China vs. The World

I was searching http://www.youtube.com/ for some vids on how to slot the nut on my new neck when I came across videos of counterfeit Gibsons made in China. I searched a bit more and came up with a web site called http://www.paylessguitars.com/ which offered Gibsons, ESP, Jacksons, Fenders, Gretches at 10% of their market value ex. Gibson Les Paul Elite for $350 shipping from China included.
This brought back memories of the late 70's when Ibanez was making Les Paul copies, Gibson won a copyright law suit and had Ibanez saw off the head stocks of all of it's guitars. What the hell has happened since.
A "Home Made" Gibson factory tour.

A vid of Fender's Corona Ca. plant.

Then I recalled my own experiences as a Quality Control Supervisor with licensees in Asia and Mexico, particularly south east Asia. I visited our licensee in Malaysia who was sending material to Kuala Lampur City Center (at the time the worlds tallest building). I heard from the manager that on site the constructors were altering our product. What could I do it's hear say when it arrived at the site it was approved material. There had been no complaints there was just rumour. When conducting a production audit the person from the home office is typically there several days and gone. Any problem discovered are left to on site personnel to solve.


Where am I going with this? Gibson and Fender both use licensees in Asia (China, Korea, Malaysia) both companies have used other names to market lower cost instruments, Gibson uses Epiphone, Fender uses Squire. To enter into a licensee agreement the licensor agrees to supply technology, know how and equipment to the licensee in return for cash. Usually the licensor monitors the product via on site personnel and audits. What has happened is the liscensor has lost control of it's proprietary property resulting in knock offs.

From Gibson's web site:
"
Counterfeit guitars
In our constant effort to stand by our consumers, protect them, and bring them the finest products in the world, Gibson Guitar takes a firm and aggressive stance against all makers of counterfeit guitars and their distribution channels. These low-budget, inferior guitars are pale imitations of the quality, performance, and craftsmanship of real Gibsons. We continue to hear complaints from consumers and fans who have purchased one of these guitars from websites and auction sites thinking they were getting a real Gibson. The makers and sellers of counterfeits are scamming our global family of musicians and Gibson does not take it lightly. We would like to urge all our consumers not to be taken in by the works of dishonest sellers.
If a guitar is being sold for a fraction of what it would typically sell for, it is likely not a real Gibson guitar. The best way for consumers to protect themselves against fraud is to purchase your Gibson guitar from an authorized dealer, or consult one in advance. You can also call Gibson Guitar Customer Service at 1-800-444-2766—24 hours a day, seven days a week—for any inquiries or advice. We strongly urge all consumers to be careful and aware of this worldwide problem. At Gibson, we care about our consumers, our legacy, and our name. Remember, only a real Gibson is good enough."

You can tell by the vids the factories and the people are doing the same jobs in similar environments. The comments left on the vids are strong both pro and con. I can understand a kids or even an adults longing for that iconic instrument and the frustration of not being able to afford it. I also own legit Gibsons and Fenders and want their value protected.

I did ask Fender's Public Relations Department for their policy on counterfeits but have not received a reply.

My latest thing.

When I've built a guitar it's been because I've acquired a neck. I came across a Fender Strat neck in Goldie & Libro's window in the 80's, two Genuine Replacement Fender necks a couple of years ago. Recently I contacted Philip Kubicki about a neck. He doesn't make them any more, presently concentrating on bases (see previous articles) but he did have 8 left from the 80's, one he would sell me. I wanted a maple neck, pretty flat with bass frets, beggars can't be choosers. What Mr. Kubicki had was a mohagny neck with a rose wood fret board and a 15 inch radius.

So I wrote a check and sent it out in the mail and waited for my neck, this was the way we use to purchase things 20 years ago. That anticipation of recieving the neck the angst of losing the check in the mail. When the neck arrived I was happy as could be. I now was presented with some other issues. The nut has to be laid out and slotted. I also had to drill pilot holes for neck mounting and the tuners. The tuners I purchased on eBay from Guitar Fetish mater of fact most of the hardware is from them.

The body was given a lot of thought. I looked at bodies from different suppliers but I always came back to Warmoth (http://www.warmoth.com/), I was going with a nice mohagny body in clear coat, chambered(hollow) but then a hardtail (non tremolo, no wiggle stick) in fiesta red came up and thats what I bought. The photo is actually of a different body. So now I'm waiting on delivery of hardware and the body.

Clapton's Muse - Patti Boyd

Hey, I've always been curious about why an artist would create a master piece. - X

www.allthingsmustpass.com

A NY Post article about Patti Boyd.

