Planet Waves Training Picks

When I first started out playing guitar, the only instruction I received was a five minute run-down on how to read TAB. After that I was on my own and the resources available were few. Everything I learned, I learned from making mistakes.

Which isn't the most fun.

The WORST mistake I've made so far that I know of was my picking technique. I used my thumb, index and middle finger to hold a pick. The rationale was simple. It kept the pick from slipping off and flying away into the the Pick Zone, a place where picks go but never return from, and I was able to adjust the attack using my fingers and bending the pick this way or that.

It meant that any medium gauge pick was as versatile as I wanted it, able to go from riffing that required a heavy pick for a bit more bite to the most strum-friendly softer, thin pick and all based on my fingers. No pick switching required.

The cons though, were a sever lack of picking speed and stamina. It took WORK to play fast and because it took more work than just using your index and thumb to hold a pick, I wasn't as good as I could have been.

Now I've taught myself to hold the pick with my thumb and index finger and life has been better. More birds are chirping and the sun is shining more and I'm able to do longer runs of faster triplets and down-picking sessions. I'm also able to do pinch harmonics with more ease and as a fan of metal, this is a HUGE perk.

Planet Waves has always had an ear to the ground and has always been there with handy gadgets and inventions for all levels of guitarists and they have recently come out with Pick Ryte training picks that are incredibly easy to use because there are high ridges that put your fingers in the proper position. Worried about your fingers NOT being in the proper position. Don't worry, you'll know. They're incredibly uncomfortable to use in anything but the right position.

I wish these picks were around when I was starting out and if you're a beginning guitarist, it would BEHOOVE you to buy these. I can't recommend them enough for beginners or people looking to adjust their picking technique.

That being said, I wish they offered these with specific styles in mind. Yes, these picks are good all-around picks, but I can't do pinch harmonics with them. My fingers are just too far away from the tip! I don't need a ton of space between pick-tip and thumb and this is the biggest hindrance to me. They're amazing learning tools, but I think if PW were to release training picks for players who wanted to play metal or players who were interested in hybrid picking specifically, there would be a better reception of them.

So in the end would I recommend them? Yes. To everyone who uses a flat pick. This might be the thing that shows you the error of your picking ways and at $4.00 for a pack, you could do a lot worse for this kind of revelation!

-Pappy

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Ibanez Tube Screamer Amp Mini-Review

Big news on a personal level: I've discovered a new guitar store! WHOO! I love guitar stores and this one is a quality one that deals in a ton of different stuff from Vox, Marshall and Peavey to Ibanez, ESP and PRS.

They had a white Ibanez AF75 which is a great hollowbody that offers tons of bang for the buck and a nice woody sound acoustically. The scale makes it fun and effortless to play too. The salesman directed me to the Ibanez Tube Screamer amp which is 1) small, 2) cheap, and 3) features a Tube Screamer (arguable one of if not THE most popular overdrive pedals of all time) IN the amp.

I was skeptical of the quality, honestly. I love little amps, but it's obvious that Ibanez is pushing the Tube Screamer part of the amp instead of the WHOLE amp and I just didn't have that much faith.

I was proven wrong though. The TSA15H is a killer little amp. True, the tone with the Tube Screamer off is a little... boring, but with the Tube Screamer on, it's great fun. It's easy to go from a little bit of hair on your notes to a far more screaming kind of gain and the convenience is a nice thing.

But I think it's the convenience that is the big selling point here. If you don't have an amp or a Tube Screamer, this is something you may want to consider. For $500.00 you can get the head and cab and end up with a 1/8 stack for bedroom practice (it would probably be able to handle band practice too) but if you already have an amp, you'll probably be just as good getting a Tube Screamer pedal (or a clone). When you think that you are no longer spending $300.00 on an amp head since you already own one, that really opens up the possibilities of TS clones you can look at!

-Pappy

The Metal Options

I am in need of a metal guitar and I have the resolve to save up for however long to get one that features quality and tone. I'm not really WORRIED about versatility as I usually am, because I fully plan on dedicating this guitar to metal. Comfort is an issue and I would like to be able to just sit back with it on the couch and play it which is why the LTD Alexi Laiho is out. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of stores that feature these guitars so being able to play them is not an option (for the most part).

This is where I need your help as readers. Your opinions are always valuable to me and this is no exception. If you have playing experience with any of these guitars or have any thoughts or opinions on them whatsoever, let me know. I would really appreciate it.

So before I list them, here's what I'm looking for: easy high fret access (neck-through is great, but so long as care has been taken to make high fret playing as easy as possible, I'm good), hot pickups (active is preferred), a shred-able neck, good balance and comfortable contours.

And with that out of the way, here are the ones that have caught my attention for one reason or another. I won't say why because I don't want to influence any opinions.

LTD KH602

LTD RA600

LTD MH350 FR

Ibanez RG1420F

PRS SE Torero

EVH Wolfgang Special

Benford Guitars Custom*

Parker Fly or Fly Mojo

So! Those are the options. I would love to hear any opinions you may have about any of these guitars or builders.

