Guitar
Hello everybody. Once again I have let a significant period of time go by without posting anything new. I know how much this makes me crazy when I'm surfing around for something fresh to read, so sorry if you've come by the site only to bored or disappointed.
The fact is I've been too busy to write much of anything of late. After a fairly weak summer and a completely miserable autumn, the old gig calendar has finally started to fill up (predictably) just in time for Christmas. Also, the twice weekly writing sessions with Joe and Glynis Burke that I wrote about here are evolving into demo sessions, and since we are using my cheap and cheerful DAW, I'm doing a lot of late night overdubbing/preproduction sessions here at home. I'm getting really excited about the work we've been doing. Combining my energies with this couple has been pretty magical, with our respective strengths and weaknesses dovetailing into something bigger than the sum of it's parts. We're still casting about for a name for the project and everything's still pretty raw, but some good friends/quality players are interested in signing on and I think we'll have a formidable new band to play with into the new year.
My good buddy and longtime musical partner-in-crime Sandybone and I have also started to do some recording twice a week, sitting down in his living room with a Zoom H-2 handy recorder and some guitars to finally document some of our duo work. We have been playing in duos for over eight years now, so it's high time we recorded something, if only for our own edification. The two of us are a bit susceptible to the winter blues, and here in the rain forest it can get pretty gnarly with six months of rainy, overcast weather, so this is also a way for us to keep our heads above water and maintain some forward motion. We're still figuring out optimum mic placement for these stripped-down sessions, but we have some momentum and even the dodgiest "mixes" have a certain something to them; the house just sounds and feels good, so it's hard to not make good music there.
In other news, my friend Lyle of Boneshaker Pedals has undertaken two projects for me: he's rehousing a Danelectro Tunamelt Tremelo (despite its cheap plastic housing and knobs, it's a wonderful sounding trem) and building me a Fuzz Factory clone with NOS germanium transistors (sorry Zachary). Hopefully both will be done early in the new year. I had a chance to try out the bread-boarded Fuzz Factory and it was pretty awesome, giving up all the weirdo gating and oscillations the circuit is famous for as well as providing a surprisingly accurate Fuzz Face voice with most of the controls at their minimum range; it cleans up beautifully and adds a glassy top-end when you roll your guitar's volume back just like a Fuzz Face should. I can't wait to do the demo on this bad boy! It might get weird...
I've found a sweet 4x10 cabinet for my Garnet stencil head. My buddy, monster guitarist/Gretsch pitchman Paul Pigat, had a table at the Vancouver Guitar Show and was selling a Carvin open-backed 4x10 cabinet for quite a sweet deal. I'm to pick it up tomorrow and I'm stoked. I've been itching to get the Garnet rocking since I did a bass gig with it a couple of weeks ago through a rental 15" speaker cabinet; it sounded so much like an Ampeg Portaflex it was ridiculous. Easily the best bass tone I've ever had live, so I can only imagine how awesome it'll sound with some boosted guitar through a 4x10 cab! Christmas comes early for Daddy....
My friend Wendy Biscuit called me up this week and offered me some gigs. Wendy has an amazingly cool book of originals and classic blues, mostly from the pre and just-post-war blues tradition. I'm looking forward to cracking on the material, although it's a bit overwhelming; there are over fifty tunes to learn, most of which have little quirks that are necessary to know. Our first gig is a fairly low profile duo, so it'll be a great opportunity to get a feel for each other in a casual setting.
Last but not least, I recently landed a solo gig which could become a steady, weekly situation. It's always a tad daunting going into an unfamiliar room, but I was delighted to find a great group of regulars and a friendly, professional staff. I hadn't done my solo show in some time, so I was a little rusty, but the staff and audience loved the show and I was invited back for a gig just after Christmas and offered New Years Eve. Unfortunately, I'm not able to do the New Years date as I'm booked elsewhere, but I am looking forward to returning to the club.
Well there you have it folks: I'm looking forward to doing some more gearhead posts as I can (contingent on having gear to demo), and some more interviews with local industry folk (contingent on having time to write). Thanks for your continued support!
- Ephemera And Updates.
Howdy all. It's been awhile since I've posted and as usual this is for the best reason: I'm really busy making music, as opposed to just obsessing about it. Sandybone and me from a previous island journey. This last...
- Dunlop Jh-2 Jimi Hendrix Fuzz, Revisited.
Much maligned and misunderstood, the Dunlop JH-2 just needs a little patience and understanding.... The first gear review and video I ever put together was to do with the Dunlop JH-2 Jimi Hendrix fuzz, which you can read here. I pointed out...
- Solo (you Can't Hear It)
One is the loneliest number... I just landed a steady solo gig, the first in about two years since I had a serious falling out with the proprietor of the last joint (where I had cooked for eight years and performed for three-and-half). This...
- More Updates And Ephemera
The echo and trem remain elusive, whirlwind ineffectual, but the fuzz, ooh, the fuzz. Oh dear, my ears are ringing from too much time mixing demos under the headphones. It's really a terrible way to mix, but my boy is asleep in a room...
- Weekend Update
There's been a few interesting developments in the world of D this last week, the first being a corporate gig I was hired to do in a swanky hotel downtown. Basically we had to provide audio wallpaper for a gang of municipal employees...
