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What's the strangest thing you've ever done to achieve a certain sound or effect?

This funny picture was posted on the CBN Facebook page this afternoon. It had a fan near/against an amp, with the caption, "Budget Tremolo." I found an unrelated video on YouTube, demonstrating this.

We know that certain gear, effects, etc can get expensive. My question is, what's the strangest thing you've ever done to achieve a certain sound of effect? I've even heard of folks shaking their guitars, and even the fake whammy bar.

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Permalink Reply by Cause the Blue rat on January 24, 2017 at 5:43pm

spent a good chunk of change searching for the perfect vomiting demon sound. And fell in love with Devi Ever fuzz boxes.

Cocooned a mic in foam. got the idea from a high priced recording gadget. What I thought was a nice quiet recording turned out to be horribly muffled.

I do have 9 yards of ( not cheap ) fake fur. Decided Im going to make it into a sound curtain. Going to back it up with styrofoam. Have no idea if it'll work. But it should look weird anyway.

That guy squeezing an acoustic guitar with his arm is nuts. Great way to do a bad number on your internal bracing. Please don't do that.

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Permalink Reply by Dustin Aurand on January 24, 2017 at 5:50pm

It's not a squeeze. It's a gentle pump of the arm to get that tremolo sound.

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Permalink Reply by JL on January 25, 2017 at 2:16am

He's dampening the sound-board with the soft bit of his fore-arm, like the way a horn player holds a hat in front of the bell...

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Permalink Reply by Dustin Aurand on January 25, 2017 at 3:22am

Exactly.

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Permalink Reply by Lane Martin on January 25, 2017 at 6:01am

"like the way a horn player holds a hat in front of the bell..."

Or a never-used plunger. :)

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Permalink Reply by Taffy Evans on January 25, 2017 at 12:17pm

Hi, I've seen braces pop off the inside of the top with arm pressure. Beware....not all guitars are created eaqual. I've seen it happen right in front of me.
I've lost count of the number of guitars where I've had to reglue braces.
Cheers Taff

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Permalink Reply by Dustin Aurand on January 25, 2017 at 1:59pm

Dang. I must be the king of controversy on CBN, just for posting something that I've SEEN done, and there are folks out there who do worse, like deliberately smashing guitars. Dang!

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Permalink Reply by Cause the Blue rat on January 25, 2017 at 3:31pm

Don't sweat it dude. No controversy. I saw the vid and thought he was pressing down on the top of the guitar. If it's just muffling then no harm done.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on January 25, 2017 at 12:28pm

My wife used to have an electronic Omnichord and a electronic Keyboard that I would jack into my guitar amp and several effects to get those old Deep Purple Organ/Keyboard tones.

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Permalink Reply by Dustin Aurand on January 25, 2017 at 2:07pm

Allow me to stir the pot a little more. We're on the subject of strange stuff, so this might seem appropriate.

For those of you that got into 3 string CBG first, have you tried to learn 6 string conventional guitar, but gave up? Do you have a conventional 6 string guitar, and don't know what to do with it? Do what I did; modify it to fit what you know. Make a Seasick Steve guitar. http://www.cigarboxnation.com/m/discussion?id=2592684%3ATopic%3A256...

I used this article for basic instructions, but I used the strings that I currently have on the guitar. I did this without many tools, or a string wonder.

Here's what you do:
Knowing that a 6 string guitar's standard tuning is EADGBE, and Seasick Steve's tuning is GGB;
1. Remove the low E string.
2. Remove the D string.
3. Remove the hog E string.
4. I used some flat noses plaids to get under the bridge pins, and got the strings.
5. Tune the A down to G, and leave your high G and B tuned normally.
6. Screw your tuners in tight with a screwdriver to prevent rattling.

This is a great tuning. There se great lessons for it on YouTube. My next step; get an acoustic pickup, and electrify it! Also, before you mention twisting, this is just the trial run. Next week, I'm going to someone who can fix it to where it's even.

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