Adapting

So have I mentioned I am a pedal junkie? Yes.

My first real pro pedal board was a Pedaltrain PT that was HUGE, coming in at 36" wide. My idea at the time was since I was fully committing to switching to pedals, I would put ALL of my pedals on it, and if I need that Boss BD2 sound, it's there, among the other 6 different distortions and overdrives I had. The stumbling block that prevented this came from My Voodoo labs power supply, which tops out at 8 outputs, and since decent power power supplies aren't cheap, I somehow had a hard time finding money for additional ones. Plus it was almost obnoxious, and most stages we were playing were getting a bit smaller. Oh as well as getting more cables, never mind about signal loss or needing a buffer. So I switched to a Pedaltrain Pt-2. It's a more sensible size, but since it's an older one, the power connection for the Voodoo labs is limited because of the Porthole's in the front of the pedal board. I could in theory fit alot more pedals on it, but the power supply situation is a bottleneck. I've been looking into a way of getting a slightly smaller board, and yet fit more on it recently.

My cover band, The In-betweeners booked a show at a place that has bands play in it's lounge area. This means no stage, just an area where the tables, and some ottoman cushions get moved out of the way and we set up there. We borrowed a Bose L1 system from a friend of ours, so that made the PA system alot smaller. We ran vocals and acoustic guitars through it for simplicity's sake.

Our singer and bass player had shows there in the past, and they both knew the small area that we would have to work with. I mentioned using my PT 2 and my singer wasn't too thrilled on that idea. Our drummer, played a neat hybrid percussion type kit, with a Cajon as a kick drum, a snare and floor tom, a couple of cymbals, high hat, and a set of bongos. Since it's a small place, sound travels quickly, and this kit seems to deliver the pulse and rhythm, without the big sound of a regular drum kit, while being unique on its own. Our bassist ran a Hotone Nano bass head into a small mark bass cabinet. So we were all downsizing in a sense.

I planned on using my regular Pedaltrain board, but while taking a break on running through the sets at home, I realized I might have enough pedals that are lying around to make a mini board. A few years ago I tried Ikea's Gorm pedal board hack, and went even further, shortening it to fit in a shelf of an Ikea Expedit bookcase. I used it for a bit around the house, but that was about it. I started to think of the pedals I like to have, but really wouldn't use for this gig, and if I could assemble a smaller board for this gig. I needed the following:

1-Tuner

2-Distortion/overdrive

3-boost

4-Chorus

5-Delay

6-power supply

I had a spare Boss Tu2, so that was a no brainer. Distortion wise, I just got a Vertex Dynamic Distortion for review, and I had been using it for a couple of days so I thought that would be a good way to try this one out. I had been using a TC spark boost on my PT2, so I pulled that one for this mini board. The TC Chorus Dreamscape is my go to chorus these days, and I pulled that from my board as well. Delay wise I've been using the Caynon delay from Electro harmonix. I found one a Sanyo Oneloop lithium Ion battery pack, that's meant to run pedalboards, and charged that up. I did pack a 1 spot wall wart power supply tho jus in case. Getting power wasn't a problem with a 8 way Daisy chain cable. To keep things from shorting out, I put electrical tape on unused connections. If they touched the metal of a pedal's casing it could damage the pedals or even worse start a fire. I had plenty of small monster cables, So Audio wise it all worked. I even found an old laptop bag that all this could fit into easily. Here's a pic of the process, I did try using the Electro harmonix Soul food, but opted for the TC for this gig. Nothing against the soul food, The TC works a bit better with my acoustic.

I went with using my ZT mini stack. It's a ZT lunchbox amp, with a matching cabinet. The speakers are 6.5" but 2 together gives 13" of speaker overall, and at 200 watts I think I had enough headroom for this venue.

Our gig went well, I played about 1/2 the set running my Mitchell Acoustic through this rig. I did a review on this guitar for performer magazine awhile back, and while I don't covet acoustics like the way I adore electric guitars, this guitar is fantastic! The other 1/2 I used my Strat.

