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Posted (edited)

I've been down the rabbit hole of electric guitars in recent months. My first ever guitar was a cheap Les Paul copy, but after learning some chords on that guitar, the acoustic has always been my home. I have just never been able to figure out what to do with the electric within my limited capabilities. I can't play lead, riffs, or anything like that. However, recently I got a cheap $25 ”amp in a box” style pedal, copying an AC30 type tone, and I realized I could play jangly and chimey electric chords over my acoustic songs. The sounds blended very nicely, and it brought some needed ”light” to my otherwise often gloomy acoustic songs. There are so many great sides to this hobby. Acoustics will always be my main love, but here is me trying to go electric on an acoustic guitar forum…judas… 😂

Lars

 

Edited by Lars68
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32 minutes ago, ruger9 said:

I remember when the guy in The Alarm plugged his acoustic into Marshalls.  That was their sound.

Ah, The Alarm what a great band that was, one of my absolute favorites to this day! They were such a great live band too. Spirit of ’76, both the album and especially the song with the same name are just fantastic.

Lars

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Posted (edited)
4 hours ago, Lars68 said:

Ah, The Alarm what a great band that was, one of my absolute favorites to this day! They were such a great live band too. Spirit of ’76, both the album and especially the song with the same name are just fantastic.

Lars

I saw them open for The Kinks in ‘85. And I think I saw them open for The Pretenders that same year too.

Edited by Sgt. Pepper
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An acoustic with a Dearmond magnetic single coil soundhole pickup was my first "electric".  If you go that route, there is not much you cannot plug into.  I have played through pretty much everything from a '55 Fender tweed to a Kustom bass amp.   Even went to piping through a Pignose.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Posted (edited)

Here is another one of my older originals in a new electrified version. Apart from electric and acoustic guitars, there are now also two organs, an e-bow, and some percussion 😀

Lars

RED DIRT OF DIXIE

From the Nordic winters when the lakes freeze
to the red dirt of Dixie 
and the Southern breeze

I stood at Hartsfield with a bag in hand
I arrived as a young man 
in an unknown land

Memories I gained 
between bricks and colonnades
Many have faded, most remain

Half a life now has passed
I sometimes long for those days
Wish I'd made them last

So many friends now gone with the wind
Maybe one day I'll see them
and find out how they've been

Memories I gained 
between bricks and colonnades
Many have faded, most remain

From the Nordic winters when the lakes freeze
to the red dirt of Dixie 
and the Southern breeze

Edited by Lars68
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Ouh, saw, , then forgot this thread. The first track is the best from your camp so far.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   The vocals, Lars, is without any 'weird-holes'* - you should regard this as a major achievement. 

 

 

                                                                                                                        *Assume no auto-tuner is in play - and will look forward to track 2 later this evening.

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Thanks guys, appreciate it!

Em7, no auto tune used, guaranteed 😀 However, countless takes needed to weed out bad vocals. I still can't sing, but I do have time on my side, to keep trying and limit the bad spots to a minimum. I have no deadline to keep. The basics for both tracks were recorded several years ago, with many edits since then…

Lars

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3 hours ago, Lars68 said:

Thanks guys, appreciate it!

Em7, no auto tune used, guaranteed 😀 However, countless takes needed to weed out bad vocals. I still can't sing, but I do have time on my side, to keep trying and limit the bad spots to a minimum. I have no deadline to keep. The basics for both tracks were recorded several years ago, with many edits since then…

Lars

Isn’t it strange that we only get to the place where we have lots of time, is when we’re running out of it!

As you know, I’m documenting hundreds of songs for my grandkids…and I rely on charts because my short-term memory sucks.

I practice a song for as long as I need to…..could be a couple days, or a couple weeks.   Then I can usually lay it down in 4-5 takes.   As you said, we’ve got a LOT of time to get the songs like we want.   

