Month: April 2010

  • Country Style U.S.A.

    The peacetime U.S. Army in 1957 had a steady stream of new recruits due to the draft and ongoing promotional efforts to encourage enlistments. Among those projects – 52 filmed segments of “Country Style U.S.A.,” were made available to local TV stations from ’57 to ’61. A bit over 14 minutes, each program featured two country stars performing live (no lip-synching), produced at Owen Bradley’s iconic Nashville “Quonset Hut” studio (designed for music and film), the first studio located on what’s now Music Row. Germany’s Bear Family Records has reassembled the complete 52-show run chronologically on four DVDs, each with a detailed booklet. The entire series has immeasurable value. For guitarists, the first two volumes and part of the third showcase the era’s greatest guitarists and steel players in their absolute prime.

    Show 1 opens with Jim Reeves with his band including then-pedal steel player Jimmy Day; a later Reeves-hosted show features Day’s successor: future Hank Thompson steeler Bobby Garrett. Little Jimmy Dickens hosts Show 2 backed by his Country Boys band. Along with hot twin guitar work from Spider Wilson and Howard Rhoton, there’s the ebullient Buddy Emmons, playing his Bigsby triple neck pedal steel and Joel Price with his Fender bass. Price was among the first Nashville acoustic bass players to go electric. On Show 3 Faron Young appears. His steel player is Lloyd Green, in his first professional Nashville gig (See article September ’08). Young totes a gaudy acoustic built by Canadian luthier Frank Gay (on some later shows, he used a custom-inlaid J-200).

    Billy Byrd appears with Ernest Tubb and the Texas Troubadours on Show 4, playing (of course) a sunburst Byrdland. Among Jean Shepard’s accompanists on Show 6 are former Hank Williams steel guitarist Don Helms (playing the Gibson Console Grande he used with Hank) and Jackie Phelps, thumbpicking a black Les Paul. Show 9, starring George Morgan, features an interlude with Nashville studio rhythm guitar great Ray Edenton harmonizing with Morgan. With Carl Smith’s Tunesmiths on Show 10 are steel player Johnny Sibert (with Fender Stringmaster) and lead guitarist Sammy Pruett, another former Hank Williams sideman. In a later show, Smith strums a flashy Gibson Super 400, a huge custom pickguard covering most of the upper bout.

    Toting a Martin dreadnought, Hank Snow, a formidable flatpicker, unleashes a spirited instrumental “San Antonio Rose” on Show 16. Johnny Cash (with Luther Perkins boom-chucking away on his Fender Esquire), stars on Show 18. On Show 23, featuring Bobby Lord, Grady Martin peels off clean lines on a Gretsch Country Club. Don Helms gets a solo turn playing Billy Bowman’s steel showcase “B. Bowman Hop” on Show 24, starring Ernest’s son Justin Tubb. The programs starring Ray Price and the Cherokee Cowboys reflect the talent flowing through the band. The steel players are Jack Evins or Jimmy Day. Van Howard, Price’s harmony singer (toting a J-200) appears in Show 7. On Show 29, from 1958, Price sings his latest hit “Invitation to the Blues” with a then-unknown Roger Miller, the song’s composer, at the time Price’s harmony singer.

    Changes surface on Disc 3. While the music remains excellent, singers are out front, sidemen rarely on camera. One high point is Show 32, featuring Don Gibson and filmed in 1958 when his RCA hits “Oh Lonesome Me” and “Blue Blue Day” were among the year’s biggest. Chet Atkins, Gibson’s producer (who plays “Black Mountain Rag” on Show 27), played on Gibson’s hits. Accompanying Gibson here is Hank Garland, using his original Byrdland on “Blue Blue Day” and “Look Who’s Blue.” Garland resurfaces on Show 36 playing superbly as seminal Texas singer Floyd Tillman, known for his distinctive pop-like vocal phrasing, reprises his 1949 hit “Slipping Around.” By Disc 4 Faron Young has become the show’s permanent host. While the music is still fine, the first-rate house band of A-Team players is invisible. Nonetheless, Garland gets a solo turn on show 51, playing an echo-drenched “Sugarfoot Rag” on a Gibson ES-345. Unfortunately, the vocalists perform in odd settings. Seeing Patsy Cline sing “Walkin’ After Midnight” amid what looks like a general store is… weird.

    Bear Family has released other sets, like their “Town Hall Party” collections, from the legendary California country and rock TV program, with Joe Maphis, Eddie Cochran, Merle Travis, Gene Vincent and Larry Collins all over them. “Country Style U.S.A.” is a similar time capsule, showcasing Nashville’s late-’50s stars and their stellar sidemen.

