Music Appreciation Friday (er, um, Saturday) 9.11.09

The money is DEFINITELY at 1:10.

The more things change...

... the more they stay the same.

So for the past couple of weeks I've been reading through old Guitar mags at bedtime. Puts me right to sleep. Anyway, the period of these periodicals was between 1992 - 1997. Really not that long ago if you think about it.

Guitar For The Pratcing Musician (GFTPM) was still in publication. The "Seattle" sound was everywhere (remember when the Grunge pedal was introduced?) And about the only digital stompboxes were either delays, or the products Zoom made. Rackmount digital effects were still somewhat popular, but new floor mounted products had much more steam a la Digitech RP-1, RP6. DIY was non-existent (or more properly, underground.)

I kept catching myself glancing at ads to see their website address. Not there. You were lucky if there was a phone or (ugh) fax number. Usually just a mailing address. Countless bands and products are now non-existent. Billy Sheehan had ads in GUITAR mags all over the place. My latest issue of Guitar World with the Van Halen Von Trapp's on the cover has a full page ad for better sex secrets and Honda Elements all over. Give me back Billy Sheehan! Please!

What struck me the most (other than the lack of web addresses) was that the ones that were "classics" then are still today, but not in a relic sort of way. I'm talking about the staying power of good products: GOOD stompboxes that were made then, while undergoing a revision or two, are still available today and are just as flexible as ever. A good tube driven amp that was almost shunned by ads then is still a much better product today, and finally no one debates it anymore (validly, at least.)

So I'll leave you with this: The ad that caught my attention most was the Line6 AxSys 2x12 amp. All Digital. All crap. None of us miss it, but they almost had a lot of us convinced for a moment that this was the way we were destined to go. Nowadays Line6 teamed up with Bogner, and if you've heard that piece of crap amp at your local Guitar Center, you will rest soundly knowing it was just as bad 15 years ago as it is today. Poor Reinhold...

Keep building these great effects here! DIY is where it will always be at for the best in guitar sound. Keep the faith my brothers (and sister)

***This post is a re-post I wrote March 18 2008 on diystompboxes.com's forum. I really like it when I go back and read something I stated, and don't feel like I need to change a word of it.

Music Appreciation Friday 8.5.09

Okay, I'm a day late, but I have an excuse. I was traveling. I'm on vacation. Sue me! Have a great Labor Day weekend, wherever in the world you are!

I sure like me some Mike King!

...And the one that I had to get back!

Laugh all you want. The Zoom 508 Delay was/is a KILLER delay pedal. Is it the best delay pedal ever? Nah, but it goes far above the "honorable mention" category. I think I bought this little guy about 1996. I could be off there, but I know I was dating my wife when I got this pedal. That's not important. What IS important is that you know what kind of feature-rich pedal this is. (Note: I'm using a pedal made in the 90's, so I have to say 90's buzz words like "feature-rich".)




So's I hads this guy forevers, then I started accumulating other delay pedals and it just got silly. I think I had 4 or 5 when I saw Christmas coming one year and said, "Yeah, this one's destined for ebay." So I sold it. I think I listed it for $48.00 and didn't even expect a nibble. It was gone in 2 minutes flat! Oh well, more money for the Christmas fund.

Anyhow, soon I started missing this thing. It weighed, I dunno, like 9 ounces? And surely since it was an "entry level" Zoom pedal it couldn't have been that good right? And it would "hiccup" once in a while and I'd have to take it apart and reset the SIMMs. And it did have just that limited silly red LCD display. Yeah, I wouldn't miss that thing...

OH MAN was I mad at myself. I told myself I would have it back someday. Here's what I missed so much about it:

-One of the BEST tuners I've ever used.
-Excellent external tap tempo. (Via FS-5U or my homemade one)
-Fantastic sound-on-sound delays, which were wonderful for layering droning chords.
-Bankable patches. (Yes, even I need those sometimes.)
-Excellent buffers/no tone coloration.
-Lots of hidden features like master volume, sample/hold (4 seconds!!!,) reverb-like delay, tone rolloff,

In fact to this day, I still haven't seen a pedal do what it does in that price range ($99 new) with a footprint that small with a built in tuner. About the only thing it lacks is modulation & reverse. And since I never cared much for either of the two, it did a great "analog emulation" by taking the tone control way down.

And for "punching buttons" to program it, it was surprisingly simple and all of the buttons hold up well.

