Paul Reed Smith/David Grissom clinic at Martin Music

Recently I got to attend a really cool guitar clinic held at Martin Music, in Memphis, Tennessee, featuring Paul Reed Smith of PRS Guitars and David Grissom. Of course David is a long-time PRS Guitars endorser and is the only one of those in the history of the company to not only have a signature guitar with PRS, the DGT, but he has a signature line of amps as well, called the DGT Custom, which come in either 30w or 50w configurations.

I had never been to Martin Music before, but had heard a lot about the store, that it was a great store filled with great gear. The store didn’t disappoint. It was all that and more, filled with an amazing inventory of PRS Guitars, as well as Taylor, Larrivee, Knaggs, Collings and many more. They also have an amazing inventory of pedals and amps, which are too numerous to name here, but you can go to the Martin Music site at the link above, and check them out. The store itself was worth the 3 hour drive to Memphis.

I got to the store about a half hour before the clinic started, and once inside, I did a quick self-tour of the store, checked out all the PRS and Knaggs guitars on the wall behind the counter, and found a seat on the front row. Paul Reed Smith himself (pictured with me above) opened the clinic by sharing stories on guitar making and how they do it there at PRS, as well as what makes a great guitar. It was like having a partial physics lesson as well. He also shared some secrets about how customers (guys) get away with purchasing more guitars than their spouse knows that he has. That part was hilarious. I don’t have many photos of the event to share since I shot video of most of it. You can see the videos of the event here on my youTube channel, jaybe813. Start looking for videos labeled PRS/DAVID GRISSOM CLINIC-MARTIN MUSIC with a number after it, and enjoy.

The first two videos are Paul talking and at some point during that 2nd one, he introduces David Grissom. David then proceeds to come out, strap on a gold-top DGT that was hanging on the wall there at the store, and then put on a clinic that was one of the best I have ever seen him do. He discussed everything from how he gets the multiple sounds out of his guitar, to the history of how that guitar came about, to the same thing regarding his signature amps and their history, though brief. He went into his four-channel discussion about how he can get 4 distinctive sounds out of his rig with a single channel amp, by adding and embellishing tones from pedals he has. But it all starts with a great guitar and amp, and he drives that point across pretty clearly.

Of course David plays some too and yes, it is LOUD. Especially on the front row. It was great though, as was his Q&A time, which he seemed to get a bit more personal during than I have seen him do at other PRS events. All in all, it was awesome and I am so glad that I went. If you are a fan of PRS Guitars or David Grissom, then go check out the videos on my youTube channel and you can see what I saw, just at a much lower volume level.

The 2014 Rock and Roller Tour!

Recently Kristi and I took a trip to Cleveland, OH for my 47th birthday, so I could see the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. We dubbed the trip the 2014 Rock and Roller Tour, because it was partially spent at the Hall of Fame, and partially spent an hour away from Cleveland at Cedar Point Amusement Park, where we rode roller coasters all day. Based on some events that were happening Tuesday at the Hall of Fame, we decided that day 1 would be at Cedar Point.

It has been 21 years since I was on a roller coaster. It was Six Flags in St. Louis, while I lived there. For Kristi it had been since the mid-nineties before Opryland was torn down to make room for a mall.
So needless to say there was a mixture of excitement and nervousness about riding roller coasters all day at what is perhaps the greatest single location for roller coasters in the entire world, and for sure the USA. I did prepare before though by taking various meds and supplements that would keep any bodily fluid inside my body, that had the potential to violently exit my body while on a roller coaster.

We made the hour drive to Sandusky, OH where the park is, and made the game plan after getting in the gate and getting a park map. Our plan was to go all the way to the back of the park, and start there, working our way back towards the front as the day grew longer, and ending on the biggest roller coaster in the park. Our first two coasters were some of the old wooden ones, which were big fun, but man was it gut wrenching making the climb on that first one, for the first time in 21 years. It was great though and set a good tone for the rest of the day. In short, we rode 10 roller coasters that day and had a blast, screaming our heads off so many times going downhill at almost 90 degrees, or spinning upside down multiple times, or just the sheer speed at which some of them went. It was super fun and we felt like kids again the whole day as we went from roller coaster to roller coaster.  Our favorite one was the Maverick, but the big one at the end was the one we were the most scared of. It is the Millennium Force and has a top speed of 93mph. We had to keep psyching ourselves up about it, knowing it was coming. We came and conquered though and it was a blast. A FAST blast. Afterwards we drove back to downtown Cleveland where our super comfy hotel room awaited us, and after walking over 21,000 steps that day, were ready for some solid rest and sleep.

The next day was Rock & Roll Hall of Fame day, and unlike Cedar Point, the commute to the HoF was about 1 mile.  We got there right as they opened and spent the entire day there. As soon as you walk in, you see Trabants hanging from the ceiling which were part of the stage props and lights for the massive ZOO TV Tour that U2 did back in 1992-93, which I saw in St. Louis in ’92, just before riding a roller coaster the previous time. We got our tickets and headed downstairs to the widest and biggest part of the triangular shaped building.

