Music Of The Mind

Gracie, the Smart One

2012-01-15T17:46:00.000-08:00

Sometimes there is an aesthetic about a guitar that just GRABS you. There is an irrational side to music, emotionally speaking.

Vox SDC - 33 (Solid Double Cut, there are three models 33, 55, 77)

Okay, I like horns for cutaways, SG, Yamahas, anything with a curvy point and hips at the bottom, and I like 'em. So by shape alone, I liked this when I saw it.
I began to read about them...introduced in 2010, changes made to address issues raised by users. Offshore made - (Indonesia, Korea, Japan - respectively) the body is produced by used of computerized CNC machines. Which means a body made in Korea should be identical to one made in Japan. Same program, same machines used to cut the wood. Pickups are all manufactured in the same place as are the tail/bridges.
So the wood and the labor are what differentiate them in this regard, model differences, notwithstanding.

Little touches, all over the guitar are calling the geek in me. The ergonomics to the tuners keys aside, they are very "accurate" tuners - I am at a loss for the proper term. Normally, any guitar, Gibson, Fender, no matter - you tune a bit past the note and slide down, just the way tuners hold the wrap of the string.
Notice there are only 1 & 1/2 wraps on the A string. I turn my tuner on, move the key until the strobe says in tune and let go...it stays? No variation? Okay.

An inverse heel? And the joint between the mahogany neck and Ash body is a Vee? The geek in me is excited. Some designer spent time thinking of innovative ways to improve the basic design of the guitar.

The one I acquired is a 2010 model when it was first introduced. It was a representatives demo model that was hauled from shop to shop. The strap peg is mounted on the upper horn on the back of the guitar.

This causes the neck and body to level out rather than remain with the neck elevated. 'Neck dive' is the term used. In 2011, Vox addressed this by moving the peg from where it is in the shot at the lower red arrow to the upper red arrow, the new mount is a vee shaped piece of metal draped across the top of the horn, itself - which moved the fulcrum making the guitar less "neck heavy." It also changed the presentation of the peg - where it was parallel to the body before, it is now perpendicular. This makes the strap sit traditionally. The original placement was a new way to wear a strap. (You attached the top of the strap to the peg, not the bottom)

Two things: The company responds to input and the geek is really excited, now.

The one piece bridge and tailpiece. Lower the action and you are also lowering the tail.

i.e the angle of the strings over the bridge doesn't change when you raise or lower the action. It is made from one piece of aluminum, which is then mounted directly to the body. One set of holes for both pieces. Vox claims the bridge results in greater sustain...I am skeptical but have nothing but a gut feeling to go on.

The real star of the show are the pickups. They are single coil P90s essentially, with an added coaxial coil outside the rails. Utilizing a two position switch you can access P90 sound or humbucker double coil sound. And in both positions the outer coil cancel 100% of hum. This is one of the quietest (noise wise) guitars I've played.

The higher models allow for a third position, the combination of P90 and humbucker. The top of the line is also semi hollow with cats eye F holes.

I'll need time to properly evaluate them, but my initial impression is a very Telecaster sounding P90 and a very Les Paul sounding humbucker. As Murph from SonicState put it,

"Being really critical...Although it can sound like a Telecaster and it can move toward the sound of a Les Paul, I don't know if it actually's got its own sound..." That was the worst thing he could come up with. He may be right.

In a nod to the "tonewood means nothing to an electtric guitar" school Vox uses Ash for bodies in which the grain can be seen and mahogany for opaque paints.

Um, black binding on the neck and white on the body? Zebra binding? This, I do not get.

The body when viewed from the side makes the curvature very apparent. There are further contours, belly cut, et cetera, but they are not as deep nor extreme. This guitar is incredibly light. Six pounds?

The geek in me is beside myself. Look at all the little toys and touches they put into this!

The musician looks at a quality instrument at a very nice price, and notices that little by little Vox products have found their way into my life.

It started with a wah-wah pedal, and then a Saturchator followed by an Ice-9 and now this guitar. I still don't like their amps but we'll see how long until I fold.

It's Always Been About the People

2012-01-13T19:22:00.000-08:00

I refuse to buy from Guitar Center - never mind they are a Bain Capital (Mitt Romney) company, never mind that they are the Wal-Mart of music stores, never mind they search you when you leave, they just plain flat out stink as a retail establishment.

I have had my eye on a Vox guitar since last November. Too much money and made in China or Indonesia. Enough drawbacks to keep me from buying one. Then I found a model they made at about half the cost.

I put a guitar up for sale on Craigslist, figuring if I got bite, I'd find a way to buy the Vox.
Someone sees my ad and contacts me. After a flurry of emails we pick a time and place to make the deal.
I awaken to find an email...for whatever reason, the deal is not going through.
S.I.G.H.
Fine, no worries. It wasn't meant to be, I guess.
I had another guitar to list anyway. I compose the ad and throw it up on Craigslist.
I laid back down and thought about the last few weeks and how my life has changed.

Later on I went to check email as I do a couple of times a day
Someone is interested in my offer?
So the deal for $250 falls through but the guitar I offer for $700 is picked up in a heartbeat?
(What God takes away with the left hand He more than replaces with the right)

A good friend comes and picks me up for lunch, "Mind if we hit Styles?"

"Lou, I'd like the Vox guitar...however a competitor is offering it at substantially less, just come close and I'll take it."

He met the price - threw a couple sets of strings in the case and told me, "We love you, man."
I wanted to pay more, he wanted to give me free stuff.

THIS is why I go to Styles - people. They like me, they treat me as a friend, and ya know what?
Lou meant it, it was not the normal air kiss friendship which defines "friends" in Los Angeles.

A relationship between a retailer and you that reaches this is worth holding dear.
He is a friend as much as the guy from whom I buy my musical stuff.
Little Lou, Big Lou, Greg, Dave - thank you, guys.

Remember Abbey Hoffman Day - Buy This Book

2012-01-12T13:22:00.000-08:00

My Aunt has written a book.
Now, go and buy it.

I Know Better

2012-01-11T20:14:00.000-08:00

My father passed away on January 3rd 2012.

My father sold tubes.
I had never in my life paid for a set of tubes. I'd ask or call and tell dad what I needed and that was that.

My amp is fairly new, and although I had gigged it a lot it has been performing flawlessly...until last night.
Last night I turned my equipment on while preparing for the end of the work day and some time to record. And then I noticed a rhythmic clicking noise. I would have characterized it as crickets, but that would be inaccurate.
My smartphone has a recording app so I recorded the sound and went to Styles to see if anyone could diagnose it for me.
One of two things, a filter cap or the tubes. Standard dumb guitarist test is to tap the tubes while the amp is on and check for noises. I tried it and heard nothing.
Damn...filter caps will cost me a lot more. The labor for finding which capacitor is the culprit could amount to a lot of time and money. And no amp to boot.

Greg (one of the great people at Styles) gave me some symptoms to watch for in the future.
Tonight as I plugged in my guitar to play, all of Greg's symptoms began to occur.
ALL.
So I raced like a banshee to Styles and got a set of replacement tubes. $81 and change. A very fair price, actually.

I take them home, replace the tubes and of course, the troubles are gone, the amp is fine...now.
I had to buy my first set of tubes. Yeah...total coincidence. Totally...
(I've had sets last years (10+) with heavy gigging/use - this amp is three years old max)

Padre,
I wasn't the greatest son, but you loved me nonetheless...and THAT made you a great father.

Sad On The Way To The Grave, Party Like It's 1919 On The Way Home

2012-01-03T19:58:00.000-08:00

Didn't he ramble...I said he rambled
Rambled all around...in and out of town
Didn't he ramble...oh didn't he ramble
He rambled till the butcher shot him down

He slipped into the cat house..made love to the stable
Madam caught him cold..said I'll pay you when I be able
Six months had passed ..and she stood all she could stand
She said buddy when I'm through with you
Ole groundhog gonna be shakin yo' hand

And didn't he ramble...he rambled
Rambled all around...in and out of town
Oh didn't he ramble......he rambled
You know he rambled...till the butcher...cut him down

I said he rambled..lord...'till the butcher shot him down
J. Rosamond Johnson

George Harrison's

2011-12-30T20:58:00.000-08:00

Be there.
A road house filled with friends, good food and tons of fine music.

I get four songs - I'll play many more but I get to choose and front four of them.
Jesus Left Chicago
Goodbye Girl
Werewolves of London
Knocking on Heaven's Door

Sing them and play. Easy. A year ago I was learning how. Now I know how. I am not great by any means, but I have a sincere voice. I want to sing. Audiences get that and respond.
It is something to be able to look back and see progress like this.

I leaned how to let the audience hear one half of the conversation in my head. The art of "less is more."
The George Harrison (the Beatle) school of guitar.
I made a lot of progress musically in the year that is fading.
I must balance both aspects...make money and work my craft. It is not a one or the other. It has to be both.
Two huge things.

I traveled a lot. Spent time in different places and with people I had not seen for many a year and had a lot of fun. I ran into the man who had been the Vice Principal in charge of discipline when I was attending high school. I was his number one customer having spent half my time in his office. How's that for irony, karma, weird timing?

I found my voice, and myself. Once more I am happy in my own skin and proud of what I can accomplish.
I wonder how I will top this in 2012, but somehow - I know I will.
Heaven is larger on the inside than it is on the outside.

"...but you start with parallel lines that intersect and go from there." - Black Mage

Dispel The Myths, or How I Blow Away the Smoke

2011-12-19T21:40:00.000-08:00

End of the year house cleaning.
Soul cleansing.
e ranting.

All of the following points are made with one huge caveat - I am only concerned about the realm of human hearing.

1. Capacitors of the same value sound the same whether they are made of ceramics or paper and oil.
The selling of vintage is a crime.

2. Electric guitars are not supposed to be resonant. They are not supposed to vibrate at all. If they do, it means those vibrations which had it been working as planned would have gone to feed the signal to the pickup instead of serving naught but heating the wood.

3. Nothing above the nut or below the bridge has any bearing on the sound of your guitar. The vibrations of the string take place in between those two points. And ONLY those two. See above.

4. No one is looking at your guitar, except other guitarists. Not one person in the audience gives a tinkers dam what brand of guitar you have. Or what "look" it confers on you...because...it doesn't.
Your carriage, your demeanor, your ease in your skin is what confers your stage persona. Not what guitar (read that: tool) you play.
They are not figured furniture pieces to be admired from afar - they are meant to be used like any other instrument. Sax players drooling over the patina on a nice specimen? Not as often as guitar players. Guitarists are a singular group in this respect. Misplaced respect for the workmanship of their instrument.

5. SGs are not top heavy - the neck does not weigh MORE than the body; shift the fulcrum. Move the strap, dolt. Every metal age Lothario thinks they are top heavy.

6. Eric Clapton is not God. According to an episode of Becker, God's first name is Larry.

A great player? Absolutely.
So is Jeff Beck, John McLaughlin, Al DiMeola, Carlo Santana, Django, Jimi, Roy Clark...
Subjective assessments are music, but religious ones are not.
(Note to self - future blog on God's favorite music with which to jam)

7. Frank Zappa was the epitome of irony. He was the hippest and also the most unhip. He called us assholes and died of his. I love his music for many reasons but it always has a slightly bitter tinge to it.
Lesson? Be aware of yourself. In real time, if you are good enough.

8. Set neck or bolt on...same sustain, same tone given the same pickups and strings and player.

9. Different wood sounds the same given the same pickups, player and strings. I have two teles and I would bet no one could tell which was the ash body and which was the pine.

In 1982 or so the Japanese decided older guitars were worth a lot of money. They pumped the price artificially by paying whatever was asked for what had previously been junk.
Old guitars were not worshiped as they are today. A really expense guitar was $2,000 when normal production guitars were $300.
Today, $350,000 for a 1952 Les Paul is not unheard of. And get this - each one is different, they are not ALL good, by any stretch. It is by virtue of age alone...now. Sad, really.
These are not violins made by a master, by hand in Renaissance Italy - these are mass production guitars. No more craftsmanship than a car.

The ancillary markets picked up on this and now sell anything from the golden age of guitars at a premium...very little of it is worth the price asked.

Tubes - the snot abounds in the "vintage" tube market.

Facts:
Domestic production of tubes ceased in the 1970s, the last domestic television made by Zenith in an Arkansas plant.
Tubes were then and now even more so - rebranded. Tubes originally made by GE were repainted with the Philco logo if that is what the end customer wanted. ANY logo. So those VOS tubes you are selling on eBay for $$$ are probably not what you think they are.
Tubes are incredibly noisy switches - transistors, besides smaller and more efficient - introduce much less noise into the original signal.

10. You cannot tell the difference between two brand of tubes assuming the test data is similar...close.
If THD, plate voltages etc are similar all around, you can't tell one from the other.
Audiophiles go for tubes with the least amount of noise. Guitarists live to run the tubes near the clipping point...signal saturation, noise - they call it breakup. The reasoning was that the legends of the 1960s used these huge walls of tube amps at that saturation point, so to get that sound, guitarists today have to follow that edict.
What a load of shit.
These are the same people buying $300 oxygen free copper cables. Jimi used a $3.00 piece of junk coiled cord that no one today would be caught dead using.

Audiophiles and guitarists spend money matching tubes. When a tube burned out in Clapton's amp, they changed them with whatever was on hand.

Kinda like the Bible where people pick and choose what they agree with and will obey and what they don't like. It's all or nothing.
If a resonant guitar is something good then let's loosen parts and get to vibrating.
If finish makes one iota of difference in sound - does a blind man hear the difference?

I would guess this true in any pursuit in life.
Ten percent are outright posers. Twenty percent think they want to play guitar,; they also think they look cooler with the guitar than without. Thirty percent really want to play, feel it on some level. Twenty percent are succumbing to peer pressure. And the last twenty wanted to play something else but were handed a guitar - "Here, you play this."

I went to a dance where a band named Spyder was playing, 'I'm So Glad.' I was standing there with my jaw on the floor. Then I noticed the girls were creaming over the long haired guitar player.
Then I went to Woodstock and smoked pot. It must have been a cosmic plan, eh?

Life is about sharing a common experience, the more intimate, the better.
We are social animals.
To read a passage from a book and have it strike you the same as your reading group.
To hear a song and you know the performer is speaking to you - at the same time he is speaking to one hundred others.

Music like math is a language - unlike math music is one of emotions and feelings. I cannot think of a single song that was NOT meant to evoke a feeling. Even a photo can be a record of a moment, void of feeling.
But music goes on. It is like, ugh...baseball - we don't know when it's gonna end.

It is not a snapshot in time, but as Janis said - a piece of my heart.

Is It God Or Something Evolutionary?

2011-12-08T19:27:00.000-08:00

Why do I enjoy music?
Why do I enjoy playing music?
Why do I get high from playing music?
Why do I get higher than a kite playing music for an audience?

I understand why sex is pleasurable from an evolutionary point of view.
Music?
Math?
Woodworking?

Each of these disciplines can produce those same pleasures one derives from sex...why?
If this is evolution trying some variables for success rate, why isn't there enough data to make a path decision?

Music and Math are symbolic languages. How important to evolution is language? At what level? Whales communicate...we have no understanding of the level of sophistication, the amount of information they pass.
I have to think the more sophisticated the language, the more information that passes, the farther a species can go.
I can see how math changes the game...but music?
That String theory is somewhat easier since I have a good grasp of vibration, harmonics, dissonance - all words assigned to String behavior. But music itself? I see no purpose...Pleasure only.
Yeah, some pieces can invoke tears, but most of music is an attempt at uplifting.

Music is universal. Other species appreciate music. Name a language that excites two or more species?
Music seems to posses qualities far beyond our understanding.
Ever notice the feeling when reading a good book? Compare that to sitting through a good album.
Very similar experiences.
Or even a bad one...book or piece; again the same reaction.

The universe has a hum to it. A left over carrier from the Big Bang. And how many tinfoil hats laid awake at night dreaming this note into everyday life.
In the 1970s scientists discovered the hum left over from the event was a Bb - B Flat - fifty seven (57) octaves below middle C.
It's a basso/funky world we live in.

Ever wonder why some music makes your foot move almost involuntarily? If the beats per minute are between sixty and one hundred twenty, the BPM is resonating with your heartbeat - you want to dance.

So there is a physical connection that goes beyond language.
God is speaking through music?

It is clearly something for a scientist to explore, not a musician. At least with a hope of answer.
I just have my music and my faith.

New Year's Eve - George Harrison's

2011-12-05T20:48:00.000-08:00

A lot of musicians work New Year's Eve. I never have. Not in forty years of playing for pay.
Dunno why. It wasn't a conscious decision, it just happened that way.

I get a call today, it's George Harrison - can I make it New Year's Eve?
George is a good guy and I consider him a friend.
"Yes, I'm there."
"You can leave before midnight if you need to...," said George.
"I'm there."
"Okay man, standard setup, food and drink provided, two drummers, a couple of bass players including Frank, you, Jimbo, "Shotgun" and ..."
"I'm there."

George's is a place that easily could have been the inspiration for locations used in the movie 'Road House.'
A sawdust floor, planked wooden walls, hanging junk and memorabilia commingling.
What it has in atmosphere (or lacks, depending on your upbringing) it more than makes up for in sheer fun factor.
Guests always have a great time. George never skimps on the spread.
(Last 4th of July he had two pigs roasting, along with tons of other fare for the non pork crowd)
People have literally been hanging from the rafters at times.
(It gets packed in there)
And the music? Always heartfelt. Sometime better than others, but I appreciate the time spent there.
(The Kenny G guy trying to play along with the Blues Band)
I've met people, made friends and contacts, been paid (unheard of), well fed, and after it's all over - treated to deep discussions of the schism that formed between Christians and Jews after the time of Christ on earth.
(Kinda fitting to play there during holidays)

So I'll go and have a blast doing what I really love to do with a roomful of friends and colleagues.
Note to self - bring a camera.

Hmmm...was this a plug?

I AM Good.

2011-12-03T17:35:00.000-08:00

We are own worst critics. We, being everyone...anyone. Few people walk around telling others how good they are. Well, some do. We, the rest of us, classify them as obnoxious pains in the ass.

It is hard for one to accept praise without a tiny voice screaming, "What do they want?"
Tell Clapton that he is God and it makes him uncomfortable. Fawning makes performers uneasy. It is classic...ulterior motives or sycophant? Wait, they are the same-ish.

Artists want to see unbridled joy, true appreciation of their art. Someone that finds a personal connection between the music I make and their life.
If words in a song strike a resonant chord, it is plainly visible in the audiences faces. In the energy they exhibit.

I have been told since I was eight, that I have a musical gift. I was picking tunes out on the piano when I was five.
Most of the time my reaction is, "Awww shucks, thanks..."
But you file it under, "They have no clue and I am not good..."

One day, it comes to you. If you make someone smile, you are good. Does it matter WHY they smile?
Does it matter that the tune evokes a feeling that is the polar opposite of theirs? Does Klimt care what I got from his art? Does Frank Zappa laugh at me or with me?
I am good.
I have a good ear and a decent sense of rhythm. I can think and play. I can zone and play. I can play with a feminist doing C&W tunes. I can play with a steel drum band.
I am not as good as other players. Of that, I am certain.
But I do know, I am good, I know what I can do...I know what people expect and can deliver.

Where to go from here?
I have learned more this year than the past twenty years combined. I have re-evaluated myself and my music. Taken new directions in my explorations.
I have discovered long hidden truths. Several of them.
I have changed the sound I make, in terms of tonality. I have changed the sound I make in terms of drive...soul, what my heart and mind want to say.

I think next year, is a year to focus on movement. Physical, mental movement. A new band.
A band. Not just gigging as they come but a working band.
A collection of my material. Complete cessation of covers in public.
Covers of up and comers?
Wait...James Maddock...Caleb Haweley...Bob Kasper...They each have tunes I could cover and no one would hear anything but a new song.
OoOoOo...I am smiling at the endless possibilities.

(Hey, I googled "Bob Kasper" and that's what I got.)

Do You Hear That Voice In Your Head?

2011-11-21T20:29:00.000-08:00

If not, you are no musician.
Epiphany number two with regards to How to Answer that Call ...or as I referred to it, "

Quality Versus Quantity Part Deux"

This will seem to be a fundamental building block, but then...that's my trouble, I can excel at something with no clue as to what I am doing until it hits me and I comprehend the universe. Or that facet of the universe.

I skated through school on my wit and charm. I got through college on my ear alone - well that, and a healthy dose of sucking up at every opportunity. I coasted through engineering school and then a year into the curriculum I understood what the concept of 'ground' meant. I can get along well and figure it out as I go, pretty much.

So recently I had a major musical breakthrough; to answer a call in your mind, rather than expecting every note in your head to be played out loud. Hear half and play the answer.

Here I am a few weeks later and I have been able to fully incorporate this idea. I have embraced it as the glass holding the water, thank you, Mr. Lee.

I hear music everywhere - in white noise - literally everywhere. All it takes is for me to stop and listen for it.

And now, I have a way to release it. I have an outlet. I have a voice.

And sumbitch, but I really like it. I have had a voice in my playing for years, but like a photo of myself, was never satisfied. I knew what I wanted to hear but it eluded me.

Now if I don't have that fragile bird in my hand.

My smile starts within my soul and radiates outward. This is something I was meant to do; to hear and like what I heard.

(Note to self - this does not translate well into money, you know?)

Every musician wants to like his voice, wants it to sound as she or he imagines it. And for most of us, it is a life long quest. Very few are truly happy with the sound they make. Always striving for more, searching...looking to somehow 'fix' what they lack.

They literally don't know how to sing.

Al's one huge piece of advice - "If you can't sing it, you can't play it."

Bert and I are hitch-hiking to the mall in Paramus and he starts humming a bass line...he was the bass player of my youth. I start singing the guitar part. For a good five or ten minutes, we jammed. It was good. It had soul. It sounded nice. The ultimate air guitar (Invented by David West in a boys room circa 1971), and yet there was a real talent in what we did.

Well now I have a way to do just that with my guitar. Play what I hear in my head. Not imagine I can play it, but play it. I sing the call in my head, I play the answer with my fingers.

Betcha with time, I'll progress passed having to do the call at all. (Maybe I'll also speak the last half of any thought I have?)

For now, I have to map my moves.

I think I am trying to become Rain Man?

Fake It Until You Make It

2011-11-16T22:17:00.000-08:00

Live and play as though you are Bruce Springsteen. Attitude and aura of success begets similar attitude and the herd shifts.

This weekend I have another gig as a stand in for the regular guitarist. A gig is a gig, I love it. An opportunity to play.
To prepare I was given the set list two weeks ahead of time. Tonight we conducted a 'run through.'

We played as though we knew what we were doing.
It sounded as though we had been playing together for years.Very tight.
The songs themselves are easy. But to get a band to mesh well is why we rehearse. To sound each note in its place...with precision and feeling is not so easy.
Getting the drummer to count a song off at the proper number of beat per minute (BPM) is not easy either. Some are rather hyper and tend to count every song as quickly as possible. No modulation in tempo at all.
Sometimes the bass player feels the emphasis on one and three and you expect it on two and four.

Each little step is the foundation for the next and the next until you have the song sounding as you intend.
Usually it involves a lot of work.

Sometimes, it just clicks.
Tonight it clicked.
It didn't hurt that of the seven songs on the list I knew five. Although the arrangements were a bit different, it was easier than learning a new piece.
The two new pieces were easy enough - I was familiar with them before I had to commit to them.
So we played as though we knew what we were doing.

