1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:03,160 Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve cameray. 2 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:08,959 Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you get in touch with technologies? With 3 00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:17,720 Speaker 1: tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello everybody, 4 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:20,040 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. My name is Chris Poett. 5 00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: I'm an editor here at how stuff Works dot com 6 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:25,520 Speaker 1: and sitting across from me as usual as senior writer 7 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:28,640 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland Crispy. I would like to rock and roll 8 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:34,400 Speaker 1: all night and party every day, right, okay, And in 9 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:36,879 Speaker 1: order to do that, I need one of the greatest 10 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 1: inventions of the twentieth century, the blender. No, that well, 11 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 1: that could help the whole partying part. No, I'm talking 12 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:53,239 Speaker 1: about the electric guitar. Now, recently the world lost a 13 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:58,000 Speaker 1: great inventor, Les Paul, who was one of the people 14 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:02,360 Speaker 1: instrumental to use a pe in creating the electric guitar. 15 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:06,840 Speaker 1: He was not the first person to combine electricity with guitars, 16 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:13,000 Speaker 1: but we'll get to his contribution shortly. So why would 17 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 1: you want to create an electric guitar in the first place. 18 00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: There are a couple of reasons, the most, I would say, 19 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:23,760 Speaker 1: in my opinion, obvious of which is that if you 20 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: want your guitar to be heard by people more than 21 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: a few feet away, you're going to need to find 22 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:32,039 Speaker 1: some way to amplify it. That's a good point. And 23 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:34,039 Speaker 1: so you would want to be able to plug it 24 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:36,960 Speaker 1: into an amplifier so that the amplifier would project the 25 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 1: sound farther. That's a good point to which is, uh, 26 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:42,280 Speaker 1: you know why you have those giant speaker cabinets on 27 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:46,680 Speaker 1: the side of rock stages, right, because the only real alternative, 28 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:50,600 Speaker 1: at if we're talking about the earlier stages, is to 29 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 1: put a microphone directly in front of the guitar and 30 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 1: hopefully pick up the sound and and transmit it that way, 31 00:01:56,760 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 1: which is not the best way to get a clean 32 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 1: sound out of your guitar. It's it's inefficient, to be honest, 33 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:08,240 Speaker 1: because the sound is not the sound waves are traveling 34 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:11,240 Speaker 1: from the guitar to the microphone, and of course, anytime 35 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:14,079 Speaker 1: sound travels through the air, there is the possibility that 36 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:17,960 Speaker 1: will become distorted, yes, which sometimes is something you want, 37 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:19,800 Speaker 1: but you want to be able to control it. You 38 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 1: don't want uncontrolled distortion. Although uncontrolled distortion would be an 39 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:27,280 Speaker 1: awesome name for a rock band, it probably is one 40 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:34,359 Speaker 1: already could be if not patent pending. Okay, so uh yeah, 41 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:35,799 Speaker 1: I guess we guess we do. We have a whole 42 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:38,160 Speaker 1: bunch of them pending, now, don't we at least three? 43 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 1: So the way sound works, you've got something vibrating, right, 44 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:49,240 Speaker 1: and then that causes other molecules to vibrate. Eventually, these 45 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:53,440 Speaker 1: vibrating molecules hit our ears, causing little hairs to vibrate, 46 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:56,919 Speaker 1: sends little vibrations down to our ear drums, and that's 47 00:02:56,960 --> 00:03:00,240 Speaker 1: what we interpret as sound excellent. You've got to have 48 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:03,920 Speaker 1: some sort of molecules in the in the environment in 49 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:05,760 Speaker 1: order to be able to hear, which is why if 50 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:08,680 Speaker 1: you're in outer space, you're not likely to hear anything 51 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:12,240 Speaker 1: because the molecules are spread out so far apart that 52 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:15,600 Speaker 1: there's not much chance of one bumping into another. That 53 00:03:15,639 --> 00:03:18,600 