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Yuval Group: Awaiting Authorisation Posts: 203 Joined: Nov. 2003 Posted: June 15 2004, 06:39 does anyone have an idea? richard? Back to top

familyjules Group: Members Posts: 1190 Joined: May 2004 Posted: June 15 2004, 06:44 I'm thinking it was his telecaster, but don't quote me on that! Jules -------------- I like beer and I like cheese Back to top

Yuval Group: Awaiting Authorisation Posts: 203 Joined: Nov. 2003 Posted: June 15 2004, 07:05 Thanks Jules Back to top

Satyagraha Group: Musicians Posts: 103 Joined: June 2003 Posted: June 15 2004, 08:52 Quote I'm thinking it was his telecaster No, it can't be. A Tele has a 21-fret neck (now they make them with 22, though); at the very end of that solo you hear him grab the 23d fret and bend it up a minor third. No way you can do that with a Telecaster (unless the whole solo is speeded up). -------------- Byrði betri berrat maðr brautu at en sé mannvit mikit Back to top

Korgscrew Group: Super Admins Posts: 3511 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: June 15 2004, 11:24 I believe it was a Gibson SG junior - the sound is certainly right for one, and it was, according to Mike, the main guitar on Ommadawn. However, we do still have the problem of that high F# - I'm trying now (25 inch scale hardtail guitar, strung with 10s) and I can just hit that note with a lot of effort (the string doesn't really want to go there!). Could Mike, with the slightly shorter Gibson scale length and lighter strings have managed it? Possibly...did he ever play Ommadawn live with the SG? Having 24 frets would certainly have made things easier. However, as far as I know, the L6-S was a later purchase - it's certainly not shown in the Boxed booklet photos (which we can only presume show his whole instrument collection circa 1976). It's sometimes hard to tell what guitar he's using as he does have his ways of making them all sound the same...however, on the parts of Incantations where he's definitely playing the L6-S, it has a more brittle sound. He does have a modified Les Paul Junior with 24 frets, but he says it was modified some time in the early 80s, which would rule that one out. However, he also says he rubbed the body of the Telecaster down to bare wood (it originally had a white finish) about 10 years ago, and yet, the Boxed photos show it with a natural finish, so I suspect that his 10 years is more like 30 in that instance! I'd say the jury's still out on this, but I'd side towards saying it's a remarkable bend on the SG, helped perhaps even by 8 gauge strings (I believe he usually used to use 9s). Back to top

Satyagraha Group: Musicians Posts: 103 Joined: June 2003 Posted: June 15 2004, 14:36 Quote it's a remarkable bend on the SG I've listen closely, and in my opinion, he's using a 22 fret guitar, such as the SG. When he releases that high bend, he's initially quite sharp in pitch, indicating that he's still outside fretboard range. I just tried the same bend on my 10 gauge strung Les Paul Special, and it's possible, but damn hard. You have to push it under the B string. On my 21-fret Strat (with vibrato-arm blocked) it's impossible. No way it can be done. Quote helped perhaps even by 8 gauge strings I thought super-light gauge strings were a newer invention than 1975, but I don't know for sure. -------------- Byrði betri berrat maðr brautu at en sé mannvit mikit Back to top

Ugo Group: Members Posts: 5495 Joined: April 2000 Posted: June 15 2004, 19:27 I may be totally wrong (as usual) about this, but I have an image constantly poppin' up in my mind of Mike using a slide and sliding it beyond the fretboard to hit the high F# in his final electric solo on The Bell (TBII, Live in Edimburgh). I don't remember where the heck I've seen this image, but I very distinctly remember him doing that, and also putting a great deal of effort in sliding beyond the fretboard!! So maybe this is how he also got that F# with a 22-fret Gibson SG. -------------- Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian Back to top

Korgscrew Group: Super Admins Posts: 3511 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: June 15 2004, 20:33 I can't say I've ever seen Mike use a slide. I know there's the section in Amarok where he uses one, and the opening to Heaven's Open, then of course there's the lap steel in the background of On Horseback, but he's never been a slide man really. Unless I'm very much mistaken, he never used one at Edinburgh, so unfortunately, I don't know where you've seen that image either! It's certainly not on the video, and wasn't caught by the BBC either... Hitting the F# is easy with a 24 fret guitar like the PRS - Mike often bends up as high as the G with it. There's a big inconvenience with using a slide just for occasional notes, and that's the fact that they're big, rigid tubes - put one on a finger and that finger can't be used for anything but sliding. Stopping them from slipping off can take a little effort as well - playing a solo like that at the end of Ommadawn would be very difficult (impossible? I haven't tried it) with a slide on. String gauges - it seems Ernie Ball was offering 8s in his custom gauge sets from the late 60s. I believe that Mike has tended to use Fender strings - he probably had 9s (certainly his usual). Back to top

Yuval Group: Awaiting Authorisation Posts: 203 Joined: Nov. 2003 Posted: June 16 2004, 02:05 Im at the office right now, but its weird, cuz I remember me playing the part I finale solo with my start, but i'll check when Im home again. Back to top

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