Charvel San Dimas

I have to applaud Charvel for doing some great things:

1) By being bought by Fender they can use the Stratocaster headstock "with special permission" so the guitars look right, like they did in the 80s instead of a total reinvention that might make people leery of this new Charvel.

2) By offering different colors on their guitars every year they are doing a couple smart things. They are limiting the amount of color shot in the factory which I'm sure cuts down on production costs, they are inspiring a sense of collectibility, and they are basically telling the fans that if their color is not out now or has not come out yet, sit tight. It just may be rolling off the line soon.

All of which is very inspiring.

Now, usually I'm not a fan of Strat style guitars. Call me kooky, but I don't like them. I'll make some exceptions, sure, but for the most part I'm not hurting for one right now. However, I recognize Charvel as a shred guitar company and honestly, a Tele-style guitar just looks weird. I know Mick Mars played a Tele-style in the video for Dr. Feelgood, but it looked weird then too. Something about them...

On a side note, I'm a huge fan of both the Jim Root and the John 5 Teles.

Anyway, every time Charvel releases a new color set of guitars I always look and think about it. Especially as I descend more and more into being a fan of guitar instrumental music with solid rhythms (usually associated with face-melting guitar licks) and this year is no different except THIS year they're offering their guitar in "sea sick green." What a great color name.

And look at it.

Beautiful.

I would actually be very curious what Strat-O-Blogster thinks of the super Strats and double humbucker models like these vs the classic Strat design.

And whereas I really like the color and the video demos of the models seem to reflect quality tone, I just couldn't let a company get away with doing so many cool things and not call them out and say kudos.

Good job, Charvel.

-Pappy

Guitar Stores Forced To Boutique?

If you talk to any guitar store owner, even the bigger shops like Guitar Center and they're willing to open up a little bit they'll tell you that Gibson and Fender have some crazy expectations for stores buying their stuff. I don't mean JUST Fender and Gibson and these might not necessarily apply to both companies, but there have been tales from shop owners that companies want a number of upper end guitars bought, a number of lower end guitars that are made by sister companies bought and those numbers are a little ridiculous. So ridiculous in fact that most shop owners that are mom and pops CAN'T play the game.

Personally I blame Guitar Center. By having such a huge music store that sells to so many people, the guitar companies are being spoiled and are no longer impressed with the dozen guitars per year that a smaller shop will sell of their brand.

And say a shop wants to stock a quality product like Gibson or Fender but the company says the only way the store will get the right to sell their high end gear is by stocking their low end gear as well. Gear that the shop owners don't WANT to stock, gear that will probably just sit there all year and if they do sell, it will be at a price that won't make the shop any money. Is that right? What if the company has a 1:2 ratio meaning for every one piece of big name gear you have to stock two lower end models?

The number of shops that can play in that game is dwindling and as much as people would LOVE to blame Guitar Center and Musician's Friend for everything, it would be horribly short-sighted because the guitar companies are playing just as big of a part here by not being... well... sane.

So what is a guitar store to do?

What else CAN they do?

They go boutique. And where this was not the norm a decade ago and boutique shops were far more rare, they're beginning to pop up more and more. More shops are adopting smaller name amp, pedal and guitar companies that still have their heads screwed on tight and this might be just the edge that the shops need.

The best part is that some of these companies refuse to sell through the big box stores. I don't mean this to be a slight on the stores, but the smaller shops need SOME sort of leverage to stay relevant or they will all go away and then the bigger shops won't have to maintain bargain basement prices anymore.

Scary, huh?

So what of it? Is this good for guitar shops?

The answer is YES. There's a shop in Decatur, GA called Midtown Music (great shop to go to if you're anywhere near Atlanta, by the way) that stocks amps from companies like Victoria and Dr. Z and while I'm not the biggest fan of Dr. Z amps he makes one amazing one that gets my blood pumping big time and I NEVER would have realized that unless I got to play it. If Midtown Music hadn't had one I would have never gotten that chance.

See, so many of these companies that are boutique are offering their own takes on the gear that's so famous today. The 1952 Hot Rod Fender Telecaster can be had for quite a bit of money and while it's a fine guitar, it is still a mass produced plank guitar. There are other companies that will offer you hand built guitars in a very similar style with options YOU choose for the same or less, or if you want to go for the full monty, you wouldn't have that much more to save before you can get something like the Hahn 228 which, based solely on reviews, videos and interviews, is probably the greatest Tele-style guitar out there. Maybe even ever.

But it isn't just Fender and I do NOT want to give that impression at all. A lot of companies are using their legacies as a justification for charging prices that are frankly outrageous.

When they do this and smaller companies can offer a product of equal or better quality for equal or lower the price, it gives the buyer something new to chew on. Maybe the fact that the bigger companies are more than willing to hop in to bed with big box stores and leave the mom and pops out to dry will be the thing that brings them back down to earth or the thing that kills them.

Because if you think about it, how great does a product have to be before word of mouth alone spreads like wildfire and the company being used as a jumping-off point has to play catch up with their competitors who wouldn't have made nearly the same impact if the bigger companies had just resisted putting such crazy expectations on smaller shops?

The answer is not much.