Speaker 1: would be the whole vacuum thing. That would be, yes, 54 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:22,080 Speaker 1: the vacuum thing. Yeah, yes, it's the hoover element of 55 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 1: say equation as I like to say. Yeah, I'm going 56 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:28,040 Speaker 1: to leave the science stuff to other folks, all right, Well, 57 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:30,880 Speaker 1: I of course wrote an article about can humans here 58 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 1: in space? Spoiler alert they can't. Um. So, the the 59 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: idea behind a regular guitar I mean, the reason why 60 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 1: guitars have a hollow body, why many stringed instruments have 61 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: a hollowed body body is so that creates a natural 62 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:50,160 Speaker 1: amplification chamber. Yeah, without it, you wouldn't hear very much. 63 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 1: And the the size and shape of that chamber, you know, 64 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:56,920 Speaker 1: has a lot of effect on the way a guitar sounds. 65 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:01,160 Speaker 1: That's why some electric guitars maintain the hollow body while 66 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:04,760 Speaker 1: others go for a solid body, right, So you know, 67 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: they both have their own merits and yeah, and early 68 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:14,760 Speaker 1: on in the the experiments in electrifying guitars, um many 69 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:18,960 Speaker 1: of the innovators tried to to alter existing guitars like 70 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 1: hollow body guitars, but there was a problem with that 71 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:25,480 Speaker 1: and that you would often get distortion based upon the 72 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:28,960 Speaker 1: natural amplification from the hollow body and the electrical implication 73 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:33,120 Speaker 1: you're getting from the electric guitar. Well, also depends on 74 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 1: how you are trying to electrify your guitar too, because 75 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:41,800 Speaker 1: if you're just hunking up a couple of jumper cables 76 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:44,800 Speaker 1: to your guitar, that's probably not the best way. Not 77 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:47,839 Speaker 1: quite what I meant, okay, because I know that in 78 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:52,640 Speaker 1: early early electric guitars. They didn't always plug in in 79 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:54,800 Speaker 1: the same place, and they didn't always try to pick 80 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:57,640 Speaker 1: up the sound from the same place. Wait, you used 81 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:02,160 Speaker 1: a word there, pick up. Oh. Yes, it's not just 82 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:04,880 Speaker 1: a truck. No, it's not. It's an important part of 83 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 1: an electric guitar. Yes, because in in early guitars they 84 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 1: tried to pick up the vibrations, the the sound vibrations 85 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 1: up of you know, upwards, away from the guitar body 86 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:18,200 Speaker 1: and toward the neck and even at the end of 87 00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:21,040 Speaker 1: the guitar. Yes, and now it's at the other end, 88 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:23,520 Speaker 1: the base of the guitar. That's where you're gonna find 89 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:27,440 Speaker 1: the pickups. Now a pickup. Uh, here, we've better explain, 90 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:30,039 Speaker 1: I guess the basis of an electric guitar, Like, what 91 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:33,360 Speaker 1: makes the electric guitar work? I'd like to point out 92 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:36,360 Speaker 1: that electric guitars aren't, well, at least not in most 93 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:42,200 Speaker 1: cases themselves. Electric their passward, their passive exactly. Um, we're 94 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:45,640 Speaker 1: getting back to our old friend, the electro magnet here. Yes, 95 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:48,960 Speaker 1: I remember our old friend, the electromagnet. Yes, they got 96 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:50,839 Speaker 1: up and left the other day. Does I had to 97 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 1: pay for lunch? What a jerk? But electro magnets. Uh. 98 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:58,880 Speaker 1: You may recall from our previous episodes that if you 99 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:02,360 Speaker 1: have a UM, if you run an electric current through 100 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:06,719 Speaker 1: a coiled copper wire usually coiled around an iron core, 101 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: not necessarily, but it can be UM, that can create 102 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:14,120 Speaker 1: a magnetic field. So electricity congeneraing magnetic field, and if 103 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:18,919 Speaker 1: you alter a magnetic field, you can induce electricity. So 104 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:22,760 Speaker 1: with a an electric guitar, you have a pickup at 105 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:26,440 Speaker 1: the base usually of the guitar that is a magnet 106 