2009 Nashville Amp Expo

My wife and don't take road trips nearly often enough, so when we get the chance we always try to fit one into our schedule. On a whim I thought it would be fun (for me, at least) to drive up to Nashville and check out the Nashville Amp Expo. As it turns out my wife, who is not a player, ended up enjoying the experience as much and I did!

More and more trade shows are being held in hotels instead of big, expensive convention centers. Organizers rent out most (or all) of a particular hotel for a certain numbers of days and vendors then setup shop in the individual rooms of each floor (as well as give seminars in the meeting rooms, etc.). I can think of no better way to host an amp show than this, because guitar amps can get very loud (and because most guitar amps only sound good very loud). So having individual rooms in which to demo each amplifier brand is genius!






There were literally too many awesome things we got to experience to list them all, but a few of the highlights were Delgado Guitars, Lindy Fralin pickups, Ark Amps, and an incredible "100 watt Marshall Amp" workshop/demonstration where no fewer than a dozen or more 100 watt Marshalls and Marshall clones were demonstrated.

There were also drawings for door prizes and I ended up winning an awesome MW1-Studio Tool courtesy of Creation Labs (the Amp Expo's host). It's an $800 piece of gear!!!

My wife and I can't wait to go to the next one.

Pedal Board Bracket Mods

Ever since I bought my Furman SPB-8C pedal board I was having trouble keeping my pedals on it. The velcro strips supplied with the unit, as well as the velcro bottom of the board itself, are woefully incapable of keeping heavy pedals securely anchored to the board. So, I decided to drill some holes in it. :)

I got this idea from a website that sells random guitar paraphernalia, but instead of buying them I decided to make my own… with a twist. My method uses wing nuts for tool-less installation and removal of the pedals. Here's how I did it:

I went to Lowes and bought a couple of packs of 2"-34 mending plates, #8-32 wing nuts and #8-32 x 1-1/2 machine screws. I then attached the brackets to my pedals using the screws already there underneath the pedal housing (most pedals have four of them). You only need two brackets for most pedals, and only one will suffice for the smaller, lighter ones.





Once I had the brackets attached I placed the pedals back on the board, lined them up exactly how I wanted them and then marked the holes for drilling. I used my DeWalt drill and a 1/8 inch drill bit, which is a smaller diameter than the machine screw itself. This helps give the screw some bite and keeps things nice and tight. Warning: Be sure to use something underneath the board lest you drill a hole in your floor! I used a small length of 2x4 that I moved around under the board when drilling the holes. Then I just inserted the screws from the bottom with a screwdriver and the board was ready.

The last thing left to do was to put the pedals back on and install the wing nuts. Viola! Now your pedals are secure and ready for gigging.

Tommy Emmanuel Show, Memphis TN

My wife and I had the pleasure of attending last night's show at Minglewood Hall in Memphis, TN by acoustic guitar genius, Tommy Emmanuel. This guy is simply amazing and has to be seen and heard to be believed!

He ran through most of his classic songs and played them all to perfection. I heard not one mistake the whole night... it is truly amazing to see such virtuosity up close like that (we had front row seats) and in such an intimate setting. My favorite tune of the night was Tommy's rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"... awe inspiring, to say the least. He starts the tune with a cascade of right-hand, finger plucked harmonics and plays the song with the most beautiful voice leading I've ever heard. Truly something special to experience.

Check out this YouTube video of another live performance of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" to see what I mean. The man is a genius!

New Amp!! Kingsley D32 Head and Matching Swanson 2x12 cabinet

So I am browsing the Gear Page Amp Emporium (always a dangerous thing for me to do) and I run across this beautiful creme tolex Kingsley Deluxe 32 head w/matching Swanson 2x12 cabinet. Naturally I jumped right on it and did the deal. I basically traded my Carol Ann head for the D32 head and Swanson cabinet, minus the speakers.

I can report that she sings beautifully! Much thicker, fatter and ballsier tone than my Kingsley ToneBaron right out of the box (but I suspect the same tones live within the ToneBaron... it's just a matter of dialing them in). I also think the Swanson cabinet is tuned for more pronounced mids. I am using the exact same speaker pair with the D32 that I use with the ToneBaron, which are Eminence designed Two Rock TR 65-16 12" speakers.

This amp has the same beautiful, hand-build construction as the ToneBaron and is actually a precursor to the ToneBaron model. It runs four EL84 power tubes, five 12ax7 preamp tubes, is tube rectified and cathode biased. The previous owner sent this amp back to Kingsley creator, Simon Jarrett, for Powerscaling and PPIMV (Post Phase Inverter Master Volume) mods. The D32 is a two channel amp with Reverb available on the clean channel only.

