Rush Touring and new DVD...must have today!

More on this soon, but first, NP on a wee drum kit...

One of the Greats! Uncle Ted

Nugent. Magic! I reckon he is a guitarist that hasn't been really that recognised for how good a player he is...but thats just my own opinion..I remember my first listen to Great Gonzos Live and that was it..Thank goodness for Youtube you now get some classic concerts and even though there is a great old version of this, my favorite Ted song, on the tube from 77 with his gibson Byrdland, I prefer the 87 version even though the sound of his Byrdlands is awesome!

Now then, Nugent , Uncle Ted, is a rather strong patriot of his Country and he is rather unspoken in certain areas..keep in mind if your European your not gonna really understand the politics (or not) of the USA, I mean, NRA and all the rest..you know, it causes all kinds of arguments if you pull out some of the topics that he pulls up when your in Sweden, but lets face it, Sweden lives in a bubble of "playing neutral when it suits us", "ignore our own problems but look good to the rest of the world"

Have a listen..



and then on Mexico..

WTF...

Home recording has been a great craic on the Impact twin. Got some patterns down and enjoying the world of amateur recording some wee bits here and there. Most important that you enjoy what your doin' and fuck anyone else who doesn't rate what your doing, don't even ask for their opinion.Fuck em!
Anyway, without going more into that opinion, the guitar playing is taking a wee back seat at the mo due to a problem from the sports...first of all I managed to damage something in my little finger after I stuck it hard into the astro turf pitch..then I managed to stave two other fingers at rugby training...so, tape out and the waiting game..it ain't too bad but will improve with the tape a lot quicker...

May be old..but all the same..

As mentioned previously I'm looking at buying a zxr750rr from 91.
These were a bit special and the Superbike versions did well in the hands of Scott Russell with the Muzzy supported bikes.
First things first with these bikes, leave the engines as they are but drop the excess weight, like the standard exhaust to a racing version and of course if the wallet permits some lighter wheels.I had Marvics on my last race machine and indeed Suzi 1100 WT Vance and Hines and the difference was massive in rep weight.

Edith Piaf and the SuperMotard...

Nothing in common of course...except possibly that you can't regret buying one when it tries to throw you off at every opp..
Anyway, I managed to get out to the garage only to discover that the main key that had been entrusted to me didn't fit any of the locks...2 hours of travelling to be so close but yet so far away from fixing the parts that will hopefully get the SuperMotard back on the road.
Here was the state she was in last since the complete engine rebuild and it was only some of my own mistakes that set back the project...although I'm finger crossing that I have managed to put the gearbox in correctly and all the rest...lets just say the manuals aren't that easy to follow..

sounds....thats all...sounds...

Some people simply wont get these clips..
Don't ask me why, they simply don't get off on earporn like this...
The Audi...
sounds like a bag a bolts tied to an  elephant on a tricycle squeeking a trumpet and followed by a wizz bang boom pop from Chitty Chitty bang bang...
Nothing will sound like this again...the early 80s and the advent of the turbo engines in formula 1 and Rally cars...





2,4 litre V6 dino engine and one of the best looking cars ever produced..

A locking nut appears.....

Yesterday a Black S800 was dropped off at the house(black version) and I was asked to give a value on the guitar as it was never used and was just a dust collector.
As I'd never seen one before I thought , best to stick it through the marshall. Very impressive actually. Had a quick scan around the net and had a look at some of the prices, I don't think you'd get this much guitar for those prices nowadays.I've read that the S800, unlike the s600, has an Alder body and not Basswood as written elswhere. The S800 and 900 seemed to be higher end of the S series with the 900 getting a neck thru body and body binding.
Rosewood fretboard , maple neck , coil tap on the bridge pup , which are Tech 2 pick ups? They sound good for 80's medal, thats for sure! Gain up and the bridge sounds great with or without tap.
All in all a very impressive guitar for something built in Korea back in the day, one of those that you end up playing more than the more expensive variants.




On the way is what I believe to be an Original Roland Cube which could be interesting....more on that when it arrives..

Bought the DVD just to educate my kids on films from back in my days...

Fat sams grandslam speak easy..



Jodie Foster....pre Hannibal days...

missing it...so...do something about it.....

