strat high on the wall of guitars, but this time a Squier by Fender model with a funny squiggle on the headstock.  That’s when Biffy Clyro was brought to my attention again – apparently the squiggle is a Biffy Clyro logo and Simon Neil is the guitarist. There is another squiggle on the back of the headstock which is Simon Neil’s signature. I still have no idea what Biffy Clyro sound like (I must find out), but their taste in guitars is great!  This is a Made In China (MIC) Stratocaster, and it is beautifully made.   The neck is lovely, with a very fast, slick feel to it, and no rough corners. The body is nicely finished, and the attention to period detail is brought out in the faint mint greeniness of the scratch plate and the cream coloured knobs.  The guitar is based on the Squier Classic Vibe series, so I guess the other classic vibe guitars might well be worth a look.

The hardware is surprisingly good.  The bridge is OK without being outstanding, and I might need to add a spring or two in the back. The machine heads are excellent – much better than I had been led to expect from a Squier.  I think there is a wide range of quality in the Squier catalogue, from very cheap and cheerful with rubbish fittings to very good at the more expensive end.  It sounds great through a small Vox AC4TV combo – I was really pleased when I plugged it in and hit the first chord.  Lovely vibrant jangly tone with a bit of grunt from the amplifier and good definition.  Through an overdrive pedal fronting a Fender Deville it is an absolute joy to play, with excellent sustain and a wide variety of tone to work with. 

The only modification I have made to the guitar is to put Marvel straplocks on it.

I think Fender/Squier has really done well to make this guitar.  It certainly rivals some much more expensive guitars and for me provides one of those rare occasions when you get excellent value for money.  The Mexican Stratocaster Standards are 100-150 pounds more, and the USA Strats from Fender start at about three times what I paid for this.  I shall now find a couple of Biffy Clyro tracks to listen to so I can hear if they live up to the guitar or not.

Still ill, I’ll be fully recovered for Motorhead tomorrow night though

I’m having a lazy day playing Call of Duty 4 online, eating food, blogging and editing. I made a new Playstation Account, new online username is Timn96-  (Yes, with the hyphen at the end). I got fed up with my old one “breaddah” I suck at gaming, but it’s fun.

The weather is extremely bland today. This is the type of weather I hate. Completely solid grey sky. I’d prefer it if it was a huge thunderstorm. I don’t mind cold weather, it’s nice sometimes if it’s really cold but really sunny. I don’t really have anything against winter.

Motorhead tomorrow (25th Nov 09), I can’t wait. I won’t be ill tomorrow, trust me. I’m in school tomorrow, leave the house at 7:45am, won’t get back until 1am. Then I have two random days off on Thursday and Friday for some unknown reason (thanks school!) So I’ll have Thursday to be lazy and recover, then I’m supposed to be going and seeing the film 2012 with my friends on Friday o_o

Anyway, talk to you soon, Tim.

if you don’t do the things you love, i’m convinced happiness will start leaking out your ears, escaping.

yesterday, mel, my dearest friend from surrey, sky trained it in and we walked in the bone-jarring cold over to arbutus coffee.
this coffee place has become a sort of second home, being that emily works there and all. they’ve just put up their christmas decorations and it feels like a living room. this i love.

these guys from australia, chris and tom, were playing some instruments at 3. so with our tea pots in hand, we listened to the strumming and singing and discussed life and our recent histories. we felt the warmth of a good sunday afternoon.

these things i need. i feel so productivity-orientated so much of the time that if i don’t just sit down and listen to dudes on guitars often, i might just lose the plot. 
not even kidding.

tonight, poetry slam and a beer on the drive.

Not long ago I was guided to a particular website that essentially was a Chinese form of eBay.  I looked around, but it quickly became shockingly obvious that something was amiss on this site.

For example, $80 iPod Phones.  $200 “American Made” Custom Stratocaster guitars.  Ah yes, counterfeit merchandise…all at the touch of your sinful little fingertips!

I even had a chance to see one of the gadgets up close from a co-worker who was quite proud of his “iPhone” aquisition.  On the surface, it was a total copy right down to the Apple logo.  The interface however, was complete crap. The icons were way off, the touchscreen unresponsive unless you applied Hurculean pressure, and the ability to sync with iTunes non-existent.  Just forget about the App Store.  That didn’t seem to bother the purchaser though because it was a “deal”.  In a way I feel bad for him because he never saw a real iPod touch.  If he had he’d probably throw his fake through a window.

And yet another person is buying a guitar.  Being exceedingly talented at making barely tolerable music on guitar myself, I was intrigued.  After all, why wouldn’t I want a EVH MusicMan or Custom Fender Strat for a fraction of retail?  Can’t be THAT bad right?

Then I woke up out of my fantasy.  It certainly can be.

