Nuts And Bolts

As a guitarist growing up, I was always very interested in reading the interviews in magazines with artists, how they wrote their songs, what gear they used, etc. etc. I've always been big into gear and good stories. I was never really interested in groupie stories or how some guy who's barely a guitarist went through hypno-therapy in order to stop smoking so much pot so MAYBE he could be a better father and now he has to snap a rubber band on his wrist that activate the hypnotic reminder and he can curb the urge.

I don't really care about that.

Over time though, I started to care less and less about what the guitarists had to say and their crazy road stories and more about learning about manufacturers. It started with the basics, the Fenders and Gibsons but quickly moved into the smaller manufacturers because more often than not, you got more honest answers from them.

Dennis at Pro Tone makes no bones about how print ads were a waste of money and shared with anyone who will listen that he's embracing the internet and word of mouth for advertising. You don't hear big companies ever say "well, it looks like we'll get an awful return if any on this one decision and because of that we're moving on to a different avenue of approach."

And maybe that's because some people think that kind of stuff is inappropriate, but I think it's being candid and I like it.

The manufacturers, be they custom guitar makers, pedal builders, even after market pickguard makers are all usually honest, very hard working, more willing to work with you the customer on what you want, and their prices are usually very comparable to bigger name prices. Ron Kirn, for instance, makes a killer T style guitar from pine that is over 100 years old, with so much attention to detail that it will make your head spin AND the cost of one of these beauties is about $500.00 less than Fender's 1952 Hot Rod Telecaster.

These people also lead normal lives like you and me and all of their stories are relate-able. If Brian Setzer approached Paul Setzer (no relation) and asked him to make a pickguard for one of his guitars, Paul would probably be more than happy to, and when he would tell the story later it would be believable and it wouldn't come off as just another day like you get with most rock stars who offhandedly mention that they happened to give their favorite guitar hero when they were growing up, a drunken call in the middle of the night just to see how it's going.

Not only that, but it's obvious that they REALLY care about their product. These are uncertain times and a lot of the people making the best products out there are still working day jobs. Just normal people who make unbelievable things and follow their heart with passion and dedication. That's the coolest thing in the world to me. It doesn't matter to me what the clientele list is, or if Musician's Friend has picked up your product to sell. Passion and dedication is all it comes down to for me and that's why I prefer to hear the stories from the people responsible for the nuts and bolts of players instead of most players themselves.

-Pappy

Midtown Music Retires

Bad news for anyone in the state of Georgia or any neighboring state. Midtown Music, which is arguably the best music store in all of Georgia will be closing their doors as the owner retires.

This breaks my heart.

Not just because it's a wicked cool shop but because they never failed to treat me well.

You know when a salesman eye-rapes you to determine if you're worthy to try out a guitar? Never happened there.

You know how you are always curious what a high end piece of gear sounds like but no one ever has it in stock? Midtown Music probably had it.

You know the dream of a music store that didn't just stock the known names but could expose you to some new alternatives for great tone? Midtown Music was there to help.

The first Gretsch I ever played was in Tucson, AZ in a Guitar Center. That means that the guitar was worn out before I ever touched it and the idea of spending 1,800.00 on THAT guitar was a little nauseating, honestly. It probably just needed a set up and a good polish job (maybe a bath too) but I wasn't impressed.

Fast forward to living in Georgia. Midtown Music had a few Gretsches in stock and I played a 6120-DSW through a DR Z KT45 and hey-o, tone city. I loved it. And he never said a single word about me playing this expensive guitar through an expensive amp. I asked if I could play it and he said sure and that was IT. He left me alone, never hovered, shoot, the amps were in another room, far from him (smart thinking, since you want to save your hearing for as long as possible).

I went back and decided I had to play a Telecaster and give them a fair shake. A relic at that if he had one. I had to know what all the fuss was about. And not only did he have a relic (he had quite a few) but he had the KING of all relics, the Jeff Beck Esquire.

So many of the opinions I have were hatched in that shop because he took care of his gear and his customers like they were family. The shop on the outside didn't look spectacular but that's because everything that was worth talking about was on the INSIDE, just like your mom always told you growing up (beauty is only skin-deep and it's what's on the inside that counts for all those out there who didn't have mothers).

One day I emailed owner David Tiller and said I had a day off coming up and I wanted to drive up and try out one of each of the DR Z amps that he had and was curious what time would be best and have the least amount of inconvenience for him. He wrote back and said any time is fine and when I showed up on that day (at opening) he had already stacked one of each of the heads to a Z Best cab and plugged in an Airbrake. He kept telling me to turn it up too.

I explained to him before this expedition that I understand if he's less than inclined because this is solely for research. After all, Z amps always sound good on paper and there are devout fans of each particular offering and they're always saying that their Z amp is the best one for you and until I played them, played every one but one of the new ones Z had released that year, I thought any could work for what I wanted.

I learned though that I was horribly unsatisfied with every single Z amp except for one. And that one wasn't really on my radar anyway. It was at the bottom of the stack and by then I had almost given up saying obviously Z amps just isn't for me but I plugged into this one and ah jeez, it sounded pretty amazing.

During that day, a kid came in who couldn't have been more than 15, the kind of kid most guitar store employees blow off and then watch with eagle eyes for a hand to extend from his hoodie sleeve before saying "HEY! Don't touch that guitar without assistance!" This kid comes in and starts talking about really hot distortion pedals and what does the shop have and the owner no kidding spent twenty minutes talking about the options and what might be good for him that they DON'T have (though they had a ton).

Now, a recent thread on the Telecaster forum was saying that the wide generalization is that Guitar Center is hell and Mom and Pop shops are the best experience ever and I'm here to say that's not true. A lot of Mom and Pops hover and are critical of your gear and opinions. I was once called an idiot by a salesman in a shop in Mississippi because I didn't like to use reverb. I was further berated because I liked Kirk Hammett. Obviously this is not a good representation of the quality Mom and Pops that are being advocated.

But I have NEVER received such good service from ANY Guitar Center be it in Florida, Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, New Mexico, Alabama, etc. etc.

I'm a firm believer that Mom and Pops need to look at Midtown Music and take a page from their book because they were doing everything right.

And on one hand, I am super sad to see them go, but on the other, at least the owner is retiring after a long career in the music business and is moving on to better things. In this day and age retirement is not known by many in this country.

The doors aren't closed just yet either. They're having a huge sale on their amps (of which the one Z amp I liked is included but with my current funds it might as well not be) and I urge everyone to direct their browsers here: http://www.midtownmusic.com/ and check out their inventory and give them a call and see what they have. There's a ton of potential that they may have whatever you're looking for.

But it's with a sad sigh I say goodbye to the shop that made Georgia bearable. I'll miss it.


-Pappy

Rockabilly Guitar by Paul Pigat

If you do a search for instructional guitar videos, there are a ton. Obviously you would want to pare that down to a more reasonable number so maybe you'll start looking at specific genres. Rock, blues, jazz, etc. There really isn't a lack of instructional videos in any specific genre except for niche styles. You may be hard pressed to find a video on how to play like Frank Zappa, for instance.

What staggers my mind though is the shortage of rockabilly videos. Surely the movement inspired by Brian Setzer's time in the Stray Cats would have inspired more than just a Hot Licks video by the man himself, right?

Maybe people just don't think it's as bankable as a run of the mill rock instructional video. This method of playing it safe actually seems more risky to me. After all, putting out a video in a vein that everyone else is increases the risk of people missing your video. But if you put out a video in an area where the market isn't saturated your chances of being noticed are far greater and after that it falls on whether or not the video is quality but at least it's being seen and you can never complain of not being given a fair chance.

Paul Pigat, long-time friend of the 5th Fret has three instructional videos out right now and one in the works. He's been teaching since he was 17 and it shows.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I apologize.

This review is of Paul's instructional video "Rockabilly Guitar" which you can buy from http://www.learnrootsmusic.com for the price of $24.95 right now (it's on sale from it's usual $29.95).

It opens up with Paul playing some licks that you will learn through the DVD and it's pretty great that he does this. If you ever need inspiration to keep going if you get frustrated, it's the first part of the DVD. And it gives you a good idea and goal. You think maybe by the end of this I'll be able to do that and you can. You may not be as fast as Paul at first, but you'll have a good grasp on it by the end of the video.

Paul comes on and talks to you, introduces himself, and sets up the lesson. If this were a lesson book, every chapter would have a preface whether it be talking about that chapter or just showing you how it's going to be, but every lesson is split up and there's an obvious start and stop point. Personally, I really like this. If you were to try and teach a whole song to someone bit by bit, it would be a little intimidating and really easy for the student to get frustrated and quit. All of the lessons in this DVD though, can be treated separately. You CAN join them together like he shows at the very beginning or you can keep them separate to save yourself a bit of mental anguish because when you're learning anything in the world, you're always going to be looking at the end goal. If that end goal is far away it will feel daunting but if it isn't that far away you'll be just fine going chunk by chunk until you realize there's no more journey/lesson/DVD.

