11/4/07
10/29/07
Guitar of the Week: 1965 Gretsch 6122 Country Gentleman
1965 was an interesting year...
Popular movies: "Help!", "Othello", "Dr. Zhivago", "The Sound of Music"
Popular songs: "A Hard Day's Night", "Downtown", "Satisfaction", and "King of the Road"
Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup.
I was born, and so was this week's Guitar of the Week...
"1965 Gretsch 6122 Country Gentleman $4500".
Supertron pickup in neck position and a filtertron in bridge. Another cool thing about this axe are the Grover Imperial tuning machines with extra large elephant ear buttons. Gold hardware and original hard shell case make this a great price for such a piece of guitar history.
10/22/07
Calling all lefties! Next time you are in Houston check out South Paw Guitars
The Leftorium for Cool Kids
When looking for a left handed model of last week's 10/19/07
Just in time for Christmas
The Hello Kitty assault rifle
GlamGuns.com! Your one stop shop for Glamorous Weaponry for girls, is announcing the release of their new, Hello Kitty Signature AK-47 (pictured). For around $1,000.00 your daughter will be the envy of the neighborhood. This weapon comes with an extra 50 round clip with the Hello Kitty picture displayed on the bottom. This is a limited run of only 500, so don't have your daughter upset because all her friends have one of these and all she has is last year's, Backyardigans Tec-9 Machine Gun Pistol.
10/10/07
15 guitars all under $30,000
I love guitars, ever since I was a little ankle biter I HAVE LOVED GUITARS. My father was a professional musician, (played with Conway Twitty from the very beginning until his untimely death in 1976) we always had guitars laying around the house. I'm by no means a great guitar player - I don't exactly remember when I started playing - I always just remember being able to pick up an axe and start strumming at a very young age.
I'm what you call an enthusiast, I'm good enough to figure out songs, but not good enough to teach anyone how to play them (does that even make sense). I don't read music, I am not a shredder, and NOBODY gets chills down their back after I play a lead. I love to play and whoever sees or hears me play understands my love for guitars and music... that is good enough for me.
TA made an interesting comment on my last Guitar of the Week post -
"I have a dream to sell my car and use the entire proceeds to buy guitars. Think the wife will be open to the idea?"
That comment got me thinking, what would I buy if I had a lump sum to dump on ONLY GUITARS? So I have been compiling lists... these first lists are all "NEW guitars" separated by price.
Here we go: 5 guitars under $1,000.00, 5 guitars between $1,000 and $2,500, and 5 guitars $2,501 and up... I tossed in an acoustic in each list for good measure.
If I could afford all these guitars I would purchase ALL THESE GUITARS.
This list was so fun to compile...
0-$1000
Gretch Electromatic Hollow Body with Bigsby Tremelo
$850
This Guitar comes in 5 colors, Silver Sparkle (pictured) is my favorite. True 50s feel and sound for less than 1k.
Gibson SG Classic with 3 Single Coil Pick ups
$949 - Sexy burst finish and the 3 single coil sound - for less than a Mexican Strat - you get a beautiful American made rock and roll warhammer!
note: this is the closest thing you will find to a Stratocaster - Remember, these are all new guitars, and in my opinion the best for the money (sorry, Fenders don't make that list these days).
Gibson Les Paul Menace
$850
100% "In your face" Les Paul, no pick guard, but Gibson added many little aesthetic extras to make this a great use of $850. BTW that is a pearl inlay of a "fist" nestled in the 5th fret.
Gibson SG Classic with P90s
$899
A few years back the good folks at Gibson released the Pete Townsend signature model, which was this guitar with prettier inlays, and a tremelo... For 3k less, I will take this one. The P90s make this Guitar - Total retro.
Martin Alternative X Electric Acoustic
$899 - Dig the aluminum top. Nothing like 99.9% of the stuff that comes out of Nazareth, PA. All I have to say is, Martin Guitar / Resonator, Less than 1K.
$1,000 to $2,500
Gibson Les Paul BFG
$1,000
This Guitar has been blogged about, P90 / Zebra Humbucker with the unique wiring set up... Rock and roll beast!
Gibson Les Paul with 50s style neck
$1,500
Semi hollow Les Paul, extremely lite weight is the first thing that comes to mind when strapping this thing on. Zebra Humbuckers rock the house. Not everyone like the 50s style neck, its a little thicker than what most people are used to.
