Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Guitars’ Category

Can’t Wait to ROCK!!!

Posted in Guitars, tagged , on April 10, 2013| 17 Comments »

bren_hospitalYup, that’s the Dawg (me) sitting in my hospital room. This past Monday, I had total replacement of my left hip. The surgeon used the anterior technique, which is a relatively new technique here in the US. Basically, with this technique, instead of cutting through the gluteus maximus muscle (your butt), with the anterior technique the surgeon works his way in between the quadraceps, merely cutting through the fascia that holds the muscles together. The net effect is a much shorter recuperation time, which is important to me because I just wanna ROCK!

Amazingly enough, they had me up and walking twice yesterday. The first session in the morning was absolutely excruciating, but in the afternoon, I was able to walk over 100 feet up and down the hall. Today, they’re going to do the same, but in addition the PT will teach me how to get in and out of a car, and in order to get discharged, I’m going to have to walk up four stairs! I’m not looking forward to that, but I realize it has to be done.

Now that I’ve had the procedure done, I can’t begin tell you what an ordeal it has been for the past year and a half. I developed severe arthritis in my left hip over the course of several years due to an old injury. It finally manifested itself at the end of 2011, though the pain wasn’t so bad at the time. But as these things go, it got steadily worse. I finally got around to seeing a doctor, and he told me that I’d probably have to get a hip replacement.

Due to other health issues I was having, I couldn’t schedule my surgery until August of last year. But then a couple of weeks before the surgery when I was to get clearance to undergo the procedure, my blood pressure had gone up; and dangerously high. So I had to cancel the surgery lest I bleed out on the table, and for the past several months I’ve been working hard on changing my diet and religiously taking my blood pressure meds, and amazingly enough, my blood pressure went back to normal levels and lo and behold, I was able to get my hip replaced.

But in the interim, life pretty much sucked. I still kept on gigging, but it was under a lot of pain. It got so bad that I couldn’t even stand for my gigs and had to use a drummer’s stool for my solo performances. I stood a bit at my church gigs, but I just remained seated for the most part in the weeks leading up to my surgery.

Now that I’ve had my hip surgery, life is going to change for the better this time. While I was writing this article, my quite attractive physical therapist fetched me to do some walking about the corridors and to practice going up stairs and steps and getting in and out of a car. Amazingly, my joint doesn’t hurt – at all! What hurts is the incision, and that pain will go away eventually. In fact, it’s nowhere near as painful as it was on Monday, so I’m pretty encouraged.

What this means is that I will have mobility again, and will soon be back and rockin’. Life is going to get better – much, much better!

Read Full Post »

Monday Profundity

Posted in Guitars, tagged on March 25, 2013| 4 Comments »

Actually, I don’t know how profound I’ll actually be, but something I learned many years ago has had a profound effect on how I live my life, and on a smaller scale, how I approach playing music. Today’s thought was spurred by a New York Times article on “Mindfulness” that a friend shared on Facebook this morning. In reading the article, I looked back to a time before I was married and doing a lot of soul searching; trying to find the true essence of “me.” In the process, I learned about living in the “NOW,” and always being present.

As one person was quoted in the article, “Intentionally paying attention to the present nonjudgementally” is what living in the “now” is. Developing that sense though isn’t easy because our lives are filled with constant distractions. To live in the now requires quieting the mind. Though it might seem paradoxical, by making our minds still, we actually expand our awareness – of everything. We become responsive as opposed to reactionary. Response is intentional while reaction is instinctual. Big difference between the two.

So what does any of this have to do with playing guitar?

One habit that I’ve gotten into before I start any gig is a few minutes before I come to the microphone, I find a quiet place, or just sit at my rig, close my eyes, and do what I call “drain my mind.” I take myself to a place where I’m not thinking about work or other things that would worry me. I think about the first song I’m going to play, and tap into the emotion of the music and the meaning behind the lyrics. Then I try to feel the energy of the crowd. Once I’m “hooked up,” I start the first song. It’s not really psyching myself up – lord knows I don’t need any motivation to perform. 🙂 It’s literally clearing my mind to open myself up to the songs I’m singing and even more importantly, tapping into the energy of my audience.

