The Great American Guitar Tour

There are some things we can only dream of doing. I’m talking about jumping out of a helicopter fifty feet above a snowy mountain top with a snowboard strapped to your feet. I’m talking about turning your home into an elaborate haunted house for Halloween. I’m talking about reading the entire encyclopedia. Things we all know would be awesome but, due to the constraints of time and reality, we will probably never do.

I have another item for that dare-to-dream list: Taking a guitar-themed tour of the United States.

Can you imagine hopping in an old Cadillac with nothing but a suitcase, a guitar and a road atlas marked with locations of guitar-significase from coast-to-coast? I don’t have my entire dream itinerary worked up, but here are a few places that would make the list:

196 Hudson Ave. New York, NY - In 1833 the guitar makers in Germany were caught in the middle of a dispute between the Cabinet Makers Guild and the Violin Makers Guild. Both guilds wanted the guitar builders, and things got ugly. Words were tossed around like hatchets, leading to such harsh statements by the Violin Makers as: "Who is so stupid that he cannot see at a glance that an armchair or a stool is no guitar and such an article appearing among our instruments must look like Saul among the prophets." Wow, I don’t know what that last part means, but it can’t be good. Guitar maker Christian Frederick Martin was feeling the heat, so he hit the road and landed in New York. He opened his first shop at 196 Hudson Avenue. Google Maps would lead me to believe that this exact address doesn’t exist anymore – it seems to jump from 174 Hudson to 200 Hudson - but at least you can snap a picture of yourself standing in the spot where C.F. Martin first peddled his wares on US soil.

104 South Fourth St. Brooklyn, NY – Because Pappy owns this blog, I am legally obligated to include something Gretsch-related in every US tour. So let’s go take a look at the Gretsch factory where Fred Gretsch Sr. turned the company into a guitar giant. Currently, this address is the location of Bar Celona, an upscale lounge that blackbookmag.com calls: “Perfect for courting”!

227 Parsons St. Kalamazoo, MI – The headquarters of Gibson Inc,1917-1981. Now this place has seen some classic guitars. But even cooler than that, it didn’t roll over and die when Gibson moved to Nashville. Heritage Guitars opened at that very address in 1985 and is operating to this day. You know what that means? If you know somebody who knows somebody it is possible you could still set foot in the old Gibson plant!

1227 South 3rd St. La Crosse, WI – Why is there no true Guitar Museum? If there was, you can bet it would make this list. Since there is not, how about the spot Paul Reed Smith suggested be named the official Guitar Museum? I’m talking about my hometown favorite, Dave’s Guitar Shop. The first floor is one of the best guitar shops around, but the second floor… the second floor is true six-string bliss! More than 300 guitars hanging on the wall, telling the history of the electric guitar, surrounded by more than 50 amps of tonal and historic significance. It’s like someone went into the coolest art gallery in town, threw out all the boring old paintings and filled it with enough beautiful gear to make a grown man weep. In fact, I am beginning to question why I am writing this blog instead of hanging out at Dave’s right now.

Various Spots in Fullerton, CA – The last stop on our six-string tour of these here United States will be the birthplace of both Leo Fender and his plethora of guitar innovations. I suggest a light lunch at the Fender Ave Bar and Grill – located on Fender Avenue – before heading over to the City of Fullerton Museum to check out their Leo Fender exhibit. Admission is $4.00 and they are closed Mondays. And while it’s not strictly guitar-related, why not experience one of Fullerton’s famous Haunted Walking Tours?

So that’s the rough outline of my guitar tour. What addresses would find a spot on your atlas?

- PT

Gibson Jonas Brothers

I think it’s time that we take the opportunity to ignore this:

And instead focus on this:

Because these are both examples of the good and bad logic of companies, they just HAPPEN to come from the same company.

In Example One we see a company trying to capitalize on the popularity of a band that is indeed popular (or was popular, I’ll be honest when I say I have no idea just how popular the Jonas Brothers are) and they’re hoping that the popularity of this band will be enough to push potential buyers to the market.

Which is fine. I mean, from what I understand the VAST majority of JB fans are young girls and what I never fail to endorse is more female guitar players.

Additionally, while I fully support the potential positive effects of having such a model out there, I will completely disregard the fact that Gibson seems to be endorsing what myself and many others consider manufactured and weak music with no actual importance whatsoever. The music seems to be fodder, a means to an end, the end being masses of swooning pre-pubescent girls.

The whole thing makes me shudder from the inside out like getting a refrigerated bag of saline injected IV (which, to those who DON’T know, is the COLDEST you will ever feel and survive from).

Meanwhile Example Two is a sponsorship that is both smart economically AND acknowledging real music in the process. Even if you were cold as ice and said that Gibson was MERELY trying to capitalize on the movie the Runaways you would still be forced to admit that they thought the content of said movie was good enough to warrant a signature model and THAT means that Gibson thinks Joan Jett is worth it.

And she is.

Not only did she make musical history (let’s not ignore this at all – she helped pave the way in a BIG way), but she made it with REAL music, music that was meaningful and important even if it wasn’t the most melodic and acceptable. Sometimes the music world needs the finger presented to them to see the error of their ways and Ms. Jett was always willing to do so.

So I say that while Gibson may have done everything right by releasing the Jett Melody Maker and only half right (for now, if there are waves of female guitarists that come from the JB signature model I am FULLY prepared to eat my hat but considering there are only 300 of these guitars, it seems unlikely) with the JB model, I say thank you for the good examples of signature models with heart and seeming market savvy and models with just marketing savvy.

Additionally though, here's something to ponder: Gibson has released a two P90 Melody Maker for under $1,000.00 and there are a few people that are expressing interest in buying one of these and re-painting it. This seems like a smart idea to me!

-Pappy

Gig-FX VOD Review/Giveaway

Do you use more than one overdrive or distortion on your pedal board?