Once there, we just started going through the exhibits that were most interesting to us, so that meant having to skip some things but still getting to see all the stuff, just not on the level of deeply experiencing all of it due to time. The main two things I wanted to see were the U2 exhibit and the RUSH exhibit. I got the former but not the latter, as they just took the Rush exhibit down to make room for the 2014 inductees. GRRRRRR. . .

Well, once I found that out, I had my moment of major disappointment and just moved on. There were lots of other great things about the HoF, like the massive Jimi Hendrix exhibit and the Gallery Talk done on him that we took time to listen to and ask our guide questions about. Tons of great memorabilia, and several things from concert tours I have seen like stage costumes from the PopMart Tour that U2 did in ’97, lights from the stage of the ’89 Steel Wheels Tour that the Rolling Stones did that I saw in Birmingham, AL, instruments from bands like REO Speedwagon, AC/DC, Van Halen, KISS and others that I fondly remembered. There were lots of listening stations that you could put on headphones at and get more info about favorite artists, as well as several short films spread out all over the building that you could watch on various topics. I could go on and on here, but instead, I will let the pictures I took tell the story, because I took A LOT. So if you want the visual record of our time from the Hall of Fame, go here and check out my photos.

I hope to go back someday when I know that there is a good sized Rush exhibit, and I hope to return to Cleveland at some point too, whether for that reason or others, because that is a city on the move and we were impressed with it, in all ways. They are embracing the 21st century and changing from an old factory town to a modern city, while still caring about old architecture etc. that has been around for so long. It was a brief but great visit.

This is a great long weekend get a way destination for anyone interested in music or the world’s best amusement park, but Cleveland has so much more than that to do—something for everyone from what I could tell in finding out other area attractions.

Solo Light is so so right

Recently I came across a piece of gear that was so so right for me. The Gruv Gear Solo Lite cart. I found it online after seeing an ad for it in a guitar magazine and knew right away I had to have one. Primarily, to save my back from hauling a lot of gear in and out of church when I am on the worship team, but also to save time in that same laborious and tiresome task.

I placed my order through the Gruv Gear site and had to wait a while since they were on back order, but once it came in, it has been a glorious addition to my gear and I have really enjoyed using it. As you can see in the photos above, I can have 2 complete guitar rigs loaded on here and easily be able to haul away. It has a weight limit of 350 lbs., so in reality I could get another combo amp on here and other gear and still have a lot of weight to spare. What you see above is typically the amount of instruments etc. that I am using it for.

What I like about this cart so much is the light weight of it and compactness of it when not in use. It is made well and it is very smooth when I am pulling gear on it. Basically, it does its job very well. So if you are tired of making multiple trips to the car to load and unload your gear, and you are wanting to save your back from lots of unnecessary lifting and work, I would highly recommend the Solo Lite cart. There are other models too, most if not all bigger than this one so you could load up even more of your gear on it!

BTO 12-Fret

So my last post was about the night I got my 12-Fret, which was the Taylor Road Show, at World Music Nashville. Now I thought I would go into more of the story about the guitar itself.

Taylor’s 12-fret model has only been around a few years, but it’s based on their very popular Grand Concert model. It has the same body, headstock and everything else, it’s just that the neck joins the body at the 12th fret instead of the usual 14th fret. What this does is push the sound hole farther into the body of the guitar and adjusts the positioning of the internal bracing as well, and those changes produce a really HUGE sound for such a small bodied guitar.

Since playing one for the first time in 2009 at either a Road Show or Summer NAMM, I have wanted one, and I remember Kristi saying to me “if you want to get one of those, I am all for it.” She loves all things tiny. Even guitars. I liked everything about it right off, but I didn’t want a standard model, because it has the same woods as another acoustic of mine, and I wanted different woods on this one, so it would give me yet another sound guitar wise. Since 2009 I have been on a quest. It’s been an ongoing education about tone woods, especially on small bodied grand concert model guitars, and back in the late spring of 2011 I finally started getting some quotes on a BTO 12-fret. I spec’d out three different builds on the 8 page PDF form from World Music Nashville, where they have multiple options available for every part of the guitar. You literally go down the list and check off the things you want, like types of wood for the top, back and sides, as well as all the appointments like fretboard inlays, binding, rosettes, finish, headstock, body shape and then turn it into a dealer to get pricing.

Sometimes it’s fun living in a fantasy world, and apparently that is what I was in on those first 3 builds I spec’d out. They were WAY too expensive. In a month though, Summer NAMM was rolling around and once it did, I saw and played a Grand Concert with a Sinker Redwood top and Grafted Walnut back and sides. Those were two of the woods I had spec’d on those first PDF forms, and I stayed in the Taylor room for a long time playing that guitar, and a standard 12-Fret model. That day solidified two things. I for sure wanted the 12-Fret version of a Grand Concert, and I for sure wanted Sinker Redwood for my top. But I didn’t want a walnut back and sides, so I went back to the drawing board so to speak (PDF form) and took one of my builds and swapped out Macassar Ebony for AA grade Indian Rosewood. That one switch dramatically reduced the price, to the point where I could afford it.

