Eso and Exoterica

An attempt to var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-22155232-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); chronicle my ongoing (mis)adventures.

[supernaut-blog]

I wish I could say that this is one of my odd guitars.  This started out as a stock Fender Blacktop Telecaster.  I was planning on changing out the pickups but I really like the way the stock ones sound.  

The modifications are:

Mirrored Pickguard

GraphTech Saddles

WD Knurled Knobs

WD Chrome Switch

Dunlop Straplocks

Schaller String Tee

Chrome Rear Pickup Ring.  I had to grind this down flat from a slanted ring to get it to fit since it is impossible to find a chrome pickup ring that is mid height and flat. 

About the only thing odd about this guitar is the flipped control plate, and the fact that they retail for around $400. Now that is odd!

Odd Guitars Are Cool!

[supernaut-blog]

Fuzz is Dead, Long Live Fuzz.

I thought that maybe I had a problem so I asked the doctor how many fuzzes is too many and he said "here take two fuzzes and call me in the fuzzing."  So I realized that fuzz is fuzz and fuzz can't fuzz too many fuzzes, fuzzkay?  Seriously, they all sound totally different.  

How many shades of blue do you need to paint the sea and sky?

[supernaut-blog]

Happy Dance!

A bunch of my music just became available on iTunes today. Check out: Honest Engine - Combustion and Overhaul Mr. Sunshine - Estranged Points West - Tumble Down It is just back catalog stuff right now, but new stuff is forthcoming. If ya dig it, write a review! If ya hate it, move along...  Oh yeah, you can like us on Facebook too!

[supernaut-blog]

I Like Odd Guitars

Okay I admit it, this one isn't as odd as the others.  It is a typical Gibson SG Standard with a mild twist.  When I tried this SG at Guitar Czar I noticed that acoustically it had great resonance and a cool snappy attack.  When I plugged-in it sounded really dark and all of the snappiness was overwhelmed by the craptastic stock Gibson A2's.  Cleans sounded thuddy and when distorted it got really wooly and the neck pickup sounded strange.  Prime candidate for a pickup change.  

By the way, I rarely judge a guitar by how it sounds plugged-in.  In my humble opinion it is far more important for the guitar to sound good acoustically; pickups and electronics can be changed, resonance and tone can't.  When you slap a big ol' open A chord and you can feel the headstock vibrating just as much as the body, and the guitar feels like a living thing trying to squirm out of your hands - you know you've got a keeper.  So this very unassuming, dare I say - normal guitar, called out to me.  

I kept it stock for quite a while, through a few months of rehearsals with a couple of bands, ruminating on what kind of pups it needed.  I didn't want to go with my usual PAF Pro choice, I think I've got that sound covered.  What I really wanted was a pickup that sounded like the guitar itself sounded, snappy and aggressive.  When I think snappy and aggressive there is only one pickup that comes to mind - P90s.  

I did a lot of research on what types of P90's are available.  Let me tell you, now is a great time to be a P90 player, there are a lot of options from pretty much every pickup manufacturer.  I listened to a shit-ton of official clips and a shit-ton of user clips, read user and magazine reviews, re-read user and magazine reviews, y'know unhealthily obsessing about it.  One pickup kept grabbing my attention:  The Guitar Fetish Mean 90.  If you go by online reviews GFS makes the greatest pickups in the universe so it was a little tough to sort through all the horseshit.  There was a lot of honeymoon phase stuff online but the GFS Mean 90 was the only model that seemed to keep player's interest over time.

So I gambled and bought a Bridge/Neck pair and soldered 'em in.  In the process I discovered the reason the stock neck pickup sounded so weird was because Gibson put a bridge pickup in the neck position, doy!

This is where this normal SG gets odd.

These pickups are great!  They sound very much like the acoustic tone of the guitar but louder.  I'm not gonna lie though, the tonal change was very dramatic and it took me a while to get used to it.  It is a very unexpected tone from this type of guitar.  When I see an SG I expect Cream/Clapton tones and 70's era Allman Bros type dark cleans.  Sporting GFS Mean 90 pickups this SG is odd now - it sounds like a fucking Rickenbacker!  I was expecting some Pete-ish tones but the Mean 90's don't really sound like Soapbars, to me they sound like Toasters.

Odd guitars are cool. 

