One thing I really Liked about Jerry Garcia's Playing was the Use of an Envelope Filter Pedal. That's an Automatic Wah-Wah with the Center point of the Band Pass Filter set by the Volume. Louder=Higher. SO, it's like playing thru a Wah-Wah with Magic Feet...

I can't think of anyone else that uses an envelope filter on a Guitar. Many Bass Guitar Players use one for Funk Music. It makes the Bass Go Quack. 

I certainly did not use one with my own Electric Guitar. My Favorite was two Phase Shifters in Series followed by two Digital Echo Boxes in Series... This required that I sit down while playing because I had my feet on the two Morley Phase Shifters. Swinging the footpedals back and forth to give an unpredictable phase shift angle... Normally people use ONE Phase Shifter and it makes the sound go UP and then DOWN and then Back UP again and again and again... YES, it does make the guitar sound EPIC but TWO in series... was my thing... and all that echo allowed for dozens of repetitions on every note... and I often used my Pinkie to Rotate the Volume Knob on the Guitar to Swell the Sound... Like a Delayed Attack on a Synthesizer... 

A trick I invented was to drill a hole into the plastic time knob and insert a long screw... that way I was able to move the length of time in the echo box with my foot... One of the other guys in the band satirized me  about using two Phase Shifters saying: "What are You Doing, Playing Guitar or Driving a Truck?" Often in our Jam Sessions I would be playing One note at a time to DANCE BACKWARDS while the Main Guy played improvisational Synthesizer Jazz... He never told us what key he was paying in... but would just make interesting Noises and I would just do something that was appropriate... and if I played something that sounded horrible because it was in a different key, I would pretend that it was a GRACE NOTE and move my fingers to something More Consonant... Hey, that worked... and I usually did not play the discordant note again... Often I would use a Slide and Pluck a string and move the slide to a pretty sounding note... 

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and on a different subject... 

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I Like Watching Travel Shows on TV. That way, I get to see places without experiencing the Bugs or Heat or Dangerous Natives. For Example: I saw a Long Program about Visiting North Korea hosted by Michael Palen of Monty Python Fame. Never in a Million Years would I go to North Korea... or the Yucatan Peninsula or to the Bottom of the Ocean but... all of those places are available in the Comfort of my Air Conditioned Home... I often am on the Internet Writing Words or Drawing Pictures while looking at the Erupting Volcano or Whatever... 

It's especially fun to watch the NEWS while typing... One trick I have mastered is turning the volume OFF whenever Trump Speaks. Later on the Talking Heads will tell me what he said... and report LIES... There is NO NEED to Have Trump Actually Pour Poison Into My Ears... 


I always turn off the sound during Commercials. It's actually fun to try and guess what the product is or what it does... Obviously, they Cause Ecstatic Dancing but... I am often Uninformed as to the Disease the Drugs are Prescribed FOR. Take the Drug HUMIRA... That one Evidently Cures Nausea for the Lead Singer in a Grateful Dead Cover Band... I Guess... at least the Guitar Player is Playing a Jerry Type Guitar... and so we return to Jerry Garcia...