I’ve found that when I’m bothered or distracted, it affects my performance. That probably goes for pretty much anything I do, but especially with playing guitar – whether I’m gigging or in the studio or just playing alone – if my mind isn’t clear, I have a hard time expressing myself, and my performance is just flat. For example, a couple of weeks ago, I was really bothered by a programming problem that I was working on solving, and I spent most of my time on the way to my gig thinking about it. I set up my rig, still ruminating over the problem, then I started the gig without first draining my mind. The net result was that I was just going through the motions.

I was sounding okay, I suppose because I was getting some tips, but I wasn’t really connecting with my audience. So instead of doing my typical 1.5-2 hour first set, I cut off my first set at an hour, left the stage for about 15 minutes, and spent the time in a quiet place, going through my routine (I also got a dram of Macallan 18 year old scotch to enjoy 🙂 ). Mind you, I wasn’t really stressed out; I was just distracted. While I was enjoying the vanilla accents of the Macallan 18, I found my “happy place,” and realized that I hadn’t drained my mind before starting. So I took a few minutes to just quite my mind and put the problem away; promising myself that after my gig I’d work on the problem. Once I got back on stage, I felt totally plugged in, and had a great evening. I was so inspired, I did a lot more soloing than I had ever done (that actually established a precedent because I now take a lot more time to solo)! So what about the work problem? Funny thing is that by draining my mind, I found the solution while I was driving home. In quieting my mind, I was able to see the missing connections between my objects. I got home, coded them up, and all was well! It took me all of 10 minutes to solve. 🙂

The point to all that is that when we quiet our minds, we open ourselves up to all sorts of possibilities, plus we allow ourselves to focus more intently. I know that seems paradoxical, but I’ve found that in order to focus, we have to first drain our minds to expand our awareness. Only then can we focus.

ROCK ON!

Read Full Post »

Silver Luthier… How Far Would You Go to Put on Your Bling?

Posted in Guitars on March 18, 2013| 2 Comments »

Got a press release today from a publicist hawking a company called, “Silver Luthier.” These guys specialize in solid sterling silver bling to put on your guitar. Check out that solid silver flame tailpiece to the left. That’s freakin’ cool. It’ll also set you back $1200. Ouch. Or, not satisfied with your Les Paul’s Rhythm/Treble toggle switch cover? You can get a solid silver flame cover for only $180. Look, I don’t want to knock these guys. This stuff is seriously cool, though I know it’s definitely not for me.

Besides, I have enough to worry about over my playing than to worry about how I look while I’m playing. 🙂 But more power to those who can accessorize their guitars with this stuff.

Read Full Post »

Yup, Customer Service Absolutely Counts!

Posted in Guitars on March 9, 2013| 1 Comment »

While I look at a lot of gear at big box retailers like Guitar Center, ultimately my business goes to the two local shops near me. The reason is because of their superior and personal customer service. No one walks into those shops without the shop’s employees taking a look, even if they’re with another customer.

But it’s not just the attention, it’s also the little things that they do that keep me coming back again and again. For instance, Guitar Showcase in San Jose, CA has a lifetime guarantee on their in-house made cables. Last night, my guitar kept on cutting in and out, and I traced it to the cable that connects my pedals to the restaurant’s PA board. Since I have another gig tonight, I went down to Guitar Showcase to get a new one. Bringing in the old cable, I told the guy behind the counter my cable failed at a gig last night and needed a replacement for my gig tonight, and he promptly told me to get one off the rack.

Now here’s the cool thing. When he connected it to a cable tester, the cable actually checked out as fine. I said, “Hmm… looks like it’s good, but it was not behaving last night.” He said, “No problem brother, you got a gig tonight, and the last thing you want to worry about is your cable giving you problems. I’ll test it more later, and if it’s fine, we’ll just use it in the shop.”

That’s a little thing for sure, but it’s huge as far as customer service is concerned. That’s why even though I might pay a slightly higher price in the independent shops, I’m willing to pay it because of the feel-good factor I get from their excellent customer service.