My new goal is to open my eyes. I am one of those guitarists that just tends to close his eyes while playing. It began as a way to shut out the sea of faces that made for awful butterflies. But it changed with time and venues. Lights are now the main culprit. Maybe I should wear my shades?

Going Digital...The Full Monty Plunge

2011-11-12T13:03:00.000-08:00

I was recently on an airplane from NJ to CA, seated next to a very nice mother and daughter. The child was very well behaved, offering to do homework to pass the time. She reached into her bag and retrieved a Kindle.

I've seen them before and I an proud to call myself a Luddite.
I like paper. I love bookstores.

But I dislike lugging five hundred pages across the country only to be done with it somewhere over Texas and now just carrying dead weight. And with nothing more to pass the time but to snooze.

I also find myself watching more television than I used to do. A lot more.
An interesting part of the Kindle bundle is a thirty day trial in Amazon Prime. Not only will shipping on Amazon orders become free (I use Amazon a lot), but now there are five thousand books in the AP Lending Library. AP also streams movies and television shows, such as Grey's - free.
And then I read where an agreement was reached so that many libraries will now carry eBooks.

I'm sunk. $199 for the Kindle...it won't ship before Tuesday and I am at the end of a long, long line so I choose the free, albeit slow shipping of five to eight business days.
Now I am looking into apps for my phone to "tether" to the Kindle so I can use my phone as a modem for 3g access to the WiFi only Kindle.

But hey, I can watch television or movies, borrow and buy books, and carry it aboard a plane, in a slim little package. I know I am a Geek, but this is just another example of a DOS dinosaur slipping into the Digital Age.

Quality Versus Quantity Part Deux

2011-11-02T10:52:00.000-07:00

One of my strengths as well as my number one weakness on the guitar is...itchy fingers, digital diarrhea, how many notes can one squeeze into a measure, syndrome.

George Harrison had a mastery of "less is more." He could play four or five notes and say more than most of us say in an entire piece.
Colin James has a knack for answering an unspoken call with three or four notes that - say-it-all.

And for the life of me, I could never figure this out. I tried to slow my thought processes. I tried thinking and not just reacting to the music played.
I have been trying to achieve this for thirty years? No success.

And then a friend turned me onto a guy named Keith Wyatt.
In this lesson, Keith explains how to answer calls during a "call and answer" segment in a song.
He is fun, fact filled and very succinct. The entire video is eleven minutes.
And he makes a lot of sense, musically.

Part of the driving force behind my rediscovery of "less is more" is my renewed interest in the television show Becker. I love the show for the writing as well as the excellent ensemble cast.
There is a guitar belonging to Jason Miller...with it, he plays small, tight ten second phrases to lead in and out of scenes of the show. I very much enjoy his talent and envied his ability to take a few notes and make a complete musical statement.

I am sitting watching the show when it struck me. The act of answering in Keith's lesson is the epitome of the "less is more" philosophy.
In other words, you need not be answering a call made in the piece - it may be implied...it could be in your head. It need not exist at all.

All of a sudden, I can play like Harrison! I was floored. Epiphany...a moment of clarity.
It is a relatively easy thing to hear a lead in and then "answer" it, whether it exists in the song or not.
How strange it is to have something so easy elude you for SO long and then be revealed in eleven minutes.

Perspective is so very integral to learning. Look at a problem one way and it is a Gordian Knot. From another point of view, it becomes easy as pie.
I'll have another piece of pie, please.

Quality, Not Quantity

2011-10-31T11:11:00.000-07:00

Last year I had worked many gigs by this time of the year. I was everywhere, playing with anyone.
It was wild fun and very necessary for my musical ego.
Trolling for gigs like this results in many jobs that are not as satisfying, don't pay as much, et cetera.

This year, I have played far, far fewer gigs. But the times I have played have been so much more satisfying and rewarding.
Why?

In a word...sharing.
I learned a long time ago that as humans, our greatest joy comes from sharing. Be it a joint, a thought, feelings, or music. The act of two or more people seeing and digging the same thing is a minor miracle.
Music is one of those things that is personal, intimate and yet at the same time it can be shared by many people at once. Witness Woodstock.

This year, I got to do one number with a guy I admire very much and in doing this number laid a few bugaboos to rest.
Friends of mine that I have known more than thirty years got to hear me play for the very first time.
My mother...got to hear me playing in a setting other than a cacophony eminating from her basement.

I did more open mics than last year - standing on your own feet does a lot toward that feeling of sharing. That is intimacy at its most public. You are alone, they are watching no one but you.
And what a rush it is!

I found someone else to play as a duo.
Doing less of what others want to play or think is what is expected. I am out to have a blast and make a dollar or two doing so. And if I get to share my inner feelings and get applause in exchange for it...how much better can things get musically? In truth...things can get so much better that all I see is "blue sky."

And so I pursue things. I talk to people on FaceBook in an effort to expand my network - get a job.
I picked up a new instrument (mandolin) in an effort to expand my repertoire.
I meet new people all the time - and when we click, it is sharing once again.

Share with me. It is my greatest joy.

Have a Happy Halloween.

Tele Truss Rod Adjustment Alters Tone - Film at 11

2011-10-22T00:26:00.000-07:00

The Baja Telecaster I had bought in May had a real curve to the neck.
More relief than I wanted.

However, I have to date not adjusted a Fender style truss rod. Never had to.
A shim did the trick as far as action/buzz went so turning the rod just never happened.

This guitar had a pronounced curvature in the neck.
I thought I'd have access to the truss rod screw by just removing the pickguard - and for a minute it did look as though I could get a bite on the rod...but no, it was not to be. The pickup was in the way.
Sigh.

Strings came off, and then I removed the neck. It was obvious the original owner had been down this road...he had scored the screws affixing the neck to the body. With his adjustment there was just too much relief in it for me.
So I tightened the truss rod about a half a turn...which was at the top of the threads - as far as it'll go. The neck was very close to straight. A teeny weeny bit of relief. (Without any relief all the strings would buzz)

Restrung it, and as I was doing so I caught wind of the buzzing which must have made this guy add so much relief.
Funny thing was, with the neck close to straight the action was more than low enough...too low.
The 'G', 'B', & 'E' strings needed a half turn to feel comfortable to play. I decided to let the low 'E' buzz.

Holy merde!
Okay...new strings have a lot to do with the wow factor in the tone, but the slap of the strings...it is part of the quintessential tele sound. The bass strings have a thump to them that is very unique. No strat has it.

Well the effect of having the strings closer to the pickups is just not to be believed in what it can do to the sound. Such a small change having such a large impact.
Obviously I could have raised the pickups to achieve the same result sound wise;l however that would not address the feel of the neck.
I disliked the feeling that the action was changing the higher I played.

So...got a tele? Raise your pickups! Or peer down your neck and check your relief.

Almost Perfect Pitch

2011-10-05T18:14:00.000-07:00

Name any song I know and I'll sing it a half step below the actual tonic.
I hear it in my head a half step flat. (A cosmic joke, methinks)

I am playing the mandolin...Grendel, even with the new strings is starting to sound dull.

Temperatures change greatly where I live. A forty degree swing from the low to the high during a day night cycle is not out of the normal course of things.
So the strings on any instrument will stretch and contract with the rise and fall in temperatures.
I check my tuning before I begin...every time. It is a must. I also mean with an expensive strobe tuner, not by ear.
Piano tuners are tuning pairs of strings much like the mandolin. They do not tune the strings to perfect pitch. i.e.A is not set at 440 hz. But the first of the two strings might be at 438 while the upper is at 442.
This intentional dissonance causes the note to ring out. The waves are alternately canceling and then reinforcing each other which makes a slight vibrato effect. Your ear hears sustain.

So that's why the new strings sounded better? They were settling in...moving. I tuned them and after a few minutes had slipped out of tune. I heard notes ringing out and thought it was the new strings!

So the trick I have is to tune the first of the pair a bit sharp and the second a bit flat. A bit is maybe two or three cents (pronounced sonts) at most. Next I should try reversing that, the top flat and the bottom one sharp.
We'll see.

Strings

2011-10-02T14:47:00.000-07:00

Fender OEM strings are awful.
Plain awful...rotten...dead...lifeless.

I had sat with the mandolin and was starting to bond with it, finding my way with it last week.

On one of the forums dedicated to mandolins, there was an ongoing thread about a brand of flatwound strings. Flatwound strings have the wrapped covering flattened rather than just wrapped about the core - which makes for normal roundwound strings.

D'addario makes strings for most stringed instruments. I had used them for years on my guitars. Sometime in the 1990s they went to a "unisex" package in which opening the pack for one string meant opening the container for all of them. No more individual envelopes. While I understand the savings the manufacturer would see, it made the strings far less useful.

Break a high E? Open the whole pack and the remaining five strings begin to age as well. How to store the remaining strings? At a gig this meant a mess. At home I could change all the strings...D'addario's intent all along?

I had sworn off them and reverted to Ernie Ball...strings of my youth.

Back to the mandolin.
A set of regular strings; a mandolin has eight strings, run anywhere from $4 to $10. Flatwounds, on the other hand are closer to $40 a set.
I am too cheap for that. I get two sets of guitar strings for $9!?!
Plus I am new to the instrument and don't want to assume that throwing money will magically make me a better player.
Back to the forum - The Mandolin Cafe
Someone starts a thread about D'addario FW-74s.

As I investigate, I find they are about $10 a set?!
My favorite online string shop, Just Strings, has them. I order a set and wait for them to arrive.
Stringing a new instrument is an adventure.

Mandolins, unlike guitars, have the bottom of the string terminated with a loop that is meant to be put over a cut out tab on the tailpiece.

You loop the end, pull the string up and through the tuner, trying to maintain tension so the loop doesn't fall off the tab and then wind like a guitar.

It took the better part of an hour.
But what a difference? Once I had it strung and tuned, I played a few notes and they rang. The notes didn't decay, but droned on. And clear! Very little bleed between strings. Striking one didn't cause the adjacent string to vibrate as much.
The instrument sound 100% better. Easily.

The pick and the strings that you use, contribute no small part of the overall sound.
I think I have been converted - again.

Bonding With A New Instrument

2011-09-26T19:51:00.000-07:00

I have trouble keeping more than one guitar. I don't need nor do I use two or three or more. I have one acoustic and I need one electric.
So I sell.

Flush with new money I ran to Styles.
"Lou I need a travel guitar and a mandolin."

I have seen a lot of music in the last twelve months. Not as much as last year, but what I have seen has been far and away the best music I have heard in a long, long time.
One of the truths in the "Music Business" is the need to be as versatile as possible. How many instruments can you play, and well?

And in the style of the folky rocker there are a lot of people playing...mandolins?!
These are not Bluegrass or Country and Western players. No...
These are troubadours, balladeers & bards. Traveling musicians that are wise in many arts.
I determine to expand. I already have a violin that I noodle upon. But I never pursued it with any vigor. There was no passion. I haven't been able to bond with the thing tucked underneath my chin.

I bought the lonely Fender mandolin that Lou had...dusty and neglected. I think he ordered it either out of pity for the Fender rep or a mandatory buy to be able to get a price on the Strats and Teles that earn his cash.
I know it is nothing but a student item.

The craftsmanship is non existent. If I were new to fretted instruments, I would have thrown my hands into the air. I set and reset the action. And then read...and read. There's "chop," and two fingers chords. And it's upside down when compared to a guitar.
And small?
A friend asked if it made me feel ham handed, but at the moment of the new purchase it seemed to fit...I have small hands. They kept me from pursuing the bass. But now, yeah - they were starting to feel rather thick.
Sad face.

All the "normal" thoughts raced through my head. If I went and bought something three times as expensive, I'd like it that much more, right?
I hit the brakes. Nah...Jimi could make a cigarbox guitar sound good. The excuse or victory is mine.

A really talented guitarist, Caleb Hawley does a solo arrangement of Bruce Hornsby's, 'That's Just The Way It Is.'
By himself, he makes what is a very layered and lush song sound just that. Layered and very full - by himself. He keeps time on the body of the guitar and plays both the bass line and the piano theme.
Good God, this kid is good.
Anyway...I put the song on and grab the mando (I'm hep to mandolin speak)...And rather than trying to apply a thought process, I aim for notes that fit and then intervals built from that. It comes, the rhythm, the picking...I'm sure the notes will follow, eventually.
Holy Merde...I am flying along the fretboard, playing pedestrian garbage, but I am bonding with this pig of an eight stringed beast.
She shall be Grendel.
Fuck you, Beowulf.

Epilogue:
Growth is a good thing. With the rest of life it is usually a painful process. Even when you enjoy the endeavor - college for instance.
In music, I have moments of buyers remorse but no pain. It makes me dance.
I gotta jam with Beppe Gambetta!
<3

Beware of Geeks Bearing Gifts

2011-09-10T02:25:00.000-07:00

My laptop has been slowly dying. The graphics card has gotten so hot in the past that it literally unsoldered itself from the motherboard. Luckily, at that time I had an extended warranty - a week or so and I had a new computer.
This past Sunday it would no longer boot. A B.S.O.D. (Blue Screen Of Death) every time.

After admitting to myself the trouble was beyond my capabilities, I went to secure a new computer.
By Tuesday I had to be up and running. I could not wait for Labor Day sales...pity.

I ran to Best Buy and started my search. They had a dozen desktop computers. I quickly narrowed it down to two. While money was being transferred electronically, I picked up the box of the last remaining example of either model and checked out.

Boy, this thing is fast...Huge too, more storage than I'll ever use - I said that about a twenty megabyte hard drive in the 1980s; yeah, that didn't last.

But then came the task of transferring all that data. Pictures, music (11,000 mp3s), et cetera. I was looking at quite a task.
I began by opening DropBox; cloud based storage - 2gb is free.
To rent 50gb of storage is $9.99 a month or $99 a year in advance..A 100 gb is $19.99/199.00.

At 2 gb a shot, it was going to take a long, long time.
By Thursday I began to think about how much bandwidth was being eaten by these 2gb swaps going on twelve hours a day (2gb up from the laptop and then 2gb down to the new computer).
Ah, but that made me think of an 8gb sd card I recently bought!

Plug it in to the old computer (which I got to boot, somewhat stable, but no graphics) grab 8gb of data at a time and then insert the card into the new computer. Inside of a few hours I had cleaned a major portion of the old computer - with no bandwidth consumed.

Each time we upgrade - a new smartphone, a new computer; we also inherit the task of setting all the attendant parts of our digital lives. The email accounts, The bank logins. Cloud storage, file hosting...on and on...
And with each day we are establishing new accounts for new purposes. FaceBook, FourSquare, Tripit...
So that with every new device, the time to be "up and running" is growing longer and the improved technology barely keeps pace.

I'm a geek, but I have been bitten upon the ass by Technology.

Rains, Hurricanes and More Planes

2011-08-27T01:27:00.000-07:00

This year has been somewhat dry. There has been much less playing than there was last year. Perhaps, half the number of gigs.

Before it became an issue I went to the House Concert and was given a lift, the likes of which I don't think I've ever experienced before. A week or more.

And then in rapid succession, two gigs pop up. One in San Diego, the other - a recording session.

A day goes by and I get a message from a boutique maker of pickups. Would I be interested in making a clip demonstrating the pickups et cetera?

When you are not actively seeking, it comes to you.
Zen and the Art of Music?

I hope Irene comes to naught...

Wanna Get High?

2011-08-15T23:55:00.000-07:00

A great and intimate way to experience wonderful music by the very best up & comers is a house concert. The simple explanation is a host opens their home to these musicians, setting a very nominal cover - $10-20. A pot luck for food brought by the guests with a selection of beverages provided by your hosts is the food portion of the event.

These are the very same musicians that I and many others have been raving about for a while.
To have them in your home, with your friends, food and 'social lubrication' as the hostess for my first show put it, and you have the makings of a wonderful experience.
No tacky dives, no loud raucous crowds, unless that is the spirit of the room.
It's not a strict concert, either - think dinner party with very good live entertainment. Although most people sat raptly watching the people that played, there was a certain amount of coming and going.

As I said, this was my first. The show was produced, and I say that because every detail was considered and artistically executed, by a very good friend of mine. She lives on the East Coast as does my mother so I took her invitation as impetus to make a trek to the right side.
The trip was an adventure from the moment I arrived in NYC, where my mother burst a front tire - I changed tires in Harlem at 2 a.m.

Saturday evening at my friend's house, Caleb Hawley was the headliner.I saw Caleb perform in Los Angeles and was very much impressed with him.

Besides being a very capable lyricist, indeed he charges his words with deep emotions, he is a masterful guitarist. A Berklee graduate, he has talent in heaps. He played a wildly eclectic list of popular tunes (Stevie Wonder, Bruce Hornsby) and some of the best originals tunes I have heard in a very long time.
In a previous entry...maybe when I began this page, I spoke of talented people that can thrill both the emotional and the intellectual people inside me.
Caleb is indeed, one of these.
Okay, now throw in the facts that he is charming, personable, open, very friendly and warm...honest, too.
Can you tell I am really enjoying him?
I was incredibly pumped after seeing that show.

So now I am seated with friends watching Caleb at his best - looking into the eyes of the audience.
Of course, he did not disappoint.

And the setting was poetry. A tiny cabin full of love and warmth by the two that live there. I mentioned to her that it had almost a Disneyland effect; the child in me was in awe and the adult could marvel at the many little touches sprinkled all around.

At one point, I was chatting with the host when I heard someone calling my name.
As I walked into the living room my friend announced that this was my first house concert and that I came all the way from California to see Caleb and mom.

And now Caleb and I were going to play a number...breathe, two, three, four...(I don't get nervous before I play, I get very high from it)

I walked up to the fireplace and picked up the opener's guitar (a very able musician by the name of Bob Kasper - Keith knows him) and leaned in while Caleb told me the chords he wanted and that I'd get a solo.
It was Bill Withers tune, Use Me.
As he starts playing, someone asked him a question...he didn't stop...so I started noodling over it.
"Oh, you're gonna solo already?" he asked with that impish grin.

We played, I joined in to sing a chorus, I played my little solo.
It ended, and the room applauded, Caleb turned to me and was grinning like a jackal.
I leaned towards him and said, "You can make shit sound good. Thanks for making me sound good, man."
A micro second later and his grin grew even further.
We simultaneously gripped our picks in our teeth and had a high five knuckle bump thing.

What a blast.
Oh yeah, if you get a chance, go see Caleb - he was a contestant on American Idol and has three CDs available.
Better yet, go see him at a house concert.
Bring your pick.

The B Team

2011-08-07T21:11:00.000-07:00

Being a substitute player in music can be quite gratifying. When a player can't make a date and the band thought of you...how nice!
There are also fewer expectations of you. You have not been with the group as long, don't share all the insider "stuff." At the same time that affords you the freedom to see a piece a new way.

In the last two week I have been given two instances of filling in.
In one case it was a Farmer's Market and the other a familiar tavern. Both are gigs I have done in the past.So the venues themselves are comfortable. But the lineup and the setlist are not.

In both instances the bands are of the "Classic Rock" style. Serviceable, but played to death.
But I had that bit of freedom, since I was not given a score for solos, but expected to wing it.
Oh, wing it...I did.
Midnight Rider - a tune from my early guitar days. Duane Allman's part is relatively simple...but oh so hard to sound THAT good.
Well, what I played was good enough to draw a three minute tune out to six or seven minutes.
I have not tried playing slide in public, but I can emulate it with sweeping vibrato and glides.

During the break, the bass player says to me, "I didn't know you played slide."
Neither did I.
Being the new guy afforded me a looseness that made the old tunes a bit more fresh...a bit less stale.

"Not gonna let them catch the midnight rider..."

Amazing what a change in perspective can do.

Intonation - Callaham Compensated Saddles

2011-07-24T22:39:00.000-07:00

When the Telecaster was first "designed" and built, the saddles (the metal bar over which the strings pass on their way to the nut.- between the nut and the saddles is where a string vibrates) were two strings to a saddle. Three brass barrels.

You are able to set the overall length of the string via the three spring loaded screws.

Fretted instruments "suffer" with tempered tuning. It's mathematically impossible to lay out the frets in such a way that the strings are in tune over the entire length of the neck. With twenty one to twenty four frets on most electric guitars or scale lengths from twenty four inches to twenty five and three quarters, there is a lot of variation to be had - add into this the curvature (radius) of the fretboard, and you can see there are hurdles to be surmounted.

Back to the Telecaster. The epitome of simple...simplistic. With the three barrel design there is an inherent trade off. One of those two strings will be closer to perfect intonation than the other. Players back in the 1950s learned to bend the spring loaded screws which would angle the barrels...effectively lengthening one string and shortening or retaining the same with the other.

You can see the Tune-O-Matic Bridge design has an individual saddles for each string. The arc described by the radius and scale is also easier to visualize in the arc of the saddles.
Eventually Fender came out of the dark ages and began to install six saddle designs of their own.

But you can also see, this bridge in much harder to adjust. On the TOM there is one spring loaded screw for the string length, and two thumbwheels, one at each end to raise or lower the bridge. With the Fender design, each string is adjusted for intonation and height individually. While that may sound as though it makes for a more perfect instrument, it makes for a colossal pain.
The height adjustment screw are hex heads, you need two tools instead of one. Each height adjustment is done with two screws - the design itself almost precludes the use of only one. I say almost because someone figured out how to stabilize an offset screw.

My two Teles have three barrel bridges. I like the look. I have no belief in mythical properties of the brass material or the three barrels, themselves, I just like the way they fit the overall old school vibe.
Intonation has always been a huge compromise. And it hurts my ears to hear a guitar that can get no closer to perfect intonation; much as reading text written by the illiterate will hurt my eyes.
(In this way, I am a snob...I guess)

In my own way, I started to do research. I found angled barrels, much the same as the bent screw trick of years gone by. I also found a very clever variation.
A Slanted Compensated Saddle.

The face of each barrel has two surfaces at angles from each other. Length overall is still adjusted with the same spring loaded screws. And dammit, they use hex head screws to adjust the height...one for each string.
After removing the strings it took fifteen minutes to remove the old saddles and replace then with the Callahams. Another ten minutes adjusting intonation and I was done.
Height takes days to dial in. I want the action (height above the fretboard) to be as low as possible. When you lower the action you are inviting fret buzz. So you lower it and play. Find a dead fret...Raise it a bit. Play some more. Determine you can lower it a touch and so on.

The intonation? Spot on. No change in any other quality.
$46 with shipping.

Cork

2011-07-17T21:48:00.000-07:00

Referring to 'cork' in the guitar community is short hand for a "cork sniffer." A poser rather than a player.
The schizophrenia is deep among musicians.
No, I am not kidding.

To a person, if asked in pulic they will eschew cork.
"What matters is your tone!"

Then why are most NGD (new guitar day) threads nothing but pictures?
"Look at the flame!" "Dude! Awesome LOOKING guitar!"
And the irony misses them...completely.

So I post a NGD thread in which I included clips but no pictures. A couple of the thoughtful community people respond. The kids are absent.
So I asked, do you wear or play your guitar? Is it jewelry to you?
And I was met with replies such as , "You can't tell me you never stood in front of the mirror and thought,'Damn that looks good!'"
And truthfully I replied, when I was 16 maybe I did, once. But my aim has always been the music.
Close your eyes and listen.

