NGD: 1935 Gibson L-12

Without pickguard, as arrived.

So, I find myself in the market for a serious vintage acoustic archtop, and I've been cyberstalking every pre-war Gibson or Epiphone on the internet for weeks. Nothing wrong with my Eastman (quite the contrary, it's been providing a benchmark many of the vintage axes I play fail to meet), but it's time (financially and logistically) to invest in a serious, real-deal vintage guitar. 

Now I've been at a loss for what exactly I want in such a guitar, other than it being something truly special sounding. Does that mean 16" or 17"? Parallel- or X-braced? Gibson or Epiphone? I'm not 100% sure. It has to be something really open and resonant - something that speaks to me. 

I was focused mostly on a 16" Gibson L-5, because several of the best guitars I've ever played have been 20's L-5's. However, I was also open to something like a 30's Walnut-backed Epiphone Broadway, because those can be really cannons, and even open to something like an Epiphone Deluxe or Emperor. I also didn't want to exclude a 30's advanced 17" Gibsons, because not having played very many, I couldn't really say if it was something I wold dig or not. 

I'd been watching everything online very carefully, and was pretty pissed when I saw a great looking 16" L5 get sold in a matter a couple days after listing from a music store in Kansas, and every other 16" L5 was either refinished, renecked, or had a replacement fingerboard, or was a signed Lloyd Loar and this absurdly expensive. Now, while a guitar with major work, or a refin, or whatever could still be awesome sound if done right, but since I couldn't play it first, I was reluctant to drop $8k-$10k even if there was a trial period. I even found a local walnut-backed Broadway, but it would've needed at least a refret, if not a full neck reset. Although it was comparably affordable, I was worried about the guitar being a money pit. 

Well, I was watching an ebay listing for a 1935 Gibson L-12, which is a 17" advanced, X-braced guitar. The guitar had fail to sell once because the reserve was not met. On the second go-around, there was little to no attention being paid to the guitar and the price was very low. The thing that struck me the most was the ridiculous playwear on the back of the neck - clearly that guitar had been played a lot, and for decades. I watched the auction during dinner on my phone, and managed to snipe it manually for below what the previous auction had ended at, and a good $500-$1000 under value. I was a little hesitant to buy the guitar without having played it, but there was a 24-hour return period, and at worst, I'd be out the shipping. 

Well, it arrived today, and the first thing I noticed was how light the package was. Turns out the play wear was only one of the telltale signs of a great acoustic archtop, this guitar was super light too. Awesome. I was so excited I un-boxed in my mailbox place. I put the bridge on, and slowly brought the strings up to tension, and was immediately pleasantly surprised. I brought it home, futzed with the bridge placement slightly, and was greated by an amazingly open, resonant, singing guitar - every bit what a pre-war, X-braced 17" archtop should be. Check out the back of the neck:

I was taking a webcam video to show a friend, and just decided to a full review and playing demo on it. So check it out. 

Since recording the video, I learned that this guitar definitely has a maple neck. I thought mahogany necks were one of the features separating L5's from the lesser L-12 and L-7, but that only turns out to be true of 16", pre-advanced models. However, there are mahogany examples of 17" L7's and L12's, but those are less common.

Also, I threw at set of 13's on the guitar and had it set up. Unfortunately, after a couple of days it was crystal clear that it was just not working with 13's on it. Going back to 12's (of course with a 13/18 pair swapped in on top), and the guitar came back to life. The 13's felt and sounded like they were throttling the guitar, and almost over driving the top, rather than making it sing freely. I still believe in using the heaviest strings you can, but I'd add using the heaviest strings that sound good on your guitar. This was clearly a case where 12's were perfectly sufficient to make the top move.

Since this guitar was only a 3rd of what I'd budgeted for my "investment", I have some options. I could trade this toward something like an L5, or I could keep it, and look for something else, like perhaps the more reasonably priced Epiphone line to have something that contrasts the L-12, or who knows. 

