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Personally I have no time for astrology, new-age healing and the like, as they are applying magical thinking to something with a concrete, quantifiable, often life-or-death outcome. But music is an area where I think there is room for a bit of it, as the worst that could happen is to play something that someone didn't like. If emotion is the only useful measure of the outcome, why not allow some in the process?
Put another way, I have an LP Studio and Fender American Pro strat (only bought this year too, I really had a midlife crisis blowout) which get little to no playtime at all since I got the PRS. I eventually traded up to genuine US made Gibson and Fender guitars after a few years of trying Squiers, MIMs and the Korean builts, but neither one of them quite has the 'mojo' of that little Vela, despite the oft-heard view that PRS are a tad soulless. I also owned a PRS Bernie which was, in truth, not much below the level of the Gibson LP despite being way cheaper. Shouldn't have sacrificed that one.
I know now that I got suckered into the whole thing about American-made magic, as there truly are great instruments at various price points below the American stuff.
Luck of the draw perhaps re my satin Vela vs the gloss Vela, but I have to attribute the difference to the finish, because the white one was really nice too, just sounded muffled in comparison. Had they not had a satin one there to try, I swear I'd have walked out with the gloss finish, I mean it certainly wasn't a duff example or anything....unless OTHER gloss Velas sound as good as my satin (I've only played two).....*can of worms*.
One thing that I've heard about velas (no idea whether this is true) is that they sometimes don't produce a harmonic on the 5th fret, when using one or other of the pickups (think the neck one, but not sure). Sounds like BS to me. Have you found that?
Or something like that!
Cricket is one of my main loves in life. Let me tell you once you believe a bat has 'mojo' you'll use it until it falls into 2 pieces, even if you are getting the bats free (as I do)...... And if it gives you confidence, that makes you play better....it's same thing really.
*An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.
Which leaves a little space for mojo, magic, emotion etc. How much of that you are prepared to accept is a personal thing and everyone is different.
My left brain (bottom) is near dysfunctional- top half is great. My right brain is totally dominant most of the time.
*An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.
I agree with this and I'm certainly right brain by default by this definition. But one thing I would say personally is when I've had the gigs flying in, as per recently when I have been in 2 cover bands and an original band the left side has well and truly taken over.
Then it's:-
Can it be set up quickly?
Is it reliable / does it stay in tune?
Can I afford to have it damaged?
Can I risk getting it stolen?
Is it light enough for a 3 hour set?
When you just need to get the job done in a live environment, mojo, romance and history become far down on the list. Practicalities like taking your '52 tele for a piss so you don't get it robbed come into play (or even worse, getting a tweed amp into a cubicle!).
Lacquer buffed with compound(the normal way) can feel very sticky when new. Re-buff with micromesh and you can get 99% of the shine with none of the stick.
Both look shiny to the naked eye, but would look quite different under a microscope. The compound buffed finish will look much smoother than the abrasive buffed one... any microscopic imperfections get filled with compound making it so smooth you get a suction effect that feels sticky
nitro guitars will normally feel less sticky as the finish naturally sinks/thins out. Sometimes this is confused with it being under cured. Sometimes it is actually under cured.
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Many sportsmen have all sorts of superstitions that if adhered to give them the ultra confidence they need.
Similar in the world of music with types of instruments and the mojo that goes along with it.
Google Neil Mckenzie
*An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.
Music and all the arts are greatly about "feel" - like an abstract painting.
It's unquantifiable but it is definitely there.
There is no room for spreadsheets in the arts.
Even in my brief teaching career there was a very high proportion of Physics teachers I ran into who were musicians. There seems to be a lot of computer programmer types and engineers on this forum as well - which are generally thought of as left brained type of things.
There are a lot of patterns in music, that seem to appeal to left brain type people.
Feel is very important as well. There are musicians who are highly competent technical players with very little feel, but I suspect that music is something that needs both sides of the brain to do at a high level.
Another thing to note is that a lot of great guitarists have been left handers. Hendrix is the most obvious example, but it's interesting that there have been several great players who are left handed but play guitar right handed - Mark Knopfler and Gary Moore come to mind. I don't know enough about how left handers brains are wired, but it might be interesting to study.
I know my strat certainly behaves this way on neck pickup selection, it's all a bit scientific for me tho....
http://www.strat-talk.com/threads/fifth-fret-harmonics-weak.353024/
Does kind of make sense. If the pickup is positioned at the node where the 24th fret would be on a 24 fret guitar, then it would be at the node. With humbuckers being wider, one of the coils wouldn't be under the node.
Many guitars have a re-sale value. Some you'll never want to sell.
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Pickups from BKP, Oil City & Monty's pickups.
Expert guitar repairs and upgrades - fretwork our speciality! www.felineguitars.com. Facebook too!