Six men, three songs, a lifetime of music

I don't know about anyone else, but I can tell you the exact moment I decided I had to learn to play guitar: July 3rd 1985, at about 3:45 in the afternoon.

It was a particular song, played in a particular way, in a particular context. I'd heard the song many times before, but this was different. This was... powerful.

It hit me in the gut, grabbed me by the balls, and said "YOU WILL DO THIS".

Unfortunately, my mother didnt think I was old enough for my own guitar yet (I had been taking vocal, piano, and music theory lessons for several years already by then). She made me wait...

Maybe she was hoping I would change my mind, since my dad played guitar and she had some bad memories and associations there. She aways wanted me to play sax, which I started learning as a kid, but the reeds gave me mouth sores so I had to stop, and I had the same problem when I tried to learn trumpet (in retrospect, we were pretty poor that year, and the next couple years, and you could rent used band instruments for a few dollars a month but not guitars and amplifiers).

So I spent the next four years and five months messing about with other people's acoustic guitars, in my music classes, and family friends and friends, and anything I could get my hands on... before my mother finally bought me my own electric guitar.

Those years of messing with other people acoustics, and never knowing what tuning they'd be in, or whether theyd be in tune, or what the strings would feel like; imprinted on my so much, that every time I pick up a guitar, I automatically finger and play an augmented open G chord.

I play the augmented open G, because it let's you hear the relative tuning and intonation of every string clearly and immediately, and highlights any defects in the guitar and it's setup. It also sounds good arpeggiated, and several songs can be played within the arpeggiation.

Still today, my fingers just automatically reset to that position by default, whenever I'm not specifically playing anything else... and it's almost always the last thing I play before I put the guitar down, just by reflex.

My first guitar was a bright red Epiphone Stratocopy (an sm-3), purchased Christmas of '89 from Daddy's Junky Music, in Boston Massachusetts.

I very much wanted a Strat', very specifically because of two other songs, and two other players... again both of which grabbed me and said "you will will do this".

Those two songs ended up being the first rock songs I ever learned to play... That first song, that grabbed me back in 1985, was quite a lot harder, and took a lot longer to learn... and hell, I still can't play it "right" more than 25 years later... I don't think anybody can play it quite right, except for the true original.

So, I guess I can credit five... well, really six... people (all but one were guitarists), and three songs, with making me absolutely need to play electric guitar.

If you're a guitarist, or a music nerd, I'm sure you know what those three songs are and who three of those guitarists are, without even thinking about it.

The other three people (two guitarists) in question might be a surprise, but the answer is in that date above.

Anybody want to guess who those people are, and what the songs are?

Guitar Heresy: PA speakers are Better than Cabs

If you really want to know how your amplifier, your guitar, or your bass sound; don't use a guitar or bass cab. Instead, use a high quality full range PA speaker of appropriate impedance for your amp.

Wait what?

Ayup, really, a high quality full range PA speaker, of the appropriate size, and properly set up; will always be more accurate, and often sound better, than all but the best guitar or bass cabinets; while being lighter, more durable, and MUCH cheaper.

What do you mean by "High Quality and Full Range" ?

By high quality, and full range, I mean a speaker that:

1. Is sturdily constructed, with no rattles, undamped harmonics etc
2. Has proper enclosure volume for its drivers
3. Is properly designed for its drivers
4. Has high sensitivity (minimum of 96db to 101db or so)
5. Has a broad flat frequency response (+/- less than 3db, preferably +/- 1db) in the frequency range of your instrument, and it's harmonic overtones to the 12th multiple of the fundamental.

That frequency range would be 31hz to 524hz (B0 to C5) for a 24 fret 6 string bass, with overtones to 6.3khz; and 82hz to 1.3khz (e2 to e6) for a 24 fret guitar, with overtones to 15.6khz.

The overtones are important, but they damp out very rapidly with each harmonic doubling. The first four multiples above the fundamental are called the "presence", and they can be heard and felt, inside ones head (particularly when amplifying acoustic stringed instruments). Generally because of harmonic attenuation, it's impossible to hear or feel anything above the 8th multiple of any fundamental (and above the fourth it's essentially inaudible) but you want the extra headroom, because even the best speakers attenuate towards the ends of their response curves, and harmonic attenuation mostly damps out the quieter harmonics above the second to fourth multiple already (I'm speaking in terms of multiples of the fundamental, instead of first through 16th harmonic, because I don't want to get into the variability of harmonics with scale, tuning, time and periodicity, resonating chambers, free air space etc...).

Speaking of that, you'll note that the lowest frequency on a five and six string bass is 31hz (it's 41hz on a 4 string). Unfortunately, almost no speakers have decent, clear, uncolored response below 45-50hz, even those in high quality bass cabinets. A good full range PA speaker will generally go down to between 45hz and 55hz, a will a good bass cab (classic Ampeg SVT cabs only go down to 58hz

This is deliberate, because unless you use a giant 15" or 18" subwoofer, (or use special very expensive 10" or 12" drivers) you just can't do 40hz or below and still sound good. Even with the giant subwoofer, the bass can sound muddy and rumbly.

Better PA speakers and bass cabinets still respond at frequencies under 455-55hz, they just roll off more than 3db (better speakers might have something like -3-6db at 5hz under nominal, and -6-10db at 10hz under nominal, with around 1-1.5db/hz attenuation for the next 10hz under nominal). This actually has the effect of making the bass sound "cleaner" and clearer; though at 31hz, it's still more felt than heard.

There are a few bass cabinets that have good response in those sub-bass ranges, like the Markbass standard 4x10 (response down to 35hz), and Ampeg Pro-Neo series (28hz in the 15" and 38hz in the 4x10,), but they're very expensive (they run about $900 to $1500).

Ok... so why is a PA speaker more accurate and "better"?

Frankly, most guitar cabs flat out suck. They're inefficient, heavy, expensive, and don't sound very good.

Generally, only the very best (and often most expensive) guitar caps sound great (or often, even good), and even then only in specific situations, for specific tones, with specific amps (because they have a strongly colored and biased voicing).

Even just a mid quality PA speaker, is generally better at reproducing sound accurately, than a very high quality guitar cab. The frequency response will be flatter and the sound will be clearer, with neutral coloration and voicing.

This is because a guitar cabs are deliberately designed, and their drivers are deliberately biased, to emphasize certain tones and attenuate certain tones (mostly attenuating very high and very low frequencies, with a curved response on the mids and mid-highs).  When the speakers significantly alter the sound coming to them from the amp, this is called strong coloration, or strong voicing.

In general, it's very difficult (and expensive) for an 8", 10", or 12" driver to have desirable tonal characteristics across the full range of guitar frequencies and overtones, and most cabinets don't include high frequency horns (and the ones that do, generally don't voicematch them very well, blend them very well, or use good quality crossover networks, so they often sound harsh, thin, and "squeal" or "crackle").

Again, only the very highest quality (and most expensive) guitar cabs do so well (or at all); whereas even lower end PA speakers are specifically designed to use multiple drivers (a 12" or 15" full range will typically be a 3 way speaker, and may be as much as a dual woofer 5 way) to produce pleasing and even frequency response across the entire range of instrumental and vocal frequencies and their audible and "presence" overtones.

A single high quality high performance driver for a guitar cab, might cost as much as $450, and even midrange drivers can run $90 to $150. You can see how in a cheaper 2x12 cabinet retailing for $300, or combo retailing for $600, they've got to be buying lower end drivers, that just aren't that good.

At last with a combo amp, the manufacturer should have chosen drivers that match well with the amplifier. It's nearly impossible for a strongly voiced cabinet to sound good with a lot of different amplifiers. Manufacturers have to either try to make it as neutral as possible, in which case guitarists don't want it ("it sounds dead" or "it sounds cold"... it doesn't, it sounds neutral you just don't know how to use your gear to get the sound you want instead of having it done for you by the "strongly voiced" drivers), or give it a strong voice that sounds good for the amp they think most customers will want to use with it, for the style of music they think most customers will play with it.

This is one reason why you see many artists in certain styles of music or with certain play styles, all seem to have  a strong preference for the same amps and cabs. It's not just fashion (though in part it is), it's because the manufacturer specifically voices those amps and cabs, to sound good for that style of music and play style.

Ok, forget about "voice" and "color", what about the rest of "better" ?

Decent PA speakers are also generally much more efficient than guitar cabs of equivalent quality, volume, and tone; because all but the very best guitar cabs have quite low sensitivity (some as low as 82db, and 86-92db are not uncommon for cheaper cabs and speakers, as opposed to 96-101db for the best of both PA speakers and cabs).