I'm just excited to get to play a really open-sounding 80-year-old guitar for right now, and learn as much as I can about the sound of 17" X-braced Gibsons. 

UPDATE: Here's what it looks like with a repro-pickguard from www.archtop.com:

The Internet Archive saves Charlie Christian sites!

Hey, so I like to think of myself as relatively computer savvy, but it never occurred to me to try looking for Gary Hansen's lost Charlie Christian website using the Internet Archive... until this morning. It occurred to me because the other GREAT Charlie Christian website, Leo Valdes's Solo Flight, has now disappeared. 

So, may I present to you... working links for the internet's two best sources of Charlie Christian content, and two sites that were absurldy important for my development as a Swing Guitar player:

Gary Hansen's Charlie Christian Site (via web.archive.org) - featuring many transcriptions in both notes and tab, and lessons on the "geometric" pattern-based playing of Charlie Christian

Leo Valdes's Solo Flight (via web.archive.org) - featuring many transcriptions and other resources, most notable for it's alternative theories on Charlie's fingerings of certain patters. Some of them make perfect sense, others not so much. Still, it's a valueable resource. 

New Gear: National Style 1 Tricone in Vintage Silver

I'm not gonna lie: John Reynolds is my hero. Always has been, probably always will be. 

John Reynolds plays a National. A Tricone National. 

Ever since I had a lesson with John 15 years ago, I've always wanted a National. Even my wife, who is usually against any additions to the guitar colelction, would always agree that I should have one someday. Well, just before Christmas, a bunch of things came together, and I got my wish. 

I had resisted the urge to buy one of the suprisingly decent Republic resonators guitar when they came out a couple years ago, because every time I compared one to a National, there was no question that a real National just had "it", and the Republic was an ok copy, but it wasn't magic the way a National is. I had also decided to wait for a Tricone, specifically a Style 1 (the plainest metal-bodied one), even though I did also enjoy the brasher and louder tone of a Style 0 Single-Cone. John was kind enough to lend me is ~1930 National Style 0 Single-Cone for a gig, which I definitely kept longer than I should have - it was too fun to give back!!!1

Anyway, I just happened to see an ebay listing for a barely used 2012 Style 1, and this one wasn't made of the regular brass, but rather of "German Silver" which is an alloy even closer to the original 20's-30's Nationals. Now, I personally think the National Guitars made in San Luis Obispo in the modern era are easily every bit a great sounding as the original ones (let's face it, metal doesn't age like wood does!), and the standard brass alloy sounds fantastic - but the "German Silver" is even warmer soudning and weighs slightly less (it's still pretty damn heavy, though). 

Though the guitar didn't make it in time to open Christmas morning, once it arrived, I was delighted to find that it was every bit as good as I'd always wanted. Here's a couple videos of me playing it. Enjoy.

"All of Me"

"Blue Skies"

Guitar Volume Knob Positions and Charlie Christian-type Tone

Over at the Just Jazz Guitar boards, there has been an ongoing thread about "Oscar Moore" tone, and I would chime in from time to time on it. Tim Lerch recently posted about his observations on the effect of the guitar volume knob position as it relates to the tone of the amp. He wrote:

"It is my belief that back in the day the players would almost never have the volume knob on their guitars all the way up, they would often run them quite low in the half way up range. This changed the quality of the sound quite a bit allowing them to get a cleaner slightly brighter tone than would result if they had played on full." (See his specific post, and the rest of the thread HERE)

I had noticed something similar, but I always seemed to need my volume knob all the way up to get sufficient stage volume. After seeing someone else observe it, I did some playing, and I tend to agree completely. 

I decided the best way to show you what I was hearing was to make video demoing different volume knob positions. Enjoy.

And here's a bonus clip of me just playing through a bit of "It's Only a Paper Moon":

Gift Guide: Picks (and ruminations on picks and setup)

As the holidays approach and you're looking for something to get the guitar players in your life (or get yourself!), here's some suggestions, along with some thoughts about the sublime, yet somewhat ridiculous, universe of guitar picks.

