Legendary: Appetite for Destruction Les Paul and day 53

Legendary: Slash's '59 Derrig Les Paul, AKA The Appetite for Destruction Guitar

Few people brought Les Paul back in "style" more than Slash of Guns N Roses.  Arguably no one has needed to bring it back since, as it has stayed one of the top guitars since.  The Les Paul has gone in and out of style as time passed.  It has looked too old before, and then became something that only pretentious rock millionaires used.  The story of Slash's Les Paul begins during the era after the 70's, when punk music had branded the Les Paul as gaudy symbols of wealth, and the flashy hair metal bands saw it as too old fashioned and apparently devoid of spikes and neon.  This can be seen in the picture below.  If you wanted to look the part, the B. C. Rich guitars of the time were the ultimate in boutique style.  Today they are overseas made budget instruments, in the early 80's they were the height of showing off.  Slash had other ideas though.

Slash's B C Rich guitars he eventually gave up

One of the big "we made it" memories with Guns N Roses was the day Slash brought home a Les Paul for the first time.  It sounded amazing.  The band played more jam sessions just to hear how well the guitar sounded.  However, by the time Appetite for Destruction was to be recorded, he sold it to pay his drug habit.  Slash claims that most of Appetite was recorded on B. C. Rich guitars, but when it came time to lay down the lead parts, they sounded horrible.  Their manager went out and found a Les Paul of the late 50's style, and brought it to Slash.  It had an amazing sound to it.  It turns out that this guitar was made by Kris Derrig, it is not even an original Gibson.  Slash has used this guitar on every album he's ever done.  He will do rhythm parts and small parts with others, but the Derrig Les Paul is his main guitar used for recording.

It shocks a lot of people to find out that he is not playing a real Gibson.  The deal was that he could keep Gibson on the headstock, and Gibson wouldn't bitch, but he was always call it a Les Paul.  Later Gibson would make copies and issue special "Slash" Les Pauls, but the "original" as Slash calls it, is only a replica made in the 80's.

The journey of this guitar is Legendary, but it has mainly stayed in the hands of Slash for decades.  What of that first Les Paul Slash had?  Its called The Hunterburst, and while not as famous, it has a very complicated story.  A story for another post at another time(maybe tomorrow?).

Day 53

Doing a big Guitarcade day since i'm playing sorta late at night.

Earlier in the day I did play outside of Rocksmith.  I was watching these interviews with guitar players where the interviewer asked about their techniques and stuff.  I have to say that every time I see Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top in an interview, and he's playing guitar, I learn something I use.  Just like Angus Young, Billy has this reputation for doing the same kind of "easy" blues rock over and over.  Billy was one of Hendrix's favorite guitar players.  Jimmy once said that Billy would be the next amazing guitarist everyone talks about.  I don't think many people realize the techniques he sneaks and works in.  Billy does tapping, he did tapping before it became a "thing".  Lots of people will crap on tapping as a cheap trick to sound shreddy and fancy, but if Billy Gibbons says it belongs in rock and roll, then it belongs in rock and roll.  Makes me want to study Dusty Hill a bit more and see what I can learn about bass from him.  All in due time I guess.

I really really like Scale Racer at the moment.  I think I always wanted to beat Rad Racer, but only ever got to the later tracks a few times... I probably haven't touched the game in a serious way in 20 years now that I think about it.  I really wish I'd push myself in Castle Chordead a bit more.  I keep wanting to stop before I get "too far ahead" of myself and haven't committed the chords to memory.  Maybe tomorrow I'll just go as far as I can get.

Spotlight Guitarcade: Gone Wailin' and day 46

Gone Wailin'

The first and most simple game in the Guitarcade is Gone Wailin'.  The game's premise is simple: the background is going to scroll, a wail is going to shoot you into the air as you make noise on the guitar.  Use this to collect bananas, avoid birds and islands.  The level is randomized and gets faster as you go.