So for those people who have known me for many a moon, they will know all about the facts about my bike building and the fact that I've basically been a petrol head since the year dot..and recently with the weather and the sound of straight fours opening up their gutz going across the bridge next to the office...I'm missing that feeling of speed that you get on a bike...
Touring for me is a question mark, to me , the only reason you expose yourselve to the elements is for speed...max out adrenalin rush being bounced all over the frikken shop and winding up the throttle and whispering "Warp speed number 9 Mr Sulu" into your full face helmet..
After watching V 4 Victory with Joey (see below) and getting that memory bank opened up regarding the A7, I made a call about a classic Honda RVF400, thinking this would be enough to keep me interested...however, that call, in a wild and wonderful way..landed me with an old fellow coach from my International rugby coaching days and he is an equal petrol head and backs it up with a collection of racing homologation bikes that includes all the classics, RC30,RC45,OW01,GSXRR and as it happens, an old favorite, the Kawasaki ZXR750R(R).Back in the day when I was at my peak of petrol sniffing, this was a bike I would have sold Granny for but at the time the "sleipner" project took that budget.
Well, as we had a chat he suddenly mentioned that he actually had a spare first year K1. You know, usual bits, alloy racing tank, close-ratio box, 39 mm keihin flatslides..and he offered me the bike at a decent price...
In classic fashion, I always end up with something which everybody else finds a pain in the ass on the streets as they're difficult to ride as they're meant for the track, but thats the envelope you wanna break through like chuck in "The Right Stuff"..

Out of the crate they have the following tag;
A Race version (superbike omologation special - "K" model) was also built, but in limited numbers. This was called ZXR750R (or ZX7R in the US). The race version had the same frame as the J models, but it sported 39mm Keihin Flatslide carburettors, full power engine, close ratio gearbox, alloy tank, fully adjustable suspension front and rear, single seat and was 5kg lighter than the J models. Both K1 and K2 have the same spec.

Please note the "full power engine"...
Okay, in standard trim they carry so much excess weight that its a damn shame, but its a great start with the RR features already in place.
Lots to shave off and work on so you eventually get to a compromise with lights;

However, this takes time now that I've sold off all my racing parts...
And despite the fact that the bike is very old now, I'm sure with the specs I'll be happy enough trying to get through the traffic with the tall first gear which means everything under 5000 revs is a hassle..almost a 4 stroke version of my fav old two stroke, the RD350LC without the power valve!

These bikes are classics and here is the first year endurance that was deemed from Fogarty as the most powerful beast he'd ridden:

A must have.....

There was at least 1 shambolic genius in the Pistols...

Johnny Rotten moved on and was indeed a bit of a song writer..trend setter perhaps...

And then...and then and then and then....
Judge Judy!!!!!!!!!!!

DB and Scary Monsters

Great sound on this one...
Something about Bowie, to be honest never been a huge fan but when I watched Tin Machine I became a fan of that project.
Big sound on this song , I like.



And then this popped up right...Ok, Iggy Pop and Bowie...what I liked more was the raw guitar sound on this song...awesome!

Anyone know who the guitarist would be with Iggy and Bowie? Would it be Ron Asheton(above)?
Could well be a flying V supporting 3 P-90s...that must sound frikken magic! Great crunch regardless!
And talking of crunch...the project I was hoping would possibly come together may actually be a reality..
A weird story of sleeping in a forest, cycling a cycle and listening to way too much FooFighters and I hear two very good musician friends may be working a project in the future...fingers crossed!

10 years Gone..The Late Great Joey Dunlop, King of the Roads!

When I was but a young buck and had an old and modified Honda 400/4 with a single racing seat and full racing fairing, this film, which was indeed a full 16mm camera strapped to Joeys bike, was almost the film version of our bible!

Every weekend we could, we'd meet up and all head off on a mental road race from Edinburgh to Galashiels on what would be our TT course, the A7. Nowadays those bikes that we had would be considered a joke, with todays mopeds carrying more tyre than I had, but maybe thats what made it even more exciting and we had nothing to compare too except the modern day racing bikes which , like today, had similar characteristics as our bikes. My Honda had an open Bell Megatron and ran open wire filters, she sounded amazing as we'd head at full throttle down the borders, the only worry being a tractor leaving a field without due care or attention. Despite the fact that Scotland had it's own Traffic force, not once did we see the Rovers out on the A7.

Joey D even creeps up in an other amusing story, when 4 of us headed to Donnington park to watch one of the first ever World Superbike championships and the rumour that Joey would be racing was too much to miss. What made this journey funny was that we all hauled ourselves off a train at around 4 in the morning at the wrong station....leather jackets, jeans and cowboy boots...we ended up in a place similar to Midsummer murders....and started to walk towards , what we thought, was the right direction...