Higher sensitivity, means that for a given power level output to the speaker, the volume output will be louder. A 3db difference in sensitivity, means DOUBLE or HALF the power is required to produce the same volume.

An aside on speaker sensitivity, volume, and solid state vs tube amps: Sensitivity ratings are given as db of sound energy output 1 watt, at 1 meter away from the speaker. 

We don't hear 3db as a doubling of volume. 3db sounds roughly 10% louder to our ears, but it is a doubling of sound energy, and a doubling of input power. 

It takes a 10db change for our ears to hear a doubling in volume, as well as taking 10 times the power (to double volume at the same frequency, impedance, and sensitivity). 

However, because both our hearing, and the power requirements for sound energy are logarithmic, a 3db more sensitive speaker, will sound about twice as loud, if it's given 5 times the power as the less sensitive speaker, instead of 10 times the power. The difference gets even starker at 6db, or 9db and so on.  

The most efficient speaker cabinet I've ever heard of was 103db. The least, 82db. Cheap combo amps will often have 86db or 89db speakers, while more expensive combos and cabs will generally 96db or 99db sensitivity. Let's see how that works out:  

An 82db speaker will output 82db at 1 watt, 85db at 2 watts, 88db at 4 watts, 91db at 8 watts, 92db at 10 watts, 95db at 10 watts, 98db at 40 watts, 101db at 80 watts, and about 104db at 100 watts. 

An 86db speaker will output 86db at 1 watt, 89db at 2 watts, 92db at 4 watts, 95db at 8 watts, 96db at 10 watts, 99db at 20 watts, 102db at 40 watts, 105db at 80 watts, and about 106db at 100 watts. 

A 96db speaker will output 96db at 1 watt, 99db at 2 watts, 102db at 4 watts, 105db at 8 watts, 106db at 10 watts, 109db at 20 watts, 112db at 40 watts, 115db at 80 watts, and about 116db at 100 watts. 

A 99db speaker will output 99db at 1 watt, 102db at 2 watts, 105db at 4 watts, 108db at 8 watts, 109db at 10 watts, 112db at 20 watts, 115db at 40 watts, 118db at 80 watts, and about 119db at 100 watts.  

A 101db speaker will output 101db at 1 watt, 103db at 2 watts, 106db at 4 watts, 109db at 8 watts, 111db at 10 watts, 114db at 20 watts, 117db at 40 watts, 120db at 80 watts, and about 121db at 100 watts. 

A 103db speaker will output 103db at 1 watt, 106db at 2 watts, 109db at 4 watts, 112db at 8 watts, 113db at 10 watts, 116db at 20 watts, 119db at 40 watts, 122db at 80 watts, and about 123db at 100 watts. 

You'll note the 103db speaker is essentially as loud with one watt, as the 82db speaker is with 100 watts. It's also louder with 40 watts, than the 99db speaker is with 100; or louder at 20 watts, than the 96db speaker is at 100. 

This efficiency factor by the way, combined with much higher gain in the preamp stages (which makes things sound louder at lower overall volume levels); is why cheap "100 watt" solid state amps, sound much quieter than very expensive 15 watt tube amps. The cheap solid state amp might have even cheaper 86db drivers in it. The tube amps have expensive 99db or even 101db sensitivity drivers. 

That tube amp can get about 50% louder with 99db speakers at 15 watts, than the cheap solid state can with 86db speakers at 100 watts. With 101db speakers, it can get about 70% louder, and with 103db speakers it can get almost double the volume. 

Tube amps used expensive high efficiency speakers, because they had to, because otherwise they didn't have enough power to get loud, or they would badly overheat. Solid state amps are much easier and cheaper to crank up the power on, and so they could afford to use cheaper, less efficient drivers. 

Higher sensitivity also means allows a given sound at a given level, to be reproduced using less power, more accurately, with less tonal coloration or distortion (this is called headroom).

PA speakers are also generally much lighter, and often much better built and tougher than guitar cabs, even though they are much cheaper.

For some reason, many guitar cabs are surprisingly fragile. In part because they are meant to be prettier (they're often covered in decorative and relatively expensive this textured vinyl for example, vs throwaway dark grey or black industrial carpetlike material). In part it's because decent guitar drivers are VERY heavy, and can do damage to themselves and the cabs structure, if bumped about too much.

Whereas PA speakers are built to be knocked around. They're lighter, because the drivers they use weigh much less, and aren't as deep, so they can fit in smaller enclosures. These factors allow PA speakers to weigh as little as half the weight of an equivalent guitar cab, while still being built tougher.

These by the way, are several of the reason why I'm using a PA speaker for testing amps and guitars, and I'm not using my Ampeg 2x10 bass cab (I don't have a guitar cab right now). The cab is voiced specifically for bass, and in particular for the Ampeg PF500 and PF800 amplifiers (the other reason is I don't want to blow my good cab, if an amp malfunctions).

Guitars actually sound great played through bass amps and cabs by the way, particularly if you have a full range cab with a high frequency horn and good crossover (my Ampeg 2x10 PF-210he has +/-2b or less from 53hz to 17khz, at 98db, covering the full range of guitar harmonics with plenty of headroom).

Guitarists have been using bass amps for more power and a deeper "growl" tone, since Leo Fender invented the modern electric solidbody bass, and the first dedicated bass amp (in 1951 and 1952 respectively); particularly after they introduced the 50 watt 4x10 model in 1956 (setting the pattern for both bass and guitar speaker cabinets ever since).

In fact, the first "stacks" were Fender Bassman amp heads, with 4x10 bass cabinets; from way back in '60, when the loudest guitar amps you could get were Vox AC30s (30 watt 2x12. Still used by many artists today, including Brian May and the Edge. They mic them up on stage for the PA). Guitarists loved them, and bought every one that Fender could make. Even today, they are among the most prized vintage amps, easily costing $5,000 to $10,000.

In fact, guitarists loved them so much, and they were so rare and expensive, that Jim Marshall modified one to make his famous Marshall JTM45 (the first Marshall amp), deciding to use 4x12 cabinets with celestion speakers... And the Marshall legend was born.

That said, the bass amps and cabs are distinctly biased for bass, and definitely do color the tone.

When I'm testing, repairing, or reconditioning an amp or guitar, I want to hear as close to an accurate, uncolored, unshaped, neutral voiced tone as possible. A decent PA speaker is the best way to do that, without spending a massive amount of money.

I would love to have a top quality 2x10, 2x12, 4x10, or 4x12 guitar cab. Unfortunately, they're VERY expensive ($600 to $2000), as well as heavy and huge. Guitar cabs smaller than 2x10, generally sound like crap, and are still VERY expensive ($200 to $600 for good ones. The cheapest are 1x8", still cost $100 to $400, and they mostly sound like crap until you're past the midpoint of that price range).

Even just a half decent 10" or 12", two or three way, PA speaker ($100 to $300), set up properly, will sound as good or better, than all but the very best guitar cabinets.

Don't think so? I'll prove it.

Guess what... Any live show you've been to bigger than a coffee house or pub (and probably a lot of those gigs too), most of the guitar sound you heard wasn't coming from a Marshall stack. It was probably coming from that Marshalls preamp or DI output (or even directly off the pedalboard into a DI box), on a direct patch to the mixer, and out to the PA system.

The amp may or may not have also had the cabinets miked up and mixed in, but stage miking is difficult and inconsistent, and you need a wide variety of mics and rigs for different situations. It's hard enough with a single smaller amp and cab, never mind a big stack, or multiples. Some artists always mic their cabs, some never do, and some vary depending on the acoustics of the venue.

Either way though, the PA system has to sound pleasing while reproducing those guitar sounds. Which means they CAN reproduce those same sounds, and if they can reproduce those sounds when sent them from the PA amp, they can be made to make them in the first place.

The dirty little secret of rock and roll? 

It's really hard to get good natural sound, filling even a medium sized room, out of just a big amp and cab on stage. Most of the time, most performers (and importantly, most sound engineers), in most venues, don't even try. 

On stage, amp stacks aren't for sound... They're for the show... the spectacle.

In a bigger venue, most of the time the artists don't even use ONE of the stacks for their OWN audio, using floor monitors or in ear monitors (like very high end earbuds, hooked into their wireless system, and letting them hear their tone evenly no matter where they are on the stage, as well as hearing the other band members, and crew communications).
At most, they'll have one stack miked up. 

