Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Music’

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!!!!

Read Full Post »

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…

Read Full Post »

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!”

Read Full Post »

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.

Read Full Post »

It’s That Time of Year – Again! And I’m Loving It!

Posted in Guitars, tagged , on December 19, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Yup, it’s Christmas time again, and yes, I’m loving it; but not just because of the holiday and the eating, and the gift-giving and the family time. Christmas time also means gigs. Parties, church, extra shifts at the restaurant. Gigs and more gigs.

No, it ain’t about the money, though the money always helps. It’s all about being able to play – a lot. For instance, I just got done with five days in a row of gigs this evening. Did a couple of parties, an extra shift at the restaurant, and did my church gig tonight.

My fingertips feel tender, my voice is a little scratchy, I’m physically exhausted. But I’m on a total high! You see, I just live to play; whether it’s gigs or in the studio, I’m at my happiest and most fulfilled when I have a guitar strapped to my shoulder and a microphone in front of me. I don’t care if I’m making money at it or not. What’s important is having an outlet for my creativity, and gigging gives me that.

Some day, I’ll make it my full time profession. But for now, I’m just content getting out as much as I can.

Read Full Post »

Alnico and Ceramic – It’s a great mix!

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on December 19, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I love playing through a 2 X 12. I have an Avatar G212 Premier made of 3/4″, 13-ply baltic birch. It’s a bright cab, and has a big resonating chamber, which really gives a nice 3-D effect to my sound. I originally had it loaded with Celestion Blue and Gold speakers, and they sounded great, but I just felt the Blue didn’t have enough bottom end for my preferences. So I recently swapped the Blue out with a Jensen Jet Falcon. Yeah, that’s right. I now have one of the most expensive Celestion speakers and just about the most inexpensive Jensen speaker in my cab. And you know what? It totally works.

The one thing I like about ceramic speakers is that they have a nice, tight bottom end. The Falcon has a great bottom end that provides a real nice “oomph” to my sound. Alnico speakers – at least in my experience – are much more mid-rangy, with an emphasis on the upper-mids. The Gold has a fantastic, bright tone. It’s rich, and has a super-smooth breakup. So mixing the ballsy ceramic Falcon with the alnico Gold seemed like a good idea, as I postulated that I’d get a nice balanced sound.

I did the swap this afternoon, right before my church gig. I was a little nervous because my soldering skills are highly suspect. But I took my time, and the swap was done without incident. Then I went to test it out. The cleans were deep and lush, and the big space that the Avatar cab provides gave my tone real depth! Loved it.

Then I cranked my amp to hear the breakup. Yikes! It was pretty harsh and stiff, but I was kind of expecting that, considering I installed the Falcon right out of the box. It wasn’t too bad, but I could feel the stiffness.  But I was determined to bring it to my gig, so an hour later, I loaded it up in my car and away we went.

Luckily, the songs I chose for Mass were mostly clean, so I didn’t have to drive the speaker too hard, but I played it straight for three hours (two hours of rehearsal, then an hour for service), and by the end of the service, I could really feel the Falcon loosening up. Our last song was a rocker, and I cranked my amp. I was greeted by a fantastic, ballsy tone that had a real complex tone; exactly how I envisioned it! So now I’m a believer in mixing ceramic and alnico. It’s a great combination!

So what am I going to do with the Blue? I honestly haven’t made up my mind. That’s not a cheap speaker by any stretch of the imagination. But it is only 15 watts, so I can really only use it with a lower wattage amp. That’s maybe not a bad idea. I could use it with my ’58 Fender Champ, or as an extension cab for my VHT Special 6. We’ll see…

Read Full Post »

New Gear: Pigtronix Keymaster

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 14, 2010| 1 Comment »

I’m not too sure how to actually describe this “pedal.” It’s a dual looper, but could be used as a switch box, or a DI box. You could use it to direct your signal to two different effects loops and with the crossfade knob, mix in just the right amount of signal from each loop. As an impedance matching DI box, you can use it to go directly into a board or DAW. Or you could keep things very simple and use the box to go from one guitar to two amps, or two guitars to one amp. The possibilities for using this box are immense! Very interesting.

Here’s a copy of the press release I got from Pigtronix:

—

Pigtronix introduces the Keymaster – Impedance Matching Effects DI

Pigtronix Keymaster is an impedance matching, effects mixing direct box that allows musicians to do more with the gear they already own. Without loss of tone, the Keymaster routes any sound source (XLR mic, line level or instruments) into effects via two, true-bypass loops and then optimizes the mixed effects signal for your instrument amplifier, mixing console or DAW.

The Keymaster’s unique and intuitive arrangement provides musicians of all types with an elegant solution for routing their sound through effects in a creative fashion and then out into any device without losing signal integrity. The two loops can be switched between series and parallel, with a CROSSFADE function for on-board or expression pedal controlled blending of different effects. Input and Output boost controls add up to 10db of gain both before and after the loops.

The Keymaster lets musicians easily blend their instrument’s natural tone with a floor processor or even cell phone and laptop computer based effects using a standard expression pedal. Vocalists and horn players can use the Keymaster to control their effects mix from the stage. Guitar players can now mix pedals like a DJ does two turntables.

Already in use by some of the world’s top producers and FOH mix engineer’s, the Keymaster elegantly answers the unmet needs of musicians at every level, opening up endless realms of possibility for combining the effects you already own.

“I use the Keymaster to run the Piano mic through my Leslie Cabinet, drum mics into spring reverb and to get vocals into guitar amps. This pedal kills. You need it, I can’t live without it.”
Hector Castillo – Producer / Engineer for David Bowie, Bjork, Roger Waters, Brazilian Girls

—

I get lots of press releases, and there are just a few that I’ll forward to my readers. The gear simply has to be interesting enough for me to publish. This is definitely something I could put to use in the studio – or even on stage. It’s definitely worth a look! In any case, check out this video describing the pedal:

Read Full Post »

Would you buy it if it has a questionable ancestry?

