Guitar Gear

I realized that I hadn’t written a new year’s greeting in a LONG time; we’re talking years. So I thought it would be a good idea to wish everyone a good and prosperous coming year, not necessarily filled with money and new gear – though those are always good – but abundance of joy and fun and family or whatever truly fulfills you.

As far as gear is concerned, this was a good year for gear for me. I went from not really getting anything new for several years, to scoring some great gear.

Around mid-year, I decided to finally fix up my Godin Artist ST. This made me a little nervous because I had never had a guitar with a Floyd Rose on it. And I’m not really a tremolo guy in the first place, so I did a bit of work to lock it down. I think I did a pretty good job, but I was more happy that I didn’t break the damn thing!

Next up came my beloved Gibson J-45 Avant Garde Walnut Burst. For me, this was a dream come true guitar. I’ve wanted a J-45 for a long time and that this guitar was constructed of sustainable materials yet has all that J-45 mojo that I fell in love with year ago… Wow! I’ve been loving it!

Next came my BOSS Katana Artist back in August. After I gave my Katana 50 to my youngest son for his birthday, I needed a new, versatile amp that I could use for performance and silent recording (though I still use IRs with my tube amps).

The Katana Artist is the first amp I’ve had that I could use with both acoustic and electric guitar. It has a big sound and the Waza Craft speaker and bigger cabinet make the tone so deep and smooth.

For me versatility is of utmost importance. Not just because I’m being cheap but because I play so many styles of music I need to have gear that is flexible enough to play those styles. Sure, in the past, I’ve had different rigs for different kinds of gigs, but I’m also at that point in my life where I just want grab and go. I don’t really spend a lot of time any longer obsessing over every subtle nuance of every single component in my rig.

To that end, when I recently rediscovered the Taylor T5 and saw the T5z in action, I knew that I had to evaluate it. My thought was that if it worked as advertised, I’d have flexibility in both my amp and my guitar. It did not disappoint, so I got it just a couple of weeks ago and haven’t had a smidgen of buyer’s remorse.

In other notable gear news, I went completely digital with my sheet music. I had already started doing that for my solo acoustic gigs with my old iPad, but when I replaced that with my Surface Pro, I decided to do all my gigs digitally. It has been a real boon for my church gig, and has made sharing music with my other band members so very easy. It’s also a lot greener as I don’t print many copies any longer.

Even for Christmas Eve Mass where I’d print out several stacks of paper to distribute to participants, this time, I notified everyone to either print out their own copy or download the PDF and use a tablet. My daughters did just that, and it made it so easy for them.

Amazingly enough, I only purchased one pedal this year and that was my T-Rex Quint Machine which is an octave up/down and perfect fifth generator. I love that little pedal and use it to give me a 12-string sound when I need it, or lay down bass lines for looping. Pretty cool stuff!

And finally, after years of great use, I had to replace my trusty Fishman SA220 SoloAmp that I’ve been playing through for years after it started making some funny noises and started buzzing. I think I played over 1000 gigs with it, lugging it all over Northern California!

I replaced it with the incredible JBL Eon One. Talk about having close to a hi-fi sound in a PA. I’ve gigged with it several times since I’ve had it, and while I’m not gigging with it, I play my Spotify lists through it at home. It was great for the holiday get-togethers we had this Christmas season.

Yeah, this year has been a great year for gear. I don’t anticipate any more major purchase in the near future – sheesh! I’m not broke, but I’m pretty satisfied as far as gear is concerned!

ROCK ON!

Let me qualify before I go on: I actually don’t care if a guitar is handmade or if the wood is carved by a machine. All I care about is that the guitar plays and sounds good. I’m not going to advocate one over the other.

The other day, I was on an online forum where there was this HUGE debate about handmade guitars vs. CNC. The handmade proponents all talked about “soul” and “mojo,” while the CNC proponents talked about consistency and speed.

The reason I call this a “dumb” debate is that many people think that a CNC is just a set-it-and-forget-it appliance. You press a button and out pops a finished guitar. It’s a tool. And make no bones about it, despite parts being cut by a computer-controlled machine with a CNC, the finish and assembly of pretty much all high-end guitars are done by hand.

