It was one of those - No wonder I procrastinated moments-
Yesterday late-afternoon I resumed work on the lead guitar intro for "Paradigms" that I had been working on back in Florida. But with a different interface- IK Multimedia's AXE I/O which Is an excellent interface tailored for guitars and bass featuring inputs for two different real-time expression pedals.
The week previously I had spent an hour or more trying to figure why I was getting static and my tracks would intermittently stop and stutter during playback. In some cases, as with the Apogee DUET 2 I was using in Florida, static may result in the I/O buffer audio setting being too small. This I corrected by setting it to 128. It's a balance because too big a buffer will result in excess latency.
So after researching about the issue and appropriate buffer sizes and trying them with no solution here with the AXE I/O, I came across an answer on Reddit stating that you should plug the USB straight into the computer instead of a hub and that was what solved it.
But the Apogee DUET was plugged into a hub with no issue though I did use the supplemental external power supply in case the USB voltage got thin. The AXE I/O external power supply is not option and must always be used for it to function.
So I finally sat down to complete the lead intro, which mind you is nothing blind blowing, just an introductory bit of melody to set the mood in the first few bars of the song. Nevertheless for me it's similar to those old book reports or papers you occasionally had to write for class in high school- a bit of a drudgery until you finally get a toehold, then it hopefully flows.
I was going through the ascending chord progression at the end of the intro when I noted how the final D major triad at the twelfth fret (Drop D tuning) sounded sour. I checked the open D versus the 12 th fret and the latter was 10-15 cents sharp. I suppose the difference in humidity between a house in the backwoods of Florida and a high rise south of Houston, TX was enough to cause a difference in the two weeks I had returned.
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a time for an intonation issue to raise its head after steeling myself to start up again when I was finally ready to work out this piece!
So got my #0 Phillips and started adjusting while the tuner in Logic Pro. I made a couple of turns - 10 cents sharp, and few more turns 15 cents sharp- mind you this moving the bridge saddle back. Finally had the saddle about as far back as it could go with it still 10 cents sharp.
Got to reading online and heard that it could either be bad strings or action too high. Come to think of it, a visiting guitar bro did remark how the action was high on Strat Ultra Plus. I had not noticed it given I was more accustomed to playing bass, and even though I have low actions on my basses, the thicker strings are a lot more to depress than much smaller guitar strings and so I didn't notice it like my buddy did.
So I tightened the trussrod some and lowered the low E string from having a 3 mm space between it and the 17th fret down to more like 2.25 and the intonation issue was corrected, except I had to move the bridge saddle back to its original position since it was now flat at the 12 th fret relative to the open string or harmonics.
This may have taken an hour or so before I actually went to work!
But I got the rest of the lead written. Now I just have to practice it a bit for attempting to get it properly recorded.
(no headstock, heavy solid Koa body) Aside from aiding neck-dive (at whatever level) on a standard T-bird, overlapping the jutting lower bout with your strap draws the guitar body to your body and stabilizes it so focused playing isn't being compromised/distracted by fighting the instruments ergonomics. Many T-bird players ride their basses lower which works for them, but playing one in a less R&R position benefits from this simple functional solution. I am well aware that playing a T-bird is all about how badass they look and sound, (and I 100% agree with that) so my addressing that particular design shortfall is only to offer advice to help make playing one more comfortable/enjoyable. Not slagging T-birds, why would I as a "dyed in the wool" T-bird player since 1974 when it was my only instrument? I would have to say I am one of the T-birds' greatest advocate, and as a designer/builder of basses I am keenly aware of how to make an instrument that makes playing it effortless. Most production basses have design compromises - as proof there is no one design that everyone uses. Add to that the very active "modding" community which reinforces players making their chosen basses uniquely their own.
Musical karma maybe.