To get proper sound out of a full stack, you need to use EIGHT mikes (which are damn near impossible to set up, and even harder to mix and EQ properly), and a big acoustic shield to protect the mikes from excess reverb, echo, delay, and phase effects, and from spill sound from the house and the rest of the band; which screws up the visual look they're going for.

Here's another "secret" for you... A lot of the time, if you see an artist with big stacks out there on stage, and they want that "real stack sound"; the stacks you see on stage will actually all be unpowered dummies. Their REAL amp and cab will actually be back stage, behind noise insulation, properly miked up, mixed with the DI and turned way down, using only a few watts of power so as to not overload the mics. 

This is also how Brian May, The Edge, and other guitarists that like to use lower powered classic amps, particularly combo amps like the Vox AC30; get their preferred tone, while filling a huge concert venue with sound.

If the artist wants a heavy feedback sound, they'll use a feedback or screamer effect. Either that, or they'll have a single amp with the gain turned all the way up, and a 2x12 floor monitor, or a single 4x12 cab on a riser to bring it to guitar height, that they'll walk up to for natural feedback. Even then, it will be miked, and mixed in the board, to go out to the in ears and PA. 

Often, their sound guy will be watching for cues, and when they want the feedback, they'll turn that one amps mix up on the PA, and then turn it down afterwards so they don't get unwanted feedback, noise, and distortion. 

Now, that doesn't mean the guitar cab doesn't sound good, and may in fact sound much better than a direct clean and "dry" signal from a preamp or DI box (if it's a good amp and cab, it almost certainly will). The guitar cab will be specifically tuned to accentuate the pleasing sounds and dampen the displeasing sounds, that a guitar and amp can make.

That however, is why most guitar specific DI boxes, modelers and the like, have something called "cab emulation", and many have "amp emulation" of specific amp types (and of course the whole point of modelers is that they do this).

These are circuits (or digital models) that when played through a clean and neutral speaker (or directly into a mixer or recording interface), emulate the way a well known amp and/or cabinet (like a marshall JCM800 through a 4x12, vox AC30, or Fender 2x12 combo... those are the most common emulations by far), will shape the tone of the guitar.

This is also why you have equalizers in any preamp, amp (and most amps with a DI can switch between equalized "wet" sound, and unequalized "dry" sound), modeler, mixer, and PA rig.

But using a PA speaker as a cab, you don't have to worry about that. We're not talking about playing wet or dry through a PA. What we're talking about is playing through your full sound chain, right up to the final drive stage.

In fact... give me $300 to get a half decent 2x12" 3 way PA speaker, and I guarantee I'll blow your $600 2x12" Fender cab, clean off the stage.

I know where I can get a 30hz 101db 2x15 4 way pa speaker for $300 (with eminence drivers even). That's stackable with a 101db 2x12 4 way in the same form factor also for $300.  That's $600, in two cabs that collectively weigh in, and size up, just a bit bigger than Marshall 4x12. But sonically they would just blow the $1200 Marshall away. In fact, I'm certain they'd absolutely kill a full dual 4x12 stack costing $2500. Same amp, just two PA speakers instead of two cabs.

Between your pre-amp and amp (all guitar amps have a pre-amp. It's what makes them guitar amps rather than just power amps), amp and cab modeling or emulation, and proper equalization; you can get a good PA speaker to sound as good or better than an actual guitar cab of the same size, price, and quality (though not necessarily exactly the same as a specific amp and cab); and generally better than all but the very best cabs. 

Sons, and Fathers, and Bleeding Fingers

As I was finishing college, my father, whom I hadn't seen or heard from for 15 years (most of which time he was in prison) contacted me.

He had been out of prison a couple years, and was now off of parole and a free man... And he wanted to know... Would I please come and visit him, because he loved me, and missed me, and wanted to be a part of my life again.

So that Christmas, I packed up and flew back to Boston... And  suddenly, I had a father again.

That was... Well... I can't exactly put it into words... I can just tell you that family is extremely important to me.

After reconnecting, one of the first things my father and I bonded over.. and very deeply so... was our love of music. In particular our mutual love of the blues, soul, classic and hard rock, and great guitar work. After all, we both played guitar and sang (he even played and sang at my parents wedding).

At that point though, I didn't have any guitars (my guitars had all burned in my mothers house, when my brother burned the top two floors down, on my 19th birthday).

He did though...

One particular guitar, and amp, that he had wanted since they'd been introduced.

It was a 1994 Fender Stratocaster Ultra (40th anniversary). It had a maple neck, ebony fingerboard, lace sensors, and a custom fit gold tweed hard case, which matched the tweed of the Blues Deluxe amp wanted to go with it.

So he searched, and called in favors, and pestered friends and shopkeepers, and drove a couple hundred miles... and finally he found them, and bought them as a present to himself.

The one he found was in a special color, a deep metallic pearl blue (they had to stop using it because of changes in environmental regulation. They only ever made 400 guitars in that color), that looked great with the Ultra neck, pickguard, and hardware.

Unfortunately this isn't the guitar, I don't have any pics, but it's similar:

He loved that guitar, and he played the hell out of it...His fingers bled on that guitar... It was the guitar he wanted to keep for the rest of his life; his single most prized possession.

Until his guitar playing son came back to him... and didn't have a guitar to play.

So... to celebrate our first Christmas together since I was a little kid, he gave me a special Christmas gift:  His guitar.

His fingers had bled on that guitar... the guitar he wanted more than any other... and he wanted me to have it.

It was the best Christmas present I'd ever had... Both the guitar, and the meaning of it.. Having a father again... getting my family back...

Again... I can't put into words...

I truly loved that guitar. It was one of the few possessions I actually gave a damn about. My fingers bled on that guitar.

Unfortunately, I left it in storage in the U.S. (along with most of what I owned) when I moved to Ireland (originally I was going to send for them later, but my first marriage split, and I decided to leave the stuff in storage a while... which ended up being 3 years). I say unfortunately, because while I was in Ireland, even though I prepaid a year at a time; the storage company was purchased, and the new owners mistakenly auctioned all of my possessions, without notifying me.

It was the second time I'd lost all my guitars. I was so devastated, that it was actually years before I picked up a guitar again. Not until my wife bought me one in fact, for our first Christmas together as a family.

Fast forward...

15 years later... 15 years with my father, after 15 years without him; I was looking to get my father a rather special Christmas present, to celebrate that.

I knew what it had to be of course: A guitar... But not just any guitar, it had to be exactly the right guitar.

I wasn't just trying to be cute and clever... It was important.

So, I spent that entire year searching for exactly the right guitar. Late in the year, I found it.

Oh boy did I find it... 

What I found, was an extremely rare, very limited production, 100% perfect mint unplayed condition, vintage, masterbuilt select (meaning hand built, from hand selected special woods), Strat Ultra... but something even more rare... it was a full custom shop Ultra, built outside the normal production run... and it was another 1994, 40th anniversary guitar.

Now... from here until the last bit, I'm gonna get all guitar crazy for a bit, and obsess over the tiny details of wood and metal and electricity and the like, that go into making a guitar. If that's not your thing, feel free to skip ahead to "it was a beautiful thing".

The Ultra was a limited production model to begin with, as the absolute top of Fenders Stratocaster line from 1988 to 1997. On top of that, this was a custom shop masterbuilt select guitar; hand built by one of their master luthiers (who signs the heel of neck, the underside of the pickguard, and in the trem cavity; so you know it's all the original parts as they built them).

Basically, with a masterbuilt select guitar, the luthiers see an interesting piece of wood, or they have a special idea for what might make an interesting guitar. Then they hand pick the special wood and parts (or they modify or custom fabricate parts if they need to), and hand build and finish, one or more guitars from it (usually from one to four, sometimes as much as ten, but that's very rare).

The guitar has a AAA+ flamed and quilted maple body (not just a top and back plate, the whole body), in a special hand tinted and finished custom sunburst on both top and back. It's kinda like the antique sunburst, but with a bit of dark reddish brown blending into the brown and amber, and the amber has a more neutral darker maple tone, rather than a more yellow tone. Also, it goes dark but not black or opaque on the sides. All of which is specifically to show off the figured body better (you can see the figure on the sides straight through the wood to the back).

The chatoyance of this wood, in this finish, with this figure, is just gorgeous. The guitar looks like it's on fire, and the flames are coming out at you out of the depths of the wood.

