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Posts Tagged ‘guitar’

My Next Guitar? :) Probably not for awhile… But I’m hoping…

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 1, 2011| 4 Comments »

I’ve had this secret desire to own a Rick Turner Model 1 for a long time, though I never really shared that desire with anyone. For the past few years, my focus on gear acquisition has been on electric guitars and amps, with the occasional acoustic thrown in. But a Rick Turner guitar has always been in the back of my mind.

So what originally led me to this? Well, one guy in my church band plays one, and another is having one built for him right now. My latest conversations with them have led me to consider having one built.

If you’re not familiar with Rick Turner guitars, all you need to do is turn to Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac. He has been playing a Model 1 (probably a customized version of it) for years. To me, this is the answer to the hybrid guitar; much more so than the Taylor Tx series. Lindsey uses it for both acoustic and electric, and having heard the guitar live, it does both fantastically well!

One of my concerns about hybrids has always been what I feel is the compromise sound, and I’ve always been a bit disappointed in the electric tones of hybrids. But as Rick’s pedigree includes a stint with Gibson development, he certainly gets the electric part. And amazingly, with the peizo pickup, the acoustic tones when plugged in are incredibly natural sounding.

My buddy’s guitar is going to cost about $2850 before tax for a custom build, if I remember correctly. I don’t have that kind of cash on hand right now, but considering the price and what he’s getting for it (he’s using some exotic woods), that’s not bad at all! My personal taste runs to the standard mahogany, so I’ll see what that’ll cost me. Either way, it looks like I’ll be saving my pennies for awhile. 🙂

Anyway, here’s a video of a Lindsey Buckingham solo as he plays his Model 1:

Update: Got a price list for the Model 1. I’ll be waiting for awhile, but I think the wait will be worth it.

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Would You Have Your Guitar Aged?

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , on January 1, 2011| 6 Comments »

My buddy, Jeff Aragaki is totally into the relic thing. and has several guitars that have been aged. He even went so far as to take a brand new R9 (’59 Les Paul Reissue) and rough out the gloss finish! Mind you, he’s a very close friend, and I don’t begrudge what he did to an absolutely fine-working guitar! And I know, I’ve brought up this subject before, asking the question: Do you get the relic thing?

I don’t get it, but there are many people who do, and there are many people who would pay top-dollar for a relic job. For instance, this morning, Jeff sent me this eBay link to a Bill Nash aged Les Paul Standard. The seller is asking $4200 for the guitar. I personally wouldn’t pay that but I’m sure that people who are into aged guitars woudn’t balk at the price, considering the work Bill Nash puts into the process of aging; and there are many who would send their guitars out to Nash or RS Guitar Works to have their guitars aged.

For me, based upon the process description that was provided by the seller, I’d send Bill one of my Les Pauls to have the pickups matched and the frets dressed. I especially like what he does with the neck tone pot, providing a coil tapping pot. After 8, the pot will tap the neck pickup coil. Very cool. But this is the extent of the work that I’d have done. Don’t mess with my finish; don’t apply acid to my hardware. Give me my nice, shiny, guitar!

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Great Series on Tube Amps

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on December 31, 2010| 2 Comments »

I was answering a comment on one of my videos this morning on YouTube, when I came across a great series on understanding tube amps posted by Old Tone Zone (http://www.oldtonezone.com). It’s a 7-part series, and goes through various features of tube amps. Here’s the first video in the series. If you want to view it with the playlist, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc-78AKIo5A&feature=BF&list=PL2D0A1CC3FC96F1CA&index=1.

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Review: Sebago Sound Double Trouble 100 Amplifier

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 28, 2010| 4 Comments »

I finally got some time to post my very first full video review (the Dumble series doesn’t really count because it wasn’t really a review, but more of a demo). So here, I present to you the Sebago Sound Double Trouble 100, an 100 Watt amplifier from a newcomer to the amp business and another entry in the very popular Dumble-style amp genre.

