Guitar Gear

First let’s start with a link to the app because before I even discuss it, and before I even review it, I want to recommend that you get it. 🙂

Having been a “feel” player for much of my guitar-playing career, a few years ago, I decided that it was high time I looked at my guitar playing a little more academically. It was driven from this sense that I wanted to better understand what I was playing; and perhaps in the process expand my improv vocabulary. So I started buying books on various topics, and watched a lot of videos. All that instruction was great, but what they lacked in many cases was discussions on strategy – when would you apply those concepts. Most take the safe route with “it depends…” Frankly, that’s actually not a bad thing because I’ve found that how I approach soloing at any given time depends on a lot of factors, not the least of which is how I’m feeling at the moment I’m going to be playing a solo.

With respect to modes, I’ve read a lot of articles, and gained a bit of an academic understanding of them. But I’m a learn-by-doing and learn-by-example type of player, and there was always some missing ingredient in the things I read. It wasn’t until I found and watched Rob “Chappers” Chapman’s video on Pitch Axis Theory: Learn Modes in 15 Minutes on YouTube that I started really “getting” modes and how they could be applied.

But even Chappers’ videos weren’t enough. Even though they got me over the top with respect to using a modal approach in my playing, I felt that I didn’t fully understand them. Enter “Modal Buddy.”

Modal Buddy is an iOS app (they say it’s made for iPhone, but I’ve been using it on my iPad with no problems) that will help you learn modes. It’s not just a reference guide, which to me would be utterly redundant. Yes, it has LOTS of reference material, but the meat of it is structured like a step-by-step learning guide, replete with chapters. I REALLY like this approach because it makes it more like an interactive book, and not just something that says, “Here’s the E Lydian mode, where E is the 4th, etc., etc., etc.” There’s discussion AND examples.

The examples are ultra-important in learning modes. What I learned with Chappers’ videos is that each mode has an aural “flavor” if you will, and what I was able to internalize about that is you can evoke certain moods depending upon the mode you apply over the root of a chord progression. And to me, that’s the crux of what modes bring to the table: Moods.

So when I started going through Modal Buddy, I was very keen on seeing if the app discusses this. I’m happy to reveal that not only does Modal Buddy capture that sense of moods, it starts off with that discussion as one of the first lessons and keeps emphasizing that in the examples, so you literally can hear the mood that a mode presents. That’s such a huge thing for me because looking back on how I was first presented with modes, everyone taught the spelling of a mode first. Had they shared the root of it, “moods” first, I would have probably started using and applying modes much earlier. As a result, like many, I was intimidated by modes, or relegated them to the “jazz snobs” who seem to live and breathe modes.

I’ve only gone through the first four chapters of Modal Buddy, and only scratched the surface with the practice stuff. I’m not even sure how many chapters there are. And though much of this initial stuff is stuff I already know, I have already learned a great mnemonic for remembering the mode names “I Don’t Play Like My Aunt Lucy,” with each first letter representing the modes: Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian. That might be old hat to some, and even though I knew the mode names, I always had trouble remembering which mode went where in the order. That simple mnemonic helps me keep them in the proper order.

So what’s the gist of my first impression of Modal Buddy? I LOVE IT!!! At least from what I’ve seen thus far, Modal Buddy combines the best of both worlds: Theory and Examples in one straight-forward and easy-to-use learning guide. And I will say this: Even before I do a full review and breakdown of the app, I recommend you get it. It’ll be the best $4.99 you’ve ever spent. Doesn’t matter whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned veteran. The examples alone will help train your ear to hear the modes in different settings.

Speaking of “hearing” modes, I was curious to hear the Locrian mode. It seems to be the least presented in the discussions and videos I’ve seen. But when I heard the example, I realized I use the Locrian mode – a lot – especially when I’m playing over minor blues progressions because of that diminished, sad sound you get out of it. I had no idea I was using it until I heard an example in Modal Buddy. By the way, the modes are played over actual backing tracks. That’s HUGE in understanding and internalizing modal theory.

Anyway… GET THE APP!

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Tonight I was reminiscing of becoming a father for the first time, and holding my baby boy in my arms, and suddenly a melody popped into my head that I had to track. I called it “Les Paul Lullaby” because I used both of my beloved Les Pauls to record the song. The finger-picked guitar is my ’59 Replica and the lead guitar is my ’58 Historic Reissue. The ’58’s cleans in the middle position are simply the best I’ve ever heard. The Deacci Green Faze pickups I had installed in that guitar have completely transformed it. The neck pickup is reverse-wound like Peter Green’s Les Paul so you get that out-of-phase tone. Played clean, it’s haunting sound. So check it out…

As far as other gear is concerned. I ran both guitars direct into my Aracom VRX22 then out to an Aracom DRX attenuator, then through a custom 1 X 12 with a Jensen Jet Falcon speaker. I added delay and reverb in my DAW.

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Prima Luce is Latin for “first light,” or dawn. The melody of the song was inspired by my thinking about a cross-country trip I made with my family last summer, and driving through the Nevada desert at the sun was coming up. It was absolutely moving. To be perfectly honest though, making another instrumental was not my original intent with Prima Luce. I wrote the backing parts of the song over a month ago. Since then, I had been trying to come up with lyrics and for some reason, words just wouldn’t come. So early this morning, I woke up with the intent – yet again – to pen some lyrics. But I ended up noodling over the backing track, and came up with a melody line. I realized that this song was meant to be an instrumental.

Guitars: Rhythm: 1958 Les Paul Historic (Amber)*, Lead: 1998 American Deluxe Strat (Heather)*.

* Note that the signal chain for these included an EHX Soul Food Overdrive and Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay (handwired).

Amp: Aracom VRX22 run into an Aracom DRX attenuator. Note that all clips were recorded close-miked with the volume output no higher than loud conversation level (Gawd! I love the DRX!)

