You know, that time in between projects. Or in this case, in between jams. It’s that time you use to repair, recuperate, and get back out to the shed and get to practicing and learning new stuff.
That’s me right now. Practicing and learning new stuff. I’m not just trying to learn a new song. I’m also trying to learn my way around the two new guitars. I know, it’s a guitar. What’s to learn my way around about. Trust me. There’s lots of learning my way around.
The Telecaster, you would think that since I have one, I wouldn’t need to learn much about it. Not so. There are some differences. The brass barrel bridge, for one. You get just a bit of a different sound and it takes a little experimenting to figure out how to get that just like you want. The other thing is that it’s got the ashtray bridge with the cover. Yeah. Cool. I learned something really interesting. Bryan joked with me about me being the only person he knows that plays with that cover on. So I wondered if there was a difference. It turns out it does make a difference. That cover seems to dampen the pickup a little. I took it off.
The Stratocaster is a whole new ball game for me. With three pickups and a five way switch I’ve got more knobs and switches than I know what to do with. Ok. Maybe not. My Gretsch has a switch and five knobs but the switch is just a three way. All that is beside the point. Which is, the three single coil pickups and the way the switch works means I’ve got lots of sound options. Learning where I want that switch to be to get close to the feel I want is taking some time.
I told you that Kevin gave me home work. He recommended some videos of Albert Collins and of The Fabulous Thunderbirds with Jimmy Vaughn. This has been some good stuff. I’m working on grasping some of what they do and how they approach their leads. And in the case of Jimmy Vaughn, how he works the rhythm and lead parts. That’s
fascinating to watch and listen to. I’m learning stuff. It’s sinking in slowly.
A little story as an example. I was watching a Fabulous Thunderbirds concert performance on YouTube. I was watching Jimmy Vaughn play and I noticed him playing a chord form up higher on the neck than where I’m used to seeing it. When I realized what it was and how to use it, I realized I can use the seventh of that chord form in the same way. I decided, I need to practice this. It opens up so much more sound opportunities. As I was practicing changing between this chord shape and the seventh chord for the same shape I started thinking about how I’ve spent years reading the little chord diagrams in the music books never thinking about how that was the same shape as one of the really basic chords, it was just moved up on the neck and a small fingering change made. Now, I think about these things. How do I play that chord in a more interesting way or a way that is easier to finger or sounds a little better. That’s progress.
With two new Fenders in the house I decided it was time to represent. I made a little visit to the Fender online store and found me a couple of t-shirts that I liked. I picked up a mug too. I mean, I have a Gibson mug and I only have one Gibson guitar. I have more than one Fender guitar so I needed a mug.
I took a little time out from practicing to work on the music room. I have my first two 
guitars. I don’t play them. I keep them for sentimental reasons. I have been wanting to hang them up for decoration. I’ve been putting it off because I needed a stud finder so I could be sure I was mounting the holder to a stud so they don’t fall. I finally got the stud finder and decided to give hanging one a go. I managed to get both those guitars hung this weekend. I have two more I want to hang but I’ve only got one more of the same kind of holder so I’ll need to get another one to finish out that project. I’m slightly surprised and pleased with the look and the ambiance it brings to that small room.
The other thing I did as a break from practicing was watch a movie. It was more of a documentary really. It’s called ‘The Wrecking Crew’ and it’s about the group of session musicians who played on almost all the hit songs that came out of Los Angeles in the 1960’s and early 1970’s. It was a quite good. Really interesting. Great stories. Just as Tommy recommended it to me at the last jam, I recommend it to you. It was supposed to be streaming on Netflix according to the website, but I couldn’t find it there. It’s available for rent on YouTube and Amazon.
I’ve been neglecting my homework long enough. Time to get back to it. I’m excited to see what else I might figure out how to do. I haven’t forgotten about the video from the last jam. I still have that to get edited and posted as well.