Grateful Dead Music Forum

You've inspired me to finally take my Sadowsky J-bass copy into the shop to get the frets leveled and recrowned. I've only been thinking about taking it in since 2004 or so.

Capt Rosebuddy wrote:Also I'm curious we have knocked around the subject of Garcia's use of the Bridge pup in the humbucking setting, and I'm wondering do you just leave your bridge pup micro switch permanently in the humbucking position?

Yes ... the only time I ever run the bridge pickup single coil is in the second position if I want a very Strat-like "quack" tone, for Mr. Charlie or Blackthroated Wind. Even with the bridge both coils, it quacks pretty convincingly.

playingdead wrote:Tiger was originally equipped with Dual Sounds, he switched to the Super IIs in 1982. (When the guitar had the three creme pickups, those were the dual sounds.)

What does he have on 12/31/87 the ticket to new years video? (my first west coast shows BTW) It shows 2 black humbuckers and a cream colored SC on the neck.

playingdead wrote:I have the effects loop wired into the AxeFX using the two sets of outputs and the effects loop feature on there ... took a while to figure out, but it works correctly. Basically, there are two chains in my Jerry preset, one with effects only, and a second with the amp-cabinet-reverb. When you engage the effects loop on the guitar, the whole chain is in the signal path, when the effects loop is out, it's just the guitar in to the amp-cab-reverb side. I can help you get that happening if you want ...

I'll take you up on that help offer when my Jerry guitar is done (it has been delayed 2 or 3 months -imagine that).

NashvilleMike wrote:

playingdead wrote:Tiger was originally equipped with Dual Sounds, he switched to the Super IIs in 1982. (When the guitar had the three creme pickups, those were the dual sounds.)

What does he have on 12/31/87 the ticket to new years video? (my first west coast shows BTW) It shows 2 black humbuckers and a cream colored SC on the neck.

That was my first West Coast run as well! I thought 12/27 and 12/30 were the hottest nights. Tiger was equipped with two black "P-90 style" Super II's and the cream SDS-1 single.

There were also instances of the post-'82 Tiger having all creme pups, or 1 black and 1 creme Super II, etc. Color is obvs not an indicator of which model a pup is...

tigerstrat wrote:That was my first West Coast run as well! I thought 12/27 and 12/30 were the hottest nights.

I liked the 1st set from NYE (still listen to it) but I always remembered the 27th was a great night! Maybe it was because we were so happy to make it to the promised land and the land of G.A.? I saw the video for the first time in several years. There are some great shots of the fretboards and those nimble fingers.

tigerstrat wrote:There were also instances of the post-'82 Tiger having all creme pups, or 1 black and 1 creme Super II, etc. Color is obvs not an indicator of which model a pup is...

They still come in black or creme, seems not to matter.

They also come in chrome, bright green, pink ...

I wasn't suggesting that color had anything to do with it; I have a book called 365 which is 365 pictures of the Dead in chronological order. There are pictures of Jerry with the new Tiger (in mint shape, not for long) from 79-81. There's an early 82 shot where the white pickups were replaced with the black ones, and that likely was the first change to the Super IIs.

playingdead wrote:They also come in chrome, bright green, pink ...

I wasn't suggesting that color had anything to do with it; I have a book called 365 which is 365 pictures of the Dead in chronological order. There are pictures of Jerry with the new Tiger (in mint shape, not for long) from 79-81. There's an early 82 shot where the white pickups were replaced with the black ones, and that likely was the first change to the Super IIs.

Just clarifying that for less familiar readers, however I would surmise right along with you that the Super II's came along right when you said- when the creme were switched to black. That oughta make it about as clear as mud...

Congrats Vic,

Waiting is the hardest part! Sounds great and i am sure you must be quite pleased with the results. Enjoy!

peace,
AC

playingdead wrote:They also come in chrome, bright green, pink ...