Paul's teaching technique is to play the lick at normal speed, play it slower, and then slower still and then break it down note by note (most of the time with note names) and really lets you know exactly how he plays it but also your options (in situations where, for instance, you personally don't like to use your fretting pinky) for fingering or even playing the lick and then breaks down the lick even further. Those small manageable chunks just got laughably smaller and this is a good inspirational tool, having to learn, say, ten notes at a time instead of thirty. Ten notes is easy to grasp mentally and after that you just need to work on feel and rhythm. Then you tackle the next chunk.

His speech is always calm, always humble. He's not jumping around trying to yell at you until you're inspired and he's not trying to show off to you at home.

But he's not boring either.

Basically he is who you want to be taught by if you go to a local lessons place. You don't want a person to talk down to you for a half hour, nor do you want to be so bored that you want to take up drums just so there will be more excitement.

There are a couple of things he does in particular that I really like. They both fall under his understanding of instructional videos. We've all seen instructional videos before. Usually the camera is stationary. The camera is either showing you the fretting hand only making it impossible to figure out intricate picking patterns or they show the whole guitar which makes it incredibly difficult to see the exact fretting finger positions.

Paul understands this and when he says the name of a string, sometimes he'll wiggle the string in case you didn't know which one it was.

This is a big thing. The box says "intermediate" as a skill level and while it's true that the licks taught are very intermediate, he doesn't assume you know things that more and more guitarists just don't know. He doesn't throw a lot of jargon at you. A player at any level can get something from these and if you're still worried, I have some more news for you: You don't pay by the half hour and you can rewind as many times as you like.

That's the joy of DVD: no degradation of video or audio quality based solely on repeated viewings.

Another big things he does is teaches you a very basic lick to get you warmed up to the whole lesson. Like checking the temperature of a swimming pool by putting your toes in first, he shows you an easy lick to tell you it won't be that bad. He lulls you into a completely appropriate level of comfort.

He shows you a couple of rockabilly licks that could be used in a billion rockabilly songs and makes you feel like you could probably be a rockabilly player.

Then he moves on to hybrid picking.

This is where I had to use a TON of rewind to get the licks and this is based completely on my skill level and not his teaching ability. I actually had to take a break from the constant progress I was showing because it was so tough to move from traditional flatpicking to hybrid picking (using a flat pick and your other picking fingers at the same time). Paul made it as easy as possible with a camera angle on the picking hand only and showing you JUST what you do with the pick and then moving on to show you what you do with the fingers as well. Then he moves on to the whole lick.

It works really well and he made what probably would have taken me forever something that didn't take more than a week to get a small grasp on and from then on it was merely a matter of practice.

He moves on from that showing you more and more impressive licks and explaining alternate ways to play the licks until the very end when he and his bassist show you how you could string everything together to make one huge, awesome song.

Gear-wise I love that he talks about his gear at the end of the video. So many rockabilly guitarists will get in to some serious nuts and bolts explaining you need analog this, solid state that, this specific brand of this specific gear, BAH. Nuts to that. Paul explains that his guitar is a 1949 Gibson ES350 with no switches and he plays through a vintage Ampeg amp because tubes are important for HIS sound (yours is yours and who is anyone to try to tell you what you need?) and only says that if you're going to play rockabilly you need a delay pedal. He doesn't go in to specifics because honestly, you don't need them. Just find a delay you like that will give you an appropriate slap back sound.

I would recommend this video to anyone, whether it be to someone who wants to be the next Brian Setzer to a metal head who just wants to improve as a player because if you want to see improvement you need to step out of your comfort zone and pick up some new tools used elsewhere. Even Zakk Wylde uses hybrid picking.

This video is well worth buying and poring over because it will make you a better guitarist, plain and simple. I've had my copy for a long time now and the people I've heard talk about it never mention that a lot of the stuff is covered elsewhere (let alone covered elsewhere better). The most interesting thing regarding how it effected me as a player is that I had a new found appreciation for hybrid and finger pickers everywhere. I was able to listen to Chet Atkins and be wowed. Before that I was impressed, sure, but I was never really focusing on just how much work it takes to do a fraction of what he does until I started learning hybrid picking.

At the end of the day, when you buy an instructional video, you want it to teach you new things and make you a better player and Paul's here to help you get there. It's worth the thirty bucks.

Here's learnrootsmusic's YouTube video ad and it shows what you can potentially do at the end of it and two brief introductions to specific lessons inside. Unfortunately it doesn't cover how well he covers each section, but you'll get a bit of a better idea of what he'll be teaching.



-Pappy

Was Going To Change The World

When I was a teen, I knew I would be a practicing musician. I would be a “rock star” only I may not focus on rock or anything. My point is that I knew that was what my job was going to be. Adults would ask what I wanted to do when I grew up and I said I was going to be a musician and they snickered and laughed, but nuts to them, I knew the truth. I was going to go to college where I would get a fall-back degree, and spend my time learning the intricacies of music, both playing and business and when I graduated I would begin to work at it.

That was the plan.

We all know what happens with most plans. They change. Life happens. Priorities shift. I had a girlfriend that guilted me in to quitting the guitar just as I was getting really good (well, really fast as metal riffs anyway) and when we broke up, it was tough to get back to that same speed. I still don’t have it. I met my wife and I WANTED to spend more time with her than focusing solely on the guitar so it slid into the back of my mind. I still played quite a bit, but not to nearly the same extent as I did before I quit for a little while. We went to college together where, with no financial aid, I worked three jobs and the cost of working those jobs was not enough time to go to class and I failed out. Within months I would be on the streets, so I joined the USAF and that is my embarrassing story of how I joined. We then had two kids and let me tell you, if you think you don’t have enough time to practice NOW, just wait until you have a couple of kids.

They’re worth it to me though.

Anyway, my point here is that life changes and the plans that we had, that we were once so sure of crumble and fall away as if they were nothing.

But it’s fun to look back on what you were thinking you would do that would change the music world.

I always said that every time I would go in to record an album, I would actually record TWO and just shelve one for a later date. It wouldn’t be labeled as a Pt 2 or anything, it would just be another album. The logic being that a ton of people would always say “I wish X would go back to what they USED to play.” I would probably record six albums and then start releasing the previously recorded ones.

I would also start a website dedicated only to the guitar work and the other guitarist (if there would be another guitarist) and myself would record videos and release our own TAB for every single one of our released songs. There would be a subscription fee, but it would only be enough to keep the site running. The more people that sign up, the cheaper it will get (theoretically). The reason for this is that there are a ton of people that want to learn songs and artists seem… disinclined to give them accurate how-to’s on them. TAB books are expensive and sometimes wrong and online TAB is often FAR from the mark. Slow, informative videos would be educational and anyone could learn how to play the songs.

And then they would go to guitar stores and that standby riff that we all know and use when trying out a new guitar just may be one of my songs and maybe someone in the shop, another customer or member of the staff would comment on it and ask who wrote it.

They would say the name of the band.

I would have an army of symbiotic advertisers. I would give them music they enjoy and they would give me the underrated exposure of guitar store riffage.

The website would also have detailed explanations of what was used on which songs and where all the knobs were positioned. I don’t care if someone uses my tone.

I would also not do drugs. Drugs ruin careers and this would be a career as long as I could make it that way.

Also, I would probably make an agreement with the band that niche magazines, the bass player magazines, the vocal magazines, the guitar magazines, etc. would only be interviewing that member(s) of the band. If I wanted to read what a singer thought, I would read a magazine that dealt with singers (or the mainstream magazines since that is who they focus on for the most part). I buy a guitar magazine to read about the guitarists and their rigs and writing processes and THEIR stories.

And that would be how I would have changed the world.

This isn't a lament about the past and how my present turned out either. I'm very happy with where I am and the joys I have in my life that aren't for everyone. I just thought it was entertaining to look back on what I was planning to do. If you came to be in the position, would you try to change anything or would be fine with how things are now and if you would want to change things, what would you change?

-Pappy

Tips For Gibson

I know it seems like I bash Gibson quite a bit here, but I want to make myself clear: I really like Gibson guitars. I think the '56 LP gold top is amazingly constructed and it had tone that, once I played it, I literally dreamed of that tone all night long. I don't think I've ever been more satisfied but at the same time hungry for more of the same tone. It was amazing.

And I grew up with my LP Studio. It feels like home every time I put it on.

So when I write things about Gibson it's because I really want to see them succeed and in case no one in their think tank was able to come up with these things, like reaching back in to your own vault to pull new models from or today's tips, the ideas are out there and I hope that they get them.

