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Just read someone on TGP saying Kreisberg cuts his Pro Plecs in half - anyone know if there's any truth to this? And if so, which Pro Plec? 351's? and if so, has he always done this? questions,questions...
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09-11-2012 03:51 AM
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I think he just uses the regular ones.
Originally Posted by 3625
Something else that you might find interesting as well...
Kurt Rosenwinkel uses fender extra heavy picks and he uses sandpaper to take the gloss off to have more grip and more mellow touch.
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Cheers Disco, re Kreisberg: I thought that might be the case, just wanted to verify
re Rosenwinkel: interesting, does he just sandpaper where he grips the pick, not where it strikes the string? also, does he use the normal tip or does he use the round end, sort of like Metheny does? Kurt gets a unique tone with his pick attack, I think partly because it's up high over the pickup
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You can clearly see his pick on 3:10. Seems like a regular Pro Plec to me.
Kurt has used other picks in the past also - like Jazztones or Ultex. He uses the normal tip. He picks really close to the pickup and usually has the pickup set pretty close to the strings - he also has a light attack.
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The slightly weird observation I noticed when I saw him playing close up is that he dips his fretting hand into a bag of (olive?) oil in between numbers and wipes it all over the strings. He did it so much it was like an OCD!
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Yeah, I also read often he does that all the time.
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Almost, but not quite. That's 'Mojo'; quite expensive and hard to get hold of. Makes a world of difference, though. Can, at a pinch, be substituted with snake oil... Originally Posted by Foulds Jazz Guitars
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The sound of Kurt comes 90% from his left hand. Originally Posted by 3625
I was in a workshop that he demonstrated his legato technique.
He plays almost only with the left and he just touches the strings with the pick.
The pick is all the way grinded. That's what he said to us pretty much.
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re: Five Bucks - looks like a 351 to me as well, I've watched that clip A LOT, fave part for me is Gary Versace's solo, he's channeling some deep stuff there and the whole band is just right in it, from start to finish
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I think that's true for his legatto lines. But he used to practice always staccato at home and when plays more standards / bebp tunes where those legato lines don't make much sense he will rely much more on his right hand. And I think it's, as always, the combination of both hands. I don't think you can say his light attack on top of the pickup of only 10% of his sound...
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Statistics go wrong to! Originally Posted by jorgemg1984
I think that's true for his legatto lines. But he used to practice always staccato at home and when plays more standards / bebp tunes where those legato lines don't make much sense he will rely much more on his right hand. And I think it's, as always, the combination of both hands. I don't think you can say his light attack on top of the pickup of only 10% of his sound...
In this workshop, Kurt did this exercise: He played with his left only, then he just added the pick and he was almost touching the strings, really light touch. He said he wants a piano sound with the guitar. I've seen him solo, I bet he uses his pick more in the trio session
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Yeah statistics do go wrong
When he plays his own stuff he uses legato a lott but on his standards trio stuff he does use more staccato - I have some excellent 2000 Smalls bootlegs that prove my point
Back to Kreisberg and Pro Plecs!
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Pffft Originally Posted by Dad3353
Almost, but not quite. That's 'Mojo'; quite expensive and hard to get hold of. Makes a world of difference, though. Can, at a pinch, be substituted with snake oil...
Everyone knows the best mojo is Dijon mojo
Wes used to put it on his salami sandwich before playing
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When I saw Kreisberg last (again this was 3 or 4 years back) he was just using Fender picks but yeah he took a pair of scissors to them and cut them in half... which I thought was odd but it makes sense.
Sandpaper to picks is pretty common.
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^ I read a blog of a former student of Joe Satriani (not a jazz guitarist) who supposed did the same and chopped up Fenders. He also sharpened them on the carpet and I guess he might have ended up with a celluloid Jazz III'ish pick.
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Thanks Jake, wonder if he's still doing it or maybe just a temporary thing. Fenders 351's are a bit longer than the Pro Plecs, did you perhaps notice if he slightly trimmed it + I'm assuming they were extra heavies? Originally Posted by Jake Hanlon
In my quest for the perfect pick I've previously turned Fenders and Pro Plecs into jazz3 shapes as an experiment but went back to the 351
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Old school bass players would wipe strings with olive oil before gigs kind of organic fingerease, but have to wipe string down good with clean cloth after gigs or it gets funky. Originally Posted by Foulds Jazz Guitars
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they were probably extra heavy fenders yeah. Lord knows Jonathan maybe has changed since then. Players on his level are always looking for new things (part in parcel with the artist personality). I do remember clearly that he does it also to know when a pick is 'worn out' and disgards them. A pick that isn't chopped is a good pick and he cuts it, fresh pick. He often gives the ones he deems useless away to people in attendance who think they got a cool prize for attending. One of my students still has his "Kreisberg pick" he got that day that Jonathan came.
He also does do the olive oil thing which I just found silly. But again, whatever works for you :-). I honestly think it's just a psycological thing and would doubt it does much of anything for your playing
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Jake he plays fast as hell, I guess the olive oil allows him to always be on the top of his shape.... but maybe you're right, it's just an obsession.
I remember Metheny saying something similar about picks; he would buy a whole bag and try them all and just use a few of them. I use Pro Plecs and usually they also feel the same to me (except the last batch which had a small grip, which I hate).
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Well you don't develop the level of technique Jonathan has without being a little obessive about things.
I buy picks by the dozen or so and some are real duds and I just toss them. Others are great. Only reason I buy that much at a time is because students always show up and have forgot their damn picks (slackers).
They use crap picks anyway, give them something that at least gets a good sound and they realize that stuff matters (who would have thought).
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Is that a Mesa Boogie in the Five Bucks video?
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A stereo setup as ususal - tube (Mesa) and ss (Polytone)
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Was watching some other clips and its definitely chopped to ~jazzIII sized triangle. Interesting to see all the different preferences. Look at 2:50-2:58 in this clip where you see the whole pick:
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Thanks for your answers Jake, so to clarify: he was playing fenders chopped in half BUT also when a normal (351?) pick is worn out, he chops it and throws it away?
I found certain dunlop picks (plus other brands) can be quite patchy with quality control, the seams can be quite rough, especially jazz3's. Interested to buy a 1.5mm Blue Chip and see what that's like. Students and picks lol
Franky, I couldn't be sure when I viewed the clip, even think it might be a regular 351 shape but don't know. Considering Kreisberg's technique is so great (+music!) it's definitely worth putting under the microscope, not to try and copy but maybe to learn something that helps in some way.
Lots of guys here have been analysing Benson picking in detail, so looking at other great players makes sense to me
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His technique is indeed great. Another guy doing awesome staccato stuff is Lage Lund. One curious thing about Kreisberg is that he seems to anchor sometimes and not anchor others. He was one of the first guys who was able to have a 100% staccato sound with a soft pick attack and a lot of swing legato feel.
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