My Telegraph Road solo project

[PKnopf]

Hello, all.

This year I've finally got less lazy and started to get the rust off my fingers to really figure out some of Knopfler's most difficult solos.

My last attempt is this thing I'm calling my Telegraph Road solo project.

For this, I've sourced some of my favourite bits mostly from the 92 and 01 versions.

The backbone comes from Basel '92 and Nimes '92.

It's still unfinished.

I also need to feel more confident about the whole execution of such a long solo. So there are some key vibratos still missing.

Please feel free to criticize it all you want.

Here's the link to my YT video:

[PKnopf]

Thanks for the reply and the feedback.

I had to record this directly from the line in of an irig 2 hd so I would not bother my neighbors with the endless training of all these licks.

The first goal was to figure out all these incredible links he plays live. The fast licks from the Nimes '92 version were the most difficult to get right.

I always played a MK inspired finger style from the start, so I regularly use the thumb + index and middle fingers style.

As I wrote, there's a lot of confidence involved in replicating a 4 minute solo filled with such fast licks, so it's only natural to find my fingers a bit cumbersome at this stage. If you take a look at some of my other videos you'll see some more comfortable playing and, therefore, more faithful renditions.

Once I have all these licks properly trained, I'll work on the transitions from the bits of Basel to the bits of Nimes, which I think it's the main issue of my execution, right now. It doesn't feel right as it is.

The beginning I took from the Sao Paulo '01 version and from some licks he's played in 2013, and I really like those licks, so I won't change them in the final version.

The closing licks need some polishing as well, and I still need to get the timing right for a great bend that he did in Sao Paulo (I was there at the front row) and I still haven't figured out well.

Regarding timing in general, you need to take into account I was playing without any backing track whatsoever, and even the best players out there sometimes need percussion action in place to keep the pace.

As for the tone, I use my strat at the 4th position with tone knobs tuned down at 2. I'm using amplitude 4 right now and I agree I need to work on getting a better amp setup in there as well so I can get a better tone.

Recording it directly affects the quality. If I recorded that from my amp, the tone would be a great deal better.

Anyway, as I wrote as well, this is still a work in progress, so it will surely be improved.

[PKnopf]

The guitar is just fine. I have other 4, including Knopfler's strat and a Gibson R8 Les Paul. Besides, I have recorded some much better tones with it already. It has great PU's and electronics, so I'm confident it's not down to it.

I respect your opinion, but I was after Knopfler's tone during the OES era, and I reckon it's not that far away. Recording directly from the line in leads to worse results.

Anyway, I'm keeping on searching for a greater tone for this. During the years, Mark's been adding some drive to this solo, so it's clearly not as clean as the original.

I'll post new versions of this as long as I have time to play with it again.

[ybot]

Pknopf, very nice job, a 91 92 TR version, I agree to Pensagost in some points, I believe, as his name says(pensaghost) that he prefers MK1+soldano sound.

[PKnopf]

Pknopf, very nice job, a 91 92 TR version, I agree to Pensagost in some points, I believe, as his name says(pensaghost) that he prefers MK1+soldano sound.

Thanks, mate!

I've reviewed my playing and, based on Pensaghost's observations, I've sppoted some of the 'use more your fingers' issues. I've come across a particular lick (the fast lick from the Nimes version) which I was playing much less efficiently than MK does. I've later compared my playing with his in the video and now I'm playing it the correct way.

I've also tried the Solano amp emulator on the Amplitube 4 app in my PC and I'll post another take of that with these updates so you can take a look.

Thanks again for the feedback.

[PKnopf]

you have to improve vastly the touch on the strings, even the parts I mentioned that are 'right' or 'almost right' do not sound fine
because of a not so good touch (and also because of the quality of the gear/recording), on top of that many parts need better comprehension

the main problem is the ears which leads you to think that's right what is actually not, but you are on the right path and
just need to work/train more

I have absolutely no intention of matching Knopfler's touch perfectly. I know there's space for improvements, but I really don't think it's as far off as your ears hear it.

And, not to sound disrespectful, but I've heard your recordings and, honestly, if those reflect your 'superior' hearing... Mate, there's something very wrong with with them.

Seriously, it's not just a matter of bad wrist.

You put reverb (and lots of it) in all of your recordings. And your 'touch' is just appalling either. Not to mention your timing. It's all very, very wrong.

Sorry, but when you call for a superior hearing but fail do miserably to deliver, it's something like 'do what I tell and not what I do'.

Anyway, as I said, I always try my best to filter trash talk from solid criticizing and I started playing with the Soldano SLO100 in my Amplitube and recorded this clip now from my amp. This features an improvement in my playing technique as well in a particular section of the Nimes version.