I do understand theatrics...I am a ham. But the best shows in my mind were the ones with the great music and not the lights or smoke to add to the experience.
I watched John McLaughlin's fingers, I couldn't care less what guitar he was using. I knew his sound came from within, not from the tool he used.

Telecasters, my new, current consuming guitar love are ugly guitars. There are a few specimens that are nice to look at. Fender has tried to dress them up - there is a tuxedo...a black guitar with white binding and a white pickguard. Or the one made from redwood - although Fender tried to make it more historic than visually enticing by tying it to a railway trestle that was over one hundred years old.
It's their function that drew me.
It has that singular Fender single coil sound and with a touch of OD can out creamy any humbucker.
Wait...you are saying it can sound like either?
It could be a Ford or a GM?
French or Italian?
It is God's gift...but it is wrapped in an ugly, ugly shape.
In the 1950s the routing done for the bridge pickup was a tad too large. A very slight bit of uncovered routing is referred to as 'buttcrack' and now is held as a sign of lineage.

Look at that?! There is no flattened edge radius. There is no "belly cut." No binding. Not much chrome. When they were first made, it was from pine. They are the cheapest in the Fender line.
But what a beautiful palette.
The swiss army knife of guitars. But it's cork quotient is very low.
Posing hair bands need not apply.
But if you close you eyes to enjoy you favorite music, then tele players are for you.

Everyone Has An Agenda

2011-07-05T11:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, July 4th was spent playing at George Harrison's.

Roadhouse opened.
By the time they took their first break, Tony the guitarist, came up to me and asked if I'd sit in.
We started playing a tune written by the bass player. A rambling sort of thing, very reminiscent of the Allman Brothers. It was fun.
As people began to filter in the list of tunes grew. Lefty Jeff brought his new ES 335 and had a tune or two in mind..."Can't You See," being his favorite. Ric came...dance partner in tow. She doesn't know you as, "Shotgun?!" Gee whatta surprise. He wants to play Santana. Status showed up as well. He had played a four hour gig in Long Beach and was ready to go. The kid is dedicated.

Jeff asks me to start a tune..."Something out of the ordinary..."
Do you guys want to try something new?
Not.on.your.life.
Fine...I start playing 'Voodoo Chile.'
It is neither out of the ordinary nor is it new. George tells me to "blaze, and pay no attention to the rest..."

Musicians have comfort zones, much like anyone else. However, being the fragile egos that we are, no one is vying to try new things as it may include failure. That...disappoints me.
I had been waiting to try some Colin James tunes; the opportunity was not going to present itself this night.
Failure is a huge part of musical growth. Many times it is much less painful than failure in "real life."

Most people do not hear the screw-ups we make on stage.
They DO notice when we are out of sorts, less than communicative, not here to play.

Tony, like myself exudes passion when he plays. It doesn't matter that half of what he plays doesn't fit, or is too loud, or he blows a particular passage. He closes his eyes and plays. People appreciate that.
A genuine desire to play or perform.
Tony turns to me as they are packing their gear, "Dude, I want to play with you again!"
Musicians also appreciate honest passion and desire.

I have no real agenda other than playing.
I'd like to be playing my material - it is what I am striving to do.
In the meanwhile, I can play anything the crowd wants to hear.
Requests?

A Mil Or A Mile...It Was Still A Miss

2011-06-16T17:51:00.000-07:00

I use Super Slinkys.
One week I needed to replenish the string bag and the local shop had only Extra Slinkys - 008s instead of 009s.

What's a mil, you say?
So did I.

Holy moly, but it is more involved than trading up to 011s or 012s.
I was faced with a completely new setup.

I got it to play, but that tinny jangle would not go away. And the percussion thump the low E and A should have made was anemic, to say the least.

They lasted all of a day before I threw them out for good old Supers.
The old saw: Tone is from the fingers is 80% truth, the rest is setup!
(Ha! You thought I was going to say strings)

I Feel Like Such A Hypocrite

2011-06-12T03:04:00.000-07:00

Welp...I bought this Baja Tele last month.

When I realized I couldn't swap out the knobs, instead of crying all night, I decided to get some chocolate chip mint pick guard.

Dandy.
That black switch tip? Out of place, now...Hmmm.
Ordered a cream colored switched tip.
Man, that is really, er...creamy...fugly.

So what'd I do that I said I wouldn't do?
(Besides getting a Tele, smartass)

Grabbed the scotchbrite and the .000 wool and scuffed it and then jammed it into a cup filled with Earl Grey and Soy.

Ayep...I am relic'ing my first part...Gawd, I feel awful.

Relic'ing is the artificial aging of parts on the guitar to make it appear to be older than it is. I find it contrary to everything I understand.
We restore classic cars, not purposely age them.
We undergo plastic surgery not to look older, but younger.

So why is it acceptable to have a fake antique guitar? There are so many examples, when one sees an old guitar nowadays the assumptions is it is a fake, go ahead...prove otherwise.

Some do it to fool the unsuspecting and sell them a cheap guitar for a lot of cash.
Others do it to keep up with the demand...witness Fender themselves making the "Road Worn" series.
A $600 instrument that retails for $800 because they rusted the metal parts for you? And sanded off paint?
Personally I have never seen an elbow wear the paint off of a guitar.

Do horn players relic their trumpets? Gawd no, they protect them as best they can. Patina comes with age and use.

My guitars suffer the dings and bangs any well used instrument will undergo. They have their share of war wounds. If you gig, then shit will happen.
But I don't need to age my guitar to obtain mojo. That comes from my soul and my fingers.
But you see, I bought this switch tip and...

06/13/2011
Updated picture of the switch tip - no close ups or anything spectacular. Just a nice overall "look."
Whatcha think?

Accessories, Not As Much Fun, But Every Bit As Needed

2011-06-05T01:07:00.000-07:00

My First Case For The Case

I was in Styles Music today buying some strings when I remembered I need a case for my new guitar.

A Baja Telecaster...named Yay. It's a story; think Modern Family.

Lou has gig bags...no, they won't do.
He also has the molded ABS Fender cases.
He has guitars in those cases but he'll sell one to me and order another.

"Fender® molded cases are tough and lightweight with a reinforced metal frame and hinges, black plush interior, and TSA locking latches. Great for tight storage situations. Cases are designed to fit most standard size instruments. Please see SKU description for details."

Hmmm. It's not tweed. It's black...with a black interior. My sense of style is not amused.
Lou works up a price. Close to 30% off the street price. The tweed would be almost double. I thought it over for a bit and decided to buy the ABS case.

I got home and took it from the car. It tipped nose down.Why the face? It's not balanced? Like a piece of luggage! It should be balanced...shouldn't it?
I put the guitar into the case and latched it. Hefted it. Hmmm?
Walked with it. Balanced perfectly. Strike one for modern engineering. The case is also very thin and compact. I believe it might fit underneath airplane seating if not in the overhead bins.

The guitar by itself is close to eight pounds. The case must be another four or five. This thing is light...very light.
Traditional hardshell cases are made from laminated wood, mostly plywood and then covered in tolex or in the case of the Jag, tweed. They weigh more than the guitar. Fourteen or fifteen pounds by themselves. (More than the guitar & the plastic case combined) It was thought you needed something with some bulk to be able to absorb the abuse a road instrument gets.
They didn't have light weight polycarbonates in the 1950s and 60s. Not cheap, form fitted guitar cases, at any rate.

Function over style?
You know, as I get older yeah...it is worth more to find equipment I can easily move than it is to have equipment that is stylish.
I remember that Plush made a line of amps in the 1970s that had foam padding built into them...Tufted faux leather amps. That was the definition of style during disco's heyday.

Styles comes and go, function stays....the Tele, Karma - wow...a complete revelation. Equipment needs to be functional, my fingers will supply the style.

Live and learn?

Karma Bit Me In The Ass

2011-05-25T08:50:00.000-07:00

In 1971 I convinced my dad to buy a real electric guitar for me. I brought home the Fender catalog from Victor's House of Music, Ridgewood N.J.
I saw Hendrix a couple of times, but Woodstock made me gas for a strat in the worst way. Dad says, "Can't you get by with this?" pointing to the tele. It would have saved him about $50. The strat was $272 with HSC.
Oh.fuck.no
Taking lessons from Al meant that I played his LP a lot. That guitar was heavy.
I also learned to dislike the strat. Once I figured out position playing, the curved fretboard screwed me up, badly.
So...I had to have a gibby. A pal offers me a 1969 345 for $200 and another $200 gets his super six reverb.
Dad?
I play gibsons for 30? years. But I relied upon Cream like, well...creaminess. All distortion and OD and a wah for articulation. This was during the height of Fusion.

I hear Colin James and decided to try a tele. I fell flat on my face. Not only did a tele have the most beautiful neck known to man, it had something none of my other guitars had. It's own voice.
I can still get all the creamy sustain I want...if I want.
However, more often than not I find myself playing with nothing? Or just OD for some punch - and the ice9 doesn't color it, just boosts it tremendously.
With distortion and OD, if I roll the volume back it sounds as if I turned the effects off.
But it has such a range. That fender timbre - bell tone, some nasty bridge twang, and then the combo of the pickups - which sounds like the blender pot on a strat...real brassy quack without too much treble.

And this is a Squier?
Fine...what will a "real" fender do for me? And by real, I mean MIM.

I found a baja tele for $500.(The finagling this took to pull off was something to behold)

The bonehead that owned it had never changed the original strings. But he had managed to ding the frets where it must have fallen face down against a table or chair.

And the fit and finish is mixed bag.
The pickguard is cut so it pulls against the neck pickup a tiny bit, snug. And then the screws went in at a few nice angles, the guard itself is cracked by the screw on the upper bout And on one by the switch. The control plate is overlapped by the pickguard a couple of mils.

On the plus side, the wiring and electronics are 100% "nicer." Less cheap stuff, although they both use the same esthetically unpleasant but efficient plastic coated wiring..
The frets on the Squier come all the way to the edge, the bit that should be buried is visible. The poly over it makes it smooth to the touch but it does catch your eye. Well, the neck on the baja is perfect, with the exception of the dings mr. bonehead made. I used some .000 wool and smoothed the two frets easily.
The Squier neck is also much thinner - closer to an LP. This thing is chunky, like a bat.

The pickups on the Squier are tonerider alnico IIIs. The ones on the baja are a twisted tele in the neck and a broadcaster in the bridge. Helluva a lot more umph than the toneriders. But you can still hear that bell.
And unlike a strat, the fretboard is flat to the feel.
Four position switch (standard positions with a series setting) with a S1 in the volume - controls phase.
Now the palette is huge.

Karma - I mighta been Bruce Springsteen had I got that tele in 1972.
Right?

Luca Sleeps Alone

2011-05-21T18:57:00.000-07:00

Luca Sleeps Alone

I am experimenting with minimalism. Or trying to...
There are a select few how can impress by their choice of notes (the intervals) and the expression used on those notes and not by the sheer number or speed of the notes played.

George Harrison is my favorite among this school.
'Cry Baby', towards the ends has a five note sparkle that can chill, lift all the hairs on my neck, et cetera.
How hard did he work to achieve this? I suspect much was an outward expression of his religious studies.
The number of notes George played seemed to go down the older he got and yet the ability to convey a feeling never diminished. In fact, it seemed to be becoming stronger as time went on.

I heard a Dead riff in my head and found a suitable outlet. In what way could I tie it to the Dead/Phish without being blatant?
Did it work? Only you can say.

I am looking to expand my palette though the study of another minimalistic school. Colin James - a Canadian of some repute. His mastery of the guitar is also a minimalists approach. However he is playing as accompaniment of the vocals. Not as a "solo." His instrumental periods are very short and sweet...very much to the point.
I tend to riif too much. Using riffs means you are not thinking but pulling standard lines from your repertoire.
They may in fact, be original. Audiences will see them as fresh even though you will not.
A hard line to walk.

So I am trying to paint with fewer notes. To control the urge to just spew forth. I grew up wanting to play the saxophone and my guitar playing acutely reflects this.How many other schools have I neglected?
I consider this all worthwhile growth. It is not painful...boring, repetitious (building muscle memory is key to play an instrument) and very much worth the investment and mental gymnastics.

I stopped by my favorites music store, Styles, Pomona and played with a Baja Tele. It was a used one; the owner was asking $550, I'm betting it'll go for $475 ish.
I liked it very much, but I could not justify the maneuvering that would have been necessary to pull it off.
There just was not enough of a step up from the Squier I have at the moment for the debt.
To top it off, I think the Squier has nicer pickups?

To assuage that gnawing feeling I bought some boutique picks.

V-Picks - Anywhere for $4 to $20 a pop. Not an inexpensive pick to say the least. Strange shape that takes getting used to.
I used to use Dunlop Stubbies - and was spending $10 a month on picks. When I realized that I decided to look at the V-Picks again.

At $10 each, that is nothing to sneeze at. I won't be tossing these into the crowd. They are 4.10 mm thick...i.e. massive for a pick. But after months of play, there is no wear to speak of.

I tend to like thinner picks, so at 2.75 mm, these are perfection.
Called the Ruby Red Medium Rounded...these are my main picks at the moment. The Ruby going for $4.99

And they come in other flavors that no little boy can resist...

Such as - The Glow In the Dark variety...$4.99

Or the aptly named and somewhat silly Pearly Gates... yes, I had to buy one at $3.99
The last three are the same pick in different colors.
I wonder if Vinnie would make one in purple for me?

And Yet Another Shameless Plug

2011-05-16T23:21:00.000-07:00

I posted another tune, 'Stride, Don't Hurry.'

If you hear strains of 'Walk, Don't Run,' you are to be forgiven.
More often than not I am expressing some facet of my soul, my inner workings. But now and again I post what I refer to as, "noodling." Aimless exercise.This has elements of both.

The 60s being that seminal period musically speaking...for me. Tunes such as this made up that early period just before I really became musically aware.
Call and answer...hanging notes...soulful vibrato...all of it is present. And then the noodling. It really takes an element of concentration to avoid musical diarrhea.
Sigh...
My ReverbNation Page

Celebrate Life

2011-05-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

It is difficult to ignore the happenings of this week.
It is also difficult to speak out against killing and death with so much chest thumping prevalent.

A friend reminded me of the word - jingoism.
"...extreme patriotism in the form of aggressive foreign policy. In practice, it is a country's advocation of the use of threats or actual force against other countries in order to safeguard what it perceives as its national interests. Colloquially, it refers to excessive bias in judging one's own country as superior to others – an extreme type of nationalism."

I am glad that a perceived threat has been removed. If this act in fact, makes us any safer than we were on Saturday, wonderful. However, I do not see any change in airport security measures (which I think are outmoded and useless...ask Israel how to prevent terrorists from boarding planes), threat level, nor in the money spent combating what we see as a threat to our homeland.
To all the youth that grew up amidst the shadow of 9/11, this is not the end.

I DO hope the government can find other issues to occupy their time - such as employment, wages, standard of living et cetera.

In those wonderful words of Mr. Lennon - Give Peace A Chance

MacGyver It

2011-04-12T12:16:00.000-07:00

Guitarists have a propensity for tinkering with their instruments. They are wood, so modifying can be relativly easy. Not that it always ends well, but cutting a deeper channel to accomodate a larger switch is not beyond most guitarists.

We need to remember that attitiude when other pieces in our chain fail or break.
Last night I took home a 51 Squier. Set up, changed the strings and then decided it was time to try 'er out.
I powered up the amp and pedal board and then reached across to power up my recorder - a Fostex 16 HD.

I depress the switch, the lights come on, the switch makes a snapping noise ...the unit powers down (it never really powered up as you need to hold the switch for a good 15 seconds). The switch fell partially inside the recorder.
Sigh...look at the ceiling...sigh again.

Get out the tools and unhook the cables to the recorder...drag it into the kitchen - better lighting, more room.
Fifteen screws later, a few twist tabs and one cable unplugged and the top and bottom separate for me.
Sigh...look at the ceiling...wipe my brow.

The two tabs on the right side had snapped. The long leg is to depress the actual power switch imbedded inside the chassis. I understand why Fostex engineering did this, but on a $400 peice of recording equipment it should be rated for millions of clicks - heck, my mouse is and I paid much less for the mouse. ;)
Sigh...look at the ceiling again.

I put on my Einstein beenie...went deep, deep into thought. And I came up with this inspired solution!

A Q-Tip jammed into the opening does the trick.
Naturally, I forgot several screws while reassmbling, so that made it a longer journey than necessary, but I got the bugger working!
Remember - some duct tape, a rubber band and thou.
This too, shall pass.

Sigh

Wood

2011-04-05T23:27:00.000-07:00

Look at the neck towards the left side of the picture. The neck was cut against the grain for some reason. At the top of the shot is the nut of the guitar...this is the first three frets. The swirl along the side continues down the neck...like a serpent.

Here are the first two frets, the nut (which needs to be replaced) and the truss rod hole. The pattern in the wood is almost psychedelic and will age nicely if the poly wears off...or if I sand it off.
Sometimes, instruments have souls of their own Independent of you, the player. They have personality and style. Not always...Some have a mass produced cookie cutter look to them. And then we modify them to further make them our own...as in my case with the knob swap.

Even the plain Jane body, which is a slab of pine, just as Leo made them in the early 1950s, has a simple grace to it. (Would they be so crass as to make a veneer for this...?)

These are supposed to be tools really. Do violinists sit and admire the grain? I have not seen piano players do this. French horn players comparing who got the better shade of brass coloring?
And especially in the case of this particular guitar - a relatively cheap iteration of the Telecaster line.
It was made in China in 2009.
Beats the pants off the Indian Strat as far as fit and finish - there really isn't much of either here.
It's.a.tele.
It's wood.
It has a soul...

Needs a name.

Right click any photo and select "Open In A New Tab" to see the shot full sized and in all its glory.

It's A Sign - Baby Needs A New Pair Of Shoes

2011-04-03T00:18:00.000-07:00

My picks are purple 2 millimeter Dunlop Stubbies.
My phone has a purple case, which I bought because it spoke to me...not having made the connection to the picks until later.
Pick and Phone

Now I have a 50s vibe Tele - which is "Vanilla" with a blackguard - to be 1950s accurate -& a button selector switch, also to be historically accurate. It came with the de rigueur chrome, knurled knobs that were Leo's choice in 1952. The knobs are tall and thick, so when the pickup selector switch is in the bridge position it becomes difficult to slide a finger in there and move the switch.

I decide to look at alternative knobs. I know Lou has a collection in a dusty box. (STYLES MUSIC POMONA) I see some pearloid topping a chrome rounded knobs. The pickguard would have to be pearl for it to work. Okay, the choices are becoming more clear. The guitar is an off white and the pickguard is black.

I need a black knob, now the pearl might work as it would more or less match the body color.
They are too white. He also has some very striking red pearloid/black metal knobs...red?
Then they wink at me.

I don't know what it is...I must be channeling Jimi Hendrix. I have been feeling flamboyant. No, don't ask.
I buy them...$16. They are also a pearloid and tend to shift a bit as the light changes.
They are purple. And I do not make the connection until I get them on the guitar. The color is deep and the tone knob - the lower knob - is more pastel, whereas the volume knob on top is crisp and very sharp.
Then I laid the guitar on it's back...I wanted to lay a pick between the knobs - a partial connection had been made...I knew something was up.

The pick and the tone knob were identical and I knew what why I had bought them. But the volume knob had taken on a completely different hue.
I'm a Gemini...this makes sense - twins that change depending on how the light strikes them?!

"Yeah, well...you know, only cowboys stay in tune..."
J. Hendrix 12/67

New Guitar With No GAS

2011-03-25T16:53:00.000-07:00

Guitar Acquisition Syndrome.

Usually we see it coming, like a train in a tunnel. We develop a interest in a particular guitar that turns into a 'want' and finally a 'need.' Food and drink, mere mortal diversions. We're talking about a guitar!!!
I NEED THIS!

At Woodstock I developed my need for a Stratocaster. I wanted to be Jimi. In 2009 I bought another and tried to recapture my youthful obsession. It was not meant to be.
I saw both Carlos Santana and Jerry Garcia playing Gibson SGs...had to have one - it took 28 years to fulfill that need, but I did. The Gretsch was a hollowbody - I had owned an ES 345TD and knew all about hollowbodies and why I needed one. The Jaguar was the recognition of what scale (the length of the guitar) and radius (curvature of the fretboard) are and how they are intimately intertwined. I realized I could own a Fender that didn't have a curved fretboard. A small thing that kept me away from Fenders for 25 years.

Never had owned a Telecaster until a bass playing friend made one a gift a few months ago. It was a Squier, which is the low end Fender brand. And this particular one was the Affinity line - which is Squiers low end models. This guitar retails for $180 or so. It further cemented the idea that Teles are nasty paddles from ancient canoes.

Then I "found" Colin James. The Church of James and I bonded. When I discover something I tend to get very passionate. To the point where most mortals think obsession.I have literally worn grooves into records listening to a particular song or passage...over & over.

"Wavelength" is my current victim - I must have listened to it a thousand times in the past week. I find new things, I enjoy a riff or a lyric. It's the marriage of pop with blues that I think was made for me. He's masterful in his playing but he doesn't appeal to most (except other guitarists) because of his virtuosity. His meter...his rhythm...his words - they make you sing and dance without your consent.

Prominently displayed on the inside cover of the CD is a Tele. The music fairly reeks of a very distinctive Fender twang.

Wednesday came and I wanted a Telecaster. GAS from nowhere.
My '09 Strat and I had not really bonded, I kept it to remember my first. I had tried selling it...obviously asking too much. Fine...how much will Lou give me toward a new Tele?
He offered a bit over half of what I would have liked. I thought for a moment and decided a used bird is better than one left in it's case to rot. I am not a collector - as the kids say, I'm a playah.

I started to notice things such as I was using both pickups for two polar opposite sounds. Other guitars harbor simialr sounds in both the bridge or neck pickup - the bridge being more treble biased.

But on the Tele the neck is a bell and the bridge is a triangle - related but not the same thing by a long shot.
I am having too much fun. The downsides? The body is a plank of wood - there is no sense of fine craftsmanship, no touches that make it special. It was Leo Fenders first mass produced and successful electric guitar. A Model T. But it sure gets the job done.

All modern Fenders seem to share a 9.25 radius - so the controlling factor becomes the scale. Medium & short scale feels flatter than a Strat. So the neck feels longer than my Jag but almost as flat. And that it has a Maple neck is a huge plus. The Strat I traded as well as my Jag are rosewood fingerboards and I've always felt Fenders scream Maple. Why? I couldn't tell you. It just 'feels' right.

The paint is plain vanilla. Over time it may yellow a bit. Those are referred to as 'Butterscotch.' Part of the 1950s vibe they seek to evoke are things like: they used the original switch selector as opposed to the 'Top Hat.' They allow the grain of the pine body to be visible through the paint - as though it were already older than a newly painted model. Doesn't impress me. It is not a pretty guitar with the exception of the neck which has a nice ripple in the grain.

It's a workhorse.
And I'mma cowboy... yeehaw!

Lawdy, Why You Done Did Me Like This?

2011-03-23T20:22:00.000-07:00

Pinetop Perkins, a Bluesman in the Mississippi Delta style - world renowned for his Boogie Woogie piano passed away.
Pinetops Story
My father taught me to play Pinetops signature riff when I eight, having listened to it for years already.