My Favorite Local Shops

Read Full Post »

Useful Pentatonic Scale Tricks

Posted in Guitars, tagged on March 7, 2013| Leave a Comment »

As I’ve been getting more into playing with modes, there are still times where I sometimes blank; or sometimes, I’m just not “feeling it,” but I have to play a quick solo. In that case, I fall back into the venerable, old minor pentatonic scale. Yeah, it can be pretty boring, but there are a few ways to liven things up. I found some cool videos on YouTube with the same info I learned over the years that has helped me get beyond the monotony.

1. This one is my personal favorite, and something I’ve used A LOT over the years. It’s presented by Scott Henderson. In essence, he demonstrates a way to use the minor pentatonic scale in a modal way.

2. This next one I learned years ago to break out of the “box” patterns and play the minor pentatonic up and down the fretboard.

3. Here are a couple of ideas of playing “outside:”

Of course, knowing the patterns and playing them effectively are two completely different animals. Especially with the pentatonic scale, it is VERY easy to sound like you’re playing a bunch of scales; especially if you play the notes in order and even more so if you always start at the root note (of which I admit is something that took me a long time to break myself). 🙂 Even if you’re playing in the box, you can add chromatic passing notes (as in the blues scale that adds a flat-5), and more importantly, you can break up the monotony simply by doing rhythmic embellishments like playing in groups of triplets and also adding sustained notes to let your solo breath.

I’ve garnered a lot inspiration from studying how Slash plays. Even though he has tons of speed, the thing that I feel sets him apart from other rock guitarists is his melodic expression and especially his use of rhythm in his solos. Here’s Slash playing the theme from The Godfather. When he gets into his improv section, look at/listen for the little nuances he adds to what he’s playing to add depth to his solo. It’s all happening pretty fast, but he doesn’t sound like a wall of sound:

And guess what, he’s mostly in the minor pentatonic scale, but adds some diminished passing notes. Pretty amazing stuff!

Read Full Post »

My Top 5 Guitar-Related Inventions

Posted in Guitars, tagged , on March 3, 2013| 1 Comment »

Unlike that absolutely stupid Rolling Stone article on the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, I’m not going to be an absolutist with my top 5 list of guitar inventions. I’ve actually been thinking about this subject for well over a year, ever since a journalist contacted me asking for what I thought were the top 4. Five’s a better number.

So what did I base my top 5 on? A lot of my ruminations on the subject centered around utility from the perspective of an active player. So what you won’t see in my list are things like the invention of the pickup. To me, that was way too obvious of a choice. Same thing with the invention of the tube amp. The things I wanted to focus on don’t necessarily have widespread impact, though some certainly do. But they’re things that wouldn’t be the first things that come to mind. Now granted, I’m speaking from my own perspective, and I realize that others may have their own. But as I mentioned above, I’ve been thinking about this list for well over a year now, so I didn’t come up with this quickly by any means.

In any case, here’s my list, not necessarily in order:

  • Capo – As humble as it is, the capo has made a HUGE contribution to music, allowing players to play in different keys, using root chord shapes. It has probably saved a lot of hands from carpal tunnel as well. 🙂 And anyone who calls the capo a “cheater” is full of it. Tell that to the likes of James Taylor, Keith Urban, and Keith Richards (yes, I’ve seen him play with one). Not only does a capo allow you to play in different keys using root chords, they ring much differently because of the open strings.
  • Strap Locks – It takes only one time of dropping your axe when it comes off your strap to learn the lesson and get a set of strap locks. ‘Nuff said.
  • Electronic Tuner – Electronic tuners are far more accurate than any ear tuning. I used an old Seiko tuner for years, then moved onto different kinds. I still use my Boss TU-2 on stage, though I use a Peterson strobe tuner in the studio for more accuracy.
  • Attenuator – These have been around for a long time, and I realize that not everyone uses them, but you’d be surprised at some of the big names that put an attenuator to use, like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Steve Miller. To me, getting an attenuator was a godsend when I got into tube amps; not just in the studio, but also on stage, allowing me to kick up the power on my amp to get the preamp AND power tubes saturated but at the same time keeping my volume down to manageable levels. Big game-changer for me.
  • Gig Bag – With the right gig bag, you can transport not just your guitar, but also all your cables, spare strings and accessories. I actually laughed when I thought of this one because out of all the items I chose, this was the one that I completely took for granted. I used to lug a hard shell case to gigs for years. Then about 10 years ago, my wife surprised me with a padded gig bag for my acoustic on my birthday. Now practically all my guitars have both a hard shell case and a gig bag for transport to a gig.