I didn't even see that "colors" tab on the dimarzio website. LOTS of choices.

great stuff - nice axe too

I'll tell my Mass friends to come check you all out (if they haven't already). Hopefully you'll have a gig the next time the wofe and I are up for an O's/Sox game

lol - that would be the "wife" and I . . .

Looking at that lefty guitar got me thinking. I am a natural lefty but was a victim of the "Sisters of No Mercy" in Catholic school in the 70s who beat my lefty-ness out of me (though it has crept back in a handful of ways). I picked up my first guitar when I was about 11or 12 (it was my brother's) and had no clue that they made those things for lefties. I have always wondered whether playing righty was a hindrance or a help. Having your dominant hand doing your fretting instead has it's pluses and minuses. I believe Steve Morse from the Dixie Dregs is one of these mutants like me (of course, a lot better). My son is a lefty and as he gets older I wonder about this dilemma. Thoughts?

The first time I picked up a guitar as a kid, I picked it up left-handed. It felt natural to me -- and the guitar was strung righty.

I'm actually somewhat ambidextrous; my right hand is my dominant hand, my stronger hand, I throw righthanded, bat righthanded, swing a golf club or tennis racket righthanded. But I write with my left hand.

I think it does make sense to have your dominant hand do the fretting. The downside to being lefty is rarely coming across guitars to play or buy, not being able to try out a dozen Martins till you find the one that speaks to you, having to custom-order guitars and being stuck with the luck of the draw, so to speak.

God only knows how many guitars I would own if I was a righty, though. I was in a local music store recently, and the owner, in a pretty prickish way, was telling me he wouldn't let kids or students play lefthanded, he forced them to play righty and he refused to carry any lefty guitars. I told him, "That's a goddamn shame, because I'm holding a credit card with a $28,000 limit in my wallet and if you had a high-end lefty guitar here, I'd buy it on the spot."

The plus side is drunks at the bars can't play my guitar anyway, so they never ask.

good point about the drunks in bars

Looks like we have a lot in common - I bat and throw right, write left, play in an Dead band too, though I play guitar right.

That music store owner not only sounds like a tool but an idiot who missed out on a sale - forcing kids to do anything is a mistake - unless they want to play something like violin where your can't have someone playing lefty in the orchestra (or at least you'd never get a gig like that). I taught guitar for years and you gotta let kids find their own way or else they grow to resent music and that is a crime.

tcsned wrote:lol - that would be the "wife" and I . . .

Looking at that lefty guitar got me thinking. I am a natural lefty but was a victim of the "Sisters of No Mercy" in Catholic school in the 70s who beat my lefty-ness out of me (though it has crept back in a handful of ways). I picked up my first guitar when I was about 11or 12 (it was my brother's) and had no clue that they made those things for lefties. I have always wondered whether playing righty was a hindrance or a help. Having your dominant hand doing your fretting instead has it's pluses and minuses. I believe Steve Morse from the Dixie Dregs is one of these mutants like me (of course, a lot better). My son is a lefty and as he gets older I wonder about this dilemma. Thoughts?

I'm a lefty too. A public school teacher tried to make me write right handed, but my parents came to the rescue and put the kabosh on that. When I went to take guitar lessons in the summer after 6th grade, I first picked up the guitar left handed. The guitar teacher and I had a conversation about it and he offered to teach me either way, so it was my choice. He told me that since I didn't know how to play that I could learn lefty or righty, but that if I learned righty, I would be able to play lots of other guitars and it would be easier to learn by watching other people play. So, I learned righty. No idea if I would have been better off the other way.

---

Vic, that axe of yours is sounding GREAT in those clips!

tcsned wrote:I have always wondered whether playing righty was a hindrance or a help. Having your dominant hand doing your fretting instead has it's pluses and minuses. I believe Steve Morse from the Dixie Dregs is one of these mutants like me (of course, a lot better). My son is a lefty and as he gets older I wonder about this dilemma. Thoughts?

Some more lefties-who-play-righty are
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