If you look through online discussion forums, or youtube video reviews, there is a lot time spent discussing picks. On the one hand, the guitar pick itself is an incredibly small part of the equation, and they are essentially fungible, on the other, they can be a very important part of one's tone and playing technique. Just like every other part of one's tone chain, from the strings, to the setup, to one's instrument, to the amplification (if any), they can make all the difference, and yet are often never the magic bullet.

I've spent the better part of 14 years trying to figure out the "perfect" guitar pick for Swing Guitar. At first, when sheer acoustic volume was the top concern, the revelation that was the 5mm Wegen Fatone was such a giant leap over the alternatives (Big Stubby's and the like) that it was like we'd all found the secret. Even John Reynolds was using one and singing it's praises. Over the course of the next 8 or so years, I experimented with all many variations, including Red Bear, the Wegen Button, and even the gigantic 7mm Wegen! Toward the end of that phase I started tapering down, from the 5mm Wegen to the 3.5mm, and eventually to the 2.5mm. My observation at the time was that what the small picks lacked in sheer volume, they made up for in clarity of tone.

Eventually, I found myself in possession of a real tortoise-shell pick, repurposed from an antique of some kind. The quality of tone was significantly different than anything I'd used before, and I recognized it as the perfect blend of clarity and warmth. Of course, since this was a rare thing to have, there weren't "options" as to the thickness or shape, and since it was maybe a 1mm pick at most, it did begin to warp slightly with general use.

At this point I made yet another valuable observation: what sounds or feels best in one context is not necessarily what sounds or feels best in another. I tried using the tortoise pick on gigs, and sometimes it did not have sufficient thickness or stiffness to project in the given situation. Now, perhaps proper monitors would have been better than changing the pick, but we're not always in control of things like that. In cases where I needed to dig in more, I found myself switching picks to something heavier.

By now, I'd slimmed down to the 1.2mm Wegen from the 1.4mm Wegen, and had picked up several faux-tortoise alternatives which I was testing out. But then came yet another revelation: the magic of a proper guitar setup. I've written about this here before, but having my guitar truly and properly set up was life-changing. I had always assumed that very high action was necessary for sufficient acoustic volume and response. Consequently, you might need a thicker pick to wrangle such high strung strings. But, having a guitar that finds the perfect balance between projection and playability, allows one to play with better technique, less effort, and better, purer tone.

This shift again had me re-evaluating picks. I started trying out anything I could, just to see if it would sound good. I noticed fascinating differences between the tones each pick would produce. Even the difference between a standard Fender Heavy to a similarly sized Dunlop of various materials was noticeable if you were listening. Surprisingly, I noticed that the StringsandBeyond.com generic Heavy pick  had a tone that, on my Franken-150, reminded me distinctly of Charlie Christian. Who knew, right? There was just some magic combination of thickness, material and bevel that had a similar character.

But those really are the big three factors determining the tone of a guitar pick: material, thickness and tip shap/bevel. Harder picks, thinner picks, and sharply pointed or beveled picks were all brighter in different ways. Softer, thicker picks with a more rounded tips and bevels were all warmer. However, each factor changed the character in different ways, almost at different frequencies - so dialing in the perfect pick was finding a balance of all the factors, along with finding a pick that felt comfortable in your hand and either bent or didn't bend according to your preferences. When a pick starts to bend, it feels like a flat tire to me - essentially acting as a limiter: no matter how much harder you pick, you get no additional volume. I'm sure somebody out there enjoys the flex of thin or medium pick, but definitely not me. Add to that last point about flexibility, the fact that the final variable is your sound in the room/amplification. If you can't hear yourself well, and the pick is giving in, you will end up picking super hard with nothing to show for it.

After years, here's what I've decided against:

Giant Wegens: I still have one of each in my gear bag, just in case. I'm sure there might be a situation at some point where I might need the big ones to get through the gig, but for normal playing they are too much. Like cranking the action unnecessarily high, they end up just bashing the strings. Also, since they hit so hard, you kind of need higher action to keep them from mashing the strings into the fretboard and buzzing.