So there’s my top 5 guitar-related inventions. Yeah, they’re pretty pedestrian choices for the most part, except for the attenuator. To tell the truth, I distilled this list down from a lot of things, but in the end, I focused on the most useful things. It wasn’t easy.

Read Full Post »

Slash L Guitars “Katie May:” I Love Surprises

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , on February 28, 2013| 3 Comments »

km1My new guitar, “Katie May,” custom made by Perry Riggs of Slash L Guitars just gave me a VERY pleasant surprise yesterday. While I was researching the root cause of a grounding issue I had over the weekend, I contacted Perry Riggs about the wiring scheme of the guitar and how Katie May was grounded. He sent me a very detailed email, plus a hi-res picture of the control cavity, and also explained that Katie May’s humbuckers were coil-tapped!!!

I know what you’re thinking: How did I NOT know that the ‘buckers weren’t coil-tapped. The reason is that even though Katie May is a custom-built guitar, I didn’t specify anything in the build. However, as I shared with Perry, when I reviewed her, I very well could have specified the guitar because to me at least, it was perfect – almost as if I had specified everything, even the neck dimensions! Talk about a kismet moment!

In any case, I’ve been playing her for the last month or so completely ignorant of the coil taps. And upon finding out about it, of course, I immediately set out to try her out.

Now Perry had said to me in an earlier conversation that the Lollar Imperials didn’t sound too good coil-tapped, so I assumed he didn’t do it. Well, he must’ve worked some magic with the voicing because the single-coil mode tone is fantastic! Here’s a clip I recorded this morning before work. It’s a fingerstyle ditty with the guitar set to the neck pickup:

This was recorded directly plugged into my 1958 Fender Champ with a custom-made tweed cabinet with a 10″ speaker. Sorry for the little hum and crackling in the background, but the amp is showing its age. 🙂

I actually have a funky clip that I recorded with the guitar in middle pickup as well, but I forgot to upload it from my recording workstation. In any case, in single-coil mode, the maple of the through-neck really shows its contribution to the tone, which has a distinct top-end sparkle. When picked, the sound is “snappy,” which is perfect for clean, funky, comping.

So here’s yet another tonal dimension that Katie May offers. I just love surprises!

You gotta check out Slash L Guitars. Perry is just a stellar guy, and people who’ve worked with him just rave about his skills as a luthier. He’s not really well-known, and quite frankly, he’s not in it for the money. He just wants to build great guitars, and as a proud owner of one of them, I can attest to their greatness. Katie May is such a great guitar, I haven’t even touched my Les Pauls since I got her. I know, blasphemy! But at least for right now, she’s got everything I need! 🙂

Read Full Post »

Why Pop Music SUCKS Today in Two Words… Well, Maybe One Word…

Posted in Guitars on February 26, 2013| 4 Comments »

You probably know what they are: Autotune and Compression.

But for me, the overuse of compression is the most heinous offense to pop music; way more so than autotune ever will be. Before I go on, check out this video of Adele singing “Skyfall” at the Oscars this past Sunday:

Did you notice that when she’d the chorus her volume actually went down? That wasn’t just her vocal volume relative to the whole orchestra coming into play; that was compression and a limiter to prevent her volume from going past a certain point. Not to mention it was also a really shitty job of compression and limiting at that. Wrote Rolling Stone about the performance: “Adele’s vocals sounded low in the mix at first, but she turned on the power as her theme song from last year’s James Bond film built to a crashing finale.”