Ever wish there was a way to save some space?

Gig FX has released the V.O.D. which stands for variable overdrive and it features a four-way switch. It looks like a wah pedal with the actual pedal cut to look like an “I” which means it has the same footprint as a normal wah, yet all knobs are located on top of the pedal looking at you so you can see them.

The first position, up all the way, the overdrive is off. The next click down is a light overdrive, the second a more obvious overdrive and the third has just about as much gain as you could want. While metal IS possible, it isn’t what this pedal excels at. What it excels at is allowing you to have a collection of overdrive pedals and the ability to add a little more drive or take it away depending on what the song calls for, all in an easy foot motion which makes it fun and incredibly useful. Now you can go to a familiar spot and boost for a solo, keeping your foot on the pedal and then rock back to a more subtle gain and blend back in with the song.

The gain itself is very warm and natural sounding and CEO Jeff Purchon said that they used a Tubescreamer-ish base because it’s got a great, warm tone and one of the main goals of the pedal is to keep the guitar’s tone obvious and they succeeded. I recorded a sound sample demonstrating a lead run in all positions (the progress is: pedal off, light overdrive, medium overdrive, and the all out setting), a chord progression, and even some tapping work. I set up the microphone and left the room and did all switching and playing far enough away that the mic didn’t pick up any of the actual guitar being played and JUST what is being pushed through the amp and even though the volume was pretty low (my kids were asleep) you can get a general feel of the pedal and the general feel and tone.

VOD by Fifth Fret

The clip was recorded in the middle position with a Flatline Delta 90, a T-style guitar with a P90 in the bridge and a hot T-style pickup in the neck.

The pedal features a clean layout of knobs, with bass mid and treble knobs on the left and volume and gain knobs on the right for each level of drive. To further clean up the looks, the volume and gain are located at the same spot with a two-tiered knob. Adjust the bottom or biggest section of the knob and you adjust the volume, adjust the top half of the knob and you adjust the gain.

LED lights are there for each level of drive so you can see which level you’re at and adjust accordingly.

Overall VERY useful and if you’re a gigging pro, well worth looking into not only for the tonal versatility, but losing the extra weight that this pedal makes obsolete.

On a side note, one thing that I think is really cool about Gig-FX is that they don’t give away pedals to professional musicians. Mr. Purchon said that the majority of people that buy their pedals are gigging musicians and professionals and if they gave the pedals to these people, who would be left to buy them? A very good point, but I don’t think $225 (available directly from http://www.gig-fix.com) for a pedal as versatile and good sounding as this one that also eliminates two other spots on your pedal board is really too much to ask or only usable by professionals. Even if you’re a bedroom player, you’re sure to enjoy the ease of setup putting one pedal in your chain versus three.

And while $225 is completely justifiable in this reviewer’s eyes, Mr. Purchon suggested giving this pedal away to a reader/listener of Six String Bliss. So while artists like Peter Frampton couldn’t get a free pedal, YOU may. Entering is easy, just log in using a real sign-in so it doesn’t say “Anonymous” (Anonymous entries will be thrown out) and leave a comment about why you would want this pedal. I’ll tally the number of commenters and use a random number generator to pick a winner. The contest ends on December 10th and I’ll reveal the winner on the 13th. Consider it a Christmas gift from Gig-FX, the Fifth Fret and Six String Bliss.

Ah, and for the international readers out there (not in the U.S. I mean), you can also enter but there are a couple more stipulations:

1) You have to speak English well enough to communicate with me your address

2) You'll have to pay shipping (I'll provide the PayPal link).

3) That's ALL!

Good luck to everyone!

-Pappy

Happy Thanksgiving

Immediately upon opening the window to start writing I had a moment of pause where I thought "who's going to read this?"

Then I thought: "hopefully people in Greenland!" I've been writing this blog since late 2008 and in 2008 1,181 unique visitors visited the blog. In 2009, 32,042 unique visitors visited the blog. This year, so far, 66,167 unique visitors have stopped by the blog.

And during these three years, visitors have stopped by the blog from over 159 countries.

But not Greenland. And Greenland is HUGE and frankly, it's a bit depressing to see a giant body of land that doesn't have a single visitor dot.

Not that I'm complaining (did you see that the blog has had over 66,000 visitors THIS YEAR?).

Anyway, today is Thanksgiving (though not in Greenland) and I wanted to write and

1) Ask you what you're thankful for (audience participation is always fun!) and

2) Tell you what I'm thankful for.

I'll go first.

I'm thankful for you readers. No kidding. That's not lip (finger?) service or me sucking up, that's pure, 100% honesty right there. It's because of you that I'm constantly excited to write to see your reactions, it's because of you that I have paying advertisers and it's because of you that companies are willing to send stuff to be reviewed so basically everything about this job that I really like is because you come to the site.

So from the bottom of my heart I say thank you.

Now, come here and give me a hug!

-Pappy

Christmas List

It's that time of year again and everyone should be perusing their music catalogs, guitar stores, or favorite review sites for tips on what they should include on their Christmas List (or X-Mas list if you're a huge Futurama fan like myself). I was tasked to supply lots of options, none of which top $150.00 and I was originally thinking that doesn't really play into my gear lust. After all, how many great guitars - even sleepers - are under $150.00?

But I was shocked at just how much cool guitar stuff you can get for the price (some are so cheap you can make quite the present stack should they all be purchased while others would make an excellent ONE present).

Included are a subscription to Fretboard Journal, a couple instructional DVDs like Mark Tremonti's and John 5's, some new CDs like Stone Sour's newest and the Lost Fingers' new album, the Big 4 in concert DVD (something I suspect every metal head will be hoping Santa brings this year), and pedals like the Way Huge Fat Sandwich (which I needed to explain to my wife is NOT a literal way huge fat sandwich that I'm hoping I find under the tree on X-Mas morning), either of the Vox Satriani overdrives/distortions, perhaps a wah, etc. etc.