We turned in the order on August 28 and I emailed my friend Barney at Taylor to let him know it was done. He kindly said he would pick out my woods for me, and I sent him some photos of other BTO guitars with Sinker Redwood tops I liked a lot so he could try to find me one with similar characteristics. I then emailed another friend at Taylor who is the Sr. Art Director there and told him about it and like Barney, he did something amazing for me too. He said that he would make sure some photos were taken along the build process for me and that he would send them to me once they were done. WOW!! It pays to have friends in the right places!!

Fast forward to the day of the Road Show, and my guitar arrives, at the perfect time. When I got to the store, the whole staff was super pumped for me and the owner took it out of the box that afternoon and gave it a quick glance to make sure all was well. Larry the owner of the store brought it out and it was love at first sight when I opened the case. The woods were perfect aesthetically and all the details I had spec’d out were there. It sounded amazing too and played like a Taylor plays—so smooth and easy. I was thrilled with the results and could not be happier with the whole BTO process. The marketing director there at the store took some photos of me with my guitar and everyone kept going on about how beautiful it was and how excited they were for me. They just went all out for me, and really made that a special event, and a special evening for me.

So there you have it. The story of the 12-fret. Here are the specs on the guitar.

Body: 12-Fret Grand Concert with slotted headstock, no cutaway

Top Wood: Sinker Redwood

Back & Sides Wood: AA Indian Rosewood

Neck Wood: Mahogany

Fretboard and bridge Wood: Ebony

Perfling: White fiber B/W/B, W/W/B

Binding (everywhere on body edge and sound hole)—headstock, backstrap and heelcap: AA Indian Rosewood

Rosette: Single Ring Abalone

Fretboard Inlay: Large engraved diamonds

Electronics: Taylor Expression System

Tuners: Taylor slot head tuners

If you want to see photos of the build process, go here and check them out. Thanks for reading!

Stay tuned . . .

A chance to jam at Summer NAMM

Last week was Summer NAMM, the annual (smaller) trade show for musical instruments that comes to Nashville every summer. This is something I look forward to every summer now that I can usually get a pass from some friends that are members of NAMM. They were also able to get a pass for my friend Paul Bogart, shown in one of the photos above. I wanted to introduce Paul to some people I know at Taylor Guitars, since he plays their guitars, and has an amazing story of how they helped Paul after his home was flooded in May of 2010.

I met Paul down at the convention center, and we went into the Taylor room and I introduced him to the guys that I know there, and he got hooked up with Tim Godwin, the new artist relations director, and as far as I could tell, they had a good chat. Paul and I hung out in there a while, talking with various Taylor employees, and playing some really cool guitars. I found a BTO Grand Concert that I got pretty excited about, because it is dangerously close to a guitar I want to do a BTO order on for myself, so I played it for a while. There were other BTO guitars throughout the room that we both played, as well as many stellar standard models that Taylor makes.

We also roamed the main floor of the show, and once out there, discovered that once again, several companies I wanted to see exhibit at the show didn’t even come, and others that were there that I was looking forward to seeing had such tiny booths, that there was nothing worth really stopping for. We did see some super cool electrics in the Larriveé booth, and one is above, which has a spalted maple top. I LOVE spalted maple and hope that at some point in my life, I have an electric with a spalted maple top on it. I think it is the coolest looking wood, but it is quite hard to come by, so you have to wait until someone has a limited edition model with it on there to have a chance.

There were also some nice acoustics at the Breedlove booth, and Fishman had their new Loudbox Mini and Loudbox Artist acoustic amps there that sounded really good. There may be a Loudbox Mini in my future.

Thursday night my friend Barney who works at Taylor and I went to dinner at Margot Cafe, which was amazing. We had a great time and a great dinner and talked about all kinds of stuff other than guitars. It was a nice way to cap off a long day for both of us. I have met upwards of a dozen people who work at Taylor Guitars now, and can honestly say that every one of them have been incredibly nice and professional. Not a lemon in the bunch. That company knows what they are doing as far as hiring great, and personable people. They get it.

Well, Paul and I both came back on Friday and jammed some more in the Taylor room on some awesome guitars, hung out with my peeps in there, and then we went on a mission to find him a road case for a mixing board of his, which proved to be unsuccessful at the show. I suppose his search on that continues. Overall, the time in the Taylor room was a blast, and I was glad to get to hang with Paul that much, and playing some killer guitars. I was disappointed at the no shows or lack of decent booth space and design from many other companies I have interests in, but oh well. Chalk that up to the expense of exhibiting here vs. the payoff in a still fragile economy. Still, I am grateful for the chance to go and continue building on relationships I have with people in that industry.

If you want to see more picts, drop me a line or comment and I can send you more jpegs.

25th 513, part 2

As I have said before in my posts about guitars, every one has a story. This one has two parts. Part 1 started way back in the fall of 2009 when I was at the Experience PRS event at the factory in Stevensville, MD. They were debuting a whole line of 25th anniversary guitars at that event, that would come out in 2010. I got to play a 25th Anniversary 513, in charcoal burst at that event and really liked it. Fast forward some to the same event last fall, and the announcement came that at the end of the year, no more 25th anniversary guitars would be made, and that prompted me to go out and revisit the idea of getting a 25th 513, since my window of opportunity was slipping away.