-Pappy

* Obviously this isn't the exact guitar I would get from Benford (seeing as how this is a custom guitar made for someone else), but it's pretty close to what I would ask for!

Bad Religion Box Set

It seems so obvious yet time and time again it doesn't happen like it's supposed to.

An artist's box set is supposed to include EVERYTHING from the artist.

Everything.

Sure, that gets a little sticky sometimes with labels, but a box set without everything is nothing more than a compilation of discs or records.

Bad Religion knows this and it is with a happy heart that I am saying that they are releasing a (real) box set.

And not just ANY box set, oh no. This is an LP box set. It includes EVERY album that Bad Religion has put out, including their most recent The Dissent of Man and this is the first time in 27 years that the album Into The Unknown is available in LP form.

All albums are printed on red vinyl (classy) and then stored in a very Bad Religion-looking black box.

So how much will this collection cost? A limited-edition collection of 15 albums spanning a band's entire history all delightfully pressed onto awesome looking vinyl and stored in its own collector's box for you to display prominently on your mantle for others to ogle and inspire compliments on your musical taste?

How much would you pay for it? $400? $1,000.00? $1,000,000.00?

Put that novelty-sized check away. You can pre-order this beast for a mere $199.99 (on Tuesday, October 26th, it will go up to $224.99). you'd better act fast because there's only 3,000 of these puppies available.

I've never wished for a record player so much in my life as I do right now.

To find out more about this super-sweet box set or to even pick up a revised copy of Greg Graffin's Ph. D. thesis titled Evolution and Religion: Questioning the Beliefs of the World's Eminent Evolutionists, just click HERE.

-Pappy

Photos courtesy of kingsroadmerch.com

Jim Root Telecaster Review

I have been a fan of Slipknot ever since their self-titled album came out. It was amazing. I had Soulfly's first album which I was not a fan of, and a buddy bought Slipknot's album and didn't like it so we traded and we were both very happy.

The funny thing is about six months later, we both accepted the traded albums for what they were and were more willing to get back into them but we didn't trade back. No way. So we both ended up buying the same two albums.

Ah, youth.

Anyway, Jim Root plays for guitar for Slipknot and Stone Sour, both of which are killer bands, and he's bounced from guitar company to guitar company, never putting out a signature guitar, but using the guitars, perhaps even custom-made during tours and in videos and in the studio. He went from Jackson to PRS to Charvel to Fender and it is at Fender that he settled down and came out with the Jim Root Telecaster.

Scale and shape aside, this is NOT your normal made-in-Mexico Telecaster. The body is mahogany, the pickups humbuckers (active EMGs, a 60 in the neck and an 81 in the bridge), it does not feature the usual Tele control plate but instead one volume knob in easy reach and a three-way blade switch tucked off to the side. The position of the switch is a god-send because I can't count the number of times I hit my Tele's switch and knock it into a different position.

Now, this guitar did not come from Fender to review. Instead it came from Fifth Fret contributing writer MASK. MASK is a pretty busy guy, so he couldn't review it himself and since I had been wanting this guitar ever since it came out, I was finally able to convince him to let me borrow it for a mere seven days and take as many notes as possible before sending it back to him. I bring this up because MASK set it up for himself meaning it has ridiculously huge strings on it with a good bit of action. Not to call myself a wimp or anything, but I had to tune it down a whole step almost immediately as I've gotten used to 9's on my Tele.

Honestly though, if it's the NAME that's intriguing you, then you're probably already tuning down and therefore don't care about its performance in standard tuning.

But let's move on.

Let's talk about the looks first. The guitar looks clean, mainly because of the lack of... well, anything, really. The pickups blend in with the black pickguard offered on the white model (the white model features a black pickguard and an ebony on maple neck and the black model features a white pickguard (which means the neck pickup is easily seen) and a maple on maple neck), and with only one knob, one switch and a bridge that is most definitely not your traditional Telecaster bridge, there's not a lot of eye candy. Some may look at this as a bad thing, but it looks sleek and clean to me and it reminds me of stealth and danger. If a guitar had a personality, this one would be the killer that claimed another victim tonight that you hear about on the nightly news.

I like it (the guitar, not killers).

How did the body feel? A little heavier than your average Tele and it is equipped with a tummy contour, something I didn't realize I appreciated so much until I was playing on the couch and now I can't stop thinking about how good it would be to have a tummy contour on my Tele. It made a world of difference as far as comfortability goes.

Speaking of comfort, the neck is amazing. It's not too beefy and it's not so thin your hand will cramp up from playing. It's a nice medium size neck carve that didn't hinder any playing speed doing solos and chords were still easy and comfortable to do. And there's a handy piece carved out of the heel on the treble side and while there's not MUCH missing, it makes a HUGE difference in feel. I was able to move right up to the end of the fretboard with my ring finger all the way up the 22nd fret (it's one thing to be able to fret with your pinky, but your pinky is weak and a lot of guitarists don't use it so the ability to get your much stronger ring finger up to the highest frets with ease is a big deal) all while still keeping my thumb above the neck where I know it isn't SUPPOSED to go (but it's more comfy).