Update: September 2, 2014

Once I finish writing songs, I let them sit for a couple of days then re-listen to them to see what needs fixing. In this case, I wanted to make the end of the choruses match, and re-do the bridge to be more dramatic. In the process, I decided to do the whole song with my ’58 Les Paul. I happened to pull it out just to play around, and found that the “woman” tone that the Deacci pickups I just installed in it just took the song to a completely different place. So, I re-recorded the lead over the weekend. Give it a listen:

More on the Soul Food Overdrive

I hate to say it, but the Soul Food has become my number one overdrive. It just works with every guitar and every amp I have. It’s purely amazing! When I was recording the lead, I set the Drive to about 3pm and the volume at about 1pm. With a Les Paul, that would’ve created over-the-top breakup, but with a Strat, the pedal brought out all sorts of harmonics and sustain with less distortion than with a Les Paul. I just closed my eyes and let my fingers do the talking.

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As the title says, I hate it when I’m not paying attention…

Last night, I went to see the Tower of Power, Steve Miller Band, and Journey concert at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, CA. The show opened up with Tower of Power, one of my favorite bands growing up. Steve Miller, at 70, is still absolutely incredible. And Journey? What can I say? While I loved the Greg Rollie years, I preferred the music from the Steve Perry years. Whether you liked him or not, Steve Perry’s voice was what took that band out of just being a collection of great musicians into pop rock legends.

Despite that, why am I a bit pissed? Well, I wasn’t paying attention when Neal switched from playing Les Pauls and moved to custom PRS guitars last year. I normally keep up with that kind of stuff, and I completely missed it! So much to my surprise, when Neal came out on-stage with a guitar that had those familiar PRS bird inlays, I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed.

Neal Schon has been one of my Les Paul idols for many years, and to see him with a PRS… well, that just took getting used to. I also had to get used to the fatter tone. Neal’s tone wasn’t bad at all, but I felt that it lacked that top-end shimmer that you get from a Les Paul. I was expecting more bite from his tone, but what I got was just smooth. Like I said, it wasn’t bad, it was just different. He still sounded like Neal Schon, but I will admit it: that smooth PRS tone is not for me.

I’ve got to hand it to Paul Reed Smith. He has taken the electric guitar world by storm. So many artists play PRS guitars. I even have an SE model, which is great. But I still prefer the Les Paul bite.

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I finally got a chance to take the Soul Food out of my home studio and use it at a gig. I had been playing with it practically every evening in my studio for a couple of weeks to cozy up to it. So before I went to the gig I learned a few things about the pedal:

• While it could be used as a standalone pedal for producing grind, it’s best used to interact with the front-end of the amp, and push an amp at the edge of break-up into overdrive.
• The treble boost adds a nice, VOX-like top-end shimmer to your tone.
• The treble boost to me is central to this pedal. There’s a different sweet spot for each amp/guitar combination you use with it.
• Switched on, you get very nice sustain, but the signal is only mildly compressed.

In my studio, I was playing at very low volumes so as not to piss off my family and the neighbors. So all the tone that I had been experiencing up that point was through my studio cans. It was more than acceptable – in fact, it was quite spectacular – and enough for me to give it a 5 Tone Bones rating based upon my studio tests alone. But nothing could have prepared me for the heavenly tones that issued from my amp when at gig volume. The guitar/amp/pedal interaction was fantastic, but add the speaker into the mix, and what I thought was awesome to start out with, turned into something otherworldly.

I believe this is what Klon owners talk about when they play through it. But from what I’ve read, no one has been able to discretely describe what it’s like, so a lot of people tended to poo-poo their enthusiasm as justification for having paid so damn much for it. And after experiencing what the Soul Food did at my gig last weekend, I’m beginning to suspect it’s not hype.

From a functional perspective, I’ve learned that a major key to its magic the Treble knob. That was evident at my gig, as I was playing with my Aracom VRX22 which has a much more muscular tone than my other amps, but at the same time, it has some wonderful highs that, if left untamed, can make the amp sound really harsh. Whereas with my DV Mark Little 40 that has a much more even EQ profile, and the pedal works best boosting the treble a bit, I cut the treble for my VRX22. Obviously, it’s not just the treble control that brings the magic to the table. But setting the treble allows the magic to flow. And once you have that set, and play the amp at volume, to me, it’s rock and roll time!

Now does all this compel me to save my pennies to get a real Klon? No. I’ve never played a Klon, and as I’ve said in past articles, the Soul Food stands on its own as a great overdrive pedal, so I’m happy to stick with it. If I ever get a chance to play a Klon though, it’ll be interesting to do a head-to-head comparison.

But that said, as I mentioned above, it’s difficult to quantify the tone quality of the Soul Food. I could use all the familiar terms such as “sustain,” “shimmer,” “bite,” etc., but none of those really help because lots of overdrive pedals do those things. What I can say is this: Up to this point, I haven’t played with an overdrive that interacted so well with my amps. Even my beloved Timmy can be a bit finicky with a couple of my amps, but the Soul Food just seems to work with all my amps.

And yes, that too sounds like a familiar description, but to my ears, there is certainly some sort of “X” factor that’s going on when that pedal has some room to breathe that I haven’t ever experienced with an overdrive pedal. Over the life of this blog, I’ve played bunches of overdrives, but this is the first overdrive pedal I’ve played besides my Timmy – or perhaps even more so than the Timmy – that has had such a profound effect on my tone. To me, the Soul Food – and by extension, the Klon – fit my archetype of an overdrive pedal. I don’t say this lightly. I really thought my Timmy was do-all, end-all overdrive for me. But that all changed with the Soul Food. I’ll always have my Timmy on my board, but it has a new brother: The Soul Food.

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