Henry Kaiser demonstrates Neodymium GS Q-tuners

[kc7fys]

Henry Kaiser is awesome. Flat-out goes where nobody else will. Rock on, Hank!

[mario64guy]

Wow. I did NOT expect to hear "Outside Now" in this video. I don't like Henry Kaiser, but he can sound decent when he's playing someone else's music.

[darmp64]

hey,piss on jimmyjimblow72 and cuntnuckle..they don't count...that kicked ass...THANKS!

[SixStringHarmonies]

I love how his guitar has the True Temperament frets, like he needs to be perfectly in tune all over the fretboard....he is total shit, wow. This is the best I've ever heard come out of him

[jimmyjimbo72]

Even when he's actually playing something musical, he ruins it by looking into the camera like a smug cunt.

[Clutnuckle]

@jimmyjimbo72 i've seen you comment on a few of this guy's videos, and based on those comments, you seem to care more about looks and surface value than what he's actually saying or playing - he's confident enough to look at the camera and doesn't look away in fear? how terrible, how dare he have self-confidence and not look dry and academic! also, the statement "actually playing something musical" makes you sound inanely pretentious.

that said i can't really stand this electric guitar wank

[jimmyjimbo72]

@Clutnuckle Nice interpretation of what I said fuckhead! Look at the likes/dislikes bar. Look at some of the other comments. I'm not the only hater of this video and of Kaiser in general. We have the right to not like him!

Of course there's nothing wrong with confidence, but based on Kaiser's other videos he just comes across as an arrogant cunt. Sure you can just look into a camera to show confidence, but then he pulls those expressions as if to certify his own excellence.

[Clutnuckle]

@jimmyjimbo72 i am perfectly aware of how many people dislike him - pretty obvious that his bailey-esque pieces are going to be divisive - but i only picked you out of the lot, because, as i said, i saw you comment more than a couple of times. i never said you didn't have the right to dislike him. my gripe comes with the fact that your criticisms either involve how he looks or a very vague insult of how he plays. you have no idea what his facial expressions mean; your own interpretation is...

[jimmyjimbo72]

@Clutnuckle And how does that make me sound pretentious?! Most of his other work isn't actually musical. I have heard discordantly experimental music that works. His doesn't. It's my opinion, and there's nothing pretentious about that.

I've heard some of Kaiser's more traditionally musical stuff and he's actually good. I'll just never understand why he plays random crap, as seen in the suggestions bar, while seeing himself as groundbreaking.

[Clutnuckle]

@jimmyjimbo72 ... to assume that he is being smug and self-satisfying, which in itself is a pretentious assumption to make. you also seem to assume his facial expressions are him considering himself 'groundbreaking', which is a huge stretch. also, your opinion on what 'is' and 'isn't' music has no bearing. your opinions on what you like/hate are certainly yours to keep and i respect that, but all recorded sound for musical purposes is music/art, regardless of whether you like it or not.

[jimmyjimbo72]

@Clutnuckle I really don't see how such an assumption can be defined as 'pretentious', but never mind. Perhaps you need to use a dictionary?

And while I agree on the opinions part, I think that calling all recorded sound music/art is ridiculous. A sequence of sounds isn't necessarily music! That's like saying a phone's dial tone is a song!

[Clutnuckle]

@jimmyjimbo72 the statement "actually playing something musical" (which is what i said was pretentious) is pretentious because it assumes a high level of personal importance where you're the one who can decide what makes music and what doesn't. that is pretense - making judgments without anything to back it up.

also, i said for 'musical purposes'. a dial tone hits a specific tone/note, but it obviously isn't really meant to be consumed as music like this is, for instance.

[RogerBarrettLives]

Q-tuners are the best pickups of all time, flat out, because of the overwhelming harmonic detail that they produce, reproducing nuances in frequencies no other pickup could even come close to matching. They are the true hi-fi pickups I'd say. It seems they have closed their shop for now, but mention plans to reopen next year with a model 2 q-tuner that they claim to be even more of a revolution, and the first passive "smart" pickup, whatever that means. I'll get the version 2 in 2012 I hope!!

