November Challenge 2024 A Lil’ Bottleneck Blues For Ya

[John H]

I am playing this on my Gretsch 9240 Alligator which is different from the ‘Boxcar’ model in that the Boxcar has a ‘biscuit cone’ rather than a ‘spider’ cone. The spider cone is more blue-grassy sounding. The biscuit is more bluesy. The latter is harder to control b/c it is much louder. Attention has to paid to damping excess buzzing and noise. Hope you enjoy!

[Jennifer D]

Oooh I really like Lick 1! You are amazing!

[Mike W]

Terrific video John, I love the down home vibe from the Alligator. Not only does it sound great but it looks stunning, too. The licks sounded great individually but really came into their own when combined. A bit of context always helps.

[James B]

Nice finger picking, John. Love the resonator blues tone. Good technique with the slide and damping of the strings.

James

[charjo]

Very cool, John. That first lick has a Fleetwood Mac, “The Chain” vibe. Love your new toy.
John

[John H]

Yes it does, now that you mention it. It’s a bit like the opening riff to the Chain.

[Alan L]

Great stuff John. Soulful licks, masterfully played. 👍

[Michael L]

Hi John, this was really great! Love that you went “bottleneck” on us, such a great sound. Fine fingerpicking when you put it all together at the end. So good I listened twice!

[Alan O]

Hi John, excellent finger picking and slide guitar! Also, nice looking guitar.

Alan

[Paul S.]

This really appeals to my bluegrassy tastes and I think I could use some those licks even if I don’t use a slide. Certainly the finger-picked stuff is totally spot-on for me. And even without accompaniment, you manage to produce a full and complete sound. Nice work!

[Mike D]

All the licks were great…but I really like lick 2 ….great delta blues playing.

Live on planet Earth ? You got the blues.

[Andy N]

Excellent picking and slide work there John. That first “The Chain”(ish) lick set things up perfectly for the delta blues slide lick that followed. I very much like the sound of the spider on the Alligator. Still bluesy but great clarity

[Gary W]

Oooh lovely moody stuff John – i really like that kind of sound & may try to steal some of your
moves. Fantastic. Well played.

Gary

[Denise]

Oh, I love that rooty sound of your Alligator 🐊. These bottleneck licks sounded soo good! I loved all of the licks. Sounded so haunting. Very inspiring.
You have become a bottleneck master my friend. That style suits you well.
Denise

More Blues!

[AndréM]

I agree with others, first lick (The chain) was brilliant.
Excellent slide playing.
Well done.

AndréM

AndréM

[cloughie]

Really enjoyed that. Great sound & tasty licks. Swampy.

Be kind to yourself (especially when you're trying to play this instrument!)
Brian Clough

“Got a lotta sinful ideas but they seem kinda sensible” Jim Casy the ex-preacher in The Grapes Of Wrath

[Bob Utberg]

Keb’ Mo’ called me my Yinzer Bro!! All the licks ahr Dahntahn deeelicious!
However, Licks #2 and #5 are in the spirit of . . . .
Every Morning by Mr. Mo’
Checkit aht ‘n @ John! You can NAIL that fine tune!
Go Stillers!
Ut

Bob U. (aka Bobby Ut)

[sunjamr]

Hey John, you have totally inspired me. I’m a complete beginner at slide guitar, lots of horrible raspy sounds coming from my Open E guitar tuning. Nothing that any one would ever want to listen to. It looks like you’ve been at it for quite a bit longer than I have. I’m still at the stage of finding a decent slide that fits my finger. And learning how to mute the strings to make the slide sound more clear. By accident I learned that slide works pretty good on my new nylon string baritone uke. Try it sometime. You’d be a lot better at it than me.

Sunjamr Steve

[JoLa]

Oh yeah, your’e killin’ that bottleneck!

Love your slide playing phase, wish I could multiply myself into two or three beings and give it more practice as well! The Alligator sounded fantastic in your hands, I actually appreciate your thoughts on that and comparison to the Boxcar because I have been looking into those other Gretsch resonators for a while as well. Does it mean you have both of them now in your collection? I wouldn’t mind having one of each, including the all metal one as well… but I just don’t play the one I have enough.

Love all the licks, John. You have nailed them 🎶💯

🎸JoLa

[Bill]

That’s some nice playing John. Love the sound of the resonator, and don’t know about the different cones. Sounds so good with that brass slide.

[Laurel C]

So so good, this is just a pleasure to listen to. The resonator sound is in a league of its own. All the licks were interesting, especially the first because of sounding … ‘Chain’ like … which set the scene. Your inspiring others to get out their slide & resonators and lead the way with your excellent grip on this style.

[Manfred M]

The sound of this Alligator resonator is so beautiful, John, but I‘m not sure, is it because of the guitar or the player. I assume it is both. I like the shuffle lick the most and of course all your slide playing. I enjoyed that very much.

Take the chance to meet your AM friends on Zoom
The next Meetup will be in spring 2025

There will be a detailed announcement here in the forum a few weeks before.

I look forward to meet you.
Manfred

[Juxi]

That sounds like really great old down-to-earth front porch blues playing, John. Like the old masters but with much better tone. Wow! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

Bluesige Grüße
Juxi

[Guido]

For a lover of the resonator guitar and open tunings and bottle neck slide playing like me this is a pure gold, very enjoyable to listen to and inspiring at the same time (translated, I’ll try to borrow some of these licks 😉!).

Very well played, brilliant job John!

Guido

[Serena C]

Wow John! This is really something original in this challenge… It reminds me I have to explore playing with the bottleneck, love these sounds, congrats!

If I wasn't making mistakes I wouldn't be the kind of player I want to be. Perfection is dangerous.
It's all about taking risks, sometimes you get to some place, sometimes you get to a different place. (Brian May)

[Dieter]

Yes, bottleneck sound in open tunings is something very special. Great lick ideas, superbly realized.

Dieter

[Martin W]

Great stuff John , you’ve captured that roots sound perfectly, lots of inspiring licks here , lick 3 has a subtle haunting quality to it , they all sound great combined together.
That alligator resonator has a quality sound , interesting about the different cones .

Martin

[Catherine Arsenault]

Omg John that was great love the slide!!!!!!

[Pap]

John, I like that 9240. That’s sweeeet! I noticed you have really been working on slide lately and that was a series of really cool lics that fit together well at the end. You have good precision with that slide. Great volume control too. Fantastic submission man! Merry Christmas and Happy New Years. Pap

[bwade913]

I liked all your sweet Ope G licks John. I also did something with Open G intervals but tuned down. I had originally been doing a lot of Open D slide, but have moved over to Open G on the last year. You lose a string but gain some sweetness. – Bret

[sciencefiction]

Wow, John, this sounds great!! That guitar is really cool and you play it so well. Great fingerstyle lesson both slide and regular. You can do it all. Enjoyed!!
Larry

[Richard G]

I was absolutely sold on your opening riff, and then it just got better and better. John, that was a super performance showing all your skills playing the blues.

Richard

[Reuben B]

That was amazing John. Lick #2 is my definite favorite, with the slide and everything, followed closely by lick #5. But overall that was a really great presentation. I wish I could play slide just half as well as you and I’ll be happy.

[David H]

Oh nothing like good slide. That was soooo good.

[Author]

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