Let it be known that I tried for all of 5 minutes(almost no time when it comes to me) to find what this game is based on.  I figured it was based on an old game like all the other games, but now I am convinced that this is just a take on the tablet/phone game Jetpack Joyride.  In Jetpack Joyride you touch the screen to fly up, and let go of it to fly down(the satanic Flappy Bird was not in existence when this game was made).



When I first played Gone Wailin' I thought it was fun but I also thought that there was no way this game would help me.  I thought to myself "I know how to make noise on my damn guitar".  I was stubborn in the early days and determined to take everything serious about Rocksmith 2014, and I am glad I did.  Eventually I realized that I had stopped banging on the strings trying to make as much noise as I could in a punk style, and ralized that its much easier to slowly strum and just maximize the amount of string vibrations.  That helped me when it came to chord work.  For beginners, this game is essential and I would not advise them to stop using it even past the 60 days.  Why?  Its a muscle builder.  My hands do not fatigue easily because of my prior bass playing experiences, but I remember when they did.  This game will help build stamina.

Also it really is fun.

Day 46

I've got a huge, nerdy post about bass amps coming up, but I feel like I've had too much bass coverage recently, and seeing as this blog is based on me learning guitar it feels a little out of place.  Bass has been a big part of my life, so its only natural some of that bleeds in.

Sore throat still going on.

I am now officially recognizing that I am getting better at guitar.  It is 46 days in, and I know I am much much better than I was when I first began.  Rocksmith has definitely helped me, not only with learning the basics, but also with keeping my interest in playing every day.  Too many times I used to think "well I have a lot to do, I can put that off till tomorrow" and just like the Credence Clearwater song says, someday never comes.  The chords I know are making their way into practice.  My power chords are sounding much less punk and much more 70's rock these days.  My busy blues style is learning to fill space with more than just notes.  I am not a guitarist yet, and I would not say I'm good at guitar, but I have improved from Day 1, you would not even recognize what I was doing on Day 1 as anything but "screwing around with a guitar".

I need to update my technique book.  I'm not doing a lot of song learning, just as I planned, so I only have one notebook to update.  I still have not committed as scholarly as I should, but I know myself and I know I can not resist making an "essay" out of learning guitar lol.  One of the first things I am going to do after Day 60 is get a "song writing" book.  Some of you may laugh at learning song structure and maybe even think "isn't that something you should just... you know... do?" and to that I laugh.  If you spit in the face of people that learned song structure through reading, then you should probably never listen to Led Zeppelin again.  I do not have a support network of musicians to just "tell" me how to do all things.  What's with this attitude of glorifying ignorance and putting down learning these days?

Tools and Day 09

I know that there are a lot of Mom and Pop stores out there that are struggling to make a profit, especially if there is a music mega-store around the corner.  Many guitarists make their money off giving lessons.  Face it, the only way 99% of guitarists can make any sort of income from their playing is by teaching others.  So I understand when something new comes in and threatens that source of income.  I remember when DVD instructional videos started to actually use the DVD format to make something useful(I own a few DVD's that are just run throughs as if they are just VHS's).  There is this knee jerk reaction where I see a lot of backlash against new teaching tools, and I find it ridiculous.

I've seen forums with lots of guitarists(and bassists) of all types, and whenever anyone asks a question on how to learn this or that, there is a lot of "find yourself a teacher or you'll do it wrong".  That's the #1 go to answer.  I can tell you that nothing is more useless to someone at home seeking advice than to be told to get professional advice.  Then, mysteriously when I go to these advice giver's profiles that they are advertising all over their pages that they are available for hiring.

Just saying, there is a lot of self interest out there.

You go to Youtube and watch the "60 Day Success Stories" for Rocksmith, and in the comments you see these people, "this game is shit, look at the shitty technique this person is playing"  or "if you got a real teacher you'd learn this in 30 days", "so he learned a song in 60 days, I bet he couldn't make his own song that didn't sound like shit".  The usual youtube vitriol.