I could possibly drop the chorus pedal, and even the boost pedal. The electro harmonix delay has a modulation function in one mode, that would probably work fine. and the vertex could easily be used as a boost, as I ride the volume knob alot. I don't really have to compete with another electric guitar for this configuration, as our singer only plays acoustic. As of now we already have another gig at this place within a month, so this was a nice start. I'm happy I was able to downscale things somewhat easily using stuff I had sitting around already. Part of doing gigs like this is modifying how you you approach the songs but the gear you actually need to do it.

So for the next gig in this venue I'll run a Tuner, A distortion (possibly the vertex), and a delay. The only Item I think I'll need to get is a 3 way daisy chain power cable. I could possibly use my MXR Carbon Copy delay for this gig instead of the Canyon. I'll have to do some experimenting. Thankfully I have a lot of options. I could even drop the tuner, and go with a clip on. The tuner does act as a mute though, so it's something to consider.

We also have a full on electric gig coming up for the cover band, but I plan on bringing my regular pedal board for that, as I'll need some more functionality. I do love having pedals that do odd things like filters and synth emulation, but I'm trying to be realistic as to what works, and what I will actually need for a gig.

Step on It! (part Deaux)

Now I often hear guitar players say “I don’t deal with effects or shit like that”. I some cases it's been thrown my was as a jab at my rig. I take it with the proverbial grain of salt. Usually the ones that throw that out there, don't play in a band, in some cases, barely play at all. I try not to discourage others, especially when it's regarding to a creative outlet like music. Do what you do, and enjoy it. Anything less than encouraging, or dismissive interest, shows where you really stand.

I should point out that my main overdrive for almost a decade has been a fulltone GT-500. It has a distortion section, that utilizes an inductor (like a wha wah pedal uses) for EQ control. As well as a separate boost section. I’ve found using a lot of different overdrives and distortion pedals live can be problematic, getting the levels to all be at the same level. Some also don’t play well with others, even using clean boosts after overdrives, the noise can get to be a bummer. Recently I've dabbled in using a separate boost and Distortion/overdrive pedals, and I'm having some interesting results, but I don't dare part with the GT-500.

This pic is from around 2011, and while most of those pedals have been filed away, the GT-500 is one that I keep handy in the pedalboard case.

The rest of my pedals are truly “effect” pedals, meaning it’s an effect that gets thrown in for certain punctuations, and not as part of my signal path’s major use, Right now I'm in a bit of flux but the big faves that seem to be making apperances on a regular basis are:

TC Sub N Up

Source Audio Stingray

Earthquaker Devices Night wire Tremolo

TC John Petrucci Dreamscape Chorus

Electro Harmonix Canyon Delay

The good thing about pedalboards with individual pedals, I can swap ones out when the mood strikes me. As I test and review pedals for a magazine, the ability to throw in a new pedal to try out is key. 

The only thing I leave on 100% of the time is a BBE Sonic Stomp. It’s a pedal version of their Sonic Maximizer. For me, it just adds a slight bit of clarity. For cleans and distorted sounds it works great, for both settings at “noon”. This pedal is certainly a "your mileage may vary" piece. I had one of their rack systems for a bit, connected in the effects loop of my H&K triamp, and it felt like I had a blanket over my speakers. Years later I grabbed one of the larger sonic stomp boxes, and using it at the end of my pedalboard, I was really pleased. This year they came out with a mini unit, and my awesome wife got me one for xmas! So since I had my old one lying around, I let my singer use it in his guitar rig, and he was "meh" about it. So it's certainly not for every one, or for every rig. I hear guys say it's better in the effects loop on one amp, but horrible in another amp.

So I’m really not using a daisy chain of effects all on at the same time for my tone (however during big rock endings of certain songs it does sound cool) I’m basically using 2 pedals for the most part. If I ever jam with someone or sit in, I usually just grab a distortion pedal and a tuner, but it's nice to have some options!

Step on it!

I’ll admit it, I’m a pedal junkie. There I said it. I’ve been on the search for that perfect stomp box since day one. I’ve had lapses in my affliction, but it always seems I come back to stomp boxes.

Starting at the obvious beginning, I had a cheap “rig”: a black Hondo Strat copy with Van Halen-ish stripes (came from the factory this way!) and a white pickguard. My amp was a Gorilla solid state 1x10, and a DOD American Metal Pedal. The amp’s “overdrive” was sad; “block-y” and harsh, and the DOD gave a much smoother, compressed sound. I had that pedal for years.

