With a thankfully high frequency, amazing guitars pass through our rooms here at the Hall - some because someone knows I need to buy them, some to be lavished with love and attention to restore them, or modify them sensitively snd appropriately, and some because someone knows I will fall head over heels in love with them. This was a case of the latter category, and a thorough exploration of this instrument commenced. The man himself even put his trust in us to attend to a minor service issue - we are usually a little nervous talking to famous and successful luthiers as they can be a bit tricky, but that doesn't apply to Frank Deimel - he's the perfect gentleman.
The Firestar had been and gone - fun was had - there is little you don't get instantly about the Firestar. This Bluestar stood in the stand and stared at me for a long while before I began to understand it. Sure, the spec is up there in the stars; the thing looks good enough to eat, but it took a conversation with Frank to open the door to really understanding it. It took me back to 20 years ago when I was, for various reasons, living in a remote Chinese town. It took me a good few months to even begin to learn that language, but there is a mental door through which I passed where suddenly things started to make sense. Now I can warble away without calling your mother a horse. Now I can pick up this Bluestar with a set of sounds in mind, twiddle a few things, and there it is. Now I just need to expand my vocabulary.
So what have we got here? A series of short clips where I have set up the guitar with a sound, or an attitude in mind. It isn't a formal demo - you'll need a better musician for that, but it is an insight into its (not mine) capabilities. Also an insight into what I do instead of wasting time sleeping. This was filmed between 03:00 and 04:00 on a mild but rainy night in October 2022 while other posh guitars were being photographed for this website.
Let's begin with the fundamental signal path. I am on my own on a stool with the guitar plugged into a Blackstar Series One 100W with its 4x12 and a line into the Focusrite. Recording on 3 tracks in ProTools, one mono with Pro Multiband Dynamics on the 'Smile and Hold me' setting; a second going to the monitors with a tiny bit of ProSub bass octave; and the third going to monitors to let me close my eyes and pretend I'm in San Sabino Cathedral. For most people that's Reverb overkill, and I get that, but this was 03:15 in the morning, and I get to have things the way I want them at that time - you just have to suffer my fun. The really fantastic thing about this guitar, and specifically Curtis Novak, is that it is so dynamically responsive. I know the DAW helps with dynamics, but you don't have to fiddle very much beyond 'no clipping please' to just play as hard or soft as you want, and stay balanced.
Clip #1.
I have the piezo discs activated, the neck and middle pick-ups selected and the surf switch on. The volume is down to about 6 and the tone rolled off to about 8. Weiss and Thiele would probably not approve of this rendition, but a cover by Stacie Kent planted a seed...
Clip #2.
I don't mind admitting to adoring Roxette - that amazing sound Gessle gave us; very definitely not from the pointy headstock single Humbucker guitar he had on the video. I have always assumed he was recording that with a Rickie, maybe a Gretsch; but if it was the ES335, then let me know. It wasn't a Bluestar that's for sure, but the effect of the piezo in this guitar give me the vibe and make me want to bang out the rhythm track for that song. I am using the neck and bridge with the piezo on, and the volume down at 4, the tone fully up. Same Blackstar crunch setting and same 3 tracks. Half way through I switch to the bridge pick-up only. Preferred it in the middle though.
Clip #3.
I keep playing this 'version' of this song a lot - sorry about that. I start on the bridge pick-up with the piezo off - just volume rolled back to 7 and the tone back to 8. I bang on the piezo, then roll back the volume another 10%. Then knock into the bridge and neck position, then to the neck on its own. That piezo and reduced microphonic volume really brings out the high frequencies - it gives me the same feeling as a really nice Strat on neck and middle, but has the bite when picking gently. Right at the end I engage the middle pick-up which overpowers the effect. The output of this Curtis Novak DeArmond S Grille is hotter than the ones either side - it's like a solo switch.