[supernaut-blog]

I Like Odd Guitars

This Gretsch Silver-Jet is an obvious classic, but that doesn't change the fact that it is a pretty odd guitar.  I bought this used from Wagstaff Music back in the day.  I really couldn't afford it, but it spoke to me.  I've modified it slightly from stock, I put on Sperzel tuners, a Graph Tech graphite nut, and Dunlop Straplocks.  I also had a Hipshot D-Tuner on it for a while - cool little gadget.  Everything else is stock.

The Gretsch Duo-Jets have been around long enough that they are considered classics but no one really talks about how odd they actually are.  What makes Duo-Jets odd is that they have a Master Volume (wha?), chambered bodies, violin-style bridge, some even have a zero-fret, and they have those pickups, those glorious, gloriously odd, Filtertron pickups.  They don't sound like any other pup on earth, definitely nothing like typical Strat single coils, or ubiquitous 'buckers.  Aggressive highs, piano-like lows. They sound great spanky clean, gritty, or distorted.  When plugged-in to a saturated tube amp the thing just roars.  Oh, and that amazing silver sparkle top might be a little odd, just a little...

Mine has been re-fretted and this takes me to a little story.  So I asked around a few years back to find out who does the best luthier work locally and the unanimous response was Gary Rosier @ Guitar Center, unfortunately his lead-time was six months!  So I went with the second string; Lynn Wheelright.  He did a beautiful job on the frets themselves, unfortunately it wasn't what I asked for, it wasn't done when he said, it was more than he originally quoted, he didn't replace the nut, and he was/is a jerk.  

I wanted medium jumbos and he pretended that he didn't know what those are and he put on tall thins instead.  When I complained he said "you have two choices, I can rip 'em out, or I can keep the guitar."  Really?  Those are my only choices?  The fact that he didn't even put on a new nut was just insult to injury; he just shimmed the old one with some shit he found on the floor of his fantastically dirty shop.

I have since made it my mission to direct everyone I can to Gary Rosier and to relay my complete dissatisfaction with Lynn Wheelright...

Fortunately Gary Rosier has opened his own shop and his lead time is no longer six months.

  Guitar Technologies Gary Rosier 5728 South Redwood Rd Salt Lake City, UT 84123 801 955 1915 [email protected] www.guitartechnologies.net

  I highly recommend him, he does excellent work and he is a cool dude.  Don't make the same mistake I did by using some second-string asshole, go with the professional. 

Odd guitars are cool.

[supernaut-blog]

I Like Odd Guitars

Now at first glance this doesn't look that odd, Les Paul copy right?  Wait, is that a Strat-Style five-way switch?  Hold on, that cutaway looks a little strange, kinda swoopy.  Looky there, it doesn't have a neck heel, what the hell?!?

This is probably the most normal of my odd guitars - on the surface.  But when you look deeper it is probably the oddest of them all.  This is a Yamaha Weddington Classic that I bought from Nick Athens.  This guitar is better than any Les Paul I've ever had, by orders of magnitude.  

I bought this guitar thinking I would have to do my usual round of modifications, y'know replacing the tuners, nut, saddles, pickups, etc. etc. But after plugging it for the first time I loved everything about it.  Now that I've had it for a few years, I can't think of a single thing that I'd change.

There's a secret beneath that traditional looking clownburst top.  This guitar is wired from the factory in the oddest way.  The five-way switch isn't your normal pickup selector, it is a wiring scheme selector.  Rear is Series, in-between is Bridge Parallel, middle is neck and bridge split, in-between is neck in Parallel, and front is Neck in Series (read that again a few times).  When the selector is in the in-between positions you use the volume knobs to blend in the paralleled second coil to get single coil tones and other amazing blended tones.  It is the most original yet useful wiring scheme I've ever encountered.

The only negative thing I can think of is that it is pretty heavy, but not as heavy as some Les Pauls I've had or tried.  These used to be a sleeper guitar that you could pick up for a song.  Not anymore, the secret is out and you can't find 'em in player condition for under $800-900.  For a minty Custom you are going to pay as much a brand new Les Paul Standard.  But whatever the condition, Weddington's are better, believe it.

Odd guitars are cool.

[supernaut-blog]

I Like Odd Guitars

This is a Yamaha SBG1200.  I bought it at Guitar Czar a very long time ago and it was beat to hell.  It had a massive scratch that ran all the way across the top, right down to the wood.  The tuners were bent, the pots had no pot-nuts and were floating free in the body.  It didn't have any strap buttons and the nut was cracked at the low E.  Eric had it marked down very low, and he gave me a deal on top of that 'cause it was so totally fucked-up.  