Intro and Feature Walkthrough

Dirty Tone (Master Volume)

Clean Tone and Wrapup

Overall Impression

As I mentioned in the last video segment, I’m giving the amp a 4.5. Tone-wise, it’s a fantastic amp, but personally, I’m just not in pre-amp-only distortion, and like to have the power amp side working in conjunction with the pre-amp side. It’s just a lot beefier and dramatic to me. Cranked up like this, the amp performs wonderfully; and I especially dig using the boost as it seems to add even more clarity and note separation.

For more information on these great amps, check out the Sebago Sound website!

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Another Aracom PRX150 Attenuator Demo – AWESOME!!!

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on December 27, 2010| 1 Comment »

I swear by my Aracom attenuator as do many others, and it’s great to see people demonstrating it. This demo comes from a guy in Italy who can cop Angus Young like no other. This dude rocks the house and has several vintage amps and guitars. He’s not just a collector, he’s a bonafide player!

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Song: 80’s Punk Angels We Have Heard On High

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , on December 24, 2010| 3 Comments »

My church bandmates were a bit tired of this bluegrass-style “Joy to the World” that we’ve done for the past few years at Christmas Mass, and they asked if we could do a new song. Well… in keeping with our much more straight-ahead rock style, I came up with an 80’s punk version of Angels We Have Heard On High. 🙂 That’ll wake everyone up!

By the way, the guitar (my R8 Les Paul) was recorded in the bridge position through the AWESOME VHT Special 6. I used a 1 X 12 external speaker cab loaded with a Jensen Jet Falcon. The amp was cranked, in the high input, high output, with the booster engaged! HA! It has a much bigger sound than its 6 Watts! It was actually pretty loud in my studio!

Also, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

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Quick Review: Electro-Harmonix Freeze

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 22, 2010| 4 Comments »

A couple of weeks ago, I did a gear find announcement about the new EH Freeze pedal that essentially takes what you’re playing such as a chord or note and freezes it. The video demonstration was particularly awesome, and very intriguing. Intriguing enough to where I needed to check it out. So I did, and…

I’d rather use a looper. 🙂 The premise is great: Strum a chord, or pick a note, press and hold the button, and what you just strummed is held in place.

When I first saw the video, I was thinking that it would be great for my solo acoustic gigs where I could solo over the frozen chord. But after playing around with the pedal, I realized that I like soloing over live loops than just a single chord. No doubt, the pedal offers some interesting possibilities.

One thing that I found was really cool was using the latch mode while playing chord progressions. In latch, freeze is always on, and each time you press the button the pedal freezes what you’re playing at the time. With chord progressions, it’s cool because it really helps fill the space, but the problem for me – and probably  most players – is that I don’t do just a straight strum. I palm mute, I tap the strings, I pick out bass lines and such, and this is where it’s really tough to use this pedal.

Interestingly enough, lots of bass players have picked up this pedal. For bass, it makes lots of sense because you’re mostly playing single notes at a time. But if you slap or play two- or three- note chords like my bassist does, I think the pedal would get limited usage.

I suppose you could use it to get infinite sustain, but for that, I’d rather use something like the Pigtronix compressor/sustainer. While it won’t give me infinite sustain, it’ll give me enough for my needs. 🙂

So the verdict? I like the pedal, but not enough to actually put it in my chain. Quality-wise, it’s built solidly and that’s not an issue. I think for me, it would get very limited usage, and while I can get it for around $100, there are other things I’d rather use $100 for…

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The Guitar That Saved Rock N’ Roll (read: The Guitar That Saved Gibson’s Ass)

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on December 21, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Slash Appetite for Destruction Limited Edition Les PaulI subscribe to Gibson tweets and Facebook postings, and yesterday I got an update about three new Gibson Custom Shop Les Pauls that Gibson is releasing. One of these is yet another Slash Appetite for Destruction. Gibson came out with one of these earlier this year that retails for around $4000. It’s a nice guitar in honey finish. This latest addition comes in two flavors – VOS and Aged – and is signed by Slash, with only 100 being made by the Custom Shop. Here’s Gibson’s blurb:

Slash Appetite For Destruction
Working hard to record Guns N’ Roses’ 1987 debut, Appetite for Destruction, Slash was experiencing nothing but frustration trying to achieve the tones he was seeking with a range of contemporary electric guitars he was using. Then someone handed him a reissue-style Les Paul Standard, and that was all she wrote. With this legendary rock machine in hand, Slash laid down the deadliest rock riffs of the decade—propelling songs like “Paradise City”, “Sweet Child O’ Mine”, and “Welcome to the Jungle”—and fired up the biggest-selling debut album of all time in the process.