Fortunatly I had a camera with me, old school camera of course, and I managed to catch some great sunrise pics as we walked past people fishing...mad indeed. After walking about 10 to 15 Kms we ended up next to a motorway and we were really fortunate enough to get a lift to the track. I'll scan the pic of the legend which I took during the race which I still hold dear, as to us he was the ultimate racer of the roads, and the roads were what we attacked and lived for at the time...years before I hit the track myself..

I remember when I heard he had died..I think you had to breathe the fumes of a hot engine to understand the feeling...which in itself is very hard to describe unless you've gone down that road with the speed junkie injecting you in the throttle arm and got off after 27 miles of thrashing and just stood shaking whilst the adrenalin and stories of Pirelli slides and late breaking takes over...

Studio speakers;M-Audio AV40 Studio Monitor

Looking around at the cost of studio speakers and thinking of my own ability to hear the crap from the craic, I decided that spending thousands on a speaker system was a waste, and then I came across these M-audio desktop speakers which I reckon will do the trick and at 1200kr a pair are in the right bracket.

A well spent 79 kronor...9 symphonies by Mr Beethoven...

An itunes bargain bin in my opinion.
Beethovens 9 symphonies for a mere 79 kronor and of course a download that took a while and froze everything on the old box at work..
However, its a great set of works and once again you have to admire these guys who did it all with a pen and paper...
I always have a laugh when I listen to the classics as most of my ex girlfriends have always accused me of listening to psyco music when I listen to classical music, something to do with the films they watch like "hannibal" and such where the crazies listen to classical music whilst they tear into some human flesh with a carving knife..as I wrote, they're mostly exe's and who knows, maybe at the bottom of somebodies garden in black bin bags ala Dexter....

Dumble Amps ended up with SRV..

Just thought I'd google Dumble Amps and found some cool pictures of SRV and his equipment and also some pics I hadn't seen previously that I thought I'd share, including a rare pic of him with a Les Paul...
His equipment is the dogs bollox imo...helps that he could also join the gang of "plugging into a potato chip"...

funny how it all started....

having just came across "All the worlds a stage" by Rush and blasting "Bastille day", I started recalling "back in the day" when the pathway started all those many many years ago and how it actually all started.
For me, it was a rather interesting start into rock music.It all started with a cover.Well, several covers.
My mother and I were in the equivalent of ICA MAXI in Scotland and she asked me if I wanted a record...
You know, an LP, a bit more dramatic and substantial than a digital download or CD..
So I looked through the records and there, amongst everything was a record cover that caught my attention...
Never heard of the group, but one down.
She said I could take another...must have been a special occasion..so off I went and grabbed another which had also caught my attention..Once again I'd never heard of them or even knew what to expect..

Here they are...
Both remain favorites and obviously still survive despite the generations of fashion changes.
Same year, and off I went on the bus to Geneva to a very different world to be with my Father, and he would send me into Geneva with money to have a look around..Next two covers that caught my attention really and that had me on the hook, into the boat and beaten around the head were the following;

 Fortunate enough to see all of these acts live and to this day all up there as favorites.
I'd have to say that Rush take top spot as they have kept me listening to so much "work" that they do behind the frontpage so to speak, the Ramones just keep me from manic pace and of course AC/DC, with Bon, are the Rock'n'Roll I prefer.Thin Lizzy are timeless, as are the rest I suppose.
What is most scarey is the year, 1979 I believe, possibly 78 when these purchases were made...

Buddy Guy at Treegarden, tomorrow...

...same time as the football semi finals, but no matter imo, I wouldn't miss this legend for anything!

This induced hours of laughter..and curiosity...

So, I'm looking around the web, specifically Gear Pages trying to see if there is a lot written about Ritchie Blackmores fender and equipment, just because I feel he's been left out of a long list of great rock guitarits because...
he's become, in manys opinions..
a fuckin nut job.....
So, when I came across somebodies cynical comment about an up to date picture of his pedalboard and instead came to the RB Moon Castle website ...I found this picture which kinda summarises his current state of mental affairs and situation...

RB and Clandice(?) look over Stonehenge....

yes folks...serious...no joke..

For more news, reviews and to end curio..

http://www.blackmoresnight.com/index2.htm

Cliffs of Dover and theres more...

