Monday, May 30, 2011

Super Cool Futuristic guitars!

Got a x-ray gun, star track decoder, jet pack, anti gravity suit and new flying saucer? If so, you have an incomplete quiver! You need these guitars to complete your voyage throughout the galaxy. No trip to Pluto on the outer edge of the galaxy would be complete without your J. Backlund guitars. To say these guitars are mondo cool is simply an understatement!

Load your laser and check out this band - Who for all practical purposes should use these guitars! - Click here to see the Phenomenauts!
















Saturday, May 28, 2011

Tone Monster - Collings CL Custom Deluxe

You are a rocker that has saved his money but due to space and budget constraints, can only purchase one guitar to last you until you retire, which guitar would you buy?

How about a Collings CL Custom Deluxe?

Dealers link here

This quilted maple top is gorgeous and the simplicity of the design meets the functional requirements of a serious guitarist and design parameter assure that it is a TONE MONSTER.

One pickup - one volume - one tone - one guitar.

Owning one guitar [as if that can be accomplished] will require less storage space thus insuring harmonic domestic cohabitation.

Keep a towel nearby and try not to drool too much!
























If you want one of these guitars - which you should! Click on the link below

You can find further information about instruments like this at http://www.Collingsguitars.com

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Tyranny of small decisions - Buying a Guitar or Equipment



I'd like to pontificate about something that is called the tyranny of small decisions. This is a series of small decisions individually small in size and time perspective, cumulatively result in an outcome which is not desirable or optimal. Moreover, small rational decisions can negatively change the context of subsequent choices, even to the point where desired alternative are irreversibly destroyed. Simply stated, analysis paralysis. This is when you seek only information that seems relevant but lack the knowledge at this time that would make other information relevance clear, so you don't look for the information. Then cogitate and torment yourself over fear of being short sighted - only to find you are in a paradisaical situation. So, what do you do? Shut up and buy yourself a guitar!

A while ago I wrote up a long essay about how to buy a guitar. That article is available at this LINK. <<<<

To prevent a tyranny of small decisions and analysis paralysis, you should quickly follow the thought process outlined in this article.

Scenario: You've earned a new guitar and you've determined a cost. You must decide the following options.
  • Electric or acoustic
  • Humbucker, single coil, or combination of pickups
  • Neck scale - long or short
  • Guitar body - solid, hallow, semi hallow
  • Maple, rosewood, or ebony fret board
If you start analyzing color, types of wood, types of tuners, bridge material, fret material, type of finish, wire manufacturer, resistor or capacitor type, potentiometer type and all of the variables available for a guitar. You will discover that you are wasting valuable time unless you are going to work in the music industry.

It's sort of like meeting a lover, wife, husband etc.... You have to take a certain risk. If it feels right it probably is right. Trust intuition because buying a guitar is not an irreversible decision. Guitar Center is very good about returns that are in good condition - Most retailers are fair in order to keep a good reputation. So avoid analysis paralysis. At least nail down most of your decisions before bugging a sales person, try it and buy it because while you are vacillating over infinitesimally small features, the best friend who couldn't play is now better than you on his Teisco Del Ray. Sometimes more is less! The more time you spend deciding to get a guitar means you have spent less time practicing!

Now get to it and stop procrastinating!

.... Should I get a Gibson Les Paul Reissue or Les Paul Standard?
Better question to ask yourself is what can you afford? You have to be optimistic that one day you will be able to buy that expensive guitar. Meanwhile it is important to play and practice because without practice you will NOT get better!

We all like to experience "new guitar day's," where we pick up that guitar we've had our eye on, placed on lay-away or fell in love with at first site (or strum). We bring it home like a new baby and play with it the first chance we have available. Maybe take a few pictures for posterity and send those pictures to our friends and family. This type of behavior is odd because most people don't  faun over groceries, clothing or furniture. On the contrary those people who collect and use cars, guitars, and other mechanisms of fascination certainly get spend a lifetime gawking and photographing their prized possessions.

If you can't make up your mind about a guitar then you will have hell to pay when you meet a beautiful woman!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Dunlop Fuzzface - Joe Bonamassa edition

Here we have a new "old" product. The ascetics are very pleasing and the tone is good. I like the unit but we need to realize that it is a signature reissue and therefore there are design constraints. The functional parameters of this unit are simple, volume and fuzz. Simply stated it works best when you over drive your amp and use the fuzz like an auto uses a nitrous oxide boost.

The design constraints are narrow as Dunlop tries to remain true to the original shape and size of this product. This is the part where I find personal conflict because I love the polished copper finish and the original look but it's a space sucker and has too big of a footprint to fit my over crowded pedal board. To use this I must decide what other pedal I'd like to remove to make space accommodations. lastly, it runs on a 9 volt battery and there isn't an AC option! Ouch!!

It doesn't take a brain surgeon to realize that this is a simple design that is well put together with great pots, switches and components. However, if you view the video you can see that the inside of the Fuzz face compartment doesn't utilize all the available space and a little over built. So there you have it - a conflicted opinion! If you have the space and you want the classic sound or if you are a Joe Bonamassa fan (who isn't?) then this pedal might be for you.

I love the circuit But this device needs the following features to be on my board:
  1. AC circuit ability.
  2. Smaller foot print to fit smaller space requirements.
  3. Lower price.
  4. A different model with all this stuff is what I want!?
Yeah, I am a pain - LOL

If you are a collector and have a ton of space - Buy it!

