Wedding Band Requests

Dear Bandleader thank you for your letter. I really do think you have an attitude problem and do want a few requests played if you don't mind. What me and my wife were thinking was:

Any Keith Jarrett composition from his solo series. Please arrange for full ensemble and nothingin 4/4 please.

Mahavishnu Orchestra, Dance of the Maya and please have the guitar player play John Mcglaughlin's solo from the live performance Nov. 16, 1972 at Chrysler Arena. My wife and I were at that show and particularly liked his use of polyrhythmics. If you find it too difficult you can leave out the feedback. Your choice.

John Coltrane's duets with Pharaoh Sanders. I understand that their use of atonality is not everyone's cup of tea, but my guests are usually fond of high register tenor saxes.

We thought a little Stravinsky would be nice. We particularly like the Rite of Spring. If you want to use the sheet music it's OK. My husband likes it about 1/4 note = 93 beats per minute.

Then for the candle lighting ceremony, please learn Frank Zappa's "The Great Wazoo". If you want to play it in the originally B flat, that would be OK. And yes, cousin Jeannie does want to sing the baritone sax solo. Please don't say no, it would hurt her feelings so.

Finally we have built our own musical instruments (It's kind of a hobby with us) and we would appreciate if you would use our instruments. None of them are based upon a 12 tone scale or on common harmonics, but our 5 year old son tells us it's not really that hard to transpose once you understand the physics.

We would be happy to pay each member an extra $25 for any inconvenience.
Thank you and don't be late!

GAS or obsessive compulsive disorder Part II

Gear Acquisition Syndrome, or GAS, is a disorder that I first learned about as a guitarist.
Loosely defined, it describes a pattern of behavior where a musician has a compulsive need to acquire the latest and greatest equipment; incessantly fiddle with, modify, and customize their gear; and either end up maintaining an unwieldy collection of instruments, amps, pedals and rack gear, or, endure regular experiences of disappointment and regret over having traded in perfectly good equipment for something that promised to be noticeably better, but wasn't.
In many cases this results in the need to improve and refine one's equipment actually superseding one's own development in becoming a more knowledgeable and skilled player.

Keeler Designs Shove Incoming

According to a thread at ToneFactor forums:
Keeler Designs Shove incoming
the brandnew pedal called 'Shove' from Keeler Designs will be available soon.

Rob Keeler himself described the pedal as follows:

"It has 4 controls. Volume, Gain, Structure, and Tone.

The Tone and Structure controls are pretty cool. They are very interactive and allow for a whole bunch of different textures, tones and eq. You really need to play this pedal to get a feel for what they do.

The Volume control has a bunch of boost on tap. I put a bit more available boost on my pedals than most. The reason being sometimes I just want to hit the front end of a tube amp hard.

The Gain control goes from gritty clean to distortion. There are pedals out there with more distortion but I've never found a need for more than what the Shove has on tap. I only put out pedals that I would use on my pedalboard.

This pedal cleans up from the guitar volume knob. This is must for me. I'll often leave pedals on the whole time and get different tones out of them by riding the volume knob.

The picture doesn't show it but the paint job is a translucent red with metal flake sparkle. Very cool looking.

I think it's distortion is more open than compressed. I did this so it would clean up and you'd get more dynamics out of it. Although if you stack it Pull -> Shove -> Amp.......you can get those sounds."

Sounds like an awesome pedal, looking forward for some clips.
More later ...

R.I.P. Keith

Keith VanDerSchaegen of aramat effects passed away peacefully early on August 4th, 2008 after a 3 and a half year fight against Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).

condolences to his family

Effects Explained: Overdrive, Distortion, and Fuzz

Here is another installment of Gibson.com's "Effects Explained" series.
Cool stuff!

Effects Explained: Overdrive, Distortion, and Fuzz

Earthquaker Devices Hoof Fuzz - Review

Earthquaker Devices Hoof Fuzz - Tone Factor Product Details



It is a germanium/ silicon hybrid big muff style fuzz (it's based on the old green Sovtek Big Muff) with massive amounts of volume and sustain on tap. It has a tighter sound than most muff's which makes palm muting an option and open chords ring out clear. The altered tone control eliminates the problem of being lost in the mix.

The Hoof has just enough fullness and gain for me but is also tight enough and to me it is the ultimate muff-style fuzz. It is the most 'liquid' sounding fuzz I haver ever heard.

I love the Big Muff sound, but I wanted something a little thicker and gainier than the ordinary muff, that has a usable tone control range and most imprtant that doesn't get lost in the mix.
The Hoof delivers on all of these aspects!
The tone control is based around the transistors and goes from the germanium side to the silicon side and never reaches the extremes of most muff tone controls.

Dan Auerbach from the Black Keys uses one.

Tone Factor demo video of the Hoof:



Tone Factor comparison video Hoof vs Little Big Muff:



Here are some additional sound clips:

Hoof with Fuzz at max, Tone at 12 O'Clock
Hoof with Fuzz at 12 O'Clock, Tone at 3 O'Clock
Hoof with Bass
Hoof with Humbuckers

Here are some additional videos:

Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
Video 4

The Fuzz Part 1

The first Fuzz box, the Maestro FZ-1 Fuzz Tone, made its American debut in 1962. It was created in an attempt to have the guitar imitate brass and string instruments. Sales through 1964 were very slow. Everything changed in 1965 with the release of the song "Satisfaction", the legendary riff being the work of the Fuzz Tone.
Sola Sound introduced the MK I Tone Bender in 1965. The 1966 MK II was used by many famous British guitarists. Built with germanium transistors, the tonebender had bold fuzz and maximum sustain. Sola Sound would eventually change their name and become Colorsound.
The FZ-1 was not easy to come by in England and the birth of British Rock was just starting. The British company Sola Sound, sometimes spelled Solasound, and others were founded in response to the Fuzz demand. The "Fuzz Era" had begun.
The first era of fuzz pedals were equipped with either two or three germanium transistors. These pedals produced great tone, but many of these transistors turned out to be manufactured inconsistently, affected by climate, and generally unreliable.
In the 70's, most germanium transistors were replaced with silicon transistors. Silicon transistors were more compact and reliable. The silicon transistor yields a much higher gain and the sound is brighter. Of course, there is debate as to which transistor sounds better.
Fortunately, the consumer of today has the ability to listen to and choose the Fuzz effect that is right for him. The Fuzz pedals of today mimic the legends, but also provide additional features. Most offer the choice of germanium or silicon transistors. There is a Fuzz Pedal for Everyone!