Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Guitar stuff: Ibanez Floating Bridge to Hardtail conversion..

I hate the floating bridge. I didn't realize how much I hated it until after I invested in my Ibanez my guitar. I LOVE the guitar, but hate the bridge. On TOP of that.. the bridge snapped in 2! Rather than spend the ungodly amount of money required to replace the bridge (which I hated in the first place), I ripped the whole thing out, springs brackets etc., and replace it with a hardtail.

Everything i found online said 'not possible'; unless you purchase a 'Tremol-No' which basically clamps to the floating bridge making it useless..

so I made my own way..



total cost? $10.

here's the original floating bridge next to a cheap chinese knock off: What's missing from the original? (The giant chunk of metal that is supposed to be attached to the back)

here's where it gets expensive... generic Floyd Rose bridge; $8. pack of metal brackets from home depot $2.

A beauty shot of it finished; the fingerprints are custom. if you're wondering how much lighter it is now, the approximate weight difference is 700lbs. if You'd like more detailed instructions on converting your own, just email me and I'll tell you how!

-Redford





Friday, January 29, 2010

Long Days remix on Somobe album

My friend Jon of the Hip Hop duo Somobe took our track 'long days' awhile back and put his spin on it; you can check out the track here:



If you like underground Hip Hop, you'll probably enjoy their CD 'The Great Communication'. The album can be purchased @ amazon

-Joe (Redford)

Thursday, January 28, 2010

A light in the distance + the Tracklist.

The end is in sight for our first album! I don't mean this in the sense that you're going to see it in stores next week; I mean this in the sense that you've been out at sea in a storm for months, your war party is tired and hungry and through your spotting scope from the crows nest you can faintly make out a lighthouse; the journey isn't over, but there is a port in sight.

SO far here's the lineup

--Tales of 2am--
1- Long Days
2- Chimaera
3- Dreamcatcher
4- Carnival
5- Puddle Jumping
6- Silver Pin Jive
7- Tranquil
8- Way Down South
9- In Search of
10- Samuel Says
11- (still deciding)
12- (An experiment in switching roles)


Apparently my Dad suggested to my sis that we switch roles on a song; she makes the music and I write the lyrics. This should be entertaining.. Track 12 will either delight you or be the first one deleted from your iPod.

Some of you may be thinking "This does me no bloody good because I haven't a clue as to what any of these tracks are.."

Well to you I would respond that you're demanding and ungrateful. HOWEVER, you CAN hear an old version of 'Long Days' on our myspace page http://www.myspace.com/shadowpilotmusic ; this is one of our first recorded songs that we did ~ 6 years ago! (Alaina was 17 when she sang this.. pretty impressive, no?)

-Joe (Redford)

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Autotune amusement. (Redford)

I can't wait for the day that people are so sick of the over-the-top autotune effect that all the songs that incorporate it will essentially be ban from broadcast..

Until that day comes, however, I decided to embrace it and make my debut singing career.

Generally the way it works is, I compose the music, my sister writes the lyrics and sings the track, we then go back and forth and polish/revise the track together.

"But what if *I* sang the track?", I pondered. 
Truth be told, I have a TERRIBLE singing voice, but with the advent of pop music, my dream is now possible... check it out.

(Bear and mind this was just for sh*ts and grins and I have no intentions of singing anytime soon.. trust me.. it's better for both of us.)

Here is a scratch version of the original Dreamcatcher chorus sang beautifully by my sister:




Now here's me resinging it and applying autotune:






Duet anyone?







you TOO can be a pop superstar with autotune and one of the various Youtube instructional tutorials... good luck!