Guitar
Ephemera and Updates
 |
| Garnet Stencil head. 4x10 open-back cabinet comes this week! Lookout Vancouver! |
The fact is I've been too busy to write much of anything of late. After a fairly weak summer and a completely miserable autumn, the old gig calendar has finally started to fill up (predictably) just in time for Christmas. Also, the twice weekly writing sessions with Joe and Glynis Burke that I wrote about here are evolving into demo sessions, and since we are using my cheap and cheerful DAW, I'm doing a lot of late night overdubbing/preproduction sessions here at home. I'm getting really excited about the work we've been doing. Combining my energies with this couple has been pretty magical, with our respective strengths and weaknesses dovetailing into something bigger than the sum of it's parts. We're still casting about for a name for the project and everything's still pretty raw, but some good friends/quality players are interested in signing on and I think we'll have a formidable new band to play with into the new year.
My good buddy and longtime musical partner-in-crime Sandybone and I have also started to do some recording twice a week, sitting down in his living room with a Zoom H-2 handy recorder and some guitars to finally document some of our duo work. We have been playing in duos for over eight years now, so it's high time we recorded something, if only for our own edification. The two of us are a bit susceptible to the winter blues, and here in the rain forest it can get pretty gnarly with six months of rainy, overcast weather, so this is also a way for us to keep our heads above water and maintain some forward motion. We're still figuring out optimum mic placement for these stripped-down sessions, but we have some momentum and even the dodgiest "mixes" have a certain something to them; the house just sounds and feels good, so it's hard to not make good music there.
In other news, my friend Lyle of Boneshaker Pedals has undertaken two projects for me: he's rehousing a Danelectro Tunamelt Tremelo (despite its cheap plastic housing and knobs, it's a wonderful sounding trem) and building me a Fuzz Factory clone with NOS germanium transistors (sorry Zachary). Hopefully both will be done early in the new year. I had a chance to try out the bread-boarded Fuzz Factory and it was pretty awesome, giving up all the weirdo gating and oscillations the circuit is famous for as well as providing a surprisingly accurate Fuzz Face voice with most of the controls at their minimum range; it cleans up beautifully and adds a glassy top-end when you roll your guitar's volume back just like a Fuzz Face should. I can't wait to do the demo on this bad boy! It might get weird...
 |
| Proudly Canadian! Those Marshall knobs have to go, though. Chicken heads? |
I've found a sweet 4x10 cabinet for my Garnet stencil head. My buddy, monster guitarist/Gretsch pitchman Paul Pigat, had a table at the Vancouver Guitar Show and was selling a Carvin open-backed 4x10 cabinet for quite a sweet deal. I'm to pick it up tomorrow and I'm stoked. I've been itching to get the Garnet rocking since I did a bass gig with it a couple of weeks ago through a rental 15" speaker cabinet; it sounded so much like an Ampeg Portaflex it was ridiculous. Easily the best bass tone I've ever had live, so I can only imagine how awesome it'll sound with some boosted guitar through a 4x10 cab! Christmas comes early for Daddy....
 |
| Garnet stencil head with rental bass cab. Instant Ampeg Portaflex! |
My friend Wendy Biscuit called me up this week and offered me some gigs. Wendy has an amazingly cool book of originals and classic blues, mostly from the pre and just-post-war blues tradition. I'm looking forward to cracking on the material, although it's a bit overwhelming; there are over fifty tunes to learn, most of which have little quirks that are necessary to know. Our first gig is a fairly low profile duo, so it'll be a great opportunity to get a feel for each other in a casual setting.
Last but not least, I recently landed a solo gig which could become a steady, weekly situation. It's always a tad daunting going into an unfamiliar room, but I was delighted to find a great group of regulars and a friendly, professional staff. I hadn't done my solo show in some time, so I was a little rusty, but the staff and audience loved the show and I was invited back for a gig just after Christmas and offered New Years Eve. Unfortunately, I'm not able to do the New Years date as I'm booked elsewhere, but I am looking forward to returning to the club.
Well there you have it folks: I'm looking forward to doing some more gearhead posts as I can (contingent on having gear to demo), and some more interviews with local industry folk (contingent on having time to write). Thanks for your continued support!
- Ephemera And Updates.
Howdy all. It's been awhile since I've posted and as usual this is for the best reason: I'm really busy making music, as opposed to just obsessing about it. Sandybone and me from a previous island journey. This last...
- Dunlop Jh-2 Jimi Hendrix Fuzz, Revisited.
Much maligned and misunderstood, the Dunlop JH-2 just needs a little patience and understanding.... The first gear review and video I ever put together was to do with the Dunlop JH-2 Jimi Hendrix fuzz, which you can read here. I pointed out...
- Solo (you Can't Hear It)
One is the loneliest number... I just landed a steady solo gig, the first in about two years since I had a serious falling out with the proprietor of the last joint (where I had cooked for eight years and performed for three-and-half). This...
- More Updates And Ephemera
The echo and trem remain elusive, whirlwind ineffectual, but the fuzz, ooh, the fuzz. Oh dear, my ears are ringing from too much time mixing demos under the headphones. It's really a terrible way to mix, but my boy is asleep in a room...
- Weekend Update
There's been a few interesting developments in the world of D this last week, the first being a corporate gig I was hired to do in a swanky hotel downtown. Basically we had to provide audio wallpaper for a gang of municipal employees...