Creem takes an instrumental break

Creem takes an instrumental break

An up to the minute guide to the technology of making music

Gibson

Guitars Are Of The Essence

Electric guitars are the very essence of rock and roll, existing as a totally artificial reality. They're media fiction. Nothing more than fairly unsophisticated future toys. Electric guitars, their amplifiers, and other related equipment are one more application of electronics to life, just like color tv's, radio broadcasts, and electric can openers.

I personally get a very positive feeling from electric guitars as one of the tools of the communications business. They prove that people can do more than cope; they can conquer the form and establish a sense of content. But you've got to keep in mind that there is nothing real here, nothing natural about the generation of various signal amplitude frequencies which have been known to get us off. More subtle than stirring up the gonads with an elebtric stick, but that's all, just more subtle.

Aw shuck, and jive man! What's this dude talking about? Well shuck and jive you, buddy, still sixties thinking that rock is part of the world flow. I got, news for you -electric guitars create pollution, destroy nature, help to alienate man and woman from each lother. Put that in your bong and suck.

Right now I'm sitting here, typing on my IBM, watching the little ball spin, strike, spin. I'm listening to my radio. My local AM station, WWDJ, is blaring away, playing'songs, getting me to tap my foot, flashing pie back to time memories that I couldn't explain to you, and you can't explain to me, oldies but goodies. That's what it's all about, that's what electric guitars are part of. They're the stick shift on the totally electric rock machine, a finahconcession to us, the one point where we have a tactile relationship to our media decision.

This supplement compiled by Richard Robinson (Alias Guitar Arnie)

This special CREEM supplement was written and edited by Richard Robinson in conjunction with the Pop .Wire Ser-: vice. Richard would like to thank the following individuals for their assistance: Alison and Craig Karpel; Barry Kramer; Ernest Beyl, Clyde Tussey of Daniel J. Edelman, Inc.; Leo Miller Associates; W.E. Nelson, Alan Halpem; Norm Milliard of Electronic Music Laboratories; Richard Lewis, Jr. of Advertising Assistance; Gaylord Russel of Russound; Regina Kolbe of S. Hawk, Ltd.; Sid Kleiner; Richard Eyster; Bob Wiley of MCI; Mark Saltzman of Sorkin; Allan Pines of Spectracom; Neil Lilien of Guild; Amie Lazarus of FRAP; Bob Holley ; and to the mom and dad of the kid down the street who made him sell me his double pick-up blond Gibson and Fender Concertmaster many years ago, before the revolution.

The tips of calloused fingers press against the bit of the tightly wound metal strings, pushing, grinding, sliding back and forth to produce electric sound, which will them be sent through a printed circuit to become a thousand times their size, possibly be captured as patterns on the magnetic fields of iron oxide tape, transferred to vinyl, modulated on a carrier frequency, received, demodulated, and reproduced as the sound waves created by the vibrations of a cardboard cone. Rock and roll.

But it does get down to the fingers on the strings, and the fingers are the part of the story that interests most people. It's the man, not his machine, that wins the race. As if A.J. Foyt could do 110 by himself. Or we'd have ever heard of Eric Clapton if he'd taken to beating on a tree stump with a club.

Clapton, Beck, Page, Hendrix, and the rest of the gang, besides being part of the energy crisis, Hi, I'm Jimi Hendrix I'm dead but I'm still part of the energy crisis, will be for years. Well, beside being that they're also proof that you can start a fire by rubbing two sticks together. These guys and the rest of rock's musicians have managed to conquer the format to get their energies across. Fred Astaire was a photo-chemical event. Eric, Jeff and Jimmy are an electro-mechanical event. But we don't think about that too much, just enjoy them and assume that the event is them.

When it comes to buying an electric guitar, however, you can't really think of Eric, Jeff, and Jimmy. You've gotta think of you and what you've got to give. A lot of guitars are no doubt sold every year as one of the many things that we can get a good grip on to keep us stable. That's okay, but why you should spend $400 for something smooth to hold onto escapes me. *

Bringing us to the first rule of electric guitar buying: spend as much money as you've got for the best you can afford. I've seen guys play the blues on Sears and Roebuck guitars, I admit. But it's like riding a bicycle with two flaf tires. You can do it, maybe well, if you think it proves anything. The last six years have been a time of incredible development for the electric guitar as an electric instrument. A Les Paul Gibson may still be a nice guitar to own, but even that is going to be plugged into a transistorized amplifier with volume pedal, wha-wha, fuzz, and the like attached. And all this costs money. You can buy a stick of wood with some strings and a pick-up nailed on, but that's not where the state of the art is at.

The luthiers of Spain perfected the guitar centuries ago. It wasn't until the late Thirties, early Forties that Leo Fender, Les Paul, and the gang figured out how to make it electric. Since then there has been a continual refinement of this original electro-acoustical hybrid into the purely electric, the only non-electric event being the mechanical action of the strings being plucked.

