Holdsworth's "Zarabeth" using Simeon's patch.

Nice! That's such a beautiful tune. I love the ending two chords on the album with the choir pads. (Haha, I just saw your "Ahh" overlay!) I'm going to have to go back and relearn this one. When I transcribed that, I made adjustments to the voicings to play on a standard tuned 6 string. Holdsworth recorded this one on his custom Baritone guitar, which has a range equivalent to a 7 string. It would be interesting to work it out for a 7 or 8 string.
 
Wait a minute! Poparad liked this. Is this the Poparad who did the most excellent transcription??
 
Poparad said:
Nice! That's such a beautiful tune. I love the ending two chords on the album with the choir pads. (Haha, I just saw your "Ahh" overlay!) I'm going to have to go back and relearn this one. When I transcribed that, I made adjustments to the voicings to play on a standard tuned 6 string. Holdsworth recorded this one on his custom Baritone guitar, which has a range equivalent to a 7 string. It would be interesting to work it out for a 7 or 8 string.
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I know he used a bari on a solo or two on Wardenclyffe, but I didn't know he used it on this song. Based on your transcription, there weren't any out-of-range notes for a standard guitar. I learned it on a 7 so I added in a couple of root notes that were omitted, but I didn't go to town on it. Pulling it off on the 28 5/8" scale neck was difficult. Really difficult. That E chord about did me in!

Over a beer (him: Guinness, of course) at the Baked Potato I asked him if he'd considered playing a 7-string. He disliked them because the scale length didn't support appropriate tensions for the B. I'm having the same difficulty with the F# and C# on my 9. I submitted a complaint about this to D'Addario (in which I referred to tuning the low F# "guesswork" and offered to send a Screenflow movie of me trying to tune it with the Fractal tuner on screen). They said they're aware of the issue and invited me to be part of a group to test out new 8-string sets they're working on. Needless to say, I look forward to the commencement of this project!
 
HEY!!! STOP!!! STOP!!!

Didn't you see "Please do not attempt this at home!" in the liner notes on Holdsworth's album? ;)

Just kidding ... nice job! :encouragement:
 
8stringguitarwizard said:
Wait a minute! Poparad liked this. Is this the Poparad who did the most excellent transcription??
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Haha, yes! One and the same. As of January 2013, I'm an AxeFX user, too.

8stringguitarwizard said:
I know he used a bari on a solo or two on Wardenclyffe, but I didn't know he used it on this song. Based on your transcription, there weren't any out-of-range notes for a standard guitar. I learned it on a 7 so I added in a couple of root notes that were omitted, but I didn't go to town on it. Pulling it off on the 28 5/8" scale neck was difficult. Really difficult. That E chord about did me in!

Over a beer (him: Guinness, of course) at the Baked Potato I asked him if he'd considered playing a 7-string. He disliked them because the scale length didn't support appropriate tensions for the B. I'm having the same difficulty with the F# and C# on my 9. I submitted a complaint about this to D'Addario (in which I referred to tuning the low F# "guesswork" and offered to send a Screenflow movie of me trying to tune it with the Fractal tuner on screen). They said they're aware of the issue and invited me to be part of a group to test out new 8-string sets they're working on. Needless to say, I look forward to the commencement of this project!
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Most of what I omitted were lower roots or 5ths of the chords, which are probably what you were adding back. It's been so long since I've looked at that tune, but I think in some cases I omitted it, and some cases I moved it up an octave.

I also have an Agile 9-string. I tune the whole thing down a whole step, but I have the same issue with getting the low E to sound good. I'm currently using an .080 Elixir bass string with good results. I found that raising the action a little bit on that string added just enough extra tension to keep the tone and feel snappy. It makes playing past the 12th fret a bit difficult, but when am I going to be playing anything fast and technical that high on that string anyway?
 
My Schecter 8 (which is currently for sale on Ebay here) originally shipped with an .080 on the bottom. It held nicely for the F#. I then bought a bunch D'Addario XL-140s which have a .074 on the bottom. I presumed the gauge was the same as what I had. I immediately noticed something was different and quickly figured out what it was.

The Agile shipped with a .090 for the C#. It's way too floppy. What's troubling is I'm not sure there's anything heavier out there. Will a bass string fit into the tuning peg? You said you tune down a whole step on your 9, so are you B (as in the low note of a 5-string bass) through a high D? What are you using for the low string?
 
I have a high string instead of a low string. My low string is the same as on an 8-string guitar (but down a whole step).
 
Sounds nice, but...as I suspected from other tunes of his I've heard, though hearing this one for the first time.....too much string blip, and not 'crystal-y', which I'm hazarding to guess is not just the guitar used, but a difference in the signal (something in the upper mids I think), including the ambience.

This guy was able to reproduce both real close (though we only get a taste of the lead tone), damn:

 
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What's "string blip" and "crystal-y"? :ambivalence:

With all due respect, I disagree with you. Have you heard much Holdsworth? That guy's tone was rather dissimilar to Allan's. The attack is way too present.
 
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i agree too.

nice job man, that looked really painful...you took one for the team, there :)

i'm not saying the clean presets couldn't be improved...i think the cabs need changing, for sure. a fender mix would probably work quite well.
 
simeon said:
i agree too.

nice job man, that looked really painful...you took one for the team, there :)

i'm not saying the clean presets couldn't be improved...i think the cabs need changing, for sure. a fender mix would probably work quite well.
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The Fractal's a funny thing for me now'a'days. As a teen I could spend immense amounts of times working with my SGX2000 (perhaps someday Cliff will work in some models;)), but anymore I'm pretty happy to find a decent tone and stick with it. I imported your presets and they sounded find to me. Not my favs, but they sound right for their namesake claim. For the clean tone I'd probably take out the echo. (I didn't bother to press the spacebar.)

I learned the tune a couple of years ago. When I read the OPer didn't want to demo the them, I thought, Ah, what the heck...I'll do it. My hand literally locked up. Uber unpleasant for my medium-sized hands on that guitar. BUT...the guitar is so purdy and purrrrple. :D And the song's beautiful.

Thanks for the contribution, S!
 
Craig123 said:
Sounds Great..where do you get those guitars from!

Here is a track ive just done on the axe fx at home.Not quite finished. Im always hoping to collaborate and work with other folks if any ones up for it.

Craig McDearmid Songs | ReverbNation
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Rondomusic.com. Best deal around. Kurt (at Rondo) has an amazing thing going and I think he sells these products short. I've played guitar for nearly 30 years and I love it so much I'm dumping my beloved Ibanez 7-string Prestige with Piezo and my 8-string too. I had a USRG30 (twice) back in the day, and the workmanship on this guitar is every bit as good, if not better, and this guitar was half the price.

But, what really matters here is DUDE, YOU ROCK. I will be messaging you. Sick composition, bro! Really.
 
Edrod said:
Awesome, thanks for sharing. I can't wait to try Simeon's patches.

I'm hoping to get this one day,

Agile Interceptor 725 RN CP Tribal Green Left Handed - RondoMusic.com

Anybody got any feedback besides that it's backwards and how left handers are spawns of satan. Haha
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Mmmmhhhh 7 or 8 strings guitars with tremolo bridge are a "pain in the ass" to stay in tune ....

I suppose you're Left-handed Like me ... Did You see for Carvin ? They have a on-line "customshop" ...
Very GOOD guitars for the price and almost All can be made Lefty
 
Edrod said:
Awesome, thanks for sharing. I can't wait to try Simeon's patches.

I'm hoping to get this one day,

Agile Interceptor 725 RN CP Tribal Green Left Handed - RondoMusic.com

Anybody got any feedback besides that it's backwards and how left handers are spawns of satan. Haha
Click to expand...

I read quite a few reviews on Agile guitars before I bought mine, and they were all positive without exception. They do a lot of Les Paul copies, so most of the reviews were on those models. Some of the reviewers claimed the Agile looked, played, and sounded better than their multi-thousand dollar, genuine Les Pauls. I absolutely love my Agile - enough so that, as I wrote earlier, I'm getting rid of the rest of my "shred" guitars. I'd buy another in a second. Most likely my next guitar will be one of the Les Paul copies.

I disagree with Noriuky73's opinion about Carvin somewhat. While I agree the workmanship on them is good, they've never appealed to me. I don't like how they feel or sound. It's almost like an excellent furniture maker taking a stab at building a guitar. Beyond that, you'll pay a lot of money for one. I was "building" a HH2 guitar online, and it started around a thousand dollars, but by the time I selected all my options (which, in my opinion, were moderate choices), it came out to almost two thousand dollars.
 
Loquenau said:
Sounds nice, but...as I suspected from other tunes of his I've heard, though hearing this one for the first time.....too much string blip, and not 'crystal-y', which I'm hazarding to guess is not just the guitar used, but a difference in the signal (something in the upper mids I think), including the ambience.

This guy was able to reproduce both real close (though we only get a taste of the lead tone), damn:

Click to expand...


wow you totally diss the OP playing... but you play like this>>>click this
 
8stringguitarwizard said:
I read quite a few reviews on Agile guitars before I bought mine, and they were all positive without exception. They do a lot of Les Paul copies, so most of the reviews were on those models. Some of the reviewers claimed the Agile looked, played, and sounded better than their multi-thousand dollar, genuine Les Pauls. I absolutely love my Agile - enough so that, as I wrote earlier, I'm getting rid of the rest of my "shred" guitars. I'd buy another in a second. Most likely my next guitar will be one of the Les Paul copies.

I disagree with Noriuky73's opinion about Carvin somewhat. While I agree the workmanship on them is good, they've never appealed to me. I don't like how they feel or sound. It's almost like an excellent furniture maker taking a stab at building a guitar. Beyond that, you'll pay a lot of money for one. I was "building" a HH2 guitar online, and it started around a thousand dollars, but by the time I selected all my options (which, in my opinion, were moderate choices), it came out to almost two thousand dollars.
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I'm not saying Carvin is better than Agile ... Simply I can't because as a left-handed I never found one... I live in Italy so sure is not easy ...less easy for a left-handed
I was talking about the simplicity with Carvin for a LEFT HANDED to buy one and/or customize it

My opinion was generally on multistringed baritone guitars with super-high tension...

I can say without doubt that choosing a 7/8 strings equipped with a tremolo bridge can be a nightmare
If we have a friend working as a luthier and he can setup our guitar every week or everytime we want to experiment with strings gauge or tunings.... Fine!!
In other case it's only troubles ...
Less to say that big tremolo bridge normally eat half of the guitar tone

We can live with that but we have to know what to expect ...
 
By the way ... I noticed that I miss to say that I liked your performance on this beautiful Holdsworth song ! Good work !!
 
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