You don't need to do an extensive search on the internet before you find a group of people saying if you want X, try Y. It's better and cheaper.

Not only that, but it's good to have that competition. It keeps the big companies from resting on their laurels and giving us an awful product.

So take heed, big companies. These boutique companies will conquer the day if you don't wake up and smell the coffee.

-Pappy

Six String Bliss: Scales of Horror

Press Release for October 27, 2009

Six String Bliss Announces the Release of
“Scales of Horror”

Worldwide Launch – Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

Six String Bliss, the longest-running guitar-centric Podcast on the Internet announces the release of Scales of Horror, a collaborative effort by members of their listening community. This project differs from the past Six String Bliss Albums in that it is comprised entirely of original, Halloween themed music written and performed by various listeners.

Scales of Horror will feature 10 songs performed by an international community of artists, with submissions coming from 5 countries. Each of these submissions is the work of members of the Six String Bliss listening community. This is the fourth such project produced by Six String Bliss, the first being 2007’s A Blissful Christmas, which was followed up last Fall with Stay Tuned (a collection of TV Themes), then this Spring with Big Screen Bliss (a collection of songs featured prominently in movies).

According to PT, co-host of the Podcast: “We weren't sure what to expect when we requested original tracks from our listeners. But what they delivered was beyond our expectations. This album is a true testament to the talent of this community, and I'm sure it will be freaking out trick or treaters worldwide for years to come!"

All guitarists are welcome to join in the fun of the Six String Bliss Forum. Projects like this will continue to thrive so long as there is an active community to make these happen. So please come by, introduce yourself, and join in the next project!

Podcast Episode 169 which will feature Scales of Horror will be up on the RSS Feed (http://sixstringbliss.libsyn.com/rss) and on iTunes at 11:00PM (CDT) Tuesday, October 27th, with the show notes added to the website soon thereafter at http://www.sixstringbliss.com/.

About Six String BlissSix String Bliss is the longest-running guitar-centric Podcast on the Internet. Co-hosted by guitarists PT and Pipes, the weekly show caters to players of all ages and abilities, and features segments including Email of the Week, Guitarist of the Week, Guitar News and general discussion of all things relating to the guitar. Interviews have featured internationally renowned guitarists as well as luthiers, store owners, and manufacturers of pickups, effects, and recording software. The website includes an active international forum.

Paint By Numbers!

My wife used to play the trumpet in grade school. She says she was awful at it, but she also said that her teacher would set aside some time each day to do nothing but sight reading. Sight reading, of course, is playing a completely new piece with no preparation. As far as exercises go, this time of day was dreaded by most of the class.

As a guitarist, I think if someone were to slide a piece of sheet music with classical notation in front of me and I was able to read it, I would also hate this exercise. Think about it: how many B’s are on the fretboard? What lets me know quickly which B they want me to hit?

Ah, but TAB on the other hand lets you know.

I’ve talked about TAB before, about how it’s basically paint by numbers and while it is a teaching tool with a bunch of potential if you dive a little deeper and start naming the notes you’re playing, and this is not me back pedaling.

No. This is a different exercise and it is FUN.

If you download iPractice (or iPractice Lite in case you want to get it for free and try it out) they have exercises where they’ll give you two bars of TAB to follow along with and a beat with a piano playing the chord that you’re soloing on right then and as you go, it replaces the bar you already played with the next one so while you’re only looking at two bars at a time, you’re still progressing onward.

I love it.

You can change the speeds and whether the notes are fourth notes or eighth notes which makes for some very interesting challenges.

Because it’s moving you don’t have time to look down at your fretboard to make sure you’re playing it right. It tells you the key note before you play along with the finger to fret that note with. Oh, it’s awesome! I’ve never given too much thought to not looking at the fretboard because 1) it’s easier to know what you’re doing, 2) I don’t have to look at whoever’s watching me and 3) the fretboard looks cool and I like watching my fingers move around on it, much like I enjoy watching my fingers fly across the keyboard when I type.

Having tried it out though, I really like sitting there, watching the numbers and getting it right and then moving up to the next speed, then the next speed, then upping the notes from fourths to sixteenths and trying again, slow, medium, and fast.

I’m having a great time and if you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, you should definitely try it out.

-Pappy

Happy Birthday 5th Fret!

I think it's funny that I would write the annual birthday post almost a month early (like I said, I'm very busy with school work right now so free time is precious but I don't want to stop the roll I have going right now with the posting schedule. I finish my homework and hop on my iPhone to get some blogging done before turning in for the night) and it's still belated. The first post was on the 20th if October, 2008 and here we are still trucking along through moves in offices to moves in houses and even deployments to Iraq and that's pretty cool. While I hope to get a laptop to blog with out there next time I go, this last time all of my (rare) posts was posted via Synchro. Thanks, buddy.

So what has the 5th Fret accomplished?

Well, as of last count almost 25,000 people have come to the site from over one hundred countries, reading it in more than forty-five languages. Two friends of the blog have sent, or will be sending me stuff to review which is one of the highest compliments I think I could possibly get. It means a lot that someone would say "I trust your site will actually make a difference" and send me the things they've put a ton of time into to make great. The same goes for Shanghai Music who are not only looking for an unbiased review of their Princeton Reverb clone but have so much confidence in the site that they bought ad space. That's another huge compliment.

