Vintage Fender Bassman Cranked up to 10

For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of sitting down and cranking up a vintage Fender this video will be a treat. This is real rock and roll tone. I myself have a Bandmaster which sounds a little different but these old amps can do some serious growling. Check out the video, not only is the tone great, the playing is nice and tasty too. 

The only thing the video can’t capture is that punch in the chest feeling of all that air moving when this thing is searing like that.  Thanks to Tyler Grund for posting this on his YouTube channel. There are many more great videos there too so check them out.

http://www.youtube.com/user/gamedojo

 

Cry Baby The Pedal That Rocks the World premier

Crybaby The Pedal That Rocks The World is now available online in 4 parts. This documentary dives full steam ahead into the pedal that screams rock and roll.

Featuring all the usual suspects known for their use and abuse of the Wah pedal. From Kirk Hammet to Zakk Wylde to Buddy Guy, there is no shortage of commentary from those who know this pedal best. 

You can check out each of the four segments online. The entire movie will be available on March 11th

Check it out here

Six String Bliss switching it up

Six String Bliss, The longest running guitar podcast has released another listener  generated album.  The new album, Trans Genred takes genre bending to the limits. The premise is simple, record a song that is not in the same Genre as the original. 

With 18 tracks from around the world the Bliss Army stepped it up a notch on this one.   Download the full album with cover art at Sixstringbliss.com

The Shovel Guitar

I’ve seen guitars made out of some strange things before but this is a first for me. An inventive axe slinger decided he could make a guitar out of a shovel. This shovel axe is actually playable too. It’s not just a a shovel with some strings on it.This inventive guitar is complete with a cool Seymour Duncan pickup and fully wired. 

 

Check out the complete build here

 

 

10 things you should never do onstage

  Never stop the song.The audience will forgive you if you got a little off track but keep going.  Once you find your way back everyone will be into the song and they will forget all about the glitch.

Never drink to the point of passing out.This should go without saying.  Having a drink or two to loosen up is OK but getting hammered during a gig is just unacceptable.

Never let the audience know you made a mistake. If by chance you hit a bad note or miss a phrase just keep moving. Smile, do a big rock and roll pick slide and pretend like you are  having the time of your life.  Only the die hard music fans will notice the mistake but the rest of the crowd is having too much fun so just let it go.

Never fall off the stage Sometimes it happens but nothing brings a gig to a halt like a member of the band disappearing into the crowd in front.  If you do fall of the stage, try to keep going with the song and just get back up there. (even if you’ve lost a limb)

Never insult the soundman (on mic) We all have to deal with soundmen.  They can be a life saver or they can make you sound like dog crap in a can.  If something isn’t quite right, respectfully talk to the soundman off mic. You should never announce through the PA that mix sound like crap.

Never argue with a drunk in the audience. There are always a few of those loud mouth drunks who will make their opinions of your band known.  Just smile and keep playing.  There is no point in arguing with someone who isn’t going to even remember you in the morning.

Never smile at the drunk chick dancing in front (she might get the wrong idea) Sure it’s tempting to flash a little smile at the drunk girl dancing down front. Unfortunately she may think that means you and her have a connection.  There is nothing worse than a sloppy drunk chick trying to get in your face while your trying to tear down and go home. 

Never smile at the drunk dude dancing in front of you( he will definitely get the wrong idea) The same as above applies.  You really don’t want the drunk guy dancing getting the wrong idea.

Never set your drink on top of your amp.  It only takes a second for you drink to spill down the back of your amp and cut your gig short.  Better yet, drink bottled water during the set and have your beer or jack and coke during your break.

Never take yourself to seriously. Music is about having fun.  Even if it is your job is to play music you need to entertain.  You should look like your having fun which in turn helps the audience to have fun. In the end, it’s just a gig, your not performing brain surgery .

Guitar Odds and Ends, again more Odds than ends.

First we have an interesting take on male pattern baldness. Apparently Prince (I think he goes by that again) believes that playing his guitar has kept him from going bald. You be the judge.

Guitar Crime is on the rise.  Here we have another story of someone being assaulted with a guitar.  I realize that we call it an axe but c’mon, it’s not really a weapon.

 Air guitar tribute wins Bon Jovi contest.  An energetic 13 year old Air Guitarist dubbed “lil Jovi” won a contest for the best fan submitted video.  The video now plays on a big screen behind the real Bon Jovi during their live performance of Livin on a prayer.

Guitars are made out of all sorts of materials these days. This article highlights a man who makes guitars out of old license plates. Definitely different.

