Fender makes a Jimi Hendrix Edition Stratocaster guitar. Jimi was left handed but played a right handed guitar he strung backward and played upside down. They say the string tension from a right handed guitar strung for a left handed player contributed to his signature sound. I kind of doubt this. It seems to me that the real tension of the string starts at the nut at the base of the neck and ends at the bridge. The tension from the nut to the tuning peg seems inconsequential. Hendrix also used a array of electronic effects to give him his sound. Eric Clapton said that most of what gives a player his unique sound is the finger vibrato, the slight movement and pressure exerted upon the string by the fingers on the fretboard. I tend to agree, then again, who am I to disagree with God (Clapton).
Jimi’s Sound
The Jimi Hendrix Edition Stratocaster guitar is designed for a right handed guitar player so Fender took a left hand Strat, turned it upside down and strung it backward. And just so you can see yourself playing left handed if you look in the mirror, they put on a reversed Fender logo on the headstock so it looks right in the mirror. Cute.
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Vibrato. Now there's a subject.
ReplyDeleteWhy do the vibratos differ so much from player to player? How does one find himself with the particular vibrato that they play with?
I could be wrong, but I don't think players tend to "learn" their vibrato. Not the way we "learn" to hold a pick or finger a chord. Sure.....players can be taught HOW to vibrato, but what comes out is unique and personal. Just like if I take singing lessons.......I can be taught to use the same vocal mechanics that Robert Plant uses, but unless I'm going out of my way to impersonate him, I'm still going to sound like me.
It's like how each baby comes out of the womb with their own unique voice and personality. No two the same..... like a snowflake. We're born with our vibratos and they're all as unique as our voices.
I think Clapton has it right when he says that a player's vibrato is what makes him unique. I just think he's gets it wrong when he talks about finger pressure, etc. Sure.....it's the fingers that create the vibrato, but it's the player that chooses with his ear and heart what it ends up sounding like.....then uses that finger pressure to express that.
I think players come by their vibrato instinctively......which doesn't really explain where it comes from. I personally think the answer lies in the realm of the unknowable. To me, the vibrato involves something much deeper than just sound. It touchs on "the Holy" (yep...that's a capital "H").
Vibrato is one's soul and spirit speaking from the greater realm. I think it actually reveals as much as....and maybe even more than..... the notes that one chooses to play.
JS