So, let's talk about a few things that are incredibly cheap (or free) to implement that will help the company both move forward in sales AND become a more trusted company.

A blogger for Ford Motor Company said that 70% of American consumers trust companies less than they did one year ago. They don't trust the ads in magazines and they don't trust the press releases. What they do trust is the guy down the street who drove one or bought one and they put stock in his opinion because it's significantly less biased. He has no dog in the fight. It's not like he'll be effected one way or the other if you buy the car and he's more inclined to say that, yeah, the mileage is good but the seats are so uncomfortable you wouldn't want to stay in it for more than twenty minutes.

This is not only applicable to car companies but guitar companies as well. I don't know about you, but I can't remember the last time I read a bad review in a guitar magazine. Maybe this is because the writers are trying to find the good in everything they review but usually in that case you would say that this product is for you ONLY IF and then qualify the tonal requirements or whatnot.

That seems a little suspicious to me.

It doesn't help that the company that sends stuff to get reviewed by the magazine pays for ad space in the magazine. It doesn't take a genius to figure out it would be pretty embarrassing if an ad claiming how great a product is, is in the same pages as a review that says the product is actually garbage.

Now, I'm not saying that the magazines are trying to maintain the ad space sold by catering to the companies and turning blind eyes to bad guitars (maybe they only PRINT the reviews of the great guitars, who knows?) because in this day and age magazines are pretty much out the door anyway and they need all the money they can get. I'm not saying that at all.

What I am saying is that I don't really trust those reviews. And I don't think I'm the only one.

So what can Gibson do to get past this?

Easy. Send guitars to bloggers to review. Start with the most recognized guitar blog (I Heart Guitar) and ask him to name five to ten other quality bloggers that he recommends and then start sending them guitars too. It helps to send the same guitar to each blogger so you get multiple points of view and opinions. The reviews will not mirror each other and you'll have the warm, fuzzy feeling inside that when ten people all say they like a guitar for different reasons then most blog readers will associate good things with the guitar.

Of course, you can't be mad if you send a bad guitar and it gets reviewed poorly. I can't speak for them, but I'm an honest guy and if I bought something based on a review from a trusted guitar blog and the product turned out to be bad, I would be a little irate.

And how much will this cost?

Postage to the reviewer and back.

Again, I can only speak for my blog, but I would only sell ad space for products that I would personally buy and it's not necessary so if you want to cut costs as much as possible, don't buy ad space and just mail the guitar to the reviewer. If they like it they can approach you and see if you would like to buy ad space for that particular guitar or if they like the whole brand and believe in it that can do that too. Personally, I'm going to try not to sell ad space to anyone unless I really believe in the product. Hopefully this won't be viewed as me selling the blog out but merely receiving benefits for recommending something I would have recommended anyway.

And even if that is too much for you, don't worry. I have another tip and it's completely free.

If you go to Dave's Guitars (http://davesguitar.com/) and look at their inventory of new Gibson guitars you'll see a message telling you to call to see what's in stock because Gibson will not let them say what they do or don't have.

Honestly, I've been trying to figure this out for at least a month now. I guess if someone wanted a Gibson they would have to call to see if it's available and since they're on the phone, perhaps they would be easier to sell a new guitar to? Or maybe they want to give the impression that the store has a lot more Gibson than they really do?

It just seems ridiculous to me. I want to see what's in the inventory at online guitar shops not only because I want to know, but I want to see the pictures that the shops take of the guitar.

I'm not so worried about the price, go ahead and use MAP. I'm used to it being used by other companies so I'll have to call or email anyway, but I want to call or email with at least a little preparation done.

"Greetings, sir! I see you have a custom shop 1956 Gibson Les Paul VOS. I was wondering what your impressions on the neck size were and what the best price is that you can sell it to me for."

How hard is that?

What about this?

"Greetings, sir! I see you're a Gibson dealer. I was wondering what models you have?" waits as they rattle off the models.....

That's wicked lame. That's like going to a donut shop drive through and asking what donuts they have. They are always changing the donuts on the shelves (or should be, anyway) so when you ask that, you should be prepared for at least three minutes of ramblings about strawberry glazed, chocolate glazed, blueberry cake, Bavarian cream, etc. etc. and in all honesty, you'll probably forget most of those.

But if you can see what they have you can say "hey, that maple glazed donut. How fresh is that?"

It makes the potential buyer look more informed and when a buyer feels more informed they're more likely to feel better about the purchase and want to take that first step AND it makes the seller have less work.

So a totally free change that will only benefit you, Gibson, is to make it OK for stores to show online the inventory that they have. We're in the age of the future after all and most people are buying from shops that are not in their hometown. Going to the store is no longer a common thing.

If you do these two things, you're bound to be more successful.

Even if you do half you'll probably see a good-sized bump in sales.

And this advice was given completely free!

-Pappy

Top 5: Non-Gretsch Signature Guitars

I’m a dedicated Gretsch guy, or at least, I’m heavily tempted by Gretsch’s wares, so much so that there’s a ton of their guitars that I would want given the opportunity or that would hog up a top five list. But I realize this and accommodate for this list that will consist of my top five NON Gretsch guitars.

Don’t worry, my top 5 signature Gretsch guitars will be popping up sometime soon.

So let’s get started!

Gibson Billy Joe Armstrong

There’s something undeniably cool about a simple guitar with no frills. One pickup and a P90 at that (P90s make for some absolutely stunning sounds) and two knobs and on the white guitar version you even get an ebony fretboard. Sling it low, rock it out. I can’t help but think if I got it there would be a lot of picking from the shoulder and not so much care about creating intricate songs, but with more focus on songs that get you in the gut and make you shake your fist in the air.

Gibson Duane Eddy

Duane Eddy has had three signature guitars from Guild to Gretsch to Gibson each one I consider to be an improvement on the last and sure enough, this Gibson is beautiful. It’s got a great finish to it, kind of a brownish red that really plays with the light (which is always a good thing. It gives the lighting guys something fun to play with), and the inlays are just as stunning.

Not to mention it oozes class and with custom wound Seymour Duncan single coil pickups and an L.R. Baggs bridge transducer really opens up tonal possibilities. Out of this whole list, this is the most classy guitar but it’s also a sleeper. I imagine it can handle a lot more than what most people would try to push on it.

ESP Kirk Hammett KH-2 Ouija

Limited to a 2009 only release, this RIDICULOUSLY pricey KH-2 is still stunning. It’s the kind of guitar you would wear with a black suit and white shoes. It looks normal in shape but with such an odd finish and great-looking inlays.

Of course it’s a little intricate with everything going on aesthetically but there’s still a feeling of ease to it, like you would be happy playing it on a couch backstage before a gig and it wouldn’t look out of place.

I’ll be honest, I can’t really imagine Dimebag Darrell sitting backstage, just hanging out sitting down drinking a beer playing his signature ML. It just seems like guitars like those are more for on stage where they can be a strong visual presence and less of a comfortable playing guitar.

Fender Jim Root Tele
I love Teles and this is probably my favorite. Loaded with EMGs and a handy carve at the neck joint to allow for an easier reach to the higher frets, it should play like butter but it also strikes the eye much like the BJ Armstrong Gibson. It isn’t cluttered, it isn’t busy, it’s plain and in your face and strong. There are tons of pictures of Jim Root playing some seriously heavy songs on it and you can’t help but be impressed that, regardless of pickups and construction woods and all that, those tones are coming from a Telecaster.

Kudos, Fender and Jim Root. It’s a great looking guitar with lots of potential.

Ibanez Jem

I particularly like the Jem77V (the one on top). When I first started playing guitar I was always easily excited about the visual impact of the guitar and I still am and this was one of the first few that I really latched on to. I went to a swap meet at a guitar store and someone had a Jem with a bunch of flowers on it and a pink vine of life inlay and while I always thought the silver vine of life was impressive enough, it looked like a possibility that I was going to get that guitar. In the end I didn’t though and honestly, that isn’t too bad of a thing. I doubt I would have had the guts to pull it out in front of people regardless of how great it played.

And now I realize that even though the vine of life is beautiful, it doesn’t need a body filled with flowers as well. There’s a nice balance to the guitar.

I don’t need a monkey grip either, but I’m not particularly worried about it. There’s just something a little showy, a little out there and a little not-the-norm that makes it cool.

And there you have it, my top five non Gretsch signature guitars. I hope you enjoyed this installment!

-Pappy

Fender La Cabronita Especial (One Pickup Version)

At five grand, I would rather build/have someone else build one, but the tone he's getting in this video is pretty stunning.



I would be curious to hear what Walter in particular has to say about this since he's a big Tele guy and is slowly gravitating toward the TV Jones Powertron.