[PensaGhost]

Hey stupid idiot, you don't call me trash, clear ?
This is not a stupid game about who is better, that's the game children like you play

you explicitly ask for critics in the first post, literally "Please feel free to criticize it all you want." and I did,
are you some kind of psychopath who does the opposite of what he says ?

now shut up, I am not interested in discussing with clowns like you
and I don't know why you are allowed to insult others and still not banned

[PKnopf]

Hey stupid idiot, you don't call me trash, clear ?
This is not a stupid game about who is better, that's the game children like you play

you explicitly ask for critics in the first post, literally "Please feel free to criticize it all you want." and I did,
are you some kind of psychopath who does the opposite of what he says ?

now shut up, I am not interested in discussing with clowns like you
and I don't know why you are allowed to insult others and still not banned

I haven't called you trash.

There's a 'slight' difference between calling someone trash and stating that a particular discussion is trash talk.

I openly asked for critics. You've done yours. I've taken what I rated as useful from your comments ('use more your fingers' and 'use better gear' are 'highly' useful comments, BTW) and tried to improve upon it.

I stated that one problem was recording directly from the app signal, and that I had to get more confidence in the execution, etc.

But then you came and started this claim to have this superior 'hearing' that spotted my very bad touch.

I'm sorry, but at this point I had to hear your take on the subject. And then I started to realise that all this 'superior' hearing was just 'trash talk'.

Got it?

Try to get a beer or something, man. You're just too mad for such a happy moment of the year.

And thanks for your contribution.

[PensaGhost]

Hey stupid idiot, you don't call me trash, clear ?
This is not a stupid game about who is better, that's the game children like you play

you explicitly ask for critics in the first post, literally "Please feel free to criticize it all you want." and I did,
are you some kind of psychopath who does the opposite of what he says ?

now shut up, I am not interested in discussing with clowns like you
and I don't know why you are allowed to insult others and still not banned

I haven't called you trash.

There's a 'slight' difference between calling someone trash and stating that a particular discussion is trash talk.

I openly asked for critics. You've done yours. I've taken what I thought was useful from your comments and tried to improve upon it.

But then you claim to have this superior 'hearing' that spotted my very bad touch. I'm sorry, but then I had to hear your take on the subject. And then I started to realise that all this 'superior' hearing was just 'trash talk'.

Got it?

Have a nice year, mate.

I never called me superior, I never wrote you have a very bad touch and never asked for your super stupid opinions about my playing, you are just a pathetic clown making up things
 
I can 'play' 10 minutes with extreme pain every day 10 days so basically never, even MK would have some/many problems if he could play/train never, and even if you read what happened to me you still wrote super stupid stuff like 'you didn't set the reverb right', really ? I can play never with amps/effects I don't even own myself (owned by friends) and I have to waste time setting the reverb right ? really ? How much should I waste ? 5 minutes of those 10 minutes so that I can play only 5 ? what about other effects ? should I waste some other minutes and finally play 60 seconds ? My touch/hearing/comprehension of those solos is super bad and not worthy giving you advises ? really ? only a clown can write that

[PKnopf]

Hey stupid idiot, you don't call me trash, clear ?
This is not a stupid game about who is better, that's the game children like you play

you explicitly ask for critics in the first post, literally "Please feel free to criticize it all you want." and I did,
are you some kind of psychopath who does the opposite of what he says ?

now shut up, I am not interested in discussing with clowns like you
and I don't know why you are allowed to insult others and still not banned

I haven't called you trash.

There's a 'slight' difference between calling someone trash and stating that a particular discussion is trash talk.

I openly asked for critics. You've done yours. I've taken what I thought was useful from your comments and tried to improve upon it.

But then you claim to have this superior 'hearing' that spotted my very bad touch. I'm sorry, but then I had to hear your take on the subject. And then I started to realise that all this 'superior' hearing was just 'trash talk'.

Got it?

Have a nice year, mate.

I never called me superior, I never wrote you have a very bad touch and never asked for your super stupid opinions about my playing, you are just a pathetic clown making up things
 
I can 'play' 10 minutes with extreme pain every day 10 days so basically never, even MK would have some/many problems if he could play/train never, and even if you read what happened to me you still wrote super stupid stuff like 'you didn't set the reverb right', really ? I can play never with amps/effects I don't even own myself (owned by friends) and I have to waste time setting the reverb right ? really ? How much should I waste ? 5 minutes of those 10 minutes so that I can play only 5 ? what about other effects ? should I waste some other minutes and finally play 60 seconds ? My touch/hearing/comprehension of those solos is super bad and not worthy giving you advises ? really ? only a clown can write that

Man, we've got way too far with this pointless discussion.

Sorry if I understood this the wrong way.

