The Devil's Pint

The Devil and Me Blues - Pee Bee Guttenburg

"Me and the Devil Blues."

(download)

Fun with the Router

Today we channeled out the cavity for control panel. We drilled the hole connecting the pick ups to the jack socket and control knob. Carl is busting to get a sound out of it but if I learned one thing from Harry it's 'take your time'. Next it's finger board, notching the nut, cutting a control panel to retain the jack socket and soldering the electronics- then we can try some strings! That's Barry, my dad, holding the body steady while I route away.

Tuners bridge and pickup

Lovely day today. Got the bridge, pickup and tuners fitted.

Make your own Lap Steel part one

 or Did You Take Woodwork At School?
Yes it does look like a plank. That's because it is a plank - at the moment. Carl and I have been assembling the parts from the shopping list on http://buildyourguitar.com/resources/lapsteel/ today we got together to get the ball rolling. Its already been a long story, just getting a suitable piece of 'wud' could win Carl the Perrier for stand up comedy, but we're off!

Well almost, I've managed to get the tuners and bridge marooned at the post office sorting depot after losing the 'sorry we missed you' note. It's a tale which is Kafkaesque in itself. I missed the delivery so went to collect.
'have you got a parcel for NBB?'
'yes we've got the parcel here'
'can I have it?'
'where is your card'
'I lost it, but ive got id and proof of address'
'you need a card'
'How can I get one'
'you should have been left one, if you've lost it we'll have to re-deliver'
'I'm not around next week, so I can't sign for it'
'then we'll leave a card'......

Despite all this we staggered into my garage to 'cut wood'. Now, both Carl and I didn't do woodwork at school and it shows. Most scary, was the moment we both realised we had out fingers in Harry's enormous power-saw as we tried to get it to work. We managed it but neither of us may be able to play the finished instrument! After a fit of the giggles we managed to taper the head and cut out the peg head profile, which sounds tricky but is just 'sawing in a straight line'.
Next we need to carve a curved transition from the head into the body and route out the spaces for pick ups and electronics.

Folly - Chris Knott

Really like this little guitar tune by Chris Knott over at Strikes a chord on Posterous

Wrecked'97 on the iRig

I borrowed Charlie's leccy guitar and plugged it in for some iRig fun.
It's a bit of a train wreck but I love this little box!

Waiting on a Sunny Day

or Stand Back - Key Change

There's a bit of a lull with the Charmers at the moment - trying to get mick and keef in the studio at the same time is a nightmare! So I've been messing about with some stuff that we might do? i've always liked this Springsteen song so thought it was time to torture myself (and you) and sing an play. You might notice the subtle attempt to manage the key change in the middle...
It's in C and goes up to D.. chords C Am F C G repeat. awkward key change D Bm G D A E G D back to C

Ragtime in c

Posted via email from Northern Banjo Boy on posterous

Del Rio

It's not often I get audio from my brother Carl, but when I do it's usually quality. He's off on a shadows/spaghetti western trip here. I don't know if he's aware, but according to wikipedia, Del Rio is Texas border country and the setting of loads of westerns and No Country for Old Men. It fits the feel really well.

Posted via email from Northern Banjo Boy on posterous

This Land is Your Land

via AudioBoo

Posted via email from Strikes a Chord

Song Fragment in Key of D

I've been messing about with a descending chord pattern in the open G for a couple of weeks and today it's morphed into something which starts to feel like its got a verse and a chorus.
The chords are verse G/D/Em/Bm x3 G/D/Em/G/G/A.
Chorus D/A/D/G/D/A/G/D/Em/G/D/Em/G/D/G.

Now all I need is some lyrical genius from the Great North Strum to come up with some words!

Guitar and Capo

This is a bit of guitar in open g using the capo on the 2nd fret.

Crippled Creep

These are a couple of the odds and sods that have survived from the other night playing with Johnathan at the Toll Bar in Topcliffe. It's a bit of a pit of a place but its cheap and does have the advantage of having the Angel pub directly across the road!
Crippled Creep

Open G on the guitar

DGDGBD - thought I'd have a play about the the guitar in open g tuning, and I love it! It's really easy to take a lot of the stuff that you've learned on the banjo over. It's probably not the tuning for the determined jazz fan but if you're used to plucking a drum on a stick, it's OK.

Paris Texas - via Teesside!

Two tunes from Carl

Country Blues


Whoop Waltz


two new tunes by my little bro'

Two practice tunes

Been posting a few versions of Sandy River Belle recently, and without wantin to bore you here's another.
I think i've worked out the A and B parts now much more clearly, and I've also started incorporating abit of the tab from David's Clawhammer site.

I've also been working on the guitar and this is a little exercise form my tutor book using Dsus2 and Dsus4, I've just bolted on a bit of A and G!

Download now or listen on posterous

sandyriver310.mp3 (775 KB)

Download now or listen on posterous

dsus.mp3 (799 KB)

Posted via email from Strikes a chord

Three Chord Trick with added vitamin B7

Three Chord Trick in E

Inspired by Patrick's subway shuffle on the Daily Frail (which I can't do) I've ended up with this, which is a three chord trick in E (E,A,B). I'm finding the B chord a bit tough on the guitar as it the first barre chord that I've tackled.