Archive for the ‘guitar’ Category
Higher Ground
Jul.26.2010
A video clip from the wedding reception. Yours truly takes an extended guitar solo about 3 minutes in.
More pics on the wedding itself coming up over the next few days.
Practice Makes Perfect
Jul.16.2010
This is where I have been spending most of my spare time. Practicing for the big wedding reception. Full band rehearsal tomorrow. Should be fun.
Hard Work
Jun.24.2010
It was another hard day at the office. A photo from the company BBQ last week.
Classic Vibe Telecaster 50s
Jun.22.2010
What happens when you find an inexpensive guitar, made in China, which seems to perform at a pro level? Particularly if you know you are going to be playing dates where your high-end instruments may suffer?
I was looking for a cheap electric guitar that I could use as a sub for my primary instruments for some of the dates I am playing over the next few months. And someone suggested that I try the Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster ’50s.
There is a lot of buzz about this particular guitar. And I have to admit that I was really surprised with how well the instrument played. Especially when it was priced at around four hundred dollars. The folks at Twelfth Fret describe the guitar this way:
The new Classic Vibe Series from the Fender/Squier company has really got our staff excited. It is pretty tough to beat these guitars! Take the new Classic Vibe Tele … with its great med/low elliptical neck profile and highly polished medium jumbo frets … the translucent Vintage Blonde finish showing just a hint of grain from the solid pine body … the AlNiCo 3 single coil pickups … the brass saddles … this is an instrument worthy of a pro player, at an entry-level price point!
It came home with me last night. And the guitar does play. Frankly, I am still shocked. Similar reactions can be found here.
Rehearsal
Jun.21.2010
The wedding band rehearsal took place on Saturday. This was the first of three planned rehearsals. The next one is July 17th followed by the dress rehearsal on July 24th. The wedding reception is the evening of July 24th.
The rehearsal went really well. Our drummer came in from the GTA and he did a terrific job on the songs. We spent Friday evening going over several of the covers and all day Saturday working through the entire set. The success of the rehearsal really built up my excitement for the main event. I am looking forward to providing the musical contribution to my daughter’s wedding. And there is a great team of players to help make that happen.
I don’t think I have done this much playing in a long time. And Saturday was just way too much fun.
Chop Chop
Jun.18.2010
I sat in on a couple of songs at the company BBQ yesterday. Although I do a lot of playing, the context is quite different for this type of event.
These past few months have been remarkably busy and I am really under pressure for time. Things will ease up once we get through the wedding and I get through a couple of other projects but right now it is hard to stay on top of everything.
The band that played yesterday wanted me to sit in on all the songs. The commitment to rehearse and to work through 10 or 12 songs was just not possible. But I did not want to let the team down so we agreed that I would sit in on a couple of tunes.
I did not have time to practice and it was literally the night before that I spun the covers. No charts so I had to play the tunes from memory.
Showing up with no rehearsal and no run through is not me. I am one of those folks that likes rehearsal. And so I stressed out over this event. I know. I shouldn’t have put myself through the wringer but that is what happened.
It was a lot of fun. And I was so pleased to be asked and to be included. And I did enjoy the feedback. Particularly from the sound person. His conversation went along these lines.
“Hey man. You know, they told me that this senior VP would be playing on a couple of songs and I thought, whatever. But then you get up there and wow. You have, like, you have the chops! A guy with a passion for life insurance and guitar.”
Lauzon Music and the Customer Experience
May.31.2010
I had a failure on my pedalboard Friday evening and I needed to replace one pedal and I needed to get a run of George L cable. George L cable was nowhere to be found in Kingston and so I had to make a run up to Ottawa. Which, given all the activity on the go, was not what I had in mind for Saturday morning. But, as I was playing again on Sunday, I had little choice.
We left first thing Saturday morning and arrived at Lauzon Music in Ottawa before 11am. I ordered 15 feet of George L cable. That should last me for a little while as most of my pedalboard runs are measured in inches.
Lauzon is a terrific store and they stock some amazing instruments. Guitars from the Fender and Gibson custom shops. Collings. PRS. Taylor. They also stock most of the high-end boutique pedals and several of the better known boutique amp manufacturers. They are one of the very few stores in Canada to carry the Dr. Z line of amps.
As Lorraine and I started to leave the store, the owner, Ken Lauzon, engaged us in conversation. We spent roughly half an hour just talking about guitars. I told him about my Taylor acoustic and how I had noticed some changes in attack and dynamics when I had the action lowered.
He asked me who did the work. It was a guitar tech in Newmarket. The guitar tech had filed down the saddle on the bridge. Not the correct procedure.
Ken walked us through all of the features of the New Technology neck that Taylor has engineered. I have to admit that I knew nothing about this technology. The neck can be easily adjusted through a sophisticated method of shims.
Ken took us into the guitar service area and demonstrated how the New Technology neck is designed. He also introduced me to the guitar tech and reassured me that if I needed to bring the Taylor up for servicing from Kingston that they would attend to the work within a few hours.
He also showcased a number of limited edition guitars that he had brought in for customers. Some amazing instruments.
A wonderful discussion and a great example of customer service.
I left that shop with more knowledge. I left that shop feeling like I was an important customer. And I left that shop thinking that it was worth the drive from Kingston.
Is 20 Watts Loud Enough?
May.10.2010
The short answer is yes.
I have several amps in my collection: A 22-watt Fender DRRI, a 30-watt Mesa Boogie Lonestar Special, a 38-watt Dr. Z Maz Senior and a 20-watt Swart AST MkII. I have been doing a lot of gigging with the Dr. Z and I love the tone of this amp. However, it is L-O-U-D loud. And most of the time I am playing in rooms for 300 or so people. Too hard to control the Dr. Z in smaller rooms.
I recently purchased the Swart AST MkII Head and Cabinet. A beautiful sounding rig. But I was worried about whether it would have enough “push”. I took it out this past week-end and my worries proved groundless. A 20-watt amp is more than enough for gigging in smaller rooms. The Swart AST MkII Head has a master volume control which I do not use. This control can be bypassed. I was using the channel volume to set my level. I had it set to “2″. Lots of headroom for my application although I tend to play with a delay and light overdrive most of the time. I use the volume on the guitar to push the amp harder into distortion and the Swart responds effortlessly. If I needed more volume, I had a lot more available from this amp. I can definitely gig with a 20-watt rig. Which should not surprise me. I used to gig heavily with the Fender DRRI and I would often set the Mesa Boogie to the 15-watt configuration.
So much easier to control my stage volume with the Swart. I will fall back on the Dr. Z for larger venues. And the Dr. Z is an amazing amp for recording. I will always keep the Fender DRRI for sentimental reasons. The Lonestar, which served me well for about 7 years, will probably go up for sale.
Swart AST MkII
May.04.2010
The Swart AST MkII head and cab arrived today. The evening will not be productive.
I have collected pictures of some of the most stunning recording studios in the world and you can travel through the set by clicking 