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:31,040 Speaker 1: that has a coil around the magnet. And uh, that 107 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:34,919 Speaker 1: means there's a magnetic field magnet. That's what magnets produce. Right, 108 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:38,480 Speaker 1: So when you strum a string, the frequency the vibration 109 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:43,040 Speaker 1: of that that string um created distorts the magnetic field 110 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:47,160 Speaker 1: by destroying the magnetic field, oscillating it. Essentially, you create 111 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:50,520 Speaker 1: an electric current. The electric current runs through the little 112 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:54,120 Speaker 1: coil that's around the magnet. And then, Uh, if you 113 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:56,400 Speaker 1: don't have your guitar plugged into anything, it doesn't go 114 00:06:56,440 --> 00:07:00,560 Speaker 1: anywhere and all you won't really hear anything. If it's 115 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:04,560 Speaker 1: a solid body electric guitar anyway, UM, well you will, 116 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:06,599 Speaker 1: but you'd have to be very very close to it. 117 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:08,880 Speaker 1: You won't hear much. Yeah, it will sound pretty weak 118 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:13,520 Speaker 1: and uh, because there's nothing to really amplify the sound. Now, 119 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:16,960 Speaker 1: if you haven't plugged into an amp, that little electric 120 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:19,960 Speaker 1: signal will go to the amp which has a couple 121 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:22,760 Speaker 1: of different elements to it that can boost the signal 122 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:25,720 Speaker 1: and then convert it back into sound. And that's the 123 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:30,280 Speaker 1: sound you hear when you strum the strings on electric guitar. Now, 124 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:32,960 Speaker 1: UM for an electric guitar to uh what I mean, 125 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:37,320 Speaker 1: assuming that we're not talking about an acoustic electric guitar 126 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:41,040 Speaker 1: in which you're basically attempting to amplify the sound from 127 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:43,520 Speaker 1: the electric guitar. If you're talking about UM an electric 128 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:48,120 Speaker 1: guitar like, for example, a less paul Um, then the 129 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:52,559 Speaker 1: pickups are directly underneath the strings where you actually play, 130 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:55,960 Speaker 1: where actually strong or pick the strings UM, and that 131 00:07:56,080 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 1: enables them to be very close to the origin vibration. 132 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:04,360 Speaker 1: And in some cases the pickups are designed to um 133 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 1: move closer to or farther away from the string as 134 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:10,920 Speaker 1: you need to adjust them so that you can pardon 135 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:15,080 Speaker 1: the pun for once uh fine tune your sound. You 136 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:18,640 Speaker 1: can sort of modify things too, as you need to 137 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:21,040 Speaker 1: to get the sound you're trying to get. That's not 138 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:22,680 Speaker 1: always the case. I mean, some of them are very 139 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:26,720 Speaker 1: very simple, where there is a single bar magnet that 140 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:29,400 Speaker 1: as you used as a pick up. But you'll notice 141 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:32,520 Speaker 1: too that some guitars use one set of pickups while 142 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:36,000 Speaker 1: other guitars use several different sets of pickups. And you 143 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:39,559 Speaker 1: can actually you'll see switches on the guitar body that uh, 144 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:42,320 Speaker 1: you know, enables you to turn one set on or 145 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:45,640 Speaker 1: one set off, or modify the sound to to uh, 146 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:48,360 Speaker 1: you know, make changes to your sound without having to 147 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 1: sit there and you know, rewire the whole darn thing. Yeah. Essentially, 148 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:55,680 Speaker 1: you have controls that allow you to filter out certain frequencies, 149 00:08:56,320 --> 00:08:59,000 Speaker 1: and so by choosing which frequencies you want and which 150 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:02,000 Speaker 1: ones you don't want, you can have your guitar sound 151 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:04,560 Speaker 1: in you know, many different ways. You can have that 152 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:08,040 Speaker 1: really you know kind of crunchy rock sound that you 153 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:11,080 Speaker 1: hear from alternative rock bands, where you can have that 154 00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:14,240 Speaker 1: more sort of twangy sound from uh, you know, a 155 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:16,960 Speaker 1: country western or even like the sort of the surf 156 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:19,800 Speaker 1: rock sound of a guitar. A lot of that is 157 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:24,000 Speaker 1: just