Swerve...
I like Colin James - a lot. Pop Bluesman? He is not a traditional Bluesman in any way shape or form.
He has a song entitled, "Wavelength" that when I was introduced to it, I felt an instant connection.

Lately I have been casting about for a new sound. Something I can do solo or with a band.
When I heard him I just knew this could work. I had heard him before but that particular song had evaded me and it was that one song that forged the bond.

A song called, "A Man's Gotta Be A Stone" sounds like Norman Greenbaums "Spirit In The Sky."
"Wavelength" is rocking blues ala The Stones.
This boy is all over the map with one thread in common...A Pop beat. All these tunes are meant to be dance tunes. Colin has recognized that women, by and large like to dance and spend most of the money spent on CDs and concerts. He aims to please.

Swerve...
My Strat and I had not bonded. The scale combined with the frets and the radius meant it was uncomfortable to play. That means the fretboard feels curved. I like 'em flat.
And I had to modify it heavily to get close to the sound for which I was aiming.
(Colin James, duh)

Swerve...
When I was a kid and saw Hendrix at Woodstock I knew I wanted a Strat. And when the time came for me to get a real electric guitar in 1972, my father asked if I could do with a Telecaster . He could have saved $50.

I had always harbored a dislike...a distrust of the revered Tele.
Iconic Led Zepplin or Geroge Harrison were done on Teles, The Who...the list is long and heavily rich in "classics."

Enter Styles Music.
A trade and a few bucks and I took a nice tele home.
This is not the first one in the stable, but the last one - which was a gift - was just a poor instrument in search of a kid in need - very much a starter guitar.

I plugged this in and a smile just crept across my face. Without so much as a proper setup, it was in a word - perfect.

Gawd, I feel so dirty.

Gigs, Work and it's Evolutionary Path

2011-03-13T20:01:00.000-07:00

Last year I was gigging my ass off.
Beginning around January I started playing at two places in Pomona on an almost weekly basis. I made some friends, expanded my musical repertoire and had a load of fun.

Somewhere along the line I decided that I needed to find the next level in the journey. Actually, it was when I went to see Beppe Gambetta in the basement of a guitar ship in Covina called The FretHouse.
I saw what I wanted. And a way to achieve it. Solo playing, or at most a duet.
Work. Travel/tour. A nice living as well. In some cases, a very nice living, indeed.

When I was a kid I remember having conversation about our musical souls...would we dress in makeup ala Kiss? Ask me again...please.
My musical soul has encompassed anything that has allowed me to to play in front of people.
Not that I consider playing for an audience to be "selling out."
There are a few musical genres that do not interest me whatsoever. However I would think long and hard before turning down a gig with Kanye West or Lady Gaga.

But to play my souls desire, in front of people in the way I want to deliver it - that would be a wondrous gift indeed.Playing on a weekly basis in little backwater dives was step one. This'll be a firm step two.

Many of my compositions have been fusion pieces. Not for lyrics.
So for the last few months I have been testing two paths. Lyrical pop music...easy, simply orchestrated pop tunes. The other has been a trek back to roots, so to speak.
Phil Cohen introduced me to the blues in 1970, on a Gibson acoustic guitar.
So I have been listening to the usual assortments of classics, trying to recapture what Phil had in one short weekend showed to me.

John Lee Hooker and Chicago blues, Muddy Waters for the Delta.
It was a brand you could achieve with a guitar slung across your back ala Johnny Guitar.

Room 5 Lounge and FretHouse would be two easy and logical places to begin.
Time to try a new thang.

More...More...Encore!

2011-03-04T10:30:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday was a jam at George Harrison's to celebrate the birthday of one of his granddaughters.
Time spent at Georges is characterized by great food in abundance, good music and friends.

This weekend was a record cold one. By the 5 pm start time it was dipping below forty degrees Fahrenheit.
This is Southern California - you must be kidding?!
We set up with the doors closed, the space heaters on & ready to play.

Some friends from far flung corners had come to play.
Johnny drove the nearly one thousand miles from Washington state and Georges. His son, a bass player came as well. Frank made the trip as did 'Jimbo' who had just a few short hours earlier had undergone lasik surgery. And then, Shotgun.

The music flowed as did the food. A very interesting side note was the almost complete absence of alcohol.
More interested in playing that partying, I guess.

It had to be sometime after ten that night when we broke it up. As all the goodbyes were being made two comments stood out.
Frank wants to make a band - rehearse and everything.
Johnny wants to record more material.

It sounds good to me.

There's No Business Like The Dog And Pony Show You've Chosen

2011-02-27T22:27:00.000-08:00

Update - After numerous glowing reviews from the front man with that Stones tribute/original band, I get an email on Friday telling me my playing was not what the drummer expected and frankly, the front man now seemed to share the same opinion.
Confused to say the least.

I'm not about to plead for a gig in which I am not wanted.
This is not a shot to play with Bruce.
Okay - this is show business. Cut-throat, nasty back-stabbing business in which the strongest, not necessarily the most talented, survive.
I put it behind me. I have been rejected before. Not often enough that they blur together. I remember them distinctly. But they do not shape me other than toughen me. Yes, in this instance what doesn't kill, makes me tougher.

Saturday I open my email to find another missive from the front-man. It seems the drummer is seeking an elusive dream and the front-man is trying to dissuade him from it and bring the drummer back to reality.
He'll let me know what happens.

I didn't know whether to laugh at or cry for the sad, sad man.
I picked a business in which, like the Church, we can be a last refuge for some voices.
Some people have more time than talent and work to find outlets for their unique message.

I remember the time I asked Mike Miller to deliver a message to a girl I was smitten with during high school.
And how he won that girls heart that night, bearing my message.
(A most unwitting Cyrano)

I thought I had to toughen up, to stop trusting my feelings in other hands as they would crush me more often than not.

What I have learned is that I need not toughen up to survive people like Mike or in this lifes case JC; rather I have learned to pursue my own ideals and take those along with me that truly wish to come.

I won't be answering any forthcoming emails from JC. He is a footnote now; one of my rejections.
I am somewhat glad to have one or two humorous ones.

It Never Fails

2011-02-24T12:54:00.000-08:00

Every single time I have a gut feeling that a musical situation will be a bust, it turns out otherwise.

What is up with that?

Every.Single.Time.

Last year a gig at the Back Door started off on the wrong foot. It turned out to be a heckuva lot of fun.

Last evening I had an audition that held very little promise for me. I had previously met with the front guy for this band and I was very unimpressed. So much so, that I told myself I wouldn't answer any emails or calls from him in the future. In truth I did not expect him to get back to me as he seemed to be all talk and no follow through.

He emails a week later proposing a get-together with the full band in a local studio and my audition.
With a huge sigh I said..."Okay..."
Why?
I can't let an opportunity pass can I?
Who knows? This guy could be the real deal. Fine, I'll meet them...hate everything they play and go home.
(Okay, why the preconceived crap/diatribe continues past the decision making, I have no clue - totally counter-productive)

It starts to rain, the drive is long, I won't get home until really late - I have such a laundry list of built up excuses I wondered why I was going at all.
I told myself to shut up, I was on my way - no turning around. See what is what and then go back to the house...easy.

I found the place easily. Started to unload my gear, found a nice amp inside which meant I didn't need to lug mine anymore and I could use this instead!

The front man is there, so we talk a bit as I set up. In walks the drummer. Then, after about fifteen minutes the front guy says, "Let's try..." and he names a Stones tune. His idea is to do a Stones Tribute band - his original material is very Stones-like, so it makes sense to me.
As we begin to play I notice right away that he is a fair musician, more a singer that also plays. The drummer is great. I mean this guy is not flashy in anyway, no - he knows how to fit the mood being set. Man, does he...
He is good, very good. I am really impressed. So I wonder to myself why he plays with this front guy?

Slowly it dawns on me (yeah, I can be obtuse). There is a genuine nature to the music played. And although there was no bass player, it sounded good?
I've been a Stones fan for 40 years so I do enjoy the music. This guy is picking tunes not normally done. That too, impresses me.

We end the night and I mention that I know both the drummer and this guy will need to talk and decide if they want to continue with me or make other plans.
Today I get CC'ed on an email to the bass player inquiring about his status.
In it, is the line, "Mike was right on the money with his playing and Ernie is not only a very good player but a nice guy, too."

I will cultivate this feeling and expect the good times to continue.

Go To Styles

2011-02-16T18:43:00.000-08:00

Little Lou calls the other day.

Sure, I understand he is trying to drum up business with a good customer. I bought two guitars and a handful of pedals from him in the past year.
We shoot the breeze, talk about my gigs et cetera.
He tells me of an upcoming seminar on a line of amps.

"Even if you don't buy anything, I'd love to see you, man."

Our business is about the human touch. Pressing the flesh in music is real - necessary.
When someone is smart enough to recognize and use this, they deserve my patronage, maybe even my friendship. Customer service like this is not to be denied.

Promotion Time

2011-02-13T19:13:00.000-08:00

Mine.
My own.

I have opened a page on Reverbnation and am asking anyone reading this to head over and become a fan, sign up for email, everything and anything you have the time for, I would appreciate it.
E <---It's a link, click it! Someone said it was hard to tell.

Of course any ideas, critiques, criticisms are welcome, nay encouraged.
The site has a building reputation and is fairly easly to link to FaceBook pages or Twitter or MySpace.

It has a built in player which is a huge plus. The hoops that FaceBooks forces people through to accomplish the same thing. For under $30 I can package and sell my music on Amazon, iTunes, Walmart and Zune.

Time to get my feet wet and put the rubber to the road. I'm not getting any younger.

Ever Been Married To Three People Simultaneously?

2011-02-06T01:24:00.000-08:00

It's not an easy task. To be in a band...a successful band; even harder and get along.
To have four people to get along in all things is asking too much. Never happen.
You hope for a nice happy median.
That we share a taste in music. Perhaps the same sense of dedication to our music.

And then life intrudes. This one can't pay his rent; he'll be moving from week to week. Visiting the local pawn shop. I can't count on this.
Another one forgot he had a prior engagement. Forgot? Nah...decided to leave. So that precludes the second of the two gigs.
The last one means well. But he likes to drink. Likes it too much. For me to be his friend means to drink as though I were back in college. Oh, no thanks. No thanks at all.

Why can't we get together and simply make sweet music?
Ah well.
I understand why many of the acts I follow and enjoy are singles, or pairings of a temporary nature.
Very few are more than three pieces with any length of time under the belt. For a particular band to work, takes work.Four people married to each other.

Sounds like a story line from Hollywood, if ever I heard one.

I think I will go solo for a bit and see how I fare. It will demand a complete shift in thinking...in my approach to music in general. I can do it; the question is do I want to change badly enough?

Good Music Makes Me Weep

2011-01-30T19:31:00.000-08:00

Ever been so happy that you feel as though you'd burst if you tried to contain yourself?

I was listening to Peaches En Regalia - Frank Zappa - there is a refrain done at 1:46 into the song. The saxes play a sweeping melodic line while the bass walks up behind them.
Sigh.

There are passages that can bring me to tears - tears of joy.
That alone makes me more susceptible to the magic. I play the portion over and over, drinking in the chest swelling emotions. Frank was a great composer, to be sure. I wonder if he knew of the effect he has on people? I doubt it.

We do our best...write our pieces in the sand and hope the tide doesn't erase our works too soon. Hope that one or two people appreciate what we have done.

Today was to be a gig at Characters celebrating the birthday of two regulars...a bartender and a patron.
But as chance would have it it was raining all night and continuing into today.
No worries, let's just do it next weekend.

"Ernie, we have a gig next weekend at the Back Door."
"Ok"
"Can we do both?"
"Why not, Jerry?"

I can do it all. I know this. Musically speaking...
I can do whatever Jerry wants and then some. He whipped out some Santana on me yesterday, thinking I wouldn't know the tunes.
He started with 'Jingo' and the followed with 'Samba Pa Ti.'
Puhlease...I cut my guitar teeth listening to Santana. I am the guy when it comes to Santana.
'Europa...' Ha!
Do you have something of a challenge for me here?
I can do this...and well!

When it's good, when the notes fit like dovetailed joints...it can bring me joy that can make me weep.
I had been watching footage of Hendrix at Woodstock recently and I noticed a facial expression he and I share.
An indrawn cheek, introspective face...It's the joy face!

It's all he can do to keep from weeping with joy - "this shit really works!"
(Try keeping a straight face on stage when people are yelling your name in praise and you happen to agree with them) It is as much a face of self-discovery as it is self assured.

Certain (who am I kidding?...many) songs can bring this out in me. Maybe it is the difficulty of the passage that feeds me. Or perhaps it's the feeling the song suggests. The lyrics. Many different reasons.

The tunes themselves have very little in common.
One by Loggins and Messina, a couple by the Stones, Zappa...and on & on.
A disparate group if ever there was one.
It's music.

I hope the effect never wears off.

Subliminal Message

2011-01-28T16:01:00.000-08:00

When Verizon offered a Droid phone at no cost to me, I acquiesced.
Shortly afterwards I decided to get a case. I found a brand I liked...in black, red, blue, silver or purple.

The purple spoke to me.
Frequently I heed my first instinct...when my spidey sense tingles I try to follow it. (The trick being the ability to distinguish a first instinct from a suggestion made by your drunken monkey)
Fine, I'll continue to be a rebel...purple cover it is.

It is a nice cover, does the job well and feels welcoming to the touch.

The other night I was noodling on my Jaguar with the phone laying on the coffee table.
I finished what I was playing and tossed the pick on top of the phone.

(Can you see the light bulb going off over my head?)

Dare To Dream?

2011-01-16T22:25:00.000-08:00

Some people reach for the stars - most however just want the stars handed to them.
Dare to dream? Sure...but pursue it! Or it's naught but a wet dream.

On Saturday we had a jam session that became a huge powow to discuss the state of, "The Band." I thought I would just ignore the conversation and jam, but I was sucked in.
(Gawd, I need to fix this)

One is plotting the deepest, heaviest band since The Beatles. The setlist he envisions reads like a party from 1973 when The Outlaws and The Dead were de rigur.
Never mind that we don't have the talent to cover the parts he sees and hears. I love dreamers; I am one. However I have a need that transcends inaction and dreaming. It was unleashed a year or so ago. I was somewhat slow to pickup on the change inside. I just knew that creation and allowing other people to share the joy music brings me was a mission in life, nah - it is basic sustenance. Without sharing we are truly alone. But to add to his woes, he frequently has to hock his amp to pay one bill or another. Next idea...

The next great idea tossed out is catered gigs, after all - why do people come out? Food and music? Of course this reminded me that we do not all share the same point of reference. That connection can be even more rare. The plot might have merit but it's not music. Next...

How about a female singer? She is pregnant...So she'll be gone after the birth of the twins she is carrying. And what happens when her water breaks on stage? Next genius to the podium.

Jerry has a gig (actually several), same ole tired set list:
Suzie Q
Little Sister
Que Paso
Funky Music
Gloria
I Can See Clearly Now
Margaritaville
Wooly Bully
La Bamba

And he wants to rehearse them, not just - "wing it."

A collective groan goes up. Sets of eye roll.
I got sucked in...

"Hey guys, Jerry is the only one at this table that has paid me to play, gotten gig after gig, et cetera. Until you beat his track record, I'm playing while you continue to dream, m'kay?"

Music IS a popularity contest. But in the making of it, it has to be from the heart and concrete. I will pursue my own thing. I have my own head full of ideas, I don't need to compromise to share it with others as I can do that solo.
But for today, I will play with Jerry. He makes me smile...music makes me happy.

Whistle While You Work - Go Go 2011

2011-01-14T11:33:00.000-08:00

Wood Brothers & Carsie Blanton (Friday 2/4)

Jam at George Harrisons (Saturday 1/15)

Gig with Status and Steve in Rancho Cucamonga (Sunday 2/6)

A pile of books (fifteen or more)

Where do people find the time? I have so much to do and so little free time. And yet I have enough time to lounge about and compose.
As a species, we humans are very strange animals. My dogs know enough to lay in the sun and run when I pour food. But for some reason I feel out of it if I am not in motion. Sitting makes me dull and witless.

This year started with a bang and I have found that even a moment of dowtime is too much for me. Do not confuse quiet reflection with downtime.
I have written two tunes, auditioned for a new band (A Beatles Tribute) and generally kept inventive and energetic. Whew - all good.

On the technology front I got a new phone - a smartphone. (Free, I paid sales tax, only)
It has been a boon in everyway. I dictated lyrics while walking through my neighborhood. The moment struck and I just clicked the record button and voila. How many times I have lost an inspiring thought due to lack of paper and pen.
[sigh]

It is NOT for games, but productivity.
My goodness, this rings true!
I have an application that allows me to compose and another that contains a chord library. The virtual recorder is worth the price of admission, alone.
And as of yet, I have not become tethered to the phone. I can put it down, unlike some people I have seen.
I recently saw two people eating lunch. As the meal concluded, they both picked up their phones and began texting in isolation. It was a surreal sight.
There are limits, people - use them!

Even the television has been better than usual. Where it had settled into a medocre lull last September, it has come roaring out of the new years gate in a most enjoyable way.

I hope everyone has a great 2011.
If you are in town February 4th and would like to see the Wood Brothers and Carsie Blanton, drop me a line.

OD Of A Different Sort

2011-01-02T23:30:00.000-08:00

I have a thing for OD (overdrive) pedals - those little wonders that allow your amp to sound as if the tubes are fully cranked and the sound is then said to be, "breaking up."
When the sine wave produced by the amp gets boosted beyond what the amp was made to put out, the tops of the waves are clipped off - the amp is said to be clipping...thank you, Captain Obvious.
This is what OD pedals are trying to simulate.

Too often, they are pseudo distortion pedals - fuzz boxes in OD clothing. It is much easier to muddy the signal - make is a square wave (fuzz tone) than cause it to go into clipping.
Toward this end I must have half a dozen OD pedals - each nice in their own way. Some better than others with a particular guitar.

Marshall makes, or made two fine OD pedals in the BluesBreaker (still produced) and the Guv'nor (both version I & II are out of production, but can be found on eBay).
Boss makes several - I have only used the BD-2 and at that, sparingly. It is a very loud pedal. To compensate I have to cut the amps overall volume even further.
I also have a sample of DanElectro gear - The Fab OD, a very servicable box with little to distinguish it from any other.

Before Thanksgiving I learned I had an upcoming gig and I knew I would need an OD that at that moment I didn't possess. Something very crisp and lacking all 'cream.' Creamy is the adjective tagged to most ODs. A thick sound - as though it were humbuckers, even if it wasn't. Sustain in abundance. And most of the time, that's a good thing.
But for this gig, I needed clean Fender twang with a bit of punch to it.

Joe Satrianai has attached his name to a line of pedals made by Vox. Not my favorite musical concern. I dislike the amps they make today. But one day while perusing at Styles Music, Pomona I spied a 'Satchurator.' Much like Emelda Marcos and shoes I have a thing for pedals. Many guitarists do. Always searching for perfect tone. Whatever that may happen to be this week. You see, the target is elusive and constantly moving. A fact we musicians ignore. But I got the Satchurator and really grew to love the pedal. Well made and very versatile.

I noticed on Google, reviews for another Vox pedal in the Satriani line, called the Ice 9.
Everything I read sounded as though this would be a perfect addition to my pedal board for the gig. Joe has a thing about having a second switch on his boxes allowing for a 10db boost.
In the case of the Satchurator, it is perfect. Two levels of punch.
The problem was that Styles did not have one in stock; I would be forced to deal with the demon Guitar Denter.
Guitar Center is to music what Wal-Mart is to the American standard of living - a huge detriment.
But I needed this pedal and I needed it it now. The gig was Saturday and it was Wednesday already.

I've had it a month or so and have grown to really appreciate Satriani's input into these pedals. Again, the second boost is fantastic, although do not double up on both and expect anything other than Hendrix.
Besides the standard Gain, Tone (high cut) and Volume dials (chicken heads), they have included a Bass dial, not a cut - a boost.
This pedal is clean - when driven hard...this pedal is clean. No mud, no cream. Just an honest punch up.
All the pedals in the line sport nice thick baked on enamel paint, the Satchurator is Ferrari Red while the Ice 9 is..Icy White.
The only downside to these two fine pedals is their size - they are beefy, wide pedals.

What A Year

2010-12-28T16:41:00.000-08:00

A FaceBook friend started a thread about how many books she has read, shows she attended, et cetera as a "year end" theme..Upon reflecting back on my year, I came to half her totals.
(She is a dedicated "doer", mortals need not apply)

But, I still had some very nice pluses for the year.

Over one hundred times this year I donned a guitar and played for others.
That was incredible. It was once aspect that buoyed me immensely...usually just when needed. As far as payment, I think I netted $500 for the year. Sigh...

Note to self - more paying gigs, less payment in kind.

The fun factor was easily the motivation. My love of music and my ego certainly had a great time of it.
I learned many, many new tunes. Many people would not consider that a worthwhile accomplishment. I treasure learning new things - a pointed reminder that I traveled that road well.
Oh...I learned to sing and play. Major accomplishment. Huge.

I also saw many acts this year. varied - from the Davies brothers - The Kinks - albeit separately, to a Canadian folk hero - Bruce Cockburn...to an Australian singer, Ry Cuming.
Blues, rock, flatpicking, singers, jazz...I saw it all. It helped to expand my horizons greatly. That, in turn, garnered my playing praise and still more gigs.

I read a fair amount. Not as many as last year, though. If you include manuals, reference books, and blogs, then perhaps...

Two friends released new CDs. Although I can't count these as my accomplishments, I do love to see friends doing well.

2010 was not half bad.

Happy Birthday, Jesus...

2010-12-24T15:44:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas, to the rest of you.
May the coming year be better than the preceding one.
May you find happiness in everything you do.

Too Plugged In?

2010-12-14T20:18:00.000-08:00

Most of us have cell phones. If you are reading this you have a computer and a connection to the Internet. You may have a GPS in your car. Many of us have FaceBook (or FB) accounts, MySpace accounts, Twitter Accounts...you get the idea. Smartphones, small PCs, really.They are everywhere. Are we too plugged in?
Yes, I think so...sometimes.

Musicians, do you record to a computer? There are people with no amps, nor effects to speak of and yet they have at their command all the toys that the rest of us pay a dear price to buy. Referred to as 'modeling' it is the practice of simulating virtually any sound; be it a particular amp or an effect. Get the right package and you can play through Jimi's amp and pedals without the use of floor space or depleting your bank account.

There are several interfaces between your instrument and your PC. GuitarPort, is one. It has gotten to the point that I saw a show last year in which not one amp was visible. They sounded great. But to me, something was missing. Those glowing blue or red pilot lights or the flutter of an EQ in a corner.
There are also a school of purists, who will insist nothing but analog one inch tape will do.

I find myself in the middle in that I will use technology, but at a decidedly slower pace. I record to a sixteen track recorder. Although it is not tape, it is digital. But it is intuitive as any reel to reel user can see.

I use the PC mainly to help with composition. I also use it for a final mixdown. But I don't use Jimi's amp and pedal collection.
I still like microphones, and boom stands and cables snaked back and forth. There is something very organic about it. The smell of a tube amp that has been well played for a few hours.
And pages in between my fingers. I still have a sizable collection of vinyl records. I am not ready to give up the analog experience, yet.

We are approaching a time when everything will go digital. No more books, or CDs - everything delivered over your Internet connection...instantly. I'm sure someone will squirrel a nice assortment away in a mountain retreat. A library of Alexandria for the Analogs.