    This article originally appeared in VG‘s Jan. ’09 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

  • D’Addario/ Planet Waves Accessories

    Waves 01

    The D’Addario family has been making musical-instrument strings since before brothers-in-law Rocco and Carmine moved to the U.S. from Italy in the early 1900s.

    A longtime music-industry fixture, D’Addario & Company long ago branched out from strings into other areas, like a recent crop of cleaning gear, tuners, and assorted goodies.

    Tuners
    The guitar-pick shaped S.O.S. (Strobe on String) mini-strobe tuner is no bigger than a Zippo, and considerably lighter. Its sole moving part is a wheel that turns to select which string you want to tune, and also turns the unit on and off.

    Using the end with the plectrum, the S.O.S. focuses two oscillating lights on the string. As the string gets closer to pitch, the oscillations lessen until they stop. Viola! The string is in tune. The little S.O.S. works best by picking every couple of seconds to keep the string in motion.

    Waves 02

    More versatile, yet still fairly compact, is the Planet Waves Multi-Function Tuner. With an internal microphone or 1/4″ jack for instrument cable or the unit’s own “tuning cradle,” the Multi-Function Tuner can be calibrated between A435 and A445 Hz. Fully chromatic, it operates in either strobe or sweep modes. The cradle acts as a sensor and is easy to attach to a headstock or soundhole, for cable-free tuning. Red and green LEDs are clearly visible on a dark stage, and the hands-off operation make this tuner a good choice for frequent tuning changes.

    An ultimate practice tool, the Full-Function Tuner and Metronome has strobe and sweep tuner modes, pitch tone generator, frequency adjustability, and a metronome with the capacity to break down into beat subdivisions, with a tap tempo mode, a stopwatch, and countdown timer. A good workout can be had with the metronome functions, with each beat both visible and audible. Practice, practice, practice…

    Waves 03

    Guitar Care
    With just a minute of programming, the Planet Waves Humidity and Temperature Sensor gives all the digital temperature and humidity info necessary to keep a guitar healthy in its case. Its data module stores in its memory a record that can be accessed in the event one’s guitar is damaged by climatological factors.

    The Fret Polishing System is for those interested in keeping their frets nicely polished. An easy-to-use template and reusable polishing papers make the job quick and easy. The cardboard fret template, with narrow and jumbo slots, protects the fingerboard, though heavy use will nonetheless create wear. And a strip of clear plastic shipping tape attached to the template will extend its life.

    Waves 04

    Next out of the grab bag is PW’s Hydrate fingerboard oil. Intended to help maintain dark-wood fingerboards, Hydrate is a fairly odorless blend of oils that is simple to spray on and work with.

    The Planet Waves three-step polishing system did wonders cleaning up our worn mid-’70s Gibson SG, reducing visible pick wear and some previous ill-advised steel wool polishing to a nearly undetectable condition. The Micro-Fiber Polish Cloth is tailored like a Hong Kong suit, with neatly hemmed edges, and works very effectively with just a little elbow grease without using a polish to remove sweat and other gig detritus. It can be laundered and promises to be great for day-to-day use on a working guitar.

    Strings
    For a company that sells strings, it’s remarkable that D’Addario has developed products that extend the life of the string; it stands to reason that they would want to sell more strings. But then, D’Addario was an industry leader in environment-friendly packaging way back in ’93, so the company is committed to getting the customer the most from its products.

    The company’s EXP26 phosphor-bronze Extended Play strings give the promised rounder, darker sound than the more common (and softer) 80/20 alloy. The alloy makes the string last a touch longer, but then D’Addario bonds the EXP coating to the string windings. This thin layer allows the strings to ring out normally, with no tone-altering fiber surrounding the string.

    After three evenings of heavy use in sweaty New Orleans nightclubs, the EXPs showed virtually no corrosion. They stood up and stayed in tune for considerably longer than uncoated strings. Several shows later, metal fatigue – not corrosion – killed off these strings, as one finally broke. The tone, especially of the thrashed-on low E and A strings, was finally losing its definition.

    The PW String Cleaner, when used per the instructions (including keeping it away from a guitar’s finish!), promises to add still more life to a string set by removing sweat and finger gunk that affect the sweet tone you’ve worked so hard to produce. After one quick cleaning, we found plenty of evidence of gunk on the cloth, proof that the cleaner did its job (and hinting that perhaps we should wash our hands more frequently!).

    Time once was when furniture polish and one brand of strings were the extent of the guitar accessories at the local department store. But Planet Waves and D’Addario have taken us into a new realm of guitar care, with products useful to pro and hobbyist alike.


    D’Addario/Planet Waves Guitar Accessories
    Price $5.99 to $119.99
    Contact D’Addario and Company, Inc./Planet Waves, PO Box 290, Farmingdale, NY 11735; phone (800) 323-2746; daddario.com, planetwaves.com.