The neck is a special extra thin, compound contoured profile, in AAA+ flame figured maple, with AAA+ figured headstock plate matching the body, an inlaid abalone Fender logo, a compound radius ebony fretboard with superjumbo frets, abalone inlays and sidemarkers, roller bearing string nut, and locking tuners. The neck also has a special truss rod system (to prevent both twist and bow, and to bias the relief from bass to treble without warping the neck), and the Fender neck angle adjustment system.

The guitar has a special shielded pickguard with four special lace sensors (two of them wired together as a humbucker in the bridge position, and two different tonal spec in the neck and center), special shielded wiring and control options including the Fender super switch with S1 system (meaning you can select any combination of pickups, including any single, two, three, or all four at once,; or wiring the neck and middle together as humbuckers to get double humbucker output), built in 3 band EQ (cut and boost for bass, mid, and treble are hidden in the original tone controls), phasing, coil tapping, and midboost, It also has a special stabilized two point tremolo, with graphite impregnated saddles. It even has special strap pins (for a straplock system). Finally, there's additional matching abalone inlay in the pickguard and control knobs (nothing gaudy, just picking out the text and a couple little accents).

Oh and it has it's own custom fit special hard case, lined in blue velvet, covered in black tolex; with real leather ends, straps, and handles; and chrome hardware and fittings.

Basically, this was the finest Stratocaster Fender could make in their custom shop that year, with every possible option.

As near as I can tell, it is the only guitar Fender ever built in that exact configuration, one of only 4 in that select series, and one of only 10 guitars hand built by that master luthier that year.

A standard Strat Ultra, runs $1100 to $3500, depending on the year, finish, the options, whether the case was with it etc...

This guitar, originally would have cost about $9,500 (about $15,000 today).

Today, it's probably, conservatively, worth about $8500; priced for a quick sale to a knowledgable buyer.

The guitar would be worth a LOT more, except that the lace sensor pickups have an undeserved, and undesirable, reputation.

An aside... a rant about pickups... 

For some strange reason, many people don't like how clean and "quiet" lace sensors are... 

...or at least they THINK they don't, based on what they've read. Most folks have no idea what lace sensors sound like. Even when they try a guitar with them, they don't know how to get the sound they want out of them. The "collective wisdom" says they're "cold", so people think they're cold. 

Lace sensors are very high output, and get very loud, with ultraclear and even response across the entire dynamic range and sweep of bass, mid, and treble frequencies, and almost no noise, distortion, or hum (unlike conventional pickups, which do have noise, distortion, hum -- even humbuckers -- and very uneven frequency response). 

Critically, lace sensors don't get dirty, hum, or distort (or spike impedance, or have weird inductance or microphonic issues, or many of the other normal problems of conventional pickups), through a clean amp, even at very high volume. 

You also get better sustain, better overall tonal clarity and definition (clearer chording and soloing, less "mud"), higher overall dynamic range, and higher clean output  (for a given volume and tone setting, and given force on the strings) out of a lace sensor, than a conventional pickup. 

This is a GOOD thing, because now YOU have total control over your tone. You decide how you want to sound, the limitations of your pickups or amplifier don't decide for you. 

But... Some people think they sound "cold" or "flat", and want a "dirtier" or "crunchier" tone by default.

Lace sensors don't actually sound cold, or dead, or flat, at all by the way. How they sound, is neutral, by default. In fact, they can sound however you want them to, depending on which one you choose (there are several different versions with different base tonal qualities), which ones you switch in, how you set your tone EQ, and how you set your amp (and your effects if any). 

You can get warmth, you can get heat, you can get jangle, you can get burble, you can get scream, you can get growl... But you'll never get dirty, or noisy,or distorted in way you don't want to, at times you don't want.

Of course, being able to get any tone you want from them, means that you actually have to know how to get the tone you want from them. To be aware of how your tone is created and shaped and changed, as part of your playing. Most don't want to bother. 

If the guitar had been originally built with the custom shop hand wound pickups instead of the custom shop special lace sensors, it would be worth north of $12,500... between $15,000 and $20,000 to the right buyer, looking for the work of that particular master luthier (who has now retired).

I paid $1150, plus shipping.

On ebay...

The guy had NO CLUE what he had. He knew it was an Ultra, but he had no idea about the rest. He was the guitar guy for a pawnbroker who had bought out the inventory of a high end music store when the owner died.

I recognized what it was from the pictures and the posted details, and bid, fervently hoping that no-one else would know what they were bidding on. They didn't. There were other bidders, but no-one else bid over the reserve. I sweated it out until the auction was up, and no-one outbid me.

Now... normally, I would tell the seller if they had a much more valuable item than they knew they had, just as a matter of ethics... But this wasn't another player, this was a professional guitar seller, clearing out an estate sale. My conscience was clear.

After I got the guitar, it was clear it had never been played, or at least not enough to leave the slightest mark. It was perfect, and I was pretty sure it was as special as I was hoping.

I checked the signatures under the tremolo plate and pickguard (don't take a neck off unless you have to; too much potential for damage), and confirmed the provenance with Fender (as well as I could anyway. Fender doesn't provide a complete detailed history or build sheet for non-original purchasers. I was able to get more by internet research and the websites of some Fender fanatics).

It was what I thought it was from the description... and more. The level of detail and workmanship on this guitar is just staggering, and only half was in the auction description).

Unfortunately this isn't the guitar, I don't have any pics, but it's similar:

It was a beautiful thing...

More importantly, it PLAYED. I played it through my Fender 2x12, and it was a beautiful thing. Weight, balance, action, tone, feel... It's an amazing instrument.

I played it, and I loved it, and my fingers bled on that guitar.

Most importantly, I was able to give my dad the best Christmas present I could ever have given him.

I managed to make my father cry with happiness.

I am in no way joking, when I say I consider that a major achievement in my life, and one of the best things I have ever done.

It's not just the guitar... It's what it meant.

My dad played that guitar... that special guitar that we both spent so much time wanting, and searching for... He played it, and he loved it, and his fingers bled on it.

So here we are today... 

A little while ago, I was sitting on my bed, playing my six string bass guitar, when my almost two year old son came into the room because he heard me playing.

I should mention at this point, that my father is Chris the Third, I'm Chris the fourth, and the boy is Chris the fifth. 

The boy smiled and ran straight over and climbed up to me, then climbed up and over my arm and wormed his way in between me and the instrument... Then reached down and started trying to play it with daddy.

And I thought about all of this... this... and I cried with happiness.

My father and I agree: The guitar stays in the family. My father played it... His blood is in it. I played it... My blood is in it. I hope to God that some day my son will play it, and his blood will be in it, and his son...

S'cuse me... It's a bit dusty in here at the moment. I think I have something in my eye.. s'a little blurry.

I think I'll go play some guitar with my son.

Thunderfingers

John Enwistle, one of the best technically, one of the most musical; and certainly given his body of work and it's significance, the greatest bassist in the history of rock (other than perhaps James Jamerson, who basically invented Rock and Roll and soul bass as we know it)... at the time 56 years old (we lost him two years later in 2002), delivering a virtuoso performance on "5:15" (from "the who" album "Quadrophenia"), without breaking a sweat.

Entwistle pioneered many of the techniques now considered standard in hard rock, progressive rock, and heavy metal bass playing, including: bi-amping, the use of high powered 8 speaker bass stacks (necessary to be heard clearly over the high energy drumming of Keith Moon - eventually he used two 200 watt amps, each feeding two 4x10 or 4x12 cabinets, or sometimes four 2x15 cabinets, for a total of 16 driven speakers), the use of feedback, tapping, and harmonics as a musical element for the bass, the use of effects, and the general "lead bass" style.

It is generally thought that his bass solo on "My Generation" is if not the first, certainly one of the first bass solos in recorded rock music (they were not unknown when bands were playing live, but they rarely made it onto records, and almost never onto rock records; as they were considered to be more of a "modern jazz" type thing).

Many of what people think are classic Pete Townshend guitar riffs, and even solos, are in fact Entwistles bass work; especially the intros to many classic who songs.

Entwistle is yet another reason why I believe "The Who" were the BEST (not the greatest, that's clearly "The Beatles") band of their time (not that Paul McCartney isn't a very good -and very innovative- bass player. He is.. and as far as I'm concerned he was the far greater talent than Lennon in the Beatles).

Here's the entire 2-1/2 hour live concert from 2000 (later released as the album "Live at the Royal Albert hall"), that the bass solo from "5:15" above is pulled:

And yes, by then, Townshend had clearly lost too much of "it" to keep on the way he was trying to. I saw them in 1989 for their 25th anniversary of Tommy "The Kids are Alright" tour, and they just utterly blew me away.

In between, somehow, Townshend blew out his voice entirely, and seemed to have lost his ability to either keep time, or play on key.

But, Entwistle, Daltrey, and their drummer (more in a moment) were really on for that tour (Daltrey has since lost too much of "it" to keep going as well).

Oh and the drummer for that concert happens to be Zak Starkey, the son of one Sir Richard Starkey, better known as Ringo Starr.

Starkey has been the drummer for "The Who" since 1996 (much as Jason Bonham has been for the various Jimmy Page projects, including the Led Zeppeling reunion). Appropriate, since it was actually Keith Moon who taught him to play drums (and rather well at that).

Back to Bass

As I've mentioned here before, I play guitar and bass (and a little bit of drums, and piano; neither of which I have practiced much of in years).

What I haven't mentioned, is that it's been almost 10 years since I've owned a bass; mostly due to moving around a lot (College, Air Force, then a security consultant, then an IT consultant, finally settled down into a non-travel job 5 years ago but I've moved three times since), and not having the time to get back into it.

I sold, lost, had stolen, or had burned down from under me, all my guitars by about 8 years ago; but about four years ago Mel bought me a guitar for Christmas.

Me being me, I started accumulating gear again; and now I've got a half decent acoustic, a nice Jackson archtop Dinky DKMGT in trans-black flame maple, and a REALLY nice quilted maple trans black Epi Les Paul (all picked up for WAY less than list, either on major discount or used); and a pair for Fender amps for them (a G-DEC 15w 8" practice amp, and a Frontman 212r 100w rewired with 2x12 Celestion vintage 30s).

I've even got a decent multi-effects processor; a Line 6 PODxt-Live that I basically stole from the guy selling it ($300 for it, the Fender Frontman amp, 8 good quality cables - $15 each at least, a Shure SM58 mic worth $100 on its own, a pair of XLR cables, and two mic stands).

Really, as far as guitars go, the only thing I kinda want right now is a really nice custom piece (which I can't really justify the cost of at the moment) or maybe one of the new higher end Godins (really great guitar company out of Montreal, newly expanded and really doing some great things); and a new head and cab instead of my combo amp (I like my combo, but I want a nice head and cab to play with. Thing is, I've got better things to do with $2000... though I'd kinda like the Line 6 spider 150 half stack, at $650...).

Oh and I'd love a thin body 14 fret cutaway Martin, but again, I can't really justify the price (Martin only makes the cutaway as a thin body from their custom shop. Runs about $4,000 to start... maybe $15k the way I'd really like it. And no, there's really no justification for why it costs that much except "because they can").

We've even got a digital piano here,  (a Yamaha YPG-235, which they call a "portable grand piano"), because it's easier to compose with a keyboard, easier to learn a vocal with one, and easier to teach music with one (since the kids want to learn, and we're more than glad to teach them). Plus, it's a half decent drum machine and a metronome, both of which are useful in general.

But that's all just gear, and I want to talk about music first.

The Musician

I've been listening to a lot of modern jazz, fusion, funk, groove metal, prog metal, and progressive rock this past year. Victor Wooten, Billy Sheehan, Jaco, Claypool, Dream Theater, Al DiMeola, Leo Kottke, Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller...

I mean I've listened to all of them for years, but that's been MOST of what I've listened to (on my own anyway. Mel mostly listens to country, so I listen to country about half the time just as background noise... I don't consider that real listening) recently.

Listening to all that, I've realized over maybe the last few months, that I really want to get back into bass again; maybe more than I want to play guitar (at least for now)... and given my 25 year love affair with the electric guitar, that's saying something.

Funny thing is how exact that number really is... I know exactly how long it is since I figured out I wanted an electric guitar. It was July 3rd 1985; so 25 years plus five months. 

Anybody know what the significance of that date is? Extra points if you get it without clicking on the link.

What got me interested in bass was something else entirely... and this is going to sound weird... but it was TV theme songs. Specifically, Barney Miller, Night Court, Sanford and Son, and a couple of others.

"Sanford and Sons" was written and produced by music legend Quincy Jones (it's actual title is "The Streetbeater") and the bass on the track was performed by the very well known and respected funk, R&B and fusion bassist Chuck Rainey; who also performed the bass for the M.A.S.H theme (the TV theme, not the "Suicide is Painless" recording used in the movie).

"Miller" was performed by two very well known session bassists, Jim Hughart and Chuck Burghofer; both of whom have performed on literally thousands of famous jazz, funk, and other records. There were two different recordings. Burghofer co-wrote the bass line, and played it on the original recording and the "alternate" version used in the last two seasons, but Hugart played the on air version used in the first few seasons.

The "Night Court" bass line was co-written and performed by one of the greatest bassists (and multi-instrumentalist jazz virtuoso) of all time, Marcus Miller.

NOTE: The "Night Court" and "Barney Miller" themes were both written and produced by the same guy, the late, great Jack Elliott (along with his writing partner Allyn Ferguson); and both are available in full song length versions on Elliotts CDs.

As it happens, the creator of "Night Court", Reinhold Weege, was the head writer on Miller for several years; and he had noted how important the Miller theme was to the shows success... it just stuck in peoples heads, had them thinking about the show. That's part of what a great TV theme gives you.

Relatively unknown except by hardcore fans of jazz, professional jazz musicians, and industry insiders; Elliott was a HUGE force in keeping Jazz alive and well  from the 60s through the 80s. He and Ferguson wrote themes for a dozen or more TV shows; most notably S.W.A.T, Charlies Angels, Banacek, Police Story, and Starsky & Hutch.

Elliott was the music director for dozens TV shows including the Andy Williams show, and the Smothers Brothers show, and was the composer for dozens more films and television shows; as well as the musical director of several jazz bands and orchestras. Notably, he was the long time musical director for the academy awards, the Emmys, and for 30 consecutive years, the Grammys.

Elliott knew talent, and kept as much of it as he could on hand. In so doing, he kept a lot of great talents in the Jazz, Funk, and R&B world employed and playing, for decades, when their particular musical genres weren't commercially viable.

Those shows just had some cool bass playing... In fact, in talking with a lot of bass players around my age, I've found a lot of guys said the same thing... That it was their first exposure to bass as a distinct musical element, not just the background to rock music etc... Judging from the number of youtube videos of people playing the groove from the "...Miller" theme, I don't doubt it.

Then, when I was around 11 or 12, I got into funk (and soul, and classic R&B), punk, and metal, all basically at the same time; and it was all over.

Of course, funk and soul would have been enough by themselves. From James Jamerson with the funk brothers rhythm section on all those great motown records; to Duck Dunn laying it down behind Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, and all the Stax greats; to Bootsie locking it in for James Brown and P-Funk; to Larry Graham slapping the bottom for Sly and the Family Stone.

I think it was Graham slappin and poppin that whole damn bass line on "Thank you (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" that finally made me say: "that's it, I have to have a bass".

I was lucky enough to be able to find a decent used Squier Standard P-bass, and a little Peavey practice amp, that didn't quite take ALL my money; and I started learning the basics.

I think the first "hard" thing (i.e. a real song that wasn't a basic bass line from a book) I learned to play was the line from Stevie Wonders "I Wish" (which of course Will Smith later used on "Wild Wild West"); one of the few songs of that era where Stevie wasn't playing the bass line himself (either faking it on the clavichord, or just playing the bass - having been taught to play bass "motown style" by James Jamerson in 1965). A lot of folks really love the "bass" on "Superstition" or "Higher Ground" for example, not knowing the bass line in both songs, is actually Stevie faking a slap bass sound on the clavichord (and in most covers, the cover artist will play the lines on bass).

It wasn't until my late teens that I really got into Jazz, when somebody gave me Coletranes "Blue Train"; and I pretty much went crazy buying every CD reissue of a Blue Note, or Prestige etc... record I could find (thus finding Miles, and Monk, and Bird and... yeah... I could easily go bankrupt in a record store, trust me)... and of course, that's how I first heard Paul Chambers (one of the best double bassists of Jazz), Ron Carter (possibly the most recorded bassist of all time), and later Marcus Miller...

Then I started listening to more Rush and Cream than they played on classic rock radio (the entire Disraeli Gears album was a revelation, nevermind 2112)... then Primus came out big... Then Tool.

NOTE: For progmetal geeks, I take the position that Paul D'amour is better than Justin Chancellor... No disrespect, Chancellor is great, but "Undertow" is an all time classic album and "Ænema" is just... damn. They recorded most of "Ænema" with D'amour, but replaced him with Chancellor before the tour... Though OK, I'll take the argument that Lateralus is at least as good... I disagree but I see the point.

Then around 1995, I heard Dream Theaters "A Change of Seasons", and it totally blew my brain away.

Then I started listening to the EARLY Chilis records (and I found "Get up and Jump", and Hollywood, and  Jungle Man. and Skinny Sweaty Man... not great "songs", but really great bass playing. I honestly think Flea is the best bassist in rock outside of metal and prog rock) ...

...and I finally started really LISTENING to the really great musicians and music around me, rather than just hearing it.

I had been listening to Mr. Big for years, without ever really getting how amazing Billy Sheehan was (or Paul Gilbert for that matter, but I did at least have an appreciation of shredders).

I had listened to three Chili Peppers albums ("Mothers Milk", "Blood Sugar Sex Magik", and "One Hot Minute") before I ever figured out how great Flea was. Though in my defense, this was post Hillel Slovak, when the Chilis focused less on Fleas rhythms, and more on the vocals and guitar of John Frusciante... and "one hot minute" wasn't very good to boot... but the cover of Stevies "Higher Ground" on "...Milk" alone should have given me a clue, especially since "...Milk" was my first Chilis record).

Finally, I was probably 21 or 22 when I found Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, and the incomparable Victor Wooten. Unfortunately, by then, I didn't have a bass anymore... though frankly, trying to play Wootens stuff back then would probably just have permanently discouraged me...

Anyway, what brought me to bass, was the love of the music... and the fact that I'm a total gear queer. I have a total and complete love for gadgets and gear, and a real love for beautifully shaped and figured wood.

I appreciate guitars, and bass guitars, both for the music you can make with them, and as expressions of the luthiers craft; as pieces of art rendered in wood.

Which brings me back to the hardware side of things...

The Gear Queer

Now, when I started playing, over 20 years ago, it cost a serious amount of cash to set yourself up with a decent bass rig... at least $700 to get a playable four string, if you wanted new, from a reasonable manufacturer, with a playable and stable neck, tuners that wouldn't slip, acceptable pickups etc... and they would of course be passive pickups (active electronics were just starting to really be a thing in basses outside of high end professionals and studio guys then).

You could expect to go $1200 plus for something really worthwhile; or over $5k for an Alembic, a Conklin, or a Fodera (but that's an entirely different league, and they're about double that now).

And that was in 1990 money.... $700 in 1990 is about $1200 in todays dollars.

A couple months ago when I started thinking about this, I took a look around... and man, things have changed.

You can get a very nice, reasonable looking bass, with decent passive pickups (EMG basically dominates the market), for under $500... You can even get a 5 string, with a through neck, good tone woods and solid active electrics (though generally not particularly pretty) for like $700.

Amps and cabs have come way down as well.

Back then, you could expect to pay over $500 at least... more likely over $1000 for an acceptable head, and another $1000 for the cab (never mind practice amps. I've never heard a bass practice amp I would bother spending any money on. Of course these days you can get one for under a hunny...).

Now you can get a perfectly acceptable head for $400 (or less), and a pretty decent 4x10 cab for another $400 (or less). You can even get a 450 watt Ampeg with a 4x10 cabinet for $1100 (though your classic Ampeg stack is still going to run you $2000+)

So anyway that very day, I was looking through basses at Amazon, and they had the Dean Edge Q5 ($800 list, usually about $550 street. 5 string, with a quilt maple top, bass body, 5 layer laminate maple and mahogany bolt on, and EMG 40hz passives with an active pre-eq), on special sale, $220...

DAMN....

Unfortunately, it was out of stock (not surprising considering the price), but they allowed backorder at that price so I said "what the hell", and I ordered it.

I figure for $220, I couldn't possibly go wrong.

As time went on, and they never updated my "in stock" date, or ship by date, I started getting the feeling they were going to cancel; but I decided I wanted a bass this year anyway.

In particular I wanted a 5 string; for the extended low range, and the ability to use lighter strings for bending and chording on the high frets while maintaining clean and bright tone, and still having that big beefy bottom B string for deep growl and grumble.

I think I'd like a six string at some point, but not to get reacquainted with the instrument. I don't see a 5 string as being too much more difficult than 4 string, but 6 string clearly is, simply because of the size of the fretboard and the string spacing.

So, I started looking for  a 5 string, preferably with pretty wood, active pickups, and neck through body construction.

Given those parameters I did some research, and came up with a pretty long list of possibilities, all between $650 and $800. So, I budgeted $800 for it; sold a couple of things, saved the money out for my Christmas gift budget etc...

As it happens, Amazon did cancel my order (actually they said they regretted they couldn't tell me when they might be able to fulfill my order, but I could keep waiting if I wanted. I didn't)...

...on Black Friday.

So, it being the number one shopping weekend of the year, and everyone and their mother offering special deals, I decided to take a look around; and man I'm glad I did.

... 'cuz I managed to snag one hell of a deal...

So for my Christmas present to myself this year, I picked up this:

It's a Dean Edge Pro 5: 5 string, 5 layer maple and rosewood laminate neck through basswood body with a bookmatched flame maple top and back, in transparent black, rosewood fingerboard, grover tuners, ABM single string bridges and brass string nut, EMG actives with a 3 band EQ (for 2010 they started branding the pickups as "Dean", but mine is a leftover 2009).

Price: $1000 list, about $700 street.

I paid.... $340

Yeah... No way I could pass that one up.

I was seriously thinking about the Schecter Stiletto Elite 5, or Stiletto Studio 5 (both very similar), both available for around $750-800 ($1200 list) from several places; but when that deal came up on the Dean no way I couldn't take it.

It's likely the Schecters are SLIGHTLY better wood (and on the Elite very slightly better fit and finish); but the Dean has better hardware, better pickups, and of course, LESS THAN HALF THE PRICE...

The other great thing about that deal was though, since I had budgeted $800 and since I had only spent $340 on the bass...

... Sweet, I had enough left in the budget for a real amp; instead of just scrimping up a hundred backs for a cheezy practice amp (like I said, I've never seen a bass practice amp worth spending any money on... though people tell me the Roland Cube is OK).

$440 gets a half decent combo amp on discount.

At first I thought I was going to end up with a decent brand 100 watt 1x15 combo or something similar... but looking around I found a deal on a Fender Rumble 350 watt 2x10 ($650 list) for $440...

I was about ready to push the button when I though just for the hell of it I'd look at what amazon had for cabs and heads.

I had already wishlisted a Hartke 2500, 250 watt head ($329 list, $249 at Amazon) and a Hartke 4x10xl cab ($469 list, $349 at Amazon); so I pulled those up, but together, they would've been over my budget.

However, what did I see in "related items", but a neat little Hartke 210xl, the 2x10 little brother to the 410xl half stack cab...

For $146 ($269 list)....

Hmmm...

Ok, I can get the Hartke 2500 for $249 and the 210xl for $146... That's $395 for a pretty decent little setup for my music room.

I was about ready to do that, when I looked down at the related products listing, and saw the Behringer Ultrabass 1800 180watter (list $285), for $143.

Again I say DAMN those are great deals.

OK, combined, that's $289... still under my budget... by $151... So I bought both.

Ok... so 180 watts into a 2x10 isn't exactly a big fat setup. My though was, honestly, I'm not gigging with it, so the 2x10 with 180 watts behind it is probably more than I'll ever need at home.

...but I was being clever.  The Hartke 210XL is voicematched to the other cabinets in the XL product line; and is specifically designed to match up with the Hartke 115XL, a 1x15 cabinet ($399 list, $299 at amazon).

The 210xl has a higher extension, without the bottom, and the 115xl has the big fat bottom without the highs. Together they make a balanced, spacious, clear and defined sound, with plenty of thump; but not requiring the kind of power (or taking up the space) a 15 plus a 4x10 would take (at least 350 watts to really do it justice).

I like the sound of a 2x10 plus a big 15 better than a single 4x10 anyway; and stacked they're a 4ohm load (so you actually get the rated output on the amp) vs. the 8ohm load of each cabinet individually (most decent amps are stable at both 4ohm and 8ohm. Some can handle 2ohm, but most can't. However, stable or not, an 8 ohm load means a lot less rated power. In the case of the Behringer, it's 180watt vs 100 watt).

The one thing I was concerned about, both with the little Behringer, and the small cabinet; was the low B... I thought maybe the rolloff at 31-33hz might be too much for the 2x10 (probably more than 6db), and the power to clearly define that note may be too much for the little Behringer.

More on that later...

So, finally, what to do with that last $151 in the budget...

Hmm... I could get a couple decent pedals for that, or maybe a pedal and a headphone amp... Actually a headphone amp sounds like a good idea, but the Rockman is like $70 and you don't get much for that...

Then I remembered the Line 6 pocketPOD works with bass as well (and there are plenty of bass tones downloadable for it). Plus I don't have a headphone amp for my guitar, and of course it works with guitar... and it's a full multi-effects processor AND a modeler AND a headphone amp...

It's normally $180, but Amazon has it for... YES $129 plus $15 for the external power supply.

SCORE.

So I got a bass, amp, cab, and a preamp/modeler/mep/headphone amp, all for $793.

... or, not quite...

The Player

Everything arrived, and man, the bass is beautiful. It feels great in the hand, and it sounds great... unless I have a CFL light on nearby unfortunately, as the pickups pick up a bunch of noise off them (I may be able to fix that with some extra shielding, and wiring in a noise filter, or I may need to switch to different pickups. My guitar pickups for example don't have that problem).

Most importantly, it PLAYS great. It's got a feel WAY better than any other bass I've played that didn't cost more than $2k.

The amp and cab came in too, and they're great. Good looking, and for the most part good sounding... but for one problem...

...That open low B string I was worried about before.

At low volume, or fretted up past low C, they're fine. Unfortunately,  the amp doesn't have the power or frequency response to handle the open B string. The 210XL seems to handle it alright at low volume, but that's all the Behringer can drive at that low frequency without badly distorting (and yes, it's definitely the amp distorting, not the cabinet).

If it was a regular 4 string bass, it wouldn't be an issue, but that low B is just a killer.

So, I'm going to return the Behringer 180 watt, and get a more powerful amp; either the Hartke HA2500 (250 watt), or the Behringer Ultrabass 4500 (450 watt). That should drive the 2x10 enough to be acceptable (though not perfect), until I can afford the $300 to add on the big 15"; and either should be enough power to drive the two cab stack at 4 ohms.

I'm still very happy with the bass and the 2x10 though; and I'm leaning strongly towards going with the all Hartke solution.

Just a LITTLE Adultery...

A month or so back, I mentioned I felt a bit like cheating.

"I'm a strat man. I've alway had strats, and strat clones, and superstrats... hell I even had a strat shaped acoustic once. My very first guitar was a strat clone (appropriately enough for this post though, it was an Epiphone). I own a superstrat now (a Jackson Dinky)...

...and I'm kinda having a bit of guitar lust over a Les Paul.

Maybe a flame maple bookmatched top, with that deep cherry sunburst... blocks and bindings,, and no pick guard...

...Most importantly, is there any way to get a decent one without being raped (and god knows, you can't buy a new one in the style I'd like for less than the price of a used car... "

Sooo.....

As it happens, yesterday, I snagged a new Les Paul... for $300.

Well... not new, and not a Gibson; but honestly, it's such a nice guitar I don't give a damn.

Actually, it's a used Japanese Epiphone Les Paul classic custom, in chambered mahogany, and no pick guard (which I prefer); customized with Gibson USA pickups and electronics (BurstBuckers); black Gibson knobs, switchgear, and surrounds; chrome Grover tuners, a graphite string nut, and chrome straplocks (with a really nice paded and quilted leather strap).

The important part though is the wood... a carved, AAAA grade (some would grade this as AAA instead), highly figured, bookmatched quilted maple top; in translucent black smoke, with full antique bindings on body, fingerboard, and headstock, and real mother of pearl fretboard and headstock inlays.

Which funny enough, is the same finish on my Jackson superstrat, and my Ovation electricoustic (though they are flame maple, not quilted... and neither are nearly so highly figured). So I've got a matched set on my triple guitar stand (that's not it above, obviously).

Honestly, the pic doesn't do the wood justice... and it plays, just as good as it looks... and it matches the other two guitars... For $300 I just couldn't let it pass by.

A few VERY different shredders...

Expanding on last nights post, I thought I'd put up a few different videos, of a few different styles and techniques of shredding.

Just for fun, let's look at Darrel Abbot (aka Dimebag Darrel) and his tour through all the major shredding styles "The Art of Shredding"

This sound is, literally, an example of every different kind of shredding there is. Different sections are played in different fingering, picking, and tapping styles.

Then there's the all time canonical example for the shred guitarist, Yngwie Malmsteen; and what is probably the best example of his several different shredding techniques (alternate picking, sweep picking, hybrid picking, hybrid tapping, and two handed tapping) all in one song, "Caprici Diabolo":

Oh and I should note... though I often criticize Yngwie for being all speed and technique, and no soul...and for being a total douchebag (really, he is. Major asshole, and a nasty drunk too)... he can do it almost as well with an acoustic guitar as he can with a strat. Still no soul, but he's not using insane overdrive and extra strings and extended doublecutaways to get his speed :

And I should note, for most of his best, fastest, and most difficult work, Yngwie was stone ass (near falling down) drunk. If I drank as much as he did I wouldnt be able to tie my shoes, never mind play like that.

Oh and he CAN play slowly, and play the blues, and classic rock... he's even good at it... he just likes guitar masturbating a lot more.

There's two guys you have to credit for bringing shredding to mass audiences, and coincidentally both played behind (or in front of) David lee Roth.

The first is of course, Eddie Van Halen, with the song that brought shredding out in public for the first time, "Eruption":

...and for those of you who only know Van halen as mediocre middle aged adult contemporary rockers (you poor misguided fools you), here's an INSANE 11 minute live shredding jam on eruption from the early 80s (where Eddie uses every shredding technique known to man):

Just the look on his face during the whole thing... there's a man in his prime and having the time of his life. He was the absolute king of the world for that 11 minutes.

The other player of course is Steve Vai; who would do more than any other 80s guitarist to popularize shredding with the hard core musical theory crowd (the guys who love metal for the technique and degree of difficulty)... and who in this clip just happens to also being shredding with Tony MacAlpine, Dave Wiener, and Billy Sheehan:

Though I have to say, my favorite Vai tune ever is probably Bad Horsie:

Some may say that role more properly belongs to Satrianai (or even Steve Morse)
... but I disagree. Like Eric Johnson, Satch doesn't really shred... Satch just... IS.

Now... we have to talk a bit about Michael Angelo Batio; who is considered the fastest shredder there is (though Talio DellaVega is the fastest picker according to Guinness).

Frankly, I'm not a fan. He is INSANELY fast... and his technique is incredible... but if there was ever someone who is all technique and no soul or art it's Batio. And I hate to say it, because he's an incredibly versatile and inventive player, and a great teacher of technique (and apparently a very nice guy)... I just don't like his music.

Here he is playing on his signature "double guitar"... not just a double neck, it's actually two guitars joined at the base, that he plays simultaneously with plucking and tapping techniques:

What he can do with a guitar... or two.. or even four (yes, he has a four way version of that thing and he'll play all four at once through harmonics, pedals, sustain effects etc... ) boggles the mind... It's absolutely amazing... but it leaves me cold.

And here's Dragonforce's Herman Li, demonstrating his hybrid tapping/two handed tapping style:

...and what has become their iconic song "Through the Fire and Flames":

Where you can see that Li is one of the fastest two handed, or hybrid tappers ever... Plus it's just a fun song.

Admittedly, Li isnt nearly as musical as some others, but his playing is incredibly fast, and very fun. It's not strained or over-techniqued... it's just he sacrifices quality for speed.

Now, I can't do this sampler without something from John Petrucci, one of my favorite guitarists from one of my favorite bands of all time, Dream Theater. Here's his solo piece "Glasgow Kiss":

Not one of the fastest shredders (though he's damn fast); but definitely among the most musical... Probably as good as Satch, Gilbert etc.. as an artist and band member rather than just a "guitar player".


Ok... I saved this one for last, because... well most people dn't know who he is, other than real guitar geeks... and he's probably the only guitarist I can think of who is both faster, AND more musical than Paul Gilbert... His name is Rusty Cooley; and though he's been around since the early 90s, he's never had much fame... but guitarist know who his is, and stuff like this is why:

and this freestyle jam... just blows me away:

Oh and thinking about it now... Why is it so many of the most amazing guitarists come out of New Jersey? No joke, like 1/3 of these guys are from NJ.