There's a lot of great stuff on the list and I think I've supplied my wife with a ton of options for her shopping pleasure as well as a guaranteed win for me should ANY of these presents be bought.

But I'm writing this because I want to know what YOU hope to find under your tree this year. So open up and share, you never know what red-clad, bearded wish master may be reading so let it fly and you can keep it in the same parameters that I was given (no one gift over $150.00) which I think makes it more fun and definitely shows you don't need to win the lottery to have a joyous gear discovery on the morning of the 25th, or just go nuts and rattle off your gear wish list.

I look forward to reading what the GAS lists include!

-Pappy

The Quest for Style

Sometimes I feel like the Martian Manhunter.

Let me explain. J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter, is a comic book character. He is a member of the Justice League. He is super-strong, but not as strong as Superman. He is invulnerable, except he has a weakness to fire. He can shape-shift, but only to a limited extent. In other words, the Martian Manhunter is good at a lot of things… but he is not really the best at anything.

I’d say that pretty well describes me as a guitarist.

All my favorite guitarists, people like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tommy Emmanuel, Buddy Guy, Trace Bundy, all these guys are known for something, for a certain style.

Not me. I am a man without a genre.

I can play a number of things relatively well. But no one thinks of a certain style of music when they think of PT. At least I don’t think they do. Part of the problem is that I am a little scatter-brained. Like the squirrel-chasing dog in the movie ‘Up’, I am easily distracted. I’ll spend a good week and a half working on some basic rockabilly licks, all the while thinking about what a great rockabilly player I will be in a year or so. Then I hear a great metal tune, and I dust off my distortion pedal and start practicing my speed licks.

The end result of all this is that I have a very surface knowledge of a great many styles of playing. However, I don’t know enough about any one thing to be considered an expert. I don’t have a go-to style or an impressive hat-trick of riffs that define me as a guitarist. And, honestly, I don’t think I have it in me to dedicate myself to one or even two styles of playing. I am interested in too many different things.

However, I have made a decision… I may not be able to marry one style of playing for life, but how about living with one style for a year?

What if I spent 2011 focusing the majority of my guitar playing efforts on one style of music What if I delve into the artists who have mastered that style… and the artists who influenced them… and the artists who influenced those influential artists? What if I read everything I can find on that genre, be it books, magazines, blogs, whatever?

How much could I learn in one year? How would I be changed after a year of dedicated study? Would I want to stop when the year was over, or would I be in too deep to move on?

So that is my plan. Find a style and dig in deep in 2011. I’ll chart my progress here with monthly updates on the Fifth Fret. The only question that remains is: what style? I have some ideas… I won’t reveal my choice until my first post of 2011, but I am open to suggestions. Here are some styles I won’t be choosing:

- Broad categories like Blues or Jazz. Not specific enough. I’ve only got a year here. I need to focus. Now something like Gypsy Jazz or Acoustic Slide Blues… that’s the level of specificity I need.

- Rockabilly. As much as like rockabilly, Six-String Bliss already has hosts with plenty of rockabilly expertise.

- Classical. I don’t have quite the time or level of interest needed for that one.

Other than that, I am open to just about anything. Stay tuned for more on this project. I am hoping you’ll enjoy following me on this journey in 2011.

- PT

Premier Props

Premier Guitar is one of my two favorite magazines (the other being Fretboard Journal) and while every issue from them that I’ve read has been stellar I really liked December 2010’s issue where writer Craig Havighurst wrote the article “Shapes of Things.” The article deals with the lawsuits and lawsuit threats between companies through the years and I really liked it and thought it needed some kudos and a hearty recommendation to readers that don’t read Premier Guitar to check this issue out.

By the way, if you don’t read Premier Guitar because you don’t want to 1) pay for a subscription or 2) have magazines cluttering up your living space, they let you subscribe to the magazine for free online. It will even be delivered to your email so you don’t have to constantly check the website to see if the new issue has come out.

Anyway, I really appreciated the article and the behind-the-scenes look at the guitar world. I’ve felt for a long time that there are VERY interesting things in the guitar world that may have zero to do with the newest popular band or gear or an artist being interviewed. The guitar world is more than this and I think there are some things that don’t get enough coverage. Guitar magazines are always claiming that they’ll teach you this and that and it’s true – almost all of my guitar knowledge was given to me by guitar magazines and personal experience – but there’s more to teach than what is in most mags. I honestly don’t remember the suit that Gibson filed against PRS showing up in any guitar magazines’ news section but this WAS guitar news so I was a little miffed that my educational source neglected this.

It would be similar to a newspaper printing only the front page and entertainment section’s articles. In a word: incomplete.

So I say a big THANK YOU to Premier Guitar for focusing on this (if any other magazines published anything about legal issues in the past it was more than likely a blurb where this was a full article) and giving us something more than the norm.

And I pose to you, Dear Reader, what have you always wondered about with the guitar world that hasn’t seen any publication?

For me, I always wonder how signature guitars really work. I know each company is different so perhaps an average across the board set of numbers would be the best bet (because surely the company would want to keep this semi-quiet) but if an article said something like “an artist GENERALLY receives three guitars per year or two guitars per tour for free or at cost but the contract to receive this deal USUALLY includes an AVERAGE of three photo ads being taken, four blurbs said for the ads, absolutely no bad-mouthing the brand and an agreement to play the guitar for at least 83.5% of the time on stage.”

Or if they want to go deeper they can track the evolution of the signature guitar and the deals that came with it. That would be awesome and it’s always been something I’ve been curious about. The closest I’ve ever seen was Mark Tremonti’s fairly candid explanation of his signature PRS when it first came out but it was literally MAYBE two short paragraphs long and Guitar World apparently didn’t want to delve any deeper (perhaps they’re used to signature artists and the deals that they make – I’m sure they have insider information that most readers don’t).

