NICE!!!! Really well fought Soldier!!!! This one has some serious finger twisters in it and they go all the way up and all the way back down the strings forcing the hand to develop endurance. You may have noticed the Neo Classical Influence lurking about yet again. I must say soldier I'm very proud of your discipline. Pretty much every day a new Mission and a new Quick Lick. If every player had your kind of drive, everyone hear would have triple digit badges! So far, it's just you Soldier!!
Let's Debrief!!!
MEDALS OF HONOR


PINKY PROWESS You've gained serious pinky power over the past 100 missions. It's great to see you play with confidence using the weakest finger!

NEO CLASSICAL EMBRACE You have grabbed on to the Neo Classical bits in recent Missions and really dug in to it. Well done!

DEFT FINGER WORK NONE of these bits are easy. They are all high level drills and you are playing with style and grace. keep it up!!!
You just...
LEVELED UP!!!!!

Sarge


This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Oct 19 2019, 07:04 AM

I want to push myself to make the most of each practice day and sometimes it's a really big challenge to do both but there's also a lot of Missions and Quick Licks ahead! If I want to play Paganini or modern shredders' pieces, there's a lot of hard work for me to do but this kind of work is fun and I always happily start each practice session
I also noticed some of the students have become more active in their Bootcamp threads since you made the celebration post for my 100 Mission milestone. If I had any part in it, I'm glad about it!

I've been wondering for some time now: you mostly use a digital modelling profiler and you said you usually change your guitars but you also said you have one or two favourite that you keep, if I remember correctly. Do you have a favourite set of pickups?
I'm considering swapping the gold PAF set for an EMG MF set. I don't have a way to try these out first but I like the passive EMGs I have, so it seems like an upgrade from these.

Yeah! Since you cracked the TRIPLE DIGIT BARRIER things have picked up a bit which is great Lead the way Soldier!!!!!!

You are correct. If you want to play Paganini and Becker, you have a lot of work to do! The good news is that it can be fun just as you say!

As for my tone, for recording I primarily use OVERLOUD TH-U which is a software plugin. It's AMAZING. I have an 11 Rack processsor and I have a Hotone Ampero Processor. I use the processor devices for practice and Jamming. For recording, NOTHING is better for me than Overloud. The tones are amazing and the best part is that you can change the settings on the patch at any time. during recording/mixing. As for pickups, my two main guitars are both "Golden Era" Made in Japan, Ibanez RGs. Both are bone stock. Meaning, nothing has been changed on them. So I'm just using the factory pickups. I had a guitar with the Kerry King EMG set (81/85 with a 12 DB boost switch in addition). But I drifted away from ceramic magnet pickups and started to prefer ALNICO magnet pickups. EMG now makes a great set of pups called the 57/66 set which sound much more modern and open and less compressed than regular EMG pups. Here is a link to a European vendor.
https://www.thomann.de/gb/emg_57_66_set_c.htm
These are active and an more expensive than the EMGHZ pups. However, after years of swapping out various boutique pickups in different guitars, I came to the realization that the pups really didn't play as big a role in my tone as my fingers and my custom overloud preset.

Todd

I'm sorry for the double post here. I was in a hurry when posting the video.

I'm happy it turned out that way! I've learnt a LOT and improved just as much and I hope that the others can enjoy theirs as much as I do!

I'm ready to go to great lengths to accomplish it but even a slight progress I make is both satisfying and motivating. Mr Vai's theory book has been helpful too! I realized I need to push my legato and Econ picking a lot and I try to have a part of my practice designated for both.

It sounds like with digital profiling the pickups don't make a difference. I have a pair of EMG H3/4 in my SG and a similar set in my superstrat, except EMGs are Ceramic and Merlins are Alnico 5. There is a noticeable difference but I can't pick my favourite. I deliberately chose both after weeks of comparing many units. They are just different, I'd say. I had a chance to try out such MiJ Ibby, which was an amazing instrument. It was all stock and didn't need any swaps. My guitars were made in Indonesia and they needed this to come to life.
That EMG set you mentioned seems to be popular lately but I never liked the idea of worrying if the battery will hold for another hour. And the passives really are perfect for me

I did some reading too and I found out that the old rock guitars were often loaded with non-waxed pickup caps, which apparently cuts both noise and a bit of treble. I also learned that the first bluees guitars were randomly wired out of phase and that's where the specific tone comes from. It's all so interesting to learn!
Lastly, I agree that the pickups are just a tool and it's up to the person to make the best out if the instrument. I believe everyone should aim for developing their own tone, not copying it from a studio record. It's fun to imitate for a while but only for the while.