After a LENGTHY, nationwide search of the exact color I was looking for, I found one at Wild West Guitars, in California. I found one that actually had a quilt maple top, which is fairly rare for a PRS guitar, so I bought it and received it in December of 2010, literally days after the factory stopped making the anniversary run of guitars. I got the guitar home, opened it up and was excited to have it. But then life smacked us up beside the head right after that, and to make a longer story short, I sent the guitar back, because more pressing and more important things demanded our funds that I had allocated towards that PRS 513. So, now onto part 2.

Part 2 picks up in late January of this year when all those more important things were taken care of and purchased etc. Once I realized that those expenses were not as detrimental to our situation as we originally thought, I revisited the idea of getting a 513 but of course by that time had sent the one I had back and had our refund in tact. That guitar already had a hold on it so once again, I picked my search back up. I started with the dealers that had informed me that they’d gotten the guitar in that I was asking for way back in November/December when that initial search took place, and they were all gone. I double checked with PRS and they for sure were not taking orders anymore so my only chance to score another charcoal burst 25th 513 was to luck up on one at a dealer.

Our local Guitar Center had one in fact, and after going to check it out in person, I liked it of course for its playability, but there was an issue on the top that I had not cared for (I am SUPER picky about guitar tops—esp. PRS tops) and then it also had a series of deep gouges on the bottom of it where some idiot with a wallet chain or some other pocket attached device (maybe even his keys) had scratched it all up. They said they’d give me a great deal, but since it already had something on the top that I didn’t like, I decided to pass and continue online. The great thing about PRS guitars, is that they are so consistent, that you can order one without being there to play it, and know it will be set up perfectly, and sound perfectly too.

Well, a few weeks later I was surfing some sites and saw exactly what I had been looking for, at Willcutt Guitars up in KY, who happens to be the #1 PRS DEALER IN THE WORLD. I had been there before, back in 2009 to a Road Show that you can read about here. Once I saw this 513, that you see in the photos above, I immediately called about it and put it on hold, and then talked it over with Kristi. I then put a deposit on it and just started monthly payments on it until I got it shipped to me a few weeks ago. This one does not have a quilt maple top, but instead is a flamed maple top (10 top of course) which are most of what PRS puts on their guitars. So ever since then, I have been enjoying my new guitar and playing it as much as possible. The guy at Wilcutt was super nice, as was the guy at Wild West I worked with for the first one, so I have had 2 great experiences with 2 different dealers about this same guitar model. Hopefully life won’t smack us in the head again anytime soon, because at this point, I am sure that Wilcutt would not take this one back. I have played it so much I already need to change the strings!

CryBaby Documentary Part Four

CryBaby Documentary Part Two

Winter NAMM 2011

Last month, I got to do something I have never done before—I got to experience Winter NAMM. For those of you that don’t know what NAMM is, it stands for Nat’l Assoc. of Music Merchants, and it’s the world’s biggest trade show for the musical instrument industry, and there are two NAMM events each year. The big one is in Anaheim, where I was in the photo above. Summer NAMM, which is about 20% the size and scale of the winter show, is held here in Music City.

As mentioned in the post about The Four Seasons Guitars, I was there to check out the results of our design and illustration work in person, thinking that this may be my only shot to ever see them up close. I flew in to Anaheim the night before the show opened, and was shuttled to my tiny box of a hotel room about a mile away from the Anaheim Convention Center. You’ll see shots of my room in the photos at the link below, should you want to see them. The show goes on for 4 days, and I was only there for the first 2 days, so I sat in my room and planned out where I was going to go when each day, so I had an efficient plan given my limited time there. That place is so gigantic, there is no way—NO WAY—to see all of it in 4 days, and not be doing it OJ Simpson style, running the whole time.

Thursday morning I started out at the McPherson Guitars booth, and met our contact there for the first time in person, as well as the other McPherson employees there. Then I was shown our guitars, and was thrilled to see and hold them in person. The photo above has me holding the “fall” guitar, which of the 4, is our favorite. After hanging there the first hour or so of the show, I popped by a few other booths to see their stuff, one of which is Tom Anderson, whose guitars I really like even though I do not own any.

Next up was going to see my friends at Taylor Guitars, one of my favorite guitar makers, because the man himself, Bob Taylor, was signing copies of his brand new book, Guitar Lessons, and I wanted to get a signed copy for me and my friend Paul Bogart, being a Taylor Guitars player. I have met and had my picture taken with Bob Taylor on two other occasions, here in Nashville at Summer NAMM, and the guy could not be nicer and more pleasant to talk to. He has also answered two questions of mine in his Q&A column in their in-house magazine, Wood&Steel—one of which was asking about if they would ever make a double cutaway guitar. Guess what their big electric news was at the show. Yep, double cutaway electrics. I‘m taking an ounce of credit on that to get the ball rollling, even though it was 2 years ago. I’m just sayin’.

While at the Taylor room, I caught up with Sr. Art Director Cory Sheehan who I have known for a few years now, and saw my friends/salesmen Barney Hill and Aaron Dablow for a very brief hello. After hanging there for a while taking shots and catching part of the set from Plain White Ts, I mosied (sp?) on, checking out other companies’ booths that I wanted to see, like Paul Reed Smith Guitars, another favorite of mine, as well as others like Vox, Tascam, Orange, Warwick, Markbass, VooDoo Labs, Dunlop, Fender and Hartke, where I saw one of my all time favorite bass players, Billy Sheehan doing a demo clinic on a new amp.

