Crazy 3rd Harmonic Of Open G3rd

[capmaster]

Don't be afraid, this is not a witching hour but about audible facts.

 

I think many of you know the Creedence Clearwater Revival cover version of the Dale Hawkins song "Suzie Q", and hopefully the full version, too. This topic refers to the chord sequences which are part of the full version only.

 

Since I heard this song first, I was fascinated by the sound of the open e minor chords. Short after string attack, the 3rd harmonic of the open G3rd makes them sound like there was a fretted 7th in the 5th octave. Sometimes it even makes the C major chord a C9.

 

I don't know but guess from tone that John Cameron Fogerty may have played his three PU Les Paul Black Beauty with Bigsby, neck and middle pickup selected, through a Fender Twin for recording this song.

 

You may find the yelling D5 overtone from the open G3rd in the chord sequences starting at 4'43" and 6'48", and there's also a feedback modulated with the whammy starting at 8'03":

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5l9vv_ccr-suzie-q-slideshow_music

 

This is how I got into this recently: Many of my guitars deliver this overtone at a level making it discernible but far less than the guitar used by John Fogerty in this CCR recording. Then I discovered that my newly bought Ibanez AR 720 blows it out in at least the same crazy manner.

 

It was a hair-raising experience. Similar to John Fogerty's guitar, on this Ibanez of mine open e minor always sounds like e7, and open C major like C9. She has no vibrato and no middle pickup which is in the maximum amplitude position for 3rd harmonics of open strings, but that would make it even more crazy I think.

 

Are there any experiences with specific harmonics sticking out on particular guitars?

[stein]

Yea, I get that kind of stuff a lot.

 

I used to play a lot of blues, and particularly on acoustic, one of the things about playing blues, is repetition. I guess a way to explain it, is rather than changing chords or notes in an effort to make it interesting, one tries to make what they are playing interesting by concentrating on the grove and the "tone" of playing the same thing over and over.

 

I find that every guitar has a little something, a little quirk or resonance here or there, that a guy can 'dig out', so to speak. But at the same time, they all have the same thing.

 

That is to say, usually when a guitar shows you how to dig out a certain harmonic, you can usually dig it out of any guitar you play after.

 

It happens with amps as well. In fact, especially with certain types of overdrive, the overtones are so overwhelming that you can't truly play more than 3 notes without it getting messy.

[capmaster]

Wow you have really thought this through.

Well, I just heard it out. This guitar makes an A7 or a7 with open G3rd an A4/7 or a4/7 with the prominent 3rd harmonic of the G3rd. I noticed that on some of my guitars, in particular my SG Supra, but it's not that prominent than with the Ibanez AR 720.

 

Magnetic pickups seem to transduce this D5 significantly stronger. This tone is less flashy in the acoustic piezo sound due to its higher overtone density.