He called this guitar “ The Golden Gate .” And he was hooked .
The glass fingerboard , Ned says , is the same concept of selecting a glass slide instead of a metal or bone slide — the material affects the tone .
“ Glass sounds , well , glass-like , clear and defined without sounding brittle . Plus , it ’ s impervious to wear from nickel strings and is free of dead spots . Of all the guitars I ’ ve modified , they each retain their characteristics while adding the fretless vibe on top .”
But playing a fretless guitar requires — especially one with a glass-topped neck requires experience — and patience . “ Most fretless players I hear suffer from trying to transfer their perceived prowess and knowledge on fretted guitar to fretless guitar , without getting inside the thing . You have to bring the note to you .”
Some seven glass-equipped fretless guitars later — more , if you count the ones he ’ s built for others , like the ’ 59 Fender Hardtail that he modified for the venerable John Frusciante — and he ’ s perfected the art of letting the notes come to him .
His favorite guitars include the aforementioned Kay , a modified Peavey Riptide and a Galveston Fretless Resonator that he calls “ The Globro ”— all of which are featured heavily on his new album .
Today , Ned is working to develop a new fretless Fender Strat — a lifelong dream — in hopes that Fender will want to work with him once it ’ s done . He ’ s also working on ideas for his twelfth album finally and , finally confident with his vocal chops after eight years on the road , wants to record a definitive live album later this year .
To learn more about Ned , go to nedevett . com . To hear his new album , Glass Guitar , go to nedevett . bandcamp . com .
TRW : What new equipment are you using these days ?
NE : I tend to invent new items for each record . My latest is a glass-capo that allows me to shift keys on the fly . I am writing new stuff with it right now that is mind-blowingly strange and simple .
TRW : What kind of gear did you use on the new album ?
NE : I used a Strymon Mobius pedal and a Hotone British Invasion amp to record my new album . My choices for gear have always been quite odd though , since the fretless guitar doesn ’ t have a lot of natural sustain . The size of amp is very critical . In my case , I like little amps cranked up through ten-inch speakers .
I have a Vox AC15 with the top boost channel — really great amp . I also have a Vox Ice 9 overdrive pedal , a Line 6 DL4 Delay and a British-made DRW compressor . The DL4 has an auto-swell delay that makes pedal licks much easier to do and I use the compressor for some of the chicken-pickin ’ stuff .
TRW : What ’ s the story on “ The Globro ?”
NE : The Globro was my second custom fretless acoustic guitar , purchased off eBay and converted in Boise in late 2003 . It has a
He called this guitar “ The Golden Gate .” And he was hooked .
The glass fingerboard , Ned says , is the same concept of selecting a glass slide instead of a metal or bone slide — the material affects the tone .
“ Glass sounds , well , glass-like , clear and defined without sounding brittle . Plus , it ’ s impervious to wear from nickel strings and is free of dead spots . Of all the guitars I ’ ve modified , they each retain their characteristics while adding the fretless vibe on top .”
But playing a fretless guitar requires — especially one with a glass-topped neck requires experience — and patience . “ Most fretless players I hear suffer from trying to transfer their perceived prowess and knowledge on fretted guitar to fretless guitar , without getting inside the thing . You have to bring the note to you .”
Some seven glass-equipped fretless guitars later — more , if you count the ones he ’ s built for others , like the ’ 59 Fender Hardtail that he modified for the venerable John Frusciante — and he ’ s perfected the art of letting the notes come to him .
His favorite guitars include the aforementioned Kay , a modified Peavey Riptide and a Galveston Fretless Resonator that he calls “ The Globro ”— all of which are featured heavily on his new album .
Today , Ned is working to develop a new fretless Fender Strat — a lifelong dream — in hopes that Fender will want to work with him once it ’ s done . He ’ s also working on ideas for his twelfth album finally and , finally confident with his vocal chops after eight years on the road , wants to record a definitive live album later this year .
To learn more about Ned , go to nedevett . com . To hear his new album , Glass Guitar , go to nedevett . bandcamp . com .
Q & A with Ned Evett
TRW : What new equipment are you using these days ?
NE : I tend to invent new items for each record . My latest is a glass-capo that allows me to shift keys on the fly . I am writing new stuff with it right now that is mind-blowingly strange and simple .
TRW : What kind of gear did you use on the new album ?
NE : I used a Strymon Mobius pedal and a Hotone British Invasion amp to record my new album . My choices for gear have always been quite odd though , since the fretless guitar doesn ’ t have a lot of natural sustain . The size of amp is very critical . In my case , I like little amps cranked up through ten-inch speakers .
I have a Vox AC15 with the top boost channel — really great amp . I also have a Vox Ice 9 overdrive pedal , a Line 6 DL4 Delay and a British-made DRW compressor . The DL4 has an auto-swell delay that makes pedal licks much easier to do and I use the compressor for some of the chicken-pickin ’ stuff .
TRW : What ’ s the story on “ The Globro ?”
NE : The Globro was my second custom fretless acoustic guitar , purchased off eBay and converted in Boise in late 2003 . It has a