But there are three groups I need to thank for the inspiration to keep this up and that is my personal friends out there in Internet land who are always willing to check out the links I throw up occasionally to interviews or relevant rants and are even willing to either sacrifice time with their own gear to lend to me to write about OR write a review themselves and send it in. I think some of the best articles on this site don't come out of these particular fingers but my staff and contributing writers. Thanks to my lovely wife for telling me to start this blog so she doesn't have to read about music all the time on my personal blog. I love you.

I'd also like to thank my fellow guitar bloggers. I could never consider this site competition of yours, but it makes for a handy appendix. From Guitar Noize to Strat O Blogster to Laurie at Truth in Shredding, it's nice having everyone to talk to when I don't know what the heck to do about whatever problem I'm having at the moment. Huge thanks to the guys at Six String Bliss for not only inspiring this blog but giving me the time of day to answer my questions, listen to my suggestions as a fan and let me on the podcast to interview them.

And finally thanks to all the readers out there who keep coming back or tell their friends about the site. I would keep writing for you but seeing higher and higher numbers each month makes me feel pretty good.

Anyway, I think I've rambled on long enough for now. I jut wanted to try and express that out of everything I've ever built, I'm most proud of this and it's all because of the people above. I wouldn't feel nearly the same level of accomplishment that I do right now if it weren't for you.

Thank you.

-Pappy

Kicked To The Curb

Readers know my trip to the Fender Blues Jr was a rocky one and actually owning it was rockier still. There was a problem with the reverb, I know it. It just hissed like a madman and didn't sound like that famous Fender reverb, the sound was confined and until recently I had never known what "boxy" sounded like but now I know. Not to mention everyone saying the potential for the amp WITH MODS was amazing. Very few said "this amp is great stock," and those that do ate usually talking about the cream board version.

I entertained the thoughts if mods, be they Bill M mods or even sending it to S2 to work on but at the end of the day I figured that I was generally unsatisfied with this amp so why would I want to put a ton of money into it? If you had a car that needed new tires, brakes, engine AND speakers, would you really invest to get it running or would you wash your hands if it and get a new car?

Well, I washed my hands of it.

I know there are good Blues Jr's out there but mine was not among them. And lately I've been thinking that the general sound that gets me really excited is a British one. So I called up a guitar store north of Atlanta and tried to convince them to do an even swap, my Blues Jr for a used Vox AC15CC (with the Wharfdale speaker, not an alnico Blue) saying it was among the first Blues Jr's and was made in the US. They weren't interested in an even swap but they were willing to make a deal if I put some cash on it so put some cash on it I did and picked it up on a trip to get my in laws who were coming for a short visit.

And it sat unplayed while they were here. That was just me being polite.

But then with a newborn who does not sleep through the night yet, a two year old, a tired self and a very tired wife, time for rocking is in short supply. Added to that, I was recently enrolled in a professional development course that makes college look like a joke with all the reading and homework pushed on me and that will keep going until about Halloween.

After that, you can expect a review. As if right now the limited playing I've done showed some amazing tones and a remarkable acceptance of pedals but also some quirks.

What quirks you ask? You'll have to wait and see. In the meantime if you've been thinking about picking one up, don't let my cryptic quirk comment scare you. It's a great amp.

Until later!

-Pappy

The Guitar Notebook

I had a sketchbook in high school for art class and our teacher told us to not only draw in it, but to use it as an expression of ourselves. Quotes, music lyrics, photos, anything we liked, put them in the sketchbook.

In college I still had that sketchbook and used a page in it to write down the TAB for power chords with their names. I did not want to look it up constantly on the Internet nor did I feel like there was a need to memorize their names right then.

That sketchbook is around, but the TAB was never close enough right when I needed it and for a few months it disappeared altogether. I was able to find it during a recent move though and decided to take those power chords and write them down elsewhere. You can never have useful information in too many places.

I also found a page in a recent issue of Guitar World where one of the instructors in the back tackled triad chords. This is something I've always been interested in as a ska fan, but was never able to find out anything about. I did not know what a "triad" was. I did not know how to go about looking it up on the Internet. I felt lost, frankly and the fact that this page was in a publication after eight or so years of curiosity was nothing short of a sign.

This is precious information. Information that needed to be preserved for future reference in case my memory gets a little foggy (13 chords each transcribed in three positions is a lot to memorize after all and those aren't even counting the minor triads either) or I'm just looking for a chord substitution.

So I decided to get a notebook or journal and keep stuff like this, prime music related stuff, in. But only having a knowledge book is a little boring to me. I like creativity and the whole sketchbook lesson was never lost on me. There are two pictures in it right now that depict cool guitars I want or just think is cool and those will be scattered throughout the book. There is also a quote on the first page from Bill Watterson which I will include at the end of this post because I really like it and want to spread it around, and I'm sure that quote will be joined with others from rock stars or teachers with a particular nugget of information that needs to be locked away.

Things like Dimebag's always tune UP to pitch, never down because it'll end up going flat.