Even if they covered the usual contracts that accompany endorsing contracts, that would be awesome! All I’ve heard in the past was rumors from the Internet – all incredibly suspect.

These are just a couple of things I’m interested in. I think it was Guitar World that had a monthly column written by an insider in a record company about the pitfalls and guidelines for getting a record deal. This is valuable information! Surveys of a ton of bars and clubs and artist input about what makes a good set-list is another thing that would probably be valuable. Guitar magazines can be so much more than musical education that only focuses on the music section. There’s more to it than that just like there’s more to school than recess and I for one think if a magazine steps up and starts offering information like this, there would be an audience and the magazine would rise up VERY quickly.

In the end, I say thank you to PG and Craig Havighurst for putting out a truly unique article and whetting my appetite for more.

-Pappy

Sponsor: Flatline

Note from the writer: This is a new attempt at advertising. I'm trying to see if providing more reasons and lengthier post can drum up more interest on you, the reader's part, to check out the advertising shop/company.

The first up this month is Flatline:

Flatline Guitars is fronted by a down-to-earth guy named Rick Lockhart who used to be an economist for almost a decade before giving into the calling that he had felt forever and he and his father Rick Sr. (or "Big Rick") started Flatline Guitars, a company that was founded around the tone of the P90, arguably history's most popular pickup.

Before Flatline started advertising with the Fifth Fret, they sent a Vistaglide Custom, an S-shaped wolf in sheep's clothing, to be reviewed and I was so impressed I asked him if he wanted to advertise with us (note to the reader, all advertisers are hand-picked because they offer something unique, cool or life-changing to the guitar community and every one of them are worth checking out).

He said yes and sent a Delta 90, a T-style guitar with a hot P90 in the bridge and a matching hot pickup in the neck and it features a lot of the same great features found on the Vistaglide Custom including a satin-finished neck back that makes for one smooth and effortless trip up the fretboard, a nice neck carve that makes chording a breeze and tone that makes you feel affirmed that this is how T-style guitars should look/sound/feel.

The Delta 90 was so beuatiful in fact that my wife, who is not easily impressed with any guitars (mainly because she's not a guitar player) said that this was the best looking guitar she's ever seen come into the house and the butterscotch color of this one is striking. It's almost like a little gray was mixed in to subdue the butterscotch a little (but just a little) and make the color a little less obvious and a little more playful with light. The result is nothing short of drool-worthy.

All of Flatline Guitars are made with top-shelf products right here in the USA and combined with the feel/playability/tone/soul the guitars already have, you'll have yourself a guitar that not only feels good to play but feels good to own.

So do yourself a favor and read the review of the Vistaglide and check out Flatline's website and take a look for yourself at these great tone machines (and while you're there, check out the great photography, calendar, and T shirts) and tell them the Fifth Fret sent you!

-Pappy

Planet Waves Headstock Tuner

Have you ever noticed how when you tune a string to the right pitch it FEELS right? Not that out of tune strings feel wrong per se, but there’s a definite “there it is” feeling when the string hits the right note.

Planet Waves knows this. Not only do they offer other electronic tuners like the pedal that I reviewed previously, but they also offer the headstock electronic tuner, a battery-fed (battery included!) light-up tuner that clamps on to the headstock and uses the guitar’s vibration to figure out the pitch of the string.

This means there’s nothing to plug in.

Which means this is a great portable alternative to guitar tuning! I used to lug around a real tuner and a 3 foot cord to guitar lessons and this would have been WAY easier!

Anyway, my use of the tuner happened like this: I brought my guitar with me to my daughter’s dance class. It’s fun to bring her because the enthusiasm of a three-year-old is always heart-warming to watch, but she loves it. She gets super excited to get dressed up and go dance with the other little girls and she spends about an hour each time she goes.

An hour is an awkward time because it’s too long to just sit there doing nothing and too short to leave, go do something and come back. Because of this, I brought my acoustic, this new tuner and a new pack of strings. I sat in the dark parking lot stringing up my guitar and tuning it and the tuner worked like a CHAMP. When my strings started to go flat as I played I turned back on the tuner and it helped me get back to pitch quickly and accurately.

If there’s one thing I hate it’s playing a guitar that’s out of tune. Even if it’s just ONE string the notes you play just irk the heck out of me and I stop playing out of sheer frustration but with this tuner I was fine and was able to play for the entire time until the cold started making my fingers stop working correctly and by then it was time to go inside and wait for about five minutes before my little angel came out of the dance room and smiles and happy shouts that she had fun.

Because of this tuner I was able to have fun too instead of being inside looking bored out of my mind like the other parents.

And it's about $25.00 so how can you go wrong?

-Pappy

Zombieland Rules For Guitar Playing

For those who don't know, Zombieland is the heart-warming tale of four survivors just trying to make a home for themselves in the rough world of disease-infested cannibalistic madmen and through it they learn strong life lessons.

The main character, a shut-in by the name of Columbus has survived the zombie apocalypse by following his list of 32 rules and as I watched this great movie I was thinking that a bunch of these rules can be carried over to the guitar world and make you and me better or at least more impressive players.

Are you ready to delve into the underworld of flesh-eating monsters to pull away nuggets of information for your string bending livelihood?

Great! Let's get started!

Rule Number 1: Cardio.

You are up on stage for precious little time and you want to give it your all for that entire time, right? Run around, get the crowd into it and leave them begging for more? Well, you can't do that if by the end of the second song you're trying to sell your soul to the devil for a sit-down acoustic set! Hop on the treadmill, go for long walks, start swimming, do what you need to to get your endurance up. Your heart and your audience will thank you for it!

Rule Number 2: Limber Up.

Before you get on stage and rock the house though, you need to warm up. There's nothing more frustrating than trying to play a riff you KNOW you know how to play yet for some reason your fingers are stiff and not cooperating. Take as much time as you need to get them limbered up so you don't have to worry when it comes time to fly through Master of Puppets.

