Hardware: cameras and guitars

FrankS

FrankS

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I'm watching a cool movie on Netflicks right now called, "It May Get Loud". Three pretty significant guitarists talk about the electric guitar. I see parallels between guitars and cameras. Lots of good music. The Edge, Jimmy Page, and Jack White. Jack is the primary narrator. He favors playing challenging guitars. He says that for him, ease of use is a hindrance to creativity.
 
FrankS said:
Jack White is like an FSU gear user. 😉
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Funny and just. JW started out with a crappy fiberglass Airline guitar played through an old Sears tube amp. Now there's a line of boutique Eastwood guitars based on those old Airlines, and soccer fans around the world sing the guitar riff from a White Stripes song. (I'm not sure this means we should hope for a modern Kiev 5, though.)

Just this afternoon I stopped into one of my favorite instrument stores and played a mahogany Kay archtop from the 1950s. Not a great guitar then, not now either, but it had a bright sound that has lasted nearly 60 years with no apparent major repairs. Jack White would like it. The string action had to remain high (i.e., hard to finger the higher up the the neck you play) to keep the uppermost octaves from buzzing the frets. Like the focus wheel on a Kiev, you have to work with the resistance.
 
whitestripes.jpg
 
FrankS said:
... Jack White. Jack is the primary narrator. He favors playing challenging guitars. He says that for him, ease of use is a hindrance to creativity.
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Haven't seen the movie yet, but I'm interested to hear how he defines "challenging". All guitars have their own acoustic personalities and cheap ones may have mechanical challenges such as high string action or uneven frets. The photographic equivalent of such a guitar a might be a camera with uneven shutter speeds or a lens that flares easily. One could get to know and work around those "challenges", and I've heard really good guitarists play great music on cheap guitars.

As a mainly classical guitarist (about as good as my photography i.e. plenty of room for improvement) I prefer a well tuned and set up guitar so I can focus (so to speak) on the music. I don't want the added burden of a poor instrument getting in the way of that. Like a good camera, the physical characteristics of a guitar add to the pleasure of playing plus the resulting sound. Its the same as with characteristics that we talk about here. So yeah, you're right about their similarities in that way.

Steve
 
I'm selling my seven guitars and two boogie amps after being sidelined (fifrty-year career) by focal dystonia. I hope to convert the resulting cash to glass.
 
FrankS said:
I'm watching a cool movie on Netflicks right now called, "It May Get Loud". Three pretty significant guitarists talk about the electric guitar. I see parallels between guitars and cameras. Lots of good music. The Edge, Jimmy Page, and Jack White. Jack is the primary narrator. He favors playing challenging guitars. He says that for him, ease of use is a hindrance to creativity.
Click to expand...

If Jack plays an electric guitar, that is ease of use. Tell him to try something hard like a Classical guitar. And not playing the single string junk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iX8tsA0N7E

It may not be RFF tastes, but try it. I'll send you the music, I tried it and gave up but not quickly.
 
Saw the movie several times, loved it. I came away impressed with White's passion for old blues; back to basics. Another enjoyable film similar is Clapton's Sessions for Robert J. The acoustic part in the last 45-50 min. is really good. Again, challenging one's creativity by working the basics with simple tools.
 
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