Well said!!! As we have talked about, "Tone" is a life long journey, just like learning the guitar is a life long journey. Things change as we change, our preferences, our gear, etc. I have owned several Indonesian Ibby's along the way, and many had the INF series of pickups which I must say did not impress me at all. At the other end of the spectrum, I've used cork sniffer (E.G. pricey boutique, small batch) pickups that are hand built/wound and cost $400 per set. They were quite nice. one set was a builder called HOMEWRECKER PICKUPS in Los Angeles, and also Lundgren Pickups (the ones used by Meshuggah and hand made in Sweden), some ceramic, some alnico, some active, some passive, pretty much everything I could get my hands on. It was great fun. So I've really tried just about anything I could get my hands on at one point or another


Every Non ibanez guitar I've ever owned, I swapped out the pickups to try something new. Every Ibanez guitar I've ever owned, even the ones with INF pups, I kept as stock. I did sell all the Ibbys with INF pups though. Eventually, I found that I kept reaching for the same two guitars even when I owned more than a dozen guitars. It was always down to my RG560 6 string (stock) and my RG7620 7 string (stock). So I ended up selling off the rest of them at various points and now I'm down to my fave 2 guitars where I started I do still have a FRETLIGHT GUITAR given to me by Rusty (the guy who invented the Fretlight) which is a very handy teaching/learning tool. But I don't record with it.


I record through my Iconnect Audio 4+ interface directly to OVERLOUD TH-U. The new overloud version has "Rig player" which is sort of like a Kemper type thing where they sample an entire rig at once. It's got every amp/cab/effect you could ever thing and the sound quality is amazing. They partnered with the folks at DV Mark, Brunetti, and Randall, to make spot on versions of some great tube amps. So my recording is all "in the box" as it's called (e.g. direct recording clean signal and doing everything in software.). What I love about it is the flexibility, to change everything at any time. I think back to the days when I used to record by sticking a mic on a cab and I don't know how I put up with it compared to how easy it is now to get great guitar tone, it was serious work to get good recorded tone back in the day and it had to be LOUD, or the tone just was not good. It's still a fairly simple thing to get good tone using the BIG IRON, get a tube head, 4x12 cab, shure sm57, dead center on the speaker cone, and turn it nearly all the way up. Many metal records are still done this way.

It's fun to "Ride the Lightening" But I'm happy to be able to record without deafening volume these days and still get good results

One thing I've added recently is using video FX from a Mobile Phone app called WERBLE (iphone only sadly). The tone on my latest collab was done entirely by the artist who wrote the song, a great guy named Hamin from Iran. He doesn't use any real instruments at all. It's entirely all software, he doesn't own a guitar. Then I put a lead track on it. So I sent him my direct recorded signal, with no effects/gain/nothing. He did a great job! There are so many guitar videos these days, I started using werble to give my guitar vides something to make them stand out. Here is the solo with a bit of video fx spice on it

Here is a quick demo of the last 2 drills in this mission. I simplified them a bit in order to make them playable for students. They are from a Ben Higgins song called "A SENTIENT FOG" which was a Blackened Metal Experimental collab. Enjoy!

A valiant Fight Soldier!! The last two licks on this one are very tricky. I notice you went to a clean tone and then even avoided tapping on the tapping lick. In the tablature for part D, the P and H you see are for Pull Off and Hammer On, as it's supposed to be a tapping lick. I didn't mention TAPPING LICK in the subtitle of the tablature, so I'll call that one fair game!
Let's Debrief!!
MEDALS OF HONOR
NEOCLASSICAL RABBIT HOLE You may have noticed the first two had a bit of a neoclassical vibe to them. You are adapting to these quite well!

THUMBLESSS It's a very powerful technique that allows one to play things that the hand may otherwise have trouble with. You are adapting to thumbless quite well also!!!

CRAZY PATTERNS The last two drills are not scales. They are not really even microtonal. They are written to be dissonant / grating/ abrasive. They went with a Black Metal style track and are very similar to Black Metal style soloing which is largely Atonal. You adapted to these as well!
In short, you got this Soldier!!!
You just..
LEVELED UP!!!!


Sarge


This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Oct 20 2019, 08:58 PM

You are right about being able to play without disturbing others. Though I know it's very convenient to have such option, I like the analogue rig too much to give up on it. I just play during the daytime when it isn't too much of a nuisance and it's good enough for now. Still, it's amazing how modern technology can allow one to create a studio-quality productions at home. This one and your other Collab video you shared sound both great! It's really tempting to get something that would allow me to make my own backing tracks but that will have to wait a bit longer.