This particular amp comes with footswitchable boost for both channels, and in true Kingsley style the footswitch includes volume pots to adjust the boost amount right from the pedal! No need to run back to the amp to make adjustments.

Look for a full review of this amp soon.

Mike Keneally Clinic

It was a real treat to get the chance to enjoy a small clinic with one of my long-time guitar heros, Mike Keneally. He was accompanied by bass extraordinaire, Bryan Beller.

He ran through many of his original instrumentals, many of them played on Taylor acoustics! Some of the pieces were played on the new Talyor solid body electrics. Mike's chops did not disappoint... the man can really play!

There was plenty of time to chat and ask questions... and one that has been on my mind for years is: "How on earth did he and Steve Vai play all those whammy bar licks in the "Attitude Song" on the G3 "Live from Denver" DVD without making any mistakes (and jumping and running around, to boot!)?? His answer was: practice. :) He and Steve practiced every lick together with a metronome at super slow speeds and gradually worked them up to tempo. These guys practice just like the rest of us!

My Band Has Changed Its Name to "Free Ride"

After much debate and name selecting we decided to change our band name from the "New Originals" to "Free Ride". We are still playing the same '70s Classic Rock tunes with some '60s and '80s rock sprinkled in.

We are looking forward to hitting the bars and clubs in the near future as Free Ride. Look for show dates on our My Space page and my Twitter account, or become a fan on Facebook.

See you out there!

New Pedal!! Kingsley Jester

The Kingsley Jester is a dual function pedal designed and personally handwired by Simon Jarrett of Kingsley Amplifiers which sports a clean boost on one side and a full-on overdrive circuit on the other. It is driven by two 12AX7 tubes and requires a special power supply in order to operate properly. The construction is top-notch, with a heavy duty metal casing and roadworthy "plunger" footswitches. This thing is built to last for players who actually gig out.

On each side of the Jester is a 3 position slider switch that steps up the amount of the effect. On the OD side, the 3 position switch increases the amount of OD with position one being more of a "crunch", position two a full-bodied medium gain and position three a full-on liquidy gain for rich, thick leads. The boost side's 3 position switch alters the boost voicing with position one being warm boost, position two a bright boost and position three a mid boost.

The controls are Bass, Mid, Treble and Gain for the OD mode while the boost mode has a single Boost knob for setting the overall boost level. Of course, the two effects can be run simultaneoulsy so that while playing with the OD engaged the boost can then be activated to effectively cut through the mix for solos.

The sound of the Jester is quite simply amazing. This has to be the best sounding OD pedal on the market as it truly responds like an amplifier. The tone is "tube-like" and responsive... very warm and harmonically rich. Unlike most analog and digital distortion pedals which almost always sound harsh and overbearing, the Jester sounds like a circuit built into your amp and not at all like a pedal. The circuit is modeled on Simon's Deluxe 30 series amps and the ToneBaron (which I own and absolutely love).

I ordered mine with the "hardwire" by-pass wiring, which is described on the Kingsley website as:

"...a hard-wire by-pass circuit that leaves the overdrive input connected, even when by-passing the effect, resulting in quiet switching between the effect and by-pass mode...".

I can attest to the fact that the switching is absolutely silent and I cannot tell the pedal is in my chain when it's off. The Jester is definitely not a "tone sucker".

I can highly recommend this pedal to anyone looking for great rock tones with warmth and harmonic richness.

Check out the soundclips from the Kingsley website played by Simon himself:

Strat:

1 - strat clean reference clip

2 - very mild breakup, neck pickup

3 - mild OD, neck pickup

4 - medium gain, bridge pickup

5 - medium crunch, bridge pickup

Les Paul Deluxe:

1 - clean reference clip with Celestion G12H30

2 - medium gain -shows touch sensitivity

3 - medium crunch

4 - smoother

5 - bluesy

6 - clean reference clip with Celestion Gold

7 - slight gain

8 - a little more gain

9 - medium gain

10 - "all the things you are" w/mild OD

11 - "all the things you are" w/smooth OD

Deluxe Strat & Malmsteen Strats Get New Pickguard and Pickups

Once I decided to test my Malmsteen guitars to see if they would work for me in my band, I simply stole the pickguard off my '04 Deluxe Strat "temporarily" to see if the pickups would render the Malmsteens more usable tonewise with the music we are playing. This, of course, was a success but somehow that pickguard never made it back to my Deluxe Strat. :) It first landed on my Vintage White Malmsteen, and then found its way to the Sonic Blue (where it has remained since). I ordered a new pickguard and indentical pickup set for the Vintage White shortly afterward and now both Malmsteens are locked and loaded and ready for gigs.

