2004 is the 70th anniversary f the Stratocaster...

I saw the Experience Hendrix concert when it came to Texas in 2012 and took a phone video of Kenny Wayne Sheppard playing Voodoo Child. The video is washed out but the solo kicked ass.

That's a great one, John!

I stumbled across this...the audio is mono but...well, it's well worth a listen.

Sad day in the Northeast for guitar and music instrument lovers, Sam Ash is closing all stores.





Bought many a guitar or miscellaneous music accessories over the years, my PRS Silver Sky is from Sam Ash as is my PRS MT-15 Tremonti amp that sits in my den.

That's too bad. I saw the news yesterday on reddit. That will leave us with 1 Guitar Center and a handful of local/regional shops.

Back when Mars Music went under there were some great deals in the going out of business sale. The discounts got lower as the closing date approached. I picked up an American Series Strat and a Fender Cyber Deluxe amp both for 40% off. There might be some opportunities like that here but our Sam Ash doesn't carry a huge inventory so I doubt the discounts will get that low. I think these days people are more comfortable buying online sight unseen. There's a Gibson acoustic there though that I've had my eye on so I'll watch for the sale.

You’re right, might be a good time to pick up a good acoustic by Gibson or Martin. I wouldn’t mind that Slash Gibson J-45, the Sam Ash website says they have 1 left.

I went by our Sam Ash today and the discounts were 5% on instruments/strings, 10% on keyboards, and 30% books/scores. I picked up a couple of books but I’ll see what they have left when the discounts are better. The employee that I talked to said they would be lowering prices as the inventory went down.

Saw Al Di Meola last night here on the Island and got to see him debut his brand new PRS guitar! Paul hand delivered it the other night in Maryland and boy did it sound good. Sounds different than his classic Gibson Black Beauty, tighter to me and of course that creamy fretboard that PRS is famous for.


Rams Head, Annapolis MD.

Nice looking Paul's Guitar! Seems like that model would be pretty much perfect for Al's style. It's very clear, and the single-coil sounds really cut through, but the humbucker sounds are just gorgeous. General consensus is it's not as good for high gain, but it hasn't given me any grief in that area.

That does, indeed, look magnificent!

PRS dropped a new amp today. I may be in trouble.

Coming in June, Gardiner Houlgate is auctioning off the Bernie Marsden collection, along with some other items. There are a couple Bernie guitars I have more than a passing interest in. The Bernie connection adds to it a bit, but they're models I wouldn't mind getting my hands on at the right price.

But there's another guitar in the auction that really has me drooling and wishing I could be in the "price is no object" category. It's a Les Paul owned by the late Ian Bairston. As much as I love Alan Parsons Project, that's not the connection that makes me gaga over this one. It's the Les Paul from the solo in Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights". That's making me a tad weak in the knees. Fortunately for me, I think it's going to sell for more than I'm willing to pay. It's not one of the big desirable runs (not a '59 or anything like that), but man, that would be sweet.

Of course, as with most of these types of auctions, I dread the shipping costs. Especially since it would be coming from the UK.

Hey, schedule an in-person and then just tell the wife that you’re taking her on vacation the UK. Problem solved.

Yeah, I’d fly over and pick it up in person if I won and London is a nice place to visit anyway. In fact I will be there on October 21st for 2 days as we head over to Egypt/ Jordan in the Fall.

Went to a guitar clinic on LI featuring Jared James Nichols who was promoting his Epiphone Blues Power Les Paul guitars. And man they do sound good in his hands, the pickups are made for him, JJN P-90s. I actually own his Gold Glory version, bought the second generation, tonight he played the third generation.

Great guy, full of stories, I have seen him live a few times here in NY and he brings it every time.

Oh and no pedals were used last night, straight into a Victory amp. All Jared’s tone was in his fingers, he plays without a pick. Had to actually borrow a pick from a guest to show how he sounds with a pick.

edit*** his most interesting story was how his career suddenly took off. He says he was playing the Sturgis Biker Rally and because of the noise of the bikes and that they were pouring in at 90MPH, no one was really paying attention to him but on the side of the stage was Gary Rossington of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Gary approached him backstage, shared a few whiskies and said to Jared “what are your plans now?”

Jared said his band is doing their first tour of Europe on April on a modest scale. Gary says you should open for us, we are going to Europe in April too! Skynyrd’s manager took down Jared’s phone number. Jared thought of course nothing would come of that meeting BUT Lo and behold a week later he calls and says we want you.

From small bars to suddenly arenas in Europe!

The rest is history!

JJN is an awesome player. Nice that you got to hear the stories.

I've gradually accumulated a few pedals. Last year, I started considering a pedal board for the first time in years. I've had a TC Electronics G-System for a long time to handle my effects except for dirt pedals, but I've added a few others. I was looking at the Holeyboard 123 Complete - direct from them, in their closeout/scratched section, it was like $129, but they said it was going up at the end of the year. I took that to mean it was on sale until the end of the year, and it wasn't. It went back to $169, I think, and this year it's $189. For the last couple weeks, it's been on sale - not in the closeout section - for $149, so I took the plunge today and ordered one. Not sure yet if I'll use it in addition or in place of the G-System. What's really cool is that it adjusts from something like 13" to 30", so I don't need to load everything all at once.

In this photo is Kevin Nash luthier of the stars in Nashville Tennessee with Jared James Nichols two guitars Dorothy on the left and Leslie on the right in for a tune-up. Jared said he would have brought Dorothy his famous 1952 Les Paul (one of the first Les Pauls ever) to the Music Zoo Guitar Clinic I attended but it was in the shop.

Jared told us the story of Dorothy and it is incredible, saved after it was almost destroyed by a tornado in 2013 hence the name Dorothy.

Here is a Guitar World article about that guitar:

https://www.guitarworld.com/news/jared- ... ls-dorothy

They apparently released the Randy Rhoads MXR Distortion+ pedal today w/the limited edition graphics. I'd been waiting for this, but honestly, I'd forgotten it was coming out. I checked my local dealer - they weren't showing it. I saw it on Sweetwater, then it was gone from there. Don't know if they're getting more, but they're now showing the page that they show when something is no longer available, not just out of stock. I found one at Chicago Music Exchange - and the wait begins!

ETA: My local dealer updated their page, and they have one in stock. I told my wife I was still glad I ordered from CME because I'd have hated to get ready, drive to my dealer, then find out they'd sold it, and then driven home to find CME was sold out. On a whim, I looked at CME's page - sold out. So really glad I got in when I did.

ETA: Never mind. Headed off to the ZZ Top show tonight, checked e-mail after the opener, and I had an e-mail from CME that said they "may" have had an error in their system that allowed them to oversell what they had, so they don't have a pedal to fulfill my order. MAY???? Either this successful business couldn't handle a simple inventory task, or I'm not getting the truth. Either way, I'm not getting the pedal, and I'm pissed because I could have had one elsewhere. I know several folks on the PRS board who've had very good things to say about CME, but they're 0-for-1 with me, and it's going to be a long time, if ever, before I give them a chance to go 0-for-2. I never thought I'd say this, because Randy is a long-time influence of mine, but right now, I don't want anything to do w/anything Rhoads related.