Jacksnax: Dark Star! Soloing Strategies Grateful Dead

Got a request to do this epic Dead tune. I used to play it with my old band so I figured I’d share my approach. In this lesson you’ll learn a handful of concrete ideas and concepts needed or at least useful for a successful performance of the Grateful Dead tune Dark Star.

[@carlpop2324]

Dayum! Jack GETS IT. He understands! "You gotta be playful with it"

[@jobwosinski8924]

This is awesome! Love those arpeggios you use. Keep up the good work, your lessons are very helpful!

[@jacksnax4guitar460]

Thanks! I wasn’t thinking I’d ever do a lesson on a song as out there as Dark Star. So thanks for the idea! It turns out there is a method to the madness. I figured by sharing some key concepts that I use, I might shine some light on the piece and help demystify what’s going on for others. Hope you enjoy👍😊🎸

[@r1s1nggodz1lla]

Dude I stumbled across gold with this channel, damn! Where has this been all these years lol! Love this content! you’ve left us with so much to work with. I’m gonna binge these vids now. Peace!

[@jacksnax4guitar460]

Thanks!!!

[@michaelpinder353]

I stumbled across you channel yesterday. I am amazed with depth of knowledge you share, and the skill which you display. Thank you for your generosity. (The only channel to which I have subscribed)

[@jacksnax4guitar460]

Thanks for the comment! And for the sub!

[@tylermattson2017]

Love the use of animated clams.

[@jacksnax4guitar460]

👍🍄✌🏻

[@TY-cx6hs]

Great stuff!

[@brazilhead]

Amazing! Thank you sir!

[@jacksnax4guitar460]

You’re very welcome!

[@MrPete-pe6uk]

soooo good! many thanks for sharing!

[@jacksnax4guitar460]

You’re welcome ✌🏻🤘🏻😊

[@philbonanno7565]

love your work, Jack!

[@jacksnax4guitar460]

Thanks Phil...Just having a bit of fun!

[@ImproveYoSelf610]

Jack , my man

[@TheRareDirt]

Dude, your guitar tone is top-notch! I'm curious about what gear you are using? Sounds fantastic!

[@jacksnax4guitar460]

Kemper stage profiler fumble string with spring reverb

[@thisisme4858]

Thanks man

[@svsugvcarter]

Very helpful! Might you also dip into ideas of soloing around Must Have Been the Roses? Not much on that and it’s a beautiful song, especially as Norah Jones covers it.

[@jacksnax4guitar460]

I love the song… Never really considered a lesson covering it! Thanks for the comment and for supporting the channel!✌🏻

[@Kettakelly]

I second this , amazing song

[@Illumignostic]

But what about that part where you use 1000 ug of lsd to mind meld with your band and audience, switch bodies with your classicly trained bass player vho starts doing a tonal improv loosely based around b diminshed octatonic scales, and your rythym guiatrist knoows literally every inversion and voicng and sub, so he starts modulating every 3 notes to different keys just by changig the root, all the while suggesting the entire main them with his melody notes, as th e three of you deflty weave between dissonance and harmony until you are guided by the Universal MInd to produce a sonic formula that triggers a biolgical ecstacy respnse in every nervous system in the room, but youre so high that yyou actually think its a good idea to bust into a Donovan song and forgett what the fuck just happened? What about that part?

[@jacksnax4guitar460]

Yeah…that’s the part I can’t teach

[@WyattZelle]

This rules. Thank you.

[@jacksnax4guitar460]

Thank you! What type of content are you looking for? Let me know!

[@WyattZelle]

@@jacksnax4guitar460 Could you provide more detail on those wicked sick bends in this video?

[@jacksnax4guitar460]

@@WyattZelle Hi...thanks for the compliment. I’m a little unsure of where one those bends are taking place. If you give me a time I’ll be able to help out better😃

[@WyattZelle]

@@jacksnax4guitar460 I think I figured it out! The fourths run around 14min is stellar. Thanks again for sharing this information.

[@WyattZelle]

@@jacksnax4guitar460 Another question: How/why do we get in the E Dorian mindset during this jam? Is it simply to add that minor tonality to the improvisation?

