This is a saddle. The strings run over the saddle and are tied behind the bridge. The saddle is carved from a piece of bone. As you can see, there is a small section that is carved differently, so that one particular string has a slightly longer length that can vibrate than the other five strings. That’s for the G-string.
I had been using a particular bone for many years when Keith Vizcarra, the luthier, looked at my guitar a while ago and suggested that we lower the strings ever so slightly. In order to do that he carved a new bone.
Fast forward to the Florida tour two months ago. Florida was plenty humid and the A on the 1st string, and a few other notes, started to buzz. Thinking ahead to the concert with the NM Phil I thought I should switch back to the older saddle that would certainly eliminate the buzz, because it is higher.
I took the strings off, removed the newer, lower bone and replaced it with the older, taller bone, and strung up the guitar with a new set of strings. I gave myself a few days to get used to the new, old setup.
I discovered that I couldn’t get used to it. It felt difficult to play. The difference between the saddles could not have been more a fraction of a millimeter (maybe a tenth of a mm?) in height but it therefore also added a tiny bit of tension that I had to overcome when fretting the notes with the left hand.
I decided that this change in playability was more troublesome than the small buzz and decided to change back to the newer/lower saddle. The neck, meanwhile, had started to recover from the humidity and the buzzing note played nearly clean. After I spent almost a week in Santa Fe, the neck was totally fine and the guitar sounded great.
I realized that Keith’s lowering of the guitar’s action had really helped my hands and made it a little easier for me to play.
I had this idea to play a melody to a rain recording, as if I was sitting in a room with the windows open, listening to rain hitting different surfaces on the porch. Just a guitar player creating a little rain melody, not composing a song.
I don’t know whether this is something anyone else would enjoy, but I quite love the unadorned quality of this. It’s not composed, the way I am considering and selecting these words, it’s simply a conversation with the rain, an improvisation born of a moment, in an, albeit imagined, environment.
I picked a rain recording I hadn’t yet listened to and set up the microphone. As before, I used the Earthworks SR40, plugged into the MixPre-6, which was connected to my laptop via USB-C. I am really pleased with the sound of the guitar. The mic was pointed at the end of the fretboard diagonally and from a little less than a foot a way.
Came across this interesting post about Santana history. I remember loving the album Caravanserai when it came out, and should listen to it again. It’s been decades. I didn’t know that the band did a month of shows without Carlos in 1971… There is even a recording of that.
More troubles were awaiting the band after the release of Santana III. The drugs intake did not subside and Carlos Santana decided to take a stand. On the eve of embarking on a US tour to promote the album, he made a demand: “I’m not going unless we get rid of [manager] Stan Marcum and [percussionist] Michael Carabello, because they’re suppling the band with the heavy stuff and we sound like shit. We’re not practicing, and it’s embarrassing. Either those guys are out or I’m out.” Ok, said the band, and flew out to play a month of Santana shows with no Santana in the lineup. Shrieve remembers that bleak period: “I think that when cocaine entered into the scene for us it kind of closed us down. We were still playing well, but our hearts and minds had closed down to each other.” Santana 1972-1974, Part 1: The Road to Caravanserai
When it’s cold backstage one has to be careful when filing one’s nails for the performance. Colder temperatures make the flesh on one’s hand contract and the nails stick out more, and therefore seem longer. When the temperature rises, either because of the audience (large groups of people will automatically raise the room temperature) or because the venue uses old fashioned incandescent lights, the flesh of the plucking hand will get fuller and will obscure the nail. Suddenly the nails are too short!
Pro-Arté Composite strings offer the traditional elegance of our Pro-Arte’ line, with the added benefit of an elevated bass response. The exclusive composite core bass strings in the set produce a bold, projecting low-end, providing a more influential tone than nylon basses. Paired with black nylon trebles, this set of Pro-Arte’ Composite strings offers a sound which is both alluring and commanding. This Flamenco Tension set delivers a flexible feel, while still maintaining the quick response that is essential for flamenco players.
I started using D’Addario strings around 1990. I didn’t have a Flamenco guitar when I recorded NF. I only had an inexpensive (around $350) classical guitar and used D’Agostino strings for the basses and Savarez strings for the trebles. Or maybe it was the other way around? Under the microscope of the recording studio, I didn’t find the strings to be very dependable and sometimes I had to change strings several times until I found some that were in tune and the overtones sounded correctly. When we started touring in the Summer of 1990 I had to find something more reliable. I tried D’Addario classical strings and liked them. Each set appeared to be identical. There were simply no bad sets. (I think I rejected only one set in thirty years… that’s unbelievably consistent!)
Sometime in 1990 I was added to the list of D’Addario artists and began to receive free strings. D’Addario responded to problems, like when two D-strings broke during the filming of a TV interview in Canada. Within a few months D’Addario changed the design of the D-string, by adding an additional filament on the inside, and it never broke again.
D’Addario developed the Pro Arté composite strings and I used different versions of those. In 2010 I was using the basses from the EJ45C Composites Normal Tension set and T2 Titanium Normal Singles for the trebles. A year later I discovered the black nylon Flamenco set and have been playing them ever since! When I discovered the EJ25B set and put them on the guitar for the first time I knew they were nearly perfect and a huge step forward. The G string fit much better, both in diameter and in sound, and was more in tune. Nearly 12 years later and I can’t imagine anything better. From time to time different string manufacturers have offered me their strings to try but I have never found anything I liked better. I have been a D’Addario artist for so long that I am grandfathered in… my name is not found among the many names of guitarists on their website. That suits me fine, because I am still getting free strings, which is what matters to me.
I sent Stephen Duros a few sets of EJ25B to try and here is what he wrote:
I’ve always been a fan of D’Addario nylon strings and when Ottmar suggested that I try the EJ25B Flamenco strings, I did. They are exactly what I am looking for in a set of strings. The tension is perfect, the tone is great, bold and punchy. This set of strings has all the qualities I want and my guitar has never sounded better.
So this is my ode to strings. These strings work. I don’t have to wonder whether the B and G strings will be in tune for Waiting in Vain… I can expect a set to last about two weeks and for most of that time it will be rock solid. After two weeks I will hear that some overtones have shifted and it’s time for a new set.
PS: I remember when a member of our crew once offered to re-string my guitar. When he saw my disbelieving look, he said that he played guitar himself and knew he could do it right. I remember replying that while I had no doubt that he would do a good job, I considered changing the strings to be an essential part of playing guitar and that there was no way that I would not do it myself. I guess I wasn’t meant to be a rock star! :-)
PPS: I also appreciate that D’Addario has a recycling program. I participated in all kinds of string programs that collected used strings to send them to areas where people can’t afford to buy strings. These programs didn’t usually last long, shipping costs probably being too prohibitive. The D’Addario recycling program has been going strong for a bunch of years and I always collect old strings in a bag.