Hey, Dylan... I've been playing for 61 years, and I've always separated slide open tunings and standard. The Instagram algorithm randomly put one of your videos in my feed and, I have to tell you, it completely blew me away... such an elegant, and obvious solution. Because I've been playing slide for so long, I have the basic muting down so switching to standard slide wasn't that difficult after a few weeks. The key, of course, is bringing that Duane/Derek vibe into standard, which is no mean feat. At any rate, this is a genuine breakthrough and you have changed my playing forever (although, at my age, who knows how long that will be :) Thanks, Dylan!
The les Paul jr with your band mates name on the truss rod cover was one of the nicest gestures I’ve ever seen. Not only are you a wonderful player but you’re a great dude. Love the videos keep em coming!
Really cool of your Dad.on the truss rod cover. when I saw it the other night, the First thing that came to mind was how your Familly must love you filling the house with Music. No doubt you have brought all their favorites back to now. I hope to drive down soon and enjoy the great music with all the good Folks in Jax Listening to Smokestack Elizebeth Reed now..
You mentioned using an attenuator for your tweed clone. I recently got a Hot Rod Deluxe and holy shit is it loud, especially in the house. The major downfall I have found is the HUGE amount of volume you get between 0-2 and you don’t really get that cool tube amp sound at low volume. Someone told me about this “magic knob” that goes into the effects loop and works as a master volume. You can turn your volume all the way up, drive all the way or whatever you want, then turn this “magic knob” to whatever volume you want and it is awesome. Got it for $25 on ETSY. It’s called Dr Watson’s Lion Tamer and it’s 11/10 genius
I ran through a 1969 Super Reverb for over 20 years and loved every minute. Had it converted to Blackface as well. Just an absolute monster. No need for 40 watts any more and let it go 5-6 years ago. Traded for a couple of smaller amps that are much more tolerable at home.
I have all three of the slides you have in the video, I have a tapered brass slide that I cut down shorter and is the one I use the most. I thought it was cool that we have the same three slides though. Thanks, one day I’ll do a gear video as well. It will be a fairly lengthy video and that’s probably why I haven’t done it yet. lol… 🎸🤓🌎☮️👍
110% my mentality with guitar tone too... You'll laugh, but I have 3 dialed in presets into my Boss Katana Artist combo.. [insert condescending snickers] that work for 99% of my playing. Everything else tone wise is accomplished with my volume/tone knobs and pickup selector. It really helps me focus on playing and not ""tone chasing". Love your playing/phrasing and tones.. keep up the cool content. Subscribed! 🍻
Seet rig! I have a pair of those Eminence Alessandro 12" speakers in a pine Mojotone 2x12 cab. It's powered by a Dr.Z Therapy head which is his version of a low power tweed twin. I'll keep an eye out for a Creamback. Sounds like an interesting mix. Thanks for sharing your world with us. Love all the music you're making.
Hi Dylan! Im a follower since the Rhett video. I’m not a slide player but of course love to hear it. When I watch and listen to you I just don’t even think about whether it’s slide or fretted. You are just in a place of pure connection and freedom to express what you want to say and it’s a joy to watch! I’m a short ride from Atlanta and have to make it down your way to check you and the band out live! Also, I know you’ve found your a sound and love the simplicity, but maybe Zach can recommend a fuzz pedal cause hearing you on slide with fuzz into a tweed amp would be amazing!
What a simple and reliable aproach! Great to See other players like you who still use real Amp cranked. I use mostly a vibro-champ miced with a two chanel drive like the Duellist, a Carbon Copy and a wha or a vibe from time to time.
Congrats on getting the Mule T style, no doubt it will inspire you to elevate your playing to the next level - so cool! I look forward to seeing how this inspires you.😀
Great video Dylan! I’m a huge fan of you starting very recently, i’ve always played blues and i saw that rhett shull video and you blew me away. i’ve been playing for 2 years, i’m 16 and i need to learn this kind of playing that you do so well. Someone sort of beginner slide/fret video would be awesome. but otherwise keep up the good work!!!
I had a 2019 LPJ Tribute and it was a very nice guitar. I was in search of that Leslie West singing tone. Then I discovered Eastman guitars and bought a P90 double cutaway. WOW.
Thanks... I'm enjoying all your videos that you are posting. You have real talent and dedication...thanks to Rhett for shining a brighter light on you. You deserve it.
Feel like our slide choice journey is similar. The JL is feeling a bit heavy these days. The 212 can fall too low and my pinky tip pops out haha. Thanks for an inside look!