This poor guitar probably wouldn't have been bought by anyone else but me.  I took it home and realized that there was so much work to be done in order for it to be playable that I just put it in it's tattered case and let it sit for a few years.

After a few half-assed attempts to get it working over a ~10 year period, I finally had a spare weekend that I could devote entirely to this abused Japanese orphan.  My plan was to sand off the finish to the wood and re-paint it gloss black, getting it as close to stock as I could.  As I started sanding off the finish I started liking how it looked more and more.  I was(am) going through a heavy Wabi-Sabi phase;  the wood peeking through the scratched matte finish, and the mismatched hardware, was really speaking to me.  Besides there isn't a more appropriate theme for a Japanese guitar than Wabi-Sabi.

I replaced the rear pickup with a DiMarzio PAF Pro, the original was too muddy sounding for my taste.  Replaced the pots with Bourns Push-Push pots.  Replaced the pickup rings, they were so split that they fell to pieces once I removed the screws.  I replaced the split nut and the saddles with a Graph Tech, and then replaced the tuners with Sperzels.  Also, every single screw on the guitar was either stripped, corroded, or stripped and corroded.  I had to replace them all.

Much to my surprise, with a little TLC (okay a LOT), this guitar is special.  I mean seriously special.  Unplugged it sounds like I'm playing an acoustic it is so resonant.  Plugged in, it sounds like I'm playing a dragon.

There have been more changes since the above photo was taken.  In the photo the pickup rings are the old ones, the original speed knobs have been replaced with metal flat-top knobs, and I have since written "Wabi-Sabi" in Kanji on the body in black permanent marker.  These symbols are only partially visible through the heavily sanded paint that remains.

Odd Guitars are cool.

[supernaut-blog]

I Like Odd Guitars

It was pointed out to me that I don't have any "normal" guitars.  To be honest, I never really thought about it, I just find guitars that speak to me.  I guess "normal" guitars don't speak to me.  This is a Fernandes H Series in orange that I've customized a bit.  It has Sperzel tuners, Graph Tech graphite nut and saddles, Dunlop Straplocks, DiMarzio PAF Pro in the bridge, rewired by Eric Sopanen @ Guitar Czar for Series/Parallel/Single.  

It is signed by Adrian Belew, Reeves Gabrels, and Eddie Kramer.  It was also once signed by Robert Fripp, but it was on the pickguard and I wore it off playing.

This guitar sounds amazing, with a good tube amp set to just before breakup you can get nice sweet cleans and then digging in or rolling up the volume you get huge crunch.  In that same vein, with the current wiring scheme if you flip to single coil it drops the output just enough to get cleans, and then if you flip to Series it gets nicely crunchy.

Who wants the same old Strats or Les Pauls?  

Odd guitars are cool.

[supernaut-blog]

Guitar Centers Experienced and Knowledgable Staff

So a few weeks ago I go to the Guitar Center website and look up the EH Big Muff π, the site says they have 4 in stock.  I go to the store and the "guitar guy" looks it up on the computer and says "nope that's wrong, we don't have any in stock."  A week later I look on the website and it says they have four in stock.  I go to the store again and a different "guitar guy" looks it up and says "no, we don't have any in stock, the website must be wrong."  

Today I look on the website and it still says they still have four in stock, so I call.  The "guitar guys" are busy and I get the "drummer guy" and I explain that their website shows that they have some Big Muff π's in stock but that I need verification because of my two previous visits.  He looks it up and says "no prob man, we have four of them."

I head down to the store and ask the "guitar guy" for a Big Muff π and he says "nope, nothing in stock we haven't had any for weeks."  I calmly explain that their "drummer guy" just told me on the phone that they were in stock.  He laughs and says "yeah, that's 'cause he's a drummer."  On a whim (out of frustration) I ask what other Big Muffs they have in stock, thinking that they may have a Little Big Muff.  He looks up on the computer and says "we have four Big Muffs."  Four?  Aha!  FOUR?!  A little light bulb goes on over my head and I ask to see one.  He pulls one out and Lo And Behold, it's the Big Muff π that I have been looking for all along.  I exclaim "That's it, that's a Big Muff π!  The guy looks all bewildered and says "Is that what that little symbol means?"

All this time the Guitar Center "guitar guys" had been looking up "Big Muff PIE" instead of "Big Muff π" on their computers because they didn't know what the symbol for fucking Pi was!  To put the cherry on top, the "drummer guy" ended being smarter than the "guitar guys."