I’m not going to list EVERY pedal I ever had, that would make “war and peace” look like a leaflet. But I’ve had people say, why not just get a good amp that has great overdrive/distortion, or get a modeling amp/multi effects unit?
 

Good question.
 

Let’s address the first one: Why not get an amp with a great distortion or overdrive?
 

I’ve had some great amp rigs in my tenure, here are my faves: A Fender Prosonic 2x10 Combo, Hughes & Kettner Triamp head and matching 4x12 cabinet, Mesa Boogie MKIII head (with every option) paired with a 2x12 Avatar cabinet with Celestion Neodymium speakers (that cab weighed almost nothing!).  I didn’t use any overdrive pedals with those, each of those amps had their own thing going on, with great overdriven distorted tones, as well as really nice cleans.

What brought me to my current amp was an interesting turn of events. I was doing a lot of playing with a variety of musicians at a practice space called Jamspot. It's a practice facility that can let musicians rent fully equipped practice spaces with amplifiers, PA systems, and drum kits by the hour. The guitar amps they have there are Fender Hot Rod Deluxes. I went there a few times, and it was great to bring a couple of pedals, plug into an HRD, and get a great tone easily. Since I was going there a lot, I decided to make my pedalboard my “command center”, with the ability to plug it into any decent clean amp. Eventually I scored my own HRD on craigslist for $400. It’s a tube amp with 3 preamp tubes, and 2 power amp tubes, meaning re-tubing is relatively cheap. My H&K triamp had 10 preamp tubes, and 4 power amp tubes! Re-tubing that beast cost (back then) $250! So maintence wise, the Fender has a +1 there. It’s also LOUD, meaning it can keep up with most volume situations, even at 40 watts! But in most cases it’s still too loud, I’ve had to get a JHS lil black box, to reign it in. The distortion sound isn’t my bag either, it is too blocky and clanky for my tastes. But the clean is amazing. Pedals react to it very well though, and using it as a tube driven powered speaker with my pedalboard, blends the warmth of tubes, with the clarity of whatever pedals I have on my pedalboard.

This approach came in handy, as at one gig my HRD had a bad preamp tube that decided to misbehave. Thankfully one of the other bands there had a guitarist with a HRD, and let me borrow his for the gig. Within minutes, I was back up and running, with no tonal adjustment to deal with. If I relied on an amp for my distortion sound I’d be screwed if it failed. I’m sure it could change in the future, but right now this method works for me, the ability to change overdriven tones by swapping out a pedal or two, is a lot cheaper than having multiple amps.

Why not a modeling amp/rig?
 

Well I’ve been down this road before, with a line 6 pod Pro rack, connected to a Tubeworks power amp. I even had the short 4 button controller, and the larger “command center” one that had the expression pedal. You can get amazing sounds out of them, but after tweaking parameters, and settings, it just kind of sits there. Making any small change can be a pain, dealing with menus and editing. Plus, whenever something new comes out effects wise, it seems like trying to intergrate it with a rig like that always has some compromise: either tonally, or requires extra special cabling, or adapters.

How about a multi effects floor unit?
 

These types of units have come a long way, and some are truly amazing, but again, if something new comes out, it’s not easy to bring that into the fold. Failure is also an issue. I had a friend with a really nice floor based multi-effects unit. He had it properly configured into his rig too. The particular unit had the ability to route the time based effects like, reverbs, delays and modulations running through his effects loop in his amp, while running the distortions, wah, and EQ’s in the front of his amp. It sounded really great, plenty of clarity and depth. It also could control the channel switching on his amp as well. 

One night at a gig, a very drunk woman was dancing near the stage, right in front of him. She put her beer down next his multi effects unit, and when she went back to reach for it she knocked it over. It spilled all over his board, and it promptly died. The drunk woman just walked away. He finished the gig with just his amp. After finding a place that could actually repair his multi effects pedal, he was told it would be about a month until he would get it back. With a few gigs coming up he found a few pedals and got by with those. Eventually he got his multi effects pedal back, about 2 months later. The beer seemed to just short out the power supply thankfully. The fear of having everything in one box, and that box failing, leaving me high and dry is too much.
 

