BLUEZZBLOG

Halton Blues Society Logo!

2006-12-15T04:13:00.000-08:00

I do Logo's on the side, and I'm proud to annouce that I did the logo for the newly formed 'Halton Blues Society'. I think it's going to be a very popular club that will be getting alot of exposure in the new year. So when you see this logo...thinka me!

Blues me or Lose me...

My DeArmond JetStar: 10 out of 10!

2006-12-10T15:15:00.000-08:00

G U I T A R R E V I E W
DeArmond Jetstar Guitar Review.
By Bob Craver
Bob say's of the DeArmond Jetstar "It's a fun and unique backup for pros and would make an awesome guitar for beginners or those on a tighter budget."

THE SCORE-BOARD:
DeArmond Jetstar

Features: 7
Sound: 10
Action, Fit, & Finish: 8
Reliability/Durability: 8
Overall Rating: 10

The DeArmond Jet-Star guitar is a Korean-made wonder from a name owned by Guild, who is now owned by Fender. It costs US $475.00 with hardshell case, an at least 3 piece solid mahogany body and set mahogany neck. Mine is "transparent red", which looks sorta like an old SGs' finish. The body shape is that of the old Guild Thunderbird of Muddy Waters and Zal Yanovsky fame, but without the flip-out stand in the back. It has an S-100 style tailpiece and a tune-o-matic style bridge. The pickups are U.S. made DeArmond Gold Tone humbuckers. The tuners are generic and merely okay. The neck (and fretwork) is a dead ringer for a higher quality late-70's style MIJ Les Paul copy.

There is a space of about four inches from when the strings leave the tailpiece to when they reach the bridge, this gives the guitar a distinctive ring/rattle in its' sound. When combined with the generally brighter than Gibson sounding DeArmond humbuckers the guitar takes on a curiously Gretschy kind of sound, but a bit thicker and harder hitting, like an SG. It's clean sounds can twang and swing with the best of them. When you crank up the overdrive it seems to take on a more Gibson-like character. They should offer the pickups as a product in their own right. (I'll vote for that idea Ed.)

The woodwork for this relatively budget-priced instrument is fairly cool. There's definitely a few different pieces of wood making up the body, and two pieces making the neck. The fretwork is okay, but not spectacular. One of the bridge pins was bent, but that was easily corrected. While the action was okay for the tens that came on it, it needed tweaking for my usual 11-50 set. The truss rod was also cranked way too tight and the pickups just a tad too low for my occasionally pernickety tastes. Ultimately it set up fine, though.

Once it was all set up, I had what felt like a good LP-like copy with some great pickups on it. The tuners aren't great, but they are doing an okay job now that the strings are settled in. I bought this guitar as a backup, but I recently used it as my main guitar at a gig with no problems. People who can't recognise a budget axe right off ooh and aah over it's looks. As the body style is based on a guitar with a built-in guitar stand, it leans up against amps better than most guitars (Flying Vs and Bo Diddleys' square guitars excepted) Comes with a Fender lifetime warranty. I haven't had to use it yet...

This guitar reminds me of the various Gibson copies my friends had in highschool, only it already comes with better pickups. It's definitely a fun guitar and very versatile as well. While the workmanship isn't top of the line, the sound is. I bought it because I needed a backup for a band with a more "hard rock" sound. As it turned out, it makes a great rockabilly sound too! (which has been more of my focus stylistically for the last nine years or so) It's a fun and unique backup for pros and would make an awesome guitar for beginners or those on a tighter budget. It plays passably well, but I wouldn't trade my Hamer for it. As it comes in an oddball shape, I recommend buying a case thru yer dealer as well.

Submitted by: Bob Craver

New ZZ 2007 Tour Dates and a possible new home!

2006-12-10T14:58:00.000-08:00

FEBRUARY 2007
11 - Hollywood, California - House of Blues

MARCH 2007
18 - Houston, Texas - Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo www.hlsr.com

APRIL 2007
20 - West Wendover, Nevada - Wendover Resorts - O/S January 29 www.wendoverfun.com
21 - Kelseyville, California - Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa o/s 12/17 @ 10a
27 - Laughlin, Nevada - Aquarius Casino Resort www.laughlinriverrun.com
28 - Laughlin, Nevada - Aquarius Casino Resort www.laughlinriverrun.com

ALSO

The Austin American Statesman has reported that ZZ Top has signed the Sanctuary Group to be their new management. Sanctuary Records is the home of Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Anthrax, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Seems like ZZ will be in a good home and here's to the next 35 years hopefully!

The James Anthony Band!

2006-11-12T08:12:00.000-08:00

Attention Fans of Blues in Burlington!