    This article originally appeared in VG‘s June 2008 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

  • Chris Thile

    Chris Thile

    Photo: Steven Stone.

    While Chris Thile may well be the best mandolin player in the world, he couldn’t care less. Other musicians might worry about their place in the hierarchy of “good,” “better,” or “best”; Thile is too busy playing music. Even on a “light” day, he practices at least two hours, and has since he was 10.

    Thile released his first album, Leading Off, in 1994, at the ripe old age of 13. He has since released five solo albums and four with his first band, Nickel Creek.

    For most of his career, Thile has played mandolins built by luthier Lynn Dudenbostel. He acquired Dudenbostel #5 in 1998, then sold it to buy #14 in 2001. Several years later, he bought back #5 because he liked it so much. “When I first got it back I hardly recognized the sound. The mandolin hadn’t been played much and had gone to sleep. I could still hear it in the background, but I was a little concerned that my memory was bad about how it sounded. It took several months for the mandolin to get back to the sound and feel that I remembered.” His experience with “Dude #5,” as he calls it, convinced Thile that instruments go to sleep if they aren’t played regularly. “I think if you honestly love your instruments, you have to play them regularly.”

    Even though he readily admits that Dudenbostel #5 is his primary instrument, he had a nagging desire to own a vintage Lloyd Loar-signed Gibson F-5. One day in Nashville, while having Dude #5 worked on by setup whiz Joe Glazer, Thile visited Gruhn Guitars. “I played three Loars, all of which were good, but none of them moved me,” he said. When he returned to Glazer’s shop to pick up Dude #5, he mentioned the Gruhn visit to Glazer, who asked, “You looking?” Thile admitted, “Yeah, I kinda am.” Glazer referred Thile to Crawford White, who had just come into one.

    The interior labels of all Gibson Loar F-5s include the date the instrument was finished and signed by Lloyd Loar. “When I asked the signing date, White said ‘Feb 13’,” said Thile. “I knew that date was wrong since there are no Loars with that date, but I hoped that he actually meant Feb. 18, 1924.”

    Thile’s guess proved correct, and the date interested Thile because the Loar belonging to John Reischman – widely regarded as the best-sounding F-5 on the planet – is from the same batch. “Several of the Loars I’ve played and thought were really good have come from this batch. In particular, the samples [without the Virzi tone producer” resonator disc].”

    White immediately took the Loar to Glaser’s shop. When Thile first opened the case he was delighted to see that the mandolin was indeed dated February 18, 1924. White described the mandolin, #75316, as an uncirculated example that had never been played professionally.

    “He had already told me it had never been refinished, but I had to ask him again, it was that clean,” Thile marveled. “He told me the story about how an 18-year-old senior in high school bought it new in 1924, played it in a mandolin orchestra for a year, then married his high school sweetheart. On his wedding night, he put it under his bed and never played it again. White bought it from his 98-year-old widow. So I played it and right away I could tell it already had some of the characteristics I wanted a Loar to have.”

    After thinking about it for two weeks, Thile bought the mandolin. “I agonized over it, came back to Nashville and played it again, and that night, I got two hours of sleep… But then I realized that whatever buyer ‘s remorse I could experience would be nothing compared to the agony of seeing someone else buy that mandolin.” He now refers to #75316 as “The Bank of Chris” because he poured his entire savings into it.

    After playing the mandolin “as is” for a little over a week, Thile sent it to Steve Gilchrist, in Australia, for setup and minor repairs. “The pickguard was intact, but a small piece of binding on the side of the fingerboard was missing due to shrinkage. And there was a small opening on the seam at the bottom of the mandolin. Steve is going to replace the bridge top and put on a bone nut. I’m not a big fan of pearl nuts. He’ll set up the mandolin optimally and I’m going to see if I can get used to the things that are unlike Dude #5, such as the un-scalloped fretboard extension. If I can’t get used to the fretboard as is, I’ll have no qualms about scalloping the extension if I love the instrument and I need to do that for optimum playability.”

    When they begin touring in December, anyone who sees Thile with his new band, The Tensions Mountain Boys, will have an opportunity to see and hear his new Loar. It should be the experience of a lifetime – hearing a virtuoso on an instrument that inspires him. Does music get any better than that?


    This article originally appeared in VG‘s January 2008 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.


  • Chuck Berry – You Never Can Tell

    There was no single architect or originator of rock and roll; there were several. Any serious discussion would have to include Fats Domino, Little Richard, Ike Turner, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Haley, and a few others. And, of course, Chuck Berry.

    In his essay on allmusic.com, the late Cub Koda is careful not to declare Berry as the most important forefather of rock but states that “none is more important to the development of the music” – and goes on to make a very convincing case.