Hey Dylan, I also found out about you from Rhett, so seems that video was a big plus for ya as you already know. Im on the back side of most of my playing these days, getting old ha, so not playing out or anything. Always been a fan of riding the volume and tone knobs, but, back in the day I played only Gibson humbucker guitars, and the 2 biggest problems I seemed to have were: 1 never being able to get a tone from my amp that worked for me on both pickups no mater what I did, sinking the neck down low as possible, going thru multiple pickups etc, neck was always to woofy, bass heavy, and if I dialed in the neck, the bridge was to wimpy, and :2 with the modern wiring my guitars always lost to much top end to be able to ride the volume much as I wanted to, and I was young and dumb, no internet etc, and did not know about 50’s wiring back then. So a question for you, are you using a treble bleed circuit in your guitars, or 50’s wiring to help with the treble loss? I see you seem to be same as me with the humbucker guitars, got to love ‘em, but do you ever try a strat or single coils other than p90’s, (I think my favorite pickup)? With your touch, and right hand control I know you would make a strat sing in the right situation, and in right songs. Love to hear you take a go with one, or even a tele. I finally broke down and forced myself to start playing a strat a few years ago, had to they sound so good in the right hands, but man, those things really put a hurtin on you at first ha, I always heard they fight back when you play them, and now I get it. Still struggling with it but I keep trying ha. Guess I better shut up for now, be nice to hear what your doing about top end and the neck pickup, take it easy, I will keep watching to see what you come up with next time, thanks for your time.✌
I know exactly what you mean about finding a setting that works for both pickups. The thing that works best for me is to set the amp on the brighter side with not too much bass so it doesn’t sound like complete mud on the neck pickup, and then turn the tone knob down on the bridge pickup to smooth it out. Tone knob never goes above 6 or 7 on the bridge pickup for me, at least for leads. Since turning down the tone knob takes away a little output as well, I have the bridge pickup a little higher and the neck pickup maybe a smidge lower than normal, but nothing drastic. It’s not perfect and doesn’t always work depending on specific pickups/guitar, but that’s the best thing I’ve found. I also tend to stay on the bridge pickup for the majority of the night, so I set the amp slightly leaning towards sounding better on the bridge pickup, but again I make sure it’s not complete mud on the neck for the occasions when I want to use it. In terms of wiring, overall I like 50s wiring for neck pickups and modern wiring for bridge pickups. Again depends on the guitar though, for example my R8 came stock with 50s wiring for both pickups and I’ve never felt the need to change it, but on my SG I tried 50s wiring and it sounded thin when I rolled the volume back on the bridge pickup, so I kept it 50s wiring on the neck and switched back to modern for the bridge. Tried 50s wiring on the LP Jr and again, too thin when rolling back vol, so I switched it back. Not sure what’s in the Mulecaster but it cleans up better than any of my guitars so I’m not messing with it. Never used a treble bleed. I’m not a Strat guy at all, love (traditional) Teles but neither have enough oomph for me with my setup playing with Smokestack. Hope all that helps, and thanks for checking out my channel!
@@dylanadamsguitar Thanks Dylan, yep, pretty much what I always had to do, and yea I was always pretty much a bridge only guy, only using the neck if I just could not get the sound I needed from the bridge. The mixing wiring I had never thought of before, will have to try that. I get the not enough kick from strats, why I never used them till now, just like the tone to much not to at least try, but man, playing the extra clean strat tones is tough, I give a lot more credit to guys that can make it work for them, not as easy as I had thought, ha. But one benefit I found was the ease of getting a good tone playing a clean strat sound, I don’t have to hunt and track down a sound I like near as much as I do from humbuckers. I never did the treble bleed thing either for ever, but out of desperation I finally tried it, think about it next time you are inside a guitar doing some pickup work, you may like it if you never tried it before, I only use it for the neck pickup. Thanks for the reply, really digging the thing you have going, your playing is top notch and fun to listen to, good luck with the channel and with the band. ✌
Very nice to know about your simple approach regarding your signal chain. I believe you would enjoy the Captor X or the OX with your amps, for sure. I have no experience with the OX but I have the Captor X and I am enjoying it very much for apartment playing #becauseneighborsdontknownothingaboutgoodloudguitartone
Hey Dylan..!! I’ve been waiting for this video.. Your playing is righteous.. and anything I can learn from your experience is welcome..!👍🏼❤️ I’d like to add that I know..all too well.. how it feels to lose bandmates… 😢❤️
Awesome video! Watching/hearing your playing which is quite inspiring (and looking forward to some slide tips as an old guitarist but novice slide guy) this makes me rethink my whole RJM switcher midi monstrosity... I do use the sounds but this is very much food for thought and fuel for a board consolidation!
Hi Dylan. Thanks for the videos - I have learned a lot and gotten my motivation cranked up :) I just turned 60 and my dexterity has noticeably waned and hand pain increased. Like most guitar players, I have picked up a slide now and then over the years, but never gained much mastery of it. Now I'm thinking if I want to continue to play when I get old, slide may be the thing. I started to work it and was getting results mixing in a few slide tunes with my blues band until I got cancer and the wheels kind of fell off everything for a while. Now I'm trying to get back on track and your videos have been like a cheat code, saving me some trial and error. I'm currently playing a 68 Deluxe Reissue, but thinking of swapping out the speaker to get maybe a warmer sound (I'm terrible at describing how things sound). So many speaker options out there, though. Did you have a favorite when you played a Deluxe? Thanks again, and keep playing and being true to yourself.