For the pickups, I've decided to re-use the Merlin PAF I took stopped using some time ago and get a Becker's designed SD for the bridge position. I keep getting back to thinking about it. I go to work and I'm living a simple life. Playing guitar makes me happy and that pup was my dream, so I'm not sure how much it will improve but I don't see a reason not to chase my dreams.

The previous mission didn't indicate at tapping. One of the exercises had that arc that points at legato and I've tried to do it the best I could. The third exercise was a real pain and took me a long time just to get the sequence right. Much like the Quick Licks, I recorded that part during the night time, so I wanted to get it done while not disturbing my neighbours too much.

That original track is intimidating but also very impressive! It being irregular and not a pattern-based makes it 10 times harder than a regular drill! I double-checked today but I couldn't find anything that would indicate tapping in these exercises you mentioned.


This post has been edited by Adam: Oct 22 2019, 01:37 AM

If your rig works then it's a good rig!! You can always add home studio gear later. It gets cheaper every single year and sounds better every year. So not a huge rush, whenever it works out will be fine As for the pickup, it's about the same as other gear, you gotta do what you think is best for you. There is a lot of trial and error involved in learning about gear. So even making mistakes in gear choice, (not saying you are making a mistake) is valuable.

I went back and looked and you are spot on, the tab posted is not the same since I evidently re did the tab at some point, intended to replace it. After looking at the new tab, it's too complex, so I think I'll keep it as it is. The licks are inspired by the solo bits, but had to be a bit different. You are the first one to reach this far so I remembered doing some tapping and thought it must be part of it. It's not. The licks that are there in tablature are a close version. So any way you'd like to play it is fine Soldier. It looks like you have a good hand on it. The sequence alone as you mentioned, was nuts, so it's plenty hard as it is.

Let's Debrief!!
MEDALS OF HONOR

MULTIPICKING You have made great strides on multi picking. Doesn't even slow you down these days! Nice.
TRAVERSEORAMA All of these licks have wads of string traverse and you have gotten really comfortable and traversing all the strings and keeping string noise down. Double Nice!https://youtu.be/u99W4KFzmPc
ARP SHAPE That tricky arp/sweepy bit is tough to play no matter what. You play it quite well. Keep it in your bag of tricks and eventually, you'll be able to sweep it like Jason Becker. It just takes repetition.
You are ready for the next Mission Soldier! You just..
LEVELED UP!!!
Sarge



This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Oct 22 2019, 10:05 PM

That is true. With new versions, the old ones are sold out, etc. I'll have to change my plans, though. My RG needs a luthier's touch and change the nut in LP and maybe lower the action too, while at it and I don't know how much it would cost in total.

I'm posting the Bootcamp video now and I'll spend some more time with the Quick Licks. It's embarrassing but I have zero concentration and lose count of the repetitions in there, so it may take longer than expected.

Well Fought! This one is packed with tricky bits but you seem to be having less and less trouble with the tricky parts! Each Mission gives you the skills to take the next Mission. You are on a roll!
The prices for every Luthier can vary. You'd have to take your axes to your luthier to get an estimate. One thing I found was that lighter gauge strings worked way better for me than heavy gauge strings and I switched to yngwie sets which are pretty light. Better on bending/vibrato/etc.

Let's Debrief!
MEDALS OF HONOR
CLEAN KILL Not a miss in sight. Hitting every target note. Memorizing every pattern. Nice!
HEAD SHOT Precision is the key and that's what you got. Keep it tight!
QUIET AS DEATH String noise kills. None here! Keeping the mute on point. You killed it Soldier and..

LEVELED UP!!
Sarge


This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Oct 24 2019, 04:38 AM

Econ Picking is still giving me a hard time but it's now much easier than when I first tried it.

You are the first person I've met who not only knows there is such strings set exists but also uses it! I mixed two sets once to try it and it was golden! I tuned a guitar half-step down then and I had a great time with those! People can say a lot about Yngvie but can't deny he can design a good stuff! The luthier I'll be going to has very good opinions online and he sent me an approximate price list for what I'll ask him to do (he'll estimate it himself when I go to see him). I can choose a bone, brass or graph nut and I'm considering the brass one. I'll consult it with him too, probably, before making my choice. People who were got service from him say he's a wonder-maker and my guitars were never adjusted, so that may improve a lot for me

You are learning in the field Soldier! There is a good bit to know about the guitar other than how to play it. Just like playing it, learning it as a tool, with parts, takes time as well. Great to hear you have found a luthier! Makes life much more simple, especially for stuff that you don't want to do by yourself yet. Every guitar could use a good setup by a good luthier IMHO. This should include an "Intonation" (Setting up the guitar to be in Tune above and below the 12th fret) is a key part of the setup. Usually it's more expensive on locking tremolo guitars than on fixed bridge guitars.
As for strings, yeah, I love the .08 yngwie sets. I've tried other .08 sets and didn't like them as much but, any .08 set will get the job done. The strings are just easier to bend and are more expressive imho. Also, as you mention, tuning down a half step is a very common solution for too much string tension. If you are using .09 or .10 gauge strings, tuning down half a step can really help things feel smoother!
Let's Debrief!!
MEDALS OF HONOR

INVERSION FUN - This has the BIG INVERSION that makes the little inversion in you nailed in Quick Licks. Clearly you have no problem with the big version!