But while technology has made many things better and easier, I am very sad at the prospect of this consolidation coming to pass.

It Isn't Always About Us

2010-12-12T15:46:00.000-08:00

We tend to think the world revolves around us. All humans. Now throw some musical aspirations into the mix and it can be lethal.

Yesterday I had a gig to play at the 50th Anniversary Shindig thrown for the Canales, Ricardo and Marie - by their children - Steve and Karmen.
We arrived early and set up with time to spare. The room was covered in decorations which led me to believe that we as a band were under-dressed. This looked like a tuxedo styled gig.
Jerry told me not to worry. This was the second anniversary party that he & I have worked this past year, and he also reminded me that the other was also a 50th celebration.
"100 years...," he smiled and shook his head.
His point was, they are here for reasons other than you and I. We are window dressing...we are decorations...creators of ambiance is the best we can hope for.

As the people filtered in, my apprehension increased. The women were in gowns for the most part. The men in suits. Jerry and I were in shirt and tie.
"We need jackets, at least..."
"Shhhh, relax."

When there were perhaps twenty people and they were beginning to clump at tables getting hors d'oeuvres or a drink, Jerry and I began to play.

'Ain't She Sweet.' Mild applause. 'Witchcraft.' More mild applause. I spent a lot of time on these songs, I was beginning to think something was amiss. Was my fly open? What was it?
Jerry was beaming. Was he drunk? What was I missing?
We played four more tunes and took a short break.

"Wow, they love us," Jerry said - smiling from ear to ear.
"Are we at the same function? They aren't paying attention at all. Only a handful are dancing."

We played another set. The people ate. The requisite toasts to the happily married couple were made and made again. Some cousin with video equipment was recording the event for future generations of Canales.
We played, "Wouldn't It Be Nice." A couple of youngsters were trying their best to dance as they had seen the adults doing. It was very cute, indeed.

Nobody was looking at Jerry and I. No one came to the bandstand to compliment us. It was restaurant staff that offered food and drink.

"See kid, they are here for a party; this is not a concert or a show. As long as we don't set fire to the curtains they will have fond memories of you and me. Although they won't remember a single song we played."

I got it. I am a persistent student if nothing else. It may take awhile but I will get it. From that point on I really enjoyed myself. After all, I was here for a party.

Turn It Down

2010-12-04T01:45:00.000-08:00

In 1970, I bought the new album by a favorite group of mine, Mountain - which was called, 'Nantucket Sleighride.' There, inside the opening cover was the admonition, "To Be Played At Maximum Volume."
Being the obedient fourteen year old that I was (yeah, right) I took this advice to heart. How many times my father came down to my room in the basement to ask/tell/scream to turn the volume down?
So I very well understand the reaction volume and good music can produce in young people.

Around the age of nineteen, I discovered a new style of music that didn't use volume to get its point across. It relied on the message of the lyrics. I also discovered Sonic II ear valves. I have been using them ever since. Preserving my hearing, which is very sensitive, is very important to me.

Tonight I was at a club in Hollywood watching a excellent young man being drowned out by his own music. I must be in the minority. Most of the people in attendance were happy to shout above the music...carrying on as though this were a basement party I attended most weekends while in high school.

A friend and I recently observed that it seems as though high school never really ends.I think this true. The cliques, the rivalries...all of it is intact at age fifty something. Could this be the reasoning behind the decibel level? Were we really just at another keg party while someones parents were absent?

I'm not sure. I also don't worry about it as far as music is concerned. I play the way I want to, and if others find it enjoyable...far out. One of the few criticisms I had to endure this year was that I play too softly. And more than once, I shot back - "Then turn it down."

Get My Mojo Woikin'

2010-11-22T20:01:00.002-08:00

Most instruments have what their players will variously describe as "mojo," "history," "stories to tell," "personality," et cetera.
The older an instrument is the greater its history is assumed to be. Surely a violin that is four hundred years old and worth (this I think is a great part of the catch) millions has to have better tone than a brand new violin produced at the same shop. It just makes sense?
It never has to me. There may, in fact, be building techniques they previously employed or materials used that are the reason for the tone and so we see why some pieces might be sought after.

But to this day, much if not most of it is speculation or the will to believe in something magic.
Why would a guitar once owned by Jimi Hendrix make MY playing any better? It's silly to think that way, no?
Musicians would, for the most part, disagree. They believe in magic when it comes to their instrument and the effect it has on their playing.

It started when collectors in the 1980s began buying old Les Pauls at ridiculous prices. All of a sudden, classic Gibson was worth ten twenty, one hundred times the original price. And at that point, players felt the mojo risin'.

I have six guitars, the oldest is an incredibly cheap and yet wonderful nylon stringed classical guitar. It has no mojo (aside from a sticker that reads, "Are you stoned or stupid?"), it DOES have wonderful tone.
The rest are all 2007 or newer. Would having a 1962 Jag, worth $4,000 make my playing sound better than the $800 Jag that it happens to be? Nah...

Part Duex - Relicing
The act of intentionally aging a guitar to make it appear older than it happens to be.

Rusted screws and hardware - worn paint. I've never had any of my guitar in that conditions and I do not baby them in any way. The gold plating wears off. The knobs show accumulated dirt. but for a guitar to look like this, someone had to employ sandpaper. No arm I've met sweats paint off. Oh, and Fender will charge you a premium for aged guitars. There are many techs out there that for a substantial fee, will soak your knobs in coffee grounds, use the above mentioned sandpaper and drop implements like screwdrivers onto your guitar in an effort to make the guitar appear as though it has stories to tell. We can delve into the world of fakes and counterfeit guitars another time.

There is one other effect aging has on finished wooden instruments that I have seen and witnessed, that I do enjoy.
It's referred to as, "checking."
When Mr. Gibson first began (the end of the 19th century), furniture was coated with nitrocellulose lacquers.
These lacquers do not react well to sudden changes in temperature. If a guitar which has been outside in the cold is then exposed to moderately warm room temperatures, as the wood expands, the finish cracks - checking.
Like the spiderweb cracks in old porcelain, the checking itself can be beautiful.

Part Trois - Polyurethane/Polyester - Modern Finishes
Poly finishes are not supposed to check. They are plastic. (We can discuss whether a plastic finish strangles the tone another time), What I would guess is Fender and others use a nitro undercoat - that will yellow with time and then finalize it with a poly overcoat.
The reason I would hazard this guess is I have been temperature cycling my MIM Jaguar. If poly doesn't relic, why am I doing this?

I lay the guitar outside in the hot sun for an hour and then bring the guitar into the cool, shaded house several times a day. The wood expands and then shrinks.
At night I am reversing the extreme, but still cycling. An hour out in the cold night air and then into the warm house.

Most relicing I have seen is produced horizontal to the body.

After just one day of a couple of cycles I began to see very fine cracks in the undercoat.
The guitar is smooth to the touch. And they run almost vertically. Northwest to Southeast if one were to hold the guitar up by the neck. If they get to the point where I can photograph them, I will.
Now, to spot the lines easily I have to look into the reflection of a light source - a line will be evident and the image will be distorted like a broken mirror.
As I am fond of saying - we'll see.

Strange daze, indeed.

Laura Birdsong

2010-11-17T10:12:00.000-08:00

A good friend from New Jersey has released a wonderful CD called, 'Crazy Wisdom.'
I'd heard a song from the CD but until it arrived today, I had no idea of the treat waiting for me.

Laura has a voice that was formed by living with the bees and the bears by a lake. I think that she always lived by this lake - even when in suburban N.J. It seems to be an integral part of her since forever.
Because the music and thought flow with a practiced rhythm that seems to have existed since the beginning of time. Her music never feels contrived...the words are not forced to fit. They just work.
She's a poet with a natural soul.

She also gathered together a wonderful group of musicians to help her with the project.
Bru Rossman, Mike Ferrara, Billy Karcher, Gerry Griffen, Dave Moore, Don Sternecker, Delaynie Rudner & Meg Beattie.

The CD release party will be:
"Upstairs" at Tierney's Tavern
136-138 Valley Road
Montclair, NJ
Sunday, November 21 · 2:00pm - 4:00pm

Congratulations Laura!!!

How Much Is A Good Show?

2010-11-13T01:19:00.000-08:00

John McLaughlin is one of the musicians that I try to see anytime he is close to my area. I have tickets to see him on December 1st.
$75 - one seat.
The Stones cost more, so does the Who. But why?

Forget overhead, etcetera. Name acts are raking in huge amounts of money touring. Why do you think they continue to endure the road in the first place?
Todays business model means most CD are not sold, but rather stolen via downloading. The band has to release the CD to keep the fan base happy...and to ensure that they attend the concert dates - because that is where the money is being made nowadays.
It used to be the record contracts were based on album sales. Now they are based on attendance figures.
This is the "paradigm shift" the industry has adopted to retain profitability in the face of rampant downloading.

There is another world entirely composed of middle acts - bands costing $5 to $30 per seat. Tremendous entertainment value for the money.
Ari Hest
Amy Kuney
James Maddock
Rosi Golan
Rich Pagano
Beppe Gambetta
Dick Dale
Janiva Magness
Ingrid Michaelson
Holly Cole
Bruce Cockburn
Oli Rockberger
And on and on.

$8 shows?! $15 seats? Unheard of? No...just not advertised. None of these offerings (with one or two exceptions) are ClearChannel material, yet.
The new form of word of mouth, social networking, has become their ally.
In my youth word of mouth was how we learned of new bands. A friend would say, "Have you heard these guys called..." and off it went.

The last three shows I've seen were increasingly packed with wide ranging audience demographics.
Innovations such as FaceBook or Twitter aid this incredibly. To be able to instantaneously invite your friends and acquaintances easily adds sales to these events.
An artist has but to click the "Invite" button and he can reach out and touch up to 5,000 people - or as a "Figure" an unlimited number of people that have chosen to "Like" the person or band.

NPR affiliates are the only radio stations I am aware of that will play these types of acts. The rest of the radio landscape is pretty barren. That limits publicity greatly. Geography too, plays a huge part in the exposure doled out - NY artists get regional airplay on WFUV. It's rare to hear them on stations west of the Mississippi such as KCRW. But through social networking and Internet Radio these limitations are being overcome as well.

My point? Look for the cheap seats.
Find the inexpensive show and experience something possibly new and fresh four times a week, instead of once a month for a big name that you've known for forty years.
Of course that's not to say, don't see Dave Mason when he comes to town, just find time for new things.

Art and Diversity

2010-11-10T20:52:00.000-08:00

There are so many forms of music it boggles the imagination. Given that there are only eight notes; every combination has been played, every note sung - and yet.

You can be a virtuoso of your instrument...be it voice, guitar, bass or drums.
You can be a poet...a Dylan or a Mitchell - rare and far in between. She even more rare than Mr. Zimmerman.
She has a huge amount of physical talent in her voice that he sadly lacks. But poets are given that leeway. Look at Tom Waits.
You can be a painter of images on a aural canvas. Very fleeting and yet at the same time indelible.

As a kid I started with the blues. A boyfriend of a cousin of mine stayed at my house one summer for a weekend.
He took my archtop acoustic and played the blues. He showed me yoga and explained the meaning of life. His name was Phil.
So I listened to Clapton and Hendrix and encountered an artform that could set my soul on fire. But the blues lack serious lyrics.They are all incredibly similar - misfortunes seem to follow a pattern. So I began to look for meanings.

This led to things like Poco - uh oh...now I was straying afield. Lyrics mattered more than the music. What was the message? Did it evoke a picture? Was I looking at clouds in the shy...watching the shapes shift with the chords?

In 1972 or 1973, a friend of mine, Mike Buyukis exposed me to John McLaughlin. It was Mike that introduced me to Al DiMeola. And that led to years of love for all things Jazz. I found an entirely new world. And being young enough to be an enormous ass I also had a healthy disdain for anything less than Jazz.
Rock and Roll became...That stuff? My roots became passé. Mind you, no regrets.

So as I have grown and matured I have learned to love all my roots.
And I have seen my playing evolve in ways unimagined when I grabbed my first guitar at age eight.

Todays stage is back to simple. Pop.
I found that I am a literal poet. I compose sonnets, not songs. Or things ee cummings might like, but have no business set to music. And Dylan, I am not - even he understood what I had missed up until this point.
I can carve a wonderful line, but could never connect it in sequence to another that would trip lightly from the lips.

I had been contemplating a singer/songwriter that I enjoy when it struck me. I knew what a hook in Pop really is.
I understood - yeah the light from above, the whole nine yards...Angels may have been singing, too.

I had been trying too hard. Sculpting when whittling would work.
I was headed to a show last night and walking in the wrong direction. When I discovered my error and reversed course I began to hum. Three chords - and I have a wonderful line that has been literally rattling around my head for years. I put the two together and with purpose, told myself to construct a simple second line. No over reaching. I had it. I had it! In thirty seconds I had the companion line. Now, add another.

I watched the show that night, all the while knowing I had unlocked something fundamental to the creative process. The show reinforced that notion, no end.I am no master, but given time and some polish...I can do this.
All night, as I awoke now and again, I heard the lyrics - I think it was maybe 4 am when I added the last line to the verse.

Learning new tricks is life's blood. It's good to feel the beat.

Now What?

2010-11-05T12:39:00.000-07:00

Our weekly house band gig at Characters is dwindling as the weather cools. We play on the patio - outside and completely exposed. Indoors there are devoted darts players...I mean devoted. To the point they have affiliation with some national Darts League.
Indoors is reserved for after 8 pm when the playing changes to pool.
Most of those bands are either Rockabilly or really loud Metal.
We've talked to the owner of the tavern about the future and there are a few opportunities to be had...here and there. But for the most part, it will slow until March when the weather warms again.

So I write...and write and write. Compose away...
I audition for other bands. I went to an open house jam.
I cast about in search of the next fix, the next thing musically.

What worries me most is the thought that I'll fill much of my time by attending show after show. I've learned to find very good entertainment for under $20 but the idea that I'll spend that $20 four times a week (not even thinking about parking or drinks) is sobering.
Supporting acts is me. No problem. And I have wasted far more money on less satisfying activities; on things that do not yield anything but a momentary rush. When I go to shows, I am inspired to try new things musically. Or I look at styles with a new eye. I take something real and very special away from most shows.

On that note Ari Hest at Room 5 lounge Tuesday evening at 8 pm.
Join me, won'tcha?

Vote...Vote Often...Vote Correctly

2010-11-01T21:39:00.000-07:00

As long as you exercise the responsibility you've done it correctly, no matter which candidate you vote for.

Don't miss an opportunity to vote...or people like me will decide FOR you.

It's not a right...it is a responsibility. You owe me and the other three hundred forty million Americans your attention and participation.

Me?
Brown - Newsom
Boxer
Napolitano
McLeod
Torres
19 - yes
20 - no
21 - no
22 - no
23 - no
24 - yes
25 - no
26 - no
27 - no
SS - yes
SP - yes

Disclaimer - I am a dyed in the wool liberal

Rock The Vote

Stuff

2010-10-24T02:40:00.000-07:00

C.B.I Artist Cables
Very reasonable price, Durable - I have one ten footer with twenty or thirty gigs under the belt and it is in like new condition. They sport two types - HS - Hot Shrink - which is just a shrink wrap cover and the G - Artist Gold. They also have lengths available from one to twenty five feet.
Ten feet of HS will run you about $15.
Disclaimer - I absolutely do not put any credence into cables that proport to transmit more signal such as Monster or low (insert hot topic element here) cables. The human ear has enough trouble without trying to hear the difference between "Bandwidth Balanced Construction" and soldered cable. It's snake oil.
My Father sold tubes for more than fifty years, you think you can hear the difference between tubes? I know you can't - having shown in blind "taste tests" that the coveted tubes of yesteryear produce power in the exact same fashion as todays Russian or Chinese versions and with labeling removed, the ear cannot tell one from another.

Ernie Ball Super Slinkys
The Summer I went to camp and attended Woodstock, I was determined to get a guitar. My Father found some Gibson arch top that was in horrid shape (although today probably worth a fortune). One of the first "improvements" I made was slapping on a set of Super Slinkys. One of my friends told me about these marvelous things - light gauge strings. .009s to be exact. I think the beast had .011s when I got it and with the high action, it was murder.
I still, forty years later use Ernie Ball Super Slinys - Regular Slinkys now and again...usually on the Jaguar.

Elixir Strings
I was not satified with the D'Addarrio nor the Martin strings I tried on my Ovation, so I sprang for some Elixir Nanoweb Strings. I haven't put them on but felt the need to mention when strings run $18 a set, they had better be superb.Breakage is not much of a concern. It seems to be the strings selling point. But I had heard and read many raves about tone being remarkably bright & remaining true that I decided to try them out. Strings rarely break for me but tone fades...usually quickly. I am lucky to get three gigs out of a set.

Friday night I saw Rich Pagano and the SugarCaneCups.
What a great show. The melodies are Beatle-esque. Which is not surprising considering he is the drummer for the Fab Faux, the premier Beatle tribute.
His lyrics are thoughtful and thought provoking. I think they got seven or eight songs in the one hour set.

Highly recommended.

It Is All In The Fingers

2010-10-19T20:55:00.000-07:00

As musicians we chase tone. We argue tone. We revere tone.
And we miss the point.

It is, without a doubt, the right hand - the picking...the inherent rhythm we carry.
The left hand can learn the notes, but it is rare that we chase down the same rhythm or even try to emulate the picking technique involved.

Hendrix, Santana, Beck, McLaughlin - it is all the picking!
In the cases of Beck and Santana it is painfully and visually obvious - Carlos uses a huge pick and up picks most of the time. Beck...no pick at all. But have you ever seen a guitarist drop his pick when launching into a Beck tune?

Al DiMeola started as a drummer. His main emphasis with me in the beginning was rhythm. One of the two must have books was Melodic Rhythms For Guitar.
It is a subject glossed over. Given much lip service.
But it is absolutely essential to the mastery of tone. Mute picking, finger picking sweep picking...tools.
But the ultimate goal is playing those same four or five notes one hundred different ways. Being able to change gears - change rhythms is the only way. There are only eight notes. All the possible combinations of order or sequence have been done.
Rhythms are infinite.

I was listening to McLaughlins 4th Dimension project and I noticed his tone was similar to Inner Mounting Flame - a record released thirty years ago? But the rhythms in his picking had subtly changed - it sounded different.
That is when it hit me. Tone - what we perceive to be changes in tone are merely rhythmic changes.

B.B. Kings tone is very similar to Albert Collins in harmonic content...a clean non overdriven ringing sound, even though plays a Fender and the other a Gibson - completely different in rhythm.
And as easy to distinguish as day from night.

I need to take drum lessons.

Let It Rain

2010-10-17T15:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had a four birthday bash at Characters after the nominal weekly band thing.
Sylvia who is the girlfriend of Steve the bass player was celebrating as well as John the manager of the tavern and two of the regulars.
All four had their actual birthdays on Saturday.
So Jerry serenades Sylvia at one point...we did Happy Birthday for all of them while they were seated front and center...a good time was had by all.

Then it began to rain. I'm not a fan of electrocution. Where the stage is situated, our amps are just sticking from under the overheard awning. Exposed...getting wet. We pushed everything forward a few feet and soldiered on.
Wind began to blow. We pushed the amps another couple of feet under the overhead protection.
But now, I am beginning to get cold.
It is difficult if not impossible to play when cold, let alone wet as well. The fingers stiffen and the brain begins to shut down. Creative juice become viscous sludge.

But we can't stop now. The crowd is there for a reason, they don't have the same perspective as we do. We play.
"Ernie, do you know 'Let it Rain?', " asks Jerry.
"Well enough to wing it..."

"Let it rain...Let it rain..." The light bulb goes off over the collective head of the audience.
"Hey guys, it's raining...maybe you should take a break?"

It was a very long day. I am glad it's over. It was fun, but now I am thinking of heaters as band equipment.

This Friday, October 22nd - Rich Pagano of the Fab Faux and The SugarCaneCups will be at Room 5, Mid Wilshire, Los Angeles.
KRISTIN FLAMMIO (7pm), ALL ON SEVEN (8pm), RICH PAGANO and the SUGARCANECUPS (9pm), JASON LIEBMAN (10pm), SAMANTHA BEHYMER (11pm) | $8
Room 5

Bluegrass, Folk...Flatpicking

2010-10-10T01:49:00.000-07:00

I saw Beppe Gambetta tonight. A charming, disarming man with talent to spare. He describes himself as an Italian Flatpicker.
His role model is Doc Watson. A legendary icon in American music. There are few indigenous forms of music in this country. We are, after all, an amalgam of peoples making one nation...

I had recently been thinking how todays music seems so much more fractured than when I was growing up. There are just many more types, styles, pigeon holes with which to classify music. Or so I thought.

What I found was my age showing. I am a firm believer - there is nothing new under the sun. Nothing, Not one iota. I'm mid fifties and I feel the embrace of high school antics on a daily basis. So too, nothing changes.

Doc Watson may be a flatpicker, or a bluegrass player...it is enough that we take the time and effort to classify it and then argue over it.

So there may be Trance and Ambient and Death Metal or this or that. It is just the anthem of the next generation; I was not meant to follow completely. But the debate will rage on. And people will continue to neatly arrange all taste and opinion.

As to Mr. Gambetta and his utterly charming wife, Frederica...I was in a word, enchanted. Not that I will rededicate my existence to flatpicking but it certainly will offer things to be incorporated into my own playing style. I heard refrains from my childhood reverberating across a small and intimate setting.
He revers music that on the surface has little to do with Italian melodies...The Mediterranean melting pot.
But if you exclude the instrumentation, he very much resembles a Renaissance man of the highest tradition. Beppe plays the guitar exclusively...but he plays banjo pieces or pieces that sound as if they were made for a lute with equal aplomb.

His English is charming, as are his anecdotes and tales. He was eager to share whatever we wished to know. He uses a 1.5 mm pick.(I use a 3.0 mm). What type of wood made up his guitar. I wanted to know the story behind the red shoes and guitar strap but felt that would be a bit much.

His play was flawless. Polished to the extreme. He easily captivated his small audience for the entire two hours.
He went between straight flatpicking to some limited fingerpicking - his main strength lies however, in his left hand.
He can pull the notes and need not rely on the precision of his picking. This is also something Al taught me to do. Play a piece with the left hand only...no picking at all.
Whether there were lyrics or not, I felt a story being told. I heard a tale being spun.
A definite must see. His tour is extensive and far ranging.

On Thursday October 7th my West Coast tour starts. See you there! Here is the schedule: Oct. 7, San Diego, CA - Oct 8, Culver City, CA - Oct 9, Covina, CA - Oct. 10, Fullerton, CA - Oct. 12, Berkeley, CA - Oct. 13, Newcastle, CA - Oct. 14, Felton, CA - Oct. 15, Berkeley, CA - Oct. 16, Sutter Creek, CA - Oct. 17, Minden, NV - Oct. 21, Bozeman, MT - Oct. 22, Whitefish, MT - Oct. 23, Sandpoint, ID - Oct. 24, Seattle, WA

If you get the chance I highly recommend this gem, no matter what label he uses.

Stray Far Afield

2010-10-08T10:51:00.000-07:00

If we stay within our comfort zones, progress is minimal. If our perspective never changes our outlook becomes stale.

