Traffic's "Medicated Goo" acoustic

[BrettBob]

Traffic has always been one of my favorite bands, especially the Dave Mason years, so I was eager to take a stab at one of my favorite Traffic tunes, "Medicated Goo". My friend just took back his acoustic upright piano that I was housing for a year, so I replaced it with a Yamaha digital piano - it's a little easier to get up and down the stairs, but I miss the acoustic piano filling up a room. It gets the job done, but is definitely missing the acoustic warmth.

As usual, all instruments are me:

6-string Cigar Box Biscuit Cone Guitar
Harmony Acoustic Guitar
Loar Mandolin
Yahama Digital Piano
Bass
Various Percussion

https://soundcloud.com/brettbob/medicated-goo

[Groundy]

Nice one Brettbob....
So-Pro...
Well done......
.

Alex

[straitsdire]

Fabulous !!!!

I love it

[BrettBob]

Thanks, all. I actually re-recorded the song and dropped it from the key of D to C, to give it a more laid back feel and make it much easier for my meager pipes to sing.

[Farrell Jackson]

Well done BrettBob! I liked the mando solo and your vocals were right on! A great version of this old Traffic song.

Frarell

[Blooby]

Digging this, and I must say that "Meager Pipes" could/should be my handle. Great cover of a great tune. Could you talk about the 6-string cigar box guitar a tad as I didn't know they existed. Do you tune standard most of the time (I am assuming this tune is in standard), or do you tune to get that cigar box tone some of the time?

Cool ending.

Blooby

[BrettBob]

Thanks, Blooby! Regarding the cigar box guitar, it's pretty special.

I bought my first cigar box guitar at Wanee (you probably know Bruce's tent). It was just a three string, but I didn't know much about them and picked one up, complete with a mushroom decal. Of course this year he had the same thing in a 4-string with a better pick-up (he's gotten better), I almost traded up.

I knew some builders used pie tins to make cigar box resonators, so when I was searching for them online, I stumbled upon a luthier out of Montreal who makes amazing cigar box guitars, including this 6-string with a biscuit cone. It was pretty much a dream guitar, so I ordered one a few months later, with a custom pick up (Right before they raised the price). It sounds amazing, acoustic or electric.

I typically keep it in standard tuning. Biscuit cones are super dirty and don't have the resonance of a tricone or a spider cone, the falloff is pretty quick, so you can't hold a slide tone the same way you can with other resonators. But it is super punchy, and dirty, yet sweet, so it is perfect for standard playing. It reminds me of 1969-71 era Dickey Betts - sweet, but stings. And it still kind of smells like a cigar!

[chapperz66]

Brilliant stuff, Brettbob.  Nothing meager about those pipes.  Really enjoyed listening to this.

Paul