With pedals, I can change my tone quickly, just swap out whatever isn't working. As I change as a player, I can change my sound easily. If something fails, I can easily bypass it. If I feel I need more or less, it’s hands on, no hunting through menus to adjust paramaters. A lot of professional musicians that aren’t playing big venues, are just bringing pedalboards and guitars to gigs, and renting or using amps provided by the venue.
 

I don’t discount or get snobbish against what other people use. I know there are gearheads out there that look down upon guitarists that don’t follow their lead. Whatever works for others is great, but in my experience, for what I’m doing and how I want to make music this is my method.

Oddballs

I admit, I'm not one of those traditionalists. Back in the day, I admired radical designs such as Explorers, BC Rich's, anything odd or extreme looking. The love of traditional looking Strats, Tele's and Les Pauls came later on.

As I previously mentioned before, I'm sort of a frustrated bass player in a sense. Some of my fave bassists are Chris Squier and Geddy Lee. Both made the Rickenbacker 4000's series basses part of their signature sounds. I always liked the design, and back before the Internet, and living in the time when suburban legend was our information source, I would ask around to music stores and musicians in my area how come no one, even Rickenbacker themselves, made a guitar in that shape. I always got the answer, no one does, It's only in it's bass guitar format.

Since I'm a draftsperson, I thought of possibly making one on my own. But this wouldn't be an easy task. Guitar building is complicated, and I think it would be overwhelming for a 1st time project, So I kind of put that off as a "to be attempted at a later date" project.

Then the Internet came along, and I was enlightened. Rickenbacker did make a version of the 4000 bass, as a 6 string guitar; the 480.

I never saw one of these rare birds in person, and the specs are interesting: 24 Frets, a bolt on neck, and a solid body. I'm sure the playability is probably traditional Rickenbacker solid body. I have had some experience playing various 360's and 620's. They're not shredder type of necks, but neither is the sound, so it fits nicely with rhythm and nice melodic playing.

Now Rickenbacker did make a version that had full size humbuckers in it, the 481.

Now while it did have a more traditional pickup choice, the frets were slanted for faster playing, but the action was reportedly so high that it offset any improvement.

So now AGAIN, I'm debating a 480 style guitar. I've seen a few small builders on the Internet make their versions. and in theory could make a version with humbuckers, a traditional toptail/wrap around tailpiece, even possibly fit a Piezo pickup in there. I have a digital file of the body outline, which means I could design it in autocad, and then find a place that could CNC cut the body, meaning alot of jigs and tooling that would be expensive, can be done in one shot. Even better I could make it with  a "swimming pool route", meaning give it a ton of space for pretty much any pickup combination. Designing a pickguard would be easily as well, I thought of getting a few versions laser cut in wood, or metal, with a few different pickup configurations. The prime one would be 2 humbuckers, and a Hum-Single-single version, as well as a Humbucker and Single coil. it could give it alot more versatility sound wise. I do also have the Rickenbacker 4000 headstock in CAD format as well, so Getting a Warmoth Paddle head Neck can eliminate any worries about the headstock not looking right, or using an off the shelf replacement neck.

Now, that path could be expensive, as any custom guitar would be. A bigger downside is always, it's a guitar that usually has no resale value that comes anywhere close to the investment. Doing alot of the work myself in autocad, will save some $, but I'd still like it assembled by a professional or experienced tech. Also I'd have to paint the body/headstock. Getting that right would be tough. I could go natural with a sealer or some tung or gun oil. Regardless, building a regular partscaster isn't easy, or cost effective, let alone a custom designed guitar.

Currently a 1973 Rick 480 is on Reverb for $2500. That's not cheap either. Considering it wasn't popular enough, makes it rare, which also means there's not a huge market for them, beyond guitar nerds like me that like oddball instruments. It being a rick, it might not be my main guitar, which means It may get played a bit at home or in the studio, but probably won't get taken out to a gig. Most of my original band gigs, I bring my 2 PRS guitars, and for my cover band gigs, I like the idea of bringing a Strat, and a humbucker equipped guitar. Not alot of need for that authentic Rickenbacker tone, with the exception for a Tom Petty tune in our set list.

