Early 1950s to early and mid-1960s Strats were wired with a "phonebook" style 0.1 μf capacitor instead of the more common and modern 0.022 μf and 0.047 μf.
He also prefers to not run the G and B strings through the string tree, and instead wraps them in a carefully locking way around the tuners this gives better tuning for less friction and a different tonality for the instrument. He usually leaves the back plastic plate off the back this helps with changing the strings faster, allows him to be able to bang on the springs and create feed back, and "sounds better that way"-likely because of less damping from the plastic yielding a more open tone. His vintage Stratocaster guitars are also modified to have the tone control wired to the bridge instead of the middle pickup.
For his clean rhythm guitar tone, he prefers the brighter nickel-plated plugs. He prefers the warmer tone of the brass plugs over nickel, chrome or gold-plated plugs for his lead guitar tone. He also prefers unplated plain brass plugs on his guitar cables, preferably the Bill Lawrence, or unplated plain brass George L's as a second choice. Speaker wires were soldered to the speaker terminals, not the connector-type plugs. The speakers used were very late 1970s or early 1980s G1280 80-watt speakers, which are similar to modern-day "Lead 80" speakers.
The cabinet contained four 8-ohm speakers instead of the original four 16-ohm speakers. Johnson used a 100w Marshall tube amplifier with E元4 power tubes (he liked the German brand Siemens made by RFT), with a 4×12 cabinet wired in vintage style series-parallel 8-ohm total load. He played with small thick picks, preferably Dunlop Jazz III nylon picks, which he also now endorses. He probably used GHS brand strings, which he now endorses. Johnson strung his guitars with pure nickel strings, instead of just nickel-plated. We just have to listen for it and be available to receive it." Equipment used kind of a gift from a higher place that all of us are eligible for.
Cliffs of dover guitar intro full#
While he did indeed compose "Cliffs of Dover", Johnson does not take full credit, saying "I don't even know if I can take credit for writing 'Cliffs of Dover'. The outro or coda then recalls the freestyle mood and timing of the ad-libbed intro. Drums are then added as the song settles into a 4Ĥ rhythmic shuffle verse accompanied by a very accessible set of melodies that, throughout the song intro, feature variations (octavations for example) on the main chorus. In the solo intro, Johnson does not adhere to any distinct time signature. Happy practicing."Cliffs of Dover" begins with an ad-libbed electric guitar solo, using techniques such as string skipping and hybrid picking. It's also cool for funky kind of stuff to hit some notes and also some muted strings for that really percussive sound (think RHCP). People have different ways they dampen the strings but it's a great skill to have. Then I use my picking hand to dampen any lower strings, so I let my palm rest on the E A and D strings in this case. So if you're playing the G string you gently rest your finger on the B and e strings (not enough to fret them obviously). I usually use my fretting hand to dampen any strings above the one I'm playing by letting my index finger rest across them. Generally speaking it's a really good skill to be able to dampen any strings you're not playing. It's not a serious flaw, it's one of those things we all work on forever. It's not as noticeable practicing quietly but it can make your sweet licks sound a little mushy if there is a boomy low note going on at the same time.Ī couple times a think you left the low E ringing while you were playing some high passages, also it's easy to bump an open string accidentally. The only thing I would say other than the fine advice you have already received is to be attentive of open strings that are still ringing while you play high up.