BULLSHIT!
The song as a whole was a mushy, over-produced disaster that was – at least to me – an absolute insult to one of the true power-voices in pop today. I’m not really a fan of Adele, but if I were her and I listened to that performance after the fact, I’d be pissed!
When I hear a production like that, I immediately think that the sound engineer was simply playing god. But it’s not just this particular performance. Almost all the pop songs we hear today are simply solid walls of sound with no dynamics. It’s an assault on the ears!
Admittedly, most of the public just can’t tell the difference because a lot of this has to do with the compression that comes along with MP3s. Then on top of that, you don’t hear any of the big names speaking out against this lack of dynamics. It’s uncanny and inexplicable, really.
But then again, with the music industry execs, things like dynamics and delivering a quality product don’t seem to matter to them. They’re just looking for catchy tunes that will fill their pockets. Why would they care about their packaging as long as the stuff sells, right?
To me it’s a damn shame.
For all you aspiring sound engineers out there: It’s easy to balance a mix by throwing a lot of compression and limiters on it. It requires absolutely no thought, and it certainly makes your life easier. But I think the truest testament to your skill would be to engineer a dynamic mix where you have to constantly work. I’ve observed lots of front-of-house guys over the years. Most just sit on their asses and make an occasional tweak. But the best ones I’ve seen are the ones who have their hands on the controls all the time, working the dynamics, and the results they produce are spectacular. So who do you want to be? Lazy asshole or freakin’ audio wizard? It takes a lot more effort to be a wizard…

Read Full Post »

Gear Review: The Ampendage Amp Stand

Posted in Guitars, tagged , on February 22, 2013| 5 Comments »

ampendage2 Honestly, an amp stand is a fairly utilitarian, pedestrian accessory. But why settle for purely functional when you can look good at the same time? If the opportunity exists, there’s no reason not to add some style to function. The Ampendage Amp Stand gives you the best of both worlds!

A couple of weeks ago, I got an email out of the blue from Ampendage Industries, asking if I’d like to get a sample of one of their amp stands. I read through it quickly, but I was mired in a deadline for work, so I let it drop for a few days. When I finally could come up for air, I checked out their site and… came away impressed. Very impressed.

I’ve got amp stands, but they’re those metal monstrosities that look like the tines of a forklift. What impressed me about The Ampendage when I went to the site was that it looked like furniture! So I quickly replied to Kevin (who contacted me in the first place), apologized for the tardiness of my reply. He replied a few days later, and lo and behold, the stand arrived a couple of days ago.

I would’ve actually had the amp stand assembled earlier than today but the box that it arrived in is pretty small: About a foot and a half by a foot and about two inches deep, and the delivery guy had stuck the box in an organic veggie box that was sitting on my porch for the veggie folks to pick up. I actually saw the Ampendage box sitting in there, but thought my wife had put it out for recycling. She was the one to tell me that it was a delivery for me. Oy-vay!

In any case, I brought it in this morning, and assembled it in all of 15 minutes. Super-easy to assemble, and they include an Allen wrench for the conformant screws used for assembly. All you need is a Phillips for the four screws that attach the rubber feet to the bottom.

ampendage1I gotta tell you: This thing is gorgeous! I thought they were going to send me one of their black, MDF models, but in lieu of that, they sent me the teak model, which is solid hardwood! Damn! I love teak! It has a great grain, it’s very durable, and best of all, it’s very light. The stand itself weighs just less than 8lbs (~3.5 kg for you metric folks), so lugging it to gigs will not be a problem.

For those of you who’ve never used an amp stand, I’ve them to be a must-have on stage. Yes, they do provide better sound projection by leaning the amp back a few degrees – which also helps hearing your amp better on stage, but more importantly, they eliminate ground-effect that really screws up bass frequencies.

I’ll be gigging with this all weekend. I’m pretty stoked about it, and I’m sure my band mates will want to get one for themselves. 🙂 But on the other hand, I may just keep this in my living room where I always have one of my amps for quiet practicing. It actually goes with the furniture in there. It’s really a lovely piece, and the fact that it looks like furniture makes it very tasteful indeed to place there.