Awhile back my original band did a gig, and the singer for one of the other bands had a 480, and when I complimented her on it, she was excited that someone knew what it was. Her rig was a Roland Jazz Chorus 2x10, and it sounded great (although she didn't use the chorus alot on it). I asked her where she got hers, and she said through the Internet, years ago, and actually had another one at home. I may just have to start saving my pennies for when the day comes that I actually find one of these. 

Now there are some "New Guitar" options with this too; a company called Zachary Guitars http://www.zacharyguitars.com/ makes a version. 

The headstock design is interesting, and a version of this in black or a red stain could be cool. I'd personally like to see a dual volume and dual tone control situation, but it's nice to see a small builder out there that has the same interest.

I have come across some interesting 4001/480 style guitars on Instagram by a guy named TC Ellis. His website doesn't happen to list the "Lemmy" guitar. I personally think the hand carving is amazing, but I would like something more traditional looking.

So this might be one of those "pipe dream" guitars, but it's nice to dream. Maybe get one of these made as a baritone, and kill 2 of my birds with 1 stone!

Strat Updates (The Adventure Continues)

So I’ve previously posted about my 50’s reissue Strat, and all the mods that I’ve done to it. There should be an upcoming article in Performer Magazine soonish regarding the background on this venture. But in the mean time I’ll give the bullet points; Pickups were swapped out for Seymour Duncan hum cancelling stacks, a new pickguard, and some wiring changes.

What brought me to do all of those upgrades was a dilemma; GAS, Guitar Acquisition syndrome. There are a lot of companies out there, making great strat style guitars. Danocaster does some great vintage-ish stuff, and Suhr has so many flavors of the rainbow. G&L still does a new-meets-modern with pretty much any option you can think of for the money. Of course the original, Fender always comes up some great versions. All of these companies give me GAS after every NAMM show.

So in preventing GAS I decided to modify this guitar and give it a lot of the options I would want in a new or custom strat style guitar. In recent years I’ve had a lot of discussions with gear nerds, and one thing came up a lot to improve a guitar’s tone is the bridge.

The standard Strat bridge isn’t bad, it’s good enough for all those classic recordings from Hendrix, Mark Knopfler,  Eric Clapton (you get the picture), and despite its flaws, we still enjoy the music created on them. I looked into the option way back into putting a fishman power bridge on this guitar. It would have given me acoustic sound options in this guitar. I’d need to do something externally for an acoustic preamp, as well as re-thinking the knobs and electronic controls to be able to use this in an optimal fashion. Taking all that into consideration, as well as the added cost, I passed on this option. I’d still love a guitar with this feature, but that might be a way off in the future for me.

I thought of putting graphtech bridges on the existing strat bridge. I had some on a different strat back in the day, and I had no problems with them. The string breakage factor was really good, and sound wise I was happy.

But anything worth doing, is worth overdoing. So after talking to John Mann I decided to go with one of his Mann Made bridges. John was a big part in designing the PRS tremolo, and now he offers versions of them as upgrades for PRS Guitars, like S2 & SE’s, as well as core models. Strats being one of the most popular guitars out there, he also does a version for pretty much every variation of strat ever made.

Since I picked up my CE24 in 1995, the PRS tremolo is one of the best non locking tremolo I’ve come across. The saddles sit in a nice walled in area, meaning there’s no side to side movement. The tremolo arm is a push in style, having a delrin bushing with a set screw for adjusting tension. The idea of bringing this bridge to my strat wasn’t a real hard decision

With my strat having a vintage style bridge, I never floated the tremolo. I loved the sound but the tuning issues would come around, especially with new strings, when the tremolo was used. I used 3 springs, and had it mounted hard to the body to compensate for these tuning issues. On my PRS I have mine set even, so the bottom of the bridge is set with a little float, but not a lot. For the most part it can handle pretty aggressive use, I don’t do dive bombs and such, but for a non locking system it works fantastically.

So with this new bridge, I have the feel of my PRS in a strat. It stays in tune a lot better as well, with it set up as a floating bridge. Tonality wise, it’s kind of enhanced things. I still have that strat sound, but it’s like an out of focus image has been dramatically sharpened up. I love the feel of the push in arm, although I have to bend the angle of it a bit more to my tastes. That’s not a big deal, as I used to do it on other strats.