Rule Number 3: Always Check the Back Seat.

While you may not be looking to see if there are any zombies waiting for you to be lulled into a false sense of safety before jumping out of it and going to town on your jugular, you should be looking to see that all of your gear is secure and won't move around or fall down. An ounce of precaution is worth a pound of cure some chef once said!

Rule Number 4: Beware of Bathrooms.

It's just good advice.

Rule Number 5: Enjoy the Little Things.

How great is it that the biggest rule is the one that tells you to enjoy the little things? We (well, most of us, I would wager) are not rock stars. We aren't idolized by millions of fans worldwide. We aren't playing sold-out arenas and making billions of dollars.

But so what?

Take the time to enjoy the little things. The solo you've been trying to nail that you finally managed to. The fact that you're up on stage as a hired musician, even if it's only to play for the regular barflies in the back. The fact that you finally wrote a song that had words AND music (together!). The fact that you can sing and play at the same time. The fact that you finally learned how to hammer-on. The fact that you sold one EP (which means that at least one person wants to PAY to listen to - nay, to OWN - their very own copy of YOU playing guitar).

Enjoy every single step and don't worry about the end result. You'll have a great time.

This post was brought to you by a Partnership for a Zombie-Free World.

-Pappy

Beatles Come To iTunes

As I was watching the news recently a big hubbub was brought up about the Beatles coming to iTunes and how huge this is.

And I just wanted to write and say that it is NOT. What a waste of televised time! The Beatles has been released on every popular media form to date (even digital form by including their entire discography on a flash drive) so if you WANT the Beatles you can get them just about any way you want them and then if you really want them in your iTunes library just import the songs to it.

This may have been big news long ago and it may have been able to have some sort of limited importance but that boat has surely sailed by now.

What do you think? Important or just the media freaking out over the combination of the words “Beatles” and “iTunes” coming over the wire?

-Pappy

Satellite Spaceboy

These are fun times to be a guitar player. Boutique companies are coming up and some people are so into them that attempts from big names go unacknowledged which forces the big names to start offering more than standard fare as far as their products go. More and more are offering limited edition coverings on amps and now we can finally start branching away from tried and true blacks and blondes and into real COLORS like reds and blues and greens and tooled leather, etc. etc.

Big names offering this is making boutiques step up their game as well and who benefits from this back and forth?

We do as players.

And while a lot of companies are doing this NOW, Satellite Amps have been doing it from the start. In an interview with Six String Bliss in February of 2009 (found HERE) founder Adam basically challenged listeners and players by saying they have received some crazy color requests and have so far been able to accommodate the player.

I wouldn't want to take Adam up on the challenge because not only is he completely fine with finding the color you requested, but he isn't scared of doing something that isn't the norm with no more than a gentle nudging from his wife and that is what led to the creation of the Spaceboy Amp.

The Spaceboy is merely the visual scheme and in no way is limited to any one amp. You can request this covering on any of his amps, but if you want it, you have to act fast. He bought all of the material he could find and says he has enough to make about six more amps.

Oh, but wait! There's just a LITTLE bit more. The optional cab doesn't just come with this, but also a stenciled Satellite logo in the grill cloth and if THAT wasn't enough, he even rigs it up with lights, officially making it one of the coolest amps I've ever seen (certainly one that wouldn't be hard to find should it get stolen) and one that would be at home on a well-lit stage.

Seen here:

So check out the pictures below and you'll see what I mean when I say this is head and shoulders above what most amp companies are offering as custom coverings (and while you're at it, check out that awesome green sparkle amp in the back too!). Also, remember that these pictures are uploaded from Flickr so if you want to see them in greater detail (and I hope you do), just click on them to go to the photo's page. If you would like to learn more about Satellite Amplifiers, check out their site HERE.

-Pappy

Tremonti SE Bundle

http://www.guitarnoize.com/blog/comments/fret12-mark-tremonti-prs-bundle

OK, OK, I know I linked to a blog post with a link, but I had to give Guitar Noize as much credit as I could not only because it's my favorite blog out there, but because he really stumbled on something with this!

Yeah, if you happen to have over 2 grand kicking around, this deal is perfect for you, but honestly who does this really appeal to? It's deals like this that make me wish that companies would be more willing to share just how successful their deals were and how quickly they sold out.

I'm curious.

But more than that I wanted to emphasize the cheaper alternative located here.

I'll say right now that I would be more than willing to spend $512.00 for a PRS Tremonti SE and Fret 12's DVD (which I haven't seen but is on my Christmas list). Depending on where you get it you're paying that much anyway, so why not get a free DVD with it? And the SE line is so good anyway, with specs that are so close (or better in some cases, at least to people like me) to American models that it's completely justifiable investing in an SE model with upgraded pickups (and PERHAPS some fret decals that are coincidentally shaped like birds) so I say if you're looking for something like this, this deal is perhaps too great to pass up!

-Pappy

Lick Library's Metal Rhythm Guitar Week 2

WEEK 2:

In week two of the six week course, Andy James introduces you to drop D tuning (DADGBE) and moves along at a faster clip than in week one. If you've been paying attention and practicing your downpicking and alternate picking, you should be fine but this week's course may take a bit more than a week to master before moving on to week three because James' exercises and examples are far more musical and far more lengthy giving you the majority of songs to learn instead of just short, fairly boring exercises.

This makes sense since he's no longer trying to introduce you to a specific technique like down or alternate picking. Since you got that from week one, he's able to move along to actual music. Still, he packs three exercises into the end of the DVD and I would think it would take me about a week each to get them down pat so this is just one more reason the DVD set is a good one to get instead of an actual teacher (though it does throw off my planned schedule which was treating these as no kidding weekly lessons but considering what I'm learning, I'm completely fine with that).

