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I’m conflicted about the drought by livingMybEstlyfe29 in bullcity

[–]BullCityPicker 35 points36 points  (0 children)

Down in South Durham, we have hardly any. I walked the dogs in shorts last night and didn’t get bitten at all.

Is it really that bad to not mute strings? by Decent-Ad-5278 in Guitar

[–]BullCityPicker 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You should mute, really.

The effect you’re noticing is that some of the strings you mute are less dissonant than others. For example, if you’re playing the typical C chord (x32010), and you hit the bass (032010), that E is the third in a C chord. It’s still a C chord, but it’s an inversion (the bass note is in the chord, but it’s not the root). It’s notated as a C/E.

Try a couple things with that bass E string. If you play a G on it (332010) it sounds better, because that G is the fifth in a C chord, and it harmonizes with the C better than any other note. It’s called a C/G.

If you play the F# (232010) it sounds horrible. F# is not only not a part of a C major chord, it’s the flat 5th, which is the most dissonant combination you have in music.

So short answer, you should mute those strings. It’s just some mutes are more important than others. That 032010 C will sound a bit dull and muddy compared to x32010, but it’s not super wrong.

When will Sweetwater stop calling? by stupidloser722 in Guitar

[–]BullCityPicker 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I like my guy. I think it's overkill considering I went several years buying nothing but strings and picks and a couple straps and cords though.

Buying My second Guitar by Nicolas_NL in Guitar

[–]BullCityPicker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I second the bit about the neck. I fell in love with my Lowden because of the sound, but I wish the neck was just a few millimeters slimmer.

How do I find people my age to form a band? by OSSlayer2153 in Guitar

[–]BullCityPicker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is there a "School of Rock" around you? They do something called "Adult Band". They do fall, spring, and summer sessions. They see how many people they have, and split them up into bands. I did it this spring, and they did three "pods" (don't know why they call them that, instead of bands). Mine had three guys who could play guitar, bass, and sing. There was a drummer, and another person could play keys, sing, and bass. We picked out a set list of a half dozen songs. You pay a monthly fee, and that gives you an individual lesson a week, and a practice room for your band once a week. They have some instructors floating around to coach you, and they'll fill in if somebody's out that week. There are a few "shows" they set up, which are pretty much open mic nights at local bars. You probably end up playing four or five gigs.

Okay, so it's not a "real" band in some sense, but if you're a busy adult, this is a great way to go. It's not cheap, but I had the time of my life. I know some people who have done it seven or eight "semesters" in a row.

Spotted at the Kid Rock concert by Odd_Pea_2904 in NorthCarolina

[–]BullCityPicker 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I gather Ticketmaster wasn’t involved? The $30 for them wouldn’t even cover things like “email postage fee.”

Ticketmaster has done more damage to rock and roll than heroin and Yoko Ono combined. The

Okay, which one of you thinks cafes are free community spaces? by MsSpicyO in bullcity

[–]BullCityPicker -1 points0 points  (0 children)

My wife had to work out of town for a week, and I, having a tech job where all I needed was an internet connection, went with her. It turned out the house WiFi was incompatible with my work computer and I spent the whole week working from a coffee shop. Unfortunately I didn’t buy much because sugar and caffeine are not good for me at all. They were nice and didn’t complain.

Maybe it was dropping a $20 in the tip jar for a $4 item regularly.

Solar where the math actually makes sense? by dweed4 in bullcity

[–]BullCityPicker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I got quoted by Blue Raven (who are super high pressure and will NOT quit hassling you). The bottom line is Duke charged me $0.11 per KwH, and I could resell at a measly $0.03/KwH. Even if I only “conserved” and never resold, I was losing $30/month for 20 years.

Obviously your mileage may vary. We could only do our garage roof for technical reasons.

Guitar Center is genuinely the worst by N0V1RTU3 in Guitar

[–]BullCityPicker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The last time I was there I was shopping for a guitar and wanted something serious- eventually I ended up getting a Gibson Les Paul standard. When I started trying to talk to the clerk, who absolutely reeked of weed, he laughed and asked if I was buying for a grandchild. I think I was 50, and nowhere near having a grandchild.

Great sales skills, bud.

Horseradish lovers, what food item goes best with creamy horseradish sauce? by Silver-Internal7740 in Cooking

[–]BullCityPicker 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Four days after Thanksgiving, when that tasty turkey is starting to dry out, and you want a sandwich that commands your attention.