Red Bear: The high cost and custom nature of these picks makes them something I skip over. They ARE awesome picks, but it's almost impossible to experiment to find the right one. 

D'Andrea Pro-Plec: Faux-tortoise from the company that invented the celluloid guitar pick. However, I find the material to be far too soft, and thus the tone is dull. Adding my own bevel, just thinned the body out of the pick, rather than adding brightness. 

V-Pick: I tried several, and they never had enough warmth or body, and depending on the tip shape they could be entirely shrill. 

Alternative Natural Materials: horn, rock, wood, bone - all were either too hard and shrill, or too soft and dull. No good.

Contenders:

John Pearse Fat Turtles: These come in three sizes, 1.2mm, 2.5mm and 4.0mm, but have a non-symmetrical shape and huge depression in the middle. The don't come with much a bevel, so I always found that I needed to add one in. But, aside from not being my perfect match, they are excellent, and if you add the right bevel, they are fat and warm without being dull. 

Standard Celluloid 351 Heavy: Believe it or not, a standard heavy guitar pick often sounds really good in this style. I found that the slighty "click" provided by the house -brand stringsandbeyond.com pick really added to the Charlie-ness of the tone. Similarly, the standard Fender sounded excellent on my Eastman. The weakness is, of course, flexibility. Because of their relative thinness (compared to a 2mm-5mm pick), they only really worked for me in quiet settings, like playing at home. 

My FOUR go-to picks:

Blue Chip TD40: (1mm) I was killing some time in a music-store in Boulder, CO, and the owner ended up being really helpful about recommending a place where I could rent a suitable amp. I felt bad I'd taken up so much of his time, and was trying to find something I could buy, but he didn't carry my preferred string brands. He just happened to carry these, and despite being pretty damn expensive, he was cool with me playing it for a second first. I have to say that it was the best feeling pick I've ever played. The bevel is perfect and the tone produced on my Eastman is ideal. I never have to think about it, and it just feels right. My execution is more exact, and I can play things I might not otherwise be able to pull off. The only down side is that it is a touch to bright/twangy for my ES-150/EH-185 combo - as a result of hearing that twanginess, some of my standard lines sound more "western" than "swing", and while I dig that kind of thing, it's not what I'm trying to do in the Campus Five. Last bonus, I've been playing one consistently for months and there is little to no wear apparent. Just don't loose it!

Wegen 1.2mm AND1.4mm: I keep both of these around, the heavier one for playing my LeVoi, and the lighter one as an all purpose back up. Django-type guitars often need a bit thicker/rounder pick to add body, and the 1.4mm has a good balance of tone for my guitar. The 1.2m sounds good on all the guitars, and has less give when I need to play hard, so if I'm struggling and my pick isn't helping out, I'll switch to the 1.2mm. That said, at that thinness, the softness of the material becomes apparent, and sometimes there can be "feathering", burs of the material become raised and have to filed off. 

JB Picks 1.5mm RB: I quite like all of the options of JB Picks, and they're actually pretty reasonably priced. The 1mm sounds wonderful on my Eastman at home, and they're all around good picks in a nice faux-tortoise. The "twang" problem on my ES-150 is perfectly remedied by the fatness of the thicker 1.5mm with the default rounded bevel. The round bevel also contributes a welcome "click" to the attack that is reminiscent of Charlie. 

All that work, and I still have to carry around FOUR different picks. Of course, I still find myself vacillating back and forth between some of the options. Especially with the JBs because there are 1mm, 1.2mm and 1.5mm sizes with optional bevels. Sometimes, the brightness of the bevel is nice, but sometimes it's too much. I've been experimenting with the slightly thicker TD50 (1.25mm) on my ES-150 hoping for a bit more body. Perhaps I need to go all the way the ~1.5mm TD60. Oh - when does it end?! 
But seriously, I think there's a lot of great options in picks, but you really have to find what works best for your instrument, set up, strings, etc, and just what sounds and feels good in your hands. I doubt you could go wrong with my all-purpose pick of a 1.2mm Wegen, or the Blue Chip TD40 on an archtop. They're both great, and the line of JB picks is reasonably priced enough that you can experiment a bit with out spending a ton per pick. 

