Yairi CE..

Okay, this is what the Yairi Clasiical guitar should look like..







However, the Yairi CE that I collected from the local shop as its owner had said I could borrow it, was stuck on a top shelf and forgotten about..covered in dust and basically a pig in a poke.To look at , its been through the wars alright..the history is that 6 hours after it was purchased in 88, it was left on a stage by a character called Billy Bones(??) and somebody put their foot thru the guitar accidently..since then its been thru every scenario you can imagine..the splinters and solid cedar top was glued back together , giving it a frankenstein look..the pup under the rosewood bridge was broken off..
After sticking some nylon strings on I couldn't get rid of a really bad fret buzz on the E..I tried lifting the saddle..but it didn't help out..then the bad news came, the previous owner had fitted steel strings and the nut had worn down on the E and chipped at the end..
So, I took the nut off.Bone of course, measured it up and found a 43 x 9 x 5.
As 99% of bone nuts available and slotted are 43 x 9 x 6, and the verniers were correct on both nut and inlay, i'm gonna have to hand her in to get done by a luthier or keep looking for a bone nut replacement.
The locals advised to simply buy a new guitar, but with the tone and history its worth keeping the beast going.This was a 20,000kr guitar in 88 and it has the scars to prove it deserved to be kept alive.
I'll post some pics.
A s/h Ducer500 pickup was put under the bridge so now its just a case of getting the nut fixed.
TOP = Solid Cedar
BACK / SIDE = Rosewood
NECK = Mahogany
FINGER BOARD = Ebony
BRIDGE = Rosewood

Pedal board Prt 3 and very near to completion

Electro harmonix, both 78 and 79 originals..
Bassball

Little Bigg Muff Pi

Morley wah wah / volume sweep

The Pedal Board..Prt 2 currently in the loop fx

An older 301 with the small r above the Ibanez, just like the AD80.
All these pedals are like the guitars, used..no boxes, instructions..I mean, who gives a crap..I do go for the earlier versions if I cn find them, hence the Boss CE-2long dash 81.Sure your limited with these analog pedals, but its worth it!








then of course running infront of the Jubilee are distorion pedals galore.
Only 3 pedals I'm looking for and possibly a better wah..but we'll see.
Next up will be a GE-601 anyway..

wtf....

okidoki...this aint an SRV site alone..but this popped up whilst I was looking for srv and king and by christ the man was awesome! Apparently this is old ... tone tone tone..



just gets better....


switch off the screen and put your speakers up on max!

Blues Power....

Despite the fact that they invented the blues, then got pissed at Mr snowflake for trying to play the blues that they then moved on to something deliberatly more difficult which is what we today call, Jazz...Mr Albert King still wasn't satisfied, so he decided to string his guitar upside down and play in some interesting tunings..didn't use a plectrum either if I recall...huge pulldowns on the high E's..

He probably was right handed but decided to play lefty just to try and make it a wee bit more difficult...

Takin' the piss a bit, really...



Now..if you haven't bought the SRV with Albert session..feel that your missing something in your collection....



Stevie was apparently a bit shy due to the presence of his Idol...either that or he was scared the big man may swallow him..
I do like the look of the SRV fender..looks like the one in my living room...

and just some banter and a wee bit blues..I have the cd and I wish I could find the version of Blues at sunrise on youtube..maybe I'll have to source the dvd..

Buy it !!!!!!!!!..another great slab of Slayer!

Just pulled out the EMG Heritage 140 CMV with the Kerry King dist switch, down tuned as required, click the marshall gain footswitch and Ibanez SM9...and off we go..

1 Meg Tellytubby pot

With the advent of a rather special 72 bodied hacked nashville Tele with 3 vintage bardens and neck apparently hailing from the maker of bruce springsteens tele necks, I thought it would be an idea to look at swapping out the pot thats already in place and put in a 1 meg pot for the tone , adding an 0,5@100V cap.
Its an audio pot as opposed to linear, I guess, if you look on the bottom is has aud..But of course, lets take things even further and once again take apart the pot and mark up to make it a 1 meg no-load pot.. this could be interesting with an even heavier cap...
Last time I looked under the pickguard and the soldering was the shits, so I'll rip it out and replace with vintage wire and even look at putting a spare 77 strat 5 way switch in her.