If I am working a piece I tend to work it until completion - I dislike leaving loose ends. I immerse myself in the work. My view doesn't change and it becomes a race against my internal clock. Most of the time I finish my work before stasis sets in. But there are times when I pass that barrier and lose my vision without realizing it.

How does one restore perspective? Some will walk away from the work to regain balance. I don't have that luxury. If I don't grab my guitar for an extended period of time, a very integral piece of myself begins to slumber.
Sure, drop it for a day. But I can't just leave it for a month while I work on myself - the two are very much related.

I play a different genre - instead of jazz, maybe some blues for awhile. Or I'll go to shows that I would normally not notice. Take in bands that I had not paid attention to before.
I liken it to buying clothing - expanding your wardrobe makes you feel as though you've added a new dimension to yourself. I might buy a cheap tchotchke like a new slide or some new picks - just enough to change the feel of the guitar. A subtle shift in view that maintains a fresh perspective so vital to creation.
The trick is to stay for just long enough to fix the original dilemma and not further skew the creative juices by taking the new road for too long. It'll just end in another rut.

I have listened to C&W or Opera. Neither is my cup of tea. I have always been able to appreciate the talent, but I don't really enjoy either form. Usually it is more than enough to spend a day or so listening or playing with these different genres to bring my mind around.

Recently I found "Crossover" - what is it with all the labels for styles? - mental note...write piece concerning Freankonomics application to musical labeling - my new discovery is Andrea Bocelli. Although he's been around for years, world renowned...I had never noticed him before.
I was watching The Sopranos when I became aware of this haunting melody being used to exaggerated effect. When I heard it, I sat up. I thought it was operatic music and I thought how odd that I was enjoying it.
Online I found that he is considered a "Crossover" artist. Then I heard the duets he did with Sarah Brightman.
Still sounds like Opera to me, but this Crossover was more than enough to wipe clean the film that had been covering my sight.
What was refreshing was that I found only one or two songs that piqued my interest. No danger of a rut in this.
His signature song title - Time To Say Goodbye - is a wonderful melody line with a slow syncopated beat.
Incredibly easy to play. Very difficult to sing. His voice is a marvelous instrument. I worked on the vocals - playing my guitar along with his voice. What a shift it proved to be!

So listen to something new, squirrel those suggestions given by friends for when you really need them.
As we used to say as kids - "Forward...never straight."

Tomorrow night I will see Beppe Gambetta playing at a local guitar shop - The Fret House in Covina.
The Fret House
Wonderful venue for intimate music. Join me.

Learning New Tricks

2010-09-26T23:45:00.000-07:00

What is it about learning something new that we enjoy?
Speak of undiscovered territory, expanding ones' horizons, et cetera. And while in the end that may be true it is not "it."

We enjoy it because in the end we defeat something within us that had held us back.

I have to learn the Ritchie Valens tune, 'La Bamba.' I mean all of it, including the "solo." At the last show, Jerry get on me that I need to know the song. He's right. No arguing here. During our last show during a break we began an impromptu version with Jerry playing the guitar and myself on his keyboards and "singing."
It was, interesting to say the least. Well appreciated by the audience as well.

But I need to learn the opening note for note and not, "approximately."
After visiting the new library of Alexandria, the Internet, I found on youtube a few examples and I was on my way. The first one sufficed.
Although the kid played it using many open strings rather than first, third and fifth fingers (he used two fingers throughout, as did Valens) I quickly found myself frustrated and wondering why in God's name had I chosen to play music...in front of people, no less? I burned through it. I played that opening ten times. Fifteen times, twenty.
I had it. I got it. I also knew that to continue would risk another frustration borne of being tired and taxing the system.
It was time to sleep on it. I played it one more time and went to bed.

I awoke and did my morning routine. As the computer booted up I remembered 'La Bamaba.'
I picked up the guitar and played it. Too slow.
Took my shower, woke up and played it again; this time pressing as fast as I could. I screwed it big time, but saw the progress and smiled.
What had been frustrating yesterday was conquered today.
As a young kid I remember thinking that driving a car was hard...how would I ever accomplish it? To put the nagging doubt to rest I told myself that by the time I got to college, I'd have figured it out.

That memory came back to me. Yesterday I could have quit playing, my fingers were not responding I couldn't play it at all. I knew to lay down and absorb it while asleep. To wait for it to come to me.
I still need to polish it...a lot. I am older and it shows, but I can still play it.. It just takes a bit more effort.

By beating a thing that had been beyond me twenty four hours earlier, I had mounted a hurdle, cleared an obstacle. It was the fight that made me better in several ways... not the least of which was the growth to my musical repertoire. Made learning a new trick, very much worthwhile. Many time musically, things just come to me...effortlessly. Many times it takes effort and application to achieve my goal.

I used to often wonder why I love being a perpetual student. I thought it was a lifestyle. I realize it is a way of personal challenge and growth that excites me and not necessarily the environment, which in itself isn't bad.

Unbridled Joy, Why?

2010-09-25T21:40:00.000-07:00

I don't understand why playing has such an impact upon me. It's one of those rare highs that seems to outlast the act for a very long dreamy while.

When my daughter was born I thought I had experienced the ultimate high. The rush was very long lasting and deep. She had been born at midnight and I wandered the streets of my town until dawn.
When I arrived at work that afternoon I was still feeling it. I think it wore off about three years later.

When I play, I feel some of that same rush. And it lasts and lasts. Like the water reaching me on the beach, there are ebbs and flows but it is recognizable and somewhat relentless; long after the gig. And I crave it as an addict would. There are few lulls in that need. It is an extermely determined desire...this passion to play. To play with others and make a connection, to play for others and make another magical connection that although different, is nonetheless very energetic and integral to the high I feel.

When a show is over, the first rush is a breathless feeling of being spent. As we sit and enjoy a coke and talk over the show, the energy returns. It builds again. No desire to catch your breath...it is wondrous to be used and tired and yet aching to go again. A song starts in the jukebox and the impulse we all share is to grab our instruments and jam along. Begin anew.

I can imagine playing to our deaths. Ignoring the bodies call for sustenance or rest...just riding that crest for a long, long time.

My season of creativity is looming. As the days shorten, words tumble out and melodies flow.Another high altogether. One that needs an appreciative audience. Mixing the live performance with the introspective process of creation is a delicate balance, but very rewarding when done well. This I must learn.

I look forward to getting high for the rest of my days. My hope is some of the audience also reap that same buzz from our evening on stage.

It Works Because We Will It To Do So...

2010-09-19T16:11:00.000-07:00

At Characters yesterday the retirement party for 'Big Ed' was held.
Replete with well executed BBQ and music provided by Jerry, Steve and me.

During the week, I had spoken with 'Big Joe' and invited he and his brother Jesse to join us. Jesse plays the drums and 'Big Joe' the harmonica. Jerry reminded me to make certain 'Big Joe' knew he wasn't going to be paid, so I told him it was a jam and he was welcome to sit in.

As background, 'Big Joe' is looking to put a Blues Band together - toward that end we (He and Steve and myself) had held a rehearsal or two and had more scheduled.

We took our first break and Jerry had bought a round, could I help him carry it back? Sure.
When we returned with the drinks,'Big Joe' turns to me like King Farouk to a minion, and says, "Get me a coke."
I was somewhat taken aback and must have been standing there, my mouth agape...

Sylvia, Steve the bass players girl friend is five feet nothing, steps in, plants her hands on her hips and says to 'Big Joe,' "Excuse me?"

When it ended 'Big Joe' was leaving, a stream of expletives exiting his mouth as he went.
In the vernacular, she had ripped him a new one.
Sylvia was still hot and upset as we took to the stage again. This time, sans drums and harmonica.

I went to the mike to apologize, when my mouth opened I said, "Forty years ago today, Jimi Hendrix died."
'Hey Joe' followed. And you know what? It was better than good. For some reason, it was particularly sweet and moving.
In the aftermath of the ruckus that the resident ego and the protective girlfriend produced I had expected us to quietly fold the tent and call it a day. Oh.Hell.No.

We didn't leave the stage until after seven pm.
And as we did, Jerry turns to me and says, "We have another gig next weekend besides the Characters thing.
You up for it?"
Is Sylvia coming? You know I am.

----------------------------------
Being in a band is like being married to several people at once - an almost impossible situation. Add to it the fact that ego is probably the one thing we all have in common. I am very deferential, I look for harmony - I just want to play.
I have no need to do a particular song or solo all the time. There always seems to be that one person who must put the thoughts of what's best for the band aside and think only of themselves.

So it looks as though Steve and I will not be invited back to 'Big Joes.' Ah well, no loss - really.
As Ralph Kramden would say, "A mere bag of shells..."

Acoustically Speaking...The Tone Is Set In Stone

2010-09-09T14:36:00.000-07:00

When I go shopping, for an acoustic, I will just strum the guitars as they hang from the wall, listening to the tone. Things such as the action can be addressed later but tone is set in stone - so to speak.

Ovations - either you love them or hate them. I happen to have been in lust for one since the early 1970s. When I finally decided to begin looking for one, I was surprised to find the Celebrity line. Inexpensive Chinese builds, they are Ovations 100%. The tone, the feel, the appointments.

You can see where cost cutting took place - the material used in the bracing structure, even the "multi piece exotic hardwood rosette" feels relatively cheap. Liberal use of foam materials to buffer or dampen. When I opened the backing plate it appears as though the cap is one piece? I was under the impression that it is laminated. The top has a small dimple near the bridge at one end (there are several pencil marks on the inside indicating why it could not be used for the side that will show).

Very typical Ovation neck - which is to say, fast. Frets are well set, the undercut is evident under the binding, which is thick. There is abalone binding on the face to compliment the stunning quilt.
One of the abalone fret markers is the exact same color as the portion of the fretboard it occupies...and so is invisible. There are numerous pin marks from the manufacturing process on the back of the neck, I would assume marks from hanging.There is a small gap as the binding transitions from the body to the neck.
The pre-amp OP4B is serviceable - a three band EQ and a built in tuner, but nothing special as far as bells and whistles. As far as delivering tone - in spades (with the EQ left neutral).

The action is adjustable? Yeah, remove the strings and carefully lift the bridge and there are shims underneath/inside. By adding or removing shims the end user can adjust the action, which as far as I know is very unusual for acoustics. Just one innovation among the many Ovations brings to the table.

Other innovations (also cost cutting) are a pinless bridge (through holes, like any modern tailpiece) the multi sound holes (which I have to believe increase cost - access to the truss rod is via a removable panel on the back) and of course the spherical composite bowl for a back. That allowed for some very innovate bracing structures such as the X or in the case of the Celebrity it is a Quintad.

The tone is Ovation. It is so distinct and easily recognized. A Strat can be heard coming from a mile away whereas humbuckers as practiced on Gibsons are oft copied and so have attained almost a generic status, like a Q-Tip or Xereox - most humbckers sound similar. (I think only the player hears the differnece much of the time - our perception of the sound is very different from the audiences)
Ovations have a touch of reverb and much fuller mid range frequencies. The upper registers can get somewhat brittle. That can be altered with a string change.
The guitar just rings. This thing fairly warbles in my ear. Never mind that they string it with a wound 'G' at the factory, bronze - too. They are also pretty loud even before you plug them in. The slimline pickup when coupled with the OP4B preamp deliver beautiful Ovation shades. There is almost a buzz when they play, an electric snap. They are also the only guitars I have seen people physically play the life right out of. They thrash and beat them as though they were playing the nastiest metal imaginable.

None of the flaws really took anything away from this guitar. It seems to be priced at $499 for the flame quilt top, but if you're willing to buy through GO-DPS/Amazon as I did, you can score one for $449. (Tell Joe that Ernie sent you).

Retailers/Ovation portray it as a starter guitar and because of the inexpensive nature, I'd agree, but for sound quality it is incredibly difficult to tell it apart from a more expensive brother.

Passion Has Nothing To Do With Volume

2010-09-08T11:15:00.000-07:00

Since I bought the Ovation I have been listening to McLaughlins album, 'My Goals Beyond' again. (June 1970)
Three of the songs on the albums are standards with the rest being originals by John. The entire album is acoustic...Id Est - not an electric instrument for miles...

As a young man, passion often equated with volume. The war in Vietnam was something we shouted about.
Rebellion is usually felt most deeply when exercised at the top of ones lungs. Or at least that is the perception of youth. Hopefully, we learn as we get older to remain passionate and not have to flatten our diaphragms to do so.

But strangely enough, when I discovered the album as a lad of sixteen in 1972 I was immediately taken by the passion exhibited by McLaughlin. I was blown away. Never had I encountered an acoustic guitar being played with such ferocity. I easily imagined smoke rising from McLaughlins fingertips as he played.

The original tunes are very heavily influenced by Indian music. This was during McLaughlins very spiritual phase - he was given the name, Mahavishnu by his guru, Sri Chinmoy which led to a band known as The Mahavishnu Orchestra. My interest in the spiritual aspect lasted maybe a week, perhaps less.

Other reviewers have noted that they don't consider the technical expertise to be on par with later works.
I would strongly disagree.
While everyone tends to improve the longer they play, John's technique at this point was superb. In fact on the following album, 'The Inner Mounting Flame,' his fingering style, proficiency with arpeggios, desire to explore, decreased. It was an album of emotional release with much less regard for proper technique. It was an album to be felt.

The opening piece on 'My Goals Beyond is called 'Peace One' & it begins with a loping bass line and seething drone. The atmosphere for the rest of the album is set.

And then McLaughlin begins to pick. I can well imagine he was channeling Yehudi Menuhin while he played.
The back and forth between himself and the violinist, Jerry Goodman , the flow he achieves is just flat out amazing. The notes tumble forth in staccato rips or in smooth waterfalls. Sheets, cascades of music.
All of it says to me - passion. And this is just the first tune. Whew...

It was then that I learned that passion has little to do with volume. No longer was there a need to shout. The blood could be made to boil with quiet zeal. I think this album contributed to my musical growth in no mean way. It was an album of passage.

Now, if only I could still sit on the floor, cross-legged and play.

Track listing: GoodBye Pork-Pie Hat; Something Spiritual; Hearts and Flowers; Phillip Lane; Waltz for Bill Evans; Follow Your Heart; Song For My Mother; Blue in Green; Peace One; Peace Two

Personnel: John McLaughlin- guitar; Billy Cobham- drums; Jerry Goodman- violin; Charlie Haden- bass; Dave Liebman- sax; Airto Moreira- percussion; Badal Roy- tabla; Mahalakshmi- drone box

Ovation Celebrity Deluxe Quilt

2010-09-06T05:19:00.000-07:00

Updated at the bottom:

Developed starting in 1966 and introduced as the 'Balladeer' in February, 1967, Ovations reached the height of their popularity in the 1980s, where they were more often than not seen during live performances by touring artists if acoustic guitars were being played.
Using his background in aviation engineering, Charles Kaman designed a rounded-bowl back, intended to improve the flow of sound through the guitar, and developed a new top bracing system.

Ovations have a distinctive chime in their acoustic sound. Once plugged in, they are subject to tone alteration as any other electric.
But that bowl that makes up the back and the bracing it allowed Kaman to dabble with...what a stroke!

It was the album, 'My Goals Beyond,' that brought these guitars to me. Seething jazz that was laid upon droning Indian music. McLaughlin was deep in his spiritual phase when he recorded this masterpiece. And he made his guitar sing. The way he was able to craft that authentic tone was awe inspiring.

Al DiMeola also played an Ovation very early on. He taught me to imitate those I admired...Hold my pick the same way, move my wrist in the same fashion, even if I didn't recognize the reason behind the behavior.In time I would come to understand. Maybe it was then that the seed was planted.

1972 I was sixteen and got my first guitar, I was fascinated by the finish. It was artwork to me. If could have slept with it, I would have. I may have, once. But as I grew older, finish became an ornament I could do without.
In some cases, to my great surprise, it was a boon. My SG is a 'Faded' model - think pre faded jeans.
(Although in a guitars case it makes the model cheaper rather than more expensive as in jeans/fashion - go figure)
A new guitar that appears old and worn out of the box.
The guitar has a very fast neck and never needs polishing. The finish is a satin. It is an application of three coats rather than eight, thus the cost saving and lack of glossy finish.Wax it once or twice a year at most.

When I started looking for an acoustic I knew an Ovation would rank high on my list - excellent guitars for much less money. Korean made plus the composite backing...much less wood and finish is needed.
On my short list was a model called the Ovation Celebrity Deluxe. They have a wonderful cherry red finish that is warm and very deep.
I have tried all the major vendors in the past, Guitar Center, zZounds, MusiciansFriend and have had relatively good experiences with them all.
I had not tried SweetWater, however. I have no idea why not. In their favor, they list the exact guitar you are buying. You can peruse through six different cherry finished guitars and decided which one you want. They are listed by serial numbers..."I'll take that one."
This, is not normal for online vendors. You model may vary from the picture...et cetera.

I am now in serious window shopping mode.
Oh, good grief...A "Trans Blue" finish...[rolling my eyes] it looks purple in half the pictures and blue in the rest. Ah, I see...transparent/transforming. An either or finish.
The 'Paduak' is a au natural finish of a reddish wood, doesn't move me.

Then I scroll to the "Blue Burst Quilted Top."
Game over.
In the last thirty years the finish on a guitar has done nothing for me. After all, I spend more time in which I can't see what they look like. The audience can see them, but I can only hear them.
The Strat has a nice Sienna burst that I like but it never excited me.
And blue is probably the LAST color choice for me; but something in this top spoke to me.
Makes me want to touch it.
Makes me want to play.

(Click the picture and see a much larger shot...quilted top, indeed - this is THE guitar they are sending)
And now, I must practice exquisite patience and savor the anticipation - like a beautiful fall tableau...and wait for the FedEx truck to arrive.

Sad Update - Sweet Water is more like Brackish Water...

Trent from Sweet Water calls and leaves a message. That particular guitar is not in stock...even though the website says otherwise. Do I want to remain "in line" for two or three weeks?

I call back and get Trent on the phone. Trent speaks over me. Trent tells me the website says out of stock - it, in fact says, "Limited Availability." - and plainly explains they have it on hand. Trent uses well crafted phrasing as to not commit to anything other than he'll call and let me know when the guitar is available. Trent has turned a mild disappointment into a distasteful encounter. The word, 'smarmy' comes to mind.

Sweet Water is offering me nothing in the way of service. They had charged me $2 to have Fed-Ex obtain my signature as proof of delivery? (Had I declined and the box stolen before I had taken delivery, Sweet Water wants me to assume responsibility?)
No-thank-you.

GO-DPS (via Amazon) has it in stock...and get this - $52 cheaper?
It will ship tomorrow. Oh, and get this - I sent an email through Amazon asking GO-DPS to try and pick out a particular look I am after out of the five guitars they have in stock - I realize how subjective that kind of request can be, nonetheless I think I was able to convey my desire.
I also know in this day & age service is more often than not what a particular person brings to the experience, not a corporate culture instilled from the top down. So my hopes weren't high.

Four hours later I have an email in hand which read,

"Hi Ernie,

I will look in the morning for you. They are beautiful guitars. This is a great choice.

Hope you enjoy it, and remember us for your future music needs.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks for the order.

Joe"

Joe - this is the epitome of good service. You can be certain, I will.

Vendors - all you have is service to offer...most retailers keep strict pricing intact.
So practice what you preach.
The face that Trent put upon Sweet Water soured my experience completely.

And what Joe did, renewed my faith in mankind.
;)

It's All Good

2010-08-28T21:30:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a bad gig.
(I've played badly, no doubt)
I've thought a few would head south, but they didn't. In fact those gigs turned out to be some of the best.

Tonight was supposed to be a Good Bye Samir show, but it wasn't to be. Strike one.
No worries.
I still had the afternoon gig at the Farmer's Market. This is a paying job. $25 an hour...cash. Through the town and the Parks & Recreation Department.
As we are setting up the promoter comes to explain it would be three hours and not four as we had agreed.
And of course that meant $75 per person rather than $100. Strike two.
Sigh.

As we began to play it was to a sparse turnout. The weather here has been brutal up until yesterday.
(The AC had been running 24/7) And then it broke. So today it was very pleasant, cool and a distinct lack of humidity.
So I expected a larger crowd. Okay...play on, McDuff...yes, I said it.
The band is a Blues thing - strict blues. No Rockabilly, no Tejeno. Joes band - he can do as he pleases; I'm just happy to play, right?

We're playing Stormy Monday, a standard.
There is a chorus early in Peaches En Regalia (F. Zappa) with an incredible walking bass riff, with the horns placing a sweet minor descending riff over the top.
Somehow Steve and I got 'stuck' in it half way through the song. (I started playing it, Steve recognized it and off we went)
But it rang...Joe starting playing his harp to my horn parts. It just worked SO well. Steve and I were both grinning involuntarily.
And now I notice people dancing. The crowd from the Glass House, a venue across the street, are filtering over in between shows...to check us out. These are nineteen through twenty five year olds. I'm really grinning.

And when we took a break, the woman at the taco stand came over and plied us with food.
"Could you play some Santana?" Joe nods.
I haven't had a grin plastered on my face this silly and unyielding as this since the early 1970s when it was acid induced.

Playing music is SO cool.

Beauty Sleep Matters

2010-08-25T14:48:00.000-07:00

If you are not in tip top form, your game deteriorates. Some people feel the effects much more than others, but if your are run down, everything suffers.

For myself, if I get less sleep than is my wont, I am edgy, surly and not very creative at all. I lack patience and the ability to see any picture other than my head aching.
I've seen performers go for many hours past their limits - buoyed by the audience or drugs. And while it works for a time, eventually, the house of cards collapses.

Miles Davis was known for turning his back on the audience, or worse...flipping them off. I suspect he didn't sleep well, among other problems.

I know myself that if I lack sleep, my playing itself doesn't change, but my mental attitude does. And attitude is paramount to making music. I lack the vision to imagine where the tune should go. And without that inner dialog the music doesn't move much at all. It becomes rote finger work. In a word - boring.

Of course there are tricks to staving off the mental lethargy that lack of rest brings - I am making tea as I type this.
It's when you're at that wall, for me three or more days with less than ideal sleep, that no matter what you do, you won't be performing at your best.

Funny thing - audiences rarely notice all the little mistakes in the rendition of a song, but be out of sorts and every human in the room knows something is up.

Bands that have been doing it for a while learn how to snatch sleep where and when they can. New stars frequently show the excitement by powering on, even when they should be resting.
I get such a charge from playing that it takes hours for me to come off the high and be able to lay my head down.
So I have learned to sleep on the way to the venues. To each, his own.

At Least They Tried

2010-08-24T15:36:00.000-07:00

Chris called, my guitar is ready and he confirmed that the Made In Mexico Jaguar I have has a Made In America Jazzmaster tremolo plate. When GM did this using Chevy engines in Pontiacs (even though, functionally, the engines were identical - valve covers said Chevrolet), the outcry was huge.
Potentially a consumer could order a mod part and it wouldn't work since the arm on the MIA part is not threaded but the MIM tremolo arm is.
It took Fender or Sam Ash eight days to have a part delivered from Fullerton to Ontario...ten miles?
And Chris took the mint greet tip off my arm and placed it on the replacement arm. Fender didn't ship a complete tremolo arm? Well, at least it is functional, now.