It’s bad enough that our jobs are leaving the country, but I find it unfortunate that we’re selling out our local businesses to instead buy a knockoff of shockingly inferior quality.  That counterfeit iPhone is not from Apple. Those cheap glasses frames do NOT look like the real ones.  And the closest that Fender guitar is to a real one stops at the fake logo.  The vertically mounted pickups in the picture may also be a slight giveaway!

And oh yeah…don’t forget the warranty.  As in you’ll get none.

People who argue the dark side argue for cost.  I counter with 2 points: quality and loyalty.  Quality in the product and loyalty to ones economy.  It doesn’t cost much more to get the real deal when you think of what you’re actually getting.

I’m still saving up for my Made in America Stratocaster, and someday when my playing reaches a point where people no longer cover their ears in horror, I shall reward myself accordingly!  It will cost a bit more, but it will be the real deal.  And above all it will be made by an employee in my economy.

Where possible, save a job next door.

In light of the riecent events in the guitar industry – Gibson being investigated for using banned lumber purchased thru a vendor – has brought a point up that we at Zero Impact Guitars, have built our business around. Using only reclaimed smartwood or FSC Certified lumber because of the scarcity of the exotic tonewoods and the lack of ability to accuire the material.

In the not so distant future, there will be a shortage of new tonewood due to the major guitar companies gobbling up all that is available to insure their existence.

This news of Gibson being investigated is not new. There have been plenty of companies that have done the exact same thing. After all, the big guitar companies are just out to get their product into every “Chain Music Store” out there. They have to, their board requires X$ of sales. They just pump out as many guitars as they can in a day. No personality, no difference, just cookie cutter guitars. That was the reason I decided to build guitars back in the 80’s. Nothing out there was up to my standard as far as playability or uniqueness. Not to mention the poor quality hardware and hole plugger pickups that were standard on every guitar being built in the 80’s.

Don’t listen to me though. Go to your local chain music store and look at a few guitars. Hell, look at all of them. Find one that was built in the US by Hand…………… Not too many out there huh. They are out there, you just have to go to the right stores.

I know that there are alot of people out there that feel the same way. I have 3 months of backorders to prove that, but that isn’t my point. My point is that many of the larger guitar manufactures don’t give a flip about anything but their bottom line or their profits. No matter what the consequences.

The FSC (Forestry Stewardship Councl) has setup guidelines for the growers to follow that will help insure that there is a responcible harvesting of the matured trees and that replacements have been planted for the future. This most often drives up the cost of the lumber, but we have the peace of mind knowing that the same type of material might be available for future generations to enjoy.

We know that we alone can not save all the trees. But we can do our part as a responsible user of our planets natural resources, to help in the preservation of the much sought after tone wood that luthiers have used for centuries.

I was feeling a bit Zep yesterday, so I did this. I think maybe the guitars a bit too loud.

It has been a while since I’ve watched a band at a small venue and have been really blown away by the dramatics of the performance. Smoke machine and strobe light aside, Io, singer/writer for Io Echo, had me instantly crushing on her dark moody lyrics and incredible voice, not to mention her theatrical moves and blinding bangs. Accompanied by thrashing guitarist/producer, Leopold Ross, and an equally talented back up band band, this relatively new act is definitely one that needs to be seen live.

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]]> http://froghopper.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/orquesta-de-guitarras-de-barcelona/ Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:32:05 +0000 tmso http://froghopper.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/orquesta-de-guitarras-de-barcelona/

Orquesta de Guitarras de Barcelona

This past Friday, my husband and I went to see the Orquesta de Guitarras de Barcelona (Guitar Orchestra of Barcelona) play at the Marin Center in San Rafael, California.  We paid premium for our seats and they were worth every dollar.  These guys are awesome.  The arrangements by Sergi Vicente were superb, the players pure delight, and the dancers talented and enchanting (they even made me feel sexy).

We decided to go see them because the novel I am working on is set in Spain.  I thought – research!  So off we went.  Sergi Vicente chose both classical and modern pieces to play for us from a variety of Spanish composers, notably G. Gimenez (1854 – 1923) and Manuel de Falla (1876 – 1946).

I do not know much about classical music, let alone Spanish classical music, but I sure did like the guitar arrangements that Sergi Vicente came up with.  It was a true orchestrated experience that was fun and enlightening.

However, we did not get the full orchestra experience.  Only 16 of the up to 70 members of the orchestra made it to the United States for their first U.S. tour.  San Rafael was their first concert here and the audience welcomed the orchestra with two standing ovations.  I hope our warm welcome will entice them to come and play in Northern California more often.

You can check them out here on YouTube.

Enjoy

tmso

Apparently, they were making guitars with smuggled Madagascan Rosewood.

heh heh, wood.

