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.

And Your Bird Can Sing

Hello, the world of the interwebz. I thought I'd jot down some notes after what I considered a great day. 

First of all, let me explain a bit about what I've been going through before this said great day. I almost lost my job, due to my own stupidity, initiating bad karma, and then I was really down on my luck for a couple of days. That's pretty much it. Losing a retail job might not be the worst thing in the world but technically I can't afford to go without working. Who can, given this economy? 

I came out of all those bad vibes after a few days. Today, I'm back to being on top of the world. It's like that Cream blues cover. "I'm sittin' on top of the world." I came to such good vibes on my own initiative, as I usually do. With a little help from my friends of course [The Beatles].   

First of all, it hit me that it isn't necessarily the job that I do or the money that I get from the said job that is important. My job has never defined who I am or my personality. Rather, it's the fact that I'm working hard, improving my character, and generating goodwill and reciprocity with coworkers, managers, customers, and friends that I've made through the community. I've created a vast network of people who know me through my job. Intellectuals, musicians, readers, writers, movie biz people, friends, so much out of this little job. This is a hard concept for some people to grasp considering it's just a retail gig. 

Second, all the negativity that I feel, see, hear, will always be negated by own positive energy, IF I can sustain positivity every day all the time. The naysayers will always doubt you. They are losers and they want you to become like them. Misery loves company. The only way to get through them is to practice positivity right in front of their faces. When they see that whatever they say to you will leave you unscathed, they will see you in a different light. Wau, dude! Yer a total hippie. I told you about the walrus and mean man, now here's another place you can go, man.

Third, the only person who can save you from the world is yourself. It's up to you. Everything in the universe is possible through your own sheer will. Instant karma is gonna save you or the reverse. Because of my own goodwill, I get good vibes from the universe. The reverse is true if I bring negativity in the world. It's not like my religion or anything but it's definitely true of being. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that even if your life isn't great the only way for it to become great is to take it all in stride with a positive attitude. Be the man with the golden smile. It takes a lot of practice but with the power of soul, anything is possible. Meditation helps. And the Beatles. And singing and playing the guitar. Who knows, maybe after a lifetime of zen practice, at the end of your life you will have attained full Zen Buddhahood. 

Tell me that you got everything you want
And your bird can sing
But you don't get me
You don't get me

Life, Today, Now

Hello, ladies and gents. Back at it with another update on what's been going on in the wonderful world of Figuero. Things have become a little hectic as of late but it's all a-okay for now.

For one thing, I've been switched up from late night 1am closing shifts at work to morning showings. Sometimes I start as early as 9am which is pretty insane for me, considering I've been working 430pm-1am for six years straight. It was tough closing at a retail gig all those nights but here's the kicker, I actually enjoyed it.

Most of the people I work with are fighting hard to get early morning/midday shifts, whereas me, I tried to fight back against the whole morning switch up. But alas, it seems my fate is sealed. I'm a morning guy now. 

That being said, I've officially become a normal member of society.  

Wham, bam, thank you, mam. 

As a night person you never actually get used to morning shifts.  

I'm usually pretty tired but I'll get used to the whole thing.

In other news, I've been reading a lot. I haven't been writing as much as I should be but that's mostly because I've been so tired from work, and as a result, been feeling less inspired. I am still going to finish a much better version of my memoir, as well as write more short stories, in the end, have a short story collection.

I've been reading a lot of philosophy and science fiction as of late. I just finished reading Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. Also, I just finished John Crowley's Engine Summer, a terrific 1979 science fiction novel, a coming of age story. It's unlike any other science fiction novel I've ever read. It's not so much a story as it is a metamorphosis of character, quite brilliant really.

Right now I'm reading Kant's Critique of Judgement, his writings on art, beauty, criticism. It's quite a wonderful read. I've learned a lot from Kant. I plan on reading more German Idealism at some point soon. I'm very much interested in reading Hegel. Kant has taught me that to truly understand anything, you have to break it down into simple, easy to understand concepts, define and learn everything from that, then look at the whole as one sort of dialectic. In short, you have to be interested in everything. That's the key to being a great dinner party host, as Kant was.

Also, I've been obsessed with the Beatles for a long time now. Even though I've still been doing the once a week jazz saxophone/guitar duo I've actually been listening to more 60s rock and roll than jazz. Mostly Hendrix, Zappa, and the Beatles. You really can't go wrong with that.

I joined a band but nothing happened with the group so that's done with. It was worth a shot. At some point soon I'll get back to my book review blogs, and I'll be posting my fiction writing on my other blog, ofigueroastories.blogspot.com. That page really needs some new content. Coming soon.

It's the holiday season

Howdy, yall? Thought I'd write a short post late tonight. I haven't been writing much. Not because there's nothing to write about. I've been sick this whole week straight. I'm actually still sick but am in recovery mode from a serious cold. It started as faint flu-like symptoms earlier in the week and lasted the entire week until today...Sunday. 

Sunday Funday, as they say. I'm going in for a late 1am shift again. But this time I won't be sick. So I'll be more up to it. Have a better attitude and all that jazz. Although I haven't been writing as often I've been busier than ever. 

I've been playing a lot of guitar for one thing. Practicing Sequenza by Luciano Berio as well as my improvising skills. I took a break from the jazz duo jam session this week because I was sick but we will resume this upcoming week. 

