Thanks for the listen and kind words.
Tone’s a pretty idiosyncratic thing, dependent on your exact setup, but here’s what I used. Its one of my dialled in blues tones thats a keeper.
S-Gear software suite from Scuffham Amps. A software amp sim. Brilliant, with glorious tones to be had, and endless versatility. Surprised many more don’t use it. Recommend checking it out if you decide to add the software route.
So, no physical amp, like your Katana.
Guitar 》 Audio Interface》 S Gear.
For this one in particular, I’m using a Soldano based amp. A bit unusual I suppose as these are generally considered high gain beasts. However, some sweet bluesy tones can be found if you ‘tone’ it down a bit.
Gain around 7 oclock so it doesnt break up.
Bass. Plenty. Mine’s on full
*Mid around 6 oclock
Treble around 8 oclock
Presence on full
Level ( volume) on about 11 oclock.
I’ve got some Medium Hall reverb, and some delay
Dual Vintage Basketweave speaker cabs, with both mics 4" directly in front of the cone. Each speaker fully panned to either left or right.
( I mention this cos I dont think many realise the significant tone differences you can get, just by manipulating your mics)
Theres some other settings in the power amp phase - sag, high cut, frequency, etc which are peculiar to the amp.
For the actual guitar, I’m on the neck pickup - nearly always am for blues - and my volume, tone knobs are on full.
Hope that was somewhat helpful, and interesting. As I said, tone is a pretty idiosyncratic, and the result of the interplay between all of the above.
Just keep experimenting, ( like I do), and dive into what I imagine is a sizeable Katana online user presence.
Sweet sclay, had a real laid back feel. You were doing a lot without doing too much. Only thing was the ending was a little abrupt. I’ve just begun my soloing journey myself, so this was quite inspirational.
One original, the other, ‘Something’ by the Beatles.
The original is a I-vi-ii-V progression in B Major. So B-G#m-C#m-F#.
Hadn’t played in the key of B much before this, but I must say I’m becoming a bit partial to it. Not sure what it is - all the #s maybe - but its a beautiful key. This piece, I’m thinking B Major scale and triads. Got a few nice melodic lines going here and there I feel.
The other solo, from ‘Something’ by the Beatles is a beautiful piece by Harrison. Now, I will admit, I am no fan of the Beatles, but have always admired this particular song. Their very best I reckon.
The solo, apart from being exquisitely beautiful, is a great one to learn, and keep coming back to as skills develop.
Its short, relatively easy to get under the fingers, and contains a vast array of techniques that one can practice.
Anyway, had some fun this arvo doing these. Comments, feedback, tips etc welcome.
So glad I came back to your September post - these multi month gigs are freakin hard to follow. I think folks are done and then more tracks are added. I am sure life has become more complicated just because a few newbies dumped a load of stuff in a short time. But hey rant over.
Loved the B Major impro, like you I love this Key. Not sure what it is but it always sounds sweet, even under my clumsy fingers. Certainly show cases the work you put in on triads.
I’ve just gone back to PMT level 4 as I kinda got stuck there a while back. Your journey has been the inspiration to revisit from an impro perspective and not just strumming the shapes. Thanks for that…would have liked more as you were on a roll.
Man its been years since I listened and I mean really listened to Something. Never really popped up on my “solo’s to learn” path but again you provide inspiration. You make it look pretty easy but I am sure it holds some challenges. I am not sure if it’s my ears but something (sorry no pun intended) sounded a little sour around the 24 second mark. Just a couple of notes but as I say it might be me, so I better go check the original. So sorry that’s my dump and very minor. Either side of that it sounded sweet as a nut.
And I’m with the man from Brisbane. Keep doing what you’re doing !
Thanks for the kind words, and feedback.
Learning alot with these solos, improv, composing originals etc. Its where its at for me I think. Keen to hear more on this forum, from yourself and others.
Re Something. Ah yes, the 24 sec mark. The trickiest part of the solo I reckon.
I’ve got the notes right. However, they are actually out of key notes played here. The key being C, this little 6 note run goes Db-C-Bb, then E-Eb-D - so its like a Phrygian type scale run/sound thrown in there. Theres a b2, b3, b7 in the mix here.
Its the timing, dynamics, and touch that are a bit out here. I needed to go softer on each of the last 2 triplet notes, as they overpower the first note, which should be more pronounced. I miss the more pronounced slide too up to the E. Tricky to get all this right, and sounding OK. I suppose thats why he’s George Harrison . I think its these little nuances, and finer details that help make this solo a great teaching/ practice tool.
Thanks again.
Thanks for the explanation Shane. I was listening last night from memory, been years since I played the full album. So just had the OT on a loop and put things into perspective, That was pretty damn close sir ! I think the bend at the start of the section I mentioned may have fallen short but rest was spot on from what I could hear. Anyway it reminded me of what a great album Abbey Road is and that I should revisit more of their stuff!
Focusing a lot on fingerstyle at the moment and been a while I impro’ed, though a few solos being worked on. Should get off my butt and hit record more often !
Keep on the path, Shane. Your composed improv sounded wonderful, loved the feel and tone. Highlight could be what I think Justin calls a ‘crying bend’ and then followed by that releasing of the bent note.
The Something sounded good to me, though I am also not a Beatle fan so you might get away with this and that not true to the original. I’ll take your original 8 days a week.
dump and very minor. Either side of that it sounded sweet as a nut.
. I think its these little nuances, and finer details that help make this solo a great teaching/ practice tool.