I advise everyone to make one of their own and keep on it. The lessons you learn in ANYTHING in life are worth writing down and what better place than a book dedicated to the subject? And make it yours too. You have to look at it after all, it might as well be interesting to you.

And while any book will do, I recommend one that will stay together for a long time. Maybe something with stitched binding and a hard cover. Spiral bound notebooks will have those spirals bend after a while causing ripping or trouble accessing certain pages, or the inability to fold it over on itself after a while. The ability to lay it flat isn't really important as anything with some weight will hold the book open and flat for you. I'm not saying go out and buy an expensive Italian leather journal, but you do want this to be durable. After all, these little nuggets are just that: little nuggets. Scales and chord shapes, even pictures and quotes, will take quite some time to fill up a book.

I feel better having this book, writing down a scale I learned from a magazine because it had a cool tone to it and then writing down a lick that I built from that scale is pretty cool and who knows, maybe some day my kids may learn something new from it too.

Here's the Watterson quote:

"History is the fiction we invent to persuade ourselves that events are knowable and that life has order and direction. That's why events are always reinterpreted when values change. We need new versions of history to allow for our current prejudices."

-Watterson

-Pappy

Signature Guitar Hype Potential

You've all probably seen the Custom Shop reproductions of SRV's #1, of Clapton's Blackie, and probably to a lesser extent the Billy Zoom Jet and Brian Setzer 6120.

These are all extremely expensive guitars that have an edge on normal signature guitars that actually has nothing to do with how the guitar plays.

They come with DVDs.

When I bought my Ibanez seven string it came with a postcard that I could send in to get a video from Ibanez with popular Ibanez players showing how they use a seven string guitar. I didn't née much guidance on how to use it since I already knew to tune it down a whole step and chug away but I LOVED watching that video. I wore it out in the VCR.

Maybe it's because of that video I'm incredibly interested in behind the scenes stuff for guitars. I love it. If Fender or Gretsch were to release those DVDs I would buy them all, assuming if course they're cheap enough. Considering each would basically be a commercial/documentary, I can't imagine paying more than ten or fifteen dollars for one.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I think guitr companies should document the origin, the player explaining why they wanted their signature guitar a specific way, other players from the same company giving their outlook on the guitar and play a few licks on it. Document the build and giving the prototype to the artist and MAYBE include the artist playing a song with it. Even if the video was only a half-hour long, seeing just what went into it would be amazingly beneficial to the company.

Imagine: you walk into a guitar store and there are the DVDs on the shelf for a cheap price (I can't emphasize CHEAP enough) and you have one more research tool. Say you're pretty sure you want a strat style ESP but want to know specicifcs. Buy the DVDs and compare! Even if you don't want to buy a guitar after watching the video, is there honestly anyone out there who doesn't like watching this kind if video? It's guitar porn and music and build construction and specs all rolled into one.

I know some out there might say why make DVDs? Why not just record the videos and put them on the Internet for free? I think it's a good idea, but you would have to take into account compression of recording, compression of the movie to the Internet, then the sound quality coming put of your computer's speakers and while some may have awesome computer speakers, a great deal are just relying on laptop speakers. That's hardly a selling point, though it would give someone even further assistance in narrowing down the guitars they want to research.

As for the artists, they're on the company's payroll anyway so why not utilize them to the maximum extent? The players playing someone else's guitar shouldn't worry about being seen without THEIR guitar but they needn't worry. By being on ANY video they are opening up themselves for people who may not have heard of or seen them before. More videos, more potential.

Companies don't have to use JUST sigs either. Regular guitars will work too.

It's a great idea, I tell you!

-Pappy

Greatest Hits CD: R.I.P.

We've all seen it, a band releases two or three albums and then puts out a greatest hits CD that may have all of their greatest songs, but more than likely will either have their couple of hits and a lot of the songs they think should BE hits (assuming the band is doing the choosing in the first place and not record executives), OR if the band is truly great, one CD won't be long enough.

Even bands like Led Zeppelin with their Mothership album doesn't cover the band all that great.

But I am a person that strongly believes if you have a complaint you should put it out alongside a possible solution. It's one thing to say "this sucks," and something completely different to say "this sucks. If you do it THIS way however..."

So here I am, telling you Greatest Hits CDs suck.

Well, I shouldn't be so blunt. It's not that they're bad, but with the advent of iTunes, they're irrelevant now. I would like to see the money that labels put into these albums go toward new bands, personally.

There was a time when the mix tape-like Greatest Hits CD scratched the itch of music fans that wanted to get a taste, but I have a better solution, one that's more with the times AND, it's completely free for the band.

Here's the game plan: you set up on your website, or MySpace or Facebook or whatever you're using a poll that includes the titles to every one of your songs. It has to be every one of them, even B sides and demos that you've recorded that may not have made it onto albums (perhaps you're saving them for a collection. I say purge the vault and put an EP of the demos and B sides on iTunes for immediate consumption). Then let anyone vote on their favorite songs or rank the songs and then publish the results on your site and keep them updated as time goes on, adding new songs that get recorded.

This way, if someone wants to hear what is largely considered to be the best of a band they can start at the top of the list and work their way down the popularity ladder until they feel comfortable stopping. They can get as much or as little as they want to and add to it as the see fit.