Not exactly the canoe ore feel of the 70's telecaster, but similar.
Gibson Billie Joe Armstrong Les Paul Jr.
$1,500
1 tone, 1 volume, 1 P90. Blues/Rock 101.
Gretch 120 Anniversary
$2,300
If you do anything for a 120 years and you are still in the business, you must be doing something right. This guitar is an instant collector, truly 50s - Toaster top pick-ups and the Bigsby Tremelo. This is Guitar, quite simply is the grandson of the Guitars that created the Rock and Roll sound. Rock and Roll History - 101.
Gibson L-200 Emmlou Harris Electric Acoustic
$2,500
Sounds as beautiful as it looks - and another Instant collector.
$2,500 and up
Gibson Custom Shop DG-335 Dave Grohl
$2,800
I think this Guitar is really exciting. I have long been a big fan of the 335, this one has just been re-tooled. Slamming Humbuckers, retro (Fender-esqe) headstock, and custom inlays.
Grohl is a "tone chaser" and doesn't just stick with the Les Paul sound... this Guitar is like, "Lucille, 2007".
Gibson Custom Shop Johnny A
$4,300
This Guitar is one the nicest things I have ever played
Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul Jr. John Lennon Instant Karma
$4,900 - Instant Collector, This guitar will double it's worth in 5 years.
Gibson 57 Custom Shop Les Paul Black Beauty
$4,700
I'm not sure if this is one of those mid age crisis things but if it is, this is MY sports car at 41 years old. This Les Paul has everything I want PLUS 3 Humbuckers. In my humble opinion, this is THE quintessential Les Paul Guitar/Conversation Piece.
Gibson SJ-200 Electric Acoustic
$3,300 (note: you could go for the Townsend signature model for around $800 more, however ANY SJ-200 will hold it's value)
There you have it approximately $30,000.00 worth of Guitars you can find at your local guitar store.
I will be busy compiling a list of vintage guitars for part 2 of this post.
10/8/07
Let's Talk About Gear! My favorite pedal...
super fun portable good time rock and roll ROBOT JAMMING PEDAL!!!!!
A couple things have happened in the last week or so that have really changed things around here (in addition to the current NHL season starting).
First, due to time restraints and the need to make more money as well as spend more time with my kids and wife... I quit the band. Playing live was great, I loved it very much. Yoko was not involved and there are no hard feelings.
Second, I have discovered the COOLEST PEDAL EVER - The Boss RC-2 Loop Station.
Wow, what a great pedal - as I learn more about it, I am reminded of a recent Jackson post about Jamming.
The RC-2 is like having a little robot that jams with me when ever I want to. It plays the chord progressions exactly like you tell it to... The RC-2 (or as I like to call it the RC-D2 a.k.a. super fun portable good time rock and roll ROBOT JAMMING PEDAL!!!!!) has a 16 minute recording capacity and 11 channels for preset loops. Currently, all 11 of my channels are taken, but the GOOD TIME ROCK AND ROLL ROBOT set list changes every day
currently, the 11 channels go like this:
1. Blues in G
2. reggae progression
3. Shut your mouth and get your ass on the plane (a DBT song, basically a 1-4-5 blues progression)
4. Posetively 4th street
5. some riff in d
6. some Jazzy chord progression in g maj
7. Doctor Doctor Please (UFO)
8. rockin in the free world
9. goddamn lonely love (DBT song)
10. Avenues (old whiskey town song)
11. a g to a funky riff
Oh yeah, I forgot you can also loop stuff right from your iPOD onto this thing, That's what I did for "Doctor Doctor" and "shut your mouth".
Now whenever I get the urge to jam, I just plug into my robot and play with myself (great sentence).
Now I have only begun to scratch the surface of this thing - I am currently playing around with the drum tracks and what not, I'm sure I will be posting about this more in the future. Not sure how much I will use the drum tracks but it has a number of preset drum tracks playing numerous different styles.
Go get one of these things - definitely worth the money. Plug into your amp, or POD or whatever you play through and start jamming ANYTIME YOU WANT.
So much fun it should be illegal.
9/19/07
Let's Talk About Speaker Cabinets!