Later on in the day I went to the PRS Studio room, where I saw some performances of some PRS artists, and see part of a clinic on recording like I saw back in September at Experience PRS 2010. I ended Thursday back in the Taylor room to catch Doyle Dykes play, who I have never seen live. He is a godly and talented man, and did an amazing job of playing, but also putting the gospel out there for anyone and everyone to hear. He had his daughter Haley with him and David Pack, formerly of Ambrosia who came out to do some tunes with Doyle. It was a great and uplifting way to end day one.

Day two found me starting the day at the Breedlove booth, then heading back to McPherson to play some guitars, and I stayed there an hour or so, just hanging and playing guitars, one of which is their new 12-string, which was one of the nicest sounding and playing 12-strings I have ever heard or played in my entire life, and I have played several. Even owned 4 over time, so I am a fan of 12-strings. There were others I played as well with exotic woods and incredible appointments on them, and I had to get some more photos of The Four Seasons guitars before saying goodbye to the McPherson team, and thanking them again for hiring us for that project. Lord willing, we will get more work from them in the future.

Other highlights of Friday were the hour long press conference at the PRS booth, where I saw tons of artists gathered for the 2011 product announcement. Just some of the artists I saw were Ricky Skaggs, Cody Kilby, Tony McManus, Brad Whitford from Aerosmith, Dweezil Zappa, Miles Kennedy of Alter Bridge, David Grissom, Warren Haynes, Howard Leese and Davy Knowles. That was a treat to be a part of—being feet away from that epic of a group of guitar players was pretty cool. I also checked out some other companies’ booths that I like and have gear from, like Boss, Elixir, Levy’s, Fishman, Digitech and I went back for a 2nd visit to a few that I was rushed in the day before.

After hitting the PRS studio again for more performances, including a killer jam with David Grissom and Davy Knowles, I ended day two in the same place I ended day one—Taylor Guitars. This time it was to see a band I have liked for more than 20 years—Night Ranger. They were such a blast to see, and ROCKED the Taylor room in a big, big way. After they were done, and the crowd emptied out of the packed room, I hung out for a bit with Barney and Cory and played a few guitars, and then poured myself into a booth at a local restaurant to sit and unwind.

It was a fast and exhausting trip (for my feet) but I was so glad I went, and I hope that McPherson hires us for more design work, so we can continue that relationship with them. If you want to check out all the photos, put on a pot of coffee and check them out here.

Stay tuned . . .

CryBaby Documentary Part One

The Four Seasons guitars

I know I said when I started BLAH BLAH BLOG a few years ago, that one of the things that would not be discussed on it would be work. This will most likely be the only exception to that.

What you see above are the results of a work project that we had in our office a while back. We were hired by McPherson Guitars, out of Sparta, WI to design and illustrate four different tree inlays for a very special series of guitars called The Four Seasons. These guitars were going to be very expensive, and very exclusive. Only 4 will ever be made in this series, since each guitar is a different season of the year.

We got a sample guitar in and a template to scale of the guitar fretboard, so we would know exactly where the frets are, so we knew where not to do anything critical as far as the inlay design. The project called for 4 different designs, with the only common thing that they start at the same location (where the body meets the fretboard) and they end about the same location (third fret). Kristi LOVES trees, and loves to draw them, so this was a job made for her.

She did some sketches of each tree and we sent them to McPherson for approval. Two got approved right away, and two needed some changes. After a bit of back and forth discussion and revisions, we were done and sent them hi-res art of the trees, that were just black shapes, because the inlay artists there at McPherson would be the ones deciding the materials and colors of all the inlays.

Months and months went by before we finally got some photos of the guitars and we were so excited to finally see the results. The woods used and the materials in the fretboard inlays are top notch, and they should be since each guitar in the series costs $30,000.00. If it makes you feel any better, they are giving a deal to anyone interested in buying all four—you get a discount of $20,000.00, therefore the set only costs you $100,000.00! Bargain! Plus, each guitar comes with its own custom display case.

Last month, I went to Anaheim, CA for the 2011 Winter NAMM show, where I got to see the guitars in person. I was thrilled to finally see and hold in my hands the fruit of our labor and I was amazed. That is for another post though, since I have about 20 photos of these guitars and 200 more of other stuff I saw. For more information on these guitars, as well as a few more photos of the backs and sides, go to the website (link above) and look for the “limited edition guitars” part in the menu, and you will find them quickly.

Experience PRS 2010

For the third year in a row, I recently got to attend the Experience PRS event at PRS Guitars in Stevensville, MD. In case you are not familiar with this event, basically it is an open house for guitar geeks, who flock there from all over the world, to check out new products, see artists perform, buy guitars and amps, and see clinics and seminars put on by artists and PRS staff.

