12/56s on a "Special"!

[JimN]

The argument about light v. heavier strings really started back in the second half of the 1960s.

Until about 1966, moving into 1967, British guitarists, even those playing in beat or R&B groups, simply bought whatever they were offered by way of string sets. And that tended to be Gibson Sonomatic, Fender Mastersound, Black Diamond and the UK-made equivalents from Rotosound, Monopole, Cathedral and the various badge-engineering distributors (Vox, Hofner, Burns, etc). Looking at the 1965 / 1966 Bell Musical Instruments mail order catalogues (the perfect time capsule evidence as to what was available), there were no rock'n'roll gauge strings and even Fender and Gibson strings were available only in unspecified (medium*) gauges.

It was in 1967, with the rise of interest in players like Eric Clapton, Jeff beck, et al and the interest of the weekly Melody Maker "Any Questions?" column, which started the ball rolling on sets with plain thirds, though at first, these tended to consist of a medium gauge set displaced by one string position, with the low E thrown away and a banjo string substituted for the unavailable high E (sized at 0.010", though we didn't necessarily know the exact gauge of any strings at all at the time).

In summary, at that time, * medium strings were gauged 13-56 (wound third), while "light" strings were 11-50 or 11-52 (more usually the latter). Fender Rock'n'Roll strings (approx 09-40) were already available in the USA (as were Ernie Ball Super Slinkies) but unknown here until after the arrival of Jimi Hendrix. All of a sudden, all the UK string companies (Rotosound, General Music Strings and the companies who badge-engineered using supplies from those two) were moving across rapidly to the supply of 10-ish sets, though GMS, with their brand "Picato", at least gave the player the choice between a plain and a wrapped third. This was aimed at guitar models - such as the Strat - with pickups built to accommodate a wound (and therefore electrically quiet) G string.

There is so much history, and so little space to record it all...

[Shadbarmy1]

Been having a play this afternoon and the Burns is settling down again. The trem soon rattles in the thread and needs a wrap of PTFE tape, so am toying with replacing it (the block only maybe?) with a slot in one, as I've used one on my stratalike (Wilkinson) as that seems to stay nice and tight, without much maintenance. I like the trem to stay where it's put rather than dropping out of reach! Ah! The joys of playing and fettling!

[dave robinson]

In 1965 after sharing the bill with The Yardbirds and having a chat with Jeff Beck, I began using a banjo 1st string as my top E then stringing my guitar after discarding the heavy sixth string and using the fifth a my sixth, fourth as my fifth and so on which gave me my plain third.
I did that until the light gauge strings finally hit the shops, but I didn't like the available Roto Sound strings and found some Gretsch ones that were quite expensive by comparison, but seemed to last a lot longer and sounded great. Fender 'Rock & Roll' strings also appeared in the shops offering lighter gauges, but I stuck with Gretsch and then Darco strings appeared which sounded just as good and cheaper. The Gretsch strings came in a round plastic box and had fluffy coloured fur at the ball end which I used to remove. I also used the orange boxed Gibson Sonomatics too on some occasions when the price was right. We had come a long way from the flatwound Monoplole of the early sixties. I now stick to Ernie Ball Hybrid on the Strats, I've got various options which I've experimented with to vary the tension on different scale guitars I own and I'm enjoying hearing the differences in power and tone with different gauges on different guitars, it's fun.
Because of people being ill in the band, I ended up last week having to switch to bass for the past two weeks and I loved playing my Burns 'Rostill' replica, hand built by a local luthier and an absolute beauty. I also tried my ukulele bass ag the gig and was blown away how good it sounded through the rig with the band. It's comparatively tiny and has big thick rubber type strings on it, but with it's wonderful electrics it sounds like a double bass. You learn something every day.

[Shadbarmy1]

I've never tried a bass but my chunky hands and fingers would probably suit one. I've always liked listening to the bass lines in songs and listening to how hard (or not!) the bass player is working, either playing multiple notes or just the old boom boom, boom boom that some used. I remember seeing one local band at a pub and the bassist was all over the fretboard and the sound was amazing. I spoke to one of the band members and said how much I admired his style and he said that he was wasted with them but he (the bass player) wouldn't give up the day job!

[dave robinson]

I began playing bass as a necessity when I first went solo from the band in 1979.
I had made a decision to go solo, having been part of a successful comedy show for twelve years, working most nights in cabaret at the top venues around the country and abroad, taking in the UK forces NAFFI gigs in Europe as well as US Airforce bases in Germany and Italy as backing group for Dave Berry. We were never short of work.
Anyway, when I went solo I didn't want to have to suffer the poor 'live' backing that I had witnessed at a lot of places we had visited as a band, so I had this idea of making my own backing tracks for me to perform to, all with my own endings as you would with the band. I got the idea from recording at the BBC where you put down a BT first, then recorded the vocal later. This technique was already in place on TV on shows like Top Of The Pops, so I thought I would be brave and take it to the stage on the clubs.
The problem I had was actually making the backing tracks, as my band had split up and the members went home to their native towns, i.e. Plymouth and Hull, so I didn't have any musicians who could help me do it, leading me to buy a drum kit and a bass guitar and do it myself. I got a friend and former drummer to show me the basics of drumming on my second hand Gretsch kit, which resulted in many complaints from our neighbour who used to work nights, but I worked it out to play when he wan't in bed.
I had bought the Fender Jazz bass from our 'retired' bassist so I was all kitted out and I listened to scores of records to pick up the bass lines, speeding up the track to clarify the notes, much the same as our heroes had done back in the day, but it eventually paid off and I was able to record simple BTs on my Revox, bouncing from one track to another, until I eventually could afford a four track TEAC recorder to do the job. It was fun learning the craft and I graduated to an eight track, then when digital arrived I discovered sixteen tracks which was amazing. I was the only act doing this and many other people came to me for BTs, which I would make to order, often an entire show. This earned me a decent wage and the main problem I had was the Musician's Union, bleating on about putting people's jobs at risk, which was of course something that proved correct as Karaoke came in and virtually took the business by the scruff of the neck. Anyway there you have it, those days of learning bass & drums have paid off, as I regularly switch to being our drummer when needed and now bass player, which in all honesty I do enjoy as it is a challenge because neither of these are my first instrument.
I never intended to put other musicians out of work, I just wanted my act to be 'perfect' and people to enjoy it as it should be heard, which is something we all want at the end of the day. The problem was that many clubland musicians had an easy ride and tended to have an attitude of 'it'll do' when clearly, it wouldn't. I noticed that when I was forced to use 'dots' (sheet music with resisent organ & drums) the audience rarely got up to dance in the final set, but with my backing tracks it was a different story and the place was rocking, because the 'feel' was right and dynamics were in place - something that in rock & roll is difficult to achieve with an old school organist and drummer.
Not all resident backing was poor, but just look at how it ended up across the country in the clubs and even on TV.
So there you have it, my thoughts were ' If you want something doing, do it yourself' and that's what I did and I never looked back, other than getting fed up with people accusing me of miming, so I got another band together.

[Shadbarmy1]

I recently found Wave Pad Sound Editor. I found a couple of instructional vids on Youtube that went way over my technophobe head, but stuck at it until I had worked out how to start and stop recording, delete, cut and paste and then add another track (or more). The possibilities are endless and yet so far, have only managed a rhythm and a lead for the first ten seconds of Apache (only took a month!). I'm still working on how to make a tom tom sound but it will probably involve me tapping on a pickup with my thumb!! Forgot to mention that I accidentally deleted my first efforts! Doh! Note to self............... back up always!