Guitar Gear

I posted a little video of Gene Baker yesterday and I just have to say that in addition to making some freakin’ incredible guitars, he’s a MONSTER on guitar! In this video, he does a medley of Just Got Paid and a blues song with which I’m unfamiliar. But in Just Got Paid, Gene’s guitar work is right up there with Joe Bonamassa’s, whose version I totally dig. Check it out:

And of course, Gene is and has been a faithful Aracom Amps player for a long time. In his live rig, he uses a VRX22 and 50 Watt Evolver. The Evolver is played dry, and he loops out to the VRX22 for his modulation effects. His tone is amazing with that setup.

As a little plug for Gene and the “Mean Gene Band,” they’ve been a high-energy cover band for years, but they’re now starting to do some original stuff and will hopefully be touring outside of Central California a lot more in the future. Gene was also good friend with Ronnie Montrose before he passed away and Ronnie would occasionally have Gene join him on stage – that’s how good he is!

As far as Gene’s guitars go, Gene is most known for his “Baker Guitars,” but because of financial and legal issues years ago, he had to give up the name. For last few years, he’s been successfully running a whole new operation in the Central Coast of California, called “Fine Tuned Instruments.” I personally have yet to play one of these, but I have played an original Baker, and no doubt this new rendition of the original Baker Guitars has got to be every bit as good. For more information on Gene and his guitars, check out the Fine Tuned Instruments site!