Slash has been a devoted Les Paul player ever since, throughout his years with Guns N’ Roses and later with Slash’s Snakepit and Velvet Revolver. He has taken a number of Gibson Signature models on the road, and owned and recorded with near-priceless vintage late ’50s ’Bursts. To honor his achievements on the instrument, Gibson’s Custom Shop introduces the Slash “Appetite for Destruction” Les Paul, a guitar made in the image of the axe that launched a thousand riffs.

This one has an MSRP of $9,174 for the VOS and $12,468 for the Aged edition. You can read the details here, in the article entitled “The Guitar That Saved Rock N’ Roll;” hence the title of this article.

I’m sure collectors will get excited by this, and having a couple of Custom Shop guitars myself, I don’t doubt the quality of workmanship that went into producing the guitar. But I am scratching my chin about any of the Appetite for Destruction guitars, and also mildly chuckling. Why? The AFD guitar is a replica of a replica!!! Again, that is not to say that the guitar is bad; in fact, it apparently most closely matches the specs and more importantly the tone of the original guitar as Slash remembers it. Plus, if people are big enough fans to buy the guitar, I say definitely go for it!

By the way, for a more detailed article describing that original replica, you can read it at Premier Guitar! It’s definitely worth the read.

I don’t see these guitars as a real negative against Gibson. I think the fact that Slash played a replica on the album (and subsequent tours), is the ultimate compliment to Gibson. Be that as it may, I still find it amusing that it’s a replica of a replica, and that it took a replica to drive Gibson produce a guitar of this caliber.

As for the AFD guitar “saving rock n’ roll,” let’s be honest: That original replica probably saved Gibson’s ass, as the company’s sales at the time were apparently languishing with all the hair metal and glam rockers turning to Strats, Charvels and Jacksons. Plus, it is well-noted that Les Pauls of the era had some huge quality issues; all serving to draw players away. That Slash found his tone in a Les Paul, and in turn drew in a huge fan base not just to the music, but to Les Paul guitars was a major coup for Gibson.

It’s great that Gibson recognized the importance of that guitar by creating its own replica of it. It’s the implied gratitude of “Thank you for saving our asses!”

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Gibson Les Paul: Love It or Hate it!

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , on December 20, 2010| 10 Comments »

No, I’m not taking a poll. But I do have to say that people are passionate about Les Pauls on either side of the fence. The haters REALLY hate them, and the lovers REALLY love them. I’m one of the lovers; always have been. But it wasn’t until recently that I could actually afford one. Yeah, I know, I could’ve gotten a Les Paul Studio for a great price, but for me, a REAL Les Paul is a Standard or Custom, and they don’t come cheap.

Most haters’ problems that I’ve read about have to do with the high price Gibson charges for these guitars; and they all point to the fact that the LP requires a high price to pay when there have been known quality issues. I’ll give them that. There were indeed quality issues back in the 90’s, but I think those issues are less of a problem now. I’ve personally examined a good many in the last few years, and haven’t seen any quality problems with the ones I’ve played.

The lovers on the other hand, love the Les Paul for a variety of reasons. For me, there’s a certain magic in the tone and feel of a Les Paul that I just can’t describe. And since I got my R8 (’58 Standard Reissue) and ’59 Replica, those are pretty much all I’ve been playing, with the exception of my Yamaha acoustic when I do my solo acoustic gigs. But in the studio or when I’m playing with my band, I go to my Les Pauls. Just can’t get enough of ’em.

