Always a bit sharp, playing with a cutthroat razor

[pete1951]

I fondly remember John Jackson playing with a brass ‘ razor’ . Someone had made it for him ( Michael may have a better recollection) and it looked like it was based on a cutthroat razor. He held it in a similar way to a razor ( did he learn to play with a razor before he had the brass ‘blade’ made?)


I got out my razor but am having trouble with the technique. I think the razor really needs to be used on open D, ( not a tuning I am confident playing) as it is at its best when playing melody lines on the top string while your thumb does a lot of work on the bass (again my thumb work is another weakness of mine)

Any advice?
Pete

[bonzo]

Get a Philips or Remington and go electric 👍🎸🙂

[pete1951]

Oct 11, 2023 9:08:11 GMT bonzo said:

Get a Philips or Remington and go electric 👍🎸🙂

That would be using brain over Braun

Pete

I wonder if the rotary action of a Phillips could be turned into a string plucking device? A cross between a E-Bow and the Gismo ( a mechanical string player from the 70/80s(?)

[bonzo]

Probably work well on a beard spider bridge 👍🙂🎸

[stevie2sticks]

I’d like one of these . . .

[mitchfit]

pete1951 said--
"I wonder if the rotary action of a Phillips could be turned into a string plucking device? A cross between a E-Bow and the Gismo ( a mechanical string player from the 70/80s(?)"

haven't had access to an E-Bow or Gismo before. did get some interesting magnetic interactions with steel core electric strings and/or magnetic PUPs with a battery powered electric tooth brush back in the day.

not what one would consider musical, however. more of a unique sound effect.

mitchfit

[pete1951]

Though I was interested in finding out about John Jackson’s playing technique, I do like gadgets. The E-bow is fun but I now have a Fernandez Sustainer on a guitar and this does most of the things an E -Bow will do. The Gismo I have tried, back in the late 70s or early 80s. It was held on the body and had 6 small toothed wheels, one for each string, fun but I felt it a bit clumsy.

Still no info about using a razor...................
Pete

[Michael Messer]

Hi Pete

I have been through a few periods in my life of playing slide with a cut-throat razor, a pocket knife and and a kitchen knife. I remember John's handmade brass slide tool and it was comfortable to use. The razor is a great tool for slide, but as with all of these types of slides, there are limitations.

I was never planning to use any of these tools as my main slide, they were all used in research projects decoding some of the old masters and originators of slide guitar playing. My most recent work on that subject was a few years ago, looking at Blind Willie Johnson's playing, in particular on Dark Was The Night, and Kokomo Arnold's playing, mainly on his playing in vestapol tuning.

With regards to Blind Willie Johnson, having studied his music very closely and seeing how different Dark Was The Night is from anything else he recorded, not just in musical content, but in the sound, the vibrato, the friction against the strings and the clanging on the frets, I believe that piece was recorded using a different tool to everything else he recorded. I spent time learning to play that piece with a pocket knife, a kitchen knife and a razor, to try and get as close as I could, and while I can't be sure which of these he used, I do believe he used a knife and not a tube slide on his finger, which I believe he used on every other slide piece he recorded. My work on BWJ's playing took a lot of time and to study the components I mentioned earlier, I used a computer to slow down and change the EQ of the recordings to enable me to zoom in on the vibrato, the friction on the strings, the accuracy and inaccuracies of certain moves...etc.

Kokomo Arnold is a whole other thing that would take a long time to write about, but I do believe he used a knife or razor on some of his recordings.

The hardest part of playing with any of these tools is getting used to using them and finding which one works best for you. I highly recommend knives from Pizza Express, the are heavy with a very nice rounded handle. In the name of research I have borrowed knives from numerous restaurants and PE's knives are the best sliders. I believe Blind Willie Johnson was a Pizza Express customer.

It's what I do when there's nothing else to do!

Shine On
Michael

[pete1951]

Thanks Michael, I will bring my ( blunt) razor to Pocklington and see if ‘cuts the mustard ‘ .

[bluesdude]

Ya"ll watch out Bladdie Maes gonna get cha!