As you exit Sam Ash or Guitar Center, for that matter, they want to search any musical related package.
Can you say illegal search and seizure?
They don't ask to search womens handbags. But for "security," IE shoplifting, they want to look in my property?
I have bought and paid for this case and what is within. Call the police if you believe me to have stolen something but to presume, nay ASSUME that everyone with a guitar is a thief is too much for me.

This is why I will continue to patronize Styles Music in Pomona. Even if it did cost a few dollars more to buy from Little Lou, it doesn't, I would still not buy from a large corporation that treats their customers so poorly.

Am I being too critical?

The phrase, "the customer is always right," has been relegated to history's dust bin, it seems.

At least the Jag is home.

Post Script - As I was trying to determine how the swap in parts had occurred an older gentleman approached and we spoke about guitars in general and the Jag in particular.He has one as well.
"Who set this up? The action is like butter!"
Andy Brauer strikes again!

Kudos Fender & Sam Ash Customer Service

2010-08-17T12:39:00.000-07:00

My brand new Jaguar...sniff, sniff - baby isn't quite right.

It seems the collett that accepts the tremolo arm is not threaded as the arm would suggest.
I called Fender and was quickly connected to Steve.
Steve took my information and my issue. It was slightly above his level of knowledge so he asked to call me back, shortly.
Not more than fifteen minutes had passed when Steve called. First pleasant surprise.
My issue is indeed something an authorized repair center can rectify, gratis. Steve goes on to name a center located in Los Angeles; he based this on my cell phones ANI.
No, Steve...I am in Pomona. In seconds and without missing a beat, Steve came up with a dealer within minutes of my house. And I live out in the sticks...styx?
He goes on to provide both the name and number of the gentleman at the dealer who heads the repair department.

I call and spoke with Chris, who was kind enough to tell me that he is currently caught up so my guitar will only wait for parts if needed, to be shipped to him.
I went to Sam Ash in Ontario, I proceeded to look for Chris - he had just left for lunch.

Gary was kind and attentive, wrote the repair ticket and walked me back to the door after he provided me with business cards with direct numbers.
(Guitar Center also has roaming people to watch the store, but they tend to be rude and condescending; Gary was anything but)

My day job involves Quality Assurance as applied to things such as Customer Service. In this instance I was very happy with the service rendered. From start to where we currently stand, the representatives have been articulate, courteous and helpful. In this day and age, this level of service is outstanding.
Kudos to Fender, Sam Ash as well.

I'll let you know how the repair turns out.

Chris from Sam Ash called to tell me the MIM Jaguar has a MIA tremolo plate ... We'll see.

New Offerings

2010-08-15T23:51:00.000-07:00

People Get Ready

Constant Change

Hey Joe Take Two

The first is the song by The Impressions from 1965 that Jeff Beck has taken and made into somewhat of a signature piece. My thought was what if Dicky Betts did the piece instead.

Constant Change is just a nice variation on the Blues.

The iconic Hendrix song, sans vocals - it was literally, take two.

The Case For A Case

2010-08-11T17:42:00.000-07:00

I recently bought a new Fender Jaguar guitar. It came to $767.15 out the door. It included a "Deluxe Fender Gig Bag." A thin padded bag that will protect from swirl marks only. Impact a amplifier cabinet and there will be a dent.

Online there are only two choices for a Hard Shell Case (HSC) for the Jazzmaster or Jaguar guitars. These being the only two Fender models bearing the "Offset Waist." Most of the vendors have the black case with the red interior. My guitar is red. I wanted the brown tweed with the orange interior. Most of the vendors want an additional $10 for the brown. And I'll assume they don't stock it, so the $10 is my paying for them spending six minutes ordering a case online.

Guitar Center carries both and furthermore, does not charge a premium for the brown tweed. They do, however, charge $139.95. Are you &*^%^%!! me?! Oh yeah...another $12 and change to ship it. I could have ordered it at one of the other vendors and saved $2, because they'd have shipped it for free.
At this point I am close to banging my head against the mike stand. And I haven't touched on why I feel guilty buying anything from Guitar Center - suffice it to say, they are the Walmarts of the music world.

Ah well, lesson learned. Use Vaseline.

In 1972 when I got my first Stratocaster, my first real guitar, my father paid $272, which included the HSC.
At that time, there was no such thing as a gig bag - a nylon guitar shaped back pack.
Every guitar made, came with a HSC. And these things were luggage. The Strat I got had the long rectangular case, which at that time was rather new. It was HUGE. It served as my file cabinet, my stash and it held my guitar, with assorted picks and strings.
It was de-rigueur to case your guitar. There was the ritual of warming the case before opening it during N.J winters - although today, the byproduct of opening it too quickly, finish checking, is sought after - proof of age, mojo. (Not really, but that is for another time)
But now, the major manufacturers - Gibson and Fender both, include gig bags on their lesser priced models.
(Gibson makes all guitars in the USA, but cheaper models get bags - Fender manufacturers worldwide, but only USA models get HSC standard)

I am not saddened nor nostalgic, I think they have missed an opportunity.I would have bought the Jaguar for $100 more if it included the case. I seriously doubt any sales would be lost. And then how difficult is it to have two packages, one with case - one with bag - similar to options on a car?

All of my guitars have hard cases. You cannot gig with a bag. Ever watch people throwing equipment into a van after a show; tired and wanting to leave as soon as possible?
And your stash won't be safe in a zippered pocket.

Every Guitarist Should Have One

2010-08-10T14:17:00.000-07:00

When one buys a guitar, whether it is new or used, it can use - nay, it needs a proper setup.
Frequently intonation is off, action is very generic, the strings may be very old, et cetera.

With that in mind, many people set about to rectify the situation themselves. Some people are capable of making these adjustments utilizing the many resources available online or through tribal knowledge.
Dan Erlewine's book, 'How To Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great!' being one of the well known sources.

But a greater amount of people do not know what they are doing or do not have the patience necessary to complete the job. And if there are any issues with the instrument, it takes a craftsmans touch to bring out the best the instrument has to offer.
It has to be a labor of love.

That brings me to Andy Brauer. Andy loves guitars. I mean that Andy has a passion for guitars that is infectious and almost innocent in demeanor. His love of guitars is child like - he has a wide eyed sense of wonder when in the presence of a guitar.

I learned of Andy quite by fortuitous accident.
Last Summer I purchased a pair of Sheptone AB Tribute pickups for my SG. They had been very highly recommended by a tech who produces wiring harness ready to drop in your guitar. I had the pickups and a wiring harness and quickly found myself at the limit of my knowledge and more importantly, my patience.
I began looking online for a tech to put my guitar together for me.

Andy's website came into view. I grabbed the phone number, called him and explained my situation.
"Those are my pickups! Sure I can help. When would you like to come by?"
I had a moment...so that was what the AB in AB Tributes stood for! Oh my!

I drove to Valley Village and found his workshop. I handed him my pickups and the wiring harness. Went over the work I wished to be done...a proper setup, install the pickups and the wiring harness. When do I want it back? Is this a dry cleaner? Andy knows that working musicians need their equipment. If they have a gig Saturday, that's when it has to be done.
We made a date and I waited expectantly. The only tech work I had experience with previously was the guy the local music store had hired at minimum wage. Needless to say, that was poorly done work and had for years turned me away from utilizing a competent tech.

I drove back at the appointed time. After greeting Andy and the ensuing pleasantries I sat down and Andy handed me my guitar. I strummed it unplugged. It rang! The action was perfect, the pickups and harness were in place...I was beside myself. It fit me like a glove, as though it were made for me!
And now I understood. A person who loves music and the instruments this much imbues every piece he touches with absolute magic.
The setup included:
frets had been polished
the fretboard oiled
the guitar cleaned and polished
action was very low as I had asked
intonation set
new strings installed.

I subsequently brought Andy my Strat (new nut + setup), my Gretsch (new nut + repair tailpiece + setup), and now he has my newest, the Jaguar (setup).
I cannot wait to get it back.
In each case, he took a nice guitar and made it artwork.

If you play and do not have a tech, get one - post haste! If you live near Los Angeles, call Andy.
If you live further away - factoring in shipping costs. This guy is the Michaelangelo of technical work, you will not be disappointed.
Andy Brauer

Size Does Matter

2010-08-03T10:36:00.000-07:00

I own a Fender Stratocaster. A wonderful guitar.
It has a 9.5" radius - the curvature of the fretboard.
A scale of 25.5" - length of the neck.
With 21 "Medium Jumbo" (oxymoron, anyone?) frets.

Since 1972 when I bought my first Strat I have always felt that Fender guitars just didn't "fit" me well.
The radius of the neck combined with the scale made the curve of the neck feel very pronounced.
My Gibson has a flat neck, no radius to speak of. And it feels much more natural.
But the sound a Strat makes - It is God Himself playing - is not to be denied.

I could have found an alternative...a company that makes Strat copies with flat necks. But I want the real thing. I want a Fender.
I have recently rediscovered the Classic Players Jaguar. It has two pickups with higher output than a Strat, a control setup that resembles a Jetson styled car, and this particular model is "aged." That is, it's made to appear to be an older Jaguar. The pick guard is "mint green," what happens to a white pick guard over time. The frets are bronzed and the pickup covers are "lightly" aged...whatever that means. Headstock is pure old school with the small model designation.
They retail for $799 and are MIM - Made in Mexico.

The control setup is fascinating. It allows for two independent set ups in terms of both volume and tone that are changed with the flick of a switch. Nowadays people spend good money on A/B switches to accomplish the same thing.

And here is the secret all guitarists lose sleep over.
SIZE does matter.
The Jag has a shorter scale - 24" and one more fret, 22.
The effect is a flatter feeling to the fretboard. Add to that the cutaway on the body. While the Strat appears more "balanced" to the eye, it is the Jag that in reality is a better fit. It sits well when standing or even while seated. Something most guitars do not do well. They excel at one or the other...usually.
It is a most comfortable instrument! It's one drawback is weight; very close to eight pounds.

Mine is in the middle.

Surf's up!

Thank You CraigsList

2010-07-23T18:04:00.000-07:00

People have been after me to get a larger amplifier. I current use a Fender Pro Junior.
15 Watts, all tube, one 10 inch Eminence speaker. and a paltry 20 lbs.

You can see it on the lower right in the photo. This is the patio area at Characters, a local watering hole that I play weekly. It holds roughly 250 people and has been packed at times.
I have had to on two occasions mic the amp through the PA system, usually reserved for vocals, but I tend to think everyone plays far too loudly, anyway.

Fine. Yesterday I started scouring CraigsList, CL in 'net speak. I was not very hopeful as CL has fallen from it's heyday...my, how far it has fallen.
This morning as I begin my work day I open CL again, narrow the search to my immediate geographical locale and dive in.

And this is what I saw ...

For Sale - Fender Hot Rod DeVille 410
This is a 60 Watt tube amp with four 10 inch Eminence speakers. The obvious downside is this weighs 50 lbs.

But as a friend of mine put it,
"The 1x12 in the deville/deluxe series is only 40 watts, so you lose a little clean channel headroom. between those two, i'd choose the 4x10 every time."

David is a very good musician who has taste and chops. I trust what he says.
It retails for $900 plus 9.75% sales tax - $986.65
I paid $550 for a four year old amp in pristine condition. It was in a Church. It was used for services on Sundays. I would not have believed the tale were it not for the fact we were in a church negotiating a deal.

The Pro Junior was also a CL find...a $400 amp for which I paid $175. I have been gigging steadily with this amp and it has performed very well.
This is the second time I have found wonderful treasures in what once had been the Fertile Crescent of the Internet, but has since become a cesspool. Perhaps it's time to stop perusing the personal ads and stick to the For Sale columns?

Polytune

2010-07-19T21:08:00.000-07:00

An incredible idea that for years proved elusive.
How can a guitarist tune all six string at once? You can't, duh.

We've been made to strike each string in turn, tuning it...tweaking a bit more, muting the string before proceeding to the next and so on. What has differentiated most pedal tuners up until this point has been speed and accuracy. Strobe tuners are the most popular and the faster the strobe can respond to changes in frequency, the faster one may tune up.

Then in January I heard some buzz about a tuner that allows you to strike all six strings at once and it will show the status of each string, flat, in tune, or sharp.
I plugged it in and strummed the open fretboard - an there it was, the low 'E' and the 'A' were flat.
Nicely done. Striking that low 'E', Polytune switches to a more normal needle strobe mode. I almost wish there was a switch to activate one, both or the other mode as I found it disconcerting to switch to the needle.
But it does have the ability to show me at a glance which strings are out of tune and which way.
It may take some getting used to, as my current tuner is a circular strobe, and wickedly fast.
We'll see.

Less than $100.

Dunlop wedge picks. Good Gosh but I love these picks.
Dunlop Stubby Picks
$3 gets me six. And they are durable. I haven't worn one out as of yet. My gauge is light so that is a factor but my previous favorite picks (Gibson Heavy-Jazz Teardrops) wore at a much more noticeable rate.

Nickel strings. Not nickel plated or coated. Pure nickel strings. $6 or so for a set. They are much more resistent to corrosion and they have a very bright sound that lasts for a really long time. I used to change string every two to three weeks. I find my self going for a month or more and I play a lot.
I generally will take any brand with the exception of D'Addario. The last three sets of D'Addario strings I purchased were flat out awful. A 'B' string broke, they lost brightness inside of days instead of weeks and they have resorted to some really cheap packaging that tends to make a mess in my gig bags.

Rinse and Repeat

2010-07-16T19:38:00.000-07:00

Repetition.
Take two.
Take thirty three.

It kills creativity. Spontaneity is lost when you play the same tune over and over.
Fine, spice it up.It by take four, it's not happening, then move on and return later. A small break can be very beneficial.

It is also the way of studio time. Fifteen to three hundred an hour dictates a certain work ethic. Push it out in linear fashion.

I hate to argue with producers.
"Think of it as a smoke break."
"But you don't smoke, e."
"I know...[sigh]...that bands that do smoke; they take breaks and then return,'refreshed,'right?"
Light bulb time.

Sometimes repetition is the job at hand. When the song is new, you play it again and again until you are tired of it. A sure sign you know it.

But when you are trying to lay one track on top of another, it is one thing to be familiar with the piece and another to get stuck in a rut over it.

Take three is my limit and then it all turns to mush.

I Believe In The Good

2010-07-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

What inspires music?
Or art, or the written word?

Love inspires, as does despair.
Pain can cause words to flow. Or the simple joy of being alive and aware of it for the miracle it is.

I tend to think that dark feelings, however powerful, do not produce the same level of work as when we are happily inspired. Darkness does produce very strong moods, consuming feelings. But they are not the emotions of productivity. To put forth your best effort requires all cylinders be in running order. To have one cylinder firing louder and harder than the rest is counterproductive.
It's like playing when you are high, you may think you are inspired, but the fog is only allowing you to see a small piece of the picture. Darkness takes a lot of effort to maintain. It is hard to remain angry without using a great force of will.

The lighter aspects of human nature such as love require much less effort to sustain, so there is a large store of energy waiting to be put to good use. When the trees are pretty, when the air tastes good, works pour forth like water that had been dammed. Not just quantity, but quality of the work is elevated by the mood of the author.

Musicians who have a smile on their faces seem to be not necessarily more prolific but the caliber of the work is higher.
Look at the band, The Police.
When Sting was a happily married man the music the band released was stirring. The bass was a focused piece, the band itself was very precise and articulate. Very little flash, rather it was a high order of music due to happiness. 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic.' A wonderful tune with a tale to spin and a bass line that defines a walking beat.

As life took it's toll and Sting's marriage ended, the music took a sharp turn toward mediocrity. Sting's bass playing became stilted and angular. The band sounded disjointed. And the mood of the pieces went positively creepy - 'I'll Be Watching You,' for instance.

An artist that works on canvas is easy to trace his moods. In every pursuit there are telltales which alert us to the mood of the artist.
As an artist I have learned to find stability in my own skin. That in turn has allowed me to put some consistent music together. It's kept my energy level high as I waste no calories worrying nor fretting.
Looking through my catalog of music is much like reading a diary - my moods are very easy to follow.
And my best pieces are those that I wrote when the sky was at its bluest.

It doesn't mean to avoid composing when you are down. It means look to lift your mood and then write it down.

Bridge Of Sighs...No I have Not Been To Venice

2010-07-04T02:28:00.000-07:00

This is an update to my bridge replacement for my new Gretsch.

Oh my God...Oh my God...Oh my God.
Can you tell I am excited?

Claims of tonal improvement struck me as snake oil. Palm muting would be more comfortable? I'd get more twang and tone (Twone in Gretsh-speak). Also the Bigsby is supposed to be smoother and easier to use with this bridge.

I can't tell what is the reason for the improvement, but improvement there has been!
There is a distinct change in the bridge pickups sound. Overall sound has much more twang to it.

It may be the much better fit the base achieves to the body of the guitar than the OEM bridge. And that may be due to the smaller foot of the new base. The OEM base seems to have a twist in it, which may be a function of having such a long foot.
The new base piece "snapped" to the body of the guitar with no tweaking necessary to make it flush with the guitar. (This would affect transmission of vibrations to the guitar body)

It may also be the nature of the bar bridge as opposed to one with many moving parts that accounts for the improvement in tone. (This would primarily affect sustain)

The thumb wheels on the bridge itself came lowered all the way to the base. I had to raise them a bit to get the guitar playable. But once done, intonation was simple and very fast. I suspect it is not spot on as there are no little adjustments that can be made. It didn't seem to make a difference. Not to my ears nor my tuner.

The base looks like ebony although I have been told they dye rosewood to make it look darker. It feels like ebony, more solid and heavier. But what do I know?

I ordered it on June 30th from Darren Riley.
Darren Riley's Guitar and Amp Shop
And received it in todays mail.
That's fast!
(He also sent three emails, one confirming the order, one to thank me for the order and one to announce it had shipped - good work)

Tomorrow - well, actually later today I have a huge gig with an expected turnout of one hundred people or so and perhaps twenty musicians. So I will give it the shakedown it deserves.

Why We Don't Leave Almost Well Enough Alone?

2010-07-01T23:16:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of June, I bought a Gretsch G5122 double cutaway.
It's a very well built Korean import. Never mind that Fender is the hands upon the reins. There are a few touches that reflect choice of economy.
I need to find better tuners, that is for certain.

But in a quest for all things tone related. I bought a new bridge.
The original is a very serviceable Gretsch version of the Tune-O-Matic attached to a very cheaply finished base. The fit of the base to the guitar is touchy at best.
This is critical in the transmission of vibrations. This is an acoustic guitar.

I could have just bought a new base piece, rosewood or ebony.
Interesting note: the preferred base piece has less contact with the guitar body than the OEM base. Its feet are each half the size of the factory original part.

But I was intrigued by what is called the Rocking Bar Bridge.
It has no saddles to adjust intonation. It is a bar with appropriate grooves cut into it.The vertical holes by which it is attached to the base are larger than the studs allowing the bridge to move when the Bigsby is applied.
As it is solid, that too aids in transmitting the vibrations.

I learned a new trick as well for floating bridges. Anyone with an archtop will appreciate this one.
Pinning is a process whereby a luthier or tech pierces the surface of the guitar and plants studs which meet holes places into the bottom of the bridges base.
After this is done the only way to manipulate the intonation is by adjusting the saddles.
The bridge will never again slide across the surface of the instrument.
Well rather than permanently holing my guitar, I thought of the violin in the corner of my office.

Rosin!
Undoing the tension of the strings, removing the bridge and then applying rosin to the feet of the base.
Never mind that I replaced the bridge facing the wrong direction and discovered this only after having re-done the intonation and wondering why it was harder than normal.
[Sigh]
Once I had it correctly oriented and affixed to the guitar, I tuned and checked intonation. Perfect!
Rosin has just the frictional characteristics desired and yet will leave virtually nothing but dust behind as it ages and degrades. It won't harm a new poly finish.
Check with a luthier before applying it to a nitro finish, although I suspect it'll do no harm there either. After all, most decent violins are nitro finished.

Multiple Personality Songs

2010-06-21T18:04:00.000-07:00

I ranted about songs that sound wonderful when the lyrics were in fact very dark and filled with pain.
There are so many facets to every gem; this is relevant because the band wants to add some tunes.

Touch of background - the drummers are 21 each, the bass player is 47 and I am the elder statesman at 54.

Here are the songs to be added:
Magnolia - The Hush Sound
I and Love and You - The Avett Brothers
How Do You Like Me Now - The Heavy
Pulling Mussels From a Shell - Squeeze
Django's Blues - Django Reinhardt

An interesting mix. The songs are suggested and I listen to them. However, I have learned to pause before hitting 'reply.'

The entire list of songs is over represented by failure and bad karma. I mean that one of two ways - literally - oh yeah, some of these choices are awkward and not my type at all - pieces that are not well done for one reason or another. The other way is the meaning of the song. Dark and painful to hear.
And yet - all these tunes have a redeeming factor...somehow compelling.

In both 'Magnolias' and 'I and Love and You' the theme is is looking for sanctuary after a bad turn.
Magnolia's lyrics do not fit the meter of the song. The production of the song is a typical rock ballad, well done musically. The way the vocals are expressed it sounds plausible. An examination of the lyrics is quick to show you how the lines rely on shoe-horning a couple of syllables in, using a lilting sort of stumble. It is one hundred percent intentional. But it sounds like a goofy, nerdy plea for attention. In other words, a good song for us to play.

The Avett Brothers are good. They have a nice act that at times makes you think of other harmonizing brother based bands and yet...
The song 'I and Love and You,' is written over a Civil War tune. (I believe the brothers are from North Carolina)
I would guess that was not intentional as much as it was natural for true "country" musicians.
They employ violin and banjo, guitar and piano. Drums are rare to be noticed, more like ornaments.
Their song is a Dear Jane with the hope of redemption awaiting on the other side. Both dark and light at the same time.

Okay - I buy these two ballads.

The tune from The Heavy - 'How Do You Like Me Now,' is the story of a man who has been dumped and found himself a new friend and asks the question, "How Do You Like Me Now..." the smirk dripping from his face.

"Why are we doing this?," I asked.
"It's a good dance tune...lots of dirty rubbing stuff."
"Dude?"
I'm kind of lost. I do have to allow others to have input on the song list but this is pushing it. Isn't it?

'Pulling Mussels From a Shell,' from Squeeze is a favorite of mine. A song about nothing really - just the happenings one day along a beach. What people have read into it is another story. Not an easy tune to play, this will entail a lot of work, but I am all thumbs up.

Django? You guys suggested this? Wow.
All for it. And how we pull this off is all on me. I love it.

I cave easily to 'How Do You Like Me Now.'
Multiple personality tunes.

God, Conspiracy Theories...Happy Father's Day

2010-06-20T18:09:00.000-07:00

I had little in the way of expectations for Father's Day.
1989 was the last time I was feted as a Father by my daughter. Perhaps she is too hip, or I am too old fashioned, but I miss the little token of affection for being there. Ah well.

Then I received a nice email that included a Father's Day remembrance. The day was improving.

I got to Characters, no one else was there. (Why am I always the first one there?)
Jerry calls, on his way. Steve shows up with his brand new amplifier. He looked like a five year old on Christmas.
Joey, the other drummer calls, he is on his way.
We set up. We warm up. The day is looking up.

'Mundo motions to me, "Jerry is not coming. His brother just got out of the hospital and he is having a BBQ, you should go." A hiccup or portend of things to come?

I explain the situation to Joey and Steve.
"So we'll jam for a bit and then head out."
Agreed.