The final cost was $255, parts and labor. The pickup and electronics upgrades were about $350, so I’m at about $600 of mods in a guitar that I paid $325 for in the mid 1990’s. So is it a $925 guitar now? No, it’s only what someone is willing to pay for it, and since it’s been modified to MY tastes, I doubt there are a lot of other players that would want all these mods on one of their guitars.
However I’d be hard pressed to find even a custom guitar that would be under this cost, and I doubt could offer these options.

I still have some other things to get sorted out; I’ve recently found some vintage looking locking tuners, which I’m very interested in. Electronics wise, I’d like to make the tone control for the bridge pickup have a bit more range (yes my bridge pickup has a tone control), right now it really doesn’t to a lot, until it’s rolled back to 2, then it just goes dark. Fender also just came up with a volume control that doesn’t lose top end when it’s rolled back. I’d like to also see if I could incorporate this.

I recently acquired one of Gruv Gear’s gig bags, and I’m thinking of making it my strat’s main bag. A nice Couch strap is also on my list to finish off everything.

My to do list on this is still pretty long, but I finally got over the hump, it’s all downhill from here!
Of course I still have some things on my Tele, and my PRS CE to do..It never ends. These little projects satisfy my GAS, as well as tinkering tendencies. The big problem is what to do after I have all my guitars brought up to where I want them..Ugh

Gear Finances

I remember when the first of my little circle of friends got a credit card. It was kind of amazing. I grew up in a middle class family and seeing one of my parents pay for anything via that little piece of plastic was kind of a rare thing. I remember getting one was kind of like joining a exclusive club.

By the time I came of age, in the early 90's Credit cards were all over the place, it was no longer exclusive. It wasn't long you heard people in their 20's talk about having credit card debt in the thousands.

Music stores got into the credit thing too, with 0% financing. I admittedly fell into this trap. Buying my 1st PRS(used mind you) in 1995, for $899. $0 down. by the time I paid that off, with all the finance charges, interest, and late fees (No on-line payments back then, so a Check had to be mailed). I think I probably could have bought 2 decent PRS's and a really nice amp. I cringe thinking about all that money that went off into the ether.

Over the years I've seemed to maintain a small amount of credit card debt, from various sources, car repairs, household stuff, etc. Thankfully I have a decent interest rate, and a card that does have a rewards program. But it never seems to get to zero. So I ran the numbers and right now, coming out of the xmas season, I put myself on a strict spending clampdown to get this to zero by June 2017. But you do have to live a little, and budgeting is key for any financial situation.

These days, I budget my music stuff sparingly. I have a separate Savings account at a local credit union, who's ATM card doesn't act as a credit card. Each paycheck I direct deposit $25, it's not alot, but enough to add up over time. My wish list is still pretty long, and expensive, but it has made me prioritize what I spend my money on. If I don't have the money for it cash wise, I don't get it until I do. I've funded a few purchases this way, and the time it takes me to save up the $, gives time to reflect and internally debate any purchases. Some times it's a passing fad of just newness that makes you want something, and in most cases later on buyer's remorse sets in. Now I have to say I have less buyer's remorse, and less stuff/crap.

Every month or so I go into my storage unit, and I find some music gear gadget or gizmo that I grabbed because I "needed" it. It was so important I purchased it, either via cash or credit, and now it's in a closet or drawer and I forgot about it, or serves no purpose. Even worse, it's something that I doubt someone would want to go through the hassle of buying it from craigslist.

The idea of "I need this item to complete my musical vision/project" isn't new. But it is a false statement. I've gotten through alot without getting these items. Yes it could make things easier in one sense or another, but after being in music for decades, I shouldn't need anything over the top to make my music.

I know alot of musicians that got themselves in debt on gear, and regular (over)spending. Even worse was hearing of them selling off their guitars and amps to make rent, in some cases selling off everything to the point they stopped playing altogether.

Now that NAMM has passed, and lot of the goodies that interested me are becoming available. I know my wish list will get longer, and more expensive, but I know I'm going to be reasonable on my future purchases. New gear is cool, but less debit is better.

A look back and resolutions

Now that 2016 is over (good riddance), It's time to hit the reset button in so many ways.