[BenSTBarker]

Where can I purchase these pickups from?

The site says they have moved. do they sell them online somewhere ?

anybody know?

[dumbhotguy]

Hey, anyone know what kind of neck Henry is using?

[DannyDesperate]

@dumbhotguy The neck is a 'true temperament' neck which evens out the anomolies present in making the conventional guitar play 'in tune' within the tempered western system. Sanden guitars and VGS guitars offer such instruments (and probably many more makers ..). They have been around for a bit. Can't help thinking bending notes might not be quite as smooth, and doing a quick bit of fret re-profliling is probably not a good idea either....?

[dumbhotguy]

@DannyDesperate Thanks Danny. I'm gonna have to check those necks out. Have a good day.

[blefusku]

i didn't know he was from a wealthy family...well, who cares anyway, so was snakefinger and he was fucking great. Anyway, i like his HC experimental/improv stuff much better, like lemon fish tweezer', 'five heavenly truths' or his work with fred frith or derek bailey, in fact he's made a great DB tribute CD .

[derglatzman]

Release your mind and your heart will follow

We all love Henry

[slugpumper1]

Musical Masturbation

[davidfoam]

To know Henry is to love him, if ya can't dig his sounds then that's cool just don't listen. I myself find him inspiring, motivating and a hell of a lot of fun. "Unbind Your Mind There Is No Time" - F.Z.

[abelashes]

@Luckysingh1guitarist

He's playing "Outside Now" from Frank Zappa's Joe's Garage album, a well known and beloved classic rock song and not super avant-garde and he is playing it very well. I don't love everything he's ever recorded and he probably doesn't either, but he has done some excellent, beautiful, innovative music over the years. I suggest The Mistakes, A World Out of Time, Re-Marrying For Money, and A World Out Of Time (which won a Grammy). This is a beautiful performance!

[DavidRavenMoon]

@Facehoal, my original comment was directed to the guy that said Kaiser can't play because he wasn't playing the blues. That's stupid. Even if you don't care for what he's doiing, he's a good musician. Blues is easier than what he's playing. And yes, I have heard those people, and judging from your listed age ,was listening to them before you were born. SRV could play more than blues. The point is even if you don't care for a style of music, you can't say the player sucks if they are good.

[lexo30]

@DavidRavenMoon Blues is actually very, very, very difficult to play convincingly. We all know the notes, but hardly anybody except proper blues players can play it like they mean it. But I agree that Kaiser can play. It so happens that he isn't a bad blues player, too, although he isn't playing it here.

[DavidRavenMoon]

@Facehoal

HA HA HA HA HA HA! Make it French Roast please.

That's funny. I guess that means you can't play a lick, huh? Such small minds on here. ;)

[OldRunt]

Rich guy with no talent.

[GilgaFrank]

@OldRunt perhaps you should search for his name on wikipedia then reconsider that comment

[carakenio]

Haters get out of here , or better go out there & stablish a musical career !!!

[flanguy71]

STOP LOOKING AT THE CAMERA!

[lazur1]

200 records, none that actually sound good, at least, not during the moments he's playing. Kaiser plays 2 styles: 1/ So weird it's not fair to judge, (Waddaya gonna say?: "It's weird"? It's -supposed- to be!), and: 2/Somewhat traditional rock & blues, when he reveals himself to be mediocre, at best. I envy the Kaiser family wealth that enables Henry to do as he pleases. I suspect he'd have starved to death long ago if he was "just a guy" playing that way.

[lexo30]

@lazur1 Got to disagree with you on at least one count: Kaiser's solo on the Golden Palominos' cover of Moby Grape's 'Omaha' is genuinely inspired. And the stuff he did with French, Frith, Kaiser, Thompson is pretty good. But I must admit that although I own/have owned four or five albums out of his massive discography, I seldom listen to the ones I've held onto. I do think it's unfair to blame him for being born into a rich family; it's hardly his fault.

[lazur1]

@lexo30 I don't blame HK for being rich, it merely explains why he can be full-time musician: No need to get a straight job, no danger of starving, no need to learn how to play, amps that cost tens of thousand of dollars. I'll admit the Omaha solo works, but I'll never listen to it again..it's note choices & vibrato are amateurish & out of control.