    Even more than his guitar playing, what set Berry apart was his songwriting – the clever wordplay he set against I-IV-V/12-bar-blues changes – aimed directly at Teenage America and striking the heart of that target audience with amazing consistency. Consider: Lennon and McCartney, Dylan, and Brian Wilson (arguably the greatest songwriters of rock’s next generation) wore Chuck’s influence on their sleeves. That alone would make him, by association, one of the most influential tunesmiths in the genre’s history, and he was also the strongest influence on rock’s so-called greatest band, the Rolling Stones.

    Keith Richards is, in fact, one guitarist who actually studied Berry’s rhythms and intros. Note: those are plural for a reason; too many reduce Berry’s myriad variations and subtleties to one generic, bar-band form. Or in the case of artists who should know better, they either play everything too fast (Hendrix, Johnny Winter) or forget the swing element – in Dave Edmunds’ case, flattening out the groove; in the Grateful Dead’s, playing too busily for there to be a groove.

    So, on the heels of Hip-O’s four-CD box of Berry’s complete ’50s output (Johnny B. Goode, released late ’07), this quartet of discs covering the remainder of his tenure with Chess Records is welcome indeed.

    The previous set was chock full of classics, from 1955’s “Maybellene” to “Roll Over Beethoven,” “School Day,” “Sweet Little Sixteen,” “Back In The U.S.A.,” “Carol,” “Memphis, Tennesse,” and, of course, “Johnny B. Goode.” But, despite a prison stint and new movements like surf music and the British Invasion (both actually validating his importance), Berry continued to be a major player well into the ’60s.

    The hits weren’t as frequent, but classics like “Nadine,” “No Particular Place To Go,” “You Never Can Tell,” and “Promised Land” proved he hadn’t lost his knack. The latter, essentially “Wabash Cannonball” reinvented, revealed Berry’s hillbilly influence; another key element was big-band swing a la Benny Goodman and Harry James.

    There are some clinkers here (like the sappy “Diploma For Two”), but there are plenty of hidden gems, like his steel guitar instrumental “Mad Lad,” two extended jams from his Two Great Guitars collaboration with Bo Diddley, should’ve-been-hits like “It’s My Own Business,” and a previously unreleased live set from ’63.

    The beauty of the set is that there’s no picking and choosing; you get it all – 108 tracks, rarely seen photos, extensive liner notes by Fred Rothwell, and sessionography (revealing that Matt Murphy played rhythm on “Bye Bye Johnny” and Mike Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield were overdubbed on “It Wasn’t Me”). Like its predecessor, this is a no-brainer.

    This article originally appeared in VG‘s Aug. ’09 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

  • Gibson EB-0F

    64 Gibson EB-0F

    Circa 1964 Gibson EB-0F, serial #234684. Photo: VG archive. Instrument courtesy of Guitar Center Hollywood.

    “Fuzztone.” The term conjures memories of the buzzing, snarling, barely-musical sound from the 1960s that inspired hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of aspiring rock guitarists.

    The Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz-Tone was a wedge-shaped gizmo with germanium transistors made by Gibson. It was the stompbox that interested most budding players, especially after Keith Richards used one to record the iconic lick for the Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” in 1965. However, the use of a distorted guitar sound as a gimmicky studio effect had been going on for years prior to the British Invasion; English guitarists may have picked up on distortion and perhaps even the fuzztone from earlier bands; Link Wray’s “Rumble” was released in 1958 and is often cited as a pioneering example of distorted power chords. Moreover, in a March ’97 interview with VG, the Ventures’ Don Wilson was asked about personal favorite songs by his band. “Well, one of the earliest I thought could have been a hit was called ‘The 2000 Pound Bee.’ It was one of the first songs to have fuzztone,” he said. “I read an article on Jimmy Page in which he noted that the first time he ever heard a fuzztone was on that song.”

    Gibson began marketing the FZ-1 in 1962, the same year it offered a bass – the EB-0F – with a built-in fuzztone. The EB-0 was first offered in ’59. It had a mahogany body with two rounded cutaway horns a la the Les Paul Junior and Special of the era. Early EB-0s had rear-projecting, banjo-style tuners as found on Gibson’s first electric four-string, the Electric Bass (“The Bass Space,” February ’06). The headstock transitioned to the more common right-angle tuners in early ’61, and soon afterward the EB-0 acquired a thinner body with sharp-pointed double cutaways, a la the second silhouette of Les Paul guitars being made in that same time period.

    In addition to a mahogany body, all configurations of the standard EB-0 had a 301/2″ scale on a mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard, pearl-dot fret markers, and a crown-shaped pearl inlay in the headstock. The standard finish for the EB-0 was a see-through cherry color (other finishes would come along later).