[supernaut-blog]

Seymour Duncan Twin Tube Classic

The Seymour Duncan Twin Tube Classic is dirt simple to operate:  Input, Output, Bass, Treble, Volume, Gain.  Manual is good, brief yet adequate.  

This device shouldn't be demeaned by the term "pedal," it is much more than that.  I would consider it an extension of my amp and guitar.  The bypass is uncolored and fast, the rhythm distortion can go anywhere from clean to the far side of crunchy, the lead tone is exactly what I've been looking for.  It is fuzzy without being mushy, it is thick but not cloudy, it is stringy but not harsh.  I'm going to buy another of these beauties for a backup, perhaps sell my TS9's DS-1's, Tube King and 250's, perhaps whore myself out and play covers for a while :). 

It has been pretty sturdy, however the latching aircraft switches feel like they might have plastic innards.  I may have to swap them for some all metal ones.  My experience with plastic anything equals broken stuff at the worst time.  I'm also a little unhappy about how close the knobs are to the switches, I have already had some accidental changes to the lead channel when in the heat of battle.

I'm going from my Gretsch Silver-Jet into a Budda Wah into the Twin Tube into a '68 Bandmaster into a  70's Marshall 4x12.  I'm very happy with this setup and don't forsee changing in the future.  My quest is complete, the last windmill tilted.  I'm definitely buying a second. 

By the way, a cool little trick is to set the Rhythm Channel to just before break-up with the gain and use the volume control for a nice pile of clean volume.  Basically you can use this trick for some stingin' clean leads.  I was at first put off by the lack of tone controls for the separate channels, but after cranking it up and using it at full gig volume, they aren't necessary.  The tone is set to "yummy" from the factory.  I don't know how much of a "value" it is, but in my opinion it would be a bargain at twice the price.

[supernaut-blog]

MXR EVH Phase 90

  Not a whole lot here, speed knob and two switches.  Let me run it down for you:

1.  Plug in guitar

2.  Step on footswitch

3.  Turn speed knob until it sounds cool

4.  Flick Script switch to see which mode you prefer

5.  Rock

First off, my favorite Phaser is in the Digitech 2101.  But, since I have gone back to using pedals I needed something that would get close to the awesome chewy yet transparent sound I can get out of the 2101 without distortion, volume drops, or weakening my tone.

This EVH pedal gets damn close.  I'd say about 90% of the way there, which is way better than any other pedal-format phaser I own.  Strangely, the EVH sounds better than my old block MXR Phase 90.  My old Block Phase 90 distorts everything and not in a good way.  Anyway I wasn't even going to give the EVH a chance due to my experience with the Block Phase 90, but a buddy I trust recommended it.  I've been using the Boss PH-2 Super Phaser but I've never really been happy with it.  The voicing of the PH-2 has an overly- nasal quality that I've never really dug, and it really messed with my distortion tone.

The EVH on the other hand added an extra Ooomph to my distortion tone and with the Script switch engaged it sounds really choice on cleans.  You can get a really beautiful chorus-esque sound at about 9:00 that doesn't have the pitch artifacts that I dislike in chorus pedals.  I'm not really interested in getting Ed tones so I don't know if you can cop his shit with this box, but it definitely superceded the Super Phaser on my pedal-board.

I really, really,  like this phaser.  There is something special that happens at the uppermost peak of the sweep that is way happenin' tonally.  It is partly a hint of distortion and partly mojo, whatever it is, I dig it.  I wish I had given this pedal a chance when it was first released instead of limping along with the Boss for so long.  The EVH doesn't beat the phaser in the Digitech 2101, but it is definitely a contender, plus has it's own really bitchin' vibe. 

Lastly when comparing it to my Block Phase 90 it seems like the sweep for the speed on the EVH is wider, that is very cool.  More importantly, the EVH just plain sounds better than my old Block.

Well done MXR!

[supernaut-blog]

Fender JA90 Thinline Telecaster

I Like Odd Guitars

My Wife generously got this guitar for me for my birthday, here's a little review.

The feature set on this Malaysian honey is a little er, twisted -just the way I like it. Gibson style controls, semi-hollow, mixed-woods, set-neck, P90's. It is a mongrel of a guitar, heretical for genre fascists or Fender-fetishists. I looked hard at my guitar collection and saw a very tiny but nagging absence in my tone arsenal: P90's. That got me looking for pretty-much every guitar that has ever featured P90's. It came down to an SG Special and the JA-90. At the end of the day, the JA-90 was weird enough (yet not too weird) to pique my curiosity. Besides I already have an SG Standard.