For this reason electric guitars are getting, better and better. There's always, been a nostalgia for fine, handcraft6d instruments, like the Les Paul Gibsons, but you'd really do a lot better by buying a new guitar that is a refinement of what's gone before. The only thing is that you've got to have some money to spend. A cheap electric guitar, under $150, is just that. Some of-them are stripped down models of more expensive units, which is okay, but you've got to equip yourself to make electric music and the best way to do that is getting the full rig: knobs, dials, pick-ups, and related circuitry - you don't have to use it all the time, though you should understand the total potential of the guitar as it exists today.

No electric guitar really works by itself. It is part of a total system which includes outside controls, amplification, and reproduction. This guitar-effects pedals-amp combination is what you'll eventually work with, so it all must be taken into account as you plan your system. If you want to concentrate on the refined plucking of jazz chords, lots of suspended ninths and things like that, the guitar-effects amp system you need is dramatically different in every component from what you'll need to achieve Mark Farner psycho-feedback.

For the purposes of this supplement, I'm presuming that you don't want to be Wes Montgomery, but are more straight ahead rock oriented. With this in mind, the guitar type options are more limited, but there are still many brands and models to choose from.

Dividing the guitir into its various parts, there are three major areas of interest: the head, the neck, and the body, and each should meet certain specifications. The head of the guitar is where the strings are tightened to achieve certain pitches. You must make sure that the tuning pegs are of the highest quality - Grover pegs if possible, or the equivalent. They should turn smoothly and without effort. They should also hold their position, not giving under the strain of the string tension. If you find a guitar you like but the pegs aren't good, replace them. This is easy to do; it takes about a half hour and will result in a much more effective instrument.

The guitar neck should be adjustable and should be as narrow and smooth as possible. Most expensive guitars have a truss rod which can be adjusted with a wrench; improved truss rod assemblies have made it possible to construct really slim necked guitars which are exceptionally easy to fret. If you think the neck is out of alignment, take it to an experienced repairman; don't monkey with this yourself.

Check the frets on the guitar before you buy. Make sure that they don't buzz - chord up and down, playing each note on each string on each fret. If any of the notes don't sound firmly and clearly have the situation corrected before you buy. The final major neck consideration is how many octaves the neck has before it meets the body. Most necks have been marked off into almost two octaves - give or take a couple of frets - but it's unusual for more than an octave and a third to be playable. If you like to play up on the high notes above the first octave make sure that you can get your fingers up there and onto the /strings.

The body of the guitar is the most complicated part. Here is where the strings are anchored, the pick-dps are located to turn the strings" vibrations into electronic signals, and the controls are located that allow you to initially shape the sound as it leaves the guitar.

There are two basic pick-up positions: near the end of the neck and near the bridge. The pick-up closest to the neck gives an acoustic, mellow sound; the pick-up further away near the bridge gives a more metallic, pingy sound. The controls enable you to shape both of these sounds and combine them. You should have tone and volume controls for both pick-ups. Play the guitar to see that the controls are conveniently placed and within reach. If there is a pick-up selector switch or lead-rhythm switch on tjie guitar — allowing you to cut the pick-ups in or out at will - make sure that it as well is convenient and, at the same time, doesn't get in your way during playing. All of these controls, by the way, should be of good quality. The knobs and switches should be heavy' duty, large enough to get a good grip on. They should turn easily but with a certain amount of resistance. If a knob turns tob freely it's probably a cheater - have it replaced with an expensive pot.

Although most "hip" guitar stores only like to let George Harrison and Jerry Garcia hand-out (they wish), insist on giving any guitar you buy a good play before you hand over your cash. Run it through whatever amp you think you'll use it with; run it loud and soft. Make sure there's no hum, crackle, or any other signs of poor electrical circuitry; spin the dials around to check that they're functioning properly and that you don't hear any "noise" when you turn them; check the keyboard against a piano, pitch pipe, or other source to see that it holds its tune from octave to octave: low E and octave E shouldn't be off, for instance.

If you decide to buy, get the best case available. There's no logic to buying a $500 guitar and carrying it around wrapped in a blanket. You'd be better off getting a less expensive guitar and spending the extra money on a hard shell case.

All of the above applies to any bass guitar that you may want to buy — only double. The bass takes even more of a beating than a regular six string guitar; tension of strings is greater, pick-ups have to be more rugged, and the instrument, in general, shbuld be "rock" solid.

Most of all don't get caught in the hype of buying a certain guitar because your favorite guitarist plays one. He may have gotten it for free. I'm not saying that every guitar and amp used by thestars is junk, but how many Vox guitars have you seen recently? Not to mention Vox amps.

Electric guitars are media instruments. Buy them the way you'd buy a tape recorder, videotape machine, or hi-fi. Spend your money on technology, not flash. You'll add that yourself when you start to play it.