The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #84923   Message #1570316
Posted By: Willie-O
25-Sep-05 - 11:02 AM
Thread Name: Bending Notes on Guitar
Subject: RE: Bending Notes on Guitar
John Fogerty usually played a Les Paul, I believe. No doubt an acoustic sometimes too.

What I would ask is, why do you need to bend a string so far? It will probably put your guitar out of tune, or break a string, more often than not, so may not be the most useful technique to strive for. Plus, acoustic and electrics are different instruments and it's not necessarily useful to transpose directly from one to the other. There is a much simpler way of getting that note, just start from a higher fret! Or try playing the same lick on a higher-position inversion of the same scale. Just because someone put it in a book does not make it the best or only way to play the part. (Fortunately, the simplest way to play a given part is usually the best-sounding cause it's the most fluid.)

Fogerty's guitar work in CCR was usually terrifically crunchy, played on the lower strings and positions a lot, and somewhat repetitive--he built great riffs that way. It would have been interesting to see what the band would have sounded like if he had been the nominal rhythm guitarist and recruited a high-end lead player.

His biggest influence was Steve Cropper, so you might want to look up some of his work while you're woodshedding. Good luck.