NGD: J-45 standard

[livemusic]

EDIT: The original song has gone through a major rewrite; a new recording takes place of the original one. Disregard comments below about the recording. Only issue with the new recording is a glitch or two.

 

=

 

Over the past few months, I have been upgrading my herd, selling lesser models and buying better models. I have had this J45 for about two weeks. I really love this guitar! After 44 years of banging on geetars, I am new to the Gibson family and I am so impressed!

 

Here is the first song I have recorded on it. I am curious how this song recording will be accepted. The guitar sounds great to me but the vocal... I am recovering from the flu and I am struggling to sing this song... to stay on pitch and just SING, as I feel terrible and my head is stopped up. Haha, not so good for recording. But, here it is... it sounds SO emotional. And it is a very emotional song. Maybe this is over the top emotional? I wrote it over the past couple of days, somebody died and it really got to me.

 

I would love to hear comments, I can take it, I am a very "serious" songwriter, used to rejection.

 

Recorded live on one track, Zoom H4n handheld recorder.

 

The beyootiful J-45:

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=10407310

 

I think the J-45 sounds really good!

[HDdeuce]

thank you, Bill. Very heartfelt. Both you and your 45 sound very nice. You ARE a songwriter!

 

I am interested in your recording set up...a Zoom recorder? Does it have the reverb you're using? What is your room setting like? Are you and your instrument separately miked, or is this just the built in mic?

[EuroAussie]

Bill, i thought was a lovelly song. The J-45 sounded great, very alive with a classic J-45 tone. A little brighter than my SJ I thought. Great playing and picking. I thought your voice got stronger as the song went further, but recovering from the flue i can understand why its not 100%. Probably difficult to utlise the diaphram fully.

 

Thanks for sharing and enjoy your J-45 as Im enjoying my SJ.

 

Whats next, SWD ? :-)

[livemusic]

thank you, Bill. Very heartfelt. Both you and your 45 sound very nice. You ARE a songwriter!

 

I am interested in your recording set up...a Zoom recorder? Does it have the reverb you're using? What is your room setting like? Are you and your instrument separately miked, or is this just the built in mic?

 

I am blown away by simple recordings I do on this thing. It's on top of a shoebox on top of a table in front of me. The recorder ends up being mouth level, maybe one foot away from my mouth. I record to wav file. Import into (free) Kristal software. Add a bit of Glaceverb plugin reverb, barely tweak EQ, add some compression and limiting. That's it. The room is my bedroom, about 14' x 16'. I am recording this sitting on the edge of my bed, haha.

 

This is using the onboard stereo mics, NOT separate tracks for vocal/guitar. One track.

[Tennroots]

Hey Bill,

 

Very nice song, I can tell it is a very emotional topic for you. Keep that one, but when you get

on the other side of your grief record another one evoking all the good memories of that person.

Then I think you could sing it with more power and a smile on your face - I'm honestly not being

trite about this, I have lost loved ones and as time goes on our vision changes.

 

Peace,

Terry

[HDdeuce]

I am blown away by simple recordings I do on this thing. It's on top of a shoebox on top of a table in front of me. The recorder ends up being mouth level, maybe one foot away from my mouth. I record to wav file. Import into (free) Kristal software. Add a bit of Glaceverb plugin reverb, barely tweak EQ, add some compression and limiting. That's it. The room is my bedroom, about 14' x 16'. I am recording this sitting on the edge of my bed, haha.

 

This is using the onboard stereo mics, NOT separate tracks for vocal/guitar. One track.

thanks...I must consider one of these!

[E-minor7]

Fine playing, fine sound, fine song, excellent vocal.

 

Forget every second of that cold - it just makes it better.

 

But, , , why all this reverb. You only need 1/5 – in my ears without that shower you're really somewhere.

[livemusic]

Fine playing, fine sound, fine song, excellent vocal.

 

Forget every second of that cold - it just makes it better.

 

But, , , why all this reverb. You only need 1/5 – in my ears without that shower you're really somewhere.

 

Thanks. As for the reverb, I think my ears must be stopped up, since you say that, as I did apply way more reverb than I usually do, based on how much I turned the knob from my normal setting. It sounds fine to me but I guess it's too much.

[BigKahune]

.

I'd say you're pretty happy with your J45.

 

And it seems to be inspiring you to more playing and writing.

 

You can't ask more than that from a guitar.

 

Nicely done - tune, lyrics, guitar and vocal. B)

[livemusic]

The song went through a major rewrite; I edited the OP.

 

The rewrite is a more universal message/story. Also 1/2 step lower. I finally nailed the take but there are some recording glitches.

[Madman_Greg]

Here are my comments, please take them in good faith

 

The guitar sounds good, letting it breathe into the room space adds to the sound. But with the reverb you really cannot see what affect your room is doing to the sound. But I suspect you will get a more focused sound by hanging duvets (on temporary stands) behind you and behind the mics – trial and error I am afraid without knowing how the room sounds

 

If you have another mic, I would try recording the vocals through that using on of the mic sockets on your recorder, and using the recorder mics for the guitar, this is going to give you more control over the vocals when you mix. Or recording the guitar first and vocals after.

 

Regarding the reverb, suggest you try delay instead – a stereo delay (no feedback, around 10ms – 15ms of delay change to suit). Try it see what you think.

 

If you are going to use reverb suggest a small room preset and ensure the reverb predelay is set long enough so not to muddy the sound too much on the first reflections.

 

Why do you need a limiter, a small amount of compression should be OK. Music need to breathe

 

I won’t touch on EQ, but using a multiband parametric EQ will give you the chance to play with any annoying frequencies.

 

If you want me to mix you a few versions demonstrating different approaches, then upload the wavs to a download site and PM me the details.

 

If you want to learn about recording acoustic guitar, suggest googling ‘sound on sound recording acoustic guitar’ and reading some of the articles. Also do the same on google for ‘sound on sound recording vocals. A little reading will help you improve your recordings. Sound on Sound magazine is a great online resource.

 

Madman Greg

[j45nick]

Really enjoyed your song, and the new J-45 sounds great.

 

Which brings me to a question. I'm trying to find a case for my 1948 J-45. I was surprised to find that it didn't fit in what was supposed to be a "modern" J-45 Gibson Custom case at Guitar Center. I have seen slightly conflicting dimensions given for the J-45, and don't know how precisely those dimensions were taken.

 

Here's what I have for the "modern" J-45", from an unofficial online source:

lower bout 16"

waist 10.5"

upper bout 11.5

 

My 1948 J-45 is as follows, measured very accurately:

Lower bout 16.25" (16 1/4")

waist 10.875" (10 7/8")

upper bout 11.625" (11 5/8")

 

Any chance you could measure your new J-45, and provide these dimensions? Anyone else out there with a new or TV J-45 that could provide their own guitar's dimensions? I'm trying to figure out if my 1948 is slightly different. If it is, I'll never figure out why. I've owned it since 1966, and know its provenance.

 

Thanks,

J-45 Nick