Then I found this guy on youtube(unfortunately I'm having a hell of a time re-finding him even in my History) where he talks about how he offers a "Rocksmith Course" to his students.  They buy the game, and he uses it in their lesson plans, and I"m thinking "This guy is genius, this is the kind of teacher I'd look for".  One of the things missing from Rocksmith is a live tech you could contact and ask questions to.  It would also give someone better direction on what they're supposed to be doing.  He did not look at Rocksmith as a competitor, he looked at it for what it is, yet another tool to help students learn.  You knowwho IS NOT offering a Rocksmith assisted guitar learning course?  Your competitors.

BTW, I am not payed to do this blog, I don't have advertisements enabled, and I know no one that works for Ubisoft.  I just get angry at the rejection of technology, and when it comes to guitar, there's a lot of that.  Bassists seem to be much more accepting(neo speakers, solid state, class D switching power amps etc etc) of tech and maybe that's why I identify myself as a bassist first, and guitarist 2nd.




Day 09

Had some unique fun today.

I did my new warm up routine(look at day 08), and then I let my girlfriend try out the Guitarcade games.  She is a cellist and a kick ass Guitar Hero player.  I figured that the first couple of games would be fun for her.  Gone Wailin' was her favorite one, she probably could have played that one all night long.  Its day 09 and I still have lots of fun with Gone Wailin.  I mainly chase the "achievements" as you can get super far and not get a lot of points, or you can play for a long time and not really get satisfaction.  It has helped me too.  You get the most reaction by going through the strings, and its fine to do it with a lighter touch.  It has made my strumming much lighter and tighter.  When I first started, I was trying to punk rock it, and then have to retune my guitar after the game ha.

She also played String Skip Saloon, and also complained about the strings being "mirrored" and not like written music.  So I don't feel like a complete idiot. Oh and I did reverse it and try to do a lesson... I didn't like it.  So I'm stuck doing it the default way.  I really can't decide what I would recommend with a new player... it IS easier when doing lessons, but it is opposite how new players will be exposed to non-game written music.

Played some session play for a while.  I really need to learn to do the "funk" strumming.

I am having the hardest time getting a fuzz tone that I like.  I have known for a while I would have difficulty with that because every company makes like 20 fuzz pedals(except for Boss).  Hell, Devi Ever practically made a company out of making fuzz variations.  Currently I am using(and not 100% liking) a Buzz fuzz 2, hi-lo filter to make it decay, and a bass boost 5 EQ pedal in the loop to put some heft back into the signal.  You'll be hearing a lot about my look for my fuzz tone.

Best Surprise and Day 06

While it was the Guitarcade that finally got me to get Rocksmith, the best surprise has been the Session mode.  The session mode is this hugely versatile area in the game where you choose instruments that will accompany you while you play.  There are several types of players that change according to the genre you choose.  You could have a chord playing, rhythm guitarist or choose to have that guitar in high gain distortion while it chugs metal power chords.  If rock is not your thing(really?) there are some electronic accompaniment, including this really cool 8-bit nintendo style blip and bleep machine.

There is an intensity bar across the top, and the more intense you play the more intense the band will start playing with you.  At the start you choose a key to play in, say E, and the fret board will highlight the notes that will work in that key.  Your band will keep to the key, and as long as you play the highlighted notes, you will sound "correct" with the band.  You can change tempo and set the drummer up as well.  If you play the notes to the tempo in the right key, you will find that you will suddenly be jamming with a decent rendition of a band, and that is REALLY cool  The Session mode has helped me more than any other part of this game, by far.

It is like a drum machine on steroids.  If they could somehow package this into something the size of the typical amp modeling super pedal(like a P.O.D.), they will make a mint.  It is NOT just a backing track or a drum machine.  With those, YOU adjust to THEM.  With Session mode, the band adjusts to you.