-Pappy

Confused about the layout of this particular blog? Don't worry, I'm here to help. This is a continuation from the first installment of this review. The first post can be found here.

-P.

Katy Perry's Patrick Matera Interviewed

Katy Perry is huge. She's had a ton of singles, sold more than 5 million copies of her last album "One of the Boys," won numerous awards, was featured on 15 magazine covers (and counting) and was even shotgunned in the face with Nickelodeon Slime, which I'm pretty sure is the greatest compliment you can get anywhere.

When her songs come on the radio, my three-year-old sings them. She's a little off in timing (my daughter) but she knows all the words. I think this may be the second greatest compliment you can ever receive, but I'm heavily biased.

But Katy Perry has a secret weapon and that is her band. While it's her face and name that's famous, SOMEONE has to deliver the goods in a live setting and when it comes to the guitar, there's Patrick Matera who was willing to sit down and talk to the Fifth Fret about his musical upbringing, his gear and what it's like to be touring with this up and coming star.

Fifth Fret: How's the tour going?

It’s been a lot of fun so far. We’re in the middle of promotional touring for Katy’s new record, which means we’re doing a lot of TV shows and short promo concerts all over the world. The promo stuff will last til the end of the year, with regular touring starting up early next year.

What was your first guitar?

My first guitar was just an awful mess that didn't even have a name on the headstock. It was always falling apart and eventually it ended up in the trash. My first “real” guitar was a strat-style guitar that a friend of my dad’s made. It was really nice and I played that one for years.

What made you want to play?

I tried to play drums for a while as a little kid but spent more time playing air-guitar on a tennis racket. I remember watching a Kink’s video where some nerdy kid is playing “guitar” on a tennis racket in the mirror when the mirror breaks and Dave Davies is behind it rocking out on a Les Paul. All of a sudden I realized it was time to upgrade from the tennis racket. There were a lot of teachers and older players that encouraged me and gave advice when I was learning. When I was 16, I was lucky enough to get to play with Chet Atkins at a summer workshop and then I ended up going to Berklee School of Music after high school.

How did you get into the music business and end up playing with Katy Perry?

I’ve played all sorts of gigs with lots of people that you’ve never heard of over the years. After moving to LA, things started to pick up a bit and eventually, I got a gig with a guy named Kenna and toured on and off for about a year. Kenna’s drummer was Adam Marcello, and he and I got hired to do some gigs together with Moby. After Moby, Adam was hired by Katy as her musical director before her first record came out. They went out on the Warped Tour in the summer of ’08 and about 3/4 of the way through it, he called me on a Wednesday and asked if I could join the band that weekend in Portland because their guitarist at the time was leaving. I had about four days to learn all of the songs and then we had two days of rehearsal before the first gig. Katy had the flu or something when I arrived, so she couldn’t come to rehearsals. It ended up that the first time I ever played with her was onstage in front of a few thousand fans at a Warped Tour show. I was definitely nervous for that first show!

Do you take part in the writing of the songs?

I write for myself and with other people but haven’t had the opportunity to write with Katy.

What's the biggest fan favorite and what's your favorite song to play?

Songs like “Hot & Cold” and “Kissed a Girl” always get a big fan reaction, obviously. We used to cover “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen and I always enjoyed playing that live. Brian May came out to see our show in London and I had to play the solo on that with him at the back of the theater watching. It was a little surreal, to say the least! He came backstage and hung out with us for about 30 minutes afterwards, just talking with us and telling stories about Freddie Mercury. He was very complimentary about the band and actually wrote a really nice review of the show on his blog afterwards.

Does your studio rig mirror your live rig and if not, what are the differences?

The stuff I take to the studio for sessions is pretty different than what I use live. My favorite guitars, the ones that have a unique vibe for recording that I always bring along… they just wouldn’t hold up to touring. I’m talking about my old Harmonys and Danelectros and stuff like that. They’d just get destroyed on the road. I love fixing up weird old guitars and I’m much more likely to bring some crazy Italian electric guitar from the 60’s to a studio that already has a nice Les Paul and some nice Fenders there to use. I’ll also bring a bunch of weird old pedals to try and cover a lot bases and styles.

For touring, I’ve recently started using a 3^rd Power American Dream head & cab which is a really great sounding amp with a unique 2x12 cab that moves a lot of air. Guitar-wise, it’s gotten a bit tricky as we have one set of gear that stays overseas and one set of gear that stays in the US. So, there’s a bunch of guitars in use but there’s only a handful at each gig. I have an ES335 that I use a lot and a few other Gibsons, a Duesenberg, the Billy-Bo, a Freedom Lightshow Guitar (kind of like an old Rickenbacker Lightshow Guitar, made by Freedom Guitars in Japan) and a few others depending on where we’re at.

Effects-wise, I use a GigRig switching system to control a bunch of pedals. There’s a lot of sounds I have to cover, especially on Katy’s new record. I’ve got a Rockbox Boiling Point, a Creation Labs Holy Fire pedal, some T-Rex Pedals, some of the Way-Huge reissues, a CAE Wah, an Eventide PitchFactor, a Line 6 M9, an MXR Dynacomp, a Sonic Research strobe tuner… there’s probably some stuff I’m forgetting! It’s a lot of pedals but the GigRig switching system helps make my life a whole lot easier while maintaining my tone when pedals are bypassed.

Tell us about your blue Gretsch Billy Bo.

I had been bouncing some ideas for guitars around with Fender/Gretsch and I sent them some pictures of Billy-Bo’s in different colors that I had done up in Photoshop. We settled on sort of a Pelham Blue/50’s hot rod color and Alex Perez at the custom shop handed the rest. They originally put a Bigsby B5 on it by mistake, so I ended up putting a B11 that I had on there, which I much prefer. It’s a really great guitar and I always get a lot of comments on it.

It's a sweet looking color. Are there any talks about releasing it to the public as a signature model?