PICKED TO DEATH - Some great picking work. You've really gotten much better on your picking over time! Keep it up!

PINKY POWER - Great to see you keep using your pinky! It's a serious challenge for many players. Keep that up too!
You got this covered Soldier!!



You just...Sarge





This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Oct 25 2019, 07:01 PM

I've learned quite a bit and I know theory of adjusting the guitar but I don't want to try that on my precious guitars. I have a Mayones guitar wood that I bought years ago as an experiment and that one I'm building specifically to learn The luthier I found apparently the same price for a fixed bridge and tremolo but if he charges me more, I won't mind (I locked this bridge anyway and I've no intents of unlocking it, so maybe that's why the price is lower here).

Tuning down a 08 string feels much different than doing so with 09 or 10. It makes ornamentation easier for all gauges but I've noticed the biggest difference between standard 08 and E flat 08.

Today I gave up on distortion because my dad had a 26h long shift and I wanted to be done as ASAP as possible and as quiet as possible. If I fail the lesson because of that, it's not a problem and I'll repeat it tomorrow. I also skipped Quick Licks for today because today's is a Vibrato lick and I feel it was weak and bad with no distortion.

Not to worry Soldier. We can leave Distortion for the next Mission. This one is ALL about doing the INVERSION type licks which you clearly have no problems with. Nice!

MEDALS OF HONOR

INVERSION SKILLS This is non stop inversion drills and you nail all of them. Some folks find this type of drill just to complicated. Not you Soldier!

SYNCHING UP If you hand synch is bad, these drills will show it. Hit the wrong string, which is easy to do, and bam start over. Good news is you never hit the wrong string. Solid hand synch!

TRAVERSE IT I built these to use all the strings to show if there were any problems switching from top to bottom to top. No problems for you!
Impressive work Soldier!! This are FINGER TWISTERS and you march right through them!
You just..
LEVELED UP!!!

Sarge

Yesterday I skipped the videos completely, because I woke up around 3 PM and I only had time to prepare for today. In a few hours I'll be having my Master's Thesis Defense Exam (I'm not sure how it's called in English) and I still have a little work to do and get some sleep too. I really hope it will turn out fine! Besides my thesis, I was asked to watch a bit of Dexter TV series and read The Talented Mr Ripley and I didn't quite read the latter. Anyway, today is a do or die for me and I hope for the best!

Best of luck on your thesis defense! Give em Hell Bootcamp will be here when you wrap up your thesis work. I bet you are gonna knock em dead Soldier!

Sarge

I gave up on the Hum-Becker! I can spend these money to get a proper recording rig and as for pups, I ordered a pair of Asian PAFs to swap with mine PAFs, mostly out of curiosity because these had reviews putting them in a better place than some 250$ pups. They may be made by the manufacturer who produces them for Duesenberg. I just want a warm sound with clarity and not too much of mids and these seem to just do that. The coils are open, so I'll have a chance to compare these with Wilkinson's boxed pair. It's cheaper to buy directly from the manufacturer but I'll wait a month or two for it to arrive, so this may be a self-gift for Christmas

My brother released two albums, sadly in Polish, but they are described as doom neo-folk. I've never heard about such genre but it sounds both interesting and depressing. I can share them here, if you don't mind the language, when I come home from work.

Well fought Soldier! Good to see you back in fighting shape! This one has pentatonic shapes played with open string higher up the neck. We have used these shapes a lot but usually on the lower frets. They work just fine in solos when done on the upper frets with open strings as well as long as the backing is in the right key. Let's Debrief!
MEDALS OF HONOR
OPEN STRING MADNESS Open string licks can be challenge to anyone. Especially this high on the neck. You comported yourself with valor solider! No misses. Nice!
SYNCHING FEELING Nice job keeping your hand synch tight! With open string licks, loosing synch can wreck the lick. You hand synch is tight!
COMPLICATED The last couple of licks are pretty complicated. No problem for you a this stage! Your hard work is paying off!
You killed it solider and just...
LEVLED UP!!!

** YOU REMAIN OUR TOP DAWG!!!



Sarge