Meanwhile, my poor Deluxe Strat was in limbo with a Malmsteen pickguard loaded with Malmsteen electronics. This time, to save some cash and to change up the formula a bit, I ordered a new pearloid pickguard routed for a bridge humbucker and two singles and popped in an old DiMarzio ToneZone I had lying around on my workbench for years. I originally bought it for $30 on eBay and never found anything to put it in, so it was cool to finally get to use it in something. The singles I ordered are my favorite choice, DiMazrio Virtual Vintage Blues, which I have in both Malmseen guitars as well.

I am so happy with the result! This guitar sounds fantastic with the ToneZone in the bridge position. This has always been a very dark sounding Strat from the very beginning, so having the ToneZone in it makes for a pretty dark, ballsy sound with a nice open-wah like mid range and I love it! This was an excellent upgrade. The next thing I'll be doing to this guitar is swapping out the bridge with a Callaham.

Ordered a Kingsley Jester Pedal

Just placed an order for a Kinglsey Jester Boost/OD pedal with Simon Jarrett of Kingsley amplifiers. This is an all handwired clean boost and OD pedal that runs with two 12ax7 tubes and is built with a sturdy looking metal enclosure.

There are many options for tone shaping. From the Kinglsey website:

"The overdrive circuit is designed to capture the essence of the Kingsley Deluxe series overdrive tone in a footpedal format. The circuit is based on the overdrive channels of the Deluxe 32 and ToneBaron amplifiers, with the necessary adjustments made to allow the circuit to drive the front end of other amps.

The controls are: gain, volume, treble, middle and bass, with a three-way voicing switch that changes the gain range from low to medium to high.

A seperate foot-switchable tube boost function is also included with a boost level control. This boost circuit can function with the Jester ovedrive circuit or independently as a clean boost. Effectively this means that the the user has four footswitchable sounds available: by-pass, clean boost, overdrive and boosted overdrive. The boost on its own works great for a clean boost or for pushing the front end of an amp into overdrive."

Should be an awesome pedal!!

Malmsteen Strats Get Callaham Bridges

My last post stated that I had no other mods planned for my Sonic Blue Malmsteen Strat, but that changed once I decided to take the plunge and order a couple of Callaham Strat tremolo replacements. I had heard of Callaham guitar parts (especially their Strat trems) for years but for one reason or another I never got around to buying one to try out. Now that I am much more handy with guitar repair and modification I am able to do simple things like swapping a bridge out without a problem, which makes it much easier (and cheaper) to try different things to see if they really do improve the instrument.

All I can say about this product is WOW! What an incredible difference in tone from the original bridge. Callaham bridge parts are all machined by hand in-house and are made from quality cold rolled steel and other alloys that truly enhance the tone and vibration transfer from the strings to the guitar. The quality is quite apparent when handling the trem itself. All the screws fit snugly and thread in effortlessly... it is easy to tell the metal and machining is of higher quality than the standard Fender fare (even all the screws supplied with the bridge kit are made of hardened steel with heads that are much less likely to strip out; which, by today's standards, is quite rare and wonderful!).

I immediately heard the difference in both the plugged in and unplugged tone of the guitar. The overall tone is brighter and much louder than before. Definitely more musical and richer. Unplugged the guitar is perhaps 30% louder than before, and plugged in it has a longer natural sustain and a gorgeous "classic Strat" tone that has equal parts "spank" and "fatness".

A big problem with Malmsteen Strats (and many other Fender Start models) is the wide string spacing of the vintage tremolo combined with overly dressed fret ends. The low and high E strings tend to slip off the edge of the neck when playing. Very annoying! Well, I solved this by ordering the Callaham replacement bridges with vintage 2 7/32" (56mm) mount spacing but with the narrow 2 1/16" string spacing (normally found on modern, two-point Fender trems). This helped bring the E strings back from the edge... the guitar now plays like normal with zero slippage! I couldn't be happier with the result.

I cannot say enough good things about this product. I bought two of these and I will soon be converting my Vintage White Malmsteen over to the Callaham. I have also learned of a cool kit that Callaham makes to convert two point modern Strat trems over to the vintage six-point style. I will definitely be converting my '04 Deluxe Strat to a Callaham vintage Strat trem as soon as my funds allow! :)

I give these bridges my highest rating!!!