Mr Anal Tone himself and so what.'cos in my opinion he sounds awesome and does some great work on the guitar. I have to say that one of my own favorites is my relic'd Eric Johnson fenders with the 59 pickups and slightly worked electrics and oil cap.
This kinda ties in with the new TCE as its incredible how it really defines the sounds on the difference guitars.
Anyway, back to work..

TC Electronics Twin Impact.Warp Speed Number 9 , Mr Sulu

Well I finally took the dive into buying a sound card to record some patterns and it was always gonna be a headache but I stuck to my guns and purchased the TC Electronic Impact twin. Firewire 800 and Albeton Live lite 8 as software. This took some head scratching to figure out but I finally starting recording after a few hours and I have to say I'm impressed by this box which contains more "buzz" words than most and if you want to learn more as to why this is considered the best for it's price then I suggest you look up the TC website as they're pretty good as marketing their own gear.

Software wise I'd rather have started with the Cubase, but on the other hand I've no idea why. 

The plan is to record from microphone into the box and try and get a good sound from the jubilee and analog pedals. I'm gonna use an idea I found a guy did on youtube with a marshall head, more on that when I get into it.

So far I've laid down some "live sets" from the patterns I've been coming up with and then playing over the top of them.Its an incredible unit and the software has so many extras it will take some time to sort out. 

Recommended listening..French wonderboy David Fray playing Bach

Check out for youtube clips of this guy recording the album, I believe it was shown on svt so you will find it on their website digi channel. What is interesting is listening to his interpretations. If you find him on svt you get subtitles as well.
Classical music is amazing to say the least.The legend about Mozart never making any changes to his musical scripts is simply amazing and makes you wonder if he was an angel sending on music from the heavens! If you look at musical scores of an orchestra and understand that somebody is scripting for all instruments and understanding the final result page after page without having to change anything...well, amazing.

FossilBird

tested the FossilBird now that I changed the pot and earth and she reacts a lot better to the volume pot , I'm sure the difference lay between a linear pot on the 1 meg compared to the 500 pot. Anyway, massive sound and a guitar that has a very special sound and feel.

JP and the Beck Telecaster

Some great pics out there of Jimmy Page and this telecaster which was given to him by Jeff beck in '66.

I believe its a 57 Tele and by the time this was taken it had been stripped and repainted by the man himself.

Apparently the reason he put the push/pull pot on the bridge of his 58 Paul which he purchased from Joe Walsh for 500 quid (neck was already shaved) was that he liked the sound of a single coil in the bridge was because he really liked that tele sound and a lot of the first Zepp lp has a tele used on it apparently.

Anyway, great pic! Also found it funny to read that Page used a fender strat whilst playing another favorite, Over the Hills and far away...I was playing that tonite on a Strat and it sounded great!

California Jam '74

'74 California Jam and some great clips off Youtube.
400,000 paying people at the gig made it more of a profit making venture than Woodstock.
Also had the largest assembled PA back then with Tycobrahe Sound Company combined the touring systems of Black Oak Arkansas, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Earth Wind and Fire, and Rare Earth (each manufactured by Tycobrahe), plus 16-ft bass horns from Phoenix Sound and several folded bass horns from Flag Systems. Total power was 54,000 watts RMS, provided by a number of BFA-2000 amplifiers, manufactured by Tycobrahe.
Never been a huge fan of Purple to be honest, but Burn was always a favorite.At the end of the show, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore threw multiple guitars out into the audience and attacked one of the network's video cameras (which had been getting between him and the audience) with a guitar. A mishap with a pyrotechnic effect caused an explosion which briefly set the stage on fire. The group is said to have left the concert via helicopter to escape possible arrest from angry fire marshals and ABC executives.
 I mean, the sound is raw back in the day and the clip of Sabbath is also one of my favorite songs of all the Sabbath songs and this version is also HUGE is blackness!
Look at that crowd as well, the Yanks always turn out in numbers, has to be said. Makes a working day go a lot faster when your speeding on these classics!I wonder how it sounded at the back...





ok ok....so here we are in 98 and the reunion and the same song. Just love the sound of the rhythm in this song...chunka chunka chunka in the background..I'm in this crowd somewhere at the NEC still not believing the fact that I'm watching the Original Sabbath reunion. The sound out was unlike anything I've ever heard and trust me I've seen a lot of bands, metal, thrash, rock, the lot. This actually had the goosebumps from the off.