Clip #4
This starts with the bridge and middle pick-ups on, the piezo on and the volume and tone down to 60%. I quickly switch the middle pick-up off. Taking the tone down to 50% just got to that sound I was looking for. Switching to the neck pickup in combination with the piezo, I was trying to allow the piezo to provide the treble, but let that neck warmth smooth out the tone. The neck gives a very different decay to the bridge pick-up - an effect that can be put to great effect (in more capable hands!)
Clip #5. This short clip was to find out what happens with a 3 pick-ups on, the bass cut and piezo on, and volume right down to 40% (tone on full). Will the ProSub find enough bass frequencies to octave? Answer was a resounding yes. Yes it will. Here's hoping Rich composes something with this at some point.
Clip #6.
Mark Leggett is one of my all time favourite guitarists - his work on Toy Soldiers is a big part of why I kept a passion for these things. There is a video of him playing a Teisco somewhere - mindblowing for me. Anyway, that explains why this chord progression is such a regular thing in my videos. What can {whatever guitar I am holding} do for that song is always one of my questions (regardless of what we are actually discussing!) Here I have the bridge and middle pick-ups on, the bass cut and piezo both on. My volume is down at 50% and the tone full on. I switch off the piezo when the guitar would need to come out of the background a little and let itself be more than just a synth line. I assumed the disappearance of that piezo sparkle would fatten up the tone without messing with the general level.
Clip #7.
This is the Mark Leggett thing again (AGAIN!!!) but with the bridge and neck pick-ups on and no bass cut. This lets me go harder at the strings, but loses the flat bottom of the depth, and therefore a faster decay - I can see Mark shaking his head at me.
Clip #8.
I have a few childhood memories of hearing sax players at one end of Bank tube station while I was at the other and feel very comfortable playing within the constraints of that kind of reverb. It makes Keith's stomach turn. I try not to do it while he's around. With the guitar volume and tones down at 50%, I start with bridge and neck pick-ups on with the piezo and no bass cut, then gradually bring the middle pick-up in, then the bass cut. That final change made the echoes sound like I wanted them to. With this kind of playing, I am caring less about the initial guitar voice, and more about how it echoes - the perspective it provides. Losing one of the pick-ups either side of the middle doesn't cut it - has to be all 3.
Clip #9.
That bridge pick-up obviously shouts TELECASTER at us, but this guitar feels nothing like one. Here it is on its own - no piezo, and volume up to 9, tone maxed out. This is the sound that gets all the other guitarists in the room look up and pay attention.
Clip #10.
This is what flatwounds on a guitar like this can bring out of you - except with you I am sure the playing will be far better; if not, solidarity brother... Putting a set of Thomastik-Infeld jazz strings on a guitar like this is something you do when you have more guitars like this. I would always recommend buying another decent guitar just for this very purpose. Slam it on the neck pick-up and bring in the piezo for a bit of sparkle on the overrun. Sorry if you hear this Lillebjørn Nilsen song ruined as much as you do - a very good friend (@thomas Tideman Holst) taught it to me many years ago and I have arsed around with it ever since.
Clip #11.
Flatwounds, however are rubbish for playing stuff on the bass strings... That bridge pick-up with the bass cut on can sound amazing - it retains its depth (the reverb obviously helps) and clarity. Just can't grip the strings...
Clip #12.
This is what the piezo is all about for me for this guitar for the mood I was in that late night / early morning. Bringing out the expressive highs directly and even more so in the processed signal as it swooshes away into the upper corners of the room.
This Bluestar is a dream, and the creator a genius. The guy who allegedly spec'ed it (Frank is probably just being modest here) was also thinking very clearly. To make the most of this guitar, you have to have a different mindset. This is not for the person who slams onto the bridge pick-up and plays willy-banjo with the bass player. This is a lone-wolf guitar - one that allows you to sack the band. If the design philosophy of a guitar always outdoes the player in terms of talent and potential, I reckon the better the music will be that is written and played on it. Guitars can change my life for a few moments, then become fond memories. This one has changed me forever. It isn't ever going to replace the other great guitars, or be the swiss army knife instrument, but instead open a whole new world for how you may be able to play and sound.
Comments