New Guitar!! Yngwie Malmsteen Sonic Blue Stratocaster

Yes! I finally got one of my favorite Strat colors, Sonic Blue, and on one of my favorite Strat models, the Yngwie Malmsteen signature Stratocaster. I have wanted a Sonic Blue Malmsteen Strat for a while now so when I came across this one I jumped on it. Unfortunately, I had to trade my Custom Shop '60 Relic Strat for it (I also got some cash in addition), but so far I can report that it was well worth it. I loved the Relic Strat but the tone was just too thin and harsh for my taste (even despite trying different pickups), so I decided to move it.

This American made Malmsteen is a 2001 make with a maple fretboard, nice deep scallops and the usual huge fretwire (Dunlop 6000, I believe). It is identical in every way to my '05 Vintage White Malmsteen, but I believe the fit and finish to be a tad bit better on this one. The really awesome thing about this guitar is that despite being 7 years old, it's brand new. And I mean brand new! This particular specimen was bought by the previous owner to collect so it has never been played, has all the hang tags on it and the cellophane pickguard protector still applied. Even the trem arm sticker dot that keeps the arm spring from falling out hadn't been removed. This guitar is factory mint.

I have a new set of pickups currently on order for it. Since I am now in a band (and especially since I plan to gig this guitar) I have to be able to get a certain type of tone from my instruments that compliments the music that we play. In the case of Stratocasters, I usually prefer having a humbucker in the bridge position and a couple of good, high-output, fat-sounding single coils in the middle and neck positions (nothing too ice pickish). My favorite set for a Strat at the moment (and the set currently in my '05 Malmsteen) are: the DiMarzio Fast Track 2 single coiled sized humbucker (bridge) and two DiMarzio Virtual Vintage Blues single coils in the middle and neck positions. I also install a treble bleed on the volume knob potentiometer so that the tone stays nice and crisp as the volume is rolled off on the guitar.

Other than pickups, I plan to install an off-white pickguard to replace the mint-green one currently on it. The off-white color is the most typical pickguard seen on Yngwie's guitars. Also, with the creme pickup covers I have on order the contrast between the off-white guard and the creme covers will look cool and have a vintage vibe. At the moment, no other mods for this guitar are planned (other than Schaller strap locks).

The neck is a fine piece of craftsmanship. It is very level with an easy adjusting truss rod and it feels and plays beautifully with minimal to no buzzing anywhere on the neck. The brass nut is superbly cut and the bridge parts are the typical Fender steel vintage trem fare. Should be easily whipped into shape and made playable in no time. I can't wait to get it broken in so I can start gigging with it! I can definitely say that I am very pleased with this acquisition.

New Pickups in R9 Les Paul

Ever since I had my R9 Les Paul I have had a problem with the pickups being too microphonic for high gain, high volume amps. Some time ago I also changed the pickups in my R7 Les Paul for the same reason (in that case I replaced the OEM pups with a Duncan Jazz and a Duncan JB, neck and bridge respectively).

I wanted to try something a little more "special" in my R9 since I really did like the sound of the stock BurstBuckers that it came with. So, during my "Great Acquision" :) I scored an assortment of WCR pickups at great prices. Two of them happened to be exactly what I was looking for to put in my R9... a double cream WCR Goodwood (bridge) and a double cream WCR Crossroads (neck). This is the "American Steele" combo set as seen on the WCR website.

I love the sound of these pickups in my R9. They have a lively, harmonically rich tone and are very responsive to input. The output is in the lower range, as you would expect from a PAF clone, so they are both very open and woody sounding... but with plenty of high-end "spank" that helps tame some of the dark muddiness that a mahogany body can produce.

Finally, I added a cool lightning bolt strap; which, with the double cream pickups, completes the Ace Frehley look. :)

Yngwie Malmsteen Show at the Cannery, Nashville TN

I attended the Yngwie Malmsteen show at the Cannery in Nashville, TN last night with my wife. We had a great time, and it was my first time to ever see Yngwie perform live. What an experience! First off, it was loud as hell... and since I knew he has a reputation for playing extremely loud I thought to bring ear plugs for us both. That turned out to be a smart move. :)

Being a huge fan it was great to hear many of the classic Malmsteen cuts such as "I'll See the Light Tonight", "I Am a Viking" and "Far Beyond the Sun". Of course, the show was in support of his new album "Perpetual Flame" with vocalist Tim "Ripper" Owens. Owens is an amazing talent and was able to easily handle the vintage Malmsteen material, as well as belt out the new stuff like the record. Yngwie burned up the fretboard as usual... the guy hasn't lost a thing. And his tone was amazing!