    One variant, the EB-0L, was introduced in the late ’60s with a 341/2″ scale, but during the initial years of the ’60s guitar boom, the short-scale EB-0 and its two-pickup sibling, the EB-3, were Gibson’s frontline instruments in the market battle against Fender’s Precision Bass and Jazz Bass.

    The SG-shaped version of the EB-0 started with a black plastic-covered humbucking pickup with centered polepieces, mounted near the neck joint. The pickup cover was changed to metal in ’62. Its wing-shaped pickguard was a five-layer black/white/black/white/black, with a crescent-shaped wood fingerrest. Controls were simple Volume and Tone knobs. There was usually a handrest on the body, and the simple bridge/tailpiece was the same one that had been around since Gibson introduced the Electric Bass in the early ’50s. A string mute was added in the early ’60s, just in front of the bridge/tailpiece. The EB-0F’s fuzztone was installed under a section of a longer, two-piece pickguard. Still five-layer, the EB-0F pickguard had a seam near the handrest; the upper portion had the wood fingerrest, while the lower/extended portion, which terminated near the Volume knob, could be detached to access the fuzz unit.

    Controls for the fuzztone included Attack and Volume knobs, as found on the FZ-1 stombox, and an In/Out (on/off) switch; the word “Fuzztone” was etched into the pickguard just below it. And Gibson skipped installing the string mutes from the EB-0 perhaps because they interfered with its intended sound or simply because it cluttered the face of the body.

    The EB-0F was not a big seller. Shipping totals for the model were 35 (in 1962), 74 (in ’63), 64 (in ’64), and 92 (in ’65).

    There is a bit of irony in the fact the EB-0F was discontinued the year “Satisfaction” brought the fuzztone to prominence. The cheesy, raunchy sound of such devices – Maestro brand or otherwise – was all over numerous ’60s singles, from the Count Five’s “Psychotic Reaction” to the Electric Prunes’ “I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night).”

    The Gibson EB-0F was an ahead-of-its-time instrument that can deliver a raucous retro sound – no fancy footwork required!


    This article originally appeared in VG‘s August 2008 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

  • Taylor T5 Thinline Fiveway

    Taylor T5 Thinline Fiveway

    Taylor T5 Thinline Fiveway

    For years, people continually asked Bob Taylor, “When are you going to come up with an electric guitar?”

    Taylor’s answer was always, “Somewhere between never and when we come up with a guitar that’s actually unique.” That “somewhere” arrived in 2005, with the birth to the Taylor T5 Thinline Fiveway.

    One’s first glance at an instrument is usually a telling moment, and everything about the way the T5 presents itself is seductive. The case’s vintage contour, faux-alligator texture, and heavy-duty hardware catches the eye. Lifting the lid, one is struck by two things – the sheer elegance of the guitar’s design and the intoxicating aroma of the woods. The T5’s sleek, hollow body is carved from maple with a shape inspired by Taylor’s Grand Auditorium. The neck is made of Tropical American mahogany with an ebony fretboard, and the guitar ships with Elixir electric strings, though it can use acoustic strings.

    The T5 is available in Standard and Custom variants, both available with a spruce or figured maple top. The Custom is also available with a figured Hawaiian Koa top. Stylized f-holes enhance the guitar’s visage and the body’s natural resonance, making it all the more responsive. The only other difference is that the Standard has “micro dot” inlays and chrome Taylor tuners, while the Custom is fitted with gold Taylor machines and boasts the company’s exquisite Artist inlays.

    The T5 is designed to provide players with an alternative to what many spend too much time doing onstage between songs – changing instruments. And despite how much you may love your acoustic, electric players usually begrudge having to lug one to a gig just to play on one or two songs. And finally, there’s the fact that traditional electric guitars don’t care for acoustic amps and acoustic guitars hate electric amps. But the T5 is comfortable with both; plug into an acoustic amp (or direct into a P.A.) for clear, articulate strumming and fingerpicking, or plug into your electric rig for everything from clean and cool hollowbody jazz tone to chicken pickin’ and on to fat, crunchy blues/rock overdrive.

    The T5 is unique in terms of the mechanics of sound reproduction. It employs three pickups – a stacked humbucker in the bridge position, another hidden under the fretboard at the neck joint, and a Taylor Expression System sensor inside the body, midway between the saddle and the tail. The onboard preamp is controlled by three small knobs, one for volume, the other two for active boost and bass/treble cut. As the guitar’s name implies, a five-position switch toggles among the various pickup combinations.

    To hear the T5’s electric-guitar tones, we fired up a tweed Fender Deluxe 1×12″ and POD XT Live. For the acoustic side, we used an SWR California Blonde, and fed signal to both rigs through an AB/Y box. We played a variety of styles, from soft fingerpicking to percussive strumming with a lot of palm muting, and the guitar responded very well to all of it. The five-way in the first position activates the neck pickup and body sensor, giving a punchy, sparkling tone. The next position disengages the body sensor, which softens the attack and rounds out the tone. This will be an adjustment – you’re playing what feels like a hollowbody electric (without modeling or digital sampling), yet hearing sounds normally associated with a dreadnought.