Well, that’s flattering but I think Billy Gibbons might have beaten me to that! I’m really lucky to have the only one in that blue color, but guys like Jack White and Billy are much better known as players and make very good use of the Billy Bo. I’m just happy that Gretsch returns my phone calls, honestly!

I hear you're playing a Nocturne Brain too. How does it effect your sound?

Yeah,.I bought one of the originals last year and then Tavo sent me a Dyno Brain a few months ago, so I’ve got one on the board with my overseas rig and one on the board in the states. I don’t think I really use it as it was intended though! I basically put it first in line and kind of use it to “fix” my tone a bit, especially when we have to backline amps or the power at the venue is weird. It’s not always on, but it helps to focus clean tones and helps get rid of the harshness that some amps have. I think it’s a great pedal that’s very subtle the way I use it, but nothing else I have really does what it can do. It’s like a Klon pedal in that, if you put it in front of a clean amp at your house, it doesn’t seem to do much. But get it onstage at a good volume and it can really make a difference.

______________________________________________

Many thanks to Patrick Matera for answering these questions! If you're interested in learning more about his work with Katy Perry, you can visit her website located HERE.

-Pappy

Music Pro Media Dr. Z Review

Buddy Whittington says that now is a great time to get a great guitar and a great amp and I agree completely. I believe that today's high quality guitars are often better than older guitars who, for mere age's sake, is now considered vintage. I had thought that the "golden era" of guitars was what defined "vintage" but apparently now even guitars that were mocked and not bought are now getting to be collectible. I disagree with this whole-heartedly and think Buddy is on to something. Not only are there guitar companies out there who are making instruments that are of excellent quality, but there are amp companies doing the same.

And while big name amp companies have been making great amps for years, tone snobs (I use the term lovingly) have not been satisfied with their offerings and have been pushing boutique builders instead.

One of the builders that always comes up is Dr. Z and some may be curious about what the amp company offers and check out their web site, but with most company websites, the sales pitch is usually the same or a variant of. For instance, on Dr. Z's website, there's not a single amp that DOESN'T sound like it's made just for you even though they all sound completely different. That's just good writing.

So if you can't sample them all yourself (and it's a little hard to find a local shop that carries Dr. Z, let alone one that has every model in stock), you need an outside opinion and while reviews are good, it's even better to be able to hear them. Better still, to hear them side by side along with more detailed descriptions of the amps.

Music Pro Media is again here to help. They did an excellent job covering Tom Anderson Guitar Works and they did an equally fantastic job covering Dr. Z. They have interviews with the names that made Z famous from Whittington (who's paraphrased quote was pulled from the movie) to Brad Paisley and even Joe Walsh shows up at the end to receive a custom amplifier from Z himself (and Walsh is quite a character).

Every amp offered is described in detail by Dr. Z along with WHY he chose this or that offering you a ton of technical knowledge and points of view. For instance, he says that the reason he offers both a MAZ with and without reverb is because the non-reverb amp allows for more room that let him put in more drive without it sounding bad. Basically, the reverb model is cleaner than the non-reverb model (something Buddy Whittington echoes) and then he explains that some people just didn't want the volume and therefore he offers the MAZ Jr.

Z takes you through the history of the amp explaining the origins and even showing examples of his original works (and then shows you the modern equivalents which I think is really cool - it shows a lot about a builder that their original designs are still there and more or less the same). He also walks you through the design of his signature Z Best cabinet which was far more intricate that I ever expected and explained the name to help clear the air (it's not the he was saying it was the best cabinet, it was made in collaboration with a company called Best).

Z was completely wrong in one area, where he explains that the KT45 was originally going to be a kit amp for the home builder, something his lawyers strongly urged him NOT to do for liability reasons. Of course a company rolls the bones a bit when it comes to putting electricity in the hand of amateurs, but tons of companies out there are doing it and I honestly think this was more a case of the lawyers being lazy than being right. This is disappointing because the KT45 is a pretty great sounding amp, certainly one that I connected great jazz tones to at low volumes and had a kit been offered that ended with me having great low volume jazz tones, I would have been filled with joy. Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

The movie offers you a unique opportunity to view the inner workings of a small company hand-making quality guitar amplifiers that players from a wide spectrum of playing experience and skill appreciate and is done in such a way, with interviews and samples of amps being used as well as explained by the designer himself, that the $39.95 is worth it.

The only issue I had with the movie is that it mainly focused on cleaner tones and while Tracii Guns was there to demonstrate the rock side of things, he completely blew right by my favorite Z offering (the Prescription Extra Strength or RXES) and moved on to his favorite. I can't fault him for it, of course. We all have different tastes, but I think the RXES is one of, if not THE best Z amp out there for rock or punk.

That's hardly a complaint against the movie, I guess, but it offers a good point. While the movie does a GREAT job of covering just about everything, we're all individual players with individual needs and wants in our guitars and amps, but if you're looking at Dr. Z amps, this movie will certainly help you narrow your focus!

Many thanks to Music Pro Media for sending a copy to review. If you would like to learn more about this movie, and Music Pro Media's other offerings, you can go HERE.

-Pappy

Good Rockin' Tonight

Sometimes Public Broadcast shows will catch you off guard with their quality and this movie is a great example documenting the rise and fall of Sun Records, from owner Sam Phillips' opening of the studio and early recording jobs to picking up Elvis, to losing Elvis to RCA because of Sun's financial troubles, all the way to the day Sam decided he was done and that rock and roll had permeated the popular culture so much that he couldn't compete with big names.

This movie is more than just a trip down memory lane with Phillips though. The documentarian pulled out all sorts of stops and brought in major players in Sun's history and reunited everyone in multiple locales and recorded them.