[lexo30]

@lazur1 You know what, I think you're right. This explains why, after my initial teenage enthusiasm, I have never warmed to HK's playing. It's because he's never had to pay his dues. He's always had it easy. I disagree about the Omaha solo only because listening to it now, it seems *too* controlled; I have never heard HK lose his temper and go fucking postal on guitar, in a way that I have heard Bailey and Frith and Hendrix and Clapton and Metheny and Thompson do. He doesn't need to.

[lazur1]

@lexo30 I didn't mean that he gets too excited or emotional. I hear little or no sincere emotion in his work, in the sense that i understand emotion. What I meant by "out of control" was that his intentions aren't accurately executed: Literally out of control, like oversteering and crashing into the wall.

[lexo30]

@lazur1 In the end, there is a fatal blandness and complacency about HK's playing, no matter how adventurous he strives to be. He knows, in theory, what adventurous playing is, but the thing that compels him to play like that is the idea that he'd like to be an adventurous guitar player. It's impossible to hear any real directness and rawness in his playing, because it isn't there. He's an OK blues-rock player with delusions of grandeur, isn't he?

[lazur1]

@lexo30 I work in a club that has bands every night.. i know a hundred ok blues rock players on the local scene who i'd place above HK.

[TheMinnesotaNice]

Frank Zappa biter

[superskwrl]

I'm sorry but the face he makes every time he looks at the camera makes me want to punch him.

[berserkerfunestus]

nice, Q tuners + true temperament!

[cheesicles]

the frets look sooooweiird

[aperfecttool2590]

@Kapteinar you realize this guy could wipe the floor with most guitar players, he's been on over 200 records for gods sake

[aperfecttool2590]

@gbc77000 his notes sound fine. and this dude is amazing. Also, he's been on over 200 recordings from ALL styles of music.

[DavidRavenMoon]

@gbc77000 Plus if you can do better, let's see it. Like Zappa said, "shut up and play your guitar" ;)

[DavidRavenMoon]

@gbc77000 John Lenon also said he hated reggae, yet he used it a lot. Yoko was an avant guard artist, right? You shouldn't take everything Lennon said as literal. He said things to make a point.

Good blues is great stuff, but all music has feeling. Blues has only ONE kind of feeling. There are a lot more. Blues is a big fad right now because it's fairly easy to play.

I'd rather listen to Deer Hoof than any blues artist, and I can play a mean blues guitar. Don't disparage what you don't like.

[bloodskulls]

Outside Now by FZ

[frankie28web]

great sound, great playing in honor of frank zappa... thanks a lot!

[RonPaulMountainBiker]

Sounds Great. I enjoy your expressive playing. I wonder if you like the q tuners better than other pick ups you've played and why or why not?

[panaeleous]

it is outside now..

[DavidRavenMoon]

@ schecterman123, the Feinten system is something totally different. It compensates for the fact that the strings are stiffer near their anchor points, i.e., the nut and bridge. Nut compensation is to fine tune the pitch caused by either the stiffness of the string (which makes it sound sharp), or because the nut might be cut too high. A zero fret usually fixes that problem..

Tempered frets correct the Equal Temperament's out-of-tune intervals, which allowed music to be played in any key.

[DavidRavenMoon]

@ Kapteinar. None of his notes sound out of tune. Do you even know who this guy is? He's a fine player. Blues is rudimentary music. You want to start somewhere? Lean some classical music.

[coffcraft]

I'd like to hear a side by side comparison with a Strat. No setting changes. Just unplug the guitar w/ Q-Tuners and plug in a stock strat to hear what the difference is.

[RogerBarrettLives]

Q-Tuner is a very open sound. Bright, clear, and biting, and I'd say it produces the most harmonically detailed tone from any pickup ever. A lot of tech went into them, not just the neo magnets. I'd like a version with Alnico 2 magnets, still keeping the unique design features from the original q-tuner, like air coils. Alnico vs Qtuner... Alnico sounds very sweet and organic, as alnico imparts it's unique tonal coloration, neo sounds more clear, but almost sterile. Alnico qtuners would rule!