-Pappy

Homework

I was born in the early 80s and started playing guitar in the mid 90s. It took a little while for me to find out who Stevie Ray Vaughan was but when I found him, I instantly dug him. He had soul, he had tone, he had this crazy amount of energy but he also had a ton of class and taste when it came to playing.

But man oh man did he bring a curse down on Strat players. You can't play the blues on a Strat without getting the stigma of being the "next SRV" attached at you at some point on your way up and this is only a heavy, heavy anchor that will drag any guitarist right back down with a staggering quickness.

And why?

Shouldn't the world that loved SRV so much welcome a person of skill and talent and soul that happens to play the blues in a similar vein as him? Why give every white Strat playing blues man the cold shoulder? Haven't you mourned long enough?

I honestly don't think it has anything to do with mourning. I think the doors that SRV opened is what is keeping anyone from getting to where he was at the height of his popularity.

Think about it. He made blues accessible for everyone. You could be a suburban housewife and get it. And even if you couldn't get it, it wouldn't be that long before a faster song would come along, a song that anyone could get on the dance floor and shake it to.

And when everyone realized that the blues was no longer race-specific and anyone could play them, the floodgates were opened.

Now comes your very first 5th Fret homework assignment. Rent/buy/pirate the movie Ghost World starring Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi and Brad Renfro and watch it.

There's a scene where Buscemi goes to a club to watch an absolutely amazing guitarist play and he's on stage just ripping it UP on an old acoustic and not a single soul but Bescemi is paying attention to him. Everyone else is waiting for the headliner but to Buscemi this guy IS the headliner and for obvious reasons. The guy was amazing.

Buscemi strikes up an awkward conversation with a girl who says if you like the blues, really AUTHENTIC blues, stick around because the headliners will be out momentarily and they're awesome.

Enter the headliners.

They are either just arriving from a frat house or an American Eagle catalog shoot, with white skin, blond hair, LOUD music and opened up with a song about how they've been picking cotton all day long.

Watching it I couldn't help this was the writer's clever tip of the hat to SRV and everything he brought with him. Everyone knows he played loud and like I said, he made it OK for EVERYONE to say they liked the blues and even for bands like this, filled with young pretty boys, to sing about how life has really got them down.

I felt ill.

I really like SRV but have to admit, if this WAS a wink to the "true" blues fans that modern blues is not stocked with the same soul (or skill) then it was pretty on the mark.

Watch the movie and tell me what you think. Am I way off base here? Am I reading too much in to it? Are there throngs of SRV fans reading this with fingers on fire at the excitement to type nasty replies? Go ahead. I'm genuinely curious what everyone has to say because here's how I'll finish it:

I think that SRV was amazing. I also think that he truly opened the door for some REALLY awful stuff to come in and yes, there have been great white blues guitarists since, but they're in the minority.

So in summary, shame on you for getting on that chopper, Stevie.

And while we're at it, shame on you for getting on that plane, Buddy.

And in that plane, Randy.

I swear, guitarists need to stay out of flying vehicles.

-Pappy

News Below The Fold: Recognition

I'll be honest, I love being a blogger. I love being in the company of great writers that also write guitar blogs. I really feel that if we were to come together under one web site, any guitar magazine would really feel the impact of guitar blogs. Basically this is because we don't usually cover the same thing or if we do, we have pretty different takes on it (unless it's about Gibson making a Strat which I think we're all unanimous on). If you were to organize it in a magazine format, a ton of bases would be covered be it the guitar market, product reveals and updates, tips on techniques, tips on being a musician in general, tips on how to get gigs, and even long-winded rants (more often than not provided by yours truly). There could even be a section in the back about cooking. No kidding. Strat O Blogster sometimes posts recipes.

And there are cool things about being a blogger that have come up in the last year. I've emailed countless companies asking to review their stuff but if not, it's not a big deal, just let me know. I put this caveat in there because I am the kind of guy that sends out an email, even on a weekend, and I check my inbox all day long looking for a reply. In this regard, the iPhone is a true blessing because I have it set to automatically check for emails so I'm never more than 15-20 minutes from responding myself.

But having that first company say yes, getting that first product to review, getting your guitar heroes to sit down and volley emails back and forth to end up with an interview, getting record companies to say yes to the idea of you reviewing their artist's records, and even meeting fans.

And I've done it all! Well, not totally. As you may know, I recently went through the professional development course, Airman Leadership School and when I introduced myself I said I write for this guitar blog and I'm pretty proud of it. My class leader, who is probably one of the nicest people on the face of the earth and is always smiling and making everyone else's day easier (even at her own expense) asked which blog I write for and then said that she THINKS her husband reads it.

A little about her: I don't think I've ever met anyone as old-school as her. Some folks might SAY they're old school but she makes all of her food from scratch, was raised by her grandmother to get up at three in the morning to start making biscuits and learned how to drive when she joined the military. That made her the most interesting person in class.

Anyhoo.

She went home and confirmed and yes, I'm on his favorites list.

I'll be honest, this kind of threw me for a loop. I mean, I know that there are people out there that read my blog, that comment on the posts (thanks for commenting, by the way. I always appreciate it), but to have someone say that it's read in their household and I didn't push them there, didn't say "hey, check this out," or leave the URL on a computer screen, to have this completely unprovoked recognition was pretty amazing.

I was stoked.

And having this one person that was in my class at WORK tell me that my blog is read in her house really got me excited. I feel great about this and when I think about how good this makes me feel, I can't imagine how great Jen, the author of the blog Cake Wrecks (which is an absolutely amazing blog that has nothing to do with music but is located here: http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com) feels having released a book and gone on a book tour from city to city and being greeted by throngs of fans.

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks to all of you who read the blog. I'm flattered that you take time out of your day to do so and I promise I'll try to keep delivering the same quality of writing in the future (maybe even a little better).

Thanks for your time!

-Pappy

Top 5: Kings Of Tone

Tone is a tricky thing. It makes you who you are as a guitarist. You can play the most accurate bunch of notes in the world, but without it sounding unique or at the very least pleasant, no one will want to hear it.

Another thing about tone is that it's often the people who are taking the non-beaten paths that have the best tone. I chalk this up to them not drinking the popular kool-aid and buying and playing what everyone else is at the time. After all, how many bands are going to come out playing a PRS and a Mesa Boogie?

So who are my top 5 kings of tone?

Here you go!

In no particular order:

Richard Hudson

Richard Hudson is probably one of the best finger style guitarists in the world and his playing is as clean and accurate as clean and accurate can be but there's still SOUL in there and it still sounds good. If there was ever a modern day Chet Atkins, he would be him. He's got chops like you wouldn't believe and it one of the nicest guys imaginable. Watching/listening to him play makes you think there's really no point in you playing anymore, but he's pretty inspirational when you put your tunes in front of him. Great guy, great player and the tone he gets IS the finger style tone.

Check him out here: http://www.richardkhudson.com/

Walter Broes

Walter fronts the Belgian band The Seatsniffers and they play classic rock and roll. I don't mean classic rock like AC/DC. I mean classic rock and roll, the kind of rock and roll that was being played half a century ago, but they do it so well, and without being bogged down by the past that you can't help but really like it. It's the only modern band that I can truly call Roots Rock and say that it's great all in the same sentence.

While it looks like he can (and I'm sure he can) play rockabilly, the album I have of the Seatsniffers, All of This, mainly features the guitar in the background while a saxophone takes up a good bit of solos but even in the background, Walter's vintage Guild is tearing it up with a tone that's incredibly unique. Notes are distorted and fuzzy but not to the point where you can't hear them or they blend too much together. It sounds rough and tumble and awesome all at the same time and he can go from this dirty sound to a clean sound and still be all on his own tone-wise.

For more information on the Seatsniffers, you can check out their website here: http://seatsniffers.be/

Rodrigo Y Garbriella

I'll admit, I'm cheating a bit with this one since there are TWO guitarists, but they work so well together and their sound meshes so great that it sounds like one. It isn't "Rodrigo over here and it's obvious and Gabriella over there and you can tell them apart." It isn't like that at all. Their sounds and playing interweave with each other and their playing is INSANELY good.

Leave it to previous metal heads to take something like Spanish Guitar and bring it back with an urgency and insisting that has even guitarist pop idol worshippers Guitar World to take notice. No words, just amazing, beautiful, staggering and skill full guitar playing.

For more, look here: http://www.rodgab.com/look_music.html

Jim Rotramel

There's a dangerous line in the rockabilly world. If you veer off too much on one side you risk sounding "too vintage" and the youth won't pay attention to you because it just doesn't sound EXCITING, but if you veer off the other way and sound too modern you're labelled as a punk band with a slap bass. It must be tough to satisfy such fickle fans too, but somehow, Jim does it.

His tone is both modern enough to sound like the album belongs in your collection and not your father's or grandfather's but still classic enough that your father or grandfather will probably like it too.

