Hip and Tasty

I've added some decor to two of my fave guitars. The artwork can be found at Pin Ups Plus!
They have a great selection of pinups for adding to anything you wish to customize. I'm pleased with the results on my instruments. Whaddya think?

It's been a while

Friends and natives-

Greetings from the home station. I've been busy the past few months with a new gig, teaching and tweaking the studio. I've joined the band- The Groove Motive and we've played a steady set of monthly gigs. The band's as hot as the summer sun and a heapload of fun. The group guitar class has finished and a new influx of students has me covering the basics weekly with instruction.
Updates on gear are as follows- The Rivera had a bad preamp tube that caused the reverb to squeal like a banshee. A quick replacement and it's good as new. The Jensen Neodymium 12 inside of it has made the amp's clean a useful tool for the TGM shows. The Elixir cable sample has been a staple of my live rig and has worked flawlessly. I have not had any issues with noise or interference with this cable. Thanks again to Elixir for providing a great product for players to try and use.
I'm trying to get permission to link to D'Addario's website for stringing how-to's and relative info for the studio and my students. Each of us has a responsibility to our instrument to play fresh good sounding strings. I have D'Addario's on all of my electrics (XL10s) and even have their chromes on the hollowbody.
I've been recording all of TGM's shows at Breakers. I've been using a condenser mic for the room and taking a direct feed off the mixer for the vocals/keys. We've been using the recordings to tweak our live shows and hear our performances. It's a wonderful way to hear what you're putting out and whether the energy of the performance carries through to the recording as well.
The C.A.T. has been on hold a while. With the busy schedule for TGM and the lack of a viable drummer there has been little motivation for working on my original material. I appreciate all of the listeners who continue to visit our reverbnation page and support my music.
As a player who has the good fortune to play with other great musicians I hope you will take the chance to support live music anyway possible. I hope to sit in with Chicago Cy this Sunday at the Positive Vibe Cafe. This should be a fun jazz filled event replete with hollowbodies and standards.
Check us out if you're in the neighborhood.
thanks for listening and play on.

Really?

As we start the new year I"m astounded by the amount of idiocy present in our society. I for one am stupid for thinking I might find someone to fill the drummer spot via a response to a Craigslist ad. What I got in the following email is somewhat humorous yet still appalling to me that this is our future. I now present to you this resume of impeccable grammar and good taste (minus the picture of him holding money with nunchucks and knives in the background).
God help us one and all.

Craigslist Reply for drummer-


Hey bro, thanx 4 the reply 2 my ad. Some is dat links U sent is off the chain. I no I could blow up sum beats over alot of you songs. Some is a little weak but most it is allrite sound 2 me and when i rock sum fat beats on it u know its gonna go off the hook. lol i just knocked off a ferw 40s so my typeing sux but U get it. Anywya id b down with hooking up sumtime. let me know when u want 2 lay some off this shit down.

just as a fyi so U can see i am attaching a publicity pic i used in may last band and a link to a track we laid down for garageband.com (got sum wack reviews but w/e lol)

http://www.garageband.com/artist/ManHole link to song is on right side of screen in a box

L8r- J Mac

ps- i can bring some biches 2 the jam seshun. i no sum nasty wild freaks all about kickin it at jammz- lol lemme no. also plz dont joke on my kit. its a old kit from Sears and has alot of dings and dents and stuff but i got it sounding tight yo. i gots 2 use wood stirring spoons 4 sticks 4 now but when we start gettin paid i'll get that strate.

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2010PresentsNewOpportunity

As we close 2009 I want to thank everyone who read along this year. I am going to try to do a weekly update of this blog this year. Your comments/ideas help. I plan to share things I'm teaching in my group class and hope the info helps anyone who reads it. The YouTube video of the Elixir cable I mentioned in the last post is now available here:

Then there's a demo of the Parker P36 Santa left here.

ELIXIRCABLESample

I received an Elixir 20 foot guitar cable in the mail yesterday as part of their promotion to have customers try them out. I am very impressed. I've had Spectraflex, Pro Co and handmade cables in my gear over the years, This cable does what it says. It really allows the true sound of an instrument to shine through. I will youtube a demo later this month comparing the sound of two cables.
Last night I used the cable with an Epiphone hollowbody and Fender Pro Junior. Usually these two are very dark and sound good but lack clarity. The sound last night was crisp and clear and I could hear my guitar much clearer. Chords and melodies came through cleanly and it was almost if my amp magically had more headroom b/c of the cable. More to come.
What a great Christmas gift!

Restringing How To

I restrung two of my student's guitars today and thought I'd do a pictorial on how to for anyone interested in saving $30. Most shops charge that much to restring your guitar and it's a simple task anyone can do.
Let's start with the acoustic.
The fretboard was nasty and the strings were black when I started. I took off the strings by using a peghead winder and loosening the tension. I then removed them from the posts and used my left hand inside the cavity to push up on the bridge pins and remove the tails of the strings. This helps to keep the top from being scratched by using other tools to remove the pins. Even the puller on the winder can mar the surface of the guitar so reaching inside is a good thing.
After all the strings were clear of the instrument I proceeded to lightly run quad 0 steel wool over the frets and fingerboard. This polishes the tops of the frets and makes them feel slick when playing. It's important to blow off any debris that is leftover from this step to prevent scratching of the finish when you wipe the instrument down at the end of stringing.
I then proceeded to apply a very light coat of lemon oil on to a cloth baby diaper and then rub it into the fretboard and bridge. This replenishes the moisture in them both and makes the wood appear new. Check out the before and after of the bridge. The wood looks much nicer after the lemon oil.
I then string the guitar up by anchoring each string at the bridge pin and then keeping a light tension on it thread it onto it's peg. I use the winder then to wrap it taut. I should also mention I cut each string at the next peghead up to prevent overwrapping the tuner and to leave a nice tidy wrap.
Check that out in the following sequence for the electric.
When you restring a standard Strat/Tele style guitar you can take off all six strings and do the fretboard cleaning like I mentioned above. I also make sure that as I thread the strings they are fully seated in the bridge cavity and not hung on the lip of the tremolo cover before tightening. This prevents bends in the middle of the string when the string sets into it's slot if you did it incorrectly. The fretboard and strings were pretty raunchy on this axe. When I finished it and had it tuned up you'd of thought it was new. Fresh strings and diligent cleaning after playing will insure your instrument stays in performance shape.

ChristmasTunesAvailable

I took the tunes down since Christmas has come and gone. Check for new ones next December!