We start to play. It sounded very reminiscent of 1971, 1972 hard rock - Grand Funk or Cactus.
Steve even looks like Mel Schacher. I was tempted to shout out, "Don Brewer!"
(A call from the guitar player on the 'Live' album)

We are in a groove. It's not my everyday cup of tea, but I am in the flow.

BZZZZZZZZZTZTZTZTZTZTTTTTTTTTTTTT

Steve has somehow managed to blow up his three day old amplifier.
Excuse me?!!
He is smiling and I am about to cry.
He sees it as a glass half full and I am lamenting what might have been. I should have seen it as what will be.

It is just frustrating.

To the rest of you, Happy Father's Day.

Sound Track To My Heart

2010-06-19T18:52:00.000-07:00

Music in film or television has an enormous impact.
The Exorcist without that haunting, eerie score would have been a flop. Pea green vomit would have provoked laughter, not chills.

I got hooked on House MD one weekend when I found myself alone for an evening. And one of the integral elements is the use of music. In context, sometimes new and unknown. Sometimes classic. It heightens the pathos when applicable and lulls us when we least expect it...setting us up for that exquisite fall.

101 Pilot - You Can't Always Get What You Want - Rolling Stones
102 Paternity - One - Three Dog Night
103 Occam's Razor - Happy Birthday to You - (played by House on the piano)
104 Maternity n/a n/a
105 Damned if You Do - On Saturday Afternoons in 1963 - Rickie Lee Jones
106 The Socratic Method - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
106 The Socratic Method - Silent Night - (played by House on the piano)

So, The Stones, Three Dog Night (The tune was actually written by Harry Nillson, who would have be 69 years old this past week) Rickie Lee Jones and two pieces Hugh Laurie got to shine on.
A nice mix.
The actual 'house' music (that which is written by the people that work on the show) is kept to a simple formula for each emotion that is needed. The drum heavy 'ticking' piece for thoughtful insight or contemplation. The folksy guitar strumming when we are being prepared for a crying moment - either happy or sad, a minor or diminished riff for sad and major for happy. And then when the show closes and the moral of the story is laid out, the use of the licensed material.

Grey's Anatomy, misses the mark completely. Well, not completely.
Just, mostly.
The music is more often than not of the in-house variety. Very little money is spent on ASCAP fees. They rely on the strumming folk guitar for far too much. And it varies very little. To their credit, they do employ an evocative background thrum.

And yet...us girls cry when we watch. The depth of writing? The soap nature of the show? The craft of the cast.
Because it is certainly NOT the music. In truth, it is all of the above.
The cast is very good, for the most part. The weekly movement of the story line is General Hospital for the 21st century.
While House MD focus on the character's Holmes like abilities and how the world revolves about him, Grey's is much more the soap. We are given a different group to focus on and bond with. You have favorites, you root for outcomes to relationships and the medical cases.
House MD has much more jargon and equipment, they are frequently in a patient's guts or taking images or some medical procedure.
Not on Grey's. It is the personal story. The interaction between that week's cast of characters.
Sadly, the poignant moment is often bereft of moving music that matches.

I can't tell you how many times I have run to lookup the name of the musician/ track when I hear something I like on House MD. I have yet to look for the author of a piece on Grey's.

Is it just that this particular show can overcome that lack of applicable music? A fluke? Or a tasteful blend of little sounds, and music and a really fine show.
Probably a little of both.

Making 'It.' (Or the Seven Tiers of Music)

2010-06-13T19:17:00.000-07:00

What separates the second tier from top shelf? How does one transition between the two?
Is it always luck and never a conscious effort?

Thirty thousand discrete, independent hits on a bands MySpace page will garner the attention of a labeled Artist & Repertoire person. So it can be done consciously.
Even at that, there are a certain number of variables that one can never control - what is popular at the moment is driven by so many factors to be a dark art.

Distribution is also very touchy, nowadays.People tend to expect to get music for free. So that must be made up at the gate. This is one factor that divides the house. People will pay a hundred or more to see powerhouse bands from the 1970s when they tour. But an act that is second or third tier plays venues that charge twenty dollars or less. Huge gap.

The town in which I grew up was forty five minutes from Manhattan. In it, there were so many talented people. One of the Four Seasons, who wrote one of their biggest hits.
Conans band leader was in the grade ahead of me throughout school. We were musical competitors as kids. Most people couldn't name him if they tried.
That is firmly second tier.

The bands I play with are third, fourth tier or worse. We play for free or for food. Or we collect between twenty and a hundred dollars per person - all for the same couple of hours work. Not being able to demand a gate is third tier.
Kids learning the craft in high school bands can occupy the fourth tier. Perpetual garage bands the fifth.
The sixth would be those that buy the equipment and dream the dream but never take another step.
The seventh is those who try but can't. For whom music is not their talent even though it is their passion.
(I met a drummer who could not keep any semblance of a beat)

Enough tongue in cheek.
How does one move up the ladder?
Utilizing technology such as MySpace or YouTube or FaceBook is a first step. The networking potential is huge.
You must comb through myriad contacts before finding someone that may be able to help you along. And for every helpful contact there are eight useless ones. At least as far as furthering your progress towards your goal.
And there is always the one or two scammers that bombard your email or send you private messages ad nauseum.
You also have the ability to contact genuine legends and pick their brains. I have many named celebrities on my friends list. I strive to not friend those pages that are manned by a public relations employee speaking of the musician in the third person.
This access was undreamed of when most of these artists were moving between tiers.

How many free shows had the Jefferson Airplane done for Bill Graham before becoming a paid, a well paid act?
Or the Grateful Dead?
Santana? The list just goes on. At some point, we discovered and elevated these local bands and made them national and then international stars.

Whereas it used to be the territory of Colonel Tom Parker, it has fallen to the bands themselves to promote and move themselves up the ladder.

I have also noticed a tendency among talent and management people to do less and expect more from the band.
I would expect a manager to act as the paid publicist and not the band members themselves.
To be accessible, yes, to have to put up the posters, no.

The little quartet I play with has a nice following that is growing, slowly. It has taken time and the work involved with new set lists - part and parcel of the game we have chosen.

Problems:
We publicize very little - everything has been word of mouth. The driving force is Jerry seems to know everybody. If we play at a fair, every one comes to say 'Hi" to Jerry. He can literally pack a house by himself.

We are not pushing through open channels. It took weeks before I got Jerry to give me a CD from which I made copies to hand out as a calling card. We don't have a MySpace page, et cetera.

Positives:
Crowd grows.
More gigs come.
The last few gigs have been paying - a good trend
We are changing the set list weekly
We are gelling as a foursome. It sounds better every time we play.

We have decided to aim for higher venues - breakout shows. As a means of moving up.
We applied for a slot at the L.A.County Fair. Opening for the Eagles is quite a feather. Even though there are six opening acts.

More To Follow...

Which Side of the Fence?

2010-06-11T15:53:00.000-07:00

Do you attend shows with a mindset in place before you even arrive?
Have expectations...about the author, director, the band?

I strive to go completely open minded. Not an assumption to be seen. Even when I am very much aware of the material. I still try to see the performance on the merits of the day I attend.

There is a local band, Children of the Valley, that I very much like. They play a very wide selection of ballads, instrumentals, new material. They always try something new. Many times it works as planned...sometimes not.
I've yet to be disappointed. Not that everything they have done has been great, no, some things have been downright mediocre. But I applaud their sense of keeping it fresh and new. It takes a certain amount of brass to try something new. To always throw out a new thing every time you play is a) a lot of work and b) risky.

They have inspired me to try it myself, musically speaking. I intend to try new things, and try them on audiences as well.
After all, it'd be a waste to keep all the new thoughts to myself!

Jimi Hendrix lamented that fans wanted to hear his hits, no new songs...s'il vous plait.
He grew tired of playing 'Hey Joe,' every night.
Or burning his guitar.
He sought to branch out, explore the new.

Before he died he had been playing with an jazz band, replete with Chicago style organ.
Can you imagine what Jimi would have sounded like with a big band? Or a fusion group? The possibilities are endless. But I am sure he would have had to endure much sturm und drang from the audience.

Jerry, the keyboard player has been trying to introduce one or two new songs every week.
In fact, two weeks ago he brought a completely new set list - no warning, neither for us nor the audience.
He would tilt his head and give me the chord changes prior to starting the song. Half the time I was reduced to watching his left hand for the chords changes.

No one in the audience seemed to mind until they started calling for the "standards," that we had been doing for them. On the positive side we added more members to the "regular" audience.
So far, I don't mind playing and replaying songs that we do every week.

Gretsch G5122

2010-06-06T00:23:00.000-07:00

It seems I buy my guitars based upon whom I see using a particular guitar line. Although not necessarily the same model. I would guess this to be true for most guitarists.
(I wonder if it holds true for brass players? Is there personality in a metal horn? Has to be.)

I watched Carlos Santana and Jerry Garcia playing SGs at Woodstock. Had to have one.
(2007 Faded)
I saw Jimi Hendrix playing a Stratocaster at Woodstock. Had to have one.
(2008 Squier)
George Harrison playing a huge Gretsch. Had to have one.
(2010 G5122)

Being a hollowbody, it is louder than any of my other guitars.
The pickups are that clear, articulate sound you heard on 'Ticket To Ride.'
Mostly maple in construction. Very lightweight. Rosewood fretboard, Bigsby tail. A floating rosewood mounted bridge. The going against the grain Gretsch controls - two volume, one tone and a master volume that people to use as a kill switch. And those famous side fret markers. Strap locks are de rigueur. The machines, however, are open affairs? I haven't seen open tuners since my Guitar Johnny axe.

Being an offshore import they are relatively inexpensive. This model is tagged at $700.
"Lou, make me a deal."
Lou (little Lou) of Styles Music, Pomona offered the guitar, bag ($40) and stand ($23) for $730...out the door.
Normal tithing to the state would have added an additional $70.
(I saved $133, although the amount of creative work it took for Lou to do this deserves kudos in their own right)

What a glassy tone! I almost wish I had a mop of hair to shake as I play. And so LOUD! I had to cut the volume that I normally set at six or seven to four. Feedback! I get chills. I don't mean Jimi-blast-your-ears feedback. I mean sweet sustain without any OD. Throw on the OD and it quickly gets to be too much. This is not a semi hollowbody, this is an acoustic guitar with pickups. The tone rolls off very quickly - I will look into modding that A.S.A.P. - however, working on hollowbodies is a very arduous task. I may just pay for Andy to set it up and change the capacitors.Although I like the Bigsby vibrato, there is a "lock," a notch, really, that won't allow the arm to swing around completely. The best you can do is hold the arm parallel to the strings - whereas I like to hold the arm over the strings. Small hands being what they are.

The top is three piece laminate with a maple veneer. The back is two pieces - they can use fewer pieces because the back is flatter than the carved top. It has binding on the body and the neck. Thick binding.

I had been looking for an acoustic. I think I may have smitten two birds with the one stone.

I read my horoscope for 06/06/2010...and fell over.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You have been denying yourself something you want. At this point, it's driving you a little crazy. Consider giving in — maybe even indulging yourself to such a degree that you finally get over this need once and for all.

Thank you Holiday Mathis!

OverDrive Custom Guitar Works

2010-05-30T21:06:00.000-07:00

The tremolo arm that comes standard with a strat model is a long, skinny affair.
I'm a relatively small guy, and I wear my guitar kinda high...this thing is just waaaay too long.

I cruise online looking for a smaller tremolo arm.
David Gilmour is generally credited with this little innovation. No wonder Umma Gumma was such a wonderful trip.

I found a few vendors offering what I sought.
I ordered one and waited.
When I saw the receipt I had a small concern. Would the arm fit my Squier?
Squier, being a company that Fender acquired and uses to make the less expensive models. They are made offshore and so use metric rather than imperial hardware.

The day that it arrived, it indeed did not fit. But, not to worry. If I'd send my original arm to them, they'd get the specifications needed to fabricate a fitting arm for my Squier. I sent it off that same day.

Emails were exchanged, I found Craig Wells to be a patient man, he took the time to explain to me the nuances of tremolos. As well as the steps he was taking to fulfill my $15 order.

Finally the day came when my arm(s) arrived. My old, long arm and the new, chrome plated one.
I installed it. Not impressed at all.
It took nearly Herculean effort to move the bridge slightly.

More emails were exchanged and in them, Craig again, patiently took the time to walk me through the process of adjusting the claw.
The claw is the metal piece that attaches the tremolo springs to the body of the guitar. And by adjusting the claw's tension, you alter the amount of force necessary to move the arm.
In this, you seek a balance between too loose, which makes keeping the guitar as though it sounds in tune more difficult and too tight which makes it too difficult to 'break' the bridge from the body.
I spent a good hour moving the screws out...a turn or so at a time. Retuning, if needed and playing the arm.
(Tremolo claw screws are LONG - four or more inches)
And remember, you are doing this to a piece attached to five steel springs. I kept having visions of a screw coming out from the body with a sharp 'twang' and severing some needed bit of me.

Several inches of screw later, I have found that sweet spot. The arm reacts like butter. Stays in tune.
Voila.

OverDrive carries a great variety of products for your Strat. Loaded pickguards...hardware...bodies, et cetera.
Very reasonable prices and excellent customer service.
I can recommend them, without reservation.

Guitar $350
Tremolo arm $15
Mahogany knobs $25
Vintage Springs $7
Linday Fralin Blender Pot $10
Replacement bone nut $80
Setup - included a spring tree...that's right, not a string tree, a spring tree (intonation issues)- $80
Total $567

The guitar is a keeper. Indian Cedar (who knew?) SD designed pickups. And as I said, the only issues were the badly cut nut. (the 'B' had a click) and the short string tree.
When last asked why the guitar was covered in smudges and fingerprints, I replied, "Because I play it a lot?"
I really should clean it up.

How Can This Be Considered Work?

2010-05-29T21:37:00.000-07:00

Getting paid, even meager sums - like the sweet sixteen bash that netted me $30, are winning scenarios. How can you think otherwise? I realize I put in a lifetime of practice, some of it very hard - indeed, but to compare this with any other pedestrian vocation is ludicrous.

If you do what you love, no matter...you are rewarded, you shine. It is just icing on the cake to make "real" money.
In the last four months I must have played...thirty or more gigs. I'd guess more than twenty were in trade of kind - I played and got fed in return. Maybe eight or nine have been paying gigs, and of those maybe two were well paying. Real money.

I don't play to get wealthy, I play because I love to do so.
I get exhausted now. I play in rehearsals or gigs two or three times a week. Work follows on many of those days.
And yet I am not struggling, I am thriving.
The enrichment of my soul is priceless. Another sure sign is growth. I have learned to play in altogether new and different ways. Hendrix in the early days had a very pure tone. Later he found effects and his tonal palette grew.

I need to go legit. This cannot be legal. Nor can it be considered labor...maybe a labor of love.
I realize there are other vocations that bring as much joy to others.
I just don't speak that language.

Do Your Part

2010-05-27T19:45:00.000-07:00

The musicians play...that's a given.
Performers perform.
Okay.

What is the audience's function?
They pay the tab, they have no part to play.
Or do they?

They pay for the venue. They eat and drink. What more should they do?
Clean the restrooms?

Audiences feed the performers. Energy. The reason Nils Lofgren used to do 360 somersaults was the reaction he received in return. Hendrix humped his guitar for a reaction from the crowd. It was not an "artistic statement."
Very few of those, anyway.

They interact with the band. A subtle dance for the most part, every once in a while an overt act.
When the overzealous fan threw a Frisbee and hit Johnny Winter in the head...I cannot recall how his playing reflected the whack to the noggin, it was 1973 after all.

The new behavior I have witnessed, however is becoming onerous.
Cell phones. Singing along with the band. Screaming children.
Switch them off? I understand a tavern, but a concert hall? What a social faux pas!
The last time singing along with the performers was allowable was a Jerry Vale concert in 1975.
Children? Yes, my mother took me to see Pete Seeger. My father, Victor Borge.
Screaming children? Never. Take them outside, thank you very much.

Believe it or not, it's a duet.

I, Idiot Savant

2010-05-26T22:31:00.000-07:00

Are all artists idiot savants of one degree or another?
Egos
Passion
Manic/Depressive
Hypnotic concentration
Intense focus that comes in waves

I read somewhere that a symptom of autism is walking on ones toes.
I did that as a child.
We are always two. There is never such a focus of spirit that elements of yin or yang don't surface from time to time.
But artists...are they more sensitive or are the swings between yin and yang that much greater?
Is it a treatable disease?

Will the treatment enhance or diminish the talent?
I know some who believe the treatment of the tortured soul will take energy away from the talent.
I find the opposite to be true...when happy, there is more energy. Creative juice abounds. Desire returns and the classic blues fade.
Was Van Gogh a Delta or Chicago Blues player? He reveled in his pain and did nothing to alleviate it.
His only outlet, the canvas.
He needed an audience to satisfy his need for basic human contact.

The trouble is that history tends to paint the tortured soul as the brightly burning star.
Hendrix, Joplin, Mozart, Morrison, Van Gogh, Lennon.

Time for a well adjusted one.
Anyone have a suggestion?

Driving Music

2010-05-22T22:53:00.000-07:00

No, not JoJo Gunne's 'Run.'
No, not the music that causes you to stomp your car's accelerator to the floor.

What I am talking about is music that drives you. It may be pop, or folk, or classical. The genre is not the thing. The passion, is. Name the last five concerts you have attended. See a pattern? Most of us will see that we tend to enjoy a specific style and deviate rarely.

So what drives your heart?

I know people that are driven by what is closest to their heart - the bass player that loves a hard, well kept bottom. The drummer that loves Keith Moon.
Then there are people that are driven by what is in their heart. Be it, love or loss - they listen to reflections of their mood. To an extent we all do. Sometimes the music can alter your mood. What began as slow and quiet became pounding and strong.

I wonder if Carlos Santana is the world's best lover? His music certainly is. I wonder if Ted Nugent had an very unhappy and violent childhood?
Jim Morrison was lonely and far ahead of his peers. I don't think that the rest of the band understood him, either.

I have always described my music as romantic rock. It can be a samba by Santana or a simple folky tune.
'America,' by Simon and Garfunkel. The coda of that song, to this day still gives me chills. Never mind the incredible harmony Art created, the strength as it grew throughout the repeating refrain. The driving urgency.
Inherent rebellion.
And then the song fades...as it began.
But it drives me.
I hear music all the time...everywhere. In white noise. In a laugh or a remark.
And all of it tugs at my heart; to either lift it or dash it against the rocks of my drunken monkey.

That's not to say there's no valid case for driving music. The kind that nets you a speeding ticket.
Jo Jo Gunne was one of those special gems in the rough.

The Joy

2010-05-18T17:13:00.000-07:00

Most of us enjoy sharing. Some of us live to share.
Playing in front of an audience is a very powerful form of sharing.
Music is such an intimate language. The sharing of that language is a strong exchange between audience and performers.

Do artists and their patrons get the same rush?
That man in the third row, does he like my singing...my playing...is he just having such a good night that it wouldn't matter if we were playing the theme song from the local ice cream truck?
As in art, we can appreciate different aspects of the same act.

Bars:
If I had only myself to please, the band would have a set list of tunes that had little or no dancing value.
That would displease the bars management.
People that dance tend to drink more, thereby increasing profits.
Also guys who are with a date, having a good night, will spend more.

Folky Venues:
Now the management doesn't mind the lack of drink sales. No, they want gate movement. The more attendees, the better the profit. They also sell wine and snacks, so they lengthen sets lists. The longer you wait for intermission, the more glasses will be consumed. But it is secondary. Two scenarios - one, they charge a fair price for an established act. The second is the plethora of free programs to showcase new and upcoming talents. An investment in the future.

Concert Halls:
All that moves is the gate. The merchandising done in the lobby is a great deal of income but it is driven by the gate. So they throw flyers everywhere. Perhaps the tickets are inexpensive as well. Advertising is a much more important vital component. Get the word out and fill the seats.

Each type of venue requires a different set list...another strategy.

And each one gives the band an opportunity to share with the audience.
To make intimate contact from twenty yards away.
And to each person in attendance, a unique experience - although we may share, we share many different things.

Here's to Joy.

Five Minus One Equals Perfect

2010-05-15T22:32:00.000-07:00

We have a standing gig at a local watering hole - Characters.
We play for a few hours, they provide a barbecue and the beer - we play music to get the patrons dancing and drinking.
It is an arrangement that works well. There are five of us in the "band."
It's really more of a loose association of players.
One guy invited another and it took off from there.

Friday morning we rehearse for the show Saturday. Run through a good ten or fifteen songs. Work the arrangements - tweak an ending or two, make the transitions smooth. Three hours and we've had enough.
It sounded tight.

Saturday I arrive at the bar and find no one. Fine. I'll go and grab my bike, it's a nice day. I can still get a hundred miles in before the sun goes down.

As I am sitting and thinking, Michael and his family show up, and then Jerry wanders in. So we sit and talk.
One of us is missing. Not answering the phone. Not acknowledging the others. We are short one integral piece.
The mover and shaker was nowhere to be found.

Seems the rest of us had something on our minds; no one had said anything for fear of damaging a frail ego and causing a ruckus. Now, it all comes out.

At four o'clock we decided, "Let's play...anyway."
(We normally go on at one thirty...two)

It gels. It sounds tight.
It sounds good.
We are having fun. Wait? Isn't that what this was all about to begin with? Have some fun, make some music and a friend or two along the way? I guess we had forgotten that somewhere during all this.

Egos are funny things. Feed them too much and they turn into monsters. Ignore them and you kill the underlying support. It's a terribly delicate balance.

I had assumed incorrectly that if I kept my mouth shut and played well - everything would work out.
It turns out we had to talk and air our concerns.
Having clear air made all the difference in the world. That and one of us not showing.
Sometimes, less is more - truly.

Diane Birch - Ben Folds - James Taylor & Carole King - great shows this week - more inspiration to keep the energy flowing.

Thank God for Editors

2010-05-06T19:51:00.000-07:00

I love the television show, 'House.'
(A-G-D-A-F-G)
I am a big fan of Sherlock Holmes, and besides the obvious ties to Holmes, House also has absolutely dynamite music.

By the way, SCORE is everything.
Do you think The Exorcist would have been scary without a soundtrack to match?
Turn the sound down on anything and you'll see how the impression it makes upon you diminishes.

So I do the fan-trivia move and google the band that did the theme for the show - The song is incredible.
Such a simple piece and yet it evokes deep feelings.
I do the requisite thing and buy the song.

I play the song - it's over five minutes long - not the thirty second clip we are treated to during the opening of the show.
And while I see what the sound editors did, I am still trying to pick my jaw from the floor.
Here is a portion of the lyrics:

Teardrop - MASSIVE ATTACK

Water is my eye
Most faithful mirror
Fearless on my breath
Teardrop on the fire of a confession
Fearless on my breath
Most faithful mirror
Fearless on my breath

Teardrop on the fire
Fearless on my breath

I like to think that when I am pointed in the right direction I can enjoy what is hip.
I'm at a loss with this, however.

It's bad.
Worse than that, the "melody" is just the four steps and repetitious.
Clearly, not my cup of tea.

But the editors of the show performed some amazing aural surgery and salvaged a wonderful clip with which to showcase the program.
I bet this stuff would make Alanis Morissette blush.

(Did I just say that?)