Not only that, but for a one guitar band, his sound FILLS the space that so many one guitar bands leave empty. It's a crazy thing to watch a three piece sound full but Skinny Jim & The Number 9 Blacktops do and Jim's ability to walk that tone line and still sound great needs to be heard to be believed.

Check it out here: http://www.myspace.com/skinnyjimrocks

Now, the last entry was a tough one. Jim "The Reverend Horton Heat" Heath is one of my favorite guitarists and a guy who makes me want to practice over and over again but his tone only got me on one of his records, Spend A Night In The Box (which is STRONGLY recommended buying material), and because of that, I decided to go with something different.

These days you don't hear too much Gypsy Jazz . Because of this, I have no idea if the Lost Fingers are respected in the Gypsy Jazz world (a world I would very much like to enter in the distant future) but to me, they're the bees knees.

The Lost Fingers

One more band with two guitarists but the band is so unique you'll find it easy to forgive them.

1) I'm pretty sure English is their second language (they're French Canadian)

2) Their first CD, Lost In The 80s, is nothing but covers of popular 80s songs done in Gypsy Jazz so there's novelty but the actual music is far from novelty. It's more like a musical trap. They lure in anyone who knows nothing about Gypsy Jazz or Django Reinhardt with Pump Up The Jam and if they're music fans (or especially guitarists) their music ensures that their album will be in constant rotation.

And the tone is so not-the-normal acoustic guitar tone that you can't help to sit up and take notice.

The best part about their tone to me is that even though there is an OBVIOUS command of the instrument, they still manage to sound a little off the cuff and that's great. Again, with the exception of Richard Hudson, perfection is often frowned upon by me.

Check them out here: http://thelostfingers.com/en

So there you have it, folks, my top five Kings (and Queen) of Tone.

Be sure to check out the music in the links provided. You'll be glad you did!

-Pappy

Top 5: Guitar Companies

In the world of guitar building, there are plenty of big names to choose from for a top five list, but five names stand out to me.

This is not to say these are the only five companies anyone needs to pay attention to, because there are plenty more quality builders out there, and a few smaller builders that deserve your attention as well like Benford guitars or Composite Electric. But as far as the big names go, this is my top five.

Gibson

Honestly, how can guitar companies be mentioned and Gibson NOT be on the list? They had the classic ES-335, the much cooler, yet much more often forgotten ES-350 (with a venetian cutaway not the Florentine cutaway), the Les Paul, the SG, the Explorer, the Flying V, the L-5, etc. etc. All of the big names have played them and they’ve become a staple in the guitar world.

And how can we not mention that even though Gibson has made some of the most famous guitars in history, they had to do it quickly because they were due in court often because of lawsuits they’ve filed against several guitar manufacturers? I think Gibson is one of the few companies that can go out and sue guitar company after guitar company and still be considered worthwhile. I imagine most companies would just consider Gibson to be a bully, but I haven’t heard too many complaints from guitar companies.

In any case, according to Wikipedia, your one stop shop for all things completely true and accurate, Gibson sued Ibanez in 1977 for making near identical copies of Gibson’s famous Les Paul NOT for use of the body shape but because of the headstock. Ibanez actually took the open-book headstock shape from a Guild, not Gibson. Of course, that really doesn’t matter because Gibson and Guild were so close in headstock shapes anyway. You could easily claim all day long that they took the shape from Guild, but come on, let’s not kid ourselves, it’s the same shape.

In 1997 Gibson sued ESP for their body shape based heavily on the Explorer. They didn’t sue companies like Dean or Washburn but ESP which I find incredibly suspicious. Could it be because James Hetfield made the ESP EXP famous in the metal world, then popular mainstream with his work in Metallica? I wouldn’t put it past Hetfield to be that influential, after all, he made me want one, so I think (and this is just me thinking) that it has more to do with the fact that no one wanted a Gibson Explorer when Gibson had the out of place pickguard and pickup selector on the upper bout.

Then in 2001 Gibson went after PRS and their Singlecut model claiming that in a smoky concert hall it would be difficult to tell a Gibson Les Paul from a PRS Singlecut. The appellate court responded by saying that “only an idiot would confuse the products at the point of sale” which to me, says that the court saw Gibson’s point of view. It’s smoky, your eyes are a little red, perhaps you’ve had a beer or two and a guy walks on stage and you see he’s not playing a Strat so he must be playing a Gibson Les Paul. Then you hear his wicked good tone and want to buy one just like it.

But the court held on to logic past that step and I completely agree that the same person who thought it was indeed a Gibson Les Paul would not be fooled in a well-lit, non smoky guitar store. Good job courts.

Yet Gibson is here on the top five list because they do make excellent guitars and have made excellent guitars for a very long time. Players from all genres have played them, all ages have played them, and you would be hard pressed to NOT find them on any guitar list.

Gretsch

Ah, Gretsch. I love Gretsch guitars. They say that Billy Gibbons thinks that the esquire is the greatest guitar shape in the history of guitar. I think the 16” hollow body from Gretsch is. It’s perfect. The curves are just right, the f holes are just the right size, it doesn’t sound like anything else, it doesn’t look like anything else, it oozes class and coolness, it’s not stuffy at all, but you wouldn’t feel weird pulling it out at a jazz club.

It’s an awesome shape.

And as far as a company goes, you really can’t get much better. I’ve had questions and emailed them and received answers in less than a day, Joe Carducci goes to get-togethers thrown by Gretsch enthusiasts across the country, is constantly there to answer questions and talk to and just be a cool guy and Fred Gretsch III is just as easy to talk to as well. When you meet these guys you see that Gretsch is more than a paycheck to them. It’s something cool, something they love and believe in and they’re truly happy that you want to be a part of that as well.

That's why it's my favorite company.

ESP

ESP is where metal player after metal player went after Jackson was bought by Fender in 2002. Players like Dave Mustaine and Alexi Laiho made the swap and players like Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield have been rocking out ESPs forever. Even Ron Wood from the Rolling Stones plays an ESP Telecaster.

I’ve said in the past I’m a fan of the KH2 from ESP but I’m also a huge fan of their willingness to accommodate the artist that is endorsing the product, not in the ways we can’t see like turnaround time to get a set number of guitars to an artist (though Laiho said that was one of the reasons he liked ESP so much) but in ways we can see like in an interview with Laiho where he said he went in with a tube of lipstick taken from a friend’s girlfriend and said on his signature guitar he wants that particular shade of pink as the stripe and inlays.

They did it. They put pink on a guitar made for metal fans when pink wasn’t exactly in vogue. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a smoking color on a guitar but I think guitars today need more color. If you were to say pick a guitar to own right now from ESP, it would probably be that one.

Kudos, ESP.

Parker

Parker Guitars is a tricky topic to cover in summary. They truly deserve an entire blog or even a book dedicated to the short history of the brand, but I will do my best.

Created in the early 90’s Ken Parker made a unique shape that wasn’t too crazy looking and incorporated all of the modifications he had been asked for as a guitar tech. Things like harder frets and light bodies. The frets were made from stainless steel that wouldn’t grind down from normal wear like nickel frets would.

Their bodies were wicked light too, usually coming in between four and six pounds, they were thin with a thin neck as well all covered with carbon fiber to give it extra strength and support.

Honestly the amount of crazy things that were in the first Parker Fly guitars before they were bought by US Music Corporation are staggering and you should really look into it. If you just glance at the things they were capable of before being streamlined, you might think it would be so complicated that you wouldn’t know how to use it if you had one in your hands but I’m here to say that at the end of the day, it’s still six strings and a fretboard, even if the frets are glued on and not pressed in.

Ibanez

A few of you might be thinking to yourself why is Gibson on this list but Fender’s not? It’s a fair question. I do own a Telecaster, love the Telecaster in general, enjoy Relics, and love the blue collar history. And you can’t deny the influence felt today by companies like Charvel, Jackson, Ibanez, ESP, and about a billion other companies that offer super Strats.

But Ibanez took that formula and ran with it and for that I love them.

Besides, I’m not interested in regurgitating top five lists I’ve heard or read throughout the years, this is what I like, not what other people have said they liked throughout the world.

And Ibanez deserves to be on that list. Armed with wicked thin, beautifully playing necks, awesome looking inlays, the only well-executed Florentine cutaway on a solid body guitar, and known for making the best floating tremolos in the world, Ibanez is a rocking guitar company.

Ah, but not just rocking. Not with guitarists like George Benson, Pat Matheny and Joe Pass playing (or having played) their guitars.

Their solid guitars and specifically the RG series is an amazing example that shows even throughout the sudden taboo of guitar solos and shred, a quality guitar will never go out of style. It might have a different finish color, but the guitar remains the same.

