James says it’s too much for him until he gets an electric (which I totally get) & that he’s thinking about an electric purchase soon:
So I’m just suggesting a good quality, good sounding piece of gear for him to consider… Love my D’Angelicos & just throwing it out there that it’s a good value IMHO.
Respectfully ----- Tod
Another thought - when in the past I was struggling with something that seemed to be impossible at the time (I’m thinking F Chord/Bar Chords) I’d put the guitar down for weeks/months/years in frustration… playing my first electric was also the first time I EVER made a bend sound good… just sayin’
Yeah, I’ve been trying to play ‘Hey You’ by Pink Floyd which has a different set of challenges to wrestle with for now.
I just don’t want to buy an Electric in case santa was buying me one for Xmas!
I’ll go and sit in a shop in the new year and buy a new acoustic (mines a bit big) and my first electric.
Having said that, not all bends are created equal. The Key to the Highway bends are on the B and high-E strings at fret 12 (assuming you’re playing the melody as Justin teaches it). The bends in Johnny B. Goode are on the G string at fret 7 – definitely more difficult.
To me it’s a no brainer – if you’re going to be playing blues on an acoustic, go for 10s with a plain G string. It’s so much easier, especially when you’re just learning how to do this stuff. Like BB King said to somebody (maybe Billy Gibbons?): Why you workin’ so hard, man?
Yes its a nudge not quite a full bend as its so quick, followed by single notes or double stops B and B e. And the whole thing is about the feel and timing. Would not even go there on any of my acoustics, including the Parlour. There is a reason Chuck played this as he did.
Simples.
Don’t know if you saw my thread about the Harmony amp I just got this week… it showed up the same day as a very large box that my wife says is my Christmas gift… then yesterday she asked me if I own a Harmony guitar… says maybe she picked the “wrong” gift… asks if a Harmony guitar would sound better than anything else with a Harmony amp… Hmmmmmm???
Not sure what she’s planning but she DOES know that I haven’t got:
a) An SG style guitar
b) A 12 string electric like a Rickenbacker (too $$$) or a Danelectro
c) A Fender Mustang or Jaguar
and now, she knows that I don’t have any guitar that Harmony makes - their Silhouette or Rebel guitars are both pretty amazing… and they’re made in the same factory as Heritage guitars (they’re both owned by the same company) in Kalamazoo, MI - which was the Gibson factory for years & years… lots of history with Harmony… I’m a total history buff, if I would have been able to afford to go to university after high school I’d have ended up as a History professor!
I believe that GAS is a perfectly normal response to all of the guitar related ads that are constantly popping up in my internet feeds… if I don’t succumb to it, it bothers me day & night!!!
Fortunately, I have a very understanding wife who doesn’t seem to mind as long as I don’t get in her face about shoes or purses… I tell her that she can only wear 1 pair of shoes at a time & her comeback is “How many guitars can you play at the same time?” I guess we both have a point!!!
I feel like I have got the technique down pretty well. I use three fingers and rotate from the wrist. It feels like there is almost no resistance on my Strat and I can do half or whole bends almost effortlessly. I can do a decent half bend on my acoustic, but it feels like I am pushing against a brick wall to get it to a full bend and not something that I could do in the context of a song - certainly not ten times in a row like in JBG. Even if you are rotating from the wrist, it is still the fingers that must be able to hold the bend.
SRV bent the heck out of 13s all the time. I don’t see the problem…
I do agree it depends on what and how you play. An acoustic with 12s, with enough practice, and select bends are reasonable. I can do the bends in the Wish You Were Here solo ok with 12s better with 11s and flat with 13s.
But emphasizing solo blues and bend heavy songs like JBG as @James_Liv wants to play and I agree, better off with an electric and smaller gauges.
I was waiting for this comment from someone, which is one of the reasons why I like to bend the carp out of my acoustic leads. Acoustic bends add an interesting boozy funkiness that I happen to like (they are good fun too!).
Don’t let other people’s opinions determine your playing style (no matter how mainstream) – If I had to play by the rules I may as well use my guitar as a boat paddle. LOL
I really want to string bend on Jonny Be Goode and Wish you Were Here.
JBG should really be electric but I’ve seen people play it on Acoustic so I was wondering if there was was a particular guage.
By the sounds of it I’m better of just trying to learn it on electric.
Clint,
Are those the carps that hang out at the bend of the river!!!???!!!???
In all my years of fishing I’ve never caught a carp… maybe I should try for one, land him, bring him home, put some suitable strings for bending on him & bend away!!!
The OP @James_Liv has only been playing for six months.
My comment was perhaps vague, but meant to give general advice … if you are brand new to string bending and are a relatively inexperienced player, an acoustic is very far from the ideal instrument to learn it on.
Here I go again hijacking another thread with an off-the-cuff, humorous only to me, comment.
@Richard_close2u, I hear you --you 'da man! if a player is inclined to ask about a technique, they should feel free to take a stab at it. Stick to the courseware, but experiment, improvise & stretch at least a few minutes every day. The end game is to find your own voice on the instrument.
I won’t disagree with that Clint.
A little taster of something out of reach to try it for size (am I mixing metaphors there haha) won’t do lasting damage.
