The H575 in acoustic mode (or what I'm doing until NGD arrives)

[jimsoloway]

I think I'm getting bored waiting for NGD so I put a mic on my desk and hit record. It really is just an uncontrolled test of the recording the acoustic sound of the Heritage H575LS but I think it sounds pretty cool. I recorded this with an Audio Technica 2021 pointed somewhere in the vicinity of the 16th fret and hit the record button. I threw on a little bit of verb after the fact.

 

https://soundcloud.com/jim-soloway/heritage-h575ls-acoustic-recording

[peterbright]

Sounds good but I'd try the 12th fret

[jimsoloway]

Thanks Pete. I'll give it a try. The truth is that the only reason the mic is pointed at the 16'th fret is because I could get it to point there with the mic on a three inch stand sitting on my desk. To get the octave, I need to use a real stand. That means making some space for it and I was feeling lazy. I just wanted to hit record and have things happen.

[peterbright]

That makes sense.

[Vanschoyck]

It has a nice acoustic voice, esp considering the built in pup. It goes to show that a maple top can work. I've had builders tell me that even plywood can work acoustically if it's done right. I was playing my 16 today and I'm going the other way, waiting for a short scale 575 to arrive and make all my dreams come true. Expectations a little high?

[Gitfiddler]

Jim, sweet playing as usual. Nice balance of all frequencies. What strings are you using?

[jimsoloway]

Thomastik Infeld Swing Series 12's with the low string beefed up to a .53 and I have the entire guitar tuned down one full step to D standard. And ignoring the tuning and just going by fingering, I'm playing in Gb. I may be the only guitarist in the universe playing Bluesette in Gb but I think it actually lays out really nicely on the fingerboard that way.

[Gitfiddler]

Thomastik Infeld Swing Series 12's with the low string beefed up to a .53 and I have the entire guitar tuned down one full step to D standard. And ignoring the tuning and just going by fingering, I'm playing in Gb. I may be the only guitarist in the universe playing Bluesette in Gb but I think it actually lays out really nicely on the fingerboard that way.

 

TI Swings are nice strings for jazz. Your drop D tuning version of Bluesette works!

 

You mention playing in Gb. I was taught that F# was the proper scale, even though it is the same place on the guitar. But then again, music teachers don't usually discuss alternate tunings either!

[jimsoloway]

For purposes of music theory, ignore the tuning. I do. I just go by what the notes and keys would be if I were in standard pitch. All the fingerings are the same and I don't have to convert anything in my head. It all just comes out one full tone lower. As to the Gb vs F# question, they are both actually correct. F# is six sharps and Gb is 6 flats, but guitar players generally tend to think in terms of sharps rather than flats. I mostly use sheet music written for piano so I tend to be more likely to think in terms of flats and flat keys. In the case of Bluesette though there's a very specific reason why I refer to it as Gb rather than F#. One of the common keys to play the song is G but I found that if I play it in G it takes me too high on the fingerboard when I go to the chorus and it makes the chords hard to play. So I transposed it down a semi-tone. That leaves me with nothing above the 12th fret and nothing below the first fret. Since I'm going down a semi-tone from G, referring to it as Gb made transposing much easier.