Video Lesson: Allan Reuss-Style Chord-Melody Soloing

I thought I'd something a bit different and do a video lesson rather than an article, this time about my favorite unsung guitar hero: Allan Reuss. 

There are so few resources available on Allan Reuss-style chord melody soloing that I figured I would share my take his style, and how I came to learn it, as well as sharing some insights into the hallmarks of his style. 

I mention two resources in the video that I wanted to provide links to:

1) Ivor Mairants: The Great Jazz Guitarists Part 1. Beside the transcription of Allan Reuss' solo on the 1936 recording of "If I Could Be with You" with Benny Goodman, there are some transcriptions of Eddie Lang, Dick McDonough, Carl Kress and George Van Eps. 

2) Rich Werden's Transcription of "Bye Bye Blues". Transcribing this tune escaped me for 15 years, and then my friend Rich does all the work, and even publishes for all to see. I truly think this is Allan's finest acheivement. While you're at it, you should probably buy the CD "The Complete Benny Carter on Keynote" - which contains not only the transcendant master take of "Bye Bye Blues", but also two alternate takes. 

Enjoy. 

Cool Book Alert: Deke's "A Strat in the Attic"

I wanted to share with you a fantastic book, Deke Dickerson's Strat in the Attic: Thrilling Stories of Guitar Archaeology which I devoured immediately after receiving it from amazon. 

For those unaware (and how could you be? shame on you!) Deke has been one of the leading lights of rockabilly and the roots/americana scene for years decades. I first met Deke when he was recording Jeremy Wakefield's "Steel Guitar Caviar" record, on which I played guitar. He's always been a super nice guy, and he even invited me to take part in his epic Guitar Geek Festival back in 2012 as a member of the All-Harvey Band. Here's a clip:

Anyway, Deke has been writing for various publications, including Guitar Player and Vintage Guitar Magazine, for years, and finally complied an amazing tome of "guitar archeology" as his first book. "A Strat in the Attic" isn't just gear for gear's sake (though there is plenty of guitar-nerd detail), it's about the stories behind the guitars in question, and these guitars' journeys through history. It's a fascinating read, and one you'll probably tear through in a sitting or two. 

Perhaps most notable for readers of this blog, is the story of how Lynn Wheelright found Charlie Christian's ES-250. Peter Broadbent's book, Charlie Christian: Solo Flight - The Seminal Electric Guitarist (also totally worth owning, by the way) has an appendix detailing the few gibson ES-150's and 250's Charlie Christian can be documented as having played. The ES-250 found by Lynn is the only guitar that has been definitely linked to Charlie. I won't spoil the story for you, but that should be reason enough to get Deke's book. 

Clip-On Mic: Trying Something New in Acoustic Amplification

 

photo by Steve Hwan (and ok, technically that is a Sure SM57 pictured, but you get the idea)

I've been happily using my Rode NT3 for years to mic my acoustic archtop guitars. Being the bandleader, I can demand such a specific solution. Recently I was noticing that even when using the low-profile mic stand I bought specifically for it, it was ruing almost every picture of me playing on that I happened to see on Facebook. Sort of a vain observation, but I never noticed how visually distracting it was. 

If it were just that, I'd live with it, because the sound quality is wonderful. But, on most of traveling gigs for the last couple months, and even some at home, I've found it to be difficult to get any stage volume out of it without it feeding back. It doesn't matter how good the guitar sounded if I can't hear even the slightest bit of it. Plus, even when I was getting some monitor, my acoustic guitar solos always seemed to get buried, even when I leaned in the mic.

Now, I should say the best sounding amplified acoustic archtop I've heard was when I saw the Sweet Hollywiians at Boulevard Music in Culver City, CA. Takashi Nakayama (who you've seen before on the blog) was using a DPA 4099 clip on mic, clipped onto the tailpiece pointed down at the top of the guitar. He told me he had it plugged into a mic pre before an AER amp, which provided a DI out to the house. Unfortunately, I've never had the $500+ to drop on the DPA. 