[blackroseimmortal77]

@klohiq: Really reminds me of David Blaine (the rip take version, I think its just called David Blaine Street Magic parts 1-3) Hilarity

[damnbigfish]

i think that's some beautiful playing. Whats with the baarrf comment? Sheesh.

[pjsguitar]

It is Zappa: "Outside Now" from Joes Garage. Ike Willis sang it, and once played it on my guitar in my house.

[ovneb]

sounds alot like Frank Zappa

[schecterman123]

same thing with tempered frets tho. i dont bother with either. there a bit too much faff for me. And for not a massive massive differnce i dont see the need. I prefer a multiscale fretboard. Fanned frets play amazingly. Played a black machine F8. Geourgous guitar, neck was beautiful and the fanned frets kept intonation spot on. only problem will all 3 is price

[schecterman123]

yer but that only alters tring length, not the fractions at which frets are placed within that length. And buzz Feinten is only available as standard on washburns so its hard to get your hands on. Temperment frets handle the exact toality of each single note so you have complete and exact tuning throughout the neck. But both work well. Buzz Feinten is just a simpler design idea

[fakeplasticmeat]

Like this guy needs that. Ha.

[Donnerbox]

Seriously WHY !?!?!?

[hallaelementary]

BAAAAAAAAARF!

[xpidgeonx]

1) That's a sweet guitar you've customized there haha it's got a lot of character! 2) This video is further making me wanna get QTuners!, & 3) ANYONE on here who's commenting/complaining about this guy's playing needs to go jump off a bridge. Jimmy Page wasn't the defining idol for technical proficiency or spotless technique either; he got by on sheer emotion & was rightly deified for it. This dude is jamming out and in any situation that is to be greatly respected! Carry on!

[racerx3065]

@xpidgeonx i know your comment was two years ago, but ive just been watching some of this guys videos and, well, there are no words

[VonStoven]

Love the tone, hate the technique, but alas, he's enjoying himself.

[Nigey]

totally 'Outside Now' - I've been doin' Black Napkins, as i'm too shite to count the right time sig for 'Watermelon In Easter Hay'....

[rhabarberkompott]

what happened to the first fret ?

[special180]

he has a true temperament fret job. look it up on web, it's a great idea

[999manman]

The chords sound somewhat like Zappa's "Outside Now".

[SneakyNano]

hmm nice sounding pickups. Thinking about ordering the q-tuner humbuckers.

As for the playing. Sloppy and not impressive and i'm gonna quote the dude below...he acts like it's epic a big WTF!!! Wont make you play better :P

[woocifer]

Hey man, it might not be super awesome in terms of making money and being a big rockstar but the dude is rippin balls for fun. Yeah he looks all stern and stuff, but maybe that's just his playin face hahaha Anyway the worlds a better place with everyone playin in it. Hell he could be ranting about Michael Jackson or some bullshit. Instead he's givin' her the best he can. Not the best, but I ain't gunna give him a hard time :) You either! Do you play? If so, post stuff, I wanna hear!! :)

[obiefan]

holy shihatsu! that was AWESOME Frank sound...

[lute760]

Possibly the clearest sounding pickups I've ever heard.

[ugliestpartofyrbody]

Jezebel Boy by Frank Zappa

[llawfhionn]

It's actually "Outside Now" from Joe's Garage.

[eegor]

Great pickups and great tone. Playing was unimpressive.

[tagecaster]

Are the frets on that guitar angled? Like for intonation compensation or is that just the light in the video?

[Rallyen]

Google true temeprament! There's a guy called Anders Thidell who invented those necks.

[lidesnowi]

FRETS!

[port2belo]

your

beautiful playing

beautiful tone

and beautiful guitar

are beautiful.

it is sad these beautiful sounding pickups are so ugly. but they sound so beautiful.... i want the neck humbucker...

thanks for posting this video up for me.

[olgluefoot]

you can get black or white covers so you dont see the coils.

[Nikibelucci09]

Neodymium loaded pups arn't they? Neat!

[bigwighair]

awesome playing and sound!

thanks for upload, I have waited a while to hear these pickups :]