My one complaint is the use of basswood on their Prestige models, models that are supposed to use the best of the best woods, a bracket I don’t honestly think basswood should be in, but that’s a slim complaint and Ibanez has a few prestige RGs that aren’t made of basswood and besides, if I were to get an Ibanez that cost as much as a Prestige, I would go ahead and get a Jem. I’m not a huge fan of the monkey grip, but I do really like the inlays.

There you have it, my top five and why. Hope you enjoyed today’s installment!

-Pappy

The Coolest Relic In The World

A lot of guitar players are on the fence about relics in general and tribute models especially, but when they come out, we're usually still oohing and aahing and trying to figure out the exact time period the guitar is based on so we can see its accuracy (and some delight in ripping it to shreds when it isn't exactly right).

So what kind of tributes have come out? Well, Jeff Beck has two, Eric Clapton has blackie, SRV has two, Rory Galgher, EVH, Brian Setzer, Billy Zoom, Andy Summers... I think that's it. Those are the only names that come to mind.

But there's ONE more name that comes to mind in a field VERY close to this and it's Joe Strummer. My problem with that particular model though is that it seems like such a cop out. It isn't taken from a specific time period, nor did it go through great craftsmanship demolition to get every ding and nick right. It's more of a general thing. AND they supplied stencils and stickers for you to do your own BUT those were only included in the first 1,500 guitars.

To be completely fair, it's amazing what you can do with this kit provided you have the know-how and skill. Shepard Fairey did an amazing job with the ones provided to him. You can see small, non-expandable thumbnails on Fender's website here: http://www.fender.com/joestrummer.

But still. It feels like they just didn't care that much about it. Oh, they want to sell it to you for almost a thousand bucks because it has his name on it and resembles it, but when you get up close to it, you can see and feel that there wasn't a ton of time put into these guitars.

But that doesn't stop a Clash Fan. No way. I think Fender was aiming for the person who made http://www.strummerguitar.com/strummertributetele.html but they missed the mark when they didn't put in the time. So he and Billy from http://www.rocknrollrelics.net put their heads together and made one that looked RIGHT.

Now, it must sting Fender a bit when someone can make a better Strat or Tele than they can sine they were the originators, but it must sting a TON when they put forth effort to make a specific guitar within that line and someone made one that was better in every way. Billy should be looked at by Fender as a potential custom shop employee because just looking at this guitar, the guy knows his way around relics and with all the information and difficulty associated with the Joe Strummer model, he really did a great job.

After all, this isn't like Jeff Beck's where you have to make an arm and tummy contour, then scratch it up really good and make marks on these particular frets under these particular strings. This is finding and reproducing decals and stickers that Strummer picked up on the road or wherever he went and the man went EVERYWHERE and it isn't like anything he put on his guitar was really popular. I have yet to see a picture of him holding his guitar with a yellow smiley face or reflective letters that are his initials.

Ah, but I'm talking too much. I just want to post the pic. The guitar looks like a million bucks (I would be curious to know how much it cost from start to finish to see how it compares to tributes from other companies), and I think it's great that a small builder did a better job than the people who invented relicing. It's just another reminder to the big companies not to rest on their laurels because the indie builders WILL be coming.

Here's a picture!



-Pappy

Collectible Modern Guitars

If anyone is NOT familiar with comic books, I'll enlighten you a little as to whay some of the vintage ones are so ridiculously expensive. In comics there was always some ad that you would cut out or be asked to cut out and send in for whatever trinket was being offered. Kids would buy the comics and on their way out of the drug store roll the comic and put it in their back pocket, they would be read out in the sun, they would get wet in the rain. They weren't exactly made on the best paper with the best inks and as a result they didn't last long normally, let alone with "normal wear and tear."

Ah yes, and not many if ANY adults bought comic books. They were looked down on as a form of literature or art. Craziness, I know. Especially when you look at some of the modern stuff being made. One comic writer in particular jumps to mind having written anything from your normal Spider-Mans to a book of his own about falling off the grid, the sliding through the grates of humanity until you are literally invisible to the surrounding world. It sounds a little out there, but it's well worth reading.

Anyhoo, because of the short supply and demand from people who were kids then that wanted to stroll down memory lane (especially now that their pockets are a little more flush with cash) comic prices went up. WAY up. All because they weren't cared for in the past and the supply is so short.

Let me say that again: the supply is so short.

This will come into play soon.

A lot of companies looked at comic books, something widely regarded as trash, and their ridiculous modern value and learned from it. When Beanie Babies were a hit and the RARE (short supply) Beanie Babies were popping up in newspaper classifieds and on eBay for a ton of money, the company was faced with a choice. They could either let this play out and result in them not getting a single dime more OR they could make a bunch more of the "rare" Babies.

Which they did.

They flooded the market with them and as a result the Babies that were so valuable are now NOT.

Because of comic books we've learned 1) we can make money off of the most ridiculous things which means we can make even more money off of not-so-ridiculous things and 2) we need to treat our stuff with delicate fingers. You never know when you're going to want to cash in.

Never mind that the whole reason comics became so valuable is because kids enjoyed them to their maximum potential. They weren't worried about the growing value of their books or what it would look like in a portfolio. They weren't calling accountants to make a twenty and forty year projection on the growth value of their "investments." They just bought a comic and enjoyed it.

And THAT is why supply is short.

There will always be a demand for anything in the world. Ebay proves this. You can sell vintage Superman lunchboxes and probably make more than what your mom paid for it way back when. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't USE it.

Let me tell you a little about MY guidance when buying used instruments: 1) I don't like buying used without trying it. You just never know if the guitar has a bad neck, uneven frets, sharp edges, shoddy electronics, etc. etc. and there is rarely a return policy and 2) if a guitar that is older than, say, fifteen years, looks like it rolled off the line yesterday, a flag IMMEDIATELY goes up in my head.

Because if THEY didn't play it BRAND NEW, there MUST be something wrong with it, right? That's only logical. If it was as good as they say it is, there would be a little bit of finish wear from various play styles or fashion choices. There may be arm wear on a lacquer model.

I just won't buy a brand new looking guitar that's that old.

And I'm not looking for a beater or anything either, I just want to see an appropriate level of wear that jives with the quality that the seller is stating.

I hear tales of people buying limited edition guitars like the David Lee Falcon (I'm a sucker for almost all Falcons now but this one is STILL one of the coolest) and just sticking them under the bed. Brand new, just slid under the bed without even being played ONCE.

Because they BET it will be worth a fortune later.

I say no! I say enjoy it. An appropriate level of wear will vouch more for the instrument than your cliched statements of "neck plays like a dream and the pickups sound warm and creamy." Bah.

Look at Walter Broes' guitar:



Walter could say this guitar costs whatever he wants and I would believe that it's worth that. Not in cash, per se, but in playability.

That's the name of the game folks. Playability. We SHOULD be paying more money for expensive guitars because they play better, because they sound better, because they ARE better than cheaper guitars. And we should be playing them.

-Pappy

News Below The Fold: YouTube

I was finally able to sit down and set up a YouTube channel for the 5th Fret. Unfortunately "5thFret" was already taken, but 5thFret1 was not, so that's what I signed up as. I'm in the process of switching the videos recorded and uploaded through Blogger to YouTube videos which let me see how many people are watching and comments are always fun to read.

The URL for the channel is: http://www.youtube.com/5thfret1

Bookmark it and visit, feel free to subscribe, leave comments, etc. etc.

Thanks for your time and have a great day!

-Pappy

Gibson, This Is Your Complimentary Wake Up Call

I've read on the internet that a ton of people aren't satisfied with Gibson. One site actually said they are sub par instruments with a name, which really stuck in my head. I mean, if you have a recognizable name and a legacy of quality, it has to be pretty rough being nodded at for making instruments with sub par quality that are considered by many to be the norm instead of the exception.

Perhaps this has a lot to do with R&D. Gibson has been trying to further the guitar process, make it more interesting for us guitarists or at the very least help keep us in tune and the results are varied in consumer reception. I like the idea of the Robot guitar and love the looks of the Dark Fire, but some people don't. Some people are purists and anything made after, oh, we'll say 1968 is just garbage to them.

I think that's the crux of the issue here. Gibson is aiming for the kind of guitarists they think should be playing guitar and ignoring the people that actually do.

It's like if a cigarette company wanted to get a specific demographic of 18 year old girls to smoke their cigarettes. They changed all but a couple of their varieties to a new kind of smoke that was tropical flavor and had a filter half the length of the cigarette to make smoking that much easier. They may get some new smokers, but will the gained smokers outweigh the people that just want a normal cigarette?

That was hypothetical, by the way. I don't smoke cigarettes, so I'm not TOO much in the know.

Anyway, we'll move on.

So who PLAYS guitar?

I'll reiterate:

Purists.