Instead of me usually flying by myself or with a friend to the event, Kristi and I drove, and then split up so I could attend the event and she could spend time with her sister and brother-in-law. I stayed at the O’Callaghan Hotel in the historic district of Annapolis, MD which is the closest town to Stevensville, and where a few of the PRS hotels are for the event. After I checked in, I rested for a bit and took a walk in the area to see the historic area of town, that I had not been to in several years, and while on my walk, found the location of the original PRS Guitars shop, which is now a tavern. I had an amazing dinner and Smoked Margarita at a restuarant called Level. Yep, smoked Margarita. Even the salt was smoked. It was amazing.

The next 2 days were long and filled with guitar and amp debuts for 2011, concerts, seminars, clinics, and mingling with 2200 other guitar geeks that were there. I met several new people and hung out a bit with a local PRS dealer who was there. There were no official, guided factory tours this year, but it was open for attendees to check out anytime they wanted. Highlights for me were meeting and talking with Doug Sewell, the creator/designer of the PRS amps, as well as the Signature Club master classes held by Howard Leese, David Grissom and Davy Knowles, that I got to attend the first half of day one. And as usual, I enjoyed the new products being introduced at the show. I didn’t make any purchases at the show, but I have my eyes on a few things for the future . . .

I hope to be able to go again this year, should they have one. 2011 will mark the 5th year of doing the event, and that would make 4 out of 5 for me if I get to go. The photos above are random shots I took over the weekend of guitars and amps, just to give you a glimpse into what I saw. If you want to see the photos of Experience PRS 2010, as well as some other shots of historic Annapolis, go here. As always, thanks for reading.

Stay tuned for more.

Looking forward to these guitar lessons

Andy Timmons clinic-World Music Nashville

Recently I attended a Mesa Boogie amplifier clinic at World Music Nashville, featuring guitar great Andy Timmons. I had only seen Andy in various guitar magazines prior to this event, and since I had never seen him live or bought any of his music, only knew him to be a great player and a sort of shredder kind of guy, though with mad skills, vs. some dude playing 1000 notes a minute just to make noise and be a show off.

I like Mesa Boogie amps, so I was interested in hearing Andy play through those as well, so for me, this was a bonus night. Hear a great player though great amps, for FREE. Turns out that not only did I get that, but I got a great night of entertainment as well, by a man who for sure has mad skills as a guitarist, but is also hilarious and very personable. I thoroughly enjoyed his comments, stories and answers to questions from the crowd during the evening. He’s not one of these just stand there and park it kind of guys when he plays—Andy is ALL OVER THE STAGE—making the “guitar faces” (as seen in a few photos above) and really getting into it. That’s fine—not me persay—but fine. Then again, this guy is 1,000 leagues my superior in the guitar world on his worst day, 25 years ago.

After his playing was done for the most part, the area rep for Mesa Boogie got up and talked more about the amps and they did some Q&A from the crowd before giving some stuff away. I won a Boogie cap and keychain, and then bought one of Andy’s albums and had him sign it. Again, very personable, and courteous to EVERYONE there. A funny and all around good guy—someone you want to like in that business—as opposed to the cocky ego driven (insert favorite expletives here _________) types that I have come across from time to time.

So, if you are into harder rock kind of instrumental guitar music, as I enjoy, then do yourself a favor and check him out. The album of his that I bought was Resolution, and I really like it. If you do give him a try and like his playing, drop me a line and let me know. Maybe the next time he comes to World Music for a clinic, we can go check him out. Good times.

Taylor Road Show-Mary’s Music

A few months back, we attended another Taylor Guitars Road Show, up in Clarksville, TN at Mary’s Music. Our friend and Taylor salesman Barney Hill was putting on the show, with another friend and guitarist extraordinaire, Marc Seal, doing product demos. There were some great guitars there, one of which is the new Jason Mraz signature model that I am playing here in the photos. Kristi approves of me getting a Jason Mraz model, but for me, the new 12-fret that I have decided is my next acoustic when the time is right. There were several nice electrics on hand too, and one of them was a 35th Anniversary T-3 that Marc wanted to take home if unsold at the end of the Road Show tour. I’ll have to ask him if he in fact does own it now.

Barney did a great job as usual and kept the small but very interested crowd highly entertained and informed with his presentation, and Marc did a great job as usual with playing the guitars in demo mode, and in his own performances of some of his songs, one of which he played by request for Kristi.

We got the privilege of spending time with Barney, Marc, and John Cox, the manager of Mary’s Music after the road show, and went to dinner with all of them. That was so much fun and a great way to just continue building relationships with them. They are all so incredibly nice and personable. Plus, they’re just too fun to be around.

After dinner, Kristi and I drove the hour long trek back home and talked about the show and the good times we had, and looked forward to the next one whenever there was a Road Show close by. If you are into guitars, and like Taylors, I highly recommend going to one of these. They are a blast to go to, even for me, who has been to a half dozen or so now. It never gets old.

Coming this February . . .

Taylor Guitars Factory Tour

Back in April, while we were visiting family in San Diego, Kristi and I got a chance to tour the Taylor Guitars factory in nearby El Cajon, California. For her it was the first time, but for me, it was my second tour, the first of which was a few years ago when we were out there for another family visit. To see the photos from that first factory tour I went on, go here.