Trash talk is simply not the same as trash, and I thougth you'd know that, but I reckon it can lead to a miscomprehension of the context.

We're all fans, after all.

I really appreciate your feedback and, in your way, you really helped me spotting some key issues in the execution of this particular solo.

Kind regards.

[PensaGhost]

Hey stupid idiot, you don't call me trash, clear ?
This is not a stupid game about who is better, that's the game children like you play

you explicitly ask for critics in the first post, literally "Please feel free to criticize it all you want." and I did,
are you some kind of psychopath who does the opposite of what he says ?

now shut up, I am not interested in discussing with clowns like you
and I don't know why you are allowed to insult others and still not banned

I haven't called you trash.

There's a 'slight' difference between calling someone trash and stating that a particular discussion is trash talk.

I openly asked for critics. You've done yours. I've taken what I thought was useful from your comments and tried to improve upon it.

But then you claim to have this superior 'hearing' that spotted my very bad touch. I'm sorry, but then I had to hear your take on the subject. And then I started to realise that all this 'superior' hearing was just 'trash talk'.

Got it?

Have a nice year, mate.

I never called me superior, I never wrote you have a very bad touch and never asked for your super stupid opinions about my playing, you are just a pathetic clown making up things
 
I can 'play' 10 minutes with extreme pain every day 10 days so basically never, even MK would have some/many problems if he could play/train never, and even if you read what happened to me you still wrote super stupid stuff like 'you didn't set the reverb right', really ? I can play never with amps/effects I don't even own myself (owned by friends) and I have to waste time setting the reverb right ? really ? How much should I waste ? 5 minutes of those 10 minutes so that I can play only 5 ? what about other effects ? should I waste some other minutes and finally play 60 seconds ? My touch/hearing/comprehension of those solos is super bad and not worthy giving you advises ? really ? only a clown can write that

Man, we've got way too far with this pointless discussion.

Sorry if I understood this the wrong way.

Trash talk is simply not the same as trash, and I thougth you'd know that, but I reckon it can lead to a miscomprehension of the context.

We're all fans, after all.

I really appreciate your feedback and, in your way, you really helped me spotting some key issues in the execution of this particular solo.

Kind regards.

there's nothing you can do to fix all the stupid things you wrote, it's not just the trash thing, but many others

just shut up clown

[Stiglar]

Hey Pknof,

You're definitely on the right track, great job!

If I could suggest one thing that has helped me in the past, In addition to what you're already doing, throw the backing track on, improvise a solo using what you can play best and try inserting one or 2 of the licks you've learnt into it, Understanding how the licks relate to the backing track and melding them with your own playing is key here. I've found it helps to make the playing feel more natural and something you're comfortable with. As you become more comfortable with more of the licks you can try and connect them together to form the solo. Just a suggestion. MK Is probably one of the hardest guitarists on the planet to replicate accurately so best of luck!

[PKnopf]

Hey Pknof,

You're definitely on the right track, great job!

If I could suggest one thing that has helped me in the past, In addition to what you're already doing, throw the backing track on, improvise a solo using what you can play best and try inserting one or 2 of the licks you've learnt into it, Understanding how the licks relate to the backing track and melding them with your own playing is key here. I've found it helps to make the playing feel more natural and something you're comfortable with. As you become more comfortable with more of the licks you can try and connect them together to form the solo. Just a suggestion. MK Is probably one of the hardest guitarists on the planet to replicate accurately so best of luck!

Thanks for the tip, man.

Do you know where I can get good quality backing tracks for Knopfler's songs?

These days I've just relaxed and enjoyed family and my girl, so I haven't gotten much time to play with it, but I'll get back on it next week. Since I've started to get Knopfler's solos, this has been the most difficult in terms of tone. I'm trying to get it on my newly bought iRig 2 HD, but I reckon the Zoom G3x I was using so far leads to a cleaner tone for my gear.

Do you have any tip on the effects chain for this particular song?

I was trying to reach to a tone in the style of the OES era, but I also like the darker and warmer tone Knopfler got from his strat during the 2005 tour.

Thanks again!

[Stiglar]

No worries!

I’d actually try YouTube, doesn’t have to be anything amazing just something that gets the job done.

As far as effects chain goes, simple is always better I think, even in the oes tour all the Pensa solos for TR , sultans , TOL etc don’t have excessive gain just a touch. I don’t know the ampli rig very well, but I would use a cranked clean amp, a clean drive that adds just a tiny bit of gain. Then I’d experiment maybe with a compressor and just a little reverb and delay.

Just some thoughts

[rmarques821]

Very good!
I would just say to prolong the twiddly bits at the end a little bit more. Mark usually does two rounds (like Basel 92).
Other than that I think it's coming along quite well.