I'm sure you've gotten his request.... String gauge and set up for standard tuning? Do you keep the action as low as possible so you don't fret out but can still play behind the fret stuff?
Dylan, great stuff man. I use a Custom Deluxe as well. It would be great to see a video on how you dial in your amp since you doesn’t use drive pedals. Maybe address the following? Do you jump the cables or use a single cable out of the instrument channel? If so, which channel? How do you set the tone, instrument and mic levels? Do change the settings for different guitars? Anyway, that’s an unsolicited idea for a video. Keep up the great work!
I agree that slide material matters less than the feel and fit of the thing. I prefer ceramic and brass and I use glass also. The Rock slides are nice but I don't use much anymore because I switched from pinky to ring finger, so these are too small now.Looks like that was some expensive trial and error for me. Is that Mojotone speaker more or less a V30 Celestion clone?
This was a great video man. Very interesting and the pace and information flowed well through the whole thing. Longer videos like this tend to have dull moments but this one didn't. I'm a beginner level 51 year old dude ( been a beginner for 30 years lol). So your video was perfect for my demographic. Videos don't have to deal with complex topics to be good. Just curious, are cords just cords? Seems to be a lot of different ones, brands, sizes, materials. In your experience, have you ever had a cord that you thought "wow, this cord sucks or this cord is great"? Great video. Thanks for doing them. I know there's a lot of work involved with planning and editing and all.
Thanks so much! That’s good to hear because I was concerned about it being too long/dull. I haven’t delved into the world of cords much… as long as they’re not too thin/flimsy feeling and have Neutrik jacks or something similarly sturdy, they’re fine with me. Best of luck man!
Hi Dylan. Congratulations on your well-deserved success online! Thanks so much for putting together these videos. I know it's a lot of work, but the results are great. I have a couple of setup questions. Which strings do you use (material, gauge)? Do you set up your string height at the nut a tiny bit higher to facilitate slide playing over the lower frets? Lastly, do you prefer the Antiquity pickups over the 57 Classics in your SG? Please keep the videos coming!
Thanks so much! I plan on doing a guitar setup video, but I’ll say that I set up my guitars very “normal,” i.e. no real special accommodations for slide except using 11’s (elixir nanoweb). And I definitely prefer the Antiquities, much more articulate, woody, “old” sound for lack of a better term
Hi - Thanks for posting this video, lots of great info! I've got a sound baffle question for you. I'm currently playing a SF Vibrolux that has been BF'ed and I play my guitar straight into my amp and use the volume knob to get my clean/dirty sound. I'm guessing my VB is similar in output volume to your 5f4 Tweed super, and I was intrigued when you said the plexi glass baffle really helped in small and medium size clubs. I run my VB around 7-8 on the volume, and that can get loud in a small room. Like you, I don't like blasting out the band with my amp stage volume, so I've been thinking of getting a baffle for when I play those size venues. When I researched them I see they come in a variety of thicknesses. I was wondering what you were using, and if you had any recommendations on one that you found that gave you a good tone for stage volume while helping reduce the amp beaming for FOH and the first few rows of people in the crowd. I've heard from other friends that use them that the baffles can mess with the on stage sound, so I was wondering if you had found a setup that gave you a good sound on stage while using one. Thanks
Have you ever run your attenuator on the Super Reverb? I have a 1972 Silver Face and the back plate says 117 volts. I run it between 114-117 with a Variac and the tone and feel are elevated multiple plateaus. If you have not tried this I highly recommend it. Loving your channel and especially your playing!
Are you still using the Mojotone 59 Clone and Duncan Seth Lover pickups in the Goldtop? (now in September of 2023) And did you get the standard Mojotone 59 Clone or the low output 59 clone? They advertise both (both out of stock but I love the tone you got on a video I saw of Call Me the Breeze with Smokestack and would like to try the same pickups if possible. Curious also if you're in standard tuning when you play Call Me the Breeze? I love the tone you get on any guitar and I know it comes down to you being an amazing player with a unique touch, a great musical vocabulary and maybe a bit of tonal help from some pedals and amp but still I'm curious if you're still happy with those pickups in your goldtop. Thanks for any info
Thanks! For me the sweet spot is actually just every knob roughly at noon except reverb which is about 10 o’clock, sometimes treble and/or bass down to 10 or 11 o’clock. Almost always on the EV12 speaker setting, easily the most balanced and musical sounding one imo, and the “lead” setting for the boost. For recording clean rhythm parts I’ll turn the boost off and the vol way down.