If there's one thing we can agree on whether we're single coil guys or humbucker guys, whether we're in love with the P90 or the Duncan Invader, whether we love heavy mahogany or light swamp ash, we love tradition.

Unfortunately tradition is the opposite of progress. That's unfortunate for me and anyone else who thinks that companies should look harder at installing stainless steel frets on more of their models and maybe carbon fiber fingerboards.

But this isn't about me. This is about the sea of guitarists out there who want historical accuracy, who want their sound as close as possible to the sound of their guitar idol's, who aren't really interested in making their own. Save my love of Parker-esque features, I do have a very soft spot in my heart for one guitar and would love to be able to find it now.

The only problem is that Gibson discontinued it.

Looking at Gibson's line, you would think they started in the days of Cream or at the earliest Les Paul and not when they actually did. I want to see a bigger nod toward the big jazz boxes of the past. I'm not really keen on the signature models because so often the signature in a line like that is from a person I'm not familiar with (save Duane Eddy who has the best looking current Gibson model) and I want to keep the cost down as much as possible. Gibsons are already expensive enough.

What I want to see is a return of the ES350.

My love affair with the 350 starts with Paul Pigat who used it in his excellent rockabilly instructional video and the tone was great, the looks were great, and as I grilled him about that specific model he let me know some interesting things. The top has been sanded down because it was a different color, it's finished in polyurethane, NOT lacquer, its neck is in bad shape and needs to be repaired, etc. etc.

It comes with P90s too.

Well, Gibson/Epiphone seem to be all about making waves in the pool whether it be taking small coffins and making guitars out of them, or taking Strats and calling them Gibson Jimi Hendrix guitars (I doubt the bloggers will let them live that down anytime soon), or making guitars that are blatant rip offs of Gretsch guitars probably in an effort to move in on the Gretsch 5120 market. I say to Gibson: Back off.

See, Gibson has a rich heritage, and plenty of models in the past that were successes that would PROBABLY be welcomed back if introduced in non-limited, non-signature, non-inspired by, and without huge price tag models. Look at your past and try to do that again.

Look at Gretsch! Gretsch has been going back to vintage models and putting them through CAT scans just to see what kind of bracing they have! They're after that historical accuracy. Not just with things like bracing or body shape, but with smaller things like how much leather to use on the edge of the Roundup, or what the last two inlays on the Western models will be (it used to be one was an arrow and one was a rifle but recently went back to earlier specs of fenceposts).

And what has been the result of this?

SUCCESS!

Modern fans of the brand, people who were already looking or owned Gretsch guitars were more pleased with their purchases. There were some quality control issues before Fender helped with manufacture and distribution, and Fender fixed it. Joe Carducci is working hard to make Gretsch the best brand out there.

And they are NOT trying to make the Gretsch Strat. They are NOT trying to make the Gretsch ES335. They are NOT trying to make a PRS. They're just making Gretsch guitars. Looking back to their past and keeping their current stuff in line with their vintage stuff and with such success that buying vintage is now JUST an option instead of a recommendation. That's how good their modern instruments are.

I don't mean to throw that in the face of Gibson, but it makes for a great example. If you were to look back at your own lengthy history and start pulling models out of it and releasing them with good quality control and prices that are attainable not by "working musicians" (no one is fooled by that term, it means expensive pure and simple) but by anyone with a decent paycheck and the discipline to save a little each pay period, I'm sure life will get better.

Then maybe I won't have to read about how great it would be if Peavey bought Gibson.

-Pappy

Skinny Jim Interview

What would you as a guitarist consider success? Your first paying gig? Your first tour where you make money? Your first sold-out arena? Your first signature guitar? What if a mainstay company in guitar history approached YOU and asked you to record a video on how to get YOUR tone because it's so dang fabulous?

That sounds like success to me.

Check this out:



Now, Jim's made a big impression on me. I met him in Nashville two years ago at the first annual Gretsch Discussion Pages Roundup (where fans of Gretsch guitars met in a Civil War tobacco barn deep in the hills of Tennessee and played music into the early morning hours and finally put faces to screen names) and he pulled out a vintage 6120 that to this day is probably the thinnest truly hollow hollowbody guitar I've ever seen. AND he let me play it. Not only that but he was willing to answer questions and play with us for a little while before he had to go. The life of a professional musician is always pulling you away from cool (non-paying) get-togethers, I guess. But before he left he gave out CDs of his to the few attendees who showed up early and he was gone.

When I got home I listened to the album and was blown away. It's an amazing album. If you've read this blog for a while, I've mentioned it in the past a few times and in the very near future, it'll get its own review but for now, you'll have to settle for the short description of "jaw dropping."

He's not just a great musician either, he's a truly friendly guy. He's answered all sorts of questions I've asked about recording, his writing methods, his goals, and playing style. He's answered them all with full answers and I never got the impression that he was in a hurry. He's also got a great sense of humor as you'll see in the interview.

Jim was nice enough to sit down and respond to email after email that built this interview and I think it's pretty spiffy. Listening to his album, and talking to him in person, it's obvious that the future's pretty bright for this guitarist.

Enjoy!

How's the writing of the new album coming along?

It's coming along slowly, but surely haha. Some people can write song after song like its nothing, I have to work for a week on one line, then end up hating it anyways haha!

Will this one be rockabilly themed like Horsepower! Horsepower! or are you looking to go in a new direction?

Well we've got our good friend Taylor Sprehe drumming with us now, and he's as rock-n-roll as any human can be! I think just having him in the band will make the new album a little harder hitting. I really liked the way Horsepower came out, and it'll be hard for me not to try and copy it. Id like to steer away from rockabilly a little bit. Not that talentless pyschobilly crap that's out there, just more rock-n-roll feeling than Horsepower.

So you aren't a fan of psychobilly?

Well, I'm not a fan of using the term "billy" in a band just because they have an upright bass. I'm seeing these bands pop up 24/7, heck I've split shows with half of them, who have all these dumb songs about zombies, coffins, etc. Come on! What kind of genre is this turning into? Talent : zero. Number of skulls and coffins on stage: 312!!! The Reverend Horton Heat is the father of that genre.....psychobilly...."psychotic rockabilly"....and he has all my respect. He has talent, and gives rockabilly an edge. He's good at what he does. But it seems every time I look through a Rockabilly Monthly magazine that psychobilly is getting worse and worse. The direction that genre has turned is ridiculous. Nothing more than a punk band with a lime green upright bass and eyeliner, give me a break! I'm no upright bass player by any means, yet I know that weed eater string on a bass tuned an octave lower than usual is pretty easy to slap. Those bass players are ridiculous. All slap, no melody. You've already got that in the band...its called the drummer! haha

What was your first guitar?

Well the first guitar I remember around the house was an old no name Jaguar-copy, but I remember my first guitar that I owned being a Peavey electric. Kinda a strat copy, but a little different shape. It was a natural color with a white pickguard. My dad traded one of his banjos for it. I've got pictures of me playing (read as "holding") it with an old man looking blues hat on haha! Probably 5 or 6 years old. Look out ladies!

It wouldn't happen to have been a Predator would it?

Well, I just looked at yahoo images of a predator and its not that, I think its a T-26. I have those old pictures somewhere, Ill see if I can find them at my folks place next time I'm there! haha! Used to play through a Gorilla amplifier! Get this, a good musician friend of mine, Tricia Tiley, had one of those old Gorilla amps. I saw it at her place a year ago, told her I used to have one, and she gave me hers! I use it to song write on hah!

Do you still have it?

Na, don't have it. And like most of us, I wish I did still..with it being my first real guitar and all....

How old were you when you first started playing?

I would have to say 2nd grade was when I got serious, so about 7 years old.

Seven years old seems pretty young to start learning! Especially with a guitar with a Strat's scale length. How were you taught?

I took two lessons when I was about 8 or 9, then about 6 lessons when I was in high school, basically to learn how to finger tap haha! ( I was also a Megadeth fan, honest!). I learned from the Mel Bay books that everybody used back then, and picked up a lot of stuff from some older friends who had been playing for a while. Licks here and there, mostly covers. Actually, probably all covers up until I was in High School.

What made you want to play?

Marty McFly from Back to the Future. Honest truth, that's when I first wanted to play guitar seriously!! haha

I think a lot of us were influenced by that scene. It's a great advertisement to play guitar. The crowd's into it, the sound is good, everyone looks good on stage. Honestly, who DIDN'T want to play guitar after watching that?

Coolest thing I ever did was when we got to open up for Chuck Berry in March of 2008, I turned back to Nate and Randy and said.. "alright guys, blues riff in "B", watch me for the changes and try to keep up!" The fellas laughed there butts off! haha

What got you into rockabilly?