The huge 6100 frets made playing a breeze too. Even when loaded with gargantuan strings the guitar played flawlessly and the frets gave it an almost scalloped feel.

So yeah, it's a breeze to play unplugged with all the right contours and adjustments to the neck heel, but are you going to buy a Tele - ANY Tele - to play acoustically?

How does this beast SOUND?

Armed with my Shanghai 64/1 amplifier and a Pro Tone Body Rot II (that has more gravel on tap than your local quarry) I plugged in and was instantly blown away. The guitar SINGS with high gain and it's obvious that high gain is where the guitar is most comfortable. What did you expect from Jim Root? The bridge pickup was articulate and made me aware of all sorts of little mistakes I've been making by playing unplugged and without hot pickups but it was still amazingly easy to get that searing tone you know and love from heavy metal solos. Even chugging away on the bridge pickup created quite a bit of growl and depth but when you switch it to the middle position, that's where most rhythm players will find the best riffing tone. the neck pickup isn't as spectacular on its own, but I honestly think it's there not as a pickup meant to function on its own, but a pickup meant to balance the 81 and bring a bit more bass and throatiness to the middle position.

On a clean setting, the pickups are OK, but like I said, it was meant for rock and all things gain. I can't fault a guitar that was meant for something specific just because it doesn't sound like a rockabilly machine when I hybrid pick.

The volume knob is smooth and easy to use and since it's so close to the bridge, it's easy to do swells on though I have some concern for accidentally hitting it and lowering or raising the volume during energetic performances or practices.

It also comes in a great looking tweed case that is colored black and white with a beautiful red interior. The side switches of the case slide to the side to release the latches, similar to most briefcases I think it's THIS feature that makes the case so cool. There's just something about it. You put the guitar on the table or floor and slide the switches and CLICK, both switches go up and it just FEELS like whatever's in this case means business.

And it does. You can't have a guitar this stripped-down and have it NOT excel in tone and playability or there would be no reason to buy it.

So if you want a no-frills, heavy metal tone machine that stands out from all the other super-strat style guitars, this one's for you. It's comfortable to use and play and has tone for days and is so easy to get those low chunky riffs going, that your guitar playing job just became a breeze.

It costs about $1,200.00 now online. This is about $100.00 more than it cost when it first came out so if you're in the market for something like this, I would recommend buying it sooner rather than later.

-Pappy

Guitar Player Temptation

As I've said in the past, Guitar Player has a very interesting feature in the back of the magazine that I wish they would expand on called Posh/Poor, where they lay out the gear that will get you close to the looks and tone of a particular guitarist, both in a more accurate way (the posh side) and a way for the poor musician as well.

Each month I've looked at them and loved this section. It would awesome if they could expand it to include the "why" or reasoning behind each pick instead of just throwing out a roadmap to tone and not telling you why you're going here, here and here.

But it's still a great segment and this month's guitarist is none other than Brian Setzer, a favorite of mine. Now, I haven't been on a quest for his tone or anything. I just kind of accidentally happened upon a close reproduction of it and think that I may be able to provide a cheaper, more player-friendly roadmap to his tone.

That's not the point though. The point is that I've been a big fan of this segment but the guitarists haven't inspired any big purchases until I opened up this one and I thought "that would be fun to try out."

So, to anyone who reads this magazine/section, has it given you any pangs of GAS. Are you perhaps looking at the poor side and thinking it would be a fun trip to see just how close the tone would come to your hero's? Personally I think it would be a fun project, one that you can build on little by little if you liked until you're all done and then you can see just how it went and if it went poorly or you're unsatisfied, you can sell off the pieces you don't want or maybe start on a new guitarist's rig.

The best thing about doing that and this section is that the section is very basic. Guitar, amp, a pedal or two, strings and you're done. It's not laying out his stage rig.

Oh! And in case anyone is interested in my personal road map to Setzer's tone on the cheap, leave a comment and I'll see what I can do.

-Pappy

Be A Better Player

The good folks at Audio Tuts put together a comprehensive list of things you can do as a player that will make you better, and best of all most are easy! Well, some are easier than others, but all will only take a minimal amount of work and some habit breaking and I'll bet you'll see an improvement in your own playing quickly!

Here's the link!

-Pappy

Gibson Enticing

Gibson just unveiled the Chad Kroeger (of Nickleback fame) signature guitar and, while it's a cool looking guitar, I have to say that no matter what's happening with Gibson right now, they should still feel pretty good about themselves.

This isn't to say that's how it will ALWAYS be, but just look in the past. There have been a more than a couple of instances where musicians that have attached themselves to one brand, style or specific guitar have been wooed over to Gibson and in some cases it's worked out and some cases, perhaps not so much, but they point is that there was some definite wooing going on.

