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Archtop Pickups
Q What kinds of pickups
are available that would work with my ’30s Gibson L-50 archtop?
David Foster
Alexandria, Virginia
A There are fewer options
available for amplifying acoustic archtops than there are for flattop
guitars. The most important question to ask yourself is whether
you’re in search of a true acoustic sound or a more electric sound,
which most people associate with archtop guitars in a jazz context.
If it’s the guitar’s natural acoustic sound that you’re after, be
prepared for a bit of experimenting—unless you simply decide to
use an external microphone. External mics work better with archtops
than they do with flattops because archtops project more and have
a less bass-heavy sound. Fishman Transducers (340-D Fordham Rd.,
Wilmington, MA 01887; [978] 988-9199; www.fishman.com)
is the only company I know of that makes a piezo pickup for archtops.
This passive pickup is integrated in a replacement bridge, enabling
installation without modifications to the instrument. Archtops that
use Gibson Tune-O-Matic bridges or units that utilize the same stud
spacing at the base could be modified with the Mike Christians piezo
bridge (Mike Christians Guitar Technology, 390 Northrop St., Bridgewater,
CT 06752; [860] 354-5150). Many players successfully use miniature
microphones (such as those made by Countryman and Crown) clamped
into one of the f-holes. These can either be used exclusively or
in conjunction with a pickup via a blending device (see Shoptalk,
February ’99).
If you’re craving a more electric sound, you should probably look
into a floating magnetic pickup, which mounts to the end of the
fingerboard. Many people swear by vintage D’Armonds, which are increasingly
difficult to find. Luckily, there are a few modern-day solutions
available. Archtop builder Robert Benedetto (RR1, Box 1347, E. Stroudsburg,
PA 18301; [717] 223-0883; www.benedetto-guitars.com)
has been marketing his own design for several years now, and it
has become a popular choice. Bartolini Pickups (2133 Research Dr.
#16, Livermore, CA 94550; [510] 443-1037) offers its 5-J, which
features the same dimensions as the original Johnny Smith pickup.
—Teja Gerken
Music Theory
Q I would like to learn
to read music and get a grounding in music theory. Should I look
for a classical guitar instructor? If so, should I buy a classical
guitar or could I get by with my steel-string?
Greg Weykamp
Denver, Colorado
A Learning to read music
is not as difficult as you might think. It just takes a little determination
and patience. One of the many available beginning classical methods
will serve you well. Find one with a chart of note names and placements,
such as the Carcassi Method (Mel Bay). You don’t have to adopt the
physical disciplines of classical playing if you don’t want to.
Just use the beginning scale, chord, and melody exercises (also
see For Beginners, October and November ’98). It will be a little
slow going at first—you’ll need to continually refer to note charts—but
you will be surprised at how quickly your reading skills improve.
Remember that the ability to read standard music notation is not
an end in itself. It’s merely a tool. Music notation is not perfect,
but it serves to communicate new concepts, open doors to fresh styles,
and provide access to music written for other instruments. Tablature
is also very useful and is appearing with increasing frequency,
but tab can include clumsy rhythmic notation and it doesn’t portray
a melodic line as nicely and as graphically as standard notation
does.
Some songwriting books provide excellent fundamental music theory.
Writing Music for Hit Songs by Jai Josefs (Writers Digest Books)
is a good one. You can learn a lot on your own, but a good teacher
will provide inspiration and answers while saving you a lot of time.
Jazz and classical guitar teachers tend to have the strongest grasp
of music theory. Look for one who will let you adapt the information
to your own style (see "Finding a Teacher," Private Lessons, September
’98).
—Gary Joyner
Copyrighted Songs
Q I have arranged some
copyrighted songs for fingerstyle guitar, and I would like to publish
them. I have requested permission from the songs’ publishers, but
I was turned down before they even saw my work. How can I go about
getting permission to use copyrighted material?
Dan Rohde
Muscatine, Iowa
A Unfortunately, if the
copyright holder won’t grant permission for you to publish an arrangement,
there’s not much you can do. You can record the pieces if you pay
a mechanical license royalty, but there’s no way you can legally
publish the printed music.
When you contact publishers, you should provide them with as many
details as you can. If they’re met with a vague, "I’d like
to publish these arrangements," they’ll most likely say no.
Your chances improve when you get specific: "I’d like to include
the song X in the book X, to be published by X publisher. We intend
to produce XX number of copies, to be distributed through X channels
in the countries X, Y, and Z." If permission is granted, you’ll
either need to pay a flat fee or, more likely, a royalty—generally
12.5 percent pro rata (divided by the number of copyrighted songs
in the book) of the retail price.
If you’ve created arrangements of a bunch of songs whose copyrights
are owned by the same publisher, you might try pitching your work
directly to that publisher. Perhaps they’d be interested in publishing
it.
—Dylan Schorer
Ground Hum
Q Last time I plugged
my Alvarez acoustic-electric guitar into a PA I got a bad hum that
could only be stopped by touching the metal end of my cord. What
could be the cause and cure for this ground problem?
Dan Drewry
Apalachin, New York
A Grounding hum can be a
devilish thing to diagnose, especially via the long-distance psychic
hotline, but here are some ideas. Virtually all under-saddle pickups,
including the Alvarez, are high-impedance devices inherently sensitive
to hum. First, make sure that the pickup and any wiring going to
its preamp are scrupulously shielded and grounded to prevent it
from acting like an antenna tuned to 60 hertz noise. Also check
to see if your strings are connected to a ground. Sometimes adding
a grounding plate under the bridge (which all the strings contact)
can stop hum. I’ve made plates with a thin sheet of brass drilled
for the string pegs and a ground wire going to the jack.
You will often find that different electronics in the total system—PA,
stage gear, etc.—have different ground references to the AC system.
This is why many direct boxes have ground lift switches, and some
older amps have ground switches (though these have been supplanted
with polarized two-prong or grounded three-prong AC connectors).
If you have a ground lift switch anywhere in your system, try flipping
it the other way and see if the hum gets better.
Another thing to try is going back to the PA console and plugging
directly into the board. This will eliminate the possibility of
bad wiring from the stage to the mixer. If the hum goes away when
you are plugged in directly, then it’s probably a club wiring problem.
PA system wiring takes a lot of abuse and should be maintained constantly.
Cables get crunched, plugs get reversed, amps blow up, parts go
bad, and hum just happens.
—Rick Turner
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