Led Zeppelin, the greatness of

I don't know. Isn't that what Canadians do?

No, that must be another country you're thinking of. Some Canadians dabble in Bluegrass, but I think that's as far as they go.

Oh, you're right. I was thinking of Bratsvania.

That must be it ;-)

hmmm...

wow all this interesting conversation from you ...interesting people...and yet no one knows where the infamous bow is used.

Could you please elaborate on your question? Do you mean "in what part of the song" or "where along the scale length of the strings" or something else? I had hoped that I had answered or at least put you on the road to an answer with my first post on page 1.

why thankyou doc, for your helpful information. i havn't seen the film but i shall now consider watching it on my quest.

now that you mention, "where along the scale length of the strings", it has got me wondering...

a friend of mine once borrowed an enemy's violin bow to try recreate page's masterpiece on his guitar, he's not the greatest guitarist in the world but all that came out were a few screeches. so, how does one actually use a bow to play guitar anyway?

You're most welcome, Angelina!

I've never tried playing guitar with a bow, but I'd have to think one is somewhat limited on playing individual notes (except on the first and sixth strings) because the bridge and nut are essentially flat, whereas they're rounded on a cello or violin, allowing the bow to touch only one string at a time. In fact, as I recall, Page plays mostly chords while he's playing with the bow.

When he gets to the percussive part where he's actually striking the bow against the strings, he really utilizes the variation in tone from one part of the scale length to another. Plus, as hard as he's hitting them, I would have to think he's smacking the pickups in which case you should be able to hear that, too. (I used that in a local production of Jesus Christ Superstar a few years ago. As Judas hung himself, I did a pickscrape and then hit an Em chord and divebombed, allowing the strings to bottom out on the pole pieces of the pickups for an audible little "click" at the end.)

One other thing Page is doing on that percussive part is using some kind of delay so each strike is followed by little echoes.

Hmm, I'll have to go back and watch it again myself now that you've piqued my curiosity!

wow you sure know your stuff doc. i have to say i got a little lost on the jesus christ superstar bit, im not a guitarist so please excuse my ignorance.

Thanks Angelina! And please excuse my being so inconsiderate to talk "shop" - force of habit after thirty years. The pickups are the devices on an electric guitar that are mounted right under the strings where your picking hand rests. They are magnets wrapped in coils of wire and positioned so that the strings vibrate within their magnetic fields. This creates an electronic signal that is then amplified and voila, you have an electric guitar!

"Divebombing" is done using a "whammy bar" - that little handle that sticks out of some guitars and is just in reach of your picking hand. When the bar is depressed, it temporarily loosens the strings which, in turn, lowers the pitch of the notes played. If you strike a note and then quickly depress the bar, you'll hear something that sounds roughly akin to a WWII plane making a quick dive to deliver its payload. Press the bar all the way down and the strings get so loose as to touch the pole pieces of the magnets in the pickups. When that happens, you can hear a distinct "click".

Regarding the scale length of the strings, the closer to the bridge - the lower string-attachment point, near your picking hand - you pick or strum, the brighter or more "trebly" the tone is. Move closer to the neck and the tone gets darker and richer, but perhaps not as distinct. This is true whether you use a pick, your fingers, or even a cello bow.

I realize this probably doesn't answer your question about the use of the bow, but for whatever it's worth, here 'tis.

always good to have a little information to surprise my guitar playing friends with, so thanks doc.

electric guitar sounds muchos fun, i have a classical that i was given a while back but got stuck on the tuning part. perhaps i should give it another go, im sure it would bring out the jimmy page in me!

Oh thank you for indulging me, Angelina! (I wonder if the moderators will gig us for being too polite? )

At long last, I actually have some useful information for you, perhaps. Should you decide to take up the guitar after all, a move I highly recommend of course, here is one of many electronic tuners available. With a little practice, you can tune without this thing as long as you have something else available - like a piano for instance - to tune one string to. But much like a calculator, you may soon find an electronic tuner indispensable:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/210527/

thanks doc (politeness strikes again)
perhaps i should learn to play... ill post later when im not as tired and have something more productive to say.

what does anyone recommend as the second best led zeppelin album to buy. i already have whats generally considered the best- the fourth album. i also have the best of: early days and latter days. what is recommended next?

if i was to finish the sentence... led zeppelin are, i would put at the end FRIGGIN AMAZING DUDE

Well I was hoping you'd hear from somebody besides me first, but in any case...

Probably "Physical Graffiti" and maybe "Led Zeppelin II" as a close third. When I saw AC/DC's Back in Black tour in 1980, their opening music was an excerpt from "LZII".

it seems you are the knower of all knowledge doc. frankly i was waiting for only your opinion anyway. ive heard physical graffitti's a good one. u saw ac/dc? thats pretty darn amazing!

Aww, thanks Angelina! You're entirely too sweet! To paraphrase Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes, I am by no means the knower of all knowledge, it's just that I have an encylopedic memory of useless trivia. (And most any rock guitar-player can tell ya this stuff and more; I just seem to be the only one reading the thread for some reason. Pity we can't go to PM.)

I think the first concert I went to, not counting a half-dozen or so shows my parents drug me to, would have been the Association, believe it or not. (Yeah, I know, but hey, it was c. 1969 and I was ten years old!) Then, when I was about sixteen, I saw the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt just as "One of These Nights" was hitting the record stores. So I was completely addicted to concert-going by the time I saw Angus and company. What a great show it was, too!