Dream guitar-and my stab at recreating it...

Hola mi Guitarra amigos! In the pic above (top guitar) you will see 'The Right Reverend 'Billy G's new Gretsch 'Billy-Bo Jupiter Thunderbird'. Such a sweet slab. Part Billy Gibbons...part Bo Diddley. How could you mess a guitar like that up with those 2 at the helm??! I tested one out, fell in love, but yet didn't wanna cough up the $3250 to be in the Gretsch club, so I went out to the local shops with it in mind and hunted down my " Billy-Bo". The guitar on the bottom is just that. I found her hiding in the back covered in dust. With a few mods, namely a custom pickguard, some pintriping, and some retro bridge hardware, I turned my Silvertone into one lean, mean, tone machine. Part Billy, part Bo...all UFO in design. My sweet ride...pour on the BBQ, and turn it up loud.

The new AXE...the aftershot.

Here she is with her new pinstriping! Simple-yet cool. Guitars like this, because the body design is so UFO, I did not want to clutter up the look with too much 'stuff' on the paint job. I am loving the look of this new guitar. SO Bad-Azz. I can't wait till the next blues jam onstage, and I walk out with this bad-boy...

TONE! TASTE...TENACITY!

Just a quick post endorsing this guitar. Tone so thick, and very easy to play. Even in dropped tuning she stayed in tune! PICK THIS ONE UP!

A New Addition to the Family...meet my 'Shelby'...

I got the itch Saturday morning to grab a coffee, a blues cd, and hit the guitar/pawn shops to look for another hidden 6-stringed gem. I'm talkin about the one way in the back covered in dust that the world has forgotten about...the one that has been passed around more times than a red-haired stepson, but never purchased. Basically I went lookin for the 'guitar equivalent' to what a classic car hunter finds when they answer the add in the newspaper by the old lady that read " old mustang- uncertain year", get to the barn where it was kept for 25 years, and finds a mint 1966 Shelby. I found her- the Silvertone Liberator....my 'Shelby'...and boy does she drive like a dream. Once I wiped the dust of her 'hood', she had a tone thicker than a 20 dollar steak.

LIBERATOR - SSLR1 FEATURES:
Aggressive Carved Body
Sculpted Bolt-On Neck (Maple)
Rosewood Fingerboard
24 Fret 25 1/2" Scale
Chrome Precision Die-Cast Tuning Machines
Dual Humbucking Pickups w/3-Way Selector Switch
Limited Lifetime Warranty
Colors Available: Metallic Black

How to practice 'The Pinch'...in a cinch!

I have to say that one trick I rely HEAVILY on in my guitar playing is pinch harmonics. Since I mostly play Blues/Rock, which means the pentatonic scale, I need to maximize the mileage of notes I have to play with. This means mastering PINCH HARMONICS. It adds a whole new dimension to my leads. What is 'PH' you ask?? PH is a technique where you fret a note with your fretting hand, then with your strumming hand (holding your thumb very close to the end of the pick), in one fluid motion, pick the string on a downstroke, and just after the pick has hit the string, lightly touch the end of your thumb on the string. This will make the note you hit, jump up an octave or more higher...thus.....a PINCH HARMONIC. It's something you do with out really trying to do.... you just feel it. If you consciously try to do this, it may not work. It's one fluid movement. Once you master it you can decide when to use it when playing, and best of all, it can be done on any guitar. For more reference, listen to ANYTHING by Billy Gibbons( ZZTOP), Zakk Wylde ( Ozzy, Black Label Society), or Dimebag Darrell of Pantera. These are the masters of the PH! Try it!