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on December 9, 2010| 4 Comments »

Before I go into the specific company in question, my thought is if it plays and sounds great, and more importantly, it moves me enough to want it, then I’d probably let its questionable ancestry go and just buy the item.

Prestige Heritage Elite - Lite Sunburst

I did just that with my Prestige Guitars Heritage Elite. I bought my Heritage Elite, which is a fantastic guitar, actually before I knew of the controversy – so too late for me. These guitars are Les Paul-style guitars that the company say are cut and shaped in Korea, then accessorized in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Prestige also provides the woods. All that sounds well and good as Gibson does this with the Epiphone line, and PRS does it with its SE line.

But here’s where the controversy starts. These guitars are EXACTLY like this: http://www.unsung.co.kr/html/products/ulp523.html, which is a made by Un-Sung Musical Instrument Company, and this one: http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fjetguitars.ru%2Fshow_9104259 by Jet Guitars in Russia. The latter two share the same model number so the Jet is obviously a re-label of the Un-Sung. Plus, the Samick company in Korea makes something that is eerily similar to the Heritage Standard.

All that said, Prestige says they use two different manufacturers in Korea – the same foundries that produce Epiphones and another popular brand, and that Un-Sung makes copies of these, which are actually constructed in China.

Who knows what to believe? I do know that the tops of the Prestige guitars are full caps, not laminates (you can see the sandwich layers from the pot cavity). My Elite sounds and plays great, and though I don’t use it nearly as much as I used to as I now have real a Les Paul and a ’59 replica, it still gets play time because the Duncan ’59 and JB pickups sound absolutely sweet!

So, knowing what I know now, however uncorroborated, would I still have bought the guitar? Yes. I would have bought the guitar because all things being equal, this is just a great guitar, and you can still get them for a GREAT price on EBay from “acemate,” who sells lots of gear from Canadian manufacturers.

Mind you, it doesn’t have the sound of a Les Paul, but it does have a sound all its own, and that sound is actually quite aggressive. If I had to do it all over again, I’d probably buy the Heritage Standard, as the Elite is a bit too pretty, and I’m always concerned of getting it dinged up.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely. If you’re looking for a LP-style guitar but don’t want to pay the price, and don’t want an Epiphone, Prestige Guitars are a great lower-cost alternative!

For more information, go to the Prestige Guitars website!

Read Full Post »

Aracom Is So Much More Than An Attenuator Builder!

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 9, 2010| Leave a Comment »

My good buddy Jeff Aragaki of Aracom Amps (http://www.aracom-amps.com) is in a bit of a quandry. His attenuators have been incredibly successful and very well-received by both amateur and pro guitarists. He actually built the attenuator in the hopes that it would raise awareness of his wonderful amps, of which I own three with a fourth on the way. Unfortunately, it sort of backfired because his attenuators are so great that they’ve completely overshadowed his amps. That’s too bad, because they’re great amps, and they’re all I gig and record with.

So to try to raise more awareness of his products, Jeff compiled a few videos that feature moi, Clint Morrison – who’s a pro player out of Austin, TX – and Doug Doppler. Check ’em out. Clint’s and my videos feature both the PRX-150 Pro or DAG, and Aracom amps.

Yours Truly:

Clint Morrison:

Doug Doppler:

For more information on Aracom Amps products, go to the Aracom website!

Read Full Post »

Don’t Knock the Praise and Worship Players

Posted in Guitars, tagged , , , on December 8, 2010| 10 Comments »

I don’t hide from the fact that I play in a worship band. In fact, that has been one of my primary musical outlets for most of my life, and the Mass (I’m Catholic) has been a source of inspiration as I’ve written many songs over the years for worship. For those who are in a worship music group, they “get” that inspiration. It’s not about performance, and it’s not just about the praise. To me, it’s about creating a connection with the congregation, and inviting them to join us on the journey that is the service.

In the past, I’ve come across some visitors here and people on forums who scoff at worship players, with some going so far as saying, “Why don’t you play a REAL gig?” What idiots like that don’t realize is that playing in a worship setting is actually one of the hardest gigs to play, because you can’t just go out and rip it up like you would in a club. You’re constrained by the service, and this means that you have to be able to play different styles of music, from rock to even classical, and if you have a group like mine that consists of entirely volunteers that have day job (I’m the only paid worship leader, but I also have a regular job), then you have to also deal with changing instrumentation and arrangements from week to week.

Then on top of all that, volume is always an issue in a church building. So you also have to take that into account. As I play mostly vintage-style amps, they have to be cranked to get some grit, so I’ve had to resort to all sorts of solutions from drive and distortion pedals to attenuators to introduce some dirt into songs.

The stuff I’ve mentioned above are just mechanics, but there’s another side of doing a worship gig that’s even more important than all that, and that is you can’t suck. To me, nothing takes away from a service more than music played poorly. The higher the quality of the presentation, the more connected the assembly becomes, and that means that the worship experience is that much more meaningful to the people. We, as worship musicians, have to always keep in mind that we are there as facilitators of the worship experience, and thus we have to have a command over that for which we are responsible: our music.

Lots of people over the years have tried to join our group – singers and musicians alike – and only a few have stuck with it. Those who don’t – especially experienced gigging musicians – almost invariably say that playing in a worship service is A LOT harder than they thought it would be because there’s just so much to think about. So for you worship players out there, take heart in what you provide because you’re playing in a venue that is incredibly difficult to play in. For the opinionated and ignorant who say us worship musicians aren’t doing a “real” gig, I challenge you to try it yourself. I doubt you’d be able to stick with it.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »