In addition to bringing you unique content each month, we enjoying pointing you in the general direction of
some meaty gear conversations that take place at The Gear Page. That’s where you can look for tips on mod
projects, lurk within discussions about vintage amps or hurl yourself into a conversation about the pros and cons
of a particular boutique gear maker. Whatever it is you’re looking for, if it involves gear, we suspect you’ll find it
there. Below is our latest fly-on-the-wall sampling of threads from the Gear Page.
Low-priced guitars
used by pros?
idk: I always love to see guitars that are
on the cheaper side used by pros or at least
used at higher profile performances because
it gives me hope and confidence that it boils
down to me, my fingers, and my ability to
tweak things to get the tones I want out of
my guitar and rig. especially when we see
all of our favorite artists using custom shop
strats and LP customs that cost 1000s of dollars, it easy to think that I have to go out and
get all of this really fancy stuff just to get the
sound that I want.
for example, theres a Christian church band
called the Planetshakers. Recently I was
watching some old videos on Youtube and
I saw someone using a Gretsch. I thought,
“Heh, must be a Duo Jet” because my mind
couldn’t wrap around using anything less
that a $2500 instrument (warped, i know).
Upon closer inspection, there was no B7-like
Bigsby, there was no mud switch, ITS A PRO
JET! Wow, musicians of their caliber using
a $500 instrument and getting “that great
Gretsch sound” even though those are just
mini-humbuckers and not Filter’Trons. even
moreso, one of their backup guitars is a
Squier Affinity telecaster with a SD Hot Rail in
the bridge!
So what I would like to see are some professional musicians using instruments that are on
the cheaper side. Thanks in advance.
glockaxis: Jack White and his pawn shop
guitars come to mind. Jimmy Page and
Danelectros. Los Lonely Boys guitarist uses
MIM strats changed up a bit.
Many use cheap(er) guitars on stage during a tour because of the exposure (if in an
exclusive contract with that guitar company)
and the fact that they are easily replaceable
should they break or get stolen.
dantedayjob: Nancy Wilson has been known
to use Epiphones, and not just the Elitists.
Marty Friedman endorsed some Ibanez guitar
that had a street price around $500. James
Taylor used a low end Variax for some outdoor, winter gig. Paul Stanley had his signature Silvertones (WTF? lol) Leslie West played
Gibson Les Paul Juniors when they were a
dime a dozen... Paul Dean of Loverboy (
actually a good player) had a signature model
Hondo.
OlAndrew: Jazz group I saw last Friday,
guitarist had a Yamaha jazz box. Yamaha
makes a decent guitar, but we’re not talking
a Wes Montgomery L5 here, or a Benedetto,
let alone a D’Angelico.
Really a nice sound he got out of it, firing
through a Twin Reverb turned up to about 3.
Now, I know, you could give me Larry
Carlton’s own 335, and I’d still stink. There’s
probably a lower limit, where the action is
too bad or the lumpy frets are buzzing to a
degree that you can’t compensate for, but
beyond that, the player makes a HUGE part
of the sound.
otaypanky:
Top 3 Instructional Solos?
jhvox: What are the top three solos you
learned note-for-note that really helped
your playing (concepts, useable licks, etc.)?
Thanks.
Aj rocker: TOTO - I wont hold you back
(great slow rock solo)
BB King - Everyday (i have the blues) or so
excited (basic 12 bar blues with some great
phases plus everyday has a great walkin’
bassin’ line)
rockinrob: Man, I don’t remember the
early ones so much. I know there was some
Jimmy Page in there, maybe “Since I’ve Been
Loving You.”
In jazz I usually just picked out phrases I liked,
but I think the first guy I really transcribed
was Hank Mobley. IMO, he’s one of the best
to start off with. I think I did his solo on “Bye
Bye Blackbird” from the Miles Blackhawk
date, and the solo from “This I Dig of You”.
Then some Dexter Gordon from Our Man in
Paris, like “Scrapple...” Definitely some Miles
too, transcribing the way he plays heads
helped me greatly.
Anyway, when you transcribe the horn players you realize that a lot of their lines work
because of how they say them, not just the
notes. Phrasing and style are so important,
and I’ve worked so hard to try and figure out
ways to translate that stuff to the guitar.
funkycam: “Soul Power ‘ 74” by Maceo &
the Macks on James Brown’s Funky People
Part 2.
“Blues Power” Live by Albert King
“Rose Room” by Charlie Christian off The
Genius of Electric Guitar
GovernorSilver: That’s the first jazz guitar solo [Charlie Christian’s “Rose Room”] I
learned in its entirety, off of a harmonized
arrangement to be played by 5 guitars (think,
“big-band horn section”) in our jazz guitar
class. I think my part was the original solo.
The more advanced students in the class got
the least tonal-sounding parts. Sadly, I cannot report with certainty that it helped my
playing all that much—I somehow worked
out a fingering that was more difficult to play
than necessary (“dude your hand looks like a
24 PREMIER GUITAR SEPTEMBER 2009