Personally, as I mentioned at the top of this entry, I don’t care. If a guitar sounds good and plays good, then it is good – at least to me.

I know, I’ll probably piss some people off – especially the ones who swear by getting nothing but handmade guitars. Hey man, if that’s what does it for you, then go for it! For me at least, I’m much more utilitarian with my approach to gear. I’ve got to be able to gig with it and record with it. A guitar’s soul is how I connect with it.

It can be a cheapo guitar like my original Yamaha FG-335 or my $200 Squier Classic Vibe Tele. If I can make music with it, my thought is simply this: Lemme play it.

When I purchased my Gibson J-45 Avant Garde Walnut Burst earlier this year, a huge factor in my buying decision was that it was constructed of sustainable material. The body is made of walnut, the top is Sitka spruce from a sustainable source, the neck is maple and the fret board and bridge are made of Richlite.

While sustainability and socially responsible manufacturing has been in the back of my mind for years, it wasn’t until I did my research on the J-45 that it really hit home with me.

Gibson has gotten in a lot of trouble over this in years past and I’m glad that they’re finally “getting it.” Their situation is kind of like Apple who was sourcing components from Chinese manufacturers whose factory conditions and production waste were abysmal and treated their workers extremely poorly.

Apple got busted – more from bad PR than anything else – and now takes an active role in ensuring their manufacturing partners treat their workers well and that their manufacturing is more environmentally safe, however dubious the rules are in China, considering the pollution in that country.

What crossed my mind is that I’m at that stage in life where I have the means to buy pretty much any guitar I want and pretty much any time I want. But just because I have the means to do so, doesn’t mean that I can be indiscriminate about how and where the materials that go into the guitars I buy come from.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I’m being a tree-hugger. But I strongly believe that I as a consumer have a responsibility to the planet and its people, and where I can and as much as I can be aware, apply my purchasing power to companies that not just believe in but actively practice socially and environmentally responsible manufacturing. I will not support a gear company who doesn’t have policies in place that respect our planet and its people.

I applied that thinking to my recent purchase of my Taylor T5z. But I didn’t have to dig too deep with respect to Taylor’s sustainability practices and social responsibility because I’ve been well-aware of Bob Taylor’s practices with respect to these issues. Though I’ve never been a big fan of the Taylor sound, I nonetheless have had a deep respect for how Taylor sources its wood, ensuring that it comes from sustainable sources and is ethically and legally sourced.

More impressive with Taylor guitars is their “Ebony Project.” Taylor purchased an ebony sawmill in Cameroon in an effort to ensure that their ebony is sourced sustainably and that it is processed ethically and legally, following both Camerooninan and US laws.

Taylor has created a video series around their Ebony Project. The introductory message is below:

Check out the rest of the Ebony Project series here.

Other guitar manufacturers have also gotten into the act, and that’s a good thing.

But as far as consumers are concerned, yes, buying a guitar is like voting. Your personal vote may not count for much. But thousands of votes together have an impact. The same goes with buying gear. My refusal to buy a guitar from a company that doesn’t have environmentally and socially responsible practices in place may not have much of an impact. But maybe by sharing this can raise people’s awareness, and at least create a little bit of a ripple in the vast waters of consumerism.

I know, I know… When I get excited about some gear, I’m like a pit bull that won’t let go. But this T5z has gotten me real excited! So excited that I test-drove it today at Guitar Center, and walked out of the store with one!

I went into the shop specifically to test-drive the guitar. I wasn’t intending to buy it, but after two hours of playing, I pulled the trigger. I wasn’t going to leave the store without one in hand. It really is that good.

The standout feature of the T5z from the beginning is its versatility. The premise of the guitar when it was first released was that it could handle both acoustic and electric duties.

