Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Slight chance of overload


Movin' house this week makes me happy I like low wattage amps and rocking out, quiet like. But just once I wouldn't mind wailing through this 8x10 wall of sound, Marty McFly-style.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Old is the new cool


Somehow my Frenzel/Leyland Tweed Princeton just doesn't eschew the cool anymore.

And yes, I'm aware of the irony of me touting "mythical vintage worship" immediately after railing against it. But to quote George Carlin: "My crap is stuff. Your stuff is crap." And this is an original 1959 Tweed Princeton.

And the hits just keep on coming


I'm continually impressed by Peter Kirn's book Real World Digital Audio.

He articulated guitar amp mic'ing in a couple pages with a couple diagrams better than an entire (albeit crappy) book on the subject. Even citing the necessity of two mic's on a Leslie rotary. All without mythical vintage worship that annoyed me so much.

In a brief review of Garageband he mentions the critically important note, only version 2 supports simultaneous multi-channel recording. Something that I'd previously failed to confirm after an hour with a music store clerk and a Mac.

The book continues to reveal gems, and I suspect I'll have spent more money before I'm done (although informedly), but this is too much: the man's own blog just linked a sweet sounding Mac plugin, for free.

Monday, March 20, 2006

WTF?


Raging uninformed debate over at MusicThing on what the hell The GO Team! guitarist Sam Dook has done to his Tele. What I do know is its an early Tele Plus (like Johnny Greenwood's of Radiohead not Stuart Braithwaite's of Mogwai), although I thought it a G&L ASAT at first due to the big lugs in the neck pickup. The second picture corrected that error, revealing the dual Lace sensor bridge pickups and Fender headstock.

And I thought he had one of these Analog Devices Hot Hand motion control sensors, but its just a bluish reflection on his knuckle.

So yeah, no idea.

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Fender Players Club


Part online neighborhood/part lesson database/part guitar god fan site/part store, this site has it all. And despite the name, its surprisingly not devoid of Gibson players and mentions of other guitars in gear sections.

The lessons are especially good. PDF's detailed with backstory and instruction rife with links to mp3 sound clips, not streamed sound. And musical notation, plus tabs, plus recommended finger. Of course its just a sampling intended to sell you their books, but there's a lot to work on here.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Questionable Content


Jeph Jacques has updated his recommended listening page. Superwolf to Wolf Parade, and everything in between.

Monday, March 13, 2006

Old-timey harmony thing with a guitar accom...

Taj Mahal
Thanks brother.

Friday, March 10, 2006

Sweet Mother of all Pedalboards


A photo pictorial of David Gilmour's custom built pedalboard, built by Pete Cornish in time for the 2006 tour.

I think my favorite bit is the "Accessories": a picture of 5 Hi-Watt heads. Because 5 Hi-Watt heads are accessories to a pedalboard.

(via Analog Industries)

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

That was the last cookie


An older Radio 3 podcast just turned me on to Toronto solo act mn-l. He loops his guitar with effected drum sequences reminiscent of Aphex Twin, at times jarring and envigorating, other times spacy and sedate.

Made me wish my Digitech Jamman had MIDI sync, so I could run an outboard drum machine or sequencer with it, like you could with the old Lexicon Jamman. I suspect mn-l's weapon of choice is Ableton Live, though.

Monday, March 06, 2006

BusinessWeek


No really. They had a focus on digital music. Obviously their target audience isn't musicians, but instead investors. But its an interesting take on the slew of technical developments of late.

Shown here, the Fretlight Strat. The fretboard lights up to show you fingering.

(via Garagespin)

Saturday, March 04, 2006

Syncronicity


One of the smartest guys I know once told me that syncronicity has more to do with your awakedness and awareness level, than the actual random events. Its about you associating seemingly unrelated events. Or maybe its just coincidence.

From Fiction played Zaphods Wednesday. A clone of this sweet looking OD pedal showed up at Songbird this week, of which notable punk legend and producer Steve Albini is a fan. Steve Albini is producing From Fiction's first full length album.

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Deja vu


She looks familiar don't she? I actually went a bit snaky when I thought my stolen guitars had resurfaced at Retrotown. I know the neck and pickups are different, but that'd be the obvious way to mask the serial numbers and hide your trail. And that a 2004 Gibson SG Faded with ebony fretboard showed up the same day didn't help matters.

I went so far as to research contact info for stolen property department of the local police, and memorized the SG's serial number for a subtle inspection. I was pretty nervous when I went in to check them out. All for naught though. Binding on the Tele was front only, the couple of nicks I'm sure I'd recognize weren't there, and of course the SG's serial number doesn't match.

[sigh] I think I'd make an awesome undercover cop ... for about five seconds until I get shot for blowing my cover.