    Of course, for electric players, the true test lies in how an electric/acoustic handles the electric aspect. We played dozens of familiar song passages, stomping repeatedly on the POD and experimenting with settings on the guitar itself and we just weren’t hearing what we wanted to hear. Then, as we were ready to concede that we weren’t going to, we remembered something Taylor product developed David Hosler said; “This guitar doesn’t replace your Les Paul, and it doesn’t replace your [Taylor] 810. But there’s so much music happening between these two points that this guitar just loves to live in!”

    Of course! Our patches were all built around specific guitars. So we yanked all processing out of the chain, plugged the guitar straight into the tweed, and Oh yeah! Now we could hear the guitar’s true voice, its own electric colors.

    At a full-band rehearsal, the T5 fit nicely into the mix – electric and acoustic – blending well and cutting through when needed. Then, at a five-hour acoustic Christmas gig, the T5 was the only one of three guitars that made the stage! In our case, the T5 found its six songs, and then some.


    Taylor T5 Thinline Fiveway
    Price $2,600 to $3,700 (retail).
    Contact taylorguitars.com.


    This article originally appeared in VG‘s April 2006 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

  • Jon Butcher

    Jon Butcher 01

    Photos courtesy Jon Butcher.

    A little more than a decade ago, guitarist/vocalist Jon Butcher described his affiliation with the then-new quartet Barefoot Servants as, “The best thing I ever did.” The band, featuring co-guitarist Ben Schultz, bassist Leland Sklar, and drummer Ray Brinker, released one album and toured before its members went their separate ways.

    Butcher developed his Electric Factory studio, and among his more recent projects has been writing and playing music for the Showtime channel special, “Hendrix: The Jimi Hendrix Story.” He has also toured his old haunts in New England. And then there was the unexpected reunion of Barefoot Servants…

    “Ben called me one day, out of the blue,” Butcher recalled. “He had been doing some work with a historical society, restoring old films, and Lee had been touring; he’s the perpetual road dog – if not with Phil Collins, then with somebody else. It had been years, and Ben asked me to come by his place. We started making music, and things fell together. That’s what musicians do.”

    Looking back at the short-lived first effort by the band, Butcher opined, “When young bands start, there’s really not much else to get in the way. And I have a theory about why bands break up; life intervenes. People get married, get families. Each of us has a pretty substantial mortgage that needs attention! The first Servants album was great, by all standards, including ours – and we had a great time touring. Then I got a call to do something, Lee got a tour, Ben got a call to do something… and blink, 10 years go by. The Hendrix film was a big time in my life; I wasn’t onscreen, but all of the guitar playing, and a lot of the singing, was me. Ben was responsible for hooking us up again, and I’m glad he did.

    “Since so much time had elapsed, getting reacquainted was kind of unique,” The first CD was centered in a blues-rock vein, and this one is much more introspective and biographical; the experiences of 10 years found their way into the writing. I did all the lyrics, and I had a lot on my mind, and a lot to get out. There was never any point where I was scratching my head, saying, ‘Jeez, I wonder what I have to say…’”

    The guitarist noted that electronic musical correspondence via the internet figured “heavily” into the recording of the new album, as he and Schultz have their own separate recording studios, but the bulk of on-site recording was done at Schultz’s studio. This time around, Neal Wilkinson is onboard as the band’s drummer.

    Jon Butcher 02

    The overall sound of Barefoot Servants 2 might be described as tight, uncluttered, with songwriting that touches on more than one contemporary issue. Acoustic guitars figure prominently into the mix, and there isn’t even a lead guitar break until the fourth song.

    “That was a real wrestling match,” Butcher detailed. “There were ideas and concepts to be expressed, and not just riffage. We started noticing things that weren’t needed – ‘Where’s the wah-wah?’ The criteria was not who did which solo or who stepped on a fuzz box. The songs were the dominant thing, and several of them were written on acoustic guitar, as you can tell, but there was never a time when we said ‘Yeah, we’ll make an acoustic record!’”

    Twelve-string acoustic blend with electric guitars on songs like “I Don’t Care At All” and “The Bells of St. Mary’s.”

    “I have a Taylor Leo Kottke that I used all over the record,” Butcher noted. “And Ben and I went guitar shopping one day, and found a great mid-’60s Rickenbacker 360/12; it’s a winner. It was used heavily in ‘When the Day Comes’, where I do a sort of George Harrison Rubber Soul backward guitar.”