August 6, 2007 -- Maybe it's just her foolish pride.

Pattie Boyd, the blond model Eric Clapton stole from his Beatle friend George Harrison, in her first interview in 35 years, yesterday talked about why she's had three of the most famous love songs in rock history written for her.
Her dalliances with Clapton began in 1970 - four years after marrying Harrison - when Clapton first played her the song he wrote for her, "Layla."
London's Daily Mail interviewed Boyd and excerpted passages from her new autobiography, "Wonderful Today," in which she reveals what had the two men "on their knees, beggin' darlin' please."
"We met secretly at a flat in South Kensington," she said. "Eric had asked me to come because he wanted me to listen to a new number he had written. He switched on the tape machine, turned up the volume and played me the most powerful, moving song I had ever heard. It was 'Layla.' "
"My first thought was, 'Oh, God, everyone's going to know this is about me,' " Boyd said.
"Layla" was the second song written for Boyd. Harrison had penned "Something," his smash hit from the Beatles' "Abbey Road" album in 1969.
Then after stealing her away from Harrison, Clapton wrote "Wonderful Tonight" about Boyd in 1977.
The same night she heard "Layla" for the first time, Boyd, Harrison and Clapton were all at a party at the home of pop entrepreneur Robert Stigwood, who managed Clapton's group Cream and the Bee Gees.
Harrison "kept asking, 'Where's Pattie? But no one seemed to know. He was about to leave when he spotted me in the garden with Eric."
"George came over and demanded, 'What's going on?' To my horror, Eric said, 'I have to tell you, man, that I'm in love with your wife.'
"I wanted to die. George was furious. He turned to me and said: 'Well, are you going with him or coming with me?' "
She went home with Harrison, but Clapton kept pursuing her.
At one point, Clapton, drunk on brandy, arrived at their house, and Harrison decided to have a duel for Boyd's love.
"George handed him a guitar and an amp - as an 18th-century gentleman might have handed his rival a sword - and for two hours, without a word, they dueled."
"At the end, nothing was said but the general feeling was that Eric had won. He hadn't allowed himself to get riled or go in for instrumental gymnastics as George had. Even when he was drunk, his guitar-playing was unbeatable."
In 1974, she finally left Harrison, calling their life "ludicrous and hateful" and found solace in the guitar-holding arms of Clapton.
They married in 1979 - but once again a series of extramarital affairs, this time on Clapton's part, led to divorce in 1988.

Why not? Patti Boyd writes a book - The ex wife of George Harrison and the muse of Clapton.