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17 hours ago, Lars68 said:

Here is another one of my older originals in a new electrified version. Apart from electric and acoustic guitars, there are now also two organs, an e-bow, and some percussion 😀

Lars

 

 

 

Well done on the vocals. +1.    

+1.

. . . and you showed fine restraint with the electric. 

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Thanks friends! 

I don't know if my songs are especially deep. I just write from personal experiences, observations, and pure imagination, whatever triggers creativity.

Lars

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9 hours ago, Lars68 said:

I don't know if my songs are especially deep. 

There is a rooom around your songs - they exist in an atmosphere where you as a host take care of the visitors. Now that a phase with in-pitch vocals is introduced, these guests will no longer go wow, he's interesting, but weird - they will find furniture, sit down, lean back or forward and listen. 

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Posted (edited)
On 6/24/2024 at 1:23 AM, E-minor7 said:

There is a rooom around your songs - they exist in an atmosphere where you as a host take care of the visitors. Now that a phase with in-pitch vocals is introduced, these guests will no longer go wow, he's interesting, but weird - they will find furniture, sit down, lean back or forward and listen. 

Em7, thanks for the long time support and help. I make music to please myself and more often than not fail to realize the sound I hear in my head. Your comment above means a lot and makes shortcomings, past, present and future, less frustrating. The phrase ”the journey is the destination” has never been more applicable than right now!

Lars

Edited by Lars68
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2 hours ago, Lars68 said:

Em7, thanks for the long time support and help. I make music to please myself and more often than not fail to realize the sound I hear in my head. Your comment above means a lot and makes shortcomings, past, present and future, less frustrating. The phrase ”the journey is the destination” has never been more applicable than right now!

Never was I in doubt regarding your path forward. I hope and am sure it will continue and generate interest and adventure for others as well. . 
 

                                                                                                                                                                      Listened to Red D of D - lots of atmosphere and again : Vox in fine pitch ^

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  • 1 month later...
Posted (edited)

My experiments of adding electric guitar to my little collection of acoustic originals continues. I want to keep the spirit of the songs firmly in the singer-songwriter camp, but feel adding an electric balances my otherwise easily monotone vocals and acoustic playing by creating a necessary sonic “distraction”. Below is a song about learning to appreciate the simple, everyday, things in life that I think works well with the electric. What do you think?

Lars


NOTES ON THE FRIDGE

The migrant birds are heading South 
as the first leaves are falling
On my back porch I'll be waiting winter long

Once I reached for endless skies
Now all I want is a cup of coffee 
and a favorite Bob Dylan song

No mountains to climb searching for riches
Only “Masters of War” as I do yesterday's dishes

There's a long and winding road
over the hills and past the horizon
It brought you closer to me

Bring the blanket, put your arm around me
A quiet life with the biggest bang
and there is no place I'd rather be

There is no buried treasure beyond the ridge
Only “Blowing in the Wind” as I read the notes on the fridge

Edited by Lars68
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1 hour ago, PrairieDog said:

Great imagery, a real “song.”… nicely done!

Much appreciated! As for lyrics, I think this is one of my better ones, personal yet universal, I hope…

Lars

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On 6/8/2024 at 11:51 AM, Lars68 said:

I've been down the rabbit hole of electric guitars in recent months. My first ever guitar was a cheap Les Paul copy, but after learning some chords on that guitar, the acoustic has always been my home. I have just never been able to figure out what to do with the electric within my limited capabilities. I can't play lead, riffs, or anything like that. However, recently I got a cheap $25 ”amp in a box” style pedal, copying an AC30 type tone, and I realized I could play jangly and chimey electric chords over my acoustic songs. The sounds blended very nicely, and it brought some needed ”light” to my otherwise often gloomy acoustic songs. There are so many great sides to this hobby. Acoustics will always be my main love, but here is me trying to go electric on an acoustic guitar forum…judas… 😂

Lars

 

Lars68 - better this way than chasing an electric guitar through a pedal that is supposed to turn it into an acoustic guitar.

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