A Cry Baby and other goodies and conclusions are on deck this week.
I’ll start with the Cry Baby. Kevin suggested I learn the song ‘Voodoo Woman’. Ok. I found Koko Taylor’s version, which, might be the original, I’m not for sure. It’s great. Except. It sounds like the horns are carrying the rhythm. I mentioned this to Kevin and he said to try the Susan Tedeschi version and that it has this wacka-wacka guitar sound on it. Turns out, I have a CD with the very version on it. Sure enough there is the distinct sound of a wah pedal on that song. Cool. That sounds like fun to play with.
As it turns out, my guitar playing, work colleague has a wah pedal. Actually it’s a Dunlop Cry Baby. And he very graciously lent it to me to play with, oh sorry, try out and experiment with. Oh holy cow! That’s so much fun! After figuring out how to get it
engaged and at which points you get that wah effect, it turned out to be a really cool tool. All, excited kid in a candy store stuff aside. I can see where with some patience and practice that it could really be mastered to do some outstanding stuff and create amazing effects. Though, it is the kid in the candy store that now wants one.
Effects pedals are dangerous things. Not because you can trip over them. They are dangerous because there are so many cool effects out there that you can get lost in them and what they can do and how they can enhance your sound without really thinking about how to get a good sound to begin with and then build on it. Yes. I want a Cry Baby or similar Wah pedal. Once I tried it, I could immediately hear possibilities of what I could do with it. I had the same response to the demo video for the Ocean’s 11 reverb pedal from Electro-Harmonix. I want one of those as well. And while at one point I would have just expected them to ‘make me sound better’. 
Today I look at them and think of what cool stuff could be done after I spent a lot of time really learning what they can do and how I want to use them. And what effects, though really cool sounding, should only be used sparingly.
You might remember I did some experimenting with strings this summer. It started with the suggestion to try some really light gauge strings. And sort of snowballed from there. I think my Les Paul has had six sets of strings, or more, on it this year. What I found was really interesting. I found that strings can effect the character of the guitar and significantly change the way it sounds and plays. I also found that some strings really bring out the character of a guitar. I also finally understood the complaint so many around me had about the really light strings. Yes they are easier to finger. They are also slippery and they bend really easily. If that’s your need then they are perfect. But, even though they made fingering bar chords easier, my fingers also slid around a lot and I didn’t always get a clean sound.
I also discovered something else about string gauges that I did not think about. I was researching what came on my new Telecaster as far as strings from the factory and found that they came with 10’s. And then I found an article on the Fender site about strings and the different types and gauges. Which is how I found that the gauge can make a difference in how loud the guitar is. It has to do with the metal being picked up by the magnets in the pickups. Hello, Gretsch problem. I’ve had trouble getting my Gretsch loud enough for it to be heard. About the time I started having this trouble I had changed the strings on it to a lighter gauge. Since I had tried adjusting the height of the pickups and
found I didn’t like the overall tonal change that that gave me I figured I should just go back to the 10’s like it originally had. I changed the strings and lowered the pickups and sure enough, I got some of the volume back. It’s still not as loud as the Les Paul but as I understand it Les Paul pickups are notoriously hot.
Since getting the new Telecaster and the Stratocaster I’ve started to understand a lot more about the differences between humbucker pickups and single coil. This wasn’t anything I’d paid attention to before. It turns out, with one exception, most the guitars I have had have all had humbucker pickups. When I purchased the Stratocaster I made a point to make sure I was getting what is considered the standard. The three single coils with the five way switch. If I was going to get a Strat I wanted that full Strat sound and experience. I have not been disappointed. I had never really paid attention to the fact that the Telecaster I had was single coil pickups until I was looking for my new one and they tried to show me one with humbuckers. At that point I started to really grasp the difference in what the single coil offers for sound and what the humbucker offers for sound. They are very different. And I’m pretty sure surf guitar is only meant for single coil pickups. It sure sounds cooler to play now.
I’m still working on a new song or two. I have a couple I think I want to try to figure out and I’ve still got that homework. There’s quite a bit to be learned from Albert Collins’ playing style as well as Jimmy Vaughn’s. All good stuff, just new territory for me.