Lately, I have been exploring the idea of downsizing my speaker cabinet.
Currently, I'm using a slant 4 x 12 Marshall JCM 800 1960a with the 75 watt Celestians. Great cabinet - too damn heavy and bulky for my need.
Looking for 2 x 12 or even a 1 x 12 - not sure exactly what I want to do, that is why I have started the exploration team... YOU, READER (all 6 of you).
1 x 12 may well do the trick, especially if the cabinet is a convertible (ability to make run open back or closed back).
Cabinets without speakers can run over $100 - add a speaker and the next think you know your $200 plus into a small speaker cab.
Craig's list has not been a big help as everyone is selling 4 x 12.
Here are my options as I see it...
Option 1
Epiphone makes solid 1x12 extension cabinet for the Valve Junior. The cabinet sounds great with the 16 ohm Eminence Lady Luck 70 watt Speaker.The open back design can be easily modified to put in a removable cover for the open back. At around $100 it is almost impossible to find a better deal on a brand new speaker cab, especially one that sounds this good.
Oh did I mention it is weighs less than my 4x12?
Option 2
Find someone who can build me a 1 x 12 speaker cab Cheap (and by cheap, I mean I will buy the wood and a 12 pack of beer... I have someone in mind for this project) - then pop in a Eminence Texas Heat Speaker (for less than $70) - add wiring and input (Another $20). When it's all said and done I be paying more than I would with Option 1.
Option 3
Craig's list... I have seen 2x12s on craigslist for as little as $175 - but craigslist can sometimes be a real crap shoot.
Option 4
HEY, DOES ANYONE OUT THERE HAVE AN OLD 2X12 OR 1X12 CABINET YOU WANT TO GET RID OF?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
9/17/07
Gretsch Guitar's Electromatic Pro Jet with Bigsby
This is NOT the guitar of the week, just something I played this weekend...
For $500 you can't go wrong - they come in Jet Black or Silver like the picture.
9/10/07
Let's talk about Volume Pedals Man!
I am in the market for a Volume Pedal - mainly for slide / bend fills - and... well.. the ability to control volume with my foot.
The following VPs make up my short list of acceptable units, under $100...
Ernie Ball VP Jr. Passive Volume Pedal
This is the VP of choice of all the country dudes out there. Sexy design with a nice wide foot pedal. The Ernie Ball also has a nice tuner out feature, (Ernie Ball came up with the idea - other VPs are following). The tuner out allows the player to turn the volume all the way down (using the pedal) and the tuner still gets a signal...
This pedal reminds me of a skate board with all the grip tape on the surface. Remember those old Banzai skateboards???
Boss FV-500H Mono Volume Pedal - This does everything the EB VP JR. does for about $15 cheaper. The dimensions are slightly smaller, still the expression pedal itself is nice and large.
Jum Dunlop GCB-80 High Gain Volume Pedal. Can't go wrong with a Dunlop - built to last like all other JD pedals, and this one goes for around $60. Plus no power needed for this model.
Morley Little Alligator Volume Pedal - Great for the price (around $50) but seems a little flimsy. Being a big fat guy I worry I would break this thing.
There you have it, I am leaning toward the BOSS - I have had great luck with all my BOSS pedals over the years.
I think this will make a great addition to my gear. I have been working on my slide playing and use my volume pot (to sneak up on a note) - the pedal will make that a lot easier. It will also add to my control when I switch guitars - My SG is much louder than my LP.
If anyone out there who has experience with any of the above VPs let me know - I'm mainly going by pedals I have actually tried.
9/3/07
Jamming with my Daughter
Here we are on a labor day afternoon. Notice her Ibanez Micro (complete with Hello Kitty stickers) and her first Marshall...
8/30/07
Guitars, Electronics, Wiring, and Sparkle paint
Now Let's talk about the Epiphone Goth Les Paul Studio
I recently acquired an Epiphone goth lp studio - and I love it. The action is great. I've played it the past couple of practices and plan on playing it more on our gig tomorrow night. It's not going to replace my other guitar which is a Gibson Faded Cherry SG Standard. I've never owned a LP before and I and fast understanding why people love them. Completely different sound than my SG.