Play some geometric guitar lately?  Huh? That’s what I said too. Guitar Math is not my strong suit but if your interested check out the article here.

Guitar Blog Roundup July 3rd

Happy 4th of July Weekend everyone. Here is this week’s roundup of my favorite posts from the guitar interwebz. 

Guitarren has some cool sketches of potential guitar designs. He’s done a few of these posts and each one has some really cool ideals.

Boutique Guitar Resource has a great post about a new guitar from builder Nado Bailo.  The Whale guitar is one awesome looking axe.

Guitar Noise has some great tips on playing live. If your goal is to perform guitar in front of people then this is a good place to read up on some of the necessary things to do to be successful

Guitar International has a review of the new documentary about famous rock photographer Robert Knight. He’s photographed all the big names for the past 40 years.

Guitar World has some behind the scenes video from their 2011 buyers guide shoot. 

Play a little guitar has some guitar nightmares for you to ponder. I think I may have lived through a few of these. 

Guitar Odds and ends: More Odds than ends

There is always a lot of strange happenings in the world of guitar. Being odd is almost a requirement to play guitar.  Here are a few stories about guitar that I found strange.

Pink’s guitar adding color to  detective auction.  Ok, I didn't’ know Pink played guitar. Hell yes she can sing but I don't think she’s the go to for a guitar to auction off. Secondly, it’s Ausie detective agency.  Not exactly what you’d expect from a rebellious American singer.

A country fan thought the artist was just giving it away.  When a over zealous guitar player handed his guitar out to the audience to strum on, one patron thought she was given the guitar as a gift.  Apparently this was not the case as the artist immediately turned to Twitter to try and find the absconded axe.

In the “Roommates are always a pain” category we have a man who was beaten by his roommate with a guitar.  What was the offence?  He chowed down on their food. 

Keith Richards, guitarist for the legendary Rolling Stones seems to take more of a liking to his six stringed friends than his real friends.  Reportedly  Richards kept his guitars on nice couches while making people sit wherever they could find a spot while in his home in France.

Another “Who Knew” story. Sandra Bullock, star of such hits as Speed, and Love Potion number 9 played guitar at a flood relief fundraiser.  What was the tune?  Smoke on the water of course.

guitar blog round up June 26th

Welcome to the weekend.  It’s been a buys week in the guitar world and here are some of my favorite posts from the many great guitar blogs out there.

What’s that dude play has a great video of  anew Vibe pedal by WIlson Pedals. I love the swirly pedals and this one sound great .

300 guitars has a cool post about a Valco amplifier site they found. If you dig old funky amps check it out.

I Heart Guitar has some video of the big 4 playing am I evil together. If you don't know who the big 4 are, you better check this out. 

Mark Wein has a great lesson on hammer on and pull off technique.

My Fender Champ has a cool post documenting the baffle board on a vintage champ.

Guitar Blogstar has an article about micing an amp. This is always a topic worth looking at again.

Forte Speaker Cabinets

We all want big sound out of small packages.  The typical gigging musician does not have room for stacks of amps. What if you could get some real big dispersed sound out of a small cab.  You can.

Forte Musical Instruments is making some cool cabs.  These thing are closed back but side vented to get some of that sound that’s bouncing around inside the cab out to the stage.

The inside of the cabs has angled reflectors to direct the sound out the sides.  According to Forte this provides a big sound with focused mid range and tight bass.  The construction is 5/8 “ 13 ply baltic birch with locking miter joints.

They offer 1x12, 2x12,and a vertical 2x12. They have lots of tolex  options and the prices are pretty reasonable.  With the 3D112 starting at $399 this big sounding cab won’t break the bank.

Check out Forte Musical

Set it up, tear it down

In the world of rock and roll there are some great stage crews out there. These guys put up the stage, the lights, the rigs, and the sound for the big boys. These top notch roadies know what to do and get it done right. Unfortunately for the rest of us, we are the roadies.  We have to set up and tear down our own gear. If you working a multi band stage you may have to do it in mere minutes.
Here are a few of the things that I have found to work well when setting up and tearing down at your gig.

The Set up
First, stage the stage.  What that means is, don’t drop your guitar over by the bass player and put your pedal board by the drums while you get your amp.  Put things in their logical place on the stage as you unload them. This will make things flow much better.

Work from back to front.  Get your amp plugged in. Get the footswitch to your amp plugged in. Get anything of yours in the back line plugged in.  You can then run power and cables to the front of the stage to get your pedals up and running.  Now you have a completely wired rig. But wait, don’t open that guitar case yet.
 
