Tabs for a Byrds Song by Jamesb@Nevada.edu

James,

Saw your tab work for a Byrd's song... I commend you for your hard work. I haven't tried it yet, but I have been trying to figure out McGuinn's guitar work ever since the Byrds appeared back in the Sixties, when I was yet a wee lad.

I recently discovered something about his playing that blew me away. At one point, I noticed you said there were two guitars playing. Probably true, but sometimes McGuinn himself can sound like two guitars. I remember listening to one of their songs, based on Ecclesiates, as a lad, and I thought they had added a banjo in the studio, just to fill things in. Then later I thought it must be a second guitar. Then I just didn't khow what it was??...This was in the back of my mind for over forty years, and now I finally know what it was: It was McGuinn by himself.

I saw him on a public TV special, and he is still playing and singing as great as ever. If you watch him play, when he is singing he plays rhythm with a pick, holding it with thumb and index finger as anyone would. But when he goes into a lead, he not only uses the regular pick, but he also has finger picks on his three other fingers! So he is playing his own accompaniment, using the three fingers to do a "roll" technique, similar to the way 5-string Bluegrass banjo is played.

The guy is amazing. Never seen anyone else do that, but to do it on an electric 12 string is really something else, because it is crowded on that neck. But at least now I know where that banjo sound I heard in that Bible-based song was coming from. It is just McGuinn doing what he always does. I would love to ask him how he started doing that.

So, the thing is, even if you select your bridge pickup and turn the treble all the way up, unless you start doing that little three finger picking trick, it won't sound like two guitars. I just never realized how good the guy really is. In fact, even getting a Roger McGuinn signature Rickenbacker 12-string won't do it unless you are able to copy his technique of playing with all five fingers!

But of course, just to play the lead part with a regular pick does indeed sound great!

So again, thanks for your hard work!

StratKruzer