With that inspiration, I ended up trying something different at a recent gig. The sound guy mentioned he had a "clip on" mic for one of the horn players who was particularly delinquent about playing "on mic." I'm against clip on mic's for horn players, because usually my guys need to be able to "work the mic" a bit to help with balance and shading. Despite using amplification, we do try to keep the acoustic character as much as possible - though with certain rooms and certain sound guys, it's impossible. All that aside, I figured I might try the clip on mic for my guitar instead. 

Audio Technica Pro 35

The sound guy had an Audio-Technica PRO-35, which comes with it's own windscreen, gooseneck and clamp. It doesn't have a power pack inline, so you have to give it phantom power. We played three nights, with three of my different bands. The first night with my Grand Slam Sextet, I didn't use the mic, because I ended up playing my ES-150 electrically all night (which given that the band is clarinet-vibraphone-electric guitar as the leads, i was ok with, despite my hate for electric rhythm guitar). The next night was with the Campus Five, and I alternated between my Eastman 805 for rhythm and the ES-150 for leads and riffs. It was astounding how much acoustic volume I was able to get, and how clear and articulate the Eastman sounded. Because I wasn't slamming the guitar harder to get volume, I was able to play more relaxed and clean, and the tone dramatically improves when you're not throttling the guitar. It was some of the best playing I'd done on acoustic, and it was very satisfying to be heard for once. 

The only problem came when I would swap guitars. Because I had no way to turn of the PRO-35, I risked pointing the mic right at the monitors when I put it down to grab my electric. I figured out what direction to orient the stand and which way to turn the guitar as to not point it right into feedback, Even then, I didn't succeed at that 100%. 

The following night, with our 10-piece "pre-swing" band, the Rhythm Busters, I decided to only play my John LeVoi Petite Bouche selmer-style guitar. I've been trying to find ways to differentiate that band from my others, and changing guitars seemed like a good way to do that. At soundcheck, I was stoked because with the Pro 35 I could get enough stage and mains volume without feedback or bleed to "ride" over top of the band, like a clarinet player might do over a shout chorus, or more importantly like Django did in some recordings where he's the featured soloist backed by a big band (a version of "Moten Swing" comes to mind). Also, since Hilary was not this gig, I decided to substitute the melodies on guitar instead of skipping those songs. By then end of the night, I realized that playing Django-y lead guitar was giving the band a more signature sound, and I that can't think of anybody else doing a Django-led 30's Orchestra. Win-win. 

I should mention that for both guitars, I clipped the gooseneck onto the tailpiece, with the mic pointed down at the soundboard. 

When I got home from the weekend, I set at getting my own clip on mic. The PRO-35 is only around $150, but I noticed that it was decidedly on the lower end of Audio Technica's line. Checking out www.djangobooks.com, I noticed they only carried two higher-end AT's, the AT831B  and the Pro 70. The AT831B has been used by some leading Gypsy players, through usually with a clip hanging on the soundhole. Neither mic came with a gooseneck, though both come with a power pack, so that you aren't dependent on the board for phantom power - of course, both can accept phantom as well. 

I ended up picking up an AT831B on craigslist, and then the AT8418 Gooseneck (which looks identical to the one the comes on the Audio-Technica PRO-35) on amazon, for a total just about $20 more than a PRO-35. I was hoping that AT831B would have even better sound quality, but I was worried that something about the improved quality or response would make less useable (like more susceptible to feedback, etc). Trying it out at home, I was able to get significant volume out plugged directly into a JBL Eon powered PA speaker, and it didn't seem overly susceptible to feedback.