    Butcher noted that the acoustic six-strings he used on the album included a ’71 Martin D-41, an OM-42, and a D-35 Ernest Tubb model, as well as a Taylor 810 and 910.

    “I’ve been working with Taylor for a long time,” said Butcher. “I think they make the best production guitars available… and I’d emphasize production. There are custom makers that are great.”

    There’s also a dose of resonator. “When we completed Barefoot Servants 1, Ben threw himself into dobro, and he’s now got a collection. He used a Scheerhorn square-neck, a Beard square-neck, and a Dobro DB-60.”

    Butcher used custom solidbody instruments made by Washington-based luthier Bill Nash that, he says, “…pay homage to the Telecaster and Stratocaster. I’ve been using his stuff for about the last 10 years. I used the Tele-type guitar on almost everything on the record.” The guitar, seen in Butcher’s hands in some of the photos in the liner booklet of Barefoot Servants 2, shows some wear, and the guitarist said that it wasn’t given a relic treatment.

    “It looks like that because I’ve played the **** out of it,” he said with a laugh. “You’ve got to understand that for me, guitars are still tools. I don’t have my guitars in glass cases. If they’ve got beauty marks, scratches, gouges, or places where my sweaty arm has worn off the paint, so much the better.”

    The aforementioned lyrics often let a listener draw their own conclusions, Butcher emphasized, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

    “We would hope that some of the people who dig the stuff we write will be able to rub a thought or two together,” the guitarist concluded.

    Barefoot Servants 2 is a well-produced effort by veteran professional musicians, and if its contents come across as meaningful, as well, Jon Butcher will be all the more pleased and gratified.

    For more on the Barefoot Servants, go to www.barefootservants.net.


    This article originally appeared in VG‘s April ’06 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

  • June 2010

     
    Vintage Guitar Magazine June 2010

     
    This month in VG We speak with world-famous guitar builder Paul Reed Smith. Influenced by music early in life, instead of writing "Born To Run" or playing the lead on Tom Petty's "Refugee," guitar history will recall him as the Ted McCarty (or Leo Fender) of his generation. Then, Dave Hunter tells us why among Fender "tweed" amps, the 5D5 Pro is an important starting point for studying both its predecessors and its successors. George Gruhn and Walter Carter explain how despite the popularity of Gibson's '50s thinline electrics, the acoustic archtop L-5CT didn't quite fly, and Willie Moseley reveals how the Peavey Dyna-Bass was an important evolutionary step in the company's history. Then, we offer up the details on two funky instruments - one you may have actually played, the other that, thanks to Communism, came to market way too late: check out our features on the Riverhead Jupiterand the Leningrad Hollowbody 409. Robb Lawrence stops in to visit about his two books on Les Paul, the man. Andy Babiuk talks about making garage music a la his heroes, and Dan Forte breaks down the details on the DVD box set on the British Invasion. Stopping by to discuss their new music are Julien Kasper, Jon Dalton, Rich Tozzoli, and Zac Harmon. If you're the tinkering type, you'll want to take a look at Will Kelly's Shop of Hard Knocks column, where he shows us how to build our own pickups, Dan Erlewine's Guitar Rx where he makes a new bridge for an Epiphone Texan, and David Jung's Talkin' Amps..., where he puts a bunch of EL84 tubes through their paces. And in the likely(!) event you're shopping for new gear, you'll want to read our reviews of cool new stuff from Gadotti, ProCo, Tomaszewicz, Egnater, Fervor pickups, Ultrasound, WMD, and Reunion Blues. Here's a look at Paul'sFirst Guitars!
    FEATURES Paul Reed Smith He was influenced by music early in life. But instead of writing “Born To Run” or playing the lead break on Tom Petty’s “Refugee,” guitar history will recall Paul Smith as the Ted McCarty (or Leo Fender) of his generation. By Ward Meeker The Fender 5D5 Pro Among Fender “tweed” amp models, it sits in the center both chronologically and developmentally. That makes it a great jumping-off point for studying both its predecessors and its successors. By Dave Hunter The Gibson L-5CT Gibson’s first thinline electrics of the ’50s were popular. But when the company applied the concept to an acoustic archtop and created the L-5CT, sales were disappointing, even with a promotional splash provided by a popular comedian and TV-show host. By George Gruhn and Walter Carter One Fine 409: The Leningrad Hollowbody Born when such instruments were on their way out in the West, the 1970 Lunacharsky Factory of Folk Musical Instruments model 409 was more reminiscent of Kays and Harmonys from the 1950s and ’60s. By Edward Pitt The Riverhead Jupiter There are many patterns in guitar history, but one prominent theme repeats the tradition based on the apprenticeship/journeyman/master model. Such a pattern weaves the story of Riverhead guitars – a brand in the wrong place at the wrong time. By Michael Wright The Peavey Dyna-Bass Introduced in 1986, the Dyna-Bass was a major evolutionary step up from Peavey’s T-series instruments or the Foundation Bass. Though styled with classic lines, its active circuitry marked a first for a Peavey bass. By Willie G. Moseley DEPARTMENTS Vintage Guitar Price Guide Builder Profile Monroe Guitars Upcoming Events Vintage Guitar Classified Ads Dealer Directory Readers Gallery FIRST FRET Reader Mail News and Notes Tours by Frampton/Yes, Styx/Kansas/Foreigner, and Wishbone Ash, Father’s Day photos wanted, In Memoriam, more! The British are Back DVD Box Documents British Invasion By Dan Forte Chronicling Les Paul By Eric C. Shoaf VG on Facebook Andy Babiuk Out In the Garage By John Heidt Ask Zac By Zac Childs Julien Kasper Go With the Flow By John Heidt Jon Dalton Unplanned Perfection By John Heidt Rich Tozzoli Talking Tone By Pete Prown Zac Harmon Positive Blues Power By Rick Allen COLUMNS The (Way) Back Beat $100, 50 Years Ago, Part III By Peter S. Kohman Q&A With George Gruhn Acousticville Every Decade or So, Part II By Steven Stone Fretprints Judas Priest By Wolf Marshall TECH Shop of Hard Knocks Roll Your Own... Pickups By Will Kelly Dan’s Guitar Rx New Bridge for an Epi Texan, Part II By Dan Erlewine Talkin’ Amps... An EL84 “Showdown” By David Jung REVIEWS The VG Hit List CD, DVD, and Book Reviews: Drive-By Truckers, Johnny Cash, Paul Revere & the Raiders, Luther Allison, Johnny A, Wilson Pickett, Frank Vignola, Gibson’s Fabulous Flattops (Second Edition), more! Check This Action Guitar Heroes, 40 Years Late By Dan Forte Vintage Guitar Gear Reviews Gadotti ElectroKing, ProCo Rat ‘85 White Face, Tomaszewicz TZZ-35212L, Egnater Renegade 112, Fervor pickups, Ultrasound DS4, WMD Super Fat Man, Reunion Blues Continental gig bag. Gearin’ Up! The latest cool new stuff!