I've had 3 of these now. I just sold another, again needing some cash. I didn't need two really. I don't think I'll ever get rid of this one though. It's on my pedalboard now and will probably stay there for some time. I've had the DD-3, DD-20, DL4 & others, but I keep coming back to this one for it's simplicity & small footprint. A real gem. If you can grab one, GET IT! They're a collectors item in the UK. Enjoy! :)

http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1622&brandID=4

Music Appreciation Friday 8.28.09

Each Memorial Day weekend in Kansas City, there's an incredible free event on the front doors of Union Station that is a patriotic tribute to our great country called Celebration At the Station. It's great in and of itself, but in 2009 we had the added benefit of a killer bluegrass band playing with our great Kansas City Symphony.

At heart, I'm still very much a purist when it comes to acoustic music. I don't care much for an acoustic instrument that sounds like anything but an acoustic instrument. I want to hear WOOD, not chorus.

The guys below show how well an acoustic band can stand on it own bluegrass feet. CherryHolmes is a knockout family. I'll let the video speak for itself. Promise yourself to at least let things kick in @ 3:37. ;) These guys are TIGHT!

Edit: Revised for grammatical errors & generally non-sensical paragraph phrasing on 8.30.09

Summoning the guitar gods.

Behold it has already begun!

The one that got away?

Ok I can't believe I'm writing this, but every so often I get a longing for my first REAL gear purchase. Well... it was real to me.

At the time, the Digitech RP-1 boasted what no other unit had: Full programability on the floor with bankable patching & useful effects. Other Digitech units and companies like ART (and who can leave out Eventide!) had amazing units available, but they were rackmounted and you had to drive your unit with a foot controller that was wired. And hopefully it was wired with MIDI and not some proprietary cable, because back then they only gave you about a 10' cable typically.



Sure it had it's drawbacks from the beginning, but it was still ahead of it's time, and in my opinion is still the best of all the RP series. What are they up to now, like the 500 or something stupid like that?

Now usually, I don't ever utter the word "Digitech" unless it's in the same sentence as "dynamite" or "premature death." But this is an honorable mention. Let the record show, I am no fan of their products.

The pros were that it was VERY rugged, with some of the best footswitches I've ever used. Usually Digitech/DOD blows it here, but for once they got it right. Also it had some of the most amazing reverbs I've ever heard to this day. Yeah, they were digital, but come on it was like '94 when I got this thing. Distortions & ODs were awful, but luckily the box worked very well in my amps effects loop. It had In & Out level controls mounted on the top panel. It could be used as a MIDI controller. It required a NORMAL POWER PLUG! <---That was a big deal at the time.

The cons were that the switching wasn't seamless (again, it was 1994) and you could forget something like unity gain when kicking the distortion on and off. You had to switch between preset patches of your liking if you wanted a "Clean sound/Dirty sound." Oh and it got hot. Very, very hot. :)

The delays were great, and all the 80's/90's hair metal crap was great too: flanging, modulations, digital reverbs, and a very cool reverse function.

The nostalgic part of me wants one again. Dunno why. Might be great for acoustic gigs (seriously!) But part of it was that I paid $425 for it way back then. I guess the units nowadays have more to offer, but the DSP engines they slap in those 6 ounce units just don't deliver. Oh well, maybe someday I'll pick one up. It was fun to walk down memory lane with it a little...

Music Appreciation Friday 8.21.2009

Installment two!

Well I would be doing you a disservice if I didn't at least mention I'm forming a new project with the lead singer in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuiEWVvETss WARNING! Dudes in drag and STYX-LYKE keyboards!

OK, onto the good stuff. One of my favorite all time guitarists! Man can he write a tune...

Frailty, thy name is Ebay

To steal from Hamlet, I know no better way to sum up the feelings I have for Evilbay, err, Ebay.

I received a lovely letter from them this morning stating their fees would be going up AGAIN.

I can see it: "Hey we can't make a profit cause, uhh, what we do doesn't require any intelligence. The sellers do all the work. We just provide 90's powered templates. What do we do? Should we raise fees again and try to nail our own coffins shut? Seems to be hosing up the Post Office pretty well so we should follow the same business model!"

Are you ready for what happens Sept 22 2009? Drumroll please: Twelve percent of the first $50, and six percent thereafter. "Yes, a mere 12% is all we humble ebay stock owners ask. Oh and the 2.5 ~ 3.0 percent our tiny little PayPal company asks as well. Yes we know you can't be trusted with your own money to send via Money Order, Check or eCheck, so we must be all governing and ominpotent. Oh don't forget that convenient listing fee too. Oh and the Buy It Now fee. Oh and..."

I love this one: "Fixed price listings and the Buy it Now feature have a minimum price of $1.00."
Yet right below it:
"Buy It Now Price Fee:
$1.00 - $9.99* $0.05
$10.00 - $24.99 $0.10
$25.00 - $49.99 $0.20
$50.00 or more $0.25"
"So y'all gots that right? It's only 25 cents, but it's a dollar. Yuh follow me?"