Through The Eye Of The Muse is a photographic exhibition that ran this summer in London. It was the first UK show for Pattie Boyd and included images of sixties and seventies rock stars as well as landscapes from around the world.
Pattie Boyd has led an extraordinary life. She began her career the other side of the lens as a sixties model. Aged 19 she met Beatle George Harrison on the set of the film Hard Days' Night. They married in 1966 while the Beatles were a global rock phenomenon and lived in a multi-coloured house in Surrey, where guests would paint their signatures on the walls. Pattie was forced by her traditional minded husband to sacrifice her rising modelling career and become a housewife. In 1969 they were both fined for possession of cannabis, which only enhanced their glamorous image as two of the beautiful people of the sixties, martyred by the oppressive establishment. Turning from drugs to meditation, it was she who led the Beatles to India to meet the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, an experience that helped shape George’s lifelong spiritual journey and love of Indian music. Famously she inspired her husband to write Something, the only Beatles hit not written by Lennon and McCartney and once described by Frank Sinatra as the greatest love song of the century.
As their marriage became a Hard Day’s Night (George’s numerous affairs were partly to blame), she returned to her modelling career. While she was still Mrs Harrison, Pattie was passionately wooed by George’s friend, Cream guitarist Eric Clapton, who wrote two of his most enduring and haunting love ballads, Layla and Wonderful Tonight while in thrall to her. They wed in 1979, but Pattie’s fairytale marriage to Eric soon went sour as well. The same old 'be a housewife' routine repeated itself with Clapton, and without a career, Pattie became depressed. He was a heroin addict who later became an alcoholic and her own alcoholism worsened when Eric’s extramarital affairs became more and more apparent. He had two children with other women, which is what ultimately drove the two apart. Pattie was unable to have children, a fact that devastated her and in 1985 they separated.
Pattie now works as a professional photographer in her own right. With this exhibition she is finally, at the age of 62, displaying her own creative work and no longer has to live her artistry through others.
When I heard this story I wondered two things. This woman must have a strong Neptune as she's done it all ways; fairytale romance, drugs, sex, rock and roll, glamour, celebrity, photography, film, alcohol, meditation, spiritual seeking, deceptive husbands, sacrifice, martyrdom. She'd inspired musical artists but had been denied her own creative career until later in life. I also wanted to know what kind of Venus made her a beautiful superstar of the sixties, had her marry into rock royalty not once but twice and be the muse behind three love songs that have become twentieth century classics?
Pattie was born on 17th March 1944 in Taunton in Somerset. Her Venus is exalted in Pisces and interestingly squares Uranus, which shows her need for freedom to meet all kinds of people and have some ‘space’ to be herself within a relationship. As expected, the Neptune themes are strong. She has Sun, Mercury and Venus in Neptune ruled Pisces and all three planets aspect Neptune, as does Mars. The relationship between Venus and Neptune is a tense quincunx. Twice her marriages caused her separation from her career, and the probable erosion of her self esteem. On the positive side she photographed celebrities who were friends or lovers and so captured images that were far more relaxed, spontaneous and intimate than those revealed to public cameras.
Her birth time is unknown but one might conjecture that her Neptune is in the 7th house as she lived it both positively and negatively through her husbands. Now she has claimed it for herself, standing in her own spotlight (North node in Leo conjunct Pluto, Jupiter in Leo) to display a selection of her lifetime collection of pictures. That Saturn- Neptune square has manifested as the professional photographer.
The midday chart shows Saturn conjunct Mars and opposed to the Moon which tells the story of two husbands who both restricted her to the home upon marriage. Underpinning this is a strong Neptunian theme of sacrifice for love. The Saturn/ Moon may also show her inability to be a mother and her depression. With Pluto in Leo conjunct the north node she learned the dark side of celebrity. When she became involved with George, some Beatles fans did not take kindly to her. They would kick and swear at her, even stalk her and send her threatening letters. The drugs that led to her bust in 1969 were probably planted by the police.
Her photographs feature her rock musician friends, but also her considerable travels (Moon in Sagittarius). Ethereally, there’s something about the way she moves and brushes her long blonde hair that had one man attracted to her like no other lover and another on his knees in song. However, she was her own muse as well and now the world can see it, empowered perhaps by her recent Pluto transits (natal Pluto conjunct north node in Leo). It’s good to be reminded (especially for myself right now!) that Pluto brings up the light shadow as well as the dark, hidden treasure as well as the s**t!
Transit Home
The Conference-Goer's Guide Pt2
Tribute to Jon Taylor
News Special: Pluto
Local Group News
Jenni Harte's World News
Patti Boyd - Something About Her
The End of Top Of The Pops
The Secret Diary of an Astrology Student

Submissions to Transit

Astrological Association main site
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Clapton's "The Fool Guitar" (Cream era)