After all, if there wasn't, would Jeff Beck have a signature Les Paul? Billy Gibbons? Would Chet Atkins and Duane Eddy have crossed over (and in Duane Eddy's case, made the most amazing-looking Gibson in its long and rich history) from Gretsch? Would Buckethead have given up his Jacksons and whatnot if Gibson wasn't there?

Probably not.

My point here is that Gibson has a long history and a signature guitar line that has some BIG names in it and they're giving people the opportunity to add themselves to that list, just by picking up their guitars.

I guess that goes for everyone. Pros and amateurs. Fender has been pushing that angle for a couple of years now and I think it's a good one. This is your guitar to make your history with and if you're one of those "one guitar" kind of people, a company should be grateful that it's their guitar you chose.

As far as pros go, who WOULDN'T want to be with the same company that had Les Paul and Scotty Moore as endorsing guitarists? Who wouldn't want to point to a list that featured their name above or below Slash's? Yeah, you're kind of severing the impression you've been giving for years when you've been playing guitars from another company, but it's not a big deal, right?

Take Chad Kroeger. I remember seeing their video for the HUGE song "How You Remind Me" and he was playing a PRS. Then it seemed like every single video he was playing guitar in, if it was electric, it was PRS. But now he's a Gibson guy with a signature model and I can't say I blame him for the move.

So I say, you should pat yourself on the back Gibson. Through everything you've done you've established yourself not only as one of the most famous guitar brands but also a brand that could probably entice any guitarist to come play for you and that's no small feat. If that fact doesn't say you have a good company, I don't know what does.

-Pappy

Mustaine Book Review

"What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it."

-Holden Caulfield from J.D. Salinger's The Catcher In The Rye

Dave Mustaine finishes recording the first single from the album "Risk" ("Crush 'Em") and runs to the bathroom and proceeds to dry heave into the toilet. He can't vomit anything up because he hasn't eaten all day.

The reason his body is revolting against him?

Because he thinks he sacrificed what his band Megadeth is. He went along with the people around him and he thought he had given up something vital.

I disagree. While "Risk" certainly stood out in the Megadeth catalog, not every fan has been around since "Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?" and I am one of those fans. Crush 'Em was my first exposure to Megadeth and I didn't think it was that bad at all. Since I had no preconceived notions as to what Megadeth sounded like, at the beginning of the song I was reminded of Static X and then was treated to Dave Mustaine's vocals and Marty Friedman's guitar work.

None of which was bad.

Honestly it kind of depresses me that Dave didn't like Risk as much as I did and I like the rest of his catalog with about the same level. None is "better," just "different."

So Dave, if you're reading, don't be bummed out.

I got this sad tidbit from Dave Mustaine's new autobiography, Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir and the Catcher in the Rye quote stood out to me and connected with this book because I was shocked at the level of quality in the book. Not just the quality in writing (it reads like Mustaine wrote it himself, which I believe is a strong tip of the hat to co-author Joe Layden) but in his general attitude. He wasn't in there, pointing fingers to everyone else claiming THEY were the problem and they were the SOLE problem because Megadeth has always been a band with ups and downs and every member has had some problems and some of them have ended up with Dave in some pretty tricky situations.

No matter though, because throughout the book Dave is just as likely to point the finger at himself and say "I screwed up," as he is to point it at someone else. This lends a LOT of credibility to his stories and they are all believable (I believe them all) and the whole books smacks of maturity. There are a lot of stories where you get the sense that if he could go back and try agin he would have done things differently but instead of getting defensive, he just lays out the facts as he sees them and moves on.

Calm is also a big theme in the book. I can say with full confidence that if I had been in some of the situations that he had been in, I would be pissed and that anger would have bled through my writing like cheap tissue paper and yet, Dave handles is well and seems very zen like.

Don't get me wrong, in some situations he's still plenty angry, but I think this has more to do with recency than severity. Metallica fires him and he can say with a level head that yes, he was upset at the time but he's trying to move on from it and you get the feeling he'll never escape the mythology of Metallica but you know he's genuinely trying to move on. Yet when recent transgressions happen, he's a little more snappy. Perhaps his attitude is less "zen" and more "it's so far in the past, who cares?"

I'll say that this is a great book. It's very entertaining and as sad as that is to say (after all, you're reading the ups and downs of a man and band's REAL LIFE), I really enjoyed it. It's written in a way that made me feel like I was in Dave's house and he was just telling me this story as a confidant. He was letting me in on everything and it felt intimate and exclusive, not like this was available at every Barnes & Noble or available for download on the Amazon Kindle (which is where I bought it). I had always wondered what Salinger was talking about having never read a book that made me feel like that so when I finished this book and had that feeling, like Dave and I could be best friends, I had to include the quote (and just to be completely sure everyone realizes I'm a sane individual, I know that I'm not REALLY friends with Dave Mustaine).

There's only ONE issue I have and that is the lack of guitar-heavy content. He talks about the guitar often, but only in passing and this bums me out.

