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VIEW OF THE DAY - ACOUSTIC GUITAR SURVIVAL KIT � by Dave Cleveland
I ’ ve been tracking acoustic guitars for years now . So I thought I would share a few of the items that I consider essentials . Some of these will seem obvious but others might be new for you .
Before I share these items , I want to encourage you to have a complete warm up for three things : Left hand strength and dexterity . Right hand finger picking . Right hand flat-picking . Just this last week I showed up for the session and found out the first tune was a complex right hand picking pattern . Guess who forgot to warm up ? Arrrgh !
So I quickly went to my old standby , Villa Lobos Etude 1 . That ’ s a great right hand warm up if you don ’ t have any in your memory banks . After a couple minutes of that , I was ready to go . It ’ s always worth taking time to practice
and warm up before a session or gig !
Here is a rundown of the things I take with me if I ’ m not having all my guitars delivered .
I always bring a great sounding , foundational acoustic guitar . My Olson or McPherson does mighty fine ! The second guitar I bring will be a layer type guitar . Either a high string , major third up guitar ( G # D # B F # C # G # high to low with extra light electric strings ), mandolin or bouzouki . The second guitar stays in a different range of the foundation guitar and brings a nice fresh color to the track . The third guitar I always bring is a nylon string guitar ( a . k . a . gut string or classical ) With these three guitars I can cover a lot of sonic space .
And now “ The List ”:
1 . Always bring a good tuner with fresh batteries or a reliable power supply . Just got to have that . Also , have a good tuner app on your phone in case something goes wrong .
2 . Have a great set of phones or in-ears that keep the click bleed out of your microphone ! There is nothing worse than having to replay something you nailed the first time to fix click bleed . The studio usually will have phones but their isolation and sound quality might not be the best . Invest in good phones . You won ’ t regret it !
3 . Make sure you have a good variety of picks . It ’ s amazing to me how much changing picks can change the tone and feel of an acoustic guitar . Without even moving the mic or having the engineer start tweaking an E . Q ., change picks . Experiment !
4 . This should go without saying , but have extra strings with you . Simple , but you can bring the session to a screeching halt if you have to actually leave to go get more strings .
5 . In addition to the strings , have a string winder and wire cutters with you to speed up the process .
6 . A very cheap tool to keep in your kit is a nail clipper . I find that keeping the nails on my fret board hand low make for much cleaner playing and better tone .
7 . Right along with the clipper should be a good file . I like the one that has four sides . The four-sided one helps take your right hand nails from ruff to super smooth . Once again , it ’ s all about tone . Experiment with what gives you the best tonal results .
8 . A great capo is a must ! Here ’ s a little trick . Make sure you put the capo on first and then tune with the capo on . Give each string a little tug and then tune up to the pitch . You should have great results by doing that .
9 . I like to have a slide with me at all times . It ’ s a great way to get yet another color out of your instrument . I like glass but experiment and find what you like .
10 . Finally , keep a humidifier in your guitar when you put it away . I find that keeping the guitar humidified results in a more consistent , balanced feeling guitar .
That ’ s my kit ! Make sure you get a good sturdy bag to carry all your accessories in . I use Husky bags from Home Depot . Great prices and extremely durable ! Until next time !
44 Jul � Aug 2017 CollectibleGuitar . com