Unfortunately, though I loved the prospect of a dual-solution guitar, I had a real problem with it in that I felt the acoustic setting was not acoustic enough, and the electric side wasn’t electric enough. The acoustic setting was kind of lifeless in the amps I played it through, and the electric settings, while serviceable, were a bit uninspiring, and I about said as much in my original review 12 years ago.

But 12 years later, my opinion has completely changed. The acoustic sound is very acoustic and the electric sound is electric. It’ll never replace the sound of my Les Paul or my J45 – those sounds are distinct – but it’s not meant to do that. This guitar is meant to get you into the genre that you’re playing. Even though I just got it, I can see that it is now the most versatile performance guitar I have.

And for me as a worship leader, it checks off all the boxes for what I need. My band plays a mixture of contemporary Christian and more old-school Catholic folk stuff, and having a guitar that can cover the range is important to me. The T5z fits that bill perfectly!

And that brings me to the T5z being the perfect complement for my BOSS Katana Artist.

Since I’ve gotten my Artist, when I’ve had to play a set where I need both acoustic and electric, I’ve brought two guitars. I have my Artist banks set up to accommodate both electric and acoustic. When I need to play an acoustic song, I unplug my Les Paul, switch banks, then plug in my acoustic. But with the T5z, I just need to switch banks and adjust the volume knob on the guitar.

But the even cooler thing is that I now can do that mid-song. This is going to open up all sorts of possibilities for me.

For solo gigs, I can’t wait to use the T5z through a looper. I can do the foundation track on the acoustic setting, then do solos on an electric setting. Granted, I’ll have to adjust my rig a bit and I think I’ll be getting something like a Strymon Iridium to handle those electric duties. I tell you, I can’t wait to dive into what this guitar can do!

Update 12/25/2019

As one of my regular gigs is playing at church, I used the T5z with my Katana Artist yesterday for Christmas Eve services. I had spent about an hour prior to going to the church setting up my acoustic and electric banks. I was going to have a full band, so I needed to get my sound dialed in.

To make a long story short, the T5z worked spectacularly with the Katana Artist as I was both hoping and expecting. I did the traditional Christmas hymns in Acoustic mode, but for the more contemporary stuff we did, I was able to switch between Acoustic and Electric with a little dirt then back again mid-song!

The ease of which I was able to do this – it was so natural. Just a simple button press on the GA-FC to switch banks, then move the pickup selector to an electric position. It confirms my belief that the T5z is the perfect guitar for the Katana.

Et tu, Brute? Or latin for WTF?!!!

Yeah, when the T5 first came out, I was NOT a fan. I didn’t think it was a bad guitar, but I just didn’t get it, and honestly, I wasn’t that impressed with the electronics. Though I knew it wasn’t a modeling guitar, it just kind of felt like a modeling guitar to me.

Even after I played it at a shop through several amps – and really, I did try to like it – I just couldn’t bond with it. That was over 10 years ago.

And over the years, I don’t think I ever saw a major artist using it. The people who loved the T5 loved it, and though they might have been regular players like myself, I’d never once seen a big name using one. Fast-forward to today, and I just saw one of my favorite guitarists, Eric Rachmany, playing a T5z Classic – in a concert! I was literally no more than 20 feet away from him and there was no mistaking that what he and his partner were playing were T5’s.

After the concert, I did a little research on the T5, and it looks as if Eric was playing a T5z Classic Mahogany. The T5z has a smaller body than the traditional T5, and has a scale length that is similar to a Les Paul. I was blown away by the sound. I need get one of these – or at least test drive one.

Back when I first test drove the T5, I felt the electronics were a little off. But all things evolve and I’m sure Taylor has put some work into it. Maybe they improved the body sensor. Maybe they updated the internal circuitry. But whatever they did, they definitely got it right.

So here I am. I’ve never really been that much of a Taylor fan; and especially NOT a T5 fan, and I want one of these. I really love the plain, natural look of the Classic Mahogany, and it’s at a great price of $1899. But the Custom K koa top looks great with the binding. That’s also twice as much, so I don’t know what that will get me. But the Classic has a nice, warm sound that has a bit of a high-end jangle. It’s very nice.