  • Willie Nelson – Naked Willie

    The forced, intrusive background vocals on the “definitive” versions of “Funny How Time Slips Away” or “Crazy” (from The Essential Willie Nelson) are argument enough in favor of this project.

    The songs on Naked Willie were recorded between 1966 and 1970, and though Nelson was a successful, respected songwriter by that time, his own records had yet to take off in terms of sales. So his recording sessions were in the hands of some expert, but often very doctrinaire, producers. Only in the mid ’70s, with albums like Red Headed Stranger, did Nelson began to evolve into the lovable hophead cowboy pixie whose music has become part of the American pop fabric.

    So the idea to strip down some of his pre-“outlaw” material and expose the work of session musicians like Jerry Reed and Chet Atkins was a great one. Unfortunately, because Reed, Atkins, et al were part of the support team, there are no examples of great hitherto obscure licks.

    There are times when the “treatment” given these tracks could go even further. For instance, no one would miss the clunky drums on “Sunday Morning Coming Down.” And while the mariachi horns on “Following Me Around” sound fairly organic, the strings and background vocals on “The Party’s Over”… not so much. That song, by the way, is not the Jules Styne/Betty Comden/Adolph Green classic, and it’s also not one of Willie’s finest.

    That’s the hitch in the plan – there aren’t enough of Nelson’s better and/or more familiar tunes here. So if there’s a Volume Two in the works, let’s hope they make them first priority.

    This article originally appeared in VG‘s May. ’09 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

  • The Replacements – Tim, Pleased To Meet Me, Don’t Tell A Soul, All Shook Down

    The final four Replacements LPs are back in deluxe style, thanks to Rhino. Accompanying the label’s re-release of the band’s first four albums and EPs earlier this year, the band has finally been done right.

    Not surprisingly, there’s many more extra tracks available from this time period, running from 1985’s Tim through the band’s swan song on 1990’s All Shook Down. Outtakes, alternates, demos, and simply forgotten tracks are plentiful here; the last album is almost doubled in length with 11 additional tracks alone.

    Best of the best are found on Pleased To Meet Me. Here are alt versions of “Alex Chilton” and “Can’t Hardly Wait” that Mats fans will swoon over. In addition, there are studio outtakes of the band romping through “Route 66” and “Tossin’ n’ Turnin'” that are worth the price of admission alone.

    All four CDs are packaged with great liner booklets featuring extensive notes, photos, gig posters, and even band artwork. Notes by erstwhile manager Peter Jesperson seal the deal.

    This article originally appeared in VG‘s Feb. ’09 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.