The flat black finish is not a big hit with my good friend and drummer, Shawn. He is insisting on painting the body top "something sparkley". I'm not sure about this, in his defense he does have experience painting motorcycle gas tanks, and most recently, my Epiphone Valve Junior head (he painted that a lovely red sparkle). I have to say the amp looks great, I'll get a picture and post another time.
I told him I would need to see a guitar he has painted before I commit, he is currently painting the body top of his black jap Fender Telecaster (I will post picture of this as well). The flat black finish on my Epi is great for finger prints, and I think it looks pretty cool. More on the "painting hue's guitar" later.
I do want to make some changes on the goth, mainly to make it sound like the most awesome Les Paul I ever played...
The Les Paul BFG This Guitar is incredible, but I don't have a grand to put down on a guitar. I can however play a few shows and afford some electronics.
My neighborhood guitar shop, Lavonne's Music couldn't keep these things on the shelves... and ugly? Oh baby this guitar is so ugly you need to be wearing beer goggles just to play it. Once you start playing it and hear how awesome it sounds you never want to unplug it...
Go play one you will know what I'm talking about, here is what Gibson says about the BFG...
"A stripped-down, rock ’n’ roll flamethrower, the Les Paul BFG is the most powerful Les Paul Gibson has ever made." - Some Dude From Gibson
What makes this guitar awesome has nothing to do the the aesthetics, rather it's the electronics...
Let's talk about pickups man!
I'm not a studio engineer, or a guitar tech... What I am is your basic dick hack enthusiast who like plays in a bar band on weekends and knows what he likes. My favorite pickup set is the same as my favorite breakfast set up - something crunchy and something creamy. Like oat meal with little crunchy sprinkle things on it.
First: The creamy...
Classic P-90 Creme Soapbar
The BFG has the black soapbar, I prefer the Creme color. In my opinion, and for my style and playing this is the prefect rhythm or neck pick up. Smooth as hell and quite cool looking.
Now, on to the Crunchy...
Gibson 500T/ Hot Ceramic/ Zebra
Not much to say about this pickup other than, "oh hells yeah".
As far as the wiring... I can keep the wiring normal like 99.9 of all other LPs, or I can have it wired like the BFG.If you look at the picture of the BFG on the left, you will notice it appears to be missing a tone pot. Actually this is the pickup switch, There are two volumes, one tone, and the switch.
The top switch on the BFG is an on/off switch. I won't actually change the wiring as I don't think an On/Off switch is necessary for my use.
Any thoughts out there on Epiphones, P-90s, Zebra Humbuckers, BFGs, oatmeal with cruchy things, or sparkle paint? let me know...
Epiphone Vintage Collection
I was going to do a post about my newly acquired Epiphone goth lp studio, and while checking out the site I found this story about the Epiphone Vintage Collection. I love old instruments, and thought I would share...
I'll post about my Epi later...
In March of 2007 the Epiphone Guitar Company acquired the world's largest and most comprehensive collection of pre-1957 Epiphone instruments.
1910 Harp Guitar
1923-1925 Banjo/Mandolin
1928 Model 4 Flat Top
8/27/07
DIY Volume Pedal
Since I saw Son Volt's guitarist, Chris Masterson's awesome volume pedal work I've been trying to find a cheap volume pedal. Then started talking to my bass player (amp builder, pedal tweaker) about suggestions, he said I didn't have enough room on my pedal board for a pedal the size of a volume pedal.
I do have a Dunlop Crybaby, and now I have found the schematics for Turning My Cry Baby into a Volume / Wah combo! Wow I can't believe how excited I am about this... I'm sure whomever is reading this is on the edge of their seat.
I will keep you posted on how it goes / sounds.
UPDATE: TA requested a picture of my current pedal board set up... NOTE: I did not have a picture so I put one together using paint brush. The graphics are not as cool as they are on GuitarGeek.com (if you have not checked out this site - it's pretty cool - don't think it has been updated in the past few years).So there you are TA - my pedal board - (I'll give you a minute to let the goosebumps go down) as you can see there is no room for a addl volume pedal.
And before any of you give me any shit for the wireless, you have to understand that my band does not have a sound man and it's important to be able to get off stage and see how things sound... See how things sound? HEAR how things sound. Sometimes I will run wireless from my pedal board to my amp to avoid a chord frenzy.