through filtering out which frequencies you want to to 158 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:26,840 Speaker 1: go to the app and which ones you don't. So 159 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:29,680 Speaker 1: it's kind of cool that with one instrument you can 160 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:32,360 Speaker 1: get so many different sounds out of you know, just 161 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 1: by tweaking a knob or two. Yeah. And the one 162 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:40,600 Speaker 1: of the really cool things about an electric guitar as 163 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:43,200 Speaker 1: far as I mean just from a scientific standpoint, although 164 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:46,240 Speaker 1: apparently I'm not leaving the science to other people, UM, 165 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:48,760 Speaker 1: is that you can make so many modifications. I mean 166 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:51,440 Speaker 1: that having it wired like that gives you a lot 167 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:54,880 Speaker 1: of control over the sound, and it actually enables you 168 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:58,559 Speaker 1: to uh share the sound and control of your sound 169 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:03,439 Speaker 1: with another p of your instrument puzzle, which is the amplifier, 170 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:06,640 Speaker 1: because once you plug it in, the amplifier becomes part 171 00:10:06,679 --> 00:10:10,520 Speaker 1: of the electric guitar as the entire instrument. UM. In 172 00:10:10,559 --> 00:10:13,560 Speaker 1: some cases you're it's just simply going to amplify. But 173 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:17,120 Speaker 1: in a lot of cases, especially for rock musicians, UM, 174 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:20,480 Speaker 1: there are amplifier amplifiers you can buy that have a 175 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:22,640 Speaker 1: lot of the equipment built in that allows you to 176 00:10:22,679 --> 00:10:27,480 Speaker 1: modify the sound. You can add reverberation for example, UM 177 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:30,240 Speaker 1: or distortion, which is very very popular depending on the 178 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:33,160 Speaker 1: kind of music you're playing. UM. And then of course 179 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:37,600 Speaker 1: there are effects pedals um, some of which actually I 180 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:40,760 Speaker 1: know some people who have quite a few effects pedals 181 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:44,760 Speaker 1: UM and basically what these are doing enables they enable 182 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:48,600 Speaker 1: you to make slight changes to the way those vibrations 183 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:54,040 Speaker 1: are are distributed across the um, the electrical current from 184 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:57,840 Speaker 1: between the guitar and the amplifier, and then you know, 185 00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:01,000 Speaker 1: from there to whatever else I guess technically the speaker, 186 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:04,720 Speaker 1: but if you are in some cases playing saying arena show, 187 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:07,880 Speaker 1: you might have a microphone stuck up next to your 188 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:10,160 Speaker 1: actual guitar amp and then from there just going through 189 00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:13,840 Speaker 1: the p A system out to the crowd. So there's 190 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:17,160 Speaker 1: a there's a lot of wiring and rock stars live 191 00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:19,760 Speaker 1: lives I can only dream of. Yeah, I've had to 192 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:22,440 Speaker 1: haul around a lot of that gear so thankfully not 193 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:25,920 Speaker 1: usually the p A, but I just looked at that gear. Yeah, 194 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:27,920 Speaker 1: it's heavy, a lot of it. What I think is 195 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:30,200 Speaker 1: cool about electric guitars as it does allow you to 196 00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:32,920 Speaker 1: do things like have a guitar that has a solid body. 197 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:36,240 Speaker 1: I mean again, if if it weren't for the electrical amplification, 198 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:39,120 Speaker 1: then a solid body guitar would be pretty much useless 199 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:41,200 Speaker 1: because you would have to be sitting just a couple 200 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:43,040 Speaker 1: inches away to be able to hear anything that was 201 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:45,679 Speaker 1: coming out of it in the first place. Um and 202 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:50,200 Speaker 1: uh Les Paul's is widely credited with creating the first 203 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:55,560 Speaker 1: real solid body electric guitar, which he called the log Um. 204 00:11:55,679 --> 00:11:58,920 Speaker 1: It would it is it is. It was made by 205 00:11:59,559 --> 00:12:02,959 Speaker 1: made out of a slab of wood, a solid block, 206 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:07,600 Speaker 1: and and uh, it actually could come apart in pieces. 