My goals for music is to play more this year, as it was last year. So in 2016, I ended up forming a cover band, "The Inbetweeners". I have to say it was a challenge. I did dabble in cover band situations in the 1990's and it really wasn't fun. I can trace my disinterest at the time to the fact I wanted to write and perform my own music, with my own bands. Of course back then, there were alot more venues to play for original music. Now, in my area, alot of clubs that would welcome original bands have gone by the wayside. There are still some options, just not as many. However alot of new places have popped up that have cover bands. Also, back in the day, the players I was doing cover songs with, really were not the kind of people I kind of gravitated to, personally. They were great musicians, and I did learn alot during that time, but overall, not my ideal situation.

So The Inbetweeners is formed by musicians I like as people, and as musicians. We've been fairly democratic in picking out songs for shows, and it's certainly been an interesting challenge. I'm still working alot of the aspects in a few ways. Figuring out some signature solos like Tom Petty's "American Girl" or trying to work out Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle", while trying to create some interesting improvisational solos for some other songs.

Our first show we did the standard electric type sound, while our last gig was semi acoustic. Our drummer played a combination of Cajon, Djembe, snare drum, hi hat. It was a great way to get the feel of drums, but not the standard drum kit sounds. Our singer played Acoustic guitar, and our bass player played electric, as I did too. It kind of opened up things sonically, as no one was clashing with the other. The challenge there was knowing there was no place to hide in the sonics of other instruments. I think this sound format was alot more controllable as well, without alot of the overall "loudness".

Overall it was a success, and I'm looking foreward to new gigs for The Inbetweeners in 2017. Hopefully when the New England weather wont affect things in the spring.

My Original Band The Goodbye Theory, completed our 5th EP this year "We've Got A Bad Feeling About This"

https://thegoodbyetheory.bandcamp.com/album/weve-got-a-bad-feeling-about-this-ep

Of course in the link above, you can listen, and hopefully buy it.

The big challenges there was trying to break out of my standard licks and tricks. Thankfully I had help, as our singer Rob pushed me into really breaking things down. By the time those sessions were over, my callouses were shredded to the point of pain. I'm happy I was pushed into new areas, and it's made me aware of my weaknesses.

So for 2017 I'd like to gig a bit more with The Goodbye Theory as well, again when snowstorms aren't an issue. We did a gig in 2015 after one of Boston's largest snow storms, and had to haul gear over snowbanks that were 4 feet high, and we didn't draw a big crowd.

I have more than a few avenues to enhance my playing. A few years back, my wife got me Mark Tremonti's Instructional DVD. I kind of scratched the surface on it, but I'd like to dive into it some more. This past fall I grabbed David Grissom's Instructional DVD as well, and I'd love to really dig into that.

Recording wise I have a few little projects in the works, I now have a pretty decent rig for home recording. I don't think there will be a Goodbye Theory EP for 2017, but Im sure I'll be doing some recording. I'm up for doing more overall playing, as time will allow. 

The only things I'm looking at are ways to make my rig a bit smaller. Considering I have a MINI coupe, trunk space is at a premium. I've got it down to 2 guitars in gig bags, a Pedalboard in a Hard case, a backpack, and my Fender Hot rod Deluxe.

Ampwise, I did my last Inbetweeners gig with my Hotone Diamond, with an Eginater 1x12.

I've found that Fender has 1x12 cabinets for $199 with a celestion speaker. They are alot smaller than the Eginater. So, my idea is to get a pair of those, and sell my current Eginater 1x12. Ideally I could get another of those Hotone Mini amps, and have a nice micro stereo rig, that would be useful live, at practice, and in the studio. I don't think I would part with Fender HRD, as it is a pretty good workhorse amp. The JHS black box really helps reign in the volume. My pedalboard will be ever changing I know. I'm currently maxxed out power wise, so I may be on the look out for some solutions for that.

I sill lust after a Baritone or a Fender offset, or a Piezo equipped PRS, but I can certainly achieve this years goals with what I have already. Im sure I'll have some pipe dream guitar projects that will try to distract from my actual guitar projects for this year. I still have the goal to modify/configure my existing guitars to be more functional to my needs.

The idea for 2017's resolutions: Play live more, explore more, practice more and record (audio and video) some more. More is better.

So lets put 2016 where it belongs, and get to making whatever resolutions become more action than wishes!