Legendary Guitar: The Saga of Eric Clapton’s Famous Fool SG

Steven Rosen 04.16.2008

The storage closet in Todd Rundgren’s Mink Hollow Road studio was closed. But it wasn’t locked. Big difference. If there were anything of value in there, certainly he would have locked it. At least that was keyboard player Jimmy Waldo’s reasoning at the time. It was November 1980 and Todd was producing Walking Wild, the third album for Waldo’s band, New England. The sessions had been rocking and the group had fallen into the most un-rock like routine of showing up early. Start time was noon and that was still 30 minutes away.Jimmy, running on caffeine and nervous energy, was bouncing off the walls. Todd’s 24-track studio was a small, renovated chalet with a big room for recording downstairs and a loft-type arrangement upstairs housing the control room. If you weren’t working, there wasn’t a whole lot to do and not much space to do it in. It was a bare-bones facility without fancy mikes or iso booths. During the quieter recording moments, you could hear Rundgren’s dog Furburger barking in the background. “I was just being nosy,” Waldo explained. “I looked in a closet and there were four or five guitar cases stacked up. I opened one and just saw a little bit of the body. It was the Les Paul SG with the Clapton paint job! I had no idea Todd owned this. I almost had a heart attack!”The other New England bandmembers―Gary Shea, Hirsch Gardner, and John Fannon―heard the gasp and came running.“Oh my God,” they wailed in perfect harmony. Not an unreasonable response to an unbelievable situation. Any musician in the world would have recognized this Gibson. Even if you weren’t a musician, you had a friend who was and he’d told you about this legendary piece, this mythic music maker. He’d regaled you with the psychedelic paintjob and the woman tone.
But it was one thing to talk about the guitar from a distance, and quite another to see it up close. To actually touch it. That is exactly what Jimmy and the band did. The group gently lifted the SG from its form-fitting case, treating it with the reverence and awe they knew it so rightfully deserved. Just to make sure their guitar buddies back home believed them, however, they immortalized the moment.“We started taking pictures of each guy playing the guitar,” Jimmy recalled. “We all took them of each other. I can’t believe it but I lost my picture. So did everybody else but Gary. I thought it was so cool. It brought back memories of listening to Cream back in the ‘60s. I looked out the window and saw Todd coming down the hill from his house to the studio. So we put the guitar away and didn’t say anything right away.”Well, at least not for three-and-a-half minutes or so. That’s about how long Jimmy was able to contain himself after Todd entered the studio. Amped on caffeine and buzzed on adrenaline, the keyboard player confessed about what he and the guys had done. Todd was mildly amused. “We told him we had seen it,” Jimmy remembers. “We were asking him how he got the guitar and all that stuff. He didn’t go into any details about how he got it and we didn’t press the issue. He said that when he got it, it did have a broken neck that his guitar tech fixed. He said it played much better after the neck job. But Todd was really pretty nonchalant about it.”
Photo: Gary Shea, bassist for New England, the band Todd Rundgren was producing at the time.
For all his cool posturing, however, Todd was completely blown away the first time he ever saw the guitar. That was back on March 25, 1967, hanging from Eric Clapton’s shoulders. Cream were on-stage at the RKO Theater making their American debut as part of disc jockey Murray the K’s Music in the Fifth Dimension extravaganza. Rundgren was in the audience and the Gibson mesmerized him. Eric, in fact, had just started using the SG. Part of the mythology insisted that the paint was still tacky during this spectacular musical concert revue that also included the Who, Mitch Ryder, Wilson Pickett, the Blues Project, and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.
That was a little difficult to believe but the fact remained that Clapton had purchased the guitar only a few months earlier at the beginning of 1967. This would become his main axe for the next two years. Eric would use the cherry finish double cutaway for both live and studio work; it would be featured prominently on Disraeli Gears and would also appear on Wheels of Fire, Goodbye, and on the subsequent live albums, Live Cream and Live Cream Volume II.
The legend of the Psychedelic SG―as it was sometimes referred to―was oft-told and varied from telling to telling. Clapton’s Les Paul Standard had been stolen and replaced with this Gibson. Initially, everyone referred to it as a Les Paul SG. But they were wrong. Les Paul did not like the new SG design and asked that his name be taken off the model. By 1963, the guitars were known simply as SG Standards.
There were no Les Paul SGs in 1964.
Not only was it identified incorrectly model-wise, but everyone also goofed up the year. Originally, everybody thought it was a 1961; a close examination of the body revealed a sixth screw hiding just under the lower left corner of the bridge pickup. Prior to 1964, only four screws were used. That was the giveaway.
Clapton’s guitar, then, was a 1964 regular issue SG Standard.
When he first began playing the Gibson, the guitar was still fitted with the original Deluxe Vibrolo tremolo arm; Clapton simply fixed the mechanism in place. The vibrato bar was eventually removed and replaced with two other tailpieces: another Gibson tremolo with a flexible piece of metal instead of springs; and a non-tremolo trapeze-style unit.
The tuning heads were switched out from the standard-issue ivoroid Klusons to Grovers.
And then there was that trippy acid-influenced paint job by the Fool. A Dutch design collective and band (they released one eponymous album produced by Graham Nash), the original members were artists Simon Posthuma and Marijke Koger. The hippie pair had designed clothes and album covers for the Hollies, Procol Harum, the Move, and the Incredible String Band. But it was after seeing what they’d created for the Beatles pals that Eric fell under the influence.