207 00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:11,319 Speaker 1: I've seen pictures of it. It was pretty impressive. And 208 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:15,240 Speaker 1: granted he refined that design lightly, that was not the 209 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:18,440 Speaker 1: design that Gibson picked up when they started to market 210 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:22,760 Speaker 1: the guitars later on. Um. Yeah, and and the electric 211 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:26,920 Speaker 1: guitar has really revolutionized music. I mean there, it's that's 212 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:30,160 Speaker 1: not a exaggeration by any stretch of the imagination. By 213 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:34,600 Speaker 1: pairing an electric guitar with an app and playing a note, uh, 214 00:12:34,679 --> 00:12:38,600 Speaker 1: it's possible for you to get a vibration off the 215 00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:41,840 Speaker 1: the speaker that continues to vibrate the string, and you 216 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 1: get a perpetual note, a note that will last forever, 217 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:48,640 Speaker 1: or until the power runs out, or until the power 218 00:12:48,679 --> 00:12:51,000 Speaker 1: runs out, or until your audience decides they've had enough 219 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:53,160 Speaker 1: of this and they're gonna go home. He just kind 220 00:12:53,160 --> 00:12:56,200 Speaker 1: of play that one note. This is like the most boring, 221 00:12:56,200 --> 00:13:00,480 Speaker 1: grateful dead concert ever. He's jamming on one note and 222 00:13:00,559 --> 00:13:04,240 Speaker 1: that's it. Well, you know whatever floats. Yeah, I think 223 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:06,640 Speaker 1: I could have manage managed that. You know, I bet 224 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:09,640 Speaker 1: there's a performance artists out there somewhere who's done this, 225 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:11,840 Speaker 1: and sure that I'm sure there are more than one. 226 00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:15,880 Speaker 1: But yes, yes, I'm pretty sure. Um. You know, more 227 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:18,320 Speaker 1: power to you if that brings the grant money in 228 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:23,640 Speaker 1: good luck. But um, if you've wondered, if you've watched 229 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:26,880 Speaker 1: a rock band play and then watched another rock band 230 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:28,880 Speaker 1: right after them, you go, why, you know, why does 231 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:32,439 Speaker 1: it matter what guitars they're using? You know, other than 232 00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:35,680 Speaker 1: maybe a six swing string versus a twelve string or 233 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:41,120 Speaker 1: you know, uh, a regular guitar versus say, an alto 234 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:44,920 Speaker 1: or a bass guitar. Um, I'm sorry, a tenor versus 235 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:46,960 Speaker 1: a bass guitar. You might go, Okay, well, I get it. 236 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:48,480 Speaker 1: Once a little bigger than the other one has a 237 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:51,520 Speaker 1: couple more strings, So you know, why are there? You know, 238 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:54,560 Speaker 1: what's the difference in a stratocaster versus the last Paul? Well, 239 00:13:54,559 --> 00:13:57,320 Speaker 1: it all it's sort of all comes down to the 240 00:13:57,400 --> 00:13:59,480 Speaker 1: things we were talking about before, the number of pickups, 241 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:01,560 Speaker 1: what kinds of pickups there are on it, whether or 242 00:14:01,559 --> 00:14:03,960 Speaker 1: not it's a hollow or solid body, the kind of 243 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:06,000 Speaker 1: wood it's made out of, or other material that it 244 00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:08,440 Speaker 1: may be made out of, and um. You know, even 245 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:10,640 Speaker 1: Gibson changed things a couple of years ago when they 246 00:14:10,760 --> 00:14:14,440 Speaker 1: offered an ethernet guitar because suddenly the connection is no 247 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:17,480 Speaker 1: longer analog, which is basically it's a you know, one 248 00:14:17,559 --> 00:14:21,120 Speaker 1: quarter inch phono plug on either end. You plug one 249 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:23,040 Speaker 1: side in your guitar, one side and your amp. Well, 250 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:27,440 Speaker 1: Gibson changed that by incorporating an Ethernet connection. Well, that 251 00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:30,760 Speaker 1: changes the sound even more, gives you an opportunity to 252 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:34,160 Speaker 1: play a really clean digital signal, which a lot of 253 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:37,720 Speaker 1: purists really don't like the idea of. Um. You know, 254 00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:41,680 Speaker 1: everything adds a little bit of change to it, so um. 255 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:44,320 Speaker 1: And that's why some people prefer vintage guitars over brand 256 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:46,360 Speaker 1: new guitars. They say, well, you know, it was made 257 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:48,840 Speaker 1: out of this kind of wood back in six five. 258 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:50,760 Speaker 1: It's made out of this kind of wood now is 259 00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:53,080 Speaker 1: just not the same. And they may look the same 260 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:55,440 Speaker 1: to you or me, but that's not the same. And 261 00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:58,400 Speaker 1: you saw one of those digital guitars over sea, Yes, 262 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:01,920 Speaker 1: didn't you? Yes, I did. I thought it was a 263 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:05,400 Speaker 1: little weird. Um. Not not because there's anything necessarily wrong 264 00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:07,000 Speaker 1: with it, but I thought, well, you know, I wonder 265 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:10,480 Speaker 1: if this is the kind of thing that's going to change, um, 266 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:14,000 Speaker 1: the way people play guitar. And I don't know that 267 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:16,320 Speaker 1: it has significantly. I haven't seen a lot of people 268 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:18,120 Speaker 1: with them. As a matter of fact, I've seen nobody 269 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:21,800 Speaker 1: in person with them. Um. But it was sort of 270 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:23,600 Speaker 1: the same kind of thing that you saw in the 271 00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:26,720 Speaker 1: nineteen eighties with electronic drums. They were all the rage 272 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:28,280 Speaker 1: back in the day because you could play all kinds 273 00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:31,360 Speaker 1: of sounds on them. And now the purists I think 274 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:34,160 Speaker 1: have sort of maybe not one out because they still 275 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:39,560 Speaker 1: make electronic drums, but they have certainly taken the the 276 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:44,120 Speaker 1: electronic drum market back. And I think that acoustic or 277 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:48,360 Speaker 1: not acoustic, but uh, analog guitars, electric guitars are are 278 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:52,520 Speaker 1: still predominantly the most popular. Yeah, I'm just waiting for 279 00:15:52,560 --> 00:15:56,080 Speaker 1: the key tar to really really make an impact, right. 280 00:15:56,920 --> 00:15:59,440 Speaker 1: And you know it's funny because I'm just gonna skip 281 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:03,480 Speaker 1: that um because it's there's a there's a website. I'm 282 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:05,600 Speaker 1: assuming it's still there. I can check real quick while 283 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:09,880 Speaker 1: we're talking. But um, there was a guitar website called 284 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:15,280 Speaker 1: guitar geek dot com um and basically, uh, it hasn't 285 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:17,680 Speaker 1: been updated in a while, but it allows you to 286 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:19,920 Speaker 1: look at the rigs that everybody has set ups. You 287 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:22,560 Speaker 1: can see what kind of guitar that they that famous 288 00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:24,960 Speaker 1: artist plays, along with the effects pedals they might use, 289 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:29,200 Speaker 1: and what kind of amplifier UM they might use. And 290 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:31,920 Speaker 1: it's really kind of cool because you learn things about 291 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:35,280 Speaker 1: certain guitar players like um Dave Davies of The Kinks, 292 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:40,880 Speaker 1: who liked to slit his um speaker and his amplifier 293 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:43,560 Speaker 1: cabinet so that it would provide just the right distortion sound. 294 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:46,040 Speaker 1: And suddenly it's no longer about the guitar or the 295 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:50,520 Speaker 1: effects pedals, but um whether or not the speaker as 296 00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:53,680 Speaker 1: a hole in it? Nice. Uh. Yeah, I'd like to 297 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:56,440 Speaker 1: see how how Queen got that amazing sound at the 298 00:16:56,560 --> 00:16:59,080 Speaker 1: end of the with the guitar solo of UM we 299 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:02,640 Speaker 1: Will Rock You, because that's still to this day my 300 00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:05,919 Speaker 1: favorite guitar solo ever. Yeah, no serious, it really is. 301 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:08,639 Speaker 1: UM so here's a little trivia for you guys. Uh. 302 00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:12,080 Speaker 1: We were talking about the oscillations of the string causing 303 00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:14,800 Speaker 1: a change in the magnetic field, and that is what 304 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:20,040 Speaker 1: creates the electrical current. Um. That is based off of 305 00:17:20,119 --> 00:17:24,640 Speaker 1: Faraday's law. So there you go. If you ever are 306 00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:29,400 Speaker 1: watching a musician rock out uh on stage, you can 307 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:31,600 Speaker 1: turn to the person next to you and say, this 308 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:36,240 Speaker 1: is an excellent demonstration of Faraday's law, which is guaranteed 309 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:43,719 Speaker 1: to get you the ladies. Yeah, not actually guaranteed, your 310 00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:48,679 Speaker 1: ma y, some restrictions apply it. It worked on my wife, 311 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:53,960 Speaker 1: but she's taken So okay. Then, well are you Are 312 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:56,080 Speaker 1: you all rocked out? Yeah? I'm kind of rocked out 313 00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:57,920 Speaker 1: for the moment. Well then I guess that takes us 314 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:06,640 Speaker 1: straight to a listener. Yeah, rock on this listener. Mail 315 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:10,320 Speaker 1: comes from Louis and or Louis Louis or Lewis. I 316 00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:13,119 