What do you drive?

Right then, RR got mr looking into my Dis pedals and heres one that Gary Moore kinda liked...apparently..Mk 1 which I had to pick up, its a Marshall FFS!


Found some options on youtube.


Here is a frikken MONSTER pedal, if you find one, BUY IT!





My first pedal I accquired.ST9 Super tube screamer.Been looking at getting a first issue 808 but to be honest I've got something here with an extra chip and enough sound to please me.Still, the SM9 can blast it into next week...




Now its simple, if you enjoy huge sounds but your not gifted with natural talent or getting into this late in the fourth quarter, the best thing you can do is simply gain up the bastards and make some noise!
I haven't pushed teh Guv'nor thru the silver jubilee yet as it hasn't arived..but the SM9 and ST9 make up for my lack of talent.

I've also got a Boss DS-1 which my mate sent me over but that I haven't really given much of a chance as I thought the pedal had a loose wire.Gonna have to dig it out and have them all spread up and ready to fire.There are differences of course in all these distortion pedals and of course the more you use them the more you get used to the settings.
I have friends who would die for the SM9 but throw away the ST9. I reckon its a craic to have the option. Haven't got around to sticking an eq infront of them, my ear probably wouldn't pick up the fine tuning of the EQ but I know its there..

Sometimes...

Having had a quick look at my mates mate which included the revealing of a Rhoads signature jackson, it got me flicking the ipod to the live tribute album and once again listening to a genius.
I think there are some records that really made an effect down the road. As I've always liked live records, you'd not be surprised by the list.
First one around 78/79, AC/DC, If you want blood...Riff Raff had me hooked from the off..Thin Lizzy, Live and dangerous..straight away you heard something special..The Ramones, It's Alive..need I say more..
Believe it or not my mother bought me those records in the local record shop...I only wanted them as they had cool covers..I'm paying the price today..
Down the years and now again you just heard something that was amazing.
The live tribute album to Randy Rhoads is just that, frikken amazing.Obviously the writing ability between Ozzy and Randy must have worked out well, but thats another tale. Its the way the guy manages , (in my opinion)above all else, to push out the rhythm of the songs connected by the most incredible fills that keep everything together and simply turn the rhythm /lead into something amazing!
I obviously had to buy the Tab book of the album to try and find out what it was all about, and simply laughed when I looked through the tab pages.It's funny because you get some fairly simple rhythm tab and in about 16 seperate boxes spread around the page of tab, are fills that are done all over the shop.
Obviously theres more to it than that.The difference here, is that I reckon Randy Rhoads was one of only two guitarists who could play fast but still keep the passion and soul in the music. The melodys, harmonics and something comes out.The other guitarist who I feel has the same ability is Edward van Halen.
Both can shred and yet put feeling thru the shred. Thats how I get it.

Now, obviously I'm a dinasaur and there may be guys that others think can do the same etc.. etc..but in my opinion, the way EVH and RR do their solos is very personal and you can feel that whatever the guitar.

Right, if you haven't listened to the tribute album, then do so and you'll end up sitting on some public transport with your ipod on max and laughing out loud as Randys version of Children of the Grave blasts out!

Randy Rhoads..

great artist and a great song

1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard Sunburst $113,000

On ebay just now...I'll take two please..







from another, found in australia..

For a mere $16,000...

And you could go on ebay and buy.
"2009 Gibson Billy Gibbons PEARLY GATES Les Paul- Tom Murphy Aged"



Great story as to how it Pearly gates got its name:

The story of how Gibbons acquired ‘Pearly Gates’ is almost as famous as the guitar itself. As told by the Reverend Willie G. himself, the story begins in the late 1960s with an old, beat up Packard automobile that used to be ZZ Top’s main ride – all three of them and their entourage. “That automobile served us well,” Gibbons said. “It was huge, flashy and lowered, but not intentionally – it was just, plain old.” Not long after getting the Packard, one of band’s “girlfriends” decided to head to California to try out for a part in a movie, and the band was kind enough to let her use the Packard to get there. According to legend, she landed the part, and the band christened the car with the name "Pearly Gates" because they thought “it must have had divine connections.” At some point, the girlfriend sold the car and sent the money back to the band. “The very day the money arrived, a guy called me up wanting to sell me a ’59 Sunburst Les Paul,” Gibbons reflected. “I bought the guitar and called the girlfriend to thank her for being so kind. She said, ‘It looks like the car went for a good cause. Since the money that put the guitar in our lap came from selling the Packard, we'll lay claim to the name Pearly Gates. Now you can go make divine music.’ Try as I may, I haven't been able to find another guitar that sounds as heavenly.” And that’s the legend of Gibbons’ storied ‘Pearly Gates’