Eine Kleine Shred Musik

Sometimes, I just can't sleep. Soooo much going on in the cranium, I just can't shut it down.

When I was a kid, I used to drown out my brain, playing metal and deep cuts of classic rock, very loudly (either through headphones, or after I got a soundproofed private apartment through a quite loud cd player and amp)... The music just pounded away my obsessive multitrack mind, and attention to everything around me; and after a while I could sleep.

It's how I first learned to love the guitar gods. Hendrix, Clapton, Blackmore, Morse, Moore, Gilmour, Vai, Satriani, Johnson, Vaughn... Hell even Knopfler and Kottke and Cooder, and Di Meola, and MacAlpine. If I could get ahold of a CD and it had great guitar (and bass too; but finding a virtuoso bassist was a lot harder. Billy Sheehan, Les Claypool, Victor Wooten, Stu Hamm, and Stanley Clarke are about the only guys you could actually get albums for at the time), I probably listened to it a hundred or a thousand times like that.

It doesn't work for me anymore. Not sure why, but it doesn't let me sleep like it used too... Though I still find it relaxing. Sometimes I'll just stick my itunes into a loop of my "guitar" playlist, and wipe out as much of the distraction as possible.

So, here's some shredding for you this late night slash early morning, courtesy of Paul Gilbert (one of the best guitarists of all time... and one of the most underrated, because he chose to be in bands that get little respect, and because he became a guitar video hawker):

First a few classical caprices (both literally and figuratively)...

Then some more explicit metal shredding...

Y.R.O (Yngwie Rip-Off... Gilbert has an interesting sense of humor)

"Technical Difficulties" (still one of my favorite pieces of "background metal")

Gilbert is all the more impressive (and this makes his being underrated even more clear), because unlike most shredders who play at his level of speed and precision; he is an alternate picker not primarily a tapper or sweep picker (Gilbert WILL tap, but in his own compositions, and most of his shredding, he is almost exclusively a picker).

He achieves his amazing speed and precision almost exclusively with alternate picking, string skipping, and soft legatos (basic hammer-ons and pullofs); rarely using tapping or sweep picking.

Gilbert has been clocked at sustained 20 distinctly picked notes... not legatos (hammerons, and pullofs), or taps... per second, in actual music (not just speedpicking) when messing around (that's 1200 beats per minute, though only for a few seconds).

Although there are faster players; notably Herman Li (who has several hybrid tapping pieces at 320bpm) , Michael Angelo Batio (who can apparently hit 32 sounded notes per second when tremolo picking; but that's not music, that's just speedpicking), and Tiago DellaVega (who can play "Flight of the Bumblebee" the normal test piece, picked at over 320bpm ); they are all tappers, hybrid pickers (people who pluck with several fingers in addition to the pick, as in fingerstyle guitar, bluegrass, and banjo playing) or hybrid tappers (tapping and sweep or tremolo picking simultaneously); I don't think anyone is a faster picker, while being as musical.

Notably, because of this skill (not to mention soul, and sense of humor), he is the most "musical" of the ultra-high speed shredders; not just depending on speed and technical prowess... and not needing a finely tuned and heavily overdriven electric guitar with funny weight strings to do it (as you need to do with high speed tapping).

He can do things like this:

Which, if you'll note the fingering and picking, ISN'T actual flamenco style guitar (which he says right at the beginning). He isn't fingerpicking or plucking here, hes only using his thumb and index finger to "pick" up and down... so it doesn't sound as fluid as true flamenco would but there is more precision to the notes.

Or this little Hayden piece for example:

Which you will note is exclusively alternate picked; where a classical guitarist would be finger picking, or another shredder (Yngwie certainly. He has also done this piece) would be two handed tapping or hybrid tapping (both faster techniques certainly, but producing an entirely different sound and "feel").

Thing is... though I appreciate the technique, and the foundation Gilbert has (he's certainly one of the best musically educated guitarists out there in terms of technique. He has a degree in guitar theory, and is a professor at the Guitar Institute of Technology)... What I like most about his playing is the soul, and the sheer FUN he has playing. Gilbert is a guy who doesn't take himself, or playing guitar, too seriously... and I like that.

Here he is, having some fun with his Mr. Big bandmate Billy Sheehan:

I feel like cheating...

I'm a strat man. I've alway had strats, and strat clones, and superstrats... hell I even had a strat shaped acoustic once. My very first guitar was a strat clone (appropriately enough for this post though, it was an Epiphone). I own a superstrat now (a Jackson Dinky).

But the best guitar I've ever owned, my favorite guitar, the guitar I loved the most... Was a Gibson.

An early 80s production Gibson custom shop Explorer in mahogany and bound flame maple, with a clear on deep cherry red finish (it made the figuring just pop. Amazing chatoyance), bound top, board, and headstock, with no pickguard (the whole thing was backrouted. Nothing to mar the top), mother of pearl inlays on a rosewood board, dual gold covered hand wired humbuckers, a gold Kahler and matching hardware with custom knurled tone knobs (four, in a staggered configuration like a Les Paul. Individual volume and tone for each pickup. Each pot was a switch: On/off on each volume control, and coil splitting on each tone control. No toggle switches to mess up the lines), and custom knurled end tuning machine knobs.

The gold and red combo with the figuring... it was just beautiful. The post here from the current makers of REAL Hamer (there's cheap low end Hamer made offshore now. Not even close to the same) has the closest thing to the same finish I've seen in a long time.

The funny thing was though... It was essentially Gibsons custom shop doing a straight up copy of a high end Hamer Standard, which was itself a copied and improved version of the original Explorer.

The original electrics were toast, so I updated to EMG actives (two humbuckers of course) with an onboard preamp and EQ (one of the early sets. This was the early 90s that I picked it up. Got the parts from Stew-Mac Guitar Shop Supply... still remember that crappy pulp paper catalog with the black and red printing).

I was working in my uncles refinishing shop at the time, and I managed to pick up a cosmetically trashed sunburst ES-355; and I used the shop to VERY thoroughly restore and refinish it.

But I'm not a 355 fan (yeah, I know, heresy, especially for a blues fan), and nobody was willing to give me anywhere near what the thing was worth in cash. Lots of folks wanted it, but nobody who wanted it could afford it.

My guitar teacher had this fried Explorer, that he had taken in lieu of a debt... and he WAS a 355 fan... So a trade was struck.

One of those things where we both figured we got the best part of the deal, and we were both right.

Anyway, this thing... It was just beautiful; and the tone... Lord. I never knew an unamplified electric guitar could have that much sustain, or sound that good.

Unfortunately, the guitar was lost when my brother burned my house down... Damn, that was 13 years ago now... Hadn't thought about that in a while.

Thats a guitar that you can't replace... Even if they made them like that anymore, which they don't (well... Bill Conklin might make something that good now... but not many do, and it wouldn't be anything close to the same... just "as good"). You don't try to... you just remember it for what it was, and find something new and different.

Anyway, the other day, I was watching one of those "how it's made" type documentaries on TLC or discovery or somesuch and I watched them make a couple of Les Pauls.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the guitar gear queer world... There are Strat guys, and there are Les guys... It's kinda like Chevy vs. Ford...

For the first time, I found myself seriously wanting a Les Paul.

Unfortunately, the last few years, Fenders quality has been all over the place... and really I'm just not interested in another Strat (I want one of my old ones back, but that's another story entirely. A '94 Ultra in Beryllium blue with the ultrathin neck, and lace sensors. It was a gift from my dad)...

But Gibsons are still sometimes made well (though not as much by hand as they used to be. They now use computer controlled routers for much of the work, just like every other guitar maker)...

...and I'm kinda having a bit of guitar lust over a Les Paul.

Maybe a flame maple bookmatched top, with that deep cherry sunburst... blocks and bindings,, and no pick guard...

So, here's a chance for Billy Beck to show off a little bit... Seriously the man knows his Les Pauls and I'd welcome his advice, along with any good advice from Les Paul lovers and players... I'm a strat man, I don't know much about the details of production, what works and what doesn't, whether a straight bridge, a trapeze trem, or a Floyd works best... Anything really.

If I were to do it, what should I look for? What shold I look out for on the bad side of things?

Most importantly, is there any way to get a decent one without being raped (and god knows, you can't buy a new one in the style I'd like for less than the price of a used car... which is why I really dislike Gibson as a company. I mean, there is NO reason there are 60 different models of Les Paul most of which cost more than $3,000).