I had made arrangements in advance to be there on the day that Martin Cenoz was doing the factory tour. He is the gentleman I am pictured with above. Martin was my tour guide a few years ago and he was amazing, and there was no way I was going to be on someone else’s tour unless he was out of town.

But even prior to the tour, we got to meet up with Aaron Dablow, one of the Taylor sales reps that I have known for a few years, who is partly responsible for me getting this. Aaron is a great guy and it has been a blast hanging out with him at Road Shows, Summer NAMM and here at the Taylor factory. We met up in the lobby where the Taylorware stuff is, and then he took us through the building to show us a few sweet BTO guitars in production, and we headed to a local mexican restaurant that he likes to frequent. Great food and conversation was had by all, and we were amazed that we even got to do that, and were grateful that he wanted to hang with us and spend some time together.

Once back at the office, it was tour time, and we met up with Martin and the rest of the people attending the tour that day. It was so great to see Martin and he was very kind to me and Kristi in pointing out that we were award winning designers from TN, who were there on their second tour. Along the way as he was talking to the whole group, he would single us out and ask us something or share a bit of info about me to the group. Just making it personal and special for us, which was so fun. He treated us like celebrities on that tour, and we had a blast. Kristi really enjoyed it and learned a ton, as well as liking Martin right off. Who couldn’t? You can view the photos from this second tour of the factory here.

Then, as if that was not enough, our day at Taylor continued, with Cory Sheehan coming down to meet us and spend some time with us after the tour. Cory is Senior Art Director there at Taylor, and we met a few years ago at Summer NAMM here in Nashville after I set up a meeting with him to show our portfolio. We were hoping for opportunities to do some design work for Taylor. Still hoping . . .

Given the size of our tour, Martin couldn’t take us everywhere that smaller groups get to go, so Cory took us back to those places, like the inlay room where the rosettes are done, and a few other small areas that a large group could not pack into. Then he took us to the Taylor University room, where they bring in dealers and do training and seminars on new instruments, customer service, repair work—anything Taylor related. This was super cool, because the usual factory tour people do not get to see this at all. This is when it pays to know someone, and we were grateful he wanted to take us there. In this room, there were tons of guitars hanging on the walls. All of their electric models were represented, as well as several acoustic models, and even some BTO examples. Then there was a yet to be released model that I will not speak of here. You’ll just have to find it on your own in the photos. But don’t tell anyone!

The room also had lots of amps for demo purposes and other gear that they take to trade shows. We got to hang with Cory a good hour or so, and it was a great time. I really wanted he and Kristi to meet and hit it off, which I think they did, because I am still hoping that Taylor would be interested in hiring us for some design and illustration work at some point. Still hoping . . .

Even if they don’t, it will not change our minds about our favorite guitar company. Between Aaron, Martin and Cory, we were treated like royalty to a very special day at Taylor. And for someone that is not famous, not a well known, hot shot guitar player, that was incredibly special, and a day I will remember for the rest of my life. Yeah, for the guitars and cool stuff we saw, but moreso about how they value and take care of their customers. In my opinion, in the musical instrument industry, no one can even come close to Taylor in that department. Their customers are special to them and it is very obvious to see. You can see it in their company and in the offices and it is part of every person that works there.

Many thanks to Aaron, Martin and Cory for a special day. I have no idea when I/we will ever be in San Diego again with a chance to do the tour, but if that day never comes, at least we have this day to look back on and remember.

Bassed on the need for change

This post is long overdue when I consider how long I have had this “new” bass of mine. It was spring time last year when actually that I sold my Fender Jazz Bass. I had gotten to the point of being dissatisfied with that bass and the sound that it had, or lack thereof, on the G string when I would play any high note there. It was as if my volume was cut by 2/3 everytime I played that string. Also, being a 24 fret bass, that was quite the trip to the first fret for my left hand, and after a series of weeks where I had lots of rehearsals and services at church as well as playing at some jam sessions with friends, I felt it was time to get something shorter.

So, the search for a new bass kicked in, and much like I did before, looked at some basses online and then went to play some around town. Some I instantly didn’t like but one I LOVED which was a Warwick Corvette $$ (the $$ being a reference for the two humbucker pickups). I played one at our local Guitar Center which had a swamp ash body and no color to the top at all—a natural look. Well, I loved the bass right away because it had much more thump and sound to it all over the fretboard, even on the G string, so that disappearing sound problem was immediately solved. The bass is a 22 fret bass so it is a shorter scale and not quite the reach that my other one was, thus solving the far reaching problem. The Ovangkol neck on this bass was amazing and it was so fun and comfortable to play, not to mention it was MUCH lighter and more comfy to play sitting on my lap. The only issue I had with it was that I did not like that natural wood look, so I began the quest to see what other colors that they had available. After checking online I noticed that they had bursts which I always prefer, but after seeing existing Corvettes for purchase online, I didn’t like their bursts, so instead I opted for a solid color.

After pondering the solid color choices they had, I decided on G Orange, in a high polish stain, which I thought would look great and be unique. I started emailing other Guitar Center stores as well as other Warwick dealers and long story short, no one had a Corvette $$ in that color, so I opted to order one through a store in IL that gave me an amazing price on the bass.

