Scalloped Neck Guitars: What Is It?

What is a scalloped neck guitar? 

Tonight at the bar I had the privilege of running into a guy who bought a Malmsteen scalloped neck guitar from a pawnshop. I asked to play it and I played it while he was on break from his performance, so I soundchecked it for him. And then later in his gig I asked for one song with the singer, who was also playing acoustic guitar. I played "Now I wanna be your Dog," with him on vocals and acoustic guitar and me on electric guitar. I took two long neoclassical/hendrixy blues solos [one in the middle of the song, and one at the end of the song] on this immaculate conception of an electric guitar. 

A scalloped neck guitar is a guitar where the neck has been 'scalloped,' meaning the wood under the frets has been shaved off and deeply cut, more like an acoustic violin, than an electric guitar. The most popular guitar player that uses, and has popularized scalloped neck guitars, is Yngwie Malmsteen, mostly known for his work in the 1980s with a short lived LA metal band called Steeler. 

Steeler was popular because of Malmsteen's fast fiery technical guitar work, using a scalloped neckboard. The guitar I played tonight at the bar, ironically, through a guy who bought it at a pawn shop for $800, was Malmsteen's guitar, probably one of his older models that was still in good condition. Enough to get him a decent amount of cash at a pawn shop. The guy might be going through some hard times or maybe he just needed some quick cash. But I digress, the guy is a living legend on the guitar. 

Moving on, so now you know what a scalloped neck guitar is. Think of it like a violin but as an electric guitar. That's it. 

Next, so if my electric guitar has a wooden fretboard like a violin, how do I play it, how does that change the sound? 

Well, for one thing, it makes the sound better in a more classical way, like a violin. 

Also, when you play chords, its way easier because the scalloped neck makes holding many notes easier, like a violin. 

However, when you play single notes, it makes playing solos harder, again because its more like a violin. 

Lastly, when you're playing it live onstage with another guitarist [on acoustic/and/or singing] the guitar is harder to hear when the sound is contrasted with other sounds [it sounds more acoustic even though its electric still] to play so you have to control the volume of the guitar more with either the volume control button knob or either by using your right hand more or less [palm muting/lighter touches and/or harder touches.

Hey hey my my rock and roll will never die

     Lately I've gone into a rock music mood. Gaming just seems boring right now. Its been this way for the past couple weeks. I'm taking a long hiatus from gaming and smash tournaments at the moment. When I make my return, its going to be like the Return of the King in The Lord of the Rings. Basically I'll be back with a vengeance and be a bad ass mother fucker. Tournaments need to take a back seat for the moment though for sure. Because I usually work nights I will probably never get to go to Fire and Dice tournaments on Thursday nights unless I request the day off. Requesting a day off just to go to a smash tournament doesn't sound wise financially or in general. Gaming just seems to have gotten boring to me for some reason. But music never gets old.
     I've been listening to a lot of rock, metal, and neo-classical guitar stuff. Right now I'm listening to an album by this guitarist named Vinnie Moore. He's an old 80s shredder dude but he has a ton of feel and swing. On this album he kinda goes overboard with the rock theatrics but it sounds so technical, fast, and good that I'm not bothered by the overwhelming gazoorpazorp of typical shred pentatonic licks. He's still around today and his playing has really taken a step further beyond.
     I've been listening to a lot of new stuff on YouTube. I listened to the entirety of the new Megadeth album called Dystopia and I gotta say that Megadeth sounds great with their new guitarist Kiko Louirea (guitar, Angra) and Chris Adler (drums, Lamb of God). Vocals-wise the band sounds very old, Mustaine's vocals are very grisly and at times when he tries to sing melodically he just doesn't pull it off. Some parts are downright cringe worthy with the vocals but because I like MegaDave so much I can forgive him for sucking at singing. The guitars and the drums are what sets this recording apart from other typical metal bands. The guitar playing is immaculate and the production quality is so well processed. I can listen to everything and it all sounds good, especially the guitar solos. I'm a sucker for guitar solos and I was surprised when Kiko joined Megadeth. Let me say that although Kiko plays stereotypical rock/shred guitar licks and uses a kind of standard 4/4 to the floor kind of phrasing, he is still a master guitarist. Between Chris Broderick (previous lead guitarist for Megadeth) and Kiko I think Kiko has the edge because of more knowledge of other styles like flemenco and jazz. However, let me not put Chris down because his new band called Act of Defiance is a powerful musical beast of its own even without his association with Megadeth.
     I guess you could say that I've been all speed metal and neo-classical guitar licks recently. Malmsteen has been a popular choice. I've always found his music to be thrilling because of the power of the drums, speed of the riffs, and the classical scalar runs. I saw a ton of videos from the Generation Axe tour, which features on guitars Steve Vai, Ywngie Malmsteen, Tosin Abasi, Nunu Bettencourt, and Zakk Wylde. Quite a wide array of guitarists with varying styles. It was cool to see them on YouTube. You can really get a sense of the live show if you're like me and can't afford to see these shows live or can't get to them. I gotta say that Malmsteen has gotten better at the guitar, if that's even possible. You can tell he's been practicing a lot, and not only that but he's lost a lot of weight. My favorite tune he plays is his version of Albioni's Adagio. That tune always gets me because of melody.
     Those other guys are all interesting players but Tosin and Nuno are overlooked in the guitar community. I think Steve Vai is overrated as a player but he's earned the rock star credibility in the 80s when he was playing with David Lee Roth and White Snake. His newer stuff is lightweight new age guitar music. Its interesting but not quite my cup of tea. But at the same time if he were to put out a new album I would probably still buy it! I think he's a cool guy and I've even seen him in concert. However, he probably won't develop or bring anything new to the table musically, which is what he desperately needs. He's hit a musical climax in the past and just can't get any higher with his song form or guitar playing.
     Malmsteen, like Vai plays a lot of guitar music and all his songs sound similar. However, when Vai plays stuff and it sounds the same it gets really boring. But when Malmsteen does it I'm not as bothered by it. Perhaps its the sheer intensity that Malmsteen puts into his guitar playing that differs from Vai. I like that momentary silence that happens after Malmsteen plays a bunch of super fast licks. Its very short and then he just barrages you with more insane classical licks. The guy is a musical gymnast. But I don't think he plays fast just to play fast I think that's just how he is. "More is more," like he says. Smart guy. I just finished his biography recently and its amazing how many times he's been fucked over by women. He had two horrible marriages before he married the right one. Yikes, it was scary just reading about it.
     So yeah......So rock never truly dies even when you're a jazz connoisseur. There's just something about the sound of an electric guitar in rock that you can't get in jazz. Jazz is a very clean cut style of music, almost designed for scholars, intellectuals, hipsters (beatniks), and of course musicians. I could see jazz being played in mansions of the rich and even on interstellar space stations.
     Rock, on the other hand is like the complete opposite. You could say that rock is almost for the john q public or plebs. Rock has become so gentrified to the point where its hard to say what exactly is rock music. To me rock music will always be the stuff from the 60s/70s that inspired all the metal and rock in the 80s, and for me that's really the extent of rock music. I don't think of like modern music like metal-core as rock really, its become another form of music where the blues based form of true rock and roll doesn't exist. In addition, I don't think of indie hipster bands like Arcade Fire or St.Vincent as rock music either, but let's save the indie hipster conversation for another post.
     As you can see I'm very passionate about music. I like to think that I'm not too arrogant about it but sometimes I do get comments about being too elitist and shit like that from my metal-core, emo, and pop-punk loving friends XD. I've tried to get them into jazz and they didn't not like it. I feel like if they opened their minds up more they would find the beauty in it, the true fire and magic. The mind is like a parachute. It doesn't work if it is not open. -Frank Zappa
What are you listening to? Let me know in the comments section. I'm always looking to find new music! 