If you sing, get your mic stand up and your mic plugged in.  If you’re working on the house PA the  sound guy probably wants to get everyone leveled up as soon as possible.  Give your mic a quick check and your good to go. 

Now you can pull out your guitar.  The worst thing to have happen is to have your guitar sitting on a stand on a busy stage with people moving about. It’s just asking to get knocked off.  Now that your sure everyone is relatively set up you can plug in, tune up and make sure you have your sound. 


The Tear Down
I know, you just played the set of your life. You are hyped and you want to get to the schmoozing the crowd and having a drink.  You still have to tear down your gear though.  First, put that guitar in it’s case. Remember we don’t want it sitting on the stand just waiting to get knocked down. 

I like to go from back to front again. Turn off your amp, unplug anything in the back line and start coiling up your cable runs to the front of the stage.  Now you can pack your pedal board and grab your mic.  The sound guy will have them turned off if you using the house PA. If your using your own PA, make sure the PA is off so there are no pops when you disconnect the mic. 

Make sure you un-stage the stage.  Get your gear off as soon as you can.  Stack it neatly near the door you will be unloading out of so it will not be in the way of the next band. If there is no next band you may be able to leave it for a while.

These are my tips for what works for me. If you have any great tips for the load in or load out at a gig, leave a comment.

Guitar Blog Roundup June 19th

Welcome to the weekend everyone.  It’s been a long week and there was a ton of great stuff in the guitar blog world.  Here are my favorites.

The Fifth Fret has a post about the etiquette of browsing in a guitar shop. It’s about time someone laid down the law with the do’s and don’ts of guitar shopping.

Trufire.com has some cool classic rockabilly licks.  These are always fun to have in your arsenal of fretwork. 

Not playing guitar has some info on portable guitar recorders. These little digital recorders are a valuable tool for recording your practices or lessons.

Fretterverse has a list of classic must have metal guitar CD’s.  I own several of these so I am totally behind this list.

Effectsbay has some cool video of Zakk Wylde’s rig.  I love it when you can get a run down of the big boys toys.

 Playgtr.net has a cool post about a shirt that plays like a guitar. I’m not sure what this is all about or what the application is but hey, it’s guitar geek stuff.

Smashed, Bashed, and Trashed

Rock and Roll is always a bit dangerous. The energy can get out of control and cause some colatteral damage. That damage usually ends up on our instruments. Over time, some of these instruments may become almost unrecognizable as the original guitar they started out as.  I wanted to highlight these battle worn instruments.

I am calling out to the readers of rockguitarlife.com to send me a phono and the story of your smashed, bashed, or trashed guitar.  I will post the picture and the story on the site and even link to your MySpace or Face book page if you like. Just email me at the address on the Contact tab.

Today I am starting with my own personal instrument. This guitar started life as an off the shelf import Charvel model 275.  When I acquired it 20 years ago I changed out the pick ups to EMG”s and that was about it.  This was my main guitar for 5 or 6 years. It was played relentlessly.  I can’t count how many times it was dropped, thrown, and in the last fit of rage resulting in the third replacement neck, I even jumped straight up into the air landing on it with all my force.   

The fist neck was a casualty of my stupidity.  I left the guitar in my car in July.  When I got to rehearsal that night after work I noticed that the fret board started warping and separating at the first fret.  The second neck was a result of it being thrown across the room.  The third and final neck was actually a performance guitar neck that my friend had for years. I tried to get him to sell it to me for various  reasons and when I pleaded my case the last time he finally caved.

 

You would think I hated this guitar but it is quite the opposite. This is a great guitar which I love playing.  Like I said, rock and roll has collateral damage and it just happened to have landed on my guitar. The guitar has paint missing, cracks in the body,stripped out screw holes and a few war stories to tell.

Guitar Blog Roundup June 12th

Its the weekend and it’s time for a roundup of my favorite stories and posts from the guitar blog world.

Have a great weekend.

Mark Wein has a great post on fake pedal steel licks.  This is a great technique to have in your bag of tricks.

Guitarless has some info on how truss rods work. This is helpful for understanding what needs to be done to make an adjustment.

I heart guitar has a cool video about hacking a fuzz pedal. Nothing is more hackable than a good old fashioned fuzz pedal.

Guitar Collecting has some info on insuring your  guitar collection. We spend a lot of money on our gear so lets make sure we protect it.

Boutique guitar resource has a some great photos of a custom Frank Hartung guitar. This is a great looking axe.

Rock out on your cruise

Whoa buddy, when I heard about this I was thinking I might have  a good opportunity here.  Rockguitarlife.com is the URL but we all know this site called “Rock and Roll does not take a vacation!!”.  I get it, you get it, and so does Norwegian Cruise Lines. 

The cruise line will be offering Guitar, POD, and Amp rentals on their cruises.  Even while on vacation, you can rock out.  That is really what Rock and Roll does not take a vacation is all about. The "Check-In-Rock-Out" program will be available on their new ship Epic.  The POD’s will be pre programmed for various styles of music so you can dial up your sound and get to the noise making.

Man if you thought being stuck in a Hotel with a wile rock band across the hall was bad imagine being out in the middle of the ocean with the guy next door wailing away on “Stairway to Heaven” or “Smell like teen spirit”.  Actually the rental comes with headphones which you are most likely required to use so you don’t disturb the couple next door.  The rental is only $10 a day. A small price to pay to keep up your chops at sea.

Norwegian Cruise Line official site.

Guitar Blog Roundup June 5th

Welcome to the weekend.  Here are my favorite posts from the guitar blog world this week.  Have a great weekend.

Guitarnoise has a great article breaking down scales and modes.  This kind of thing is really helpful in visualizing the fretboard.

Not playing guitar has tips to help reduce distractions while practicing. 

I Heat Guitar has an article on home recording for the frugal guitarist.  Who isn’t a frugal guitarist these days right?

300 guitars has a post about Mercury Magnetics and their service for Nashville flood victims.

Effectsbay is rethinking guitar philosophy and pedal boards.  I know this is something we all go through. Check out the insights in this post.

Fretterverse has some tips to avoid guitar neglect.  Some of these are common sense but it’s always good to take a look at this stuff again.

Let the music happen

There are many approaches to recording.  Some are very methodical and some are more serendipitous.  Obviously if you are recording on someone else's dime the more methodical approach should probably be followed.  There is something to be said for letting your fingers pick the path however.

With many of the rhythm tracks already laid down the structure of the song is already set.  When it comes to the lead lines and fills though, sometimes it’s nice to just do track after track of takes and see what happens.  You may find yourself cringing at some takes while others may inspire you even more.  The pure energy and emotion in a take can forgive any technical shortcoming.  That’s not to say that sloppy playing is always acceptable but sometimes the feel of the take is so good it doesn’t matter that the bend is a little short or the last note of a run is just a hair off.

With the almost limitless tracks available in recording software any musician given the time can afford to do multiple takes. The ability to edit is also a great asset.  You can put together the best parts keeping all of the feeling of the takes without having to redo the whole track because of one bad note.

Sure  perfectionists out there will say that this is just an excuse not to get things right but that is not the case.  Musicians should be aware of the technical and the emotional and hopefully have the ability to combine the two.  Some great albums through the years became great albums because the artists had the time to let the emotion flow and let the music happen.

Dweezil Zappa Playing Eruption

There are probably thousands of Youtube videos of people attempting Van Halen’s Eruption.  Some are better that others.  Some are downright horrible.  Some are pretty damn close.  This video is the most convincing version of Eruption I have ever seen.  None other the Dweezil Zappa wielding a custom EVH guitar and having his hand at the classic Van Halen solo.

Dweezil tells a story of Eddie coming to his house to meet Frank Zappa.  It’s an interesting story but if you don’t feel like waiting just fast forward to about 3:30.

Guitar Blog Roundup May 22, 2010

Let’s kick off the weekend with some of the great posts from the guitar blogosphere.

First, Musicosphere has a post on some of the coolest guitars I’ve seen in a while.

Truth in shredding has a post about making the right contacts. We all know it’s not what you know but who you know. 

Pointny Guitar has some nostalgia on hand with some flexi discs from the 80’s.

Gorehound Roots guitar tips has a great article which begs the question, do you own your gear or does your gear own you?

The Punch In has an excellent article on the history and evolution of the electric guitar.

Finally, Rock House method has some great practice tips for us.  Check them out.

Welcome to Avenged Sevenfold's Nightmare

Avenged Sevenfold have annonced the release of their new album “Nightmare”.  The album will be available July 17th.  The title track is alaready available on iTunes and there is a lyric video on the A7X site.  The new song sounds like Avenged Sevenfold in full swing.  Plenty of riffs, the classic overlaping and multi tracked vocals of M. Shadows, and lots of attitude. 
With their tour to start the week after the album is release the A7X guys will have a busy summer ahead of them.  The tour is scheduled to go through the fall.
Avenged Sevenfold Official Site