You must check out The James Anthony Blues band! This guy plays one hell of slide, and has an open night acoustic jam at the Carrington Arms here in Burlington every Thursday.

This past weekend, Saturday November 11, 2006, The Carrigan Arms (Corner of Brant St and Upper Middle Road in Burlington),James Anthony, and the Halton Blues Society held a blues benefit for the CHML/Y108 Childrens Fund. Bands will play from 2pm-12am.

It was a truly amazing show! Be sure to visit the JAB's website for future gigs, and pick up one of his cd's! Well worth a listen!

http://www.jamesanthony.ca/

fotos de las guitarras!

2006-10-30T14:28:00.000-08:00

Just a few shots of my axes today. The light was perfect in the living room so I busted out my camera!

I thought the contrast of shapes between the cactus and the headstock looked kinda neat.

" Son...I have got to have me one a these!"

2006-10-23T11:52:00.000-07:00

Gibbon's words still echo in my head when I look at this!

Me and Billy G! Indigo books - Nov.16th 2005

2006-10-22T07:50:00.000-07:00

Billy G's book...his book has some really great shots!

16 years of fanhood - "D" finally meets the "G"

Nov 16th 2005 was a cold and rainy Wednesday morning like any other day in that time of the year here in Canada....except for one major difference...I was off to meet one of my personal guitar heroes- Billy Gibbons of ZZ TOP!

I awoke and left my house at 5am so I could be the first person in line to meet him at 12 noon. All the way I thought back over my 16 years of ZZ loyalty and how much fun I've had listening to their music, and how Billy's playing formed the way I play guitar to this day. My love of ZZ is so ingrained now that I cannot play guitar and not sound like him.

I arrived at 6am, and parked at the Eaton Center, which to my surprise was open, and sat down. Since I had purchased his book the night before, I sat and read it. I had even beat the staff of Indigo there, and upon their arrival assured me I would 'for sure' be the first person to meet him!

I had no idea how popular Mr. Gibbon's appearance would be, and wasn't sure how many, if anyone would venture out on this crappy day to meet the bearded legend.

By 7am there was no one....by 9am there was about 5 of us...then....by about 11 am the line went down the length of the mall and around the bend out of site! News teams had gathered outside to film and ask questions, Indigo started playing some ZZ, it was gettin to be a madhouse! Then, all of a sudden there was a hush over the crowd and through that hush emerged a tall man with a crazy skullcap, shades and that ever-fun trademarked beard.

It was bizarre to finally see Billy Gibbons in person. Weird to see those hands, the hands that had layed down what to me, was some of the coolest guitar riffs all time. All the photo's...all the videos...he seemed bigger than life. He is!

The crowd went nuts when he grabbed the mic and said in his baritoned, Texan growl: " Is everabawdy havin' a good tahm to-night?"

Then he sat down and motioned to me to come over so he could proceed to sign 1000's of books over the next 2 hours.

I had made a poster of him to add ot my collection of rock autographs, and when he saw it he drawled " Wow....SON...I have GAT to HAVE me one of THESE! "

I got him to sign it with my 'famous' blue marker...the same one used by James Garner, Eddie Van Halen, Ian Thornley, etc.

When I told who used it last ( Eddie Van HAlen ) Billy said: " Well...if it's good enough fo' Eddie...it's good enough fo' ME!"

It was pretty cool to give him something he liked after all the years of fun he's given me. We shook hands, he thanked me, and then I walked away still smiling...AND I forgot my famous blue marker until Billy said: " Hey Son...do't forget yo' marker...ya might wanna get dat backta Eddie!"

HA!Billy still is King of cool.....

the 5150 went under the knife and came out SWINGIN

2006-08-04T10:46:00.000-07:00

S0... I finally decided after 2 years to take the 5150 Kramer EVH replica to the shop. It didn't have very good hardware so it wouldn't stay in tune very long(which is so annoying), and therefore couldn't really be used as one of my main axes. so I bit the bullet, toook it in to "Gear Music" on Oakville, and finally had all the pieces it needed installed so it matches Eddie Van Halen's original 5150 'Frankenstrat' Kramer. Here's the list of surgery she had done on her:

1.I had the body routed out to fit in a vintage Floyd Rose locking tremolo unit with matching neck locking nuts. Now she'll stay in tune no matter what I do!

2. To get some serious monster tones I had a Seymour Duncan " Pearly Gates" humbucker pickup put in. The "Pearly Gates" pickup is Billy Gibbons' ( ZZ Top) custom pickup, and since ZZ Top is the other reason I even play guitar, it seemed like the perfect match. Thick and beefy tones now...pure texas hot-rod!