Guardian

via

NME

The other day I took time out in a guitar shop… Nothing weird there you might think – but actually, there was…
I love my old guitar (can’t play it like) and while it’s travelled the globe with me, it has bad pickups and the neck/frets are wearing out. My guitar is a beastie I’ve often been told does not exist as Epiphone apparently never made a ‘Strat-copy’! Well, they did and it’s called the Epiphone S310, they also made a T310, and I’ll leave you to work out what that baby was. I have a particular problem and that is with picking out or playing a lower string without the noise of the chord just played drowning it.
Everyone I know has directed me toward the Gibson Les Paul and for those of your who know – they’re not cheap! They can be anywhere from £1200 to prices in excess of £3000!!
Oddly. There is little difference between the models, so the prices are crazy.
Now, Gibson also make/own Epiphone. Epiphone are apparently made in Qingdao, China and from left over timber stock from Gibson’s Nashville factory. But they’re also made to the same exacting standards.
Any way, I’m in this guitar shop and there is a Gibson Les Paul and the exact same version of guitar with the Epiphone name on it. With identical amplifier settings I tried out both guitars extensively.
And you know what I’m gonna say don’t you – there was ZERO noticeable difference in the playability, quality and more importantly the tone!!! I even think the Epiphone was slightly better quality overall than the Gibson!
So, as with all things in life, it all comes down to the prices. £257 vs £2300… After all, I can have 4 guitars for the price of one and there just has to be a good one in there somewhere! lol

I think there maybe a new guitar around here soon!

My big activity this Saturday night: putting some new strings on the Yamaha.

An affordable alternative to the Jackson Pro Series Mark Morton, the Signature D2 Dominion from Jackson Guitars comes in a sleek looking trans black finish over a quilted maple veneer top or in a standard black finish. Featuring a bold-on neck and a solid body, the Signature D2 Dominion is equipped with Deisn HB-101 pickups. Described as a well-made guitar with a fast-playing neck, the D2 has polished frets and low-action setup. The axe plays without any excess string buzz and the intonation is musically solid. Thanks to having dual sets of Volume and Tone controls, the D2 delivers a wide range of sounds with lots of pickup blending possibilities. MSRP $500.

New York Times reporter Dave Itzkoff in he article “Gibson Guitars plant is raided” notes there was a federal raid on the company’s factory in Nashville, Tennessee.

Gibson Guitar CEO leaves rainforest group after Nashville raid – The Tennessean

Gibson introduces the Les Paul tribute 1952 guitar.

i met a couple berklee students at the Charles today. they asked me what i was taking photos for, and i asked them what they were playing for.

same answer. perfect day for it. pure enjoyment.

My Dyslexic Blog Post #9

I Found My Soul~Mate!

So, I’ve been gigging around since I was just a kid and never have come across something as useful as The Soul Mate™! If your instrument is not hooked directly, it can be very difficult on stage or in a loud area to get a solid connection with freehand tuners. The Soul Mate™ has built-in vibration sensors for extremley accurate tuning. I stand behind this product 100% and don’t leave home without it. If you’re a musician or know one, please take the time to check out The Soul Mate™.

The Soul Mate™

Product Description:

The Soul Mate™ is a clip-on automatic chromatic tuner with backlight LCD screen that tunes by picking up vibrations directly from your instrument. This remarkable tuner can also easily transpose instruments into any key with extreme accuracy. Unaffected by outside ambient noise, it has 12-note full range capacity and can easily transpose into all keys with an easy-to-read, illuminated, wide LCD screen that acts like a tuning meter.

Features and Benefits:

• Automatic chromatic tuner
• Built-in vibration sensor for extremely accurate tuning
• Tuning is not effected by ambient noise
• Easy to read LCD acts like a tuning meter
• Backlight illuminates LCD panel
• Tuning range: 12-note full range chromatic, A2-B7
• “A” Calibration: 430-449Hz in 1Hz steps
• “Quadra flat tuning”-no need to remove capo
• Transpose: C#~B- 11 steps
• Wide screen LCD simulates a tuning meter
• Tolerance: +/- 0.5 cents, uses quartz crystal
• Clearly shows how sharp and flat you are in cents
• Auto power off- after 3 minutes with no signal

Quality Materials & Components:

Dimensions: 1.8″x1.8″x2.2″

Weight: 1.02oz with battery

Tuning Range: 12-Note Full Range Chromatic, A2~B7

Accuracy: +/- 0.5 Cent

Standard Pitch: 430~449 Hz (1 Hz step)

Memory: Non-volatile memory keeps all settings

Battery: 1 x CR2032 Coin battery

Click here to seacrh for Barcus Berry Dealers near you.

Website: www.barcusberry.com
Email: info@barcusberry.com
Phone: 1-800-641-6931