A apparent lack of talent...

     Maslow's hierarchy of needs states that once our basic needs are met, we as humans have no loftier goal than self actualization. I would submit that as a guitarist my highest needs is to fit seamlessly into a group of musicians... and to get paid now and then.
     A fellow I met a few years ago has been hounding me to come audition for his band. They play adult oriented classic rock, and since I like a lot of the songs I told him that if my schedule ever relented long enough I would indeed come and audition. In March my schedule changed and I now have time for music again.

     Based on what the band leader told me, I brought my "mid" sized amp (Fender Hot Rod DeVille 4x10) to the audition. It's not as loud as my half stack, but louder than the Bandit or the practice rig. Seems like a nice neutral setup for versatility yeah?

     The practice area was in a loft above a very crowded auto shop. There are always stairs, and I have come to accept this as a truth about auditions. The stairs have only the wall on the left side going up, and nothing on the right side, there is of course a 90 degree turn halfway up, so yeah... When I opened the door to the practice area I was shocked by how much junk was in the room. There were the usual things you see in a practice space, but there were empty boxes, food containers, and just general junk that should have been taken out after practice. It reminded me of a teenagers room rather than a work space for a working band of mature adults, but artists are a different breed and you encounter all manner of odd things during your "career". 

     The rest of the band sort of trickled in over the the next half hour, and much to my irritation were more interested in getting their cocktails together rather than setting up for the audition, but hey, this aint my party, I'm just looking for a job right? Once everyone finally has their cocktail, we are ready to play. 

     I am not a snooty musician, I have very humble roots musically speaking, and I have a very clear image of my ability as a guitarist. I am not a gun-slinger looking to show everyone how wonderful I am on the guitar, but I have played with a lot of bands all of the country in the last few decades. Usually there is a sound check to set levels. We didn't do that, we just charged right in. 

     To be fair, the band already has a guitarist, which had been discussed in detail before the audition. The idea explained to me was that both guitarists would share rhythm and lead guitar roles.  During the audition though, no one had really thought about the song as guitar parts. The other guitarist seemed rather insecure about his place in the group and would play the same figure in the same register as me, even if I switched it up and tried to move out of his range so I could leave room for him and the keyboard. Either way he would follow me into whatever inversions I tried to use. It was almost like he was saying, hey look man, I can do that too. 

     As the evening wore on the band was getting pretty drunk, and the keyboard player decided that I was playing too loud and had me turn down. The volume was below the baseline of the room so you couldn't hear what if anything I was playing. Ok, no worries. Some auditions are pretty awful and it's better to get that out into the open up front. The band went into SRV's Pride and Joy with everyone taking a turn at a lead. When my turn came they realized that maybe they had turned me down too much and couldn't hear it. We re-set the levels and had another go at it, and I felt like I did a reasonably good improv, stealing bits from Jimi, Creedence, BB King, Albert Lee, and Eric Clapton. It was sort of a texas/delta/chicago mashup, but people seemed to dig it, and I felt it was a decent off the cuff improv. 

     We finished the audition and the guys had a conference about the audition. They told me that yeah, they felt like it would work out, and invited me to leave my gear until practice the following week. I told them great, and said I would see them the following week.

     When I got home O talked with my wife and some friends about how the audition went, and the more I thought about it, the more it felt like I was not a good fit with these folks. I view music as a job, and work very hard to give the best performance/show I can. I am not a big fan of bands that want to party while they play. I think it looks tacky, and it puts you off of your best game. With all of this in mind I decided that I would go to the practice and if it still felt the same after were had worked through the set list, I would graciously beg out as non judgmentally as possible. Seriously, if you want to party as a band go for it. It's a free country no? 

     The day before practice I received a phone call from the keyboardist telling me that I needed to come get my gear out of their practice space because they had another guitarist coming to audition. I was kind of surprised by this, but they said that the band wanted to try out another guy. When I went and picked up my gear I talked to the guy a little more, and he admitted that while the band thought I had some "chops" they felt I suffered from "an apparent lack of talent". This actually made me laugh. I've been sworn at, saw a band flame out into fisticuffs, been told that I was not quite the style of player the band was seeking, but never that I had no talent.

     I was probably going to quit the band any way because of the drinking on the job, and the weird sense of priorities, but  nobody wants to hear someone say to them that they are musically incompetent. Even if the person telling you that is probably a functioning alcoholic who can scarcely remember what happened at the audition.

     But hey, that's show business -- lol

Guitar String Beta Test?

Looks legit...

     So the D'Addario string company has decided to revamp their guitar string making process. They've revamped the coating, mettalurgy, heck - they even go so far as to say that these are the strongest strings out there, but are they?