62 trial and test

So, following on from yesterday and getting the gear together, I stuck some 10/52s on the #2 and plugged her in.I lowered the string height after checking the truss rod and raised the pick ups.After sorting out the pitch/intonation which went quite fast, with the saddles not requiring much attention.

I was interested in how the noload neck/bridge pickup would work out.
The genuine fender noload mastertone pot surprised me to how much of an indent it has compared to my homer, but it works well.
The blender gives a great effect between bridge and neck.Its really added a great tone dimension to the norm.Not sure, but I think the pot is also having an effect on the middle pup as well....don't think that was intentional, but the guitar sounds awesome! Great feel through the body and really acoustic, the 5 springs in the back are wound pretty tight and really ring off.

Really happy with the result from these pups which are really impressive. Wish I could get more info about them, the only thing I have is that they're not readily available over the counter from the custom shop and that they only came on the 59 thinskin collector series guitars.They are scatterwound and sound the business.

I'll upload some pics of the completed #2 next.




Plans for the schecter have changed slightly with the white single ply pickguard which I bought as an OEM fender replacement piece.One of the holes doesn't line up and I dont actually think the white suits the tangerine.So I think it will end up being black again with all black 77 fender plastic.
Pickups will be a trial and error but comprise of dimarzio fs 1, YM2, and possibly a Eric Johnson custom shop in the neck..we shall see..

Number #2 62...

Number #2 62 has a mint green on a whiter body as opposed to an ivory on a more olympic vanilla body.Both 62's are running non reverse middle pups.This one has the mastertone and the neck/bridge blender..it was gonna be a switch but I couldn't find a 250 switch that had the right bore size..probably change this when I do ..but she would interesting..



Straight off the bat and in my own defense, I am NOT GUILTY of the solder mines on the Volume and neck blender pots! Wtf! However, I use what works and these work..infact the volume pot is from 77/78..
As you can see , a new reissue cap is in place, running 0,1 @ 100V and running off a genuine fender no load pot which is running as a mastertone pot.I like the master tone set up! Then we have a neck and bridge blender which is also a 250 pot with a lipstick no load homer done on it..(see previous threads including wiring diagram which I found on the web)
Right, strings on tomorrow..this is a project and will be treated as such...

There had to be a change around with 21 and 22 fret necks due to my details..so the tangerine schecter is now stripped and wearing another pickguard and neck..whilst this JV is wearing the SRV...

Meanwhile..here are some close ups of the thinskin 59s and the rest of the it..

Personal view

Okay, Hendrix..so much has been written ..
Anyway, I only really enjoy listening to hendrix live recordings, and this is my favorite of them all.So, if you haven't had the chance to have a listen , then I suggest you try!

band of Gypsys..live at the Filmore, 3 months before his death??

Recording Base Camp

So here we have what will be a start to the setting up of a few amps and cabinets, microphones and of course a sound card to be decided..

decisions decisions...looking at the different software and the way that I'm looking at recording,its a jungle. The software available is of course all very good, from Cubase thru Pro tools and the rest.
I'm sure you can emulate pedals and cabinets and get a good result, but I reckon its more fun to stick a mic infront of a cabinet and get the sound after the loop has gone through some analog Ibanez pedals from the late seventies and early eighties..