They could buy each song individually from iTunes and not feel ripped off because five of the most popular songs are on this one album and now they have to buy those songs again when they buy the complete album down the road. There's none of that. They can just fill the holes as they go down the line and if they go all the way to the end, they'll end up with your whole catalog.

Another great thing about doing it this way is that EVERY band can have this list. You don't have be huge with a big record deal to have a Greatest Hits album because fans can make their own Greatest Hits playlist. You no longer have to be acclaimed in magazines and featured on the Today Show, you can be anyone with ANY volume of work. Say you put out one EP, just one. The songs can be ranked by fans and someone else can come in and see what the majority of the people would recommend as THE song from that EP that they have to hear.

And it will just keep building and building.

-Pappy

News Below The Fold: GAME ON!

I mentioned a while back that I would be participating in Nablopomo, the worldwide challenge for all bloggers to write a new blog each and every single day for the entire month of November and said that I would write blogs to post beforehand.

I take that back.

I'll write a new post every day for November or certainly try my hardest. I'm excited/scared to see how it turns out and hope that you the reader will be sure to either follow me in Blogger, subscribe to me in your reader or visit the site daily to see how things are going and comment if it gets too rough.

And bloggers: I hope to see some participation from you guys (and gals) too.

-Pappy

Who Gets A Signature Guitar?

I’ve said it multiple times, I’m sure I’ll say it more after this, but I don’t mind. I’ll say it again: I love signature guitars. There are benefits all over the place for them. It allows companies to release guitars that would not necessarily be considered “normal” or safe for the company to release while they hope that the artist’s name or the guitar’s quality will be enough to not make it a total loss, the artist gets recognition when someone at a shop says “what’s THAT guitar?” The buyer gets to show off their cool guitar to their friends and maybe participate in a little bit of hero worship.

Some of them are a little confusing, like when Adrian Belew released a Parker that costs almost ten thousand dollars and is NOT a tribute model. I don’t know what’s up with that one. It seems like any potential buyers would need to take out a mortgage, the only press Belew would get out of it would be something like "so expensive no one can afford it" and the buyers, well, I'm curious to know how many have sold.

But what warrants a signature guitar?

It used to be that if a guitarist was good and recognized enough, they got a guitar. Les Paul, Chet Atikins, and the like. But now the whole recognition isn’t given based on talent or skill and in some cases popularity isn’t even a real concern. If you think about it, there are a ton of genres and sub-genres out there and with more bands you have more fans and because there’s so much selection, there’s a greater opportunity for what fans a band does have to be rabid. It’s nice, I think, that we don’t ALL like the same thing. I can’t really imagine enjoying something like a Beatles phenomenon where everyone and their mother is listening to the same album and enjoying it to the same extent.

A little about me: synchronicity scares the bejesus out of me. I saw a field of goats yesterday and every single goat had its head down and was eating. Not a one was looking up to see the noise of my car, or walking, or lying down, or anything. All of them were eating. That kind of stuff truly freaks me out. I’m terrified of conformity. Oddly enough, I’m in the military.

Anyhoo.

It’s not exactly news that there’s a ton of signature guitars out there. I’m going to give myself a minute and think of all the signature guitars I can.

Duane Eddy

Brian Setzer

G Love

Patrick Stump

Reverend Horton Heat

Josh Reed

Jim Root

Billy Joe Armstrong

Sonic Youth

Bono

David Lee

Mick Thompson

Steve Vai

Paul Gilbert

Joe Satriani

J

That was a minute, including typing. Given longer, I could probably REALLY rattle some off. As a matter of fact, I’m curious to see signature guitars from each company’s history.

So what should qualify a guitarist for a signature model?

I honestly don’t think there should be much qualification. If you have a band and tour the country or world and I can find your album on Amazon or iTunes, you’re big enough for me. I default to the individual guitar companies at that point. I’m just sick of hearing people say that so and so doesn’t DESERVE a signature guitar. I’m not entirely convinced that the first signature guitars were REALLY based on skill either. I think that it’s always been about a name helping sell a guitar.

The best case of this is Tom DeLonge and Billy Armstrong both having signature Gibson guitars and share the same status as a signature model with the likes of Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, and Duane Eddy.

I say get over it. The company’s getting more attention, the artist is getting more attention, the folks that can save up enough money are getting a cool guitar and best of all, no one’s getting hurt. I fail to see the big problem here.

Unless it’s jealousy.

I can see that though. There are a lot of truly gifted guitarists on YouTube that don’t have a signature guitar and how does that work when a power chord-loving punk rocker has one? I feel your pain, friend. Actually, I personally don’t because my playing doesn’t warrant much at all. Maybe a pity clap. That’s not the point though. I empathize with you but just think: is your name going to sell a guitar? Who would buy a Pappy signature guitar besides myself and maybe my mom (seems like something a mom would do)? Are you REALLY in a different boat than me?

I will say that I think Skinny Jim and Paul Pigat both deserve signature guitars. Perhaps Jim could have a 6120 with ceramic filters and block inlays and Paul could have a Black Falcon with a vertical headstock and humpblock inlays. I think Gretsch needs to get on this right away.