[@quitypop]

omg what are those amp settings and pedals your using

[@jacksnax4guitar460]

Hi! Thanks for the comment👍😊✌️🎸 No pedals….no amp really either. It’s a Kemper. It’s kind of a simulated rig. It gets plugged in to the PA or the board. It’s an amp that’s “profiled” kind of like a recording or sample. Anyway the one being used here is a Ceriatone clone of a Dumble. Then there’s some reverb and one little dull delay. That gives it the atmosphere.

[@quitypop]

@@jacksnax4guitar460 hey cheers for reply, I just started learning guitar 3 months ago got a prs 24 custom se and am using your channel to try and learn dead songs, favourite one is dark Star. I spent $200 on a software called bias fx2 where I plug my guitar into the computer and play but I haven't been able to get a good tone on there yet. I see on here it's got a dumble 50. Also anywhere good to look for tabs cos I know of rukind but it's always lacking in the tabs department. I'm trying to learn the mixolydian jamming and I've been trying to decode the notes Jerry plays on some dark stars but so far I've only been able to guess small amounts (under 10 seconds).

[@jacksnax4guitar460]

@@quitypop Thanks! Try this kzbin.info/www/bejne/rmnVnWSsZrqJlZY

[@michaelcasty]

Hey now that’s a real nice Garcia tone you got there what amplifier are you using and pedals if any and settings. Much appreciating your effort. Peace ☮️ from Hawaii

[@jacksnax4guitar460]

Thanks! It’s a Kemper amp profiler. So it’s like a digital/virtual amp thing. It’s pretty amazing. The sounds are a digital representation of actual amps. Not quite sure how it works...but it sounds and feels very much like a tube amp. This lesson was done using a profile of a dumble I believe...one that’s based around a high powered fender amp. So it kinda got that early, more distorted Garcia tone he had when he was using the SG. There are no pedals, but I’m using the onboard reverb and a very small amount of delay to give it some ambience. Thanks for tuning in! Lots of other dead tunes on my YT...and a bunch of other styles and topics too. Hope you enjoy! Aloha! J

[@Noodleboy56]

@@jacksnax4guitar460 I'll tell you how it works Jack. When they(you) profile an amp the Kemper sends a series of tones, beeps, blips, honks and so on into the amp and then it measures the way the amp reproduces those sounds. It's a pretty cool process. And a very accurate representation of the amp it's hearing. It can be done direct with amps using a load box or it can be done by miking the speaker. BTW, I'm the Bobby guy in my band and I love the little Bobby snippets you throw in. I'll be playing this pattern next time we do Dark star for sure. More Bobby tricks and tips please. Apologies to Mickey Toop but you are much better at showing how these things are done.

[@Noodleboy56]

Unlike a modeling amp which is 1s and 0s.

[@jacksnax4guitar460]

@@Noodleboy56 I know how it works…I just didn’t want to get into it here. But I appreciate the clarity with which you explained it.

[@jacksnax4guitar460]

@@Noodleboy56 thanks for the compliments…I’m not really too deep in the Bobby stuff, yet he’s still a huge influence on my approach…he’s amazing. Mickey is a young buck…let’s see what he’s got going on when he’s an old geezer like me! Seems like a really nice guy.

[@massimolombardi1367]

Guitar tone is very similar.What Gear?

[@jacksnax4guitar460]

It’s 66 335 (stock pickups) into a Kemper amp profiler. Using a Dumble style amp with a little delay and reverb.

[@massimolombardi1367]

@@jacksnax4guitar460 i love lead guitar tone by San Francisco 60s acid rock bands.Garcia tone is legendary in live Dead 1969,but are legendary all those guitar tones by Big Brother,Airplane, Quicksilver,Early Santana ecc.Similar tones with Gibson guitars(often SG,with hb or P90) and Fender Twin.So different from powerful Marshall Plexis by English guitar blues Hero(Clapton, Page,Hendrix,Beck ecc) in same era.I love both them!Garcia and friend tone are half clean,half crunch,fluid,fuzzy and nasal,sharp, full of reverb,but absolutely beautiful and the trademark of Californian solo guitarists in the late 60s.

[@massimolombardi1367]

@@jacksnax4guitar460 And that 1966 335 is a real beauty 😍😍.