most important part of Trey's rig - BAR NONE!

[cactuskeeb]

Is the type of pick he uses and the particular way that he grips it.  If you've ever crossed that bridge, so to speak, and shelled out for a couple adamas graphite 2.0 picks (and felt like a tool for shamelessly trying to emulate Trey, and I did for years and am now back into doing), you'll hate them right away.  Especially if you are as big of a doosh as me as to try and play them on the rounded corner.  However, you might notice that if, like me, you're as obsessively but inconsistently observant of details such as this, Jerry Garcia, who -- as we now know full well, Trey tried to emulate for the first several years he played guitar -- once explained how he uses heavy gauge flatpicks (the fender heavy's to be precise).  What did he say about them?  Well, it doesn't really matter exactly what he said -- the point however was to emphasis how the wrist is what should determine the upward or downward motion of the picking hand; in other words, the fingers of your picking hand should not be plucking strings; rather, it's all alternate picking with the wrist as your center of gravity, so to speak.  If you notice, Trey and Garcia hold their pick the same way.  What they do not do is pinch the pick between the thumb and pointer -- instead, their thumb and the *side of the pointer* form a kind of clamp on the pick which is crucial.  Make the thumbs-up signal with your hand, now gently lower your thumb straight down to rest on the side of your pointer:  now take your other hand and put a pick in between them.  The hardest part is unlearning your old picking style and trying this new kind of picking philosophy.  

Other important aspects you might want to mull over because I told you they were meaningful in some way:

Graphite does not bend.  It does not bend, people!  Think about that -- have you ever, EVER used a pick in your pathetic life that didn't bend at least a little?  Heck no, you haven't!

Graphite, even though it's harder than most metals, is light as a feather.


Future contributions of mine will include, among other things, the reason why you have to have a celestion blue alnico in your deluxe reverb.  I know, it's crazy, the speaker's only 15 watts and the amp is 22 watts.  It doesn't make sense at all.  Little known fact: tons of people have done this to their deluxes, they just kept it secret.  Another little known secret: the original ross compressor is not transparent at all, it's loud and it totally messes with your sound: when you turn it on, there's no compression, no effect really.  When you strike a string it sits on your signal like a big fat ass sits on whatever it wants to sit on, then it slowly raises up off of the note and the compression lifts from the signal and suddenly things are loud again (here's what you do to harness the fat ass to full effect: use your volume control to control what happens after the strings are hit, that is your sustain and feedpack control all wrapped into one).

I've got tons of wisdom to share.
cheers,
cactuskeeb

[Walker done done]

Cactus, cool stuff man - keep it coming!

One thing of note that you mentioned, though: Jerry & Trey did NOT hold their pick the same, from what I've remember reading.  JGar used the pointy end of the pick to pluck the strings (for specific reason, too), whereas Trey uses the rounded side.  I have a link to an article somewhere on my computer where Jer explains how he holds his pick (sounds like we may even be refrencing the same article) - I'll try to find it & post it.  I also will try to find the article where Trey mentions how he holds his pick, though it may be in an old mag I have.

Then again, I drank a lot last night so I could be confusing myself....if that's the case, apologies in advance....but I'm pretty sure my facts are straight.  :?

[strangedesign]

Future contributions of mine will include, among other things, the reason why you have to have a celestion blue alnico in your deluxe reverb.  I know, it's crazy, the speaker's only 15 watts and the amp is 22 watts.  It doesn't make sense at all.  Little known fact: tons of people have done this to their deluxes, they just kept it secret.

Interesting you mention this. Brian said he put a blue celestion alnico in Trey's Deluxe Reverb.

[strangedesign]

I might just go buy one and put it in my Deluxe Reverb. Anyone have any idea where the best place to be these speakers are?

[strangedesign]

What did you think of the tone tubbies? Are you getting the low end you were looking for?

[strangedesign]

I might just go buy one and put it in my Deluxe Reverb. Anyone have any idea where the best place to be these speakers are?

sure do, go on ebay, and buy one new for under retail. thats where my tone tubbies came from and I got them for about 50 percent off

* oh and strange I forgot to PM you about Tube Depot! It out of memphis and they sell super badass cryogenic tubes called Black Sable Tubes, dude my amp sounds like the hammer of god now...