But there was still the problem of how to prevent the guitar from feeding back when moving it around, say when I change from acoustic to electric for a solo. Checking online there were two main solutions: the Pro Co Sign Off  and the Rolls MS111. Both offered "latching" switching, so that I could turn the mic off via footswitch. The Rolls was cheaper, and it could be changed to "momentary" switch, meaning that I would only mute as long you held down the pedal. I can't say I know when that would be useful for me, but whatever. The ProCo was ~$75 and the Rolls ~$50. I went with cheaper Rolls, hoping I wouldn't end up with something junky for my cheapness. The Rolls arrived and it was more than rugged enough. Oh and since I would have to plug the Mic's power pack into the switch via XLR, before running into from the switch to the board, I bought a 1.5" XLR cable from monoprice as to keep things tidy, and not have a ton of excess cabling around. 

I finally used the new mic set up last Wednesday - WOW! What a great improvement over how I had been doing things. I was able to get a ton of volume out of the monitors and never had any problems with feedback. I played some of the best Reuss-style block-chord solos I've played live in a while, specifically because I could hear myself clearly, and could play without mashing my pick into the strings. What a difference! Further, the Rolls switch worked like a charm. It was very easy to mute the mic before switching to my electric. 

My Eastman with an AT831b/AT8418 combo into the MS111 mute switchI have to say after the four gigs - 2 using the PRO-35, and 2 using the AT831B - I'm pretty sure combo of the AT831B, AT8418 Gooseneck, and Rolls MS111 is going to replace the NT-3 for most gigs. 

A final step I may eventually take would be to add an XLR A/B Switch after the Rolls. That way I could alternate between two mixer channels, a softer one for rhythm, and a louder one for leads. Even when we have the luxury of a sound guy who could turn up a guitar solo on the fly, it often takes them a couple seconds to recognize that there is a guitar solo going on, and sometimes when the solo is only 8 bars, they miss it entirely. However, because it would be plugged into two channels of the mixer, I would have to make sure phantom power was disabled, because it could damage the mic to receive both channels worth of phantom power.  

Photo by Jennifer Stockert

Also, the last gig we played with monitors, and boy, did I miss having my own monitor. I think I may have to step up and buy a smaller powered speaker, such as the Mackie SRM150 , or the larger Mackie SRM350v2 - because clearly, I need to bring more stuff to a gig....

Well, one step at a time. 

Updated Links Sidebar

After forgetting about it for too long, I've updated the links section of the sidebar. I've also added some organization to make it easier to navigate through the list. 

First and foremost, I wanted to mention that www.classicjazzguitar.com - a website that was very influencial on the birth of my swing guitar playing and our band - is now back up and running. It was not functional for a long time, and I only noticed it was back up when I was updating the list. It has a laundry list of important early jazz guitar players, and has a huge selection of solo excerpts from these players. Nowhere else on the web, or anywhere else for that matter, is there a collection of Allan Reuss solos, for example, or Irving Ashby, or Carmen Mastren Solos, etc. Plus many of these excerpts are a bit hard to find: Allan Reuss's solos on "Pickin' for Patsy", "I Never Knew" with Peck's Bad Boys, or "Bye Bye Blues" with the Arnold Ross Quartet feat. Benny Carter, are all mind-meltingly good. 

Other things you should check out:

TK Smith - not only does TK play amazing guitar, but he fabricates amazing Bigsby-inspired guitars and guitar parts, and he posts inspiring clips of vintage jazz, western and country guitar, some of which are of his own fantastic playign. The earlier in electric jazz guitar you go, the greater the nexus between western and jazz guitar, and players like the early Les Paul and George Barnes could easily have been considered to be playing either at any time. 

Elektra Amps - an amazing collaboration between a German, two Dutch guys and an Austrialian, the guys at Elektra are attempted to resurect the sound of the classic Gibson EH-185 amplifer. Being stuck here in America, I haven't yet gotten to play one, but I can't wait!

Studio Slips - custom made equipment covers. I have had two covers made, one for the cabinet of my EH-185, and one for the head of the EH-185 (I carry the head separately to keep from damaging the cabinet). They are really well made, and very durable, and and furthermore, completely customizable. I highly recommend them as a way to keep from abusing your amps and other gear.