I play guitar. On this channel I will either be playing guitar, or giving a lesson to try and help show how I think about guitar. Other times I may be trying a piece of gear.
Another thing is to run you bridge tone from around 5-7 depending how you play and back off in the volume. Joe Bonamassa is the KING of this. It’s a fun sound too
A lez paul player John Cordy needs to check out is early Glass Harp bands PHIL KEAGGY, any of those early 70's Songs or Videos for sure. Keaggy was really ahead of most Rock players in the early 70's, he had Jazz flavored licks, ala Peter Frampton and Steve Howe style mixed in, Phil must have had a really good guitar Teacher back when he was learning. Mainly played a early 70's Les Paul, and Fender Twin Silverface amps.
I've been getting serious about shredding just the last few years. I retired and now I methodically practice 3 notes per string, tapping etc after being more of a "feel" player for something like 50 years. I'm having a load of fun and I still devote time to the feel thing too.
I think you can just boil it down to one question: does it move you? All that matters in the end is whether it moves you. If it moves you, mission accomplished. Speed is just a means to an end, the end goal being to move yourself or the people who listen to you. I find people who gripe about shred are focusing on the means more than the end goal. If it doesn’t move them, fine, but music is subjective and no one thing moves everyone the same way, so why bother attempting to make that which is subjective into something objective? It’s futile and foolish. Anyway, rock on!
You have to honestly look at the music you enjoy listening to (with your ears, not watching). I know numerous shredders that like watching videos of it and enjoy the technicality but don't actually listen to any of that music. If you enjoy listening to shredding then it is great to spend time learning it, if not it is probably not the best usage of your time.
The pickup heights and obviously output, make a huge difference. I've actually found that I much prefer the opposite adjustments. I set everything wide open, in the middle switch position. Then I bring the bridge volume down until they balance out. This may require some more pickup height adjustment, but once you get them balanced in the middle position. You'll have that sweet spot as a starting point. If you then back both volumes down equally from that initial starting point of volume balance, the whole rest of the way down the range will sound killer! You can always bring the bridge back up a smidgen to get more bite. It's the only way I dial my 2 volume pot guitars now. Way more versatile.
If you are trying to shred and are miserable then yes it's a waste of time as long as you are having fun that's all that matters. If your shred practice isn't tightening your timing your doing it wrong.
It works well. I’ve been doing it when I need to play some clean rhythms and want to get some of the bass out of the tone of the lower strings. Hit a chord, roll of the neck volume until it sounds right, and keep it there.
Guitar is about expressing yourself, having fun, and doing what feels good. Though I try to do my own thing, I always think: "What Would Prince Do?" Prince could shred while improvising but it was always for a burst of unpredictability and showmanship, but he always dialed it back down, always remained unpredictable. For me, I get bored after a few seconds of shred, but that's just me. My personal opinion is that a good guitar solo is varied, unpredictable, mixing fast/slow, explore a tiny bit of dissonance, and have a definitive climax and resolution.
For me, when listening. A one bar flourish is fine. Two bars is enough. More than that is a yawn. Unless it's from a top player who can still 'Say Something" using Shred. Good solos balance Melody, Emotion, and Flash.
Jimmy page demonstrated this a long time ago. Watch song remains the same. It's crazy what he coaxes out of the guitar with the volume knobs and middle position. It's also one reason I'm annoyed that PRS's don't have separate volume knobs except on certain models. Also, a lot of times the stock electronics suck even on the expensive Gibsons. And new electronics will open up all kinds of sonic and tone possibilities and also make you want to use the tone knobs because they'll actually have useful functionality
I really don't like shredding for the sake of it. Love a good solo, but I think the playing should almost emulate a conversation, with the phrasing and dynamics of one. Check out Larry Carltons intro solo to Steely Dan's 'Don't take me Alive', or any of Larry's solos really; they're all amazing, especially of course, 'Kid Charlemagne'!
I'm not a shredder and at 73 I'm not going to become one, but I appreciate hearing some shredding mixed in with not-so-fast melodic parts. And I find it interesting to learn shred techniques so that I can play 3 to 5 notes fast in the middle of a slower part. But pure shredding? Nah, too boring for me.
Yea it’s a l great position on a LP, this is why I love guitars with individual tone & volume control per pickup. You can get a similar sweet spot on the Casino too (which I also have).
You are right that the very best guitarists have both skill sets - Duane Allman, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Derek Trucks are the top of my list! By the way, one bit of advice the 14 year old you may have gotten & mastered fully is “How to Write Great Click Bait”!!
It's a silly argument or discussion, imo. From anyone. What it boils down to is A.) People should truly express his or herself in whichever manner he or she needs to fill the soul, and B.) Whichever manner you choose to play on either side of this proverbial coin, you will never please all listeners.
I've always done this with my 70's style Tele Custom (neck humbucker). Keeps that bridge Tele single coil bite, but with some warmth and fullness blended in from the neck humbucker. It's always a killer tone clean or with gain.
I'm 42 and still learning to shred without apology. I've always had feel, but over the last 5yrs I've gotten deep into music theory and still chase the shred. Even if it's just for me to impress my guitar player friends.
I prefer it the other way around - the neck pickup volume set higher than the bridge. Best place for me is 7-8 on neck and perhaps 6 or so on the bridge. I have an R8. Oh yeah a bit less gain...
Shredding is a lot of fun. Of course a good vibrato, great tone and great time feel are paramount, but shredding just feels extremely fun. I think people who can't shred feel like the point of it is to show off, but it just feels good and very very fun!
I'm a song guy and love a ripping solo that's in service of the song, but shredding just to shred is uninteresting to me and to be honest I'd say just about everyone I know would say the same.
I grew up on a lp studio. And came to this naturally. Over the years. Recently built a warmoth hsh soloist. I had to add an additional volume knob to be able to do just this. I missed the 2vol 2tone versatility. Blending neck and bridge is where the magic happens. There is also a sweet spot for the tone knobs. Love the musicality of your playing! Thank you!
Having a high degree of technical skill does not equal musicianship. Just like having a car that can do 0-60 in 3 seconds and cruise at 150mph, technical skills need to be maintained. Just like that car, there are few opportunities to push it to the max in the majority of driving/playing situations. Some situations will arise where some of those high-level capabilities are necessary, and then it is great to use them in order to close out the situation safely and with grace and style.