This is the point where the story stops being fun. Atleast for a bit. Though it was supposed to be here in 6 weeks, it actually took 12 weeks to arrive and when it did, all the standard black hardware on the bass was GOLD. I LOATHE GOLD HARDWARE on guitars, so I immediately called the store and told the problem to them. The bass went back to KY where the Warwick distribution hub is for the US, and we awaited the arrival of the Black hardware kit from Germany. Sadly, the geniuses there didn’t think to express the hardware, but instead they put it on a boat to cross the ocean with tons of instruments and it took WEEKS to get here, plus another 2 weeks before I got it back. Not my dealers fault—he was fabulous throughout the whole ordeal, but just people on the other end of the chain that have no clue about how to take care of customers.

Well, I got the bass back and all was well with the proper color hardware on it, and I have been enjoying it a lot ever since. It plays great, feels great, sounds great and looks great—thus all my criteria have been met! It was a long and wild ride to get it here and get it right, but it is a great bass that I will enjoy for a long time. Or, until something else comes along that grabs a hold of me and won’t let go, and I’ll find myself here once again writing another post, bassed on the need for change.

Taylor Road Show-World Music Nashville

My favorite guitar company rolled into town again last night for a Road Show, and I had a front row seat with my friend Mark, for what was a super fun evening of hearing some great music and playing some great guitars. As usual, the great staff at World Music Nashville hosted a fun event and had the store stocked with drinks and food for the guests, which was a “treat” as well.

Barney Hill, the Taylor sales rep for TN and a few other states, did the presentation, along with guitar great Marc Seal doing all the product demos. I met Barney last year at the Road Show that he did along with Andy Lund, which I wrote about here, and I met Marc a few years ago at the Fret Shop in Huntsville, AL at another Road Show, when I bought my Builder’s Reserve SolidBody, which I wrote about here. They also had Sam Eakins with them, who is a factory trained Taylor tech, and I had him check out one of my guitars and do a bit of work on it during the show. Sam was great to talk to and incredibly knowledgeable.

I arrived early to hang out with them and help unload and set up, but also to get a sneak peek at anything that they had with them that I could not live another day without. That wound up not being the case, but I still had a great time with the guys, and enjoyed some Starbucks with Marc while we chatted about the possibility of working together at some point in the future. Marc, Barney and Sam (and everyone else affiliated with Taylor) are some of the nicest guys I have ever met in the musical instrument business and it was such a fun night being around them.

The show itself was great as always, as they conducted it in the usual way with the first half of the show talking about acoustics and the second half being about electrics. Along the way they talked about body shapes, woods, innovation and manufacturing techniques, and some special limited edition guitars that they brought with them. Between the two halves of the show was the “petting zoo” which allows us to go up and play any guitar present and my friend and I took full advantage of that. I personally played a 35th Anniversary T3, a new BTO 8 string Baritone, an all mahogany BTO Grand Concert, a BTO Grand Symphony, several SolidBody electrics, one with a tremolo that I was very interested in playing to see if that is going to be my next guitar, and a few 12 strings as well. Lots of cool guitars to choose from.

Once the show was over, I stuck around and played guitars for another 35-40 minutes and then had the pleasure of going out for a late dinner with Barnie, Marc and Sam to Blackstone, where we had a blast talking about guitars, our favorite music stores, bands, travelling, and life in general. They really are sincere people that enjoy spending time with customers and you are never looked upon or treated as someone that is “just a sale.” It was a late night, but a great night, and I am very thankful for their generosity to me and allowing me to hang with them.

There is another Road Show in Clarksville in a few months with the same crew, and I plan on being there to enjoy another great night of music and guitars. Although I won’t be able to recommend a restaurant for dinner . . .

The old rig

After a long time of combing the internet and other sources for the last piece to replicating my original guitar rig, it is finally done. If you are into guitars, you may recall from a post last year, that I was able to buy a Fender Harvard amp like the one I previously owned from a music store in Colorado, and of course I have always had my original guitar, my Aria Pro II LP copy. What I didn’t talk much about before were my pedals.

I only had 2 pedals for the first 20+ years of playing electric guitar, and for part of that 20+ years, I didn’t play at all, and didn’t have my 2 pedals anymore due to me literally wearing them out to the point of them not working anymore. Instead of getting them fixed, I threw them away like an idiot and for the last several years have really regretted it. About 4 years ago I bought one of them, a ProCo Rat distortion pedal, which was a direct reissue of the one I had. The one missing piece was finding an old D.O.D. 575 Flanger and recently someone was cleaning house of some vintage pedals on eBay and I snatched it up.

I was so excited to see one pop up on eBay, because it is not a pedal that regularly shows up on there, and not only that, but this one was in mint condition and had the AC adapter to it, which I never owned back in the day. I don’t think . . .

Well, as you can see by the photo above, the old rig is now complete and it is quite fun to have all the old stuff back in my collection again. I’m really not into the vintage gear scene that much at all, except for the gear that I used to own, which has a lot of sentimental value to it. One day I may want to try to score a 1976 Bicentennial edition Gibson Explorer, but that is for another day, and another post.

If you have any vintage gear stories of your own, please drop me a line and let me know what they are!