Unfortunately, no photos were allowed to be taken during the show.

I'll definitely be attending the next show when comes back through the area.

Bought & Sold New Gear - eBay and The Gear Page

Well, I kind of went nuts! :) I decided to sell a bunch of stuff that I hadn't been playing much in order to invest in some good equipment that I'll enjoy more and some stuff that I can sell later when the market is back up (whenever that happens!).






I decided to sell the Gretsch Power Jet, the Ibanez JPM P100, the Ibanez 20th RG, the Ibanez 7 string and my Peavey Wolfgang. These were tough to let go, but I really was not playing these guitars as often I as should have to justify keeping them in the collection. I got some pretty decent money for them on eBay, so it wasn't a total loss. I also sold the PAF Pro (hot pink) pickups in the 20th RG separately (plus several more sets of pickups), some other miscellaneous stuff like a drum machine, some acoustic strings and a bunch of assorted audio and instrument cables.

With the proceeds from all these sales I have acquired:

Two Rock 2x12 open-back cabinet fully loaded with TR 65-16 speakers. I scored this cab on the Gear Page for $400 which included speakers and shipping. This was an incredible deal and since it is slightly more worn than my other recently acquired TR 2x12 cab I shall use this one for gigs. It is a little larger than my first one (by one cubic inch) and I can really hear it in the low end. Great sounding cabinet!!


Two Rock 1x12 open-back cabinet, without speaker. I picked this little cab up to use at our rehearsal space with the band. I bought a used Eminence Red White & Blues speaker for it and I couldn't be happier! It is a perfect rehearsal solution and I also get to leave it at our space, so that is one less thing for me to carry. The overall sound is darker than my 2x12 Two Rock cabs, which I think is due mostly to the RW&Bs speaker. Sounds great, though!


Fuchs Mini open-back 1x12 cab (w/Scumback H75-LHDC speaker). Now this was a incredible find for the price... I paid $350 for the cabinet with Scumback speaker and shipping. What a deal! This cabinet and speaker combo simply sound amazing. Due to the low load handling of the speaker (it is only a 60 watt) I must be careful what I hook it up to and how loud I play on it because it would very easily blow if pushed too hard. I plan to use the Mini mostly for recording and light gigs. This thing is tiny, and as such it will make a wonderful cabinet for low-volume gigs.

Fuchs ODS 30 amp! This amp is absolutely awesome sounding. I still prefer my Kingsley, but I must say that the Fuchs ODS line is just stunning and if I weren't such a fan of my Kingsley ToneBaron I'd be a Fuchs player, no doubt about it. This is the Dumble tone at its best! Gorgeous note bloom on the OD channel and shimmery, sparkling cleans on the clean channel. Fantastic amp!


Carol Ann OD 100 amp. I finally got one of the legendary Carol Ann amps that I have been curious about for so long. Unfortunately, this particular specimen doesn't have the gain voicing I like (high gain)... so it comes up a bit short on the OD side for me. However, that can easily be fixed if I send her in to Alan at Carol Ann amps for a simple mod. I just might have to do that. I can report that the cleans are gorgeous and it takes a pedal really well.


Furman Power Factor Pro Power Conditioner. I just stumbled across this thing while looking for deals on the Gear Page. At first I was a bit skeptical as I began to read more about it, since Furman claims a noticeable tone improvement just by plugging your amp into it. The hype is real. I A/B tested it on my Kingsley with my wife in the room and even she heard the difference in tone between wall socket power alone and Furman conditioned power. This thing uses capacitors to ensure that your amp is getting a constant flow of the correct voltage of electricity, no matter how bad the current may be in a given room. It really does work! If your amp is starved for power it won't sound its best, and if you are drawing too much power damage can occur. Surge protection and protection from insufficient power... the perfect solution. If you have an expensive amp and gig it a lot, I would highly recommend one of these.


Gibson Explorer Pro w/case. This was a nice grab for $900 total (with shipping). A practically unplayed Explorer Pro with case and a nice DiMarzio cliplock strap thrown in! It plays and sounds great. I love the cherry mahogany finish and the neck and board feel great.





Assorted WCR handmade pickups. Last, but not least I grabbed a bunch of WCR pickups for a good price for my Les Pauls and other guitars. These are very popular boutique handwound pickups from California. Great stuff!

Well, that is it for the used gear sale/buying spree! It was fun and I got a bunch of nice stuff in return for selling mostly "so-so" decent stuff... I think I made out pretty good!