Anyway, if it IS jealousy that’s causing that awful taste in your mouth at the idea of a guy who has a thousand screaming girls swoon at sensitive lyrics at a show getting a guitar instead of you, it’s probably best to just swallow it. Once you’re done you can get to work getting a thousand screaming girls to come to your shows. Or you can buy the guy’s signature guitar and pretend. I’m not above doing that, myself. One day I’ll get a Billy Joe Armstrong LP Junior even though modern Green Day is not my cup of tea. It’s just too cool of a guitar!

-Pappy

Dear Gibson:

Looking back over the years we've had some good times. I remember when we first became acquainted, yours was the company I would always hold to a higher standard. You were what the pros played while other companies were what people could afford to play. Not too much has changed in that respect, I guess.

Of course even though you made my first real guitar and to this day it's the most comfortable one I put on, there have been moments when I've questioned you logic. The reverse Explorer, for instance. Or the zoot suit SG. Or getting together with Janie Hendrix and making an obvious Fender Stratocaster knockoff that is more budget friendly than anything that looks like it SHOULD have your name on it.

That last one didn't turn out so well, but you manged to prove a few things: 1) people still pay attention to you. 2) the guitar playing community are not easily placated with a different headstock shape. 3) the guitar playing community is LOUD, huh? I don't think I have EVER seen such a unanimous display of unfavorable attitude toward a company in my life.

And even though you could call it a good day learning these things and taking them home to mull over, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't offer my advice?

Step one: the Melody Maker and the Les Paul Jr need to cost less. Way less. I should be able to buy a Gibson Les Paul Jr for less than 800.00 and a Melody Maker needs to be at an entry-level price. I assume that's who you were aiming for with the Hendrix Strat. I'll tell you something: if you make a Gibson that kids can afford, you'll probably he set. Line up the guitars like they should logically be lined up. Why would an arched maple top guitar with two pickups and four knobs cost less than a flat top, all mahogany guitar with one pickup and two knobs?

So if they are set up with the MM at the bottom but maintaining the current quality, then the Jr, then the Studio, you'll have something that makes sense. It will show a logical progression. People are fans of that. Just think about how much money you REALLY need to make on your guitars. I know pay cuts are awful, but sometimes they need to happen to get things moving in the market!

Step two: well, honestly there's just step one. It's time for some serious reconsideration of your values. I mean, I know you make some of the best guitars on the planet but don't you think if you lowered the price you would sell more and eventually get the profits you would normally get if lots of people were buying guitars right now? Let's face it, the economy is down so what other options are there?

And while I know this letter may sound cold or mean, I don't mean it to be that way. I genuinely want you to succeed, Gibson. You're in my top two favorite brands and I've loved you from the start but sometimes we all need a little help along the way. We all need someone to keep us on the straight and narrow.

So...

Until next time,

-Pappy

Oh! And PLEASE do not discontinue the 1956 LP custom shop. Feel free to lower the cost, but don't get rid of it. Ever. That is the best guitar of yours I have ever laid my hands on.

-P.

Tavo Vega Nocturne Brain Seltzer Video

I have to say it's going to be interesting seeing what people type to search to get back to this page with a title like that.

We've read an interview with Tavo Vega, creator of the Nocturne Brain Selzter, we've seen updated pictures, we've even been directed to his site where he has a few videos.

Here is one more video of his. Looking beyond the obvious tonal differences where it's completely obvious that the pedal is a welcome addition to the tone combination, the video alone is well worth watching. This is probably the best demo I have ever seen.

Kudos, Tavo!



By the way, right below my monitor is my very own Nocturne pedal, which I am going to write a full review on sometime in early November because right now I'm just swamped with a professional development course I'm taking. I just had to come on and upload this video for everyone to see because I find it wicked entertaining.

So check it out and let me know what you think!

-Pappy

Sweetwater Music

I’m a little wary about big box music stores. Places like Guitar Center or Musician’s Friend (which are the same, by the way). It seems that the bigger these shops and shops like it get, the more relaxed they get – the more complacent they get.

I’m not a fan of complacency in general. At work, complacency leads to safety violations and safety violations can lead to injuries or death. It’s not nearly as serious with guitar shops, but complacency can still lead to bad things.

The shops get more picky about who they want to serve, giving me a long once-over before letting me play a Gibson, or ignoring the kid who is looking for a new guitar, who, if the salesman had stuck around, would have heard his mother say “pick a guitar.”

Service gets snippy and there’s an attitude of superiority but it’s not like it really matters because they have the stock and mom and pop shops, if they’re around, can’t afford to compete. Guitar Center can afford to keep a guitar on the shelf indefinitely, but mom and pops can’t.

It’s not too tough to see I’m not a huge fan of the big box shops. Walking in I feel much more like a number or target than I do a cared-for customer. Because of this, I have a bad taste in my mouth about them.

But I heard Sweetwater Music had a catalog that needed to be seen to be believed so I signed up to get it and while I was there I signed up for the drawing to win a bunch of recording gear. Right now I record a backing track on my iPhone’s voice memo function and then try to play quietly enough to hear the track and myself playing with it. It’s cumbersome to say the least. When I filled out the form I needed to include my phone number and what recording gear I was using right now.

