Added: 3 years ago
From: nphony
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  • Hi

    Great work.

    I am a sitar player and would like to play fretless guitar. I am taking lessons on sarod.

    Which brand is your guitar and is it bass or acoustic.

    Thanks

  • @vns8268 It's from Godin. It is not a bass, it is a nylon-string 6-string guitar. They also make basses and a guitar-oud hybrid they call a Glissentar. I'm not sure at this time if I want to keep up with the guitar or get into sarod or something... But it's all interesting to explore. Glad you liked my first attempts. I ought to record some newer more worked-out stuff...

  • Sounds really good, I like it! :)

  • Comment removed

  • I hear country or rockabilly for sure.

  • Well, maybe by sitar-like you really meant more Indian-like... other Indian instruments, including violin-like bowed instruments, for example, do all the pitch stuff the same way; and yet, I think the buzz is similar to a sitar, though really more like an oud. I have also played fretless bass and that does not buzz like the fretless guitar does. But I get your drift. I think timbre, melody, harmony and more all go into what we associate with instruments and styles... cheers, Aaron

  • Has an interesting Sitaar-y sound. That must come from the "notes between the notes" if you know what I mean. Strange to my western ears but not unpleasant.

  • @stick2truth Thanks for the comment. The sitar-like sound is not because of notes outside of temperament, it is because of the buzz that comes from the softness of fingers absorbing some of the vibration just like the soft bridge of a sitar. A sitar will still sound like a sitar even in equal temperament, and when I play this guitar with a slide it doesn't have the buzz, it has a cleaner sound.

  • @nphony It's not the buzz. I used to have a fretless bass, I'm not used to hearing strings in that register on a fretless neck. Whenever I hear a sitaar the distinctive sound is from the "rocking" of the tone. You do a few things in this video that reminded me of it.

    P.S. I kinda like the dirty buzz/growl sound. It adds character to the instrument. :-)

  • @stick2truth Although I should add that some of my playing here could be considered to have an Indian flavor, and I'm somewhat acquainted with Indian music among many other influences.

  • @nphony That's probably it then. Thanks for responding. Good work and play your Stick more. It's not gonna hurt you!

  • Man that looks like fun!! I am so jealous!!!

  • its sounds very blue grassey (i know thats not a word) totally badass great playing aswell

  • he looks like robert fripp

  • Can you do any kind of bends with this guitar?

  • If by "bends" you mean smooth gliding of pitch, then obviously the answer is yes.

    If you mean, "can I bend strings laterally as well as sliding along the length, well, this particular guitar is nylon string so the effect of such bending is more subtle than with steel strings, but it can be done; however, there's rarely a reason to do that when you can slide along the string lenth.

  • Thanks for the comments! To be certain, the more I've tried to incorporate what I otherwise know about guitar, the harder it has been. This is certainly a different instrument. The buzzy sound is great for what it is, but I have failed so far to get it to sound like a regular guitar with more flexible pitch. Frets clearly are not just for pitch but indeed have an effect on timbre and sustain.

  • I'm imagining myself doing something more closely related to what someone playing an oud or shamisen might do...more melodic and less harmonic.

    Of course, this is all speculation since I've never even touched a fretless guitar!

  • As you can see from my playing, fretless is wonderfully melodic. Limited tempered pitches played on traditional guitar or piano are about as melodic as an old 16-color computer monitor is vivid and sensuous. But for pure melody, slide guitar is worth considering too. I'm not sure in the long run if I'll stick with this Godin or move more toward slide playing, mainly for the timbre. But I have yet to experiment with different strings and other playing techniques, so there's lots to discover.

  • I think a slide would ultimately be limiting for what I have in mind...it's sort of like playing with only one finger. With a fretless you can still play intervals, etc. which can't be done via a slide.

    Maybe I'll just buy yours if you want to get rid of it...HAHA!

  • This model is next on my list. I'm a little intimidated by the idea of not having frets...but seeing you play right after getting one makes me think I can handle it!

    Great job!

    (I can't believe how good this sounds unplugged!)

  • nice job, that is a great guitar, i hope to own one someday, godin makes the best guitars in my opinion. the necks feel great! thanks for sharing.

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