As usual I'm going into this more for the enjoyment and intrepidation of the whole idea than trying to produce something that will be knocking down doors.Thats what its all about in my opinion, having some fun and doing your best.As long as your trying your best you can't fail!
...been working on some really simple rythms which I'm hoping will work when overlayed.With the emphasis on "keep It Simple Stupid", I'm hoping that the melodies come out of the simple chord and finger picking progressions. The voicing and phrasing being paramount ( been picking up the buzz words..thanks to Steve Vai on Youtube..)..
back to reality..and I'm currently sitting in the Citadel of glass listening to Rush and Freewill...from the most recent live " Snakes and Arrows" CD..Been a fan since I watch them at the Edinburgh Cattlemarket hall in 1981..
What is very impressive about Rush is the way that each musician just tries to squeeze the most juice out of each intrument..I don't even think its too much that Lifeson sticks Floyd Roses on his Gibsons..it works for his style..Bass is lead, Guitar is lead and of course Peart on the drums..lead..
This got me thinking...Rush are really crossing over into that Jazz ideology of the leads, then rythms, then leads..Maybe you wont understand what I mean..anyway..frikken magical and has been for over 30 years!

For sale at the local shop....the Gibsons a bit dear..

2 st Gibson Les Paul Custom 1956 med serienummer efter varandra. Säljes endast tillsammans...which translated...2 1956 Gibsons with consecutive serial numbers and only sold as a pair...time to buy a lottery ticket?











Here is a refin 1960 Strat fro 65,000skr..

a rare insight...

Tone to the bone!

Okay, if you had by any chance missed it...probably not...but I'm addicted to the tone he gets here...the Freddie king to Eric Clapton comparison..TONE!! he's probably doing the usual and its loud and possibly thru a tube screamer? awesome all the same..

jeeeeeez

Just been reading a thread about linear versus audio 1 meg pots and which caps danny gatton used and to my surprise a reply came from some shredder with an Ibanez with the following first sentence.."no idea who this Danny gatton guy is..however.."..
so, I just have to post this :

More Nashville than Nashville

Ol' Red is gonna get a make-over..its official and it took a wee bit time to find three suitable non reissue Joe Bardens to ensure the project would be acceptable..
And here they are, a bridge, middle and neck, all in their original $30 boxes..
Ol'Red has an interesting history and is an outstanding Telecaster..
The body is a really lightweight 72 fender that a previous owner took a knife too and hacked a space for a middle pickup..The original neck was broken by a roadie of the E-street band and a custom made neck was returned with the guitar.I have the name of the neck maker but have forgotten..will update..
At the moment we have a Sliders scatterwound bridge pup, an unknown pup in the middle which I think is from the 60s, and a Dimarzio Y2 in the neck.
The controls look original and the last time I looked under the pickguard it looked like it could do with a clean up.The pickguard is ...no idea..its well made for 2 strat pups but the hole config is for an older 51..
As I'm a big fan of Gatton, the initial idea of getting the Bardens into a strat changed once I found the T-bridge.
The only question now is if its worth getting a 1meg tone pot, or sticking in a no-load 250k pot in as a toner, running a 0,1 cap..then you get the best of both worlds in a way, wide open or a bit more bass and mids...May even be worth throwing a switch in there to get the bridge and neck pickup working together..
One more thing that could really push Ol'red into overdrive would be the brass bridge setup..but to action on the bridge is already amazing so that would be a huge question mark..
Can't wait..

The Best...SRV of course...

I would make no secret that SRV would have to be my Number 1 favorite guitarist.And here are two fantastic compositions which really showing his ability above and beyond.I reckon his music developed more and more and it would have been inteersting to see how far he would have come if he had been alive today.But once again he is filed under "we'll never know" folder with many other talented guys.

Think one of the funniest things ive read was on anotehr website where it was written that Billy Gibbons could plug just about anything into a baked potato and still sound good..Think SRV comes under the same thing..infact just about all these guitar greats, Clapton, Beck, Page, Srv, Hendrix, Allman,Zappa,Vai,Eric Johnson, BB King..it is as they say, all in the fingers which are of course attached to the soul..Robert Johnson wasn't the only one who sold his soul to the devil perhaps...

Swedens Best Export!

malsteen seems to get a lot of stick which in a way I understand, however this is where I feel he should stay, playing virtuoso with philamonic orchestras as this is what he does best, in my opinion.I've never been a big fan and his "rock" music simply doesn't work.But his ability to play classical music on that old fender is amazing, so all cred to him!



Perhaps a more amusing story is the local guitar tech in a rather famous shop based in Gbg was given his pedal board to sort out and he said it was such a mess he didnt know where to start!

say no more...

I can highly recommend the following website:

www.woodytone.com

Project '62