The next day, I received a phone call from Andy at Sweetwater calling just to let me know that my catalog will be sent out on Monday and that he wishes me luck in the drawing which will be taking place in the first week of October. I thanked him and we talked a bit about how I found the site and I told him I like to use it as a base when I do price research for the blog instead of going to Musician’s Friend first and he insisted that Sweetwater was radically different than Musician’s Friend saying that everyone hired by Sweetwater are musicians in some way, Andy being a previous guitar player that has settled into bass as the years have gone on and I really liked that.

Yes, Sweetwater has a ton of stuff, but this doesn’t mean they’re a big box store. They seem to have amazing customer service and I’m glad to see a site with such an expansive selection online that goes above and beyond what the other online retailers do.

Kudos Andy and Sweetwater.

-Pappy

Update: I received my Pro Gear catalog from Sweetwater last night and two thoughts occurred at the same time: 1) no way can that be a gear catalog and 2) that MUST be Sweetwater's gear catalog. The thing is flipping huge and covers a TON of stuff. It's insane how great it is AND there's a whole page dedicated to Gretsch and quite a bit dedicated to Parker. It is not at ALL like Musician's Friend's flip through the eighty or so pages once and throw it away because they all look the same. No. Sweetwater's catalog is amazing. Talk about GAS inducing too.

I will say that in the future, when they do photos of guitars or use photos of guitars from manufacturers, that they should resist the urge to show black guitars. I don't have anything against black guitars in person, but photos of them hide the potential curves that set it apart from other guitars. All you need to do is say "available in black" and you'll be set.

Great job, Sweetwater. I'm impressed.

-P.

Gretsch Corvette Z06

I wrote this back in November of 2008 and still think it's really cool and with the help of a friend who knows Photoshop far more than I do on the Gretsch Discussion Pages I put it out to the world via the forums GDP and G-T (Gretsch Talk). After almost a year the guitars still look awesome to me and the potential for them to be a gateway into the world of Gretsch for the modern heavy metal fan (not just the world of Gretsch but other genres of music as well).

Obviously GM may have a problem with it since they've already let the Corvette name be used on PRS guitars. I don't know how Gretsch gets around using the Corvette name for their model, but putting a Z06 in the label would undoubtedly wake them from their depressed and debt-induced slumber to try to get some quick bucks from Gretsch. I know this, so I'm not too attached to the name. I just wanted to it to sound like it packed more speed, more POWER than the normal Corvette.

Anyway, enjoy!

Some of you know this already but I like to mod guitars in my head and lately have been trying to modify guitars in a more realistic sense instead of just saying "I like this in black, or red" and really put some thought into them and maybe one day present them to Gretsch to see what they think.

But I've since thought that Gretsch has people that already have that job and that I have no experience in anything construction-wise with guitar, nor do I have any experience in engineering or electronics (besides building an amp that didn't work), so honestly, why would Gretsch want to hire me for R&D?

I did not even do the very lovely job on the photoshops for these guitars. That credit goes to SquareKat over on the GDP.

So, before I show them to you (assuming of course you didn't scroll down already) I thought I would pitch them to you verbally.

The Jim Root tele has shown us that classic guitars can be made for more modern players and this is one area that I think can be mined a bit more. Young players are out there looking for radical shapes and crazy designs because they are different and because that is almost ALL they are offered with the electronics they want, like active pickups and blacked out hardware. But what if classic designs (like the Root tele) were to be offered? The metal crowd would now have a choice and they may prefer the classic look of a tele with the unholy, balls to the wall tone the active pickups can give them. Or maybe they would prefer something that is a little more radical, but not in the same sense as an explorer, or Dimebag Razorback. Maybe they're looking for something a little more classic looking but still unique.

This one's for them:

Note the black Bigsby and bridge but chrome knobs and locking tuners (giving them more pop for stage use and to provide a look that is not monochromatic or washed out). The pickups pictured are EMGs but giving it a bit more thought I think I'd go with Seymour Duncan Dave Mustaine sig pickups. They have a tone on a mahogany body that I think is pretty great. Also, note the carbon fiber pick guard giving it a nod to the sports car without plastering anything that may be infringing on copyrights.

This guitar is a Corvette, just one that was made to go a bit more fast and have a bit more "oomph."

I mainly made this because this is something I would like to see, and own myself. It started out as just an idea rolling around as my answer for the Root tele, but once Squarekat photoshopped the black one, I was SOLD.

I was going to save up and get a Vette and do the mods before showing you, maybe even unveil it at the next Nashville get-together, but with a new one on the way, that's not going to happen. Not enough time or money. No big deal though, that's a perk of Photoshop. You can see my creation and I don't have to spend a thousand bucks to make sure you can see it.

So, I know this isn't your average set of mods for a Gretsch, but what do you think?

-Pappy

Wicked Pricey Sigs

As you must know by now, I’m a fan of signature guitars. I think they’re really cool. There’s just something about them…

But one thing I do NOT get is wicked expensive signature guitars. Aren’t signature guitars meant to get the band/guitarist’s name out there more, give the company a good reason to do something new and gauge the audience’s response, and give the buyer something cool to play? How can ANY of these be accomplished if the guitar is ridiculously priced.