Yeah… it’s definitely time to check this one out…

Here’s an Anderton’s video that kind of took it over the top for me:

Last night, I attended a GREAT show featuring Eric Rachmany and Kyle Hearn of Rebelution. This is an annual tour that Eric puts on where all the proceeds go to charity. But it’s special when he comes to San Francisco because that’s his home town, so there seems to be an extra intimacy and vulnerability that he displays that’s different from his normal Rebelution shows.

Both Eric and Kyle have used Taylor acoustic guitars exclusively, though for as long as I’ve followed Rebelution, Eric has played an OM-size regular acoustic. One thing that has set Rebelution apart – at least for me – has been their acoustic sound. Eric, then later Kyle, both have had incredibly natural tone with their amplified sound with none of that piezo quackiness that I have found with a lot of Taylors. And having seen Rebelution a bunch of times, I came to realize that Eric really does care about his acoustic sound. So it was a HUGE surprise last night to see the roadies place T5s on the stage.

But I have to say that once Eric and Kyle started to play, I was blown away by the sound! It was SO natural and huge! I then realized that electronics have come a LONG WAY in twelve years. Taylor certainly improved the electronics of the T5, plus, with all the great processors on the market now, dialing in a great sound is pretty easy.

When the T5 first came out twelve years ago, I didn’t have much of a warm and fuzzy about it. Moreover, I never saw any major artist playing one, so while I didn’t brush it off, I didn’t really consider it a serious contender to add to my stable.

But after last night, I’ve resolved that I have to test out a newer model. After looking at the pictures I took last night, it looks like Eric and Kyle were both playing a T5z Classic. That’s the basic mahogany version with no binding. It’s a gorgeous guitar – even my wife commented on how nice the guitars looked on stage.

But the sound! OH! The sound! It was big, thick, natural, and full of that sweet mojo that’s distinctly Taylor. I’ll know more once I can get my hands on one to test it, but suffice it to say that I’ve now changed my tune about the T5. It’s certainly a guitar that I could see myself playing.

Up until recently, you had two options in the digital modeling world: A full-blown modeling amp (BOSS Katana, Fender ToneMaster, etc.) or, a dedicated, self-contained amp sim and cab unit like the Helix, AxeFX, or Kemper. If you’ve read this blog as of late, I’ve personally gone the full-blown digital amp direction. I couldn’t be happier with how it works for me for live performances. And it works great in the studio as well.

But in my last recording session, I thought to myself that it would be great to have a compact, standalone unit that I could just plug into my interface and record; a middle ground between full-blown amp and a self-contained unit. One could argue that that could easily be accomplished by a Helix or AxeFx. No argument there. But what has kept me from going that route is the complexity of those units. I abhor deep tweaking. For me, I just want to twiddle a few knobs and be done with it. I want to get to making music.

And maybe the Iridium is the answer to that. With only six knobs and two three-way switches, giving me access to three different amp models, it could very well be that middle ground.

Granted it has much more in common with the Helix-like units being a self-contained unit itself. And though you can load your own IRs into it, you can’t do much more than that, whereas with the Helix and the like, you can affect everything in your virtual signal chain. For some, that’s a panacea for all their guitar sound needs. But for others like me who just want something basic, the Iridium seems to be a much better fit.

As for live use, at least as far as I’m concerned, I don’t know if it’s something I’d use live on a regular basis, though there’s one particular venue where I have an FOH tech that can send my guitar sound back to me where it would be useful. Where I know that I’d get the most use out of this is for recording.

I shared this video on my post about Keven Eknes and it demonstrates just how good the Iridium can sound plugged directly into an interface:

Granted, that dude is an absolutely killer player. But according to him, he just went direct into his interface. Reverb and delay were added in software.

As with all Strymon products, they don’t come cheap. At $399, it’s definitely a serious investment, which unfortunately is a limiting factor for me. Whether or not I decide to make the investment is going to depend heavily on being able to demo the unit to see if it works for me. Luckily, I know a few people who are considering getting this so hopefully I’ll be able to try it out.