Nevermind that they probably already make SICK money on their own advertising, but these guys are greedy, money hungry parasites.

Look, I currently work for a bank. A bank is a money services business among other things. There is nothing illegal or wrong with using a Money Order or Cashiers Check for purchasing items online. PayPal says money laundering this and terrorist financing that, but we know it's all just to funnel more income into their pockets.

Anyway, looks like I REALLY need to get that website going. I can't keep hiking prices on poor folks who have to pay my fees.

Pride comes before what, class? Yes, that's correct!

How did it get to this point?

The Tube Screamer has gotten to the point of boutique pandemonium that now even Ibanez is making a boutique version of its own TS808.



The TS808HW boasts hand wiring and "select" 4558D chips. We all know by now the ridiculous hype around, well, just about any Tube Screamer really, but I just don't get it. I honestly think people come up with this stuff because they know folks at TheGearPage have just GOTTA HAVE IT and it's free publicity. The big difference I do see inside is that it is built onto a turret board instead of PCB. It's probably bufferless too *yawn*.

Anyway, Tube Screamers are cool circuits, but I don't think they are the reinvention of the wheel. How did it get to this point? Where everyone has to have some sort of Tube Screamer variant? Don't get me wrong, I've got a modded TS5 and I built a Lovepedal Eternity clone. But... look folks, there's more than one pedal design out there, and I believe there's far more to be discovered. Take Brian Wampler or Frantone for example. They're still going analog and working up new tones.

I know it seems like it's getting to the hair splitting stage of distortions now, but everyone pretty much abandoned Fuzzes too until Jack White came along and made them explode back onto the scene. Now they're everywhere again and sounding cooler all the time.

Anyway, I think the Tube Screamer wave has finally crested with this product, and it will come crashing ashore soon.

I wonder what the next big thing will be in overdrives/distortions. Hmmm....

Music Appreciation Friday!

Installment one.

I've seen Tommy before at the Walnut Valley festival in Winfield, KS. What a weekend. Nothing but acoustic barn-burning the whole time. I hope I can go this year but I doubt that will happen.

I like this clip because Phil, Tommy's brother, doesn't get the same kind of recognition worldwide. I love listening to Tommy, but having a brother in the mix is so much more fun.

The money is between 1:41 - 1:48

It still seems to soon

I know it's in poor taste to do 2 posts in one day, but if I didn't at least mention this I would be a fool.

Les Paul, we will miss you! 94 years was a great ride I'm sure, but there's still whole new worlds in the DIY music realm you hadn't been able to teach us about yet.

The music world would never have been the same without you!

RIP sir!

What is it with FSB?

www.freestompboxes.org is another place I hang out in. I don't know that I fully agree or disagree with their ethics/vision of the pedal world. A lot of folks devote their time to degooping and posting circuits there. For the uninformed, gooping is laying some kind of material over a circuit to render it un-visible.

So they degoop, reverse engineer it, and post it on the web. Their argument is no one should be trying to patent or copyright ideas, and should freely give out their stuff for all to see. I get that, I really do. Kinda like buying a Ford but not being allowed to look under the hood.

But as a builder and modifier of pedals, how do I feel about that? I'm not sure. Part of me says, "If someone wants to take the time to trace out & post my work, I really could care less. I just want to get paid for the stuff I do. What they do with it after that is out of my hands." It's kinda like if I do buy that Ford, it's mine to do whatever I want with it after that.

On the other hand, I see why so many builders want to protect their work especially if they designed their own 100% original circuit. The R&D that goes into making an original circuit that is both a) original, using unique parts & design and b) using those unique parts to create a unique sound... well, it's a lot to consider.

There is no line: I want to be able to fix my crappy Morley wah or whatever for 10 cents instead of sending it back to the factory for $50, know what I mean? What if I like a pedal, but want to change the clipping a little? It's mine now. I should be able to do what I want with it. So I don't want to deal with goop that's gonna break everything if I try to pull it off.

But the part that REALLY gets me thinking is: FSB's moderators seem so anarchistic, yet they immediately jump all over someone who posted a topic in the wrong section of the forum or gets long winded with threads. For being so anti-trust they sure do have a lot of rules. ;)

Back from the grave

Okay, it's not like I ever left, but I'm back. My wife keeps saying I need to get the blog going again. Since I'm totally not into social networking sites, I guess folks should have SOME way of seeing what I'm up to. So here it is. It's the best you're gonna get folks: Me talking about mostly guitar pedals, amps, guitars, kids, and some stuff that'll make bean soup fart out of your nose a la Nacho Libre once in a while.

I'm back!