Low menace

Some days ago, I re-strung the Edwards Potbelly & spent some time hearing the Seymour Duncan '59s (SH-1) in action. These humbuckers  came default in the guitar & I plan to keep them in tact regardless of how they perform, for variety's sake. I have too many high output pickups, sometimes a different pickup type inspires different ideas.

From the manufacturer's website, we see that the SH-1 is a scooped sounding pickup for both the neck & bridge versions. This is what's documented but hearing the pickups in action is a totally different sonic experience. I have a high gain setting with excessive saturation & the SH-1s sound bottom-heavy, very suitable if you chug low notes for heavy music. In the neck position, it sounds clear with single note definition aplenty & sounds awesome for legato type runs. The SH-1 is famous for its clean & crunchy (Zappelin-esque) tones & will continue to be propelled as such. Only those who experience it in person will tell you that it's good for some other applications given the right amp & maybe some pedals to achieve a certain expectation.

My standard in heavy, palm muted chugging will always be Reinkaos (Dissection). I tried replicating this tone with high output pickups but couldn't come close enough until the SH-1 was factored in. For this album in particular, Gibsons were used (Nodtveidt was a huge Gibson fan) & looking at live footages with this tone in action, it's an LP Custom (black) through & through. We know that LP Customs were never equipped with high output pickups so the magic lies in the tamed output in heavy (almost back breaking) guitars. 

Pic: Seymour Duncan

Inspired

Flu, bad weather & very little indoor engagements so I watched some live Dissection clips online. This pic here is from their Live Legacy album, one of the few live albums I really enjoyed listening to. Both guitarists in the band played Gibsons; Nodveidt here with his Flying V & Norman (not seen but at left) with an Explorer. Their guitars were downright no frills & they managed to drive things through with maximum aggression. Find this very inspiring. I noticed there were many moments when Nodtveidt just focused on pressing heavy riffs to underscore the composition, his left fingers hardly moved.

So out came the RGD321 to help me live some heavy moments, not necessarily fast, just heavy crushing moments. I'm glad that I have a guitar dedicated for detuned ideas & one that sports a slightly longer scale length to minimize string tension issues. Note- longer scale length, not a longer guitar. I started out thinking that the longer scale length impedes speed but being me, I had to try one & be open to the fact that I might be wrong. I was definitely wrong. A guitar of this nature requires  adaptation & once your fingers are good after some playing moments, it's like playing another guitar. 

I ended up owning 5 longer scale guitars but currently, only 3 are residents here. 2 went to more deserving owners. I might just get one more once the right Solar model ships in & that won't be any time soon. 

Remembering Nodtveidt

One of the most respectable Les Paul wielding players in my books is certainly the late Jon Nodtveidt. This Aug 16th marks the second year of his passing, this memory is a tribute to the man & his music, I am not one to sympathize with his spirituality.

The final Dissection release (Reinkaos) was a downturn to many hardcore fans especially so when its two predecessors (The Somberlain/ Storm of the Light's Bane) proved to be landmarks in terms of music genre. What Nodtveidt did was respectable, the materials in Reinkaos proved to be commanding but many failed to see the man deviating from his past by choice, not because of some lethargic former life hauntings. Nodtveidt was also one who took time to deliver his solos, majority of which were down-tempo phrasings; there was no rush for leads, the man took his time.

On the night of 16th Aug 2004, Jon Andreas Nodtveidt was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head, lying in a circle of lit candles (sources stated the time of death to be disputable- he was discovered dead on the 16th but the actual time of death could have been earlier). It was a case of spiritual manifestation where a gnostic proved to the world his end time to be entirely his doing & not pre-determined by a higher power. A Satanic Bible was discovered on his person at the time of discovery but a confirmation by fellow band member (guitarist Set Teitan) revealed it to be a copy of Liber Azerate instead (a publication by the Misanthrophic Luciferian Order).