I was just cheking them out. looks like I can get them for $250 - $280 a piece.  Ithink I am gonna grab one.

[strangedesign]

Cool, keep us updated!

[Walker done done]

http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/remembering-the-music/Nov-05/15094

Here's a good article where Jerry goes over all sorts of technique...I thought this was the article where he states he picks w/ the pointy end of the pick but I guess not (unless I missed it); he sure does do a lot of dancing around the subject of picking though!

[cactuskeeb]

Yes, that's a great article -- the best, in my opinion, if you're looking for the most articulate moments of Garcia's interviews.  Although, in rereading it, it kind of defeats a little of my argument above.  I see now that Jerry's thinking about the fingers doing the movement and articulating the notes, rather than the pick or the wrist.  And I can definitely see his point: check out the video on youtube of Uncle John's Band, Radio City Music Hall, October 1980.  

Strangedesign: I think you should get that alnico.  It's a nightmare to install, as you have to remove a couple screws on the board that the speaker is attached to.  See, the alnico only has 4 connecting points, whereas most other speakers that would fit a deluxe (including the Jensen variety) have significantly more holes for screwing it in to the board.  You'll see what I mean, but don't despair because the end product is totally worth it.  Just don't push the amp too much until you've broken the blue in (approx. 20 hours of paying).  Also, if you're interested, I've spoken to Ken Volpe -- the guy who wired and sold Trey the extension Bruno cab -- when I bought a cab from them.  He mentioned Trey as one of his customers almost immediately when I first talked to him on the phone: he was using Trey as an example of the most expensive speaker cabinet he's built, which according to him has four Blue's installed in there.  Anyway, that kind of defeats a lot of claims that Trey prefers celestion vintage 30s (which, for what it's worth, Ken talked me out of, thankfully, b/c I love the celestion g12s he put in there).  Ken's also an incredibly nice guy, and didn't try and sell me something that wouldn't work well with the mesa I am using the cab with, just to make more on the sale.  
cheers,
cactuskeeb

[Walker done done]

FOUND IT:

\"Guitar.com: Do you hold the pick the same way for both instruments?

Garcia: Pretty much, yeah, but I move it around all the time while I'm playing. I don't have a way to hold the pick — you know, an iron grasp. I constantly adjust it. I always strike the string with the pointy end. A lot of guys use the rounded shoulder of the pick because it makes it seem like you can play faster. But what you pick up in speed, you sacrifice in point. I like to have a lot of control over the attack of the note. By relaxing or tightening up your grip on the pick, you can get a lot of change in touch, coloration, and harmonic content. With acoustic guitar, that's one of the ways you can really color your playing. I use a real thick pick, one with absolute zero flexibility. It's like a stick.\"

There are 2 interviews on this page, and this quote comes from the 2nd one, about half-way through.  Great stuff; if you haven't read these, do so, the dude is a fucking genius and a blast to listen (or read...) to:

http://members.tripod.com/malfalfa1/garciainterview.htm

[cactuskeeb]

Jerry: I don't know about a plan. I don't know whether it cares to express itself that way or even if matters such as developmental constructs along time have any relevance to this particular God point of view. It may be a steady-state God that exists out beyond space-time beyond our experience, or around it, or contemporary with it, or it may function in the moment - I have no idea.

He's so high during this whole interview!
Seriously, what is he even talking about in this quote.  

\"steady-state\" - ? :lol:

[Walker done done]

I personally, know exactly what hes talking about

Diddo.     JGar was the MAN at waxing philosophy and wrapping it into a tidy little ball, IMO.

[Meat]

Hey, i'm new but i've been reading posts here for a while. Does anyone know which way Trey holds his pick when picking with the shoulder? Does he have  turned so that the pointed end rests against his index finger or turned so it rests against his thumb?

(I know this is a majorly nonessential detail, but I'm curious)

[Walker done done]

I'd assume he holds it inward, the other way just seems awkward and uncomfortable, but I don't know for sure... :?

[cactuskeeb]

That's actually a good question Meat.  And I say this because I myself often wonder which way the pointed end faces.  In short, I've never been able to answer definitively, even though I have archives of photographs that depict close-ups, more or less, of Trey's picking hand :lol: