Solo of the Month (SotM) #78 - Challenge

stratman3142

This is the 78th solo of the Month (SotM) Challenge.

The challenge is now open and ends at midnight 24th January 2022.

Discussion:

This backing track was kindly provided by @Bellycaster.

You can download backing track from Soundcloud below:

https://soundcloud.com/thefretboard/sotm78-2022-01-bellycaster-scent?si=bb8fa901fff54e0587d8138270a5ea15&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Record your solo over the top of it and then submit it (ideally in mp3 format) to solos@theFB.co.uk

Also, feel free to comment on how you approached the solo, which will add a bit more interest and maybe we can learn something from each other.

Title: Scent.
Because in @Bellycaster's words "it sounded like a 70's Perfume Commercial"

Tempo: 110 bpm

Chords:

|Dma9  |Dma9  |Bm9  |Bm9  |Cma7  |Em7  |A13  |A13  |

|Dma7  |Dma7  |Bm7  |Bm7  |F#m7  |F#m7  |G   |Gm   |Dma6  |

There should be headroom to record your solo. Try to set a level without excessive master limiting, because we want to avoid loudness wars.

Voting will start soon after the submission deadline, with each voter selecting their 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice.

First choice gets 5 points - Second choice gets 3 points - Third choice gets 1 point

The order and scores of the top three entries will be announced soon after the voting ends.

No prizes. It's just for fun.

As people submit their entries, I'll post them below to hopefully promote some discussion on approaches used for the solo:

https://soundcloud.com/thefretboard/sets/sotm78-2022-01?si=1932f70af725497f9ff162a1002b10eb&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

fastonebaz

That is very nice @Bellycaster

DrCornelius

Oof - lovely backing track. Looking forward to hearing all the different approaches to that one

Bellycaster

Cheers, lads. I had to do something with myself on Boxing Day, the dullest day of the year compelled me into coming up with something

stratman3142

Done mine and it's in the playlist.

fastonebaz

stratman3142 said:

Done mine and it's in the playlist.

That was quick!   I'm still drinking wine and watching Carry On movies welcoming in the new year  

DrCornelius

Mine is in - I didn't hang around as I didn't want to overthink it. Its pretty simple but to my ears fits the track - its such a nice backing track that I tried to compliment it and not do too much.

Its my Rickenbacker 330 into Garageband with some Echo and Flange

DrHungry

Just sent one in before all the smell puns got taken, and with about twice as many notes as there needed to be. Fantastic backing!

Bellycaster

Scent one in 

No joke is too corny 

Kebabkid

Great backing track, Jon @Bellycaster ;;

Bellycaster

Kebabkid said:

Great backing track, Jon @Bellycaster ;;

Cheers, Cos. That is my first attempt at playing Bass on a recording as well. It's OK, but I am playing tentatively. I'll have to get used to EQing and all that and how different settings on the "amp" apply to different styles.

I used the Wolfgang on the Neck pick up for the Solo, which will be up at some point. Mesa Modelling in GuitarRig5. Just a bit of Drive, Delay, Subtle Chorus and Compression.

stratman3142

Entries from @DrHungry and @Bellycaster are in the playlist.

An entry from @DrCornelius is in the pipeline and should be up shortly.

stratman3142

Some details on my entry:
Guitar: Ibanez AZ2204 Prestige, bridge pickup.
Ampsim: Neural DSP Cory Wong, based on a tweaked version of the 'Meditation Guitar Solo' preset.

DrCornelius

stratman3142 said:

Entries from @DrHungry and @Bellycaster are in the playlist.

An entry from @DrCornelius is in the pipeline and should be up shortly.

Sorry , I ballsed up the mixing on mine and meant to redo it today. I’ve instead found myself in the pub watching the football unfortunately!

Bennyboy-UK

I LOVE this backing @Bellycaster and have enjoyed writing a solo for it.

I’m trying to channel Ceefax music from the late 90s at 03.00 in the morning .

To take a break from recording all the parts separately, I decided to have a crack at playing the whole thing through in one go and videoing it. The result is a bit hairy with some warts but here it is

Don’t call the pinky police on me!



The guitar is a 1990 Hamer Custom Order made for Bob Davis of Guitar World Magazine and loosely based on their Vintage S model with a shed load of custom features. I love this guitar BTW.

On the guitar it’s bridge EMG 89 with neck position EMG SA with maybe 30% mid boost added on the SPC control.

Amp sound is an FM3 simulating a Bogner Shiva with some delay and reverb going on - usual stuff for me. I can’t recall the cab IR or any modulation, but will check.

 I’m going to use this backing to write more solos, as there were loads of ideas that I couldn’t get into this one.


I’m just going to use this as my entry otherwise I’ll never get any work done! 

stratman3142

And one from @Bennyboy-UK in the playlist (video above).

Bellycaster

Thanks @Bennyboy-UK ;

I am old enough to remember Ceefax too 

The video in your post won't play, you'll have to reload it. This happens if a post has been edited after the link has been inserted into the post. It'd be good to see it.

Bennyboy-UK

Bellycaster said:

Thanks @Bennyboy-UK ;;

I am old enough to remember Ceefax too 

The video in your post won't play, you'll have to reload it. This happens if a post has been edited after the link has been inserted into the post. It'd be good to see it.

Ah bugger, leave it with me chief!
(try that on for size)

Bellycaster

Bennyboy-UK said:

Bellycaster said:

Thanks @Bennyboy-UK ;;

I am old enough to remember Ceefax too 

The video in your post won't play, you'll have to reload it. This happens if a post has been edited after the link has been inserted into the post. It'd be good to see it.

Ah bugger, leave it with me chief!
(try that on for size)

That was certainly a work out for the fingers, nice one. No Pinky Police here. You're doing some stuff there with 3 fingers that I'd struggle to do with 4.

Nice Hamer as well, the colour is very "of it's time" shall we say  I was gonna don my spandex and C.C DeVille Wig and you don't wanna see that.

Interested to know what the toggles do apart from Pick Up switching? It's a very unique Guitar no doubt.

Bennyboy-UK

Awww that’s so kind of you! 

I’ve been trying hard over the last maybe 3 years to get my playing somewhere where I’m happier with it after maybe 20 odd years of neglect doing grown up stuff like work and family

I’m trying to get away from the regular boggo blues based stuff I did when I started out around 1989  when I was 10 or 11.

Nothing wrong with that and it taught me some good general blagging and things like getting decent bending sorted and strong vibrato.

The controls on that guitar are master volume with pull switch to put the bridge position 89 into single coil mode. 

The pickups are EMGs alnico offerings, and I really like them.

The other two rotary controls are an SPC (mid boost) and EXG (treble and bass boost). 

The SPC can make the SAs sound like humbuckers, and with the EXG you can really push the single coil character very prominently.

EQ is very powerful, and not having a treble roll off tone control means it’s just a different way of thinking. I like to get a main sound maybe with one pickup and then add flavour to it by adding another and changing the EQ a bit.

The mini toggles are indeed pickup on and offs.

To me this thing is like a Music Man Luke I but predating that model by 4 years, with a dose of Valley Arts in there. 

You do see regular Hamer Vintage Ss come up occasionally for sale ( and it it’s a particularly nice one at a good price I’ll probably have bought it on sight!) but this one is is very mad by comparison to the regular ones. 

Bellycaster

Wow, that's quite a spec @Bennyboy-UK it's deffo a keeper and very versatile.

The controls are not what I expected. I guessed that one of the toggles would be a 3 way switch for the pick ups and the other 2 toggles did something completely different. I imagined the rotary controls just did the same as what a Strat's do.

Old Bob Davis certainly knew what he wanted in a Guitar.