- Six Strings - Bittersweet Secrets (Heavy Cream Mix)

(Bittersweet Secrets (Heavy Cream Mix) - Mirrored Insight

This might be hard for some people to accept, but I don't record my videos out of vanity.  Those recordings are tools for me.  The vast majority of the time, I'm making recordings because I have music in my head that I need to get out, or fun sounds that I find that I want to be sure I save in a medium more suitable than Tabs.  I don't have the inclination or the patience to really dig into my digital audio workstation and master a real, honest-to-God track.  This lack of patience also has the unintended side-effect of my never going back to some of my musical musings once I've committed them to video.  I have no desire to go back and do it 'better'.

Today, I made an exception, though I'd use the word 'different' rather than 'better'.  It's gorgeous outside, so normally I'd be walking around to get some steps in and soak up some sun.  That said, I may have done a little too much of that on Friday whilst wearing some new minimalist sandals, the result of which was a not-so-minimalist blister on the ball of my right foot.

The result of this was me picking the Persian back up today for a spot of noodling in DADGAD.

Now, the Persian and I don't always get along.  I'm still struggling to find a way to play it comfortably for long periods of time, the neck is so damn slender that I keep pulling my high E string off of it when I'm in a hurry, and it just doesn't...talk to me quite like my other instruments do.  If you ask my wife, she'll tell you that I've been grumbling about trading the Persian in on something that more closely suits my hand's physical abilities and my playing style.

Here's the problem with that:

The Persian has this really irritating habit of raising its head every once in awhile and reminding me of why I bought it in the first place.  When the planets align, it does the same thing that my other guitars do: It inspires me.  Because of that, I continue to vacillate on trading it in rather than actually doing it.

I digress.

After messing around in DADGAD for awhile, I decided to actually give Bittersweet Secrets a visit again.  I don't play this song often because reasons, but it does have the distinction of being the first real song I ever wrote on a guitar, and that makes it special.  It's also the first real, whole song I ever recorded, so it makes for an interesting footnote in my journey.  So, I strapped the Persian on, turned my Amp up to "Drown Out The Stupid Neighbor's Dog" levels, and struck that glorious open D chord that makes DADGAD sound so amazing.

And the guitar, she did respond.

I should back up here a second...

I don't usually play with overdrive, distortion, or high gain.  I enjoy clean sounds with just enough dirt to make the notes bite.  Distortion doesn't lend itself to most of the playing I do, so I've just never bothered.  I also don't tend to keep the Persian solely on its bridge pickup because it's VERY hot and VERY twangy and VERY full of 60Hz hum, as P90s are wont to do.  Today however, I'd not only forgotten to turn my amp back to a fully clean tone after a random afternoon of experimentation, my Jazzmaster was somehow firmly on its neck pickup.  The result of which was...stirring.  It made one of those sounds that reminded me why guitars are so iconic.  It's hard to describe with words, so I thought I'd record something.  Curiously, I ended up recording a somewhat extended, somewhat heavy remix of 'Bittersweet Secrets'.

It's a shame that you're not here to hear that noise.  It's completely different in person.  This is the kind of thing I should have broken my condenser mic out for and recorded directly from the speaker.  Next time, I suppose...

Guitar: Squier J. Mascis Signature Jazzmaster, "The Persian"

Pots: All Max

Pick-Up: Bridge

Circuit: Lead

Amp: Boss Katana Mk I

Cabinet: (o'Clock): Clean, Gain 11, Amp Vol Max, Master Vol 9

Effects: Blues Overdrive 10, Delay (O) 10, Reverb (O) 10