This was an interesting move because Sam Phillips has a personality that's been debated about over the years. Some people think he's awesome and some people... don't. The most vocal opposition to the greatness that is Sam Phillips is Billy Lee Riley who recorded a ton of songs, but claims his hit was "Red Hot," a song that was picking up steam only to be cut short by Phillips himself because Phillips wanted to dedicate his time and energy to Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire."

Overall though, the general feeling passed to the viewer is that Phillips isn't a bad guy though watching him, I was siding with Riley. Phillips had an odd demeanor, like he was really trying to sell something or make it bigger than it was - which is crazy because how could anything be bigger that the birth of rock and roll? Yet he spends a good deal of time proselytizing (there's no better word for it - he was preaching pure and simple) Sun Records and himself as a producer to a silly extreme.

Fortunately there's a lot more to the documentary than just Sam Phillips and what made it most interesting to me is the amount of music in it. Where a lot of music documentaries give you snippets or even worse just TALK about it, this movie is loaded with full songs and as an added perk, a lot of the songs are covered, some by the original artists and some by modern artists.

And some of the modern artists do a great job with the songs, too. Paul McCartney (possibly not considered a modern artist but for argument's sake we'll say he is), Ben Folds Five and Robert Plant with Jimmy Page did the best job of modern covers in my opinion (and how cool is it that Page and Plant were willing to do this?). Plant's voice in particular was the best I've ever heard from him. It wasn't the high falsetto I'm used to from Zeppelin but deeper and (in my opinion) more natural sounding. I really liked it.

Other bands tried to put modern twists on the songs to varying degrees of success and Matchbox 20 even recorded theirs with Jerry Lee Lewis playing along on the track "Lonely Weekends." These modern interpretations weren't my favorite, but I like the effort. It's just that I don't think that the lyrics really match up with today's rock or alternative. Live covered "Walk the Line" and though the music was top notch, the lyrics felt out of place.

I guess that's what I mean. The lyrics of these old songs sound obviously out of place when put to new music - or at least new rock.

Still, it was a great documentary and I highly recommend watching it. If you like learning about music history and like listening to the music and possibly seeing newer artists take a stab at it (sometimes with the original musicians looking on with an odd look on their face) this movie's right up your alley.

I will say that, having watched this, I'm more and more happy that Brian Setzer recorded his tribute to Sun Records because without it, I don't really think there would be as much exposure to the lesser-known artists and unlike most modern artists who are trying to interpret these songs to fit popular radio format of today, Setzer recorded them in a faithful, fitting way.

Sun Records put out a lot of good music and this movie points out all the great artists and gives you a peek into their catalog. If you want to dive in further than Elvis and Johnny Cash, Setzer's Rockabilly Riot Volume 1 is a good musical accompaniment.

-Pappy

Are Reviews Damaging?

This is a little long, but go with it and let me know what you think.

When I was in the 7th grade, my English teacher hated grade limitations on reading. School curriculum said that 7th graders should read X,Y, and Z and 10-12th graders should read A,B, and C. His theory was that the school was holding back the student by not challenging their brain enough. So he threw away the curriculum in a way (added to it is a more accurate statement) and included reading from grades higher than mine. As a 7th grader I loved the confidence he showed in the class, saying we were smarter than "the man" thought we were and we were certainly able to handle more.

I've loved this theory of only limiting yourself based on what YOU think you can handle ever since until just recently when my wife (who is much smarter than me) offered a different perspective.

She said I couldn't relate as a 7th grader to the newly assigned writings and that this was actually more than likely damaging to me in some way. It probably expedited my maturity in all ways but at what cost? A 7th grader should be concerned with 7th grader stuff, not taking in complex emotional relationships as shown in Romeo & Juliet or the social downward spiral of Animal Farm. I should have been worried about 7th grade stuff like hanging out with friends and being a kid. Part one of her thought was that my childhood was kind of robbed from me.

Part two was that opinions other than my own were implanted in me.

That sounds far more drastic than I meant it to. What I mean is that since I had never had a relationship on par with the very adult one portrayed in Romeo & Juliet, I had to take it at face value and as gospel. Surely this wouldn't be written if this weren't how it should be, right? Should I be willing to end my life if that life was lived in a world where my love was not living?

This is hardly something a 7th grader should be thinking and is merely one example of the thoughts and interpretations - internalizations - that I had.

And all because I had nothing to compare it to.

I think she has a point. JUST because I was able to read and comprehend the material did not make the material age-appropriate because I had no point of reference.

So after my wife was done shining some serious light on a new perspective, my mind was blown and in the aftermath, it turned (as it often does) to guitars.

If you had no point of reference, but wanted to know something, you would of course turn to the Internet to give it to you, but how much faith are your putting in your reviewers? How much bias do these people have toward the products (I read a review of a Gretsch White Falcon that received a horrible score because it didn't have active pickups and a Floyd Rose tremolo. How much a bias was THERE?)? Are reviews actually damaging your ability to enjoy a product?

I say yes, to an extent. I like the tone of my first Marshall until (as an impressionable youth) I was told it didn't have tubes and if it doesn't have tunes, it doesn't have tone. Of course that's a blanket statement of questionable validity but it impacted ME and I started to want bigger and better (and certainly tube-filled). Guitars, pedals, pickups, amps, cords, pedal boards, cases, etc. etc. My mind was taking in review after review and opinion after opinion without having the opportunity to review them for myself and I lacked the confidence to stand by my own opinion when I had one.

This certainly does NOT mean I'm going to stop reviewing though. Reviewing products is a huge bonus for the job and something I love to do, but I try to keep it in perspective to a wide audience and I try not to harbor any biases.

And if you find yourself questioning your own sonic opinion, I say stop. Embrace your feelings and opinions because they're yours and everyone has opinions (and they often vary). What sets you apart now may set you apart later and lift you above the masses. Just because I (or any other writer from any other section of this great big world known as the Internet) say something, doesn't mean you should take it as gospel, merely as one dude's opinion.

So what do you think?

-Pappy