Speaker 1: don't know. You can write me and let me go 317 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:17,199 Speaker 1: hey me again. So you think I know how to 318 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:20,440 Speaker 1: pronounce his name? Bry Now finally got my modem working again, 319 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:23,280 Speaker 1: so time to email you. In the video game podcast 320 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:25,600 Speaker 1: The New One, you said that the p S three 321 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:28,800 Speaker 1: had a cell based processor. What does this mean. Also, 322 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:30,480 Speaker 1: from what you were saying, it seemed that in the 323 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:33,200 Speaker 1: US Xbox three sixties are more expensive than the we. 324 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:36,520 Speaker 1: Is this true here? In New Zealand, a twenty gigabyte 325 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:39,600 Speaker 1: Xbox three sixties three hundred dollars, whereas a WE cost 326 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:44,280 Speaker 1: almost four fifty And I'm a bit confused. Well, Louie, Um, 327 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:48,080 Speaker 1: let's talk a little bit about the cell based processor. Uh. 328 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:52,160 Speaker 1: It's a specific kind of microprocessor architecture, right, It's based 329 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:56,080 Speaker 1: off of the cell broadband engine architecture. It's just sell 330 00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:59,280 Speaker 1: for short UM. And the idea here is that each 331 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:05,240 Speaker 1: cell and handle a certain amount of um of of 332 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:09,160 Speaker 1: calculations per second. UH. And the p S three has 333 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:13,320 Speaker 1: I believe, seven of these cells, So each cell is 334 00:19:13,359 --> 00:19:17,040 Speaker 1: capable of handling a massive amount of information. The problem 335 00:19:17,119 --> 00:19:19,359 Speaker 1: is you have to be able to design games that 336 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:23,639 Speaker 1: take advantage of this. They're very good at handling parallel problems. 337 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:27,000 Speaker 1: So in other words, you've got a you know, one 338 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:29,920 Speaker 1: of them's handling graphics, another might be handling physics engine, 339 00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:33,879 Speaker 1: another might be handling sound something like that, as opposed 340 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:38,560 Speaker 1: to all of them working together on one big problem. 341 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:40,359 Speaker 1: So so if you can divide it up if you 342 00:19:40,359 --> 00:19:44,400 Speaker 1: can divide up duties for each cell. Uh, it really 343 00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:47,680 Speaker 1: takes advantage of the hardware. Um, otherwise you've just got 344 00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:50,840 Speaker 1: a massively powerful machine that that you can't really take 345 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:54,280 Speaker 1: advantage of. But uh, you know, if you design the 346 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:57,560 Speaker 1: game the right way, that makes that system one in 347 00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:00,360 Speaker 1: the most powerful system on the market right now or none. 348 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:03,879 Speaker 1: PS three would be the most powerful. But again you 349 00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:08,120 Speaker 1: have to design the software to match the hardware's capabilities. Now, 350 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:12,720 Speaker 1: as for the pricing, well back when the game consoles 351 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:14,840 Speaker 1: first came out and they didn't all come out at 352 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:17,560 Speaker 1: the same time, we should we should make that point. 353 00:20:18,359 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 1: But the core system, the Xbox three sixty core system 354 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:26,320 Speaker 1: was two dollars and the Xbox three sixty the main system. 355 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:29,199 Speaker 1: Because the core system was the no frills version, the 356 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:32,920 Speaker 1: main system was three. P S three came out with 357 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:35,000 Speaker 1: two different models as well. At that time. There was 358 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:37,920 Speaker 1: a twenty gigabyte version and that was four hundred and 359 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:41,320 Speaker 1: ninety nine dollars, But then there was the sixty gigabyte 360 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:46,480 Speaker 1: version that was five hundred and ninety nine dollars, pretty 361 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:49,360 Speaker 1: expensive states right in the US and the WE when 362 00:20:49,359 --> 00:20:52,000 Speaker 1: it came out two nine dollars, So it was cheaper 363 00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:57,960 Speaker 1: by fifty bucks than the next least expensive console. I 364 00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:00,600 Speaker 1: should also add many people have written in to point 365 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:02,160 Speaker 1: this out, and I think we mentioned it in an 366 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:06,200 Speaker 1: earlier podcast as well, but the those first PS three 367 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:09,879 Speaker 1: models were backwards compatible. You could play PS two games 368 