Currently, it seems that only PROGUITAR Shop has this product. This is the link!



Monday, May 2, 2011

Gibson Les Paul 1959 - Keith Richards

Keith Richards
Gibson Les Paul
1959
Up for Sale!




Buy it now at this link > Richard Henry Guitars Ltd.


Author - Richard Henry
The most historically significant '59 Les Paul in the world!
A very well known and documented guitar with the most incredible provenance that has etched its mark on the eternal pages of rock'n'roll history, most notably with the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton.
This iconic instrument was last sold by Richard Henry during a previous employment and any enquiries should be addressed to info@richardhenryguitars.com.
History:
The guitar is an original 1959 Les Paul Standard that was purchased new in March 1961 from Farmers Music Store in Luton, United Kingdom, by John Bowen. John played with Mike Dean & the Kinsmen and he had a Bigsby Vibrato fitted at Selmer's in London before trading the guitar in there for a Gretsch Country Gentleman in late 1962. The guitar was later purchased by Keith Richards, who was playing guitar in a little known outfit called the Rolling Stones.
Keith Richards used this guitar extensively in the early days of the Rolling Stones and it was seen regularly from autumn 1964 until 1966 when Keith began to favor a Les Paul Custom. Appearances on 'Ready Steady Go' and classic songs like 'The Last Time' and 'Satisfaction' have been played on this guitar. There are many great photographs of Keith and the guitar.
Keith was the first major pop star to use a 'Burst'; he was probably partly responsible for inspiring both Clapton and Page to pick up Les Pauls. Keith owned and used a Les Paul Standard way before Clapton had one, before Jeff Beck, before Peter Green, before Jimmy Page, Mike Bloomfield, Joe Walsh, Billy Gibbons, Duane Allman etc. (need we go on?) Keith sold the guitar to Mick Taylor in 1967 when Taylor had replaced Peter Green (who in turn had replaced Eric Clapton) in John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers. The Bluesbreakers' classic British Blues sound was forged when Clapton plugged a 'Burst' into a Marshall JTM45 combo and Peter Green followed suit, later selling his 'Burst' to Gary Moore. Taylor had stood in for Clapton when he failed to show for a gig one night and ended up playing Clapton's own Les Paul, so it was inevitable that the young Taylor would go for the same guitar and he exclusively played this Les Paul up to his joining The Rolling Stones two years later.
Before Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page was a red hot session musician who cut his teeth on a 3-pickup Les Paul Custom fitted with a Bigsby. It is possible that Jimmy considered buying the 'Keith Burst' from Richards or maybe just used it in the studio? We aren't entirely sure but we are sure that Jimmy used the guitar on at least one mid 60's recording session. Eric Clapton used the 'Keith Burst' in 1966 with Cream at the Windsor Jazz & Blues Festival. There are several photographs of Clapton with this very guitar at the concert. Maybe Clapton borrowed it from Keith?
Mick Taylor made his live debut with the Rolling Stones at the famous Hyde Park concert in July 1969 after the shocking premature death of Stones guitarist Brian Jones. The concert was immortalized by Granada Television, who filmed and released it as 'The Stones In The Park'. Taylor used the guitar to play 'No Expectations' and 'Love In Vain'; Taylor was also filmed with it backstage in the band's dressing room trailer before the show. The guitar appears next on the Rolling Stones' 1969 tour of America, when Keith and Taylor both played it; the film 'Gimme Shelter' documents Keith using it for 'Honky Tonk Women'.
There are also many photos of Mick Jagger with the guitar at some 1970 recording sessions, which may be the last documentation of this instrument in the hands of the Rolling Stones. Its disappearance is shrouded in mystery and controversy: Rumor has it that the guitar was stolen in 1971, either from the Marquee Club during the Stones' 'Farewell Tour' of the UK, or from Nellcote in southern France during the recording of 'Exile on Main Street'. Dave Brewis of Rock Stars' Guitars recounts a story he heard from the next owner, Cosmo Verrico, who played guitar with the Heavy Metal Kids, who were signed to Atlantic Records alongside the Stones. The story goes that a Stones representative gave the guitar to Cosmo to replace one that was stolen. What is definite is that Cosmo did own the guitar until 1974, when he sold the guitar to Bernie Marsden of Whitesnake. Bernie owned the guitar for a little over a week. He sold it to guitar enthusiast Mike Jopp and thought he had done well when he made £50 profit.
Mike Jopp owned the guitar until 2003 when, brokered by Rock Stars' Guitars, it was sold to a private investor.
The 'Keith Burst' was next seen in late 2004 when it was offered up for auction by Christie's in New York. The guitar failed to meet reserve, possibly due to poor publicity and surrounding controversy. Rumor has it that a representative of Keith Richards laid claim to the guitar but this claim wasn't followed through, and Christie's let the guitar go to auction but the vintage guitar boom was still around the corner and original 1959 Les Pauls that are today $500,000 - $750,000 were then going for $150,000.
A private collector purchased the guitar in 2006 and it currently resides in Europe.
The guitar is showcased exclusively by Richard Henry Guitars.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Luther Dickinson and Friends

Enjoy
Good
Music!!!
These videos are from Luther Dickinson's files:

Doesn't matter what it means to me - What does this mean to you?

Otha Turner

Here is one from Luther:

Time to come out of that woodshed! LOL

What's that library of vinyl in the background?

Need my ashes hauled....

Stay home and practice or stay home!

Fun fun fun!