51

(19 replies, posted in Acoustic)

Zurf wrote:
mekidsmom wrote:
flester wrote:

If you can sing and play it without thinking, when someone says 'give us a song', then you know it.

I agree... but being able to think of the song that you know that you can sing and play without thinking... that's another story!  LOL!

Ain't that the truth.  I know a few songs, but trying to think of one of them when it's my turn at the campfire always seems a chore.  I think I'm going to put together some index cards with titles and maybe a couple of the chords and the first words of each verse.  With that, I could probably get by for a little while without my blue folder/crutch. 

- Zurf

You are allowed to have the Contents page of your Chordie songbook to hand. You may not 'know' (as defined above) all of them but you can hopefully pick ONE from that page. Stick it to the back of your guitar ( easier if you have one of those strange flat-backed non-Ovation guitars). I would grudgingly allow you to have the list on a phone/blackberry/electronic device of some kind.

52

(30 replies, posted in Acoustic)

Just pretend you are on your own. Not saying that's easy to do but...

Also see the recent 'Knowing a Song' post
http://www.chordie.com/forum/viewtopic. … 65#p104665

53

(19 replies, posted in Acoustic)

If you can sing and play it without thinking, when someone says 'give us a song', then you know it.

54

(2 replies, posted in Song requests)

http://www.christymoore.com/lyrics.php

It's also nice to have old-fashioned 'books' on your shelves

http://www.brandonbooks.com/book_info.p … 95011c8c45

also many of the songs he's recorded are Irish ballads - a good source for those is is http://martindardis.com/

55

(5 replies, posted in Recording)

Have been recording acoustic guitar directly onto PC via a magnetic soundhole pickup plugged directly into the microphone socket. It works surpisingly well, not a pure acoustic but it's a sound I like.

The only thing is, there's a lot of 'hiss'. Using the standard Windows control panel I can click a 'noise suppression' option (from memory, am not at that computer at present) which works but also cuts the treble end of the signal (like the old Dolby noise reduction on cassette players).

Any ideas for addressing this? Am just using Audacity or the standard Windows Sound Recorder. Hoping to record some short instrumental clips for posting on websites.

56

(1 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

Anyone used any guitar ecffects software on a PC ? This for example ?

http://guitarfx.net/

57

(16 replies, posted in Other string instruments)

Regarding being hard to keep in tune, and having to tune down to avoid warping: I think the key is to avoid cheap ones

My Ovation 12-string is 31 years old, it even has a slight crack near the headstock but is tuned to concert pitch. It stays perfectly in tune, probably due to the construction technique (makes for a heavy guitar though) It does help to have an electronic tuner. Look out for the Pacemaker, model 1615 or 1115, they are often available for good prices on the usual online places (though very expensive new)

58

(10 replies, posted in Acoustic)

for a different sound, try it on an 'electric guitar amp' as well. Soundhole pickups can sound good on those, even with a little distortion. John campbell (http://www.devilinmycloset.net/) got some great sounds that way.

You can get a nice sort of 'big box jazz guitar' sound too with the right settings

Come on now, anybody...? anybody...?
I've no idea how many signed up but there can never be too many

[Am] Óró sé do bheatha abhaile
[G]Bhfearr liom tú ná céad bó bhainne
[Am] Óró sé do bheatha abhaile
A[Am]nois ar [Em]teacht an [Am]tsamhraidh

60

(7 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

It's hard to find a pub without music in Galway, in my limited experience. It's possibly the Trad capital of the world. Tigh Neachtain or Neachtains Bar is not to be missed.

See also http://www.thesession.org/sessions/

61

(9 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Interesting analysis, though of course you can't really classify all music into one genre. And you can't classify people into one genre either. Gneralisations can be very useful once you know their limitations.

shame ya won't make it doug, my Ovation may need company on the day. course it counts as 2 guitars provided I play all 12 strings

need 2000 guitarists to play same song in Clonakilty, Co. Cork, Ireland Sat 18-09-10

http://clonguitarfest.com/worldrecord.htm

Last year we managed 800 odd - let's see if we can break the record this year.

Lots of other stuff too as part of the festival

64

(4 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

Thanks, will probably try Maplins (Radio Shack equivalent in Ireland and UK) and mockup up the strap button moulding myself. Looking for a way to transfer the pickup easily between the 2 guitars.

65

(4 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

You'll see from the link below that some Artec pickups come with an 'OSJ' jack. I want to just buy an OSJ jack to attach to a pickup I already have. Is there another name for an OSJ jack? A google search brings back a lot of uses for 'OSJ' but nothing helpful
http://artecsound.com/acou/soundhole.htm

66

(38 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

flester wrote:

The only piece of solid wood on my Applause is the bridge. Have yet to find a guitar with a less-than-4-figure price tag that sounds as good.

Though I tried a solid-topped Lag which I liked. (at good price due to being slightly scratched)

67

(38 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

The only piece of solid wood on my Applause is the bridge. Have yet to find a guitar with a less-than-4-figure price tag that sounds as good.

68

(45 replies, posted in Acoustic)

At least if it's fixed right, the string tension won't be in a direction that pulls the repair joints open.

Shows that he can actually play guitar. I mean he's not one of the great players technically but the style suits the material on this recording. Love the version of Arthur McBride which echos Paul Brady's excellent version

I found it hard at first, (x21202) and its still one of the hardest on the fingers when I haven't played for a while. However it's a lovely chord and well worth persisting with - very nice for songs in E maj (e.g. Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain)

71

(20 replies, posted in Acoustic)

applause are made by ovation, not  copy as such but  budget range. way better than many guitars for the price but you really can't compare them with a us-made solid-topped Ovation. and i cannot understand why people find they slide off the lap. this does not happen to me

72

(1 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)

Anyone her ever built a guiatr from a kit, e.g. like these ? http://kmguitars.com/kmguitars2_page_2.htm

And if so, how did it go?

My 1979 Ovation Pacemaker with undersaddle pickup gives a nice bright jangly 12-string sound through the amp but the single-coil (artec MSP-50) sounds a bit warmer and sort of electric-ish.

Another project is to play harmonica on this amp...

Yes, I am a tinkerer. I built my amp around a TDA2003 amp module (http://maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=32209) and built a case roughly to the dimensions of a Pignose. Runs on 6AA's, or one PP3, or a mains power supply. Goes into distortion fairly easily, especially via a preamp which I based around one of these (http://maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?moduleno=37746). Will post photos and sound samples some time. The guitar I mainly use with this is an Applause acoustic with a single-coil magnetic pickup.  Strange, I know but was inspired by John Campbell with his J-45, dearmond pickup and Fender tube amps. Check him out on youtube. There's a very used Boss HM-2 pedal in a local shop which I may check out today.

75

(4 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Beats the usual Mid-Atlantic non-accent that you get on radio.