6, 7 or 8 String Guitar?

 

For 30 years I just had a 6 string Squire, that 16 years ago I shielded and put a Humbucker in the bridge of. Hated the tremolo as it was just a detune lever and unusable. But with the humbucker, I could use high distortion without the hum and I did a lot of recordings with it.

In retirement I have spent much time recording and using 6, 7 and 8 string guitars. I had thought a Ibanez RG with locking nut and trem would be  the end game of the ultimate guitar for me, but not at all. Down tuning and heavier guitar music lead me to the 7 and 8 string guitars. 

I have my guitars in DROP tuning now, even my bass, but found that doesn't work with an 8 string. The lowest string is too floppy that way, doesn't sound great at the really low end, and I am not interested in heavier string gauges. I already have a Jazz Bass. So the 8 just stays 1/2 tone down tuned, and it ends up the 7 gives me as many usable low notes. The ones that sound good. Being fixed bridge is also so much easier for tuning and setup.  Tuning is something I fuss about a lot, and more strings and trem make it even more tedious. I find the bridge pickup on the 7 sounds better than the bridge on the RG too. The RG sounds really thin.

Will be keeping them all though, but will probably give the Squire to the grandson when he is older. 12 months ago I was really into Melodic Techno with no guitars, so have no idea where I will go musically in the future.

The track on Bandcamp  6, 7 or 8 String Guitar? 

The Reaper project:

Other Things

A more painful/inconvenient minor medical procedure planned for Wednesday morning, and the follow up Friday morning.  Need to lay down all day after the procedure, so bleeding doesn't start again.   One of 3, but will see how long I take to recover this time.  May be a painful 3 days to a week. 

I need to be fit for the Sewaritei Sakura Walk: Yawata Kyoto last weekend of March, or first weekend of April depending on when the cherry blossoms bloom.

Doing this walk, listening to music, then buying a DONA KEBAB on the way back is one of life's small pleasures I enjoy now.  

My father in his 90s has had Osteoporosis for many years, and it is something I was planning to have a check for, and have been doing the life style things someone with it should be doing for the last decade anyway. And as it turns out, my younger sister has recently been diagnosed with it.  Women prone to it get it earlier and in greater numbers than men do. The normal treatment is daily injections, strength balance training and care with calcium and vitamin D. Removing trip hazards from house important too, like rugs.

Sister doesn't want to start daily injections yet and I completely understand that.  So something else for me to look forward to after my current medical procedures are done with.

My grandfather broke his hip bone. Recovered, then during a later hospital visit slipped in the hallway (was using a cane rather than a wheel chair), broke a bone, then died on the operating table that day. No doubt he had  Osteoporosis but may not have been treated for it, almost 40 years ago.

Mmm. Have an idea for a song, Don't Fall...

Read the latest ASADORA #9 manga by Urasawa Naoki during the week. He is an amazing comic story teller. He takes many breaks from doing it though, and think he must prefer to do something else these days, like his music and radio program. 

Started watching BONES on Netflix from the beginning.  Started watching it from like Season 5 in Australia 10 years ago and enjoyed it. Good to go back to the beginning and some of the stories have been wonderful, like The Man in the Fallout Shelter. First time to get to see Billy Gibbons in it too. That the music is by THE CRYSTAL METHOD is also something special to me too.  All the  scientists having trouble communicating with everyone else feels very familiar too.

Winter Olympics aren't over yet, but the figure skating my wife loves is. The Japanese couple got a well deserved gold. Their performance was on repeat on TV for days here. In the women's singles Japan came 2nd and 3rd, but the American girl that got the gold was awesome.  Other than that, Olympics isn't on my watch list at all, and I just saw the things my wife watched.

John Foxx's ULTRAVOX: SYSTEMS OF ROMANCE and his solo METAMATIC were revelations back when they were released. SLOW MOTION is one of my all time favorite tracks, with the rock guitar and synths mix.  And that he did a live concert ANALOGUE CIRCUITS 2010 that is like a BEST OF the last 30 years was a joy in the last week to find.  Bought it and have been listening almost on continuous repeat since. 

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