My father has always played bluegrass banjo, so I listened to a lot of bluegrass growing up. Listening to that kinda transitioned into rockabilly.....Ricky Skaggs and Marty Stuart where cross-over guys, bluegrass to country rock/rockabilly. It was always there. Plus I always liked Chuck Berry, being from close to St.Louis, he was always around. In high school I was all about pop rock and alternative, typical stuff for the age ya know. About 1996 a pal of mine, Sean Hopkins, from the band "Dallas Alice", got me listening to some newer rockabilly guys, and I got the bug again!

But rockabilly isn't ALL you like, right? What are some of your other favorite genres and bands?

I've always loved listening to traditional bluegrass. Ralph Stanley, Earl Scruggs, a lot of the old banjo players. I like the melody lines that those old banjo songs have. I like rock-n-roll a lot. Not the heavy stuff, but the rootsy stuff. My favorite band of all time is the Black Crowes, I love those guys! Great songs, awesome guitar tones!

What is the writing process for a Skinny Jim song?

A nightmare haha! I'm not a good songwriter in my opinion. I always critique myself too much or think that a line or lick is too much a rip off of another song....which in rockabilly....usually is. For such a simple kind of music, its really tough to write songs. They've all been done before! haha I try to write about what I know. For example, "Rome X Scooter Club" is about a little group of guys and gals in Carbondale, IL that ride around Vespa scooters and started a club, the Rome X Club. So that's an idea. Its weird, I tend to write the song title first. I always love how with some bands, especially instrumental bands, I can read the song title and know what the song will sound like in my head. Take the Los Straitjackets song "State Fair"...you expect it to be a fun tempo major chord melody, and they don't disappoint! I knew I wanted "Hotwire" to be an evil instrumental, I knew that "Five Star Rockabilly Band" would be a tongue in cheek fun song....and so on. I keep a mini-cassette recorder around and a notebook, and just document ideas. Those can always be pieced together later to form a song. I envy guys like Townes Van Zandt who wrote tons of songs that just take your breath away. Steve Earle's "Tom Aimes' Prayer" is one of the most awesome lyrical songs ever in my eyes. I can't write serious lyrics. Maybe that's why I play rockabilly! haha A rockabilly song has to be danceable, and fun. Any rockabilly song with serious lyrics just doesn't work in my eyes. They have to be fun!

Do you think that's because a lot of original rockabilly songs didn't deal with serious stuff that might not have sold as well as the average fare and therefore we haven't been raised with it, or that serious subject matters just can't gel with the music?

Good points, I'd say both! Plus, the more I think about it, the music was written in the 1950's for kids! Take Little Richard's lyrics. They are corny, yet border a very fine line of sexual. Yet, they still make you dance! Slick Andrews from Louisville, Kentucky told me once.."Skinny Jim, in rockabilly you've got 3 subjects.....Girls, Beer, and Cars. Then you use sub-genres...ugly girls, whiskey, junk cars, etc". That's pretty much how it goes! Take some of the hits..."Summertime Blues"..girl and car. "Rock this Town" ...."pick her up at ten"...girl and car..........."whiskey on the rocks"....beer!! haha Slick nailed it on the head! ha!

What guitars and amps do you use?

On the road I play a 1996 6120, a Falcon, and a Setzer SSLVO. I use a 1970 Silverface Twin and a 1965 Reissue Twin live also. In the studio, I use a 1960 6120 through either the 1970 Silverface, or through an older Deluxe Reverb that a friend of mine has. Ive recorded with it a couple times.

A '96 6120 has some unique attributes not seen on the modern 6120s like a thicker top, and ceramic magnet Filtertrons. How do you think this affects your sound?

My 96 definitely doesn't have the bite that the 1960 or my reissues with TV Jones pickups, but I just dig something about it. Maybe since we're a little more on the aggressive side of rockabilly, it makes for a thicker tone. The solos can get muddied up real quick, so I keep my gain boost a little higher on the treble than average. Since the 96 was the first Gretsch, well that's not true I have a 71 Tenesseean that was first...the 2nd Gretsch I've ever owned, I think its more a psychosomatic thing. I'm just used to playing it I guess.

Do you dirty the Twin up with a pedal or by turning it up?

Its hard to get crunch out of a Twin without blowing your ears out! haha In the studio, a Deluxe Reverb can get great natural crunch. Live, I use a Green Machine pedal for some gain.

So do you use the Twin for it's volume?

It's got tons of volume! More than I'll ever need. I like the fullness of the twin. I run the vibrato on all the time, even if the speed and intensity are on 1 or 2 each. Fattens up the tone, helps with being in a 3 piece band. Before I played Twins, I had a 4x10 Hot Rod Deville, and that is an awesome amp! But I need vibrato on stage and love Fender vibrato tone.

Any particular favorite pieces of gear?

I've got an old Echoplex that I've used on everything Ive ever recorded! It's a solid state, but in a tube box, a transition year I guess. It adds a good natural gain, so I can use a Twin to get some natural gain tone.

What was the greatest moment of success you've had so far?

Getting the phone call to ask if we wanted to open for Chuck Berry was pretty cool, kinda takes your breath away. That whole experience was really surreal. I'd say next to having a child or my wedding day (both yet to come), that was the coolest day ever.

Can you tell us more about that?

We played a biker bar in St.Louis one time, just a one off 4 band night. Like a Wednesday or something. Anyways, we were the only rockabilly band that night. I think it was a couple punk bands and a straight up rock band. After the show a gentleman came up to me and said he played piano for Chuck Berry and that he really liked our set, and wanted to know if we would be interested in opening for Chuck. Of course I didn't believe him at all, just figured it was some guy who had a few drinks and was telling a tale. I got home and checked my email and realized he was telling the truth! Mr. Bob Lohr, been with Chuck for 12 years now! He lived near that biker bar and was just having a drink by chance that night! We remain best of friends to this day. We were contacted by the venue after Mr. Lohr put in a good word for us, and they gave us a date to open. Once a month Chuck plays the Duck Room in the basement of Blueberry Hill in St. Louis. I felt like a freshman in school giving a speech to a class full of cheerleaders, I was a nervous wreck haha! We played a 45 minute set and blew the roof of the place, it was a blast! A much older crowd than our usual gigs. Middle to upper class, I would say 40's and 50's age group. There were two rules the promoter made us agree to. First, obviously you can't play Chuck Berry songs (hell that was half my setlist hah!), and second, Chuck is very superstitious, you can't say his name on stage. I could not say "Its an honor to open up for Chuck Berry", or "Stick around for Chuck Berry". We respected their/his requests. After the Blueberry Hill shows, Chuck comes out and signs autographs, but won't pose for pictures. He kinda just sits in the doorway of the dressing room and the line passes by him like a Sunday buffet dinner haha. He was kind enough to let us sneak a quick picture with him, I've got it on my wall to this day. Pretty cool experience!
And that was when you said to yourself "I made it?"

Na I haven't made anything. We all have regular jobs and are just down to Earth. Brian Setzer has made it. I'm just a kid who steals his licks and hairstyle! haha I will admit though, watching a crowd of about 1500 sing along the lyrics to a song you wrote is really cool. I'm the most humble person you'll ever meet. I consider myself a 3rd rate guitar picker and 4th rate singer. Listen to the Brad Paisley song "Online", that's me, "so much cooler online" haha. I'm too out of shape for sports, and I'm horrible at golf, so that's why I play music haha! Randy, Taylor, and I are best of friends, and we just like making music, and the man upstairs has blessed us greatly. I'm humbled that others enjoy some of my songs, let alone come out to watch us play! We're very blessed.

What do you guys do for day jobs? How does that impact things like recording or touring schedules?

We're all fortunate enough to have jobs that we can take off for tour! I work at Tuff Luck Tattoos in Carbondale, IL. Been a body piercer for 8 years now, but I've never had an earring in my life! haha! I went to school for science and agriculture, and ended up at a tattoo shop! Randy has an old school barber shop in Marion, IL called "Randy's Chop Shop" (hence the song "Chop Shop"...again, write about what you know!), and Taylor is finishing up a degree in Recording Engineering. None of us are married or have any children, so our schedules are flexible.

What gear are you gassing for right now?

I'm searching for a Silverface Deluxe like I talked about earlier. I love recording with those things! Always on the lookout for old Gretsch guitars, we all are! But I guess most of all, I'm looking for a timing chain for a 1995 Nissan 4x4 truck with a 2.4 4-cylinder. Guess who's been driving the band van around for the past week!?

Is there something special that draws you to the vintage DR, or any reason you aren't looking for a modern clone?

I need to play through a reissue, I haven't yet! I'm not really set on the vintage Deluxe, as long as it sounds good, its fine with me. Give 'em a listen and always trust your ears!

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Thanks to Jim for taking time out of his busy life to answer my questions and I hope everyone enjoyed it!

To learn more about Skinny Jim & The Number Nine Blacktops, visit http://skinnyjimrocks.com/.

-Pappy