Archive for the ‘guitar’ Category
Swart Amplifiers
Mar.01.2010
I was trading a few stories about tracking guitars in the studio with George Seara when I was working on a project with him a few months back. He had mentioned to me that some of the producers he is working with are totally sold on the Atomic Space Tone amps. Manufactured by Swart Amplifiers, the amps are intended for studio or bedroom use. Although a new model, the AST PRO, is designed for the gigging musician.
A very novel approach to design, the amps have a decidedly vintage look. The only dealer in Canada near me is Boutique Tone in Montreal. Perhaps I will take a drive down over the next few months and check out one of these amps.
Planning a Christmas Concert
Dec.01.2009
On Sunday, December 13th, I will be part of a Christmas concert event here in Kingston. I will be on guitar and my son will be with me on bass. We also have a great team of vocalists and players assembled for the event.
I remember the days when I used to be just a player. I would often play at Christmas events where I would receive the charts in advance, show up to rehearsals and then play. For this particular concert, I elected to play the role of “producer”. And that meant a lot of work. At a very busy time of year.
My personal work plan included the following tasks:
Permissions and Schedule
- Obtain approval and location for event
- Set concert date
- Set rehearsal locations and dates
Recruit Personnel
- Lead vocalist
- Lead guitar
- Bass
- Acoustic guitar
- Drums
- Background vocalists
- Program director
- Audio engineer
- Multimedia
Presentation
- Select songs
- Prepare arrangements
- Prepare charts
- Prepare multimedia
- Lead rehearsals
Technical
- Contract sound system
- Contract lighting system
- Contract audio/visual recording
Promotion
- Prepare posters, flyers
- Media notification
- Call lists
Logistics
- Hall booked
- Hall dressed
- Dress rehearsal
- Refreshments
- Child care
- Ushers
With the event just under two weeks away, I have one additional task remaining: rehearse my guitar parts. Although my wife might add: “have some fun!”
New Pedals
Nov.23.2009
I have had a Line 6 DL4 delay modeler on the pedal board since 2000. Almost 10 years. A great sounding delay pedal. Over the past few months, it started to do some very unusual things to the sound of the modulated delays. A bit like a screeching, warbled feedback loop and not very pleasing to the ear.
The pedal had served me well but it was clearly time for a replacement. As fate would have it my Dunlop Cry Baby also went south. I have several gigs coming up and a delay pedal is pretty core to my overall sound. A wah pedal is nice but not essential for me. However, since getting to a decent guitar shop is about a two-hour drive, I decided to replace both at the same time.
Lorraine and I headed out to Ottawa on Saturday afternoon. I picked up a Fulltone Clyde from Lauzon Music and a TC Electronic Nova Delay from Steve’s Music. We phoned ahead to make sure they had the devices in stock. And, unlike some of the bigger guitar shops in Toronto, where stocking and restocking product is not a familiar practice, there were no issues in securing the products in the Ottawa stores.
I rewired the whole pedal board and brought up the new pedals over the week-end. Great sounding pedals. Very pleased with the choices.
Gibson Guitar Factory Raid
Nov.17.2009
Always something isn’t there?
Federal agents with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service raided Gibson’s guitar factory on Massman Drive Tuesday afternoon.
Gibson Guitar said in a press release Tuesday it is “fully cooperating with agents with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in connection with an issue involving harvested wood.”
There are accusations the company has been illegally harvesting a type of wood from Madagascar, sending it to Germany and then importing it to the United States.
Channel 4’s sources said the investigation centers around whether Gibson used illegally harvested endangered species of rosewood and ebony wood.
According to the Nashville Post, agents carted away boxes of wood, guitars, computers and boxes of files Tuesday from the company’s factory.
Gibson said Tuesday that it is a “chain of custody certified buyer who purchases wood from legal suppliers who are to follow all standards.”
The company said it will continue to cooperate fully and assist the federal government in the investigation.
Via.
Brian Eastwood Guitars
Oct.12.2009
The private collection of Brian Eastwood was featured in the October 2009 issue of Guitar Magazine. Brian Eastwood is a guitar builder in the United Kingdom. You can find a gallery of some of his guitars here.
And the Bender Distortocaster is one of his creations. Very unique designs.
Equipment Failure
Sep.28.2009
I had not one but two pedals fail on my guitar rig over the week-end. A Dunlop Cry Baby wah pedal and my beloved Line 6 DL4 delay pedal. The wah pedal’s switch has broken which in itself is not unusual. The switch to engage the wah is not particularly robust. The DL4 is a different story. The pedal has been with me a very long time and the symptoms suggest either a circuit board failure or a chip failure.
Kevin Eubanks Guitar Rig
Sep.22.2009
Just in case you ever wondered about Kevin Eubanks’ guitar rig. From left to right:
Electro-Harmonix Hot Tubes, Ernie Ball Volume Pedal, Dunlop Wah, Electro-Harmonix Octave Multiplexer, Boss Chorus CE-5, Rat Distortion Pedal, and a Boss Tremolo through a Mesa Boogie Blue Angel combo amp.
He also uses a THD Hot Plate to attenuate the volume of his amp.
Capo
Aug.17.2009
I came across this really cool app called Capo. Capo allows you to slow down a song. Drag a music file from your drive into the Capo app and Capo will control the playback speed at the original pitch. Markers and loops all help to make learning a complex guitar solo so much easier. Mac only.
The New Rig
Jul.26.2009
Some followers of the blog were asking about when I would post a glamor shot of my new guitar rig — the Dr. Z Maz Senior 38 and the Tom Anderson Guitarworks Droptop. I had some time this week-end to get the rig polished and ready for the camera. Here is one of the shots I took today.
Awesome rig.
I have collected pictures of some of the most stunning recording studios in the world and you can travel through the set by clicking 