I understand though and I don't hold it against him. The book as it is has a wide appeal (or should anyway), but if you were to put in a hundred and fifty pages of guitar specific stuff, you would start whittling down the audience pretty quickly. I mean, there are guitarists and there are gear nuts like me and I don't think you can please everyone and in this case, I think Mustaine made the right choice.

I will say though, that if he ever releases a Guitar Appendix or Mustaine 2: For Guitar Players Only, I'll buy one. I'll buy TWO if that's what it takes to push him to write it. I want to know what the last few decades have taught him about guitar. How important is the gear, the maple top, the pickups? how much wattage do you need in the studio to make such crushing tones? What prompted the exit of two guitar companies that had signature models and what are the differences between each of your signature models from the three companies (Jackson, ESP and Dean)? Is it true that you were going to buy Jackson Guitars in an effort to not have them go under the FMIC umbrella? What are your lessons learned from tour after tour? Any tips on keeping your gear road-worthy?

These are the questions I would love to ask and I wish that there was a printed source with great pictures to drool over and stories about companies and gear - the things only musicians could appreciate.

So who would like this book? Well, honestly, just about everyone that plays guitar and likes reading road stories. If you like hard rock or metal, that's definitely a plus and if you're a Megadeth or Metallica fan, you owe it to yourself to read this. It's just a good book all around and whoever handled the brunt of this effort, be it Mustaine himself or Joe Layden, they need to start passing their business card around so more bios can start coming out with the same attitude and pitch because when it comes to biographies/autobiographies, I'm not interested in posturing, cockiness, condescension or smugness. I want to read honesty and humility and this book has that in spades.

So far, it's the best biography I've ever read.

-Pappy

Interesting Amp

A few days ago, I was feeling nostalgic for the metal of my youth – or at least music from the bands that were popular when I was into metal or hard rock – and I’ve been listening to bands like Papa Roach ever since. It’s crazy to see the changes they’ve made as a band over the years since their major label debut album filled with rap rock nu-metal to their album Lovehatetragedy which sluffed off quite a bit of the rapping leaving behind just rock (and good rock too) to the modern Papa Roach which is a little more rock radio friendly with catchy hooks and even some ballads. The amount of change and solid song-writing throughout their career makes every album and interesting one to me. I like to see how they’ve developed from the last to the most current.

But I digress.

Since I’ve been bitten by this bug I looked around and saw that none of my gear was “metal” gear. Some would do, don’t get me wrong, guitars are as versatile as the player but I’ve been influenced by people that say guitars are tools and you use different tools for different jobs. Guitarists like John 5 fly in the face of this playing a Tele for all forms shred and metal, but I don’t know… There’s just something about completing the look as there is completing the sound if you know what I mean.

So I went off to Internet Land in search of a metal guitar from Schecter. I like Schecter. Their prices are very reasonable, their build is very solid (a roadie friend of mine loves them), fit and finish are usually very nice and they have some of the most comfortable necks I’ve ever played. I was NOT looking for a Floyd-equipped guitar because I’ve never gotten along with Floyds. I’ve owned one in the past, an Ibanez RG7620 and it was a huge pain in my neck from stringing to tuning, I just never liked it. The only tremolo I’ve ever felt comfortable with was a Bigsby and that’s probably because it’s top-mounted with no locking nut and it’s a great big clunky device.

So for the sake of ease and the fact that I love string-through bodies, I picked the Schecter Blackjack C-1 ATX (in white) which features Seymour Duncan Blackout active pickups. If I got this guitar it would be the first guitar I’ve ever owned with active pickups, something I’m very excited about trying out. Most of my guitar heroes as a kid were using active-equipped guitars yet tone snobs in the non-metal world complain about them so there’s all sorts of exciting things to see if I did get it! Would it be right for me? Only time will tell.

The guitar was the easy part. The amp on the other hand…

I have a Vox AC15 and a Shanghai 64/1 which is based on Fender’s Princeton Reverb. Neither are metal or high gain amps. I am looking for tubes, though I am NOT looking for an insane amount of watts. I’m a bedroom player after all. It seems like with the low watt boom that we’ve seen in the past few years, most are focused on classic sounds with emphasis on blues, or classic rock, maybe hard rock like AC/DC but they don’t use that much gain in the first place.

So I looked for a low watt high gain amp and came across a recommendation on a random message board directing someone with the same question to Krank amplifiers – in particular their Rev Jr. Pro. Krank offers two low watt / high gain (LW/HG) amps and the Rev Jr. Pro is one of them. The other is the Krankenstein Jr. which has an awesome name and I like the looks of the green EQ descriptions, but was primarily made as a shrunken version of Dimebag Darrel’s signature amp and as much as I love Dimebag’s playing and columns, his tone never got me (at least – and this is unfair because it wasn’t Krank – in his Pantera years).

I’m pretty stoked to see a LW/HG amp out there and the fact that TWO are offered by the same company is pretty great. Krank seems to be a good company too. Not only do they feature video demos on their website but they seem to have a dedicated staff member there to answer any comments left about the amps (because you can leave comments on every amp’s page) that responds quickly and with candor. I like the looks of the company, the looks of the amp and if the Rev Jr. Pro can deliver any of the throaty roar that a Dual Rectifier can at a lower volume with the ability to go full shred provided I had the ability to do so, this amp would be a killer addition to your tonal toolbox.