3. The varnish used on this guitar dried in a yellow colour which made the white stripes look creme-coloured, so I took a very sharp knife and peeled most of it off. Since Eddie's guitar is supposed to look weathered and beat up, the result looks perfect!!! I actually dropped it and that furthermore added the scratches and dings needed to look like his!

4. I custom ordered the '5150' numbers that are identicle to his. Some dude on Ebay reproduces them and I bought them off him.

5. All the pickup wiring and selector knobs were redone.

All in all I think now this guitar looks and sounds like the real thing. I test drove her on a cruise boat in front of 350+ people, and afterwards when I listened to the recording of it I was BLOWN away at how SICK it sounded. LOVE IT!!

cheers,

D

JET STAR 2! RED

2006-03-25T14:21:00.000-08:00

This guitar rocks....it's as simple as that. It' s plug and play! Stick 'er in, put the meat to the wire, and the wood catches fire! It almost plays itself. If I was a high paid 'rock star', and had all kinds of guitar company's at my feet waiting for endorsements...this is the company I would sign with! I've been playing for the better part of 20 years....and have skid my fingers across almost everything out there...but the JET STAR simply out-tones the lot! Why do you think I bought two of them?? A: BECAUSE THIS GUITAR IS ALL YOU NEED, so I DOUBLED MY PLEASURE!

DeArmond Jet Star...blues me or lose me! Si Senor!

2006-02-23T18:44:00.000-08:00

Billy G's, and my very own custom picks make a muy bien accessory!

Another 6 six-string shooter to add to the gallery. Lord have mercy! This guitar could be the best guitar I've ever slide my fingers down...a mid- 90's DeArmond Jet Star in the flavour of black. I got the best of the deal I do believe! This retro throwback is out of date...out of print, and oh-so UFO. Big like a Rig and bad like a truck...me and her are gonna tear into some 50's Bo Diddley UP!.....tone as warm and sweet as speckled pup...hot and spicy with and a side order of 'avo's' should do the trick! Enjoy...

Barato...Bajo...y Malo!

2006-02-12T13:15:00.000-08:00

Here's another beauty I rescued from being tossed out or forgotten. I took it home, waxed it up, found some skateboard stickers I had lying around and now....LA GUITARRA ES HERMOSISIMO!! I also did some research on the 'net, and found out the guitar was made by a company called Des Lauriers. They started production in the late '70's...the model number of this guitar is serial No.79 So I'm guessing she was made approx 1979. Sweet...matches the Firebird in my driveway! I didn't even know if she worked...so after her facelift I put her though some Jimmy Reed...needless to say...'Dust my Broom' never sounded so good from my fingers! Adios Amigos...

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

2006-01-23T11:21:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-01-16T06:26:00.000-08:00

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!

2006-01-16T06:08:00.000-08:00

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'...

2006-01-15T07:18:00.000-08:00

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!

2006-01-12T07:44:00.000-08:00

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!

IAN THORNLEY!

2005-12-29T08:41:00.000-08:00

Ok...so, you may not know this, but I collect autographs of my favourite guitarists. I don't just collect their signatures on anything though, I do digital paintings, or caricatures and ask them to sign them. So far I've been lucky enough to meet Gordie Johnson of Big Sugar, Eddie Van Halen, Gene Simmons, and just recently, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. (See my very first post for his poster) Tonight, I am going to see Ian Thornley, of the band Thornley ( formerly of another great band, Big Wreck) and I have just made a poster for him (see above). They are a great band, and I hope he likes, and will sign this poster. Their latest cd, "Come Again", in my opinion is one of the best rock records in the past 5 years. EACH song is great. Not like so many other 'rock' bands of today, where they have "1 killer and all filler". Anyways, hopefully tomorrow I will post the story of how I met Ian Thornley! Stay tuned...

KISS MY ARSENAL! My essential axes...

2005-12-29T08:29:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick post of my main geetars! You can see my music influences with these pics...basically AC/DC to ZZ top....with a quick pitstop at Van Halen! Enjoy!

Some ' Lethal' blues solos...PART 1

2005-12-28T07:02:00.000-08:00

Right off the top of my head...some well known, others not...either way, if you play, I believe these are a must!

1. "La Grange" - ZZ Top- Tres Hombres (1973)
This solo has it all, sqeeks, squawks, and some meaty, minimalist shredding...and ya KNOW if Hendrix tells people you smoke...that says it all...

2. "Crawling Kingsnake" - John Lee Hooker- The Best (1967)
This tune is so bad-ass. This is a prime example of how 'heavy' does not have to be fast. The solo is half chords, half single notes, but oh so great.