Admittedly though, I was a hater, and it was an unreasonable hate. I couldn’t believe how much those guitar were! The prices were on par with boutique guitars. I just couldn’t understand it! I paid less than that for Goldie, my custom Saint Guitar Goldtop! But then I met Jeff Aragaki who is a Les Paul collector, and that completely turned my world upside-down. As they say, information is power, and Jeff was loaded with information about Les Pauls, especially how to get them for much more reasonable prices than retail. And armed with that information, I was able to procure my R8 and ’59 Replica for under $2000 each.

But besides price, I was also a bit intimidated by Les Pauls. After all, at least to me, those are the guitars that defined the sound of rock and roll for me. Part of me didn’t feel “worthy” to play a Les Paul, so I told myself I hated them. But Aragaki came to the rescue again, and had me play several of his LP’s, including a ’53 that he had upgraded to ’57 specs. Needless to say, I fell in love, and now I’m hooked on Les Pauls.

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Gear Find: Pigtronix Aria – Overdrive? Distortion? Fuzz? No! It’s Disnortion!

Posted in distortion, GAS, gear, gear find, guitar effects, guitar gear, guitar pedals, overdrive, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on December 17, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I usually keep up on new stuff, but the Aria has been around for about a year now. Can’t believe I missed it! In any case, I just spoke with Dave Koltai of Pigtronix, and he said the Aria was the result of releasing a product with no marketing. I take it that Dave is one of those back-room geek dudes who come up with lots of amazing shit, then just put it out there. 🙂 Actually, after speaking with him, he’s a really cool guy, and it’s great to meet someone who has a passion for what they do, and that was clear that he has a passion for creating great pedals.

I’ve known about Pigtronix for quite awhile, but it wasn’t until I got the press release on the Keymaster and shared it, that I started looking in on Pigtronix’s product line. They’ve got an impressive array of pedals. The one that I’m really keeping an eye on is the Philosopher King pedal, which is a compressor/sustainer, grit, and envelope filter. Have to save my pennies up for that one, but it’s definitely something I’d like to add to my board. But more to the immediate, I also came across the Aria Disnortion pedal, and that’s what this post is about…

I love dirt pedals! I’ve got a bunch of ’em, and for some reason, I just can’t get enough of ’em (I know… I say that a lot, but it’s true). Each one that I have has a different character, and they rotate on my board with seeming regularity as I get the in the mood for different tones now and then. As of late, I’ve really been into more transparent overdrives and boost, as I love the natural sound of my amps when overdriven, and the Aria definitely seems to fit the bill.

Now with respect to transparency, let’s face it, nothing is transparent. Everything you put on your board will change your tone. But what I tend to look for – especially in dirt pedals – is that they don’t take anything away, ESPECIALLY dynamics and and note separation. Some pedals I’ve tried in the past sound pretty decent and have lots of dynamics, but at high gain levels, lose clarity and note separation. While I’m not a speed demon on the fretboard by any stretch of the imagination, I do have more of a legato style of playing where I play several notes in one complete phrase which I’ll end with a bend or sustain, depending upon what I’m playing. So note separation is VERY important to me. There’s nothing worse than playing a well thought out phrase, only to lose it in a mush. From what I’ve heard from the demonstrations by Peter Thorn and Andy at Pro Guitar Shops, even at high gain settings, the pedal retains note separation. That’s a huge plus!

Another plus of this pedal that I can see is the 3-band active EQ that provide 12dB of cut or boost to really shape your tone. The gain knob will give you clean boost to fuzz, which makes this an incredibly versatile dirt pedal. This ain’t no one-trick-pony; that’s fo sho!

Then add to all that this pedal retails for a street price of $149, OMG! I have to get this pedal! 🙂

For more information on the Pigtronix Aria Disnortion (no, it’s not a typo), visit the Pigtronix Aria product page!

In any case, for your viewing/listening enjoyment, check out these demo videos!

Peter Thorn

Andy @ ProGuitarShops.com

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