For another thing, I finished a book in a single day today on my day off from work. I finished reading Ursula K. LeGuin's second novel, Planet in Exile, the second book in her Hainish trilogy cycle. Her first three novels. I'll probably write a post about all three books when I'm finished. Also, I recently finished reading Susan Sontag's second collection of essays entitled Styles of Radical Will. What a transformative informative read that was. 

I haven't even started on any holiday shopping but I'll get it done on my days off later this week. It's truly the holiday season. This time of year always reminds me of Paul McCartney doing that Christmas song, "Simply having, a wonderful Christmas time." Great tune, Paul. 

The job has been really tough this week with the flu/cold. I really wanted to call out four times in a row but sometimes you gotta tough it out and go with the flow. Especially when you need that holiday pay for Christmas gifts.  

I've been listening to a lot of straight-ahead jazz. That's been my spirit music for the longest now. I've given the 60s rock and roll a break. Too much Mothers of Invention and The Beatles. There's only so much Sgt. Pepper, Freak Out, Revolver, and We're Only In It For The Money I can take.

I've ordered a bunch of great books that I plan on reading soon. The list includes Sontag Under the Sign of Saturn, Dante Divine Comedy, Kant Critique of Pure Reason, Kushner Telex from Cuba, Goethe Faust, and more. I want to read more science fiction as well. Perhaps more LeGuin, say, The Dispossessed, or the Lathe of Heaven, heck, why not both? 

As a result of all this reading, my computer time has dwindled down to maybe an hour a day or just not at all. I don't even really play computer games anymore. There's just not enough time in the day if I want to read, play guitar, and go to work. 

That's the end of this one. Happy holidays!

End of May Jam Tracks

Hello everyone! Another month has gone by, and I've been playing a lot of guitar. Here are some tracks from the last open mic I played, at the end of May. We're doing the same material I've been doing, however, I like to think I've improved all these tunes a lot. I'm proud of my vocals, not because they are great or anything, but because I've learned a lot about performing rock and roll live through singing whilst playing guitar. We did the Wayne Shorter jazz standard entitled Footprints, and the usual Hey Joe [Hendrix] and Sunshine of Your Love [Cream]. One of the keys to singing slightly better for me was realizing that I should never hit those high notes [lol]. This was a better jam than usual because I got to play with this old timer, a great blues/rock guitar player. Enjoy the music. 

https://soundcloud.com/orlando-figueroa-17/footprints-live-may-20 
https://soundcloud.com/orlando-figueroa-17/hey-joe-live-may-20 
https://soundcloud.com/orlando-figueroa-17/sunshine-of-your-love-live-may-20 

Orlando Figueroa: Guitar/Vocals
Jim X: Drums 
Dan: Bass
Ken: Tambourine
Dave: Harmonica  
Old Timer: Guitar

More Soundcloud tracks

Even more good news everyone! I just got the tracks from the last jam I did at the local open jam. I've already posted them and you can listen to them https://soundcloud.com/user-294063763. I'm listening to it all right now and I gotta say that this jam was particularly impressive with three guitarists (one being myself), drums, bass,  keyboards, and vocals. I held everything down together by mostly playing the rhythm guitar. The other two guys were good players but they were mostly only playing lead. On one of the jams we had a trumpet player. It sounds way 1960s rock and roll man! Mighty good jam. The new tracks I posted are Vocal Jam 1, Vocal Jam 2, and Rock and Roll by Led Zep. On Vocal Jam 1 I stomped on dominant 9th chords over a jazz blues progression. Check out the tracks and let me know what you think!

Black metal meets Pop and Psychedelia

I've developed a fascination with a newish heavy metal band from Sweden called Ghost. Their lyrics are totally satanic and black metal but their music is more psychedelic and pop rather than a black metal style. They wear robes and stuff. The singer wears a pope-like outfit and he's called Papa Emeritus. The rest of the band wears masks and go under the names Nameless Ghouls. Pretty cool gimmick, eh?

This might seem silly and I assure you it is. But something about this band is amazing. Their lyrics are totally silly but their music is so catchy and infectious. Its almost like if the Beatles were a black metal band in 2016. They've made me realize that not every song or band has to be progressive or technical. All you need is some catchy riffs and lyrics and you've got yourself a song.

It took me a long time to realize that and this band has shown me that. That's why I think they're the best metal band I've heard in a long time. I bought their 2016 ep entitled Popestar. It features one original tune called Square Hammer and four cover songs originally by Echo and the Bunnymen, Simian Mobile Disco, Eurythmics, and Imperiet. Those are all fairly pop so you get the idea of where this band is going. Right to the top in terms of musical popularity. It seems like they've just been getting bigger and bigger in America. I could see them playing big ass festivals and stadiums like Metallica and Slayer sometime soon.

Popestar is a good ep and shows how great their covers are. On their first album they did a brilliant rendition of the Beatles' Here comes the sun. Their cover is pretty darn good. That entire first album is great. It's everything a good rock album should be. Even if this band has a strong black metal vibe in terms of their lyrics, the music is classic rock and roll. That's what I like about them.

Its cool that I got into them just in time for Halloween. They're definitely a Halloween sorta band with their elaborate stage shows and costumes. You should check them out on YouTube. Listen to the first album Opus Eponymous and Popestar if you wanna hear what got them their Grammy this year.

Classic stuff. The Nameless Ghouls play a mean guitar too. I also love how they have keyboards. Reminds me of the Crazy World of Arthur Brown and my young progressive rock days.

Killer.