Update 2.0

     This is just a general whats up kinda post that I wanted to do. I haven't written for a couple days and I don't the blog to get too stale. I gotta keep up the content to keep things interesting. Life has been good, better than usual. Last couple of weeks have been rough at work because I was getting over 40 hour weeks with one day off or no days off. It was all good though because of that money! This week is super relaxing and I've got a couple days off to boot. I even got to hang out with friends earlier this week and today I was chillin' at my friends house playing the Overwatch beta.
     In terms of music I've been listening to all kinds of stuff. I got my Ipod loaded up to the max with rock, metal, and jazz music. Right now I'm listening to Yngwie Malmsteen's 1996 album Inspiration. The album opens up with a cover of Kansas' Carry on Wayword Son, such a good song! I remember in high school doing a marching band show while playing trumpet and opening up with that tune. Brings back many memories. It sounds so much more bad-ass and neo-classical when Malmsteen solos over the changes. There's even a sick cover of Hendrix's Manic Depression on this album. Malmsteen does a sick Hendrix impersonation!
     Speaking of Malmsteen, I have his autobiography. I got it not too long ago but I haven't finished. The beginning part of it is all about how he was such a great musician but nobody noticed him in his native Sweden. It wasn't until he came to the States and played with some bland hair metal bands that his talent was appreciated. Other stuff I've been listening to is Eric Dolphy, Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Symphony X, etc. All the standards that I've come to know and love over the years. I'm always searching far and wide (through the net) for new music to listen to. It comes in any and all forms really. Lately my new thing has been electronic music, which is a little strange for me because in the past I'd always hated electronic music because I thought it sounded bland and soul-less with no musicality. But tastes change as time goes by. Who knows, maybe there will be a time when I don't really want to hear the sound of post-bop saxophones?
     Lastly, gaming has been fun. Last night we had a smash-fest at our friends house. We were playing five player smash for a bit and it was really fun! I've played eight player smash before and that is just absolutely stupid because there's too much going on and you can't even really see the screen and what your character is doing. Once we started playing 1v1's I absolutely dominated, defeating everybody in the room convincingly. I would say my neutral game with Bayonetta has improved a lot and I've learned to switch up my style mid-match more if my opponent starts baiting and reading me. The weekly smash tournament at Fire and Dice is tomorrow (today, technically speaking) and I'm excited to go and try out my newfound skills on people there. The people at Fire and Dice are really good, some of them are even way better than me but I can still beat them if I play a nearly perfect game or pull a rabbit out of my hat. It's going to be rough but I'm going to give it all I've got and see what happens.
     I've also been playing a lot of Heroes of the Storm and Diablo III. Today I got most of the set items for Immortal Kings, a good set for Barbarians in the game. It gives me all kinds of buffs, its really sweet! In addition, I want to get back into playing more Street Fighter V but I just haven't been up to it lately. Maybe I'll play a bit tomorrow after the tournament. Life just moves so fast and there's only so much gaming you can get in on a busy day when you still have other commitments. For a while I was focusing on playing only smash but I felt like I burned out pretty quick. I have to get a variety of games in otherwise I just don't feel it. I'm still working on the Fire Emblem Fates Conquest campaign and I gotta say that the game is hella difficult. Chapter ten took me three tries to beat and all it was just a hold out mission where you had to hold out for eleven turns. Doesn't sound difficult but it took everything I had just to win. Looking forward to more chapters like that lol. I've also been watching a lot of anime at night. That's it for now, sayonara!