-Pappy

Company Apps

The iPhone and iPad are ridiculously popular devices and guitar companies need to embrace them as a new way to get information to the public. This is a direct path to an interested consumer and there is zero competition when it’s YOUR app because you aren’t fighting for attention in an area with many sources of information (like Facebook).

ESP guitars and Gibson guitars have apps and ESP is currently the company that comes the closest to what I think a winning formula would be because you can see the guitars ESP offers.

Here’s my idea. I love going to guitar stores not only to look at, try and possibly buy new gear, but because I like picking up company literature. Looking at new models, older classics, reading descriptions, all of this is very interesting to me and I don’t particularly care WHAT company it’s from (and I care even less now that I’m a blogger because everything is interesting to me now). But I understand these cost money to publish. That’s why some companies like Ibanez ask for money to receive their catalog and some companies like Schecter never send them out (even though you’ve filled out the form on their website multiple times).

But how much would it cost to release an app?

And how much would it cost to upkeep that app? How often are you really going to update the app? What are you going to fill the app with and is there an audience for it?

How about at first, you just include the pictures and descriptions of the guitars you currently offer? That wouldn’t be so hard, right? Then maybe you can include reviews from reputable sources like magazines and probably to a lesser extent blogs (you can at least include the reviews from blogs that you sent products to review to).

Those two things would make a pretty worthy app, one I would be very interested in downloading. If you had a push function that let me know whenever something is added or changed on the app so I’m not forced to constantly open it up and check it, that would be ever better.

These things don’t seem TOO hard to do, but I am not an app developer. I bet app developers would agree with me though.

Things like tuners are not necessary as there are so many tuners available that it ceases to be a draw to any potential downloaders. Your catalog should be the draw. Your guitars should be the draw. The reviews would be beneficial as well. These two things are the biggest draw and the company can scale down on the amount of printed literature.

The BIGGEST thing though is that it needs to be free. A popular company probably already has a web designer so if you give them the confines and expectations of an app it shouldn’t be too difficult to make and release. Even if you charge a measly $0.99, you have people like me that are looking to download this app from a TON of companies to keep up with the news and to ogle some gear and that .99 will add up quickly and I’ll have to start racking and stacking my favorites versus companies I’m only a little interested in.

I kind of understand why ESP is charging for their app. They proclaim that they have exclusive content, it comes with a tuner, the word Metallica is in there somewhere, but those don’t really interest me (well, Metallica interests me). What interests me is the gear and not much else and if ESP were to put out a free app where I can see their catalog and be updated as it’s changed, new models are released, old models are changed or dropped or new reviews come out, I would download it the second I caught wind of it.

The thing to take away from this is that I don’t think guitarists are looking for very much in their guitar apps, especially when the focus is on the informative so a simple app like this would probably spread like wildfire and the audience would be better educated about gear. They may even find gear they now want but previously didn’t know existed! Wouldn’t that be fun? That might mean more sales and who doesn’t like more sales?

-Pappy

Slipknot Mini-Series

While I’ve said in the past after Paul Gray died that Slipknot should consider throwing in the towel based on the fact that they’ve said in the past that without a single member there things like rehearsals never went nearly as well because they all contributed energy, I am still pretty happy that they’re going to make another album.

I’ve been a fan ever since the self-titled album came out and there’s part of me that’s always going to be happy when they do something new. Even when guitarist Jim Root was talking some serious smack about the producer of All Hope is Gone and saying that it wasn’t the best Slipknot album to record, I was still stoked to hear it (I don’t think it was their best, but considering they’re 3-1, I’m still impressed).

And in celebration of the fact that they’re going to make another album, I thought it would be cool to post these videos.

Vermillion and Vermillion Pt. 2 were stand out tracks on the album, both with similar structures but featuring radically different feels and combined they make a (tragic) story. From the first listen I thought these tracks need to be paid attention to and while puttering around YouTube looking for videos to match a list I was making I found that they made videos for BOTH songs.

So in the interest of sharing these with you, here you go. Be sure to listen to them both all the way through to get the full experience.

Enjoy.

Vermillion Pt. 1

Vermillion Pt. 2

-Pappy

Sebastian Bach

Don’t make fun of me.

I watch the Gilmore Girls.

That didn’t feel good at ALL to say!

My wife started watching it one night while I was practicing guitar (she can watch whatever she wants while I play) and it started with my head perking up whenever something loud happened, and this eventually gave way to me watching for a few minutes at a time, to watching full episodes begrudgingly (“because I love her”) to just watching them because I liked it.

We’re working our way through the DVDs thanks to Netflix and I only have 1.5 season to go until the end when I can say I’m done with it all.