3. "Tired of yo' Jive" - BB King- 80 (2005)
BB still kicks at 80 years old...and this tune has some tasty blues treats...not to mention a guitar duet with Willy G as well!

4. " Meet Martin Riggs" - Eric Clapton - Lethal Weapon soundtrack (1987)
Soundtrack? Lethal Weapon?? Eric Clapton?!? I know what you're thinking, but give this cd a spin (if you can even find it- insanely rare) and then tell me that every blues lick ever needed isn't found right here. In fact, the entire cd is a collection of blues fills, licks, bends and screams! GO OUT AND BUY THIS CD RIGHT NOW, or take up the flute damn you!

5. Anything from this CD soundtrack too! - Eric Clapton- Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
Since I know you will fail at finding the first LW soundtrack, buy this off ebay since it's easier to find, and pray to the god of the Strat!

DO NOT CLEAN YOUR GUITAR!

2005-12-24T22:45:00.000-08:00

Along with the aforementioned Yamaha SE612, which is my baby, I own a few other gems. One of them, which is quickly becoming a fast favorite, is my 1996 Fender Telecaster! TONE! TONE! TONE! It has all the dings, dirt, and scratches from many a long jam night. People ask me when they see how banged up it is, "why don't you clean it and paint the body etc?". I say to them a quote I read from the immortal Keith Richards: "It don't mean a thing, if it ain't got them dings!". I believe a guitar, like the blues itself, should not be showroom shiney. It needs to have all the war-wounds and life-lessons it's endured on it for all the world to see! In order to have the blues you need to have character! SO DO NOT CLEAN YOUR GUITAR! Pictured above is my beloved Fender in all it's grimey glory!

About me...

2005-12-24T21:03:00.000-08:00

19 years ago tomorrow ( Xmas day 1987) I recieved the greatest gift ever...the gift of music. It came in the form of a red and white Sears' no-name guitar with a twang bar. I got it because a friend of mine played bass and wanted me to learn guitar so we could play Iron Maiden and Metallica together. He knew all the songs already...and I knew nothing. After starting lessons and rushing back to my buddy's house to fumble through " Mary had a little lamb", when my friend clearly was hoping to hear " Master of Puppets", I knew it was going to be a long haul. My friend and I then drifted apart due to going to different high schools, ( and him 'becoming' new best friends with a guy who knew how to play Bon Jovi) and the guitar sat in it's case. I kept going to lessons but wasn't learning what I wanted to play. I didn't really want to learn how to read music - I wanted to learn how to play music. But what music?!! Iron Maiden wasn't for me, Bon Jovi was too boring, Van Halen was great, but WAY too hard to start with, and I somehow knew what music I wanted to play, but I just didn't know what the music was called. Then a friend gave me 'Afterburner' by ZZ TOP. That was it. The music I wanted to learn was called Blues. ZZ top was easier to play, they were 3 cools guys, 2 with waist length beards, and one with the last name Beard. Plus they were low down cool and had a hint of mystery - and humour!. It was so much fun to put on the tape, and play along with it. It was great! ZZ had a built-in metronome in their music which I could jam for hours to! I didn't know what I was doing, but when I couldn't hear myself over the tape, I knew I MUST have been playing it right! About a year later my parents took me to get a better guitar probably because I was outgrowing the Sears' jobby, or maybe because it couldn't stay in tune!! Either way, I went in with them and came out with a red 1989 Yamaha SE 612 electric. I can still remember the smell of the case it came in! I still have it and she STILL hums. Now...19 years later that guitar has become one of the biggest loves of my life. Low maintenance and BAD! That guitar has always been with me, and so has Billy Gibbons' of ZZ Top. After almost 20 years of playing guitar, I can now play INSTINCTIVELY like Billy Gibbons. I CANNOT not sound like him, and I am not going to be modest! I know every note ot every song they do, but yet cannot read one single note! I used to be kind of ashamed for liking ZZ thru the 90's era Grunge, and new punk, but now I don't care what people think. Billy Gibbons is one of the finest blues rock players ever. His tone, taste, and knowledge of the guitar is masterful. Jimi Hendrix once told Johnny Carson in 1970, that Billy Gibbons' was one of the hottest blues players he ever seen! Anyways...that's my story, and I hope to hear some of yours!

Chrome, smoke and BBQ!

2005-12-24T18:37:00.000-08:00

Is listening to blues not enough for you? Is the only way 'ta get the out da blues' is to strap on a single coil ,put the meat to the wire, and turn it up to 11??? Then this is the blog for you! This blog may be about songs I've heard, new tunes I've learned, or possibly just daily ramblings about guitar and rock music.
Either way, feel free to scrawl your thoughts on anything you read here!