     So the other day I get a kraft paper envelope from D'Addario in the mail. Opening it I find this stealth looking strings packet inside. I waited until this morning to put the strings on because I am a busy guy. (Actually I have been fighting a wretched cold.)

     I generally like D'Addario and their strings, so I was sort of excited to get the packet. I recently wrote about how their EXP strings compare to Elixir's on my Taylor 414e ltd.

     I put the strings on my Frankentele. It looks like a tele but has dual coil humbuckers and all of the pots have been swapped out. IT sounds more like a Les Paul these days than a Tele. It's a solid chunk of over driven tone with a slug of sustain and a face built for grunge. She's my second most used electric so I thought she was good candidate for the string beta. How did it go? I'm not so impressed with the performance of the strings or the tone, but rather than ramble, I will attempt to address all of the manufacturer's claims.

     Strongest set of guitar strings ever made. It's 30% stronger than any of it's predecessors: When I pulled the high E string out of the package I noticed shiny spots on the string. These are almost always nicks in the string that can cause strings to snap. While tuning the high E, the string broke halfway between the nut and the machine head. I was at D# and worrying that the string didn't sound right. You can usually hear when a string is getting ready to go. Based on where the string broke, I believe it to be a manufacturer's defect.

     Settles to pitch and holds pitch better: This seems to be correct. The strings did seem to settle out pretty quickly which for me is usually only an issue if I have to change right before a show or during a break, so for those limited instances they would be pretty good.

     I suppose this is as good a spot as any to mention that they have gone with a tin coating on these strings. This is to aid in corrosion inhibition. They also have a really good grippy feeling to them. You can play pretty fast and not have to worry about pull off slipping at all.

     The strings have 6% more magnetic permeability resulting in higher output in the 2 - 5 khz range for punch, crunch, and bite. Yeah... they don't sound that great to me. If a string is going to sound great with distortion it should sound great clean. I thought the tone a little on the dull side, and definitely not better than the original strings.

     Bottom Line: I probably won't buy these strings, nor do I think they will transform the industry. The company has a contest going on that invites people to put up a YouTube video of their "hardest fastest, best solo playing", and label the video with #XLFORMULA3. So far all I have seen is teens playing in their bedroom, which is the likely demographic for this product. For a good laugh go check out the dude who wears a cold weather face mask, and a hat with chicken bones all over it who calls himself "Bones The Guitarist". But hey whatever works for you eh?

*Update* I called the company and spoke to customer service. I wanted to let them know about what i saw on the high e. They sent me out another set of strings. Great job of Customer Service!

 Let me know if you have had a different experience with them, or if I overlooked something.

The Quest For Tone: DAddario EXP110

   

     Everyone has their favorite guitar string. Why they have that particular string as a favorite is a complex subject. Obviously no one can try all of the guitar strings available, so how do we get to a point where we can say that a particular string is our favorite?

     Most often it is from a magazine ad or a web endorsement by someone the guitarist in question idolizes. We also talk to one another and share opinions. I recently saw two gentleman guitarists almost come to blows over whether Elixirs are better than Ernie Ball strings. These guys need to get off the net and go practice chord inversions or something. Seriously...

     I have an American Standard Telecaster that I adore. The original strings on it were very nice, and communicated everything about the sound that I had come to love. The US standard Telecaster comes with Fender Standard Tension ST250L, Nickel Plated Steel, light gauge . They are great strings but the folks on the Telecaster forums (You can link to the Telecaster forums HERE) thought that they didn't last very long if you are playing a lot. I practice almost every day, and usually perform every weekend, so longevity is important for me.

     Elixir makes a couple of variants of coated strings (polyweb vs nanoweb) and while I use them on my Taylor, and Fender acoustic guitars, I have never been very impressed with them on my electrics. They sound great and hold up forever, but they are a little too slippery for the style of lead that I play. I like to be able to manipulate the strings without slipping off. One of the folks over at the forum pointed out that they had been very happy with D'Addario EXP110 regular light strings. They are coated similar to the strings from Elixir, but I think they are a little less slippery.
   
     The tone from the EXP's is crisp and dry. It sets a nice baseline for a twangy guitar like the Telecaster. I also put a set on my Yamaha AEX hybrid, which is notoriously brash and thin on the piezo pickup. The EXP's were actually able to tame some of the brashness out of the guitar because there are so many subtle undertones that the ear simply isn't assaulted by so much of the same frequency. They really are a great string.

     Settle in time seems to be about the same as other strings with some stretching going on for a while until they stabilize, but it is on par with the Elixirs. All in all I would recommend trying a set on your favorite electric. They are about $10 online, (I bought mine from Amazon), and I think they are definitely worth the money. I'm was not a fan before I tried these strings, but now I am hooked.

     You can link to D'Addario's website HERE.