In any case, I saved mentioning price until the end because I didn’t want people to dismiss it out of hand because of price. The basic, MDF model costs $59.95. Not a bad price. The hardwood models (maple or teak) cost $89.95. Before you say, “Ouch!” let me say that these are solid hardwood and they’re stained and finished like furniture. Click on the picture on the right side. It’s absolutely gorgeous. If that’s not your thing, that’s cool, but as for me, I like nice, shiny things. Sold!

5 Tone Bones - Gear has stellar performance, value, and quality. This is definitely top of the class, best of breed, and it's a no-brainer to add this to your gear lineup!

 

 

For more information, go to The Ampendage site!

Read Full Post »

If You’re In Or Near Indianapolis, Indiana, Check Out the Jimi Hendrix/Charlie Christian Exhibit at the Eiteljorg Museum

Posted in Guitars on February 20, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I love these obscure emails that I get from out of left field! 🙂 Got a press release from a museum I’ve never heard of this morning, but it really intrigued me because it had to do with Jimi, one of my first electric guitar influences along with Clapton and Frampton. Here’s the press release:

——-

JIMI HENDRIX AND CHARLIE CHRISTIAN AT THE EITELJORG MUSEUM
Guitars! exhibit will showcase instruments played by African-American guitar legends

Indianapolis, IN – Guitars played by two African-American men, whose talent made a revolutionary impact on the way we hear music, will be displayed during the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art’s Guitars! Roundups to Rockers exhibit. The show runs March 9 – August 4, 2013. Among the more than 100 guitars on exhibit are instruments played by legendary guitar god Jimi Hendrix and Charlie Christian, who was the first to make the guitar a lead band instrument.

Jimi Hendrix – Gibson Les Paul custom guitar and remains of a Sunburst Fender Stratocaster
Hendrix is arguably the most influential electric guitarist in the world. But before he rose to greatness, he was asked by some Seattle band leaders to leave the stage. Many audiences were turned off by his playing style. Despite early setbacks, Hendrix persevered to become one of the greatest rock guitarists of all time.  He died in 1970.

Charlie Christian – Gibson ES-250 guitar, played with Benny Goodman
Christian is credited with being the first performer to make the guitar a lead band instrument. He took the world by storm when he joined Benny Goodman’s combo in 1939.  He was brought down by tuberculosis three years later.  His influences in many genres last even to today.  Among those he inspired are Wes Montgomery, George Benson, Chuck Berry and Jerry Garcia.

Both Hendrix and Christian died in their 20s. But their contributions to the music world live on. See their instruments, learn their stories, hear their gifts at the Eiteljorg!

Other guitar greats, honored in our gallery, include Roy Rogers, Kurt Cobain, Woody Guthrie, George Harrison, Buddy Holly, Lowell Fulson, Les Paul and many more.  Guitars!, presented by Eli Lilly and Company, will also include interactive content, guitar playing lessons and performances by local and national recording artists.

For more information about Guitars!, or to book an interview/media tour please contact public relations manager DeShong Perry, dperry@eiteljorg.com and (317) 275-1352.

The Eiteljorg Museum seeks to inspire an appreciation and understanding of the art, history and cultures of the American West and the indigenous peoples of North America. Through its Project New Moon campaign, the museum is attracting new audiences with dynamic new interpretations of its mission. The museum is located in Downtown Indianapolis’ White River State Park. For general information about the museum and to learn more about exhibits and events, call (317) 636-WEST (9378) or visit http://www.eiteljorg.org.

——-

Being that it’s Black History Month, my eldest son is half-black, and my third son is currently on a trip throughout the South on a Civil Rights History tour, I thought it appropriate to show my support by plugging this. But moreover, take away Jimi Hendrix, and you still have a plethora of black musicians who paved the way for rock and roll. Without the blues, without that piece of American history, we’d be nowhere with respect to the rock and roll we all love and enjoy.

But it’s sobering to think that that music arose out of one of the ugliest periods of our great nation. It’s not something we think about too much, but we should.

In any case, if you’re in or around the Indianapolis area, check out this exhibit! Myself, I’d love to see that Les Paul!

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »