Steve Answers! Part III
Ardeshir Sorabjee
Do you find that learning other instruments such as drums/piano etc can make you a better guitarist, and make you approach your music in a more mature/different way? Thanks! 🙂 looking forward to the album.
Yes, it’s like a polo player playing hockey as well, the skills are different, but there is some transfer of ability that helps both skills. I play keyboards and believe it has always helped to visualize and organize thoughts on the fretboard. I hope I never approach music in too mature of a fashion…. I believe we are our most creative at age 3, before schooling beats it out of us.
John Guilmet
My question for Steve is: “What are your guidelines for getting great tone”? Besides the obvious “the tone is in your fingers”, I was wondering what his approach is to setting an amp for clean and distortion, etc. Thanks and great album, I listen to it everyday on the way to work.
With any amp, I turn the tone controls, one at a time, from 0 to 10 several times, in order to hear where they are changing the tone. Then, with the bridge pickup, see if my tone control on my guitar is making a difference. On some amps it doesn’t! I always try to get the midrange to be audible, and usually I have more mids and less presence than most players on amps like Marshalls. On some amps I have set the bass to 10, the mid to 10, the highs to 2, and the presence OFF. I can set every knob on 6 with the ENGL signature amp and it will sound great. Every amp has a sweet spot for any guitar, just a matter of finding what it can do best. What sounds good at low volume will likely be too saturated for loud volume, the power tubes need to be working to get the best, roundest tone. A guitar cord that matches the amp is important, some high-end low capacitance cables sound too thin for my ears, and I prefer the old school cables with ‘no squawk’ jacks. For clean, I can set my amp to slightly distort at full guitar volume, then turn down to 7 and play perfectly clean, which I prefer. For country stuff, that’s the only time to use a compressor inline between the amp. I always prefer all other effects (delays, in my case) to be driven from the dry amp, but returned to a separate, wet amp.
Luke Ferris
Hey Steve, when composing, how do you keep your playing fresh and interesting and avoid falling into regularly using patterns, chord progressions or ideas that you’ve used in previous works?
I don’t know if anybody does that, since the definition of ‘style’ to me, is the repetition of certain things. Try to write using keyboard for one idea, guitar the next, paper for the next, midi for the next…….start with a riff for one piece, with a melody for the next, a chord progression for the next, a drumbeat for the next, etc. Change up the thought process, and you will get somewhat different results. But, don’t be upset if your music has a recognizable style!
Daniel Miguel
Mark O’Connor recently recounted on his FB page that he approached you a few years ago with the idea of recording a somewhat classical-based record that would also feature Yo Yo Ma. That project didn’t pan out at the time. Would you be up for it now? I, for one, would love to hear such a record (as would most of your longtime fans, I’m sure) because I’ve always liked your writing style to that of a baroque classical composer (writing what you always aptly described as “electronic chamber music”). Matter of fact, most Dregs tunes (namely gems like “Night Meets Light”, “Day 444” or “Conversation Piece”) would work spectacularly if played by a string quartet (or even a larger ensemble). And I also recall that you and John Petrucci were planning on doing a record (or at the very least some writing) together many, many moons ago (circa 1998 or so, I think). Will that ever see the light of day? I remember your busy schedules being the problem back in the day.
Schedules are still the problem for me. Mark O’ Connor is such a superbly talented guy that he has a full schedule, and since I am a full time band member of a band that lives out of suitcases, that’s usually the main reason I can’t do all the cool things that might be possible. With John, it gets doubly hard, with his band, families, it’s hard to get ‘time off” to overlap. Like right now, I’m having ‘time off’ with 4-8 hrs a day for emails, interviews, plus practice, writing..I need a 48 hour day!
Dean Dynna
As an owner & lover of your signature guitar, one thing has continually perplexed & pained me…. the ‘thumb-wheel’ bridge adjustment. Is there an easy way to adjust it without either 1. loosening all of the strings, or 2. unsuccessfully & repeatedly trying to jam my thumb down there? Am loving what I hear of Flying Colors so far. May the Morse be with you…
It shouldn’t need too much adjustment, check your neck alignment (the truss rod adjuster is the easiest in the world to use). I loosen the string a bit if I’m raising the action, and use a small, flat bladed screwdriver to turn the wheel. Tune up and it’s done. Takes about 1 minute per try……..you have to play up and down the neck to see if you like the results, so give it a half hour total to find the sweet spot. Those well made electronic screwdrivers work fine for grabbing the knurled edges of the wheel, I find. Use 2, (one on each side) if it is corroded and stuck, but if the plating looks good, it should turn with just one.
Andrzej Janiak
Hello, Steve. A quick question: Have you and Neal considered working together in the future (outside Flying Colors), while recording your solo projects, for instance? Actually, it would be great to see you work together…:)
I enjoyed writing with Neal very much. So, hopefully. For instance, I’m a guest soloist on his new record.
Werner Slinger
Hi Steve, I’ve got a question. As you may remember I’ve set up my ENGL E656 rig like yours, but with one head, a MemoryBoy-Deluxe and a Volume pedal in the FX-loop. I once emailed it to your manager and you responded with the question if you could use my scheme on your website in the gear-section. Soon after that you switched to Toneprint-delays and my scheme never came on your site. The advantage of the memory-boy Deluxe is that it can be blend in very loud, so my fx-loop-mix on your signature amp can be set to app 20 pct wet and 80 pct dry, witch is a nice balance. But I like the Toneprints! My question is: If I switch to TC Electronic Toneprint instead of the Memory-Boy Deluxe, can I maintain the balance of the FX loop at 20-80 or will the Toneprint Delay require a 50-50 balance on the FX-loop? I sure hope you’re willing to answer my technical question. Thnx a lot, and see you in Brussels with DP later this year!
I’m not a Facebook person, until they do give me 48 hrs a day, so I couldn’t see that, but any scheme that gives you control is recommended by me. The TC is the best I’ve seen, so far. There is a DIP switch by the battery that gives you 0% dry in the mix in one position, and the familiar 50/50% wet/dry mix in the other position. So, you can do it whichever way appeals the most to you. I imagine you would want it on the default, 50/50, typical setting for what your setup entails. To me, being able to ‘kill the dry’ completely is a huge feature, plus being able to write my own setting!
Mik Smiff
Bit of an embarrassing one to answer possibly, but out of every guitarist there’s ever been, who would you most appreciate giving your new album the thumbs up???
Hmmm. Maybe Brian May, since I was thinking of him when I wrote the middle section of “Love”. Actually, none of us should ever pay too much attention to what others say, since there will always be supporters and haters…..pay attention to the audience’s reaction, plus what you feel inside when you play it like it should be!
Andrew Moag
Although T Lavitz has sadly passed, any chance the Dregs will tour again, perhaps with Jordan Rudess filling in (like in ’94)?
Yes, with my typical caveat that it’s more a matter of scheduling than agreement. Jordan is super easy to work with, and can do it all in his sleep, but we still need some time to do that. I will miss all the long conversations I’ve had with T on every drive between gigs, and his pure jazz approach to soloing. We always talked the whole way.
Rick Freeman
I have seen you since ’76. Saw you when DP in Vega$ this past June. You tried to throw me a pick. It went wide right. LOL! I was in the 4th row. In front of you, I do hope to see you with FC! Anything else planned with Sarah Spencer? Sweet lady. I saw, met and talked to her at your show in St.Petersburg Florida at the State Theater. Great show. I was leaning on the stage. Great night. You and I spoke a few times. You along with your group and family made it feel like a family gathering. Btw, I met your wife. She let me in to watch the soundcheck. She was like the next store neighbor. So down to earth. Love your music. Thanks for so many great shows!
Thanks for all of that. I can’t aim a pick to save my life. To get distance, I have to throw it vertically, and it curves unpredictably after a little bit. I’m a bit overbooked right now, so I’m going to be doing well to finish this year and still be considered somewhat sane. My wife thinks that point has come and gone. Anyway, look forward to getting back to Florida sometime to play!
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