The guitar came essentially perfect, I found one little burr on the 20th fret that came off with my fingernail. That's it. I got the one that has the black translucent finish and I've got to tell you that the pictures do not do it justice. This is an absolutely stunning finish. Mine has streaks of copper and purple in it, as well as a deep eye-popping grain that you can almost climb into.

So it looks good, how does it sound? Big and bold. The Duncan P90's are noisy, but that is part of the vibe right? It is the small price you pay for anti-social distortions and thrumming naughty cleans. Not a huge amount of tonal variety here, just ballsy bridge, aggressive middle, and weighty neck. Running this guitar into a good OD and bashing out some open E and A stuff reminds you why you wanted to rock in the first place. There is a very snotty attack to this guitar (the P90's again) that is pointy without being piercing, that I just love. Conversely though, this guitar is also capable of some very sweet and mellow tones too. Rolling off the tone just a smidgen in the in-between position yields some really nice round yet clear chord tones and stringy single note articulation. Rolling off the tone further and switching to the neck PUP gets you into Pat Martino territory.

I've used this guitar on several gigs already and it has been solid as a rock. Great tuning stability and it took my 11's with very little adjustment required. Lowered the bridge a tad, 1/8th of a turn on the truss rod and I'm in business. I play in one band that tunes to E and another that tunes to Eb and the JA-90 doesn't seem to mind a bit. It's a new guitar though, so it needs to settle in for a decade...

Right off the bat I should fully admit that I expected this guitar to suck, I never buy guitars without playing them. So I figured it would show up and I'd find something wrong with it and it would go right back in the box and right back to Fender. Well, that didn't happen, not even close.

I should also mention that this guitar is up against some serious competition. I own a Gretsch Silver-Jet, a Yammy Weddington Classic, a Yammy SG2000, a Gibson SG Standard, a CIJ Strat, yadda,yadda, yadda... Anyway, guitars that retail for at least twice as much. This modestly priced guitar has become my go-to guitar. I'm a little bummed that it doesn't come with a case, not even a cheapo soft case. But I mention this while fully understanding that it helps Fender keep the price down on this really kick-ass-gitfiddle.

Odd guitars are cool.

[supernaut-blog]

I Like Odd Guitars

Here is the DeArmond M75 fully Customized, check out the killer Gretsch-style pickguard from Pickguardian.

List of Mods: Sperzel Tuners Graphite Nut Graphite Saddles Dunlop Straplocks Tuned/Muted Tailpiece Gretsch-Style Pickguard Knurled Chrome Dome-Knobs Bourns 500k Potentiometers Bourns Push-Pull Hum/Parallel Potentiometers

[supernaut-blog]

DeArmond M75 Upgrades

I Like Odd Guitars

Several years back I got a Moon Blue DeArmond M75 guitar as payment for some studio time (James Woods).  It was in pretty bad shape; it had a bad nut, crappy tuners, terrible action, terrible intonation, and a big gouge on the back.  Despite all these flaws I could tell that the base guitar was actually pretty special.  When I found a position that I could play in tune it had a great tone and the neck was straight.  I figured it could either be a good base for a dedicated slide guitar or, with some work, a good Gretsch Duo-Jet stand-in.

It sat in its case for about seven years until recently my favorite luthier, Gary Rosier (Guitar Technologies, 7650 S Redwood Rd 801-955-1915), struck out on his own and his lead-time fell to a reasonable time.  It used to be six to eight months(!) but now was six to eight days.  I gave him the guitar and told him what needed to be done.

He replaced the nut, fixed the gouge, and intonated the guitar.  What I got back was amazing!  It inspired me to continue the upgrades and I made the following list and started upgrading (completed upgrades are checked):

Sperzel Tuners ☑ 

Graphite Nut ☑ (Thanks Gary!)

Graphite Saddles ☑ 

Straplocks ☑ 

Chrome Knurled knobs ☑

Custom Pickguard ☑

Dampened Tailpiece  ☑

Bourns 500k A-Taper pots ☑

Bourns Push-Pull Pot for Series/Parallel ☑

Gretsch Duo-Jet HS Case ☐

In the end I will probably spend nearly as much in upgrades as the entire guitar is worth, but nothing should stand in the way of great tone (and fun). I'll post a pic as soon as it is finished.

Odd guitars are cool.

[supernaut-blog]

I would travel anywhere in the world to see a new Floyd Tour.  Even without the late and sorely missed Richard Wright.

[supernaut-blog]

SuperNaut @ Work