Take Kirk Hammett: Now, Kirk Hammett does not make cheap gear. Well, his name is on some cheap gear that some people would consider to be his, like the Randall KH15 which features NO tubes or anything that the higher-end Randall KH’s offer like preamp modules. It’s just a low-budget practice amp with Kirk’s name on it. I seriously doubt he would use it, but then again, I doubt he would use the junior version of his KH2 that’s also for sale.

But if you want a guitar that’s close to his, you’re going to face the choice of either getting an LTD, made in lower-cost countries with assembly-line means (ESP says so themselves on their web site) or step up to the ESP line and bask in Japanese craftsmanship. The price difference is about fifteen-hundred dollars from the LTD version which costs $1,199.00 and the ESP which costs $2,599.00.

All things considered though, $2,600 isn’t unheard of in the signature world. I would even be inclined to say it’s about average especially for what you’re getting (neck-through, Floyd Rose, alder body, EMGs etc etc). What I don’t understand is the 2009-only KH2 Ouija. This finish scheme was released earlier only to have the makers of Ouija sue ESP for using their stuff without their permission. A handful was released to the public before production was shut down. Now they have permission and for 2009 they are releasing these guitars again, both as an LTD version and as an ESP version.

So let’s get some things out of the way first: this is the same guitar as the KH2 but it features an ebony fretboard and mirror inlays whereas the normal KH2 features a rosewood fretboard and pearl inlays. The inlays are different too and there’s (of course) the Ouija graphic that is able to be obtained online from various sources for you to put on whatever guitar you want.

Yet the price difference between the KH2and the ESP KH2 Ouija is ridiculous. The LTD versions are separated by two hundred bucks. The differences include different inlays and the paint job. The neck wood and inlay material remain the same.

I’ll say again: 200.00 difference.

So what would you think the difference is between the ESP KH2 and KH2 Ouija? $400.00? $800.00? $2,000.00?

NO!

The difference is $6,400.00.

I didn’t mistype that. Sixty-four HUNDRED dollars separates the two incredibly similar guitars.

I fail to see the reason why, honestly. Perhaps because the previous handful of Ouijas are worth so much that ESP decided that they would adopt a business practice much like beanie babies and release a new batch of what was previously incredibly rare and charge what they think they can sell for.

It’s ridiculous. There’s no way I could ever spend nine thousand dollars on a signature guitar, let alone one that isn’t a tribute model like SRV’s #1, Clapton’s Blackie, Setzer’s Stray Cat etc. etc. At least those have attributes that CLEARLY represent a ton of work that went into it. This is JUST a signature guitar.

And whereas I might think this is the rare case, it turns out that at least one more company is offering up signature guitars at crazy prices too. Parker guitars charges $3,999.97 for their Adam Dutkiewicz Dragonfly model and the only difference I can see between it and a normal Fly is EMG pickups. His signature guitar is the lowest costing of Parker’s though, at least as of this writing. Vernon Reid’s Parker goes for $5,999.97 but the craziest pricetag I have EVER seen for a non-tribute guitar is Adrian Belew’s signature Parker coming in at $9,599.97. For almost ten grand you can get a car that will last years and the functionality of it far outweighs a guitar. It can take you places in a literal sense, you can drive it, you can sleep in it, you can eat in it, you can listen to music through it, you can offer rides to hitch hikers with it.

I completely fail to see the point in even releasing these guitars. The Adam D. model is ridiculously pricey, but if Parker wants to convince you that it’s cheap by holding up Belew’s price tag next to it, that’s a good business practice. In social psychology it’s called the “big to small” method where you might say to a friend “Hey, can I borrow a hundred bucks?” and they’ll say no way so you’ll reply “Well, can I borrow twenty?” and they’ll say yes. Why? Because it isn’t a hundred bucks. The trick is you wanted twenty bucks anyway, you just knew they would say no if you flat out asked them for it.

Anyway, who is buying these guitars? I see goatee’d metal heads on Youtube with the white KH2 Ouija (the LTD version is not offered in white, by the way) thrashing away and have to scratch my head. I just don’t get it.

And honestly, I don’t think anyone wins with these. People like Belew are only getting their name out there by having people like me cry “WAY TOO PRICEY!” Guitar companies are making guitars that shops probably won’t even risk buying because putting ten grand into ONE guitar seems like an AWFUL business practice. What if a potential buyer comes in and falls in love with it but only, oh ONLY, if the shop had it in ORANGE instead of black? It will just sit there on the floor or in a case neglected, a wasted ten thousand dollar investment that sooner or later the shop will just cut loose for what they paid just to stop seeing it.

And the buyers? Well, who’s buying these? Who can honestly say they would be willing to put ten grand into a modern signature guitar that shows no real promise of becoming a collector’s item? How many people have been burned buying “collectible” comics in their childhood’s only to find out they aren’t worth any more (maybe even less) than the cheap, non-special versions?

I’m all for signature guitars and I’m all for signature artists helping make a guitar that they would use on stage but there HAS to be SOME way for people to see that there’s a limit to the price they can charge.

-Pappy