And normally I wouldn’t bring this up here (or at all), but something interesting happened on the show. One of the characters, a music junkie in an oppressive household decided she wanted to take up the drums and then made a band behind her family’s back. The band included two guitarists, a bassist and drummer. The lead guitarist left and who else but SEBASTIAN BACH showed up to fill in.

He plays a deli owner who just wants to rock.

It’s crazy to see this guy who’s known to be a party guy, come into this family friendly drama and play a fairly buttoned-down character who doesn’t curse or go too crazy (though he does fight the singer on stage which is great fun to watch). This who situation with the band has become the main focal point for me and I’ve enjoyed seeing the band play in someone’s garage to owning their own apartment where they can practice and saving their pennies to buy food and cleaning supplies. They even go on tour and have a label come see them at a showcase show. It's also kind of freaky to see him sing "Aint No Holla Back Girl."

It’s like watching a Behind the Music only acted out and Sebastian Bach, complete with visible “Youth Gone Wild” tattoo is right there the whole time. It’s fun.

So do I recommend everyone watch this? Not unless you’re REALLY interested in the series, but if you’re looking for a way to assassinate hours at a time and see some funny band stuff, you could do a lot worse.

-Pappy

Cheap Rig

When I was a kid I lusted after gear much like I lust after gear right now, but it was much more simple. Much more naïve. Perhaps I can find a journal entry from when I was looking for a “real” amp. I seem to remember the criteria being that it had to be a head because 1) heads are what the pros use and 2) heads mean that they have tubes.

I didn’t have any guidance.

I lived though and I learned a LOT and because of what I’ve learned, the cost of what I want has gone up considerably. What used to be me KNOWING that any guitar with a big name on the headstock HAS to be quality has changed over time and I think that it would have been really nice if someone would have clued me in to the ins and outs of tone and how I could get the biggest bang for my buck.

So here I go with my ideas. I’ll submit for your approval a budget. It’s a guitar AND amp, it won’t go over $500.00 and you’ll be able to practice with it and maybe even gig with it. I’ll even post links in case you doubt me and want to see the prices for yourself or purchase the rig.

Taste aside, the name of the game is versatility. While there are tons of nooks and crannies to get lost in once you dive into the tone world, there’s a lot to be said about simplicity and about being able to take one guitar and one amp and make the most of it. Rory Gallagher used the same guitar from the age of 12 until he died and if a tone monster like him could do something like that, so can you. So guitars may look funny or the amps might not be from your company of choice and perhaps tone snobs will look down on you, but you’ll have a good rig so let them look down, it shouldn’t matter to you!

Let’s start with the guitar and the amp.

Squier Bullet Stratocaster: $199.99

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/BulletBSB/

If you’ve been reading anything about Squiers, you’ve probably read a lot of bad things, but Squier is actually an INCREDIBLY decent guitar maker that packs a ton of quality into a low-priced guitar. And a lot of you will say that you’re not a fan of the Strat sound. I hear you. But let me tell you something about Strats:

It’s all in the pickguard.

Think about it. What was Charvel famous for doing? Modding Strats. What can you turn around blindly, throw a rock and hit? A company that makes aftermarket pickguards with new pickups already in it. This goes for people looking for vintage tones to metal monsters who pick up Kirk Hammett’s pre-loaded EMG pickguard.

Honestly, when you get down to it, the Strat is pretty much the easiest guitar to modify and you can go REALLY crazy with it. You can scallop the fretboard and shave the neck down to a thinner profile. You can add springs, take springs away, take out the tremolo arm and wire it six ways from Sunday.

Basically the modding world exists for the Strat first, all other models second (and I think the modding world is what keeps the Strat breathing).

And while you may not have enough money after buying this guitar and amp to modify it to your tastes, the guitar comes out of the box gig-ready. After that you just save your pennies and get yourself whatever you want for the guitar. Go nuts.

Next, the amp.

Peavey Vypyr 75

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Vypyr75

Watch this:

There are cheaper Vypyrs out there, no doubt about it. My favorite is the Vypyr 60 which features less power, but is also more expensive (about $150.00 more) probably because it features tubes.

Not only is this amp loud enough to gig with, but it also features some pretty great approximations of famous amps so even though some tones might not be NAILED, they’ll get you close enough for gigging with and having fun and really, isn’t everything guitar-related meant to be fun?

The Vypyr’s perks don’t end with volume and versatility though. Some day down the road you’ll probably want to record but if it’s your first foray into the recording world, you’ll probably be a bit nervous and rightfully so. Studios are pricey and there’s no guarantee that you’ll walk away with a product you like. What if you’re off that day playing-wise? What if the recording just wasn’t that great? What if you had too little time to dial your sounds in?

Don’t worry. In this computer age, everyone’s equipped with something that features a USB port and this amp is no exception. It features a USB 2.0 port so you can plug your amp directly into your computer and your amp becomes your studio. Dial in the knobs exactly like you like and let it fly and who cares if you mess up? You’re not on the clock?

Don’t have recording software? Why not? There are free programs online for PCs and Macs come with Garage Band already installed!