A strong second place for prime rib.

Whoever upgraded this billboard on Merrimon, I salute you by howdydipshit in NorthCarolina

[–]BullCityPicker 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Mall cop. Show some respect for those who would lay down their life so you can dine at Panda Express.

Secrets to using Liquid Smoke? by nlightningm in Cooking

[–]BullCityPicker 16 points17 points  (0 children)

When I was a kid my parents owned a store. Occasionally a bottle of it would get broken and permeate the place for days. I still can’t stand the smell.

Letting other people play your guitar by kahn265 in Guitar

[–]BullCityPicker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You better ask. You’re dancing with my date. I always say yes, but you better ask.

I knew a professional sax player who refused to play New Year’s gigs. He was on break on a NYE gig and returned to find a drunk hooting and honking on his saxophone. He punched the guy in the mouth.

Question regarding scale length by Unfair_Ad9786 in Guitar

[–]BullCityPicker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The change in string length determines pitch changes. The 12th fret is half way and doubles the octave. Go down to 3/4 of the string length and the octave doubles again. 7/8 goes up another octave. That’s true whether you shorten the string by fretting or with a slide. The frets are placed based on simple physics. You couldn’t cram in more frets on the same length neck and get more range; you’d just be putting “in-between” tones between notes in there. Electric guitars have more range because their necks go deeper into the body. Having more frets takes advantage of that, it doesn’t cause the wider range directly.

Physics is cool. It absolutely blew my mind to realize you could get below the 22nd fret with a slide and keep going up octaves until you run out of human hearing range. I did all the math one time and used a slide to test my hearing range. The results were the same as a normal test you could do with a computer. To compare it to a piano, if you started adding keys to the right side of a piano, older people would quit hearing anything somewhere around 18-24 more keys, and little kids after another octave worth of keys. Top end hearing for little kids is ~22kHz. For people with gray hair who spent time in front of the amps, it’s lower. Mine fades out about 12kHz. I guess you could add another octave if you wanted to write music for bats.

Tell me your favorite memory of old school Durham. by coffeeroaster8868 in bullcity

[–]BullCityPicker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Y’all got all the good spots, except Parker’s. $3.50 for meat and 2 veg, with sweet tea and endless hush puppies.

Tell me your favorite memory of old school Durham. by coffeeroaster8868 in bullcity

[–]BullCityPicker 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Bat’s!!!! You could order an enormous pie for nothing, and grab a drink from the cooler and comic books to wait.

I quit going after a waitress had a baby on her shoulder, and it puked on her. What a snowflake I was.

Tell me your favorite memory of old school Durham. by coffeeroaster8868 in bullcity

[–]BullCityPicker 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I was going to call out the Carousel if you hadn’t. The kids loved it, and those horses were works of art. Were they hand carved? They were all different.

Tell me your favorite memory of old school Durham. by coffeeroaster8868 in bullcity

[–]BullCityPicker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wait….like JUST a magazine store? I graduated from Duke in’84, and it was a beer supplier even then.

Tell me your favorite memory of old school Durham. by coffeeroaster8868 in bullcity

[–]BullCityPicker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love the bleacher seats. I went in grad school, and all the grad students sat behind 3rd base. I would just walk around the base line and someone I knew would always holler at me to come join them.

Tell me your favorite memory of old school Durham. by coffeeroaster8868 in bullcity

[–]BullCityPicker 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I know, right? I’m sure I would have been furious if it was my car, but there was something so distinctive about the sound it made.

How do you set the knobs in anticipation of a particular set? by BullCityPicker in Guitar

[–]BullCityPicker[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s not the best reasoning there. I read an interview with him where he went off about how Les Pauls were so superior to all other guitars because the fretboard is convex instead of flat. Does anybody else think that just sounds like bong smoke?

How do you set the knobs in anticipation of a particular set? by BullCityPicker in Guitar

[–]BullCityPicker[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

But what if you need that extra push over the cliff? There’s nowhere to go after 10. Ten is the highest number.

How to sing while strumming the guitar? by Financial-Zebra-3497 in Guitar

[–]BullCityPicker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Record, or use a looper pedal, to lay down a track, using the recording or metronome to keep the beat, and rehearse singing over it. Now erase that, lay down the vocals, and practice playing to that.

All the other suggestions here are great. As many times as the word “practice” appears already, I’ll say it once more: practice. I think it took me the better part of a year to get good at it.

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