Day 06

I was going to further get my fuzz sound down to the sound in my head(look up Gearmandude Soda Mesier on Youtube), but I ended up finding what I think is a Fulltone OCD Overdrive replica.  I love this pedal.  I know technically I could just pick a plexi style Marshall amp and have it, but something about this pedal through the Fender amps in game makes a wonderful tone.  I messed around with a "riff" that reminds me of a very silly 80's hair metal song, but holy crap does it sound good to my ears.  Every day I seem to come up with some little riff I have to play over and over for 30 minutes.

I focused on doing all the Guitarcade games I had played so far.  I spent a full on hour playing Gone Wailin, String Skip Saloon, Ducks Redux, Ninja Slide N, and Scale Warriors.  I spent a lot of time in String Skip Saloon so I could get used to the string layout.  I got new high scores in everything I played and really had fun with all of them, except Scale Warriors still.  I found out I could reverse my string order, so that the highest string(thinest) is on top.  This is how things show up in tabs and I think that's why I"m having such a hard time with the games done this way.  So yes, I could change and reverse order the strings, but I'm worried this will screw up my non-game, learning portions.  I'll have to explore it tomorrow.

TIP OF THE DAY
If you're used to reading tabs, you can reverse your string order.  I suggest doing this from the start if it bothers you, as the earlier the change, the less habit forms with the rest of the game.

Anti-boredom and Day 02

Anti-boredom

The jury is out on if this game IS genius, but it does have a few brilliant ideas.  I'm not a complete beginner, so there's a few things in the lessons and videos that I already know.  The genius thing that Rocksmith 2014 does is they never turn off your guitar.  While your points are being totaled up, while you are watching videos, while you're waiting for something else to begin, you can be playing.  I don't feel bored at all, because I can always be noodling around while things are happening inside the game.  Not that the wait times are long for loading screens, they are very tolerable.  While I was watching how to work a strap... I was practicing my E minor scale.  While I was waiting for my score to total in a mini-game, I was practicing Brain Stew(song not included in game).

There is hardly a time where I'm not making noise.  I really think I'd be appreciating the game less if this was not a feature.

Day 02 No songs... ok, songs too.

I started out the day deciding not to try and play a song.  I am a long way from songs being very fun right now.  I started out going to the lessons section.  I watched a few without skipping, and as I mentioned above, thank goodness they let you play around while the lessons are going on.  I worked on getting the lesson's practice track down to memory, and then I moved on.

Looking at the menu, I decided to finish out a mission about setting up a jam band.  Apparently I did it wrongly yesterday for completing the mission.  Paying more attention to it, I loaded a pre-set band like they tell me.  The pre-sets have a lot of variety, and you don't have to dink around with little sliders if you don't want to.  I really appreciate how this game has obviously powerful control over things, but has perfectly usable pre-sets.

After a few jam missions completed, I decided I wanted to try the Guitarcade.  Yesterday I payed a visit to the Guitarcade as part of a suggestion that the game gave me(not a mission, songs will suggest things to help you play the song better).  I obviously was not ready for it,  I sucked at the game and so stayed away from that.  Today I loaded up the first game, Gone Wailin'.  All these games have a retro 8-bit look to them, and I really like it.  Gone Wailin' is a guy that rides on top of a whale.  You make more noise, the whale spouts water, elevating you.  There are bananas to grab as the characters move along the scrolling background.  It is pretty fun actually.  What does it teach?  Well, you have to mute a lot, which is something good for beginners to practice, also it will build up hand endurance.  While neither were something I really needed to practice, I am new to using a pick.  I have this bad habit of my index fingernail raking the strings, leaving me with a sore finger nail later in the day.  I'm using this to help me keep in the habit of holding my fingers more correctly.

At the end of my session, I decided to go ahead and look at playing a new song.  The Arctic Monkey song is pretty good even though I"m not a huge fan of theirs.  I also played some more of "You Really Got Me" by the Kinks.  Still not fun to learn songs yet.