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:12,480 Speaker 1: on them. It was only after they moved to the 369 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:16,000 Speaker 1: PS three eighty gigabyte version, and even some of the 370 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:19,560 Speaker 1: early ones of those were backwards compatible, but eventually they 371 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:23,119 Speaker 1: took that compatibility out of the p S three and 372 00:21:23,240 --> 00:21:26,199 Speaker 1: since then it has not been there. Yeah, and some 373 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:31,280 Speaker 1: of those older models are are much more um prized 374 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:34,680 Speaker 1: by PS three fans than the newer models because of 375 00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:37,399 Speaker 1: backwards compatibility. Yeah, because it means one less machine that 376 00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:39,280 Speaker 1: you have to have hooked up to your your system 377 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:42,240 Speaker 1: if you want to play all your games. Uh. And 378 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:45,840 Speaker 1: when we were recording that podcast, we were really concentrating 379 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:48,400 Speaker 1: on the systems that were available on the market as 380 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:52,360 Speaker 1: of the recording of that podcast. And while you can 381 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:55,280 Speaker 1: find the sixty gigabyte p S three's, and you know, 382 00:21:55,359 --> 00:21:59,080 Speaker 1: things like Craigslist or eBay or whatever, in general, your 383 00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:03,520 Speaker 1: local game store, unless they're selling used consoles, they're not 384 00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:06,600 Speaker 1: going to have one of those um in stock because 385 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:09,960 Speaker 1: they've been out for a while. Um, So that's really 386 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:12,280 Speaker 1: why we weren't talking about those and why we said 387 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:14,399 Speaker 1: that the p S three was not backwards compatible. It 388 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:16,760 Speaker 1: wasn't because we didn't know about these earlier models, because 389 00:22:16,760 --> 00:22:21,679 Speaker 1: you can't really get those in your average store. Yeah. Um, 390 00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:24,679 Speaker 1: today the pricing is a little different. Uh. The Xbox 391 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:29,000 Speaker 1: three sixty Elite just got knocked down to two dollars. 392 00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:32,640 Speaker 1: The Xbox three sixty Arcade is to forty nine. They 393 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:37,840 Speaker 1: are completely eliminating the core Xbox three sixty that's gonna 394 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:41,120 Speaker 1: go away once they sell out. That they're gone. Uh, 395 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:44,359 Speaker 1: then you've got the p S three Gigabyte Slim. That 396 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:48,879 Speaker 1: one is the and the Wei is still sitting there 397 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:51,920 Speaker 1: at to forty nine hasn't changed, which is uh. If 398 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:53,879 Speaker 1: those for those of you who are listening in on 399 00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:57,840 Speaker 1: our conversation with our single listener who lives in New Zealand, 400 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:02,199 Speaker 1: that's as of right now, recording a podcast three and 401 00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:06,040 Speaker 1: twenty six cents in your US currency, uh for the 402 00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:08,600 Speaker 1: four and or fifty dollars that it costs in New Zealand, 403 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:13,639 Speaker 1: So it is actually more expensive there he would have 404 00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:17,800 Speaker 1: to pay in US currency to get that machine. We 405 00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:21,920 Speaker 1: would we would smuggle you and a us uh we 406 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:24,119 Speaker 1: and have you just pay us the equivalent, except that 407 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:26,120 Speaker 1: it wouldn't do any good because all the pictures will 408 00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:32,800 Speaker 1: be upside down. Okay, then, so if you have any comments, questions, 409 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:34,800 Speaker 1: or you want to yell at me for making a horrible, 410 00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:39,000 Speaker 1: stupid joke that was geocentric, you can write us. Our 411 00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:42,680 Speaker 1: email address is tech stuff at how stuff works dot com. 412 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:45,280 Speaker 1: We have articles on electric guitars and just about everything 413 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:47,800 Speaker 1: else you can imagine at how stuff works dot com. 414 00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:50,440 Speaker 1: And Chris and I will talk to you again really 415 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:55,840 Speaker 1: soon for moral this and thousands of other topics. Does 416 00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:58,159 Speaker 1: it how stuff works dot com And be sure to 417 00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:00,479 Speaker 1: check out the new tech stuff blog Almum the house 418 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:07,880 Speaker 1: staff works homepage brought to you by the reinvented two 419 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:10,399 Speaker 1: thousand twelve camera. It's ready, are you