With this rig you can buy it as a beginner and learn how to play, take it to practices with a band and keep up with the drummer, take it to the gigs and start earning money and working out your song’s kinks and then use it to record your parts on a shoestring budget.

Not bad, eh?

-Pappy

Shredtastic

A couple of things have recently happened in my life that has changed – or at least slightly altered – my feelings on the guitar and my general habits associated with it. A teenage named Chris who is the biggest Van Halen fan I’ve ever met has inspired this obsession with shred in me. I think what it is, is that is enthusiasm is contagious and though I’m not a huge Van Halen fan at ALL, who better represents the shred world?

Sure, the usual suspects are there. Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Kirk Hammett, John 5, etc. etc. but Eddie Van Halen IS shred, he was the beginning of what we all know of shred (though shred existed before, it didn’t catch the world on fire until EVH made the scene) so I’ve been paying more attention, not to EVH specifically, but to his signature guitar.

I’ve written about it in the past saying that it’s a very interesting claim that EVH made saying that it could go from cold truck to hot stage and not suffer in the ways of tuning or action which kind of blows my mind. The D-Tuna on the Floyd Rose tremolo has always interested me too. Being able to go from standard to drop D intrigues me to no end as I’m just as big of a fan of drop D riffs ala Tool as I am playing in standard and try as I might, sometimes those worlds don’t mix too well.

But honestly, his signature guitar is expensive.

Really expensive.

$3,000.00 or more kind of expensive.

$3,000.00 for a plank guitar with a bolt on neck. That blows my mind. I don’t really doubt the quality not only since I’ve never played one, but because all reports indicate that the attention to detail in these guitars is out of this world with EVH being VERY specific on the parts and construction. I guess with quality and attention to detail comes a high price and it SOUNDS like that attention to detail translates into quality playability and if you’re talking about a guitar that PLAYS well and sounds good, it no longer matters if it’s “just” a plank guitar.

STILL, with such a high price, it’s well out of the range of most players. There are the dedicated that take up lawn-mowing in their efforts to save up their pennies and I commend them. The guitar certainly looks drool-worthy enough to justify such an action.

For the rest of the world, though, the EVH Wolfgang is out of reach.

Until now.

Sort of.

Newly introduced to the EVH line is the EVH Wolfgang Special, a WAY more budget-friendly version of the guitar that EVH is making famous around the world. Some differences include a flat top instead of the arched top on the regular Wolfgang, one layer of binding instead of multiple layer binding, and a maple veneer top instead of a ½” of maple top that is found on the Wolfgang.

What’s shocking is the amount of things that are the SAME. You see it time and time again: a company releases an expensive signature guitar and in an effort to boost sales and bring in younger/more broke players, they release a more budget-friendly guitar that really only LOOKS like the original. The ESP KH2 compared the LTD KH202 is a joke. Different body wood, different pickups, different tremolo, bolt on neck vs. neck-through, etc. etc. Yet the EVH Wolfgang Special has the same pickups, same tremolo, same wiring and parts, same woods (besides the veneer), same radius, same case (completely awesome case, by the way), etc. For simplicity's sake we're going to ignore the fact that there's a KH602 that features specs more in line with the KH2 and say that on one end you have the pricey sig and on the other end, the most budget friendly in the line barring anything in the middle.

Honestly, I’ve seen a lot of signature guitars and it seems like this is among the only ones that REALLY focus on getting a great guitar for the lowest price possible while maintaining the integrity of what the potential buyer is after. If they want the extra stuff, most of which could be considered “frills,” then they can save up the extra $2,000.00 and get the arched top, the extra binding and the maple top, but if those don’t exactly get your motor running, you can get one of the Specials for just over $1,000.00.

Perhaps the company is pulling the ol’ “Big To Small” trick (if you ask someone if you can have $100.00 and they say no, you can hang your head for a bit, shrug your shoulders and ask if you can have $20.00 and they’ll be far more inclined to say yes, whereas if you had just asked for $20.00 to start with, they would be inclined to go with their natural instinct and perhaps say no, but because you asked for a much higher number first, they’re shocked and it’s easier to pry them from their greenbacks) but I doubt it. It seems legit.

I know for me, the Wolfgang (the EVH Wolfgang, I mean) has always intrigued me and I’ve always wanted to try one out, but not for the price of the real deal. But at just over 1K, I could save up for that and see how it is, see how much I love it and bond with it and then decide if I would like to save up for even longer and get the real deal. I like the way they look and the demo of the real Wolfgang from Guitar World makes me 1)want one pretty bad and 2) really admire the editor of GW – that guy can REALLY play.

The SECOND thing that happened to me (ah ha, you thought I had forgotten, didn’t you?) was that my wife and I decided that we were probably going to be moving into an apartment in the future to get into a better school district (being a parent, it no longer matters if the house is great, it matters what school zone you’re in) and that means no more big guitar items (indeed, no more guitars for a while and all guitars but probably one will be in their case in the closet to save on space) so I’ll have plenty of time to save up for the Special.

I can’t wait.

-Pappy