Simon and Marijke had psychedelicized one of George Harrison’s Stratocasters and transformed both John Lennon’s piano and one of his Gibson acoustics. They’d also illustrated an astonishing three-storey mural on one of the exterior walls of the Beatles' Apple Boutique in LondonEric saw that and knew immediately he wanted his recently-acquired Gibson SG turned Fool-ishly psychedelic. The original cherry finish was given a coat of white primer and then the oil-based paints were applied on top. Brushed-on enamels. Every inch of the instrument was painted including the back of the neck and even the fretboard.
Maybe not such a great idea at the time.
The psychedelic graphic was as weird as it was beautiful. A winged wood sprite with curls of fire sat astride a cotton candy cloud. His left hand grasped a triangle while his right hand held a spoon-shaped beater about to strike it. The arch of his right foot balanced gently atop a tone control, while the toes on his left pointed delicately downwards towards a pickup’s toggle switch. Yellow six-sided stars sprinkled against a sky of azure and aqua orbited him. Swirls, flames and gradient shades of blues, greens, and yellows danced across the instrument’s body. An orange orb dipped behind a burnt sienna mountain range that floated across the pickguard.
During live performances, paint chips literally flaked and flecked off the neck while Clapton played. Eventually, all the excess paint was permanently removed. Soon, Clapton began using Gibson ES-335s and Firebirds.



One day, he simply left the guitar with George Harrison, who was a friend, and never returned for it.
Around June 1968, the Beatle, in turn, loaned it to Jackie Lomax. The singer was signed at the time to Apple Records and George knew he needed a guitar so he gave Jackie the legendary SG.
In 1971, while in Woodstock, New York, Lomax and Rundgren met at a session and became friends. Rundgren was astonished when he learned that Lomax owned that very same guitar he’d seen hanging from Eric Clapton’s neck. He told Jackie about seeing the guitar back in ’67 and what an impression it had made on him.
A year later, in 1972, to Rundgren’s shock, Lomax offered to sell him the guitar for $500. Lomax’s only caveat was that he had the option to buy the guitar back. A year passed and not a word was heard.
Rundgren restored and sealed the body to prevent any further deterioration, replaced the rotting headstock, and retouched the paint. A fixed stop tailpiece was installed along with a Tune-o-matic bridge, Strap Locks, and new knobs. The guitar’s guts were left intact and none of the electronics, wiring, or pickups were touched. He named Sunny as a nod towards the instrument’s appearance on the Disraeli Gears track, “Sunshine of Your Love.” The Fool SG became his main instrument until it was retired in the late ’70s.
“Todd never played the guitar after we told him we found it,” Waldo said.
In 2000, Rundgren sold the Psychedelic Fool Gibson SG at a Sotheby’s silent auction, where it brought $150,000. This anonymous buyer re-sold the instrument several years later for an estimated $500,000.

Painting your guitar.

Background: When I assemble a guitar I buy the body finished. I purchase the bodies from Warmoth www.warmoth.com

because they have the best selection of woods, finishes and configurations. To paint or finish a guitar requires time, equipment, patience and a lot of work. Warmoth provides a finished body or neck with a high quality finish, accurate predrilled holes in any color or finish imaginable. However sometimes you may want to paint your guitar yourself.

Mikey D. had two guitar bodies he wanted painted. One body was from a kit that the body was sealed i.e. ready for paint. The other body was on he had removed the paint from with a sander (X-note- the sealer coat was still intact allowing me to paint). He went the logical route of getting the paint from an auto body shop. They wanted a hundred or so dollars to paint them both again painting is labor intensive. Finally he came to me and I said I'd do it reluctantly.

Setup: Mikey D. supplied me with brown flake color and tan color also gloss clear coat epoxy. I've never painted with the color then clear coat low pressure methods of today. I painted back when the color was basically it, maybe some clear using a Binks 98 gun. ALWAYS WEAR A VAPOR MASK, BEG BORROW OR STEAL ONE.

So, I went to Stewart Macdonald (http://www.stewmac.com/) I purchased 4 aerosol canisters, two glass vessels for the color, some sanding pads and lacquer from Home Depot. I decided I'll use the color and use lacquer as clear coat. I was ready to paint, but where? You need a paint booth I don't have a paint booth. Painting in the basement is out of the question lacquer is horrendous smelling and slow drying. I ended up spraying in the tool shed, well ventilated and if it stunk for hours on end who cares.

Mikey D. wanted one body solid beige the other brown flake sunburst.

Sunburst is difficult because it's got to be an even fade. Internet surfing I came up with a neat way to make it even.

I sprayed 2 coats of lacquer prior to the color just in case I ahad to remove the color coat.

1)You trace the body onto poster board.

2) Measure in from the trace line how big you want the sunburst to be and draw a line. Then cut to that line.

3) Using poster pins (the pins with the little caps) to keep a uniform distance from the body.

4) Spray the color, using the poster board and pins as a mask to the body.

Once you've shot the color you can wet sand using 1000 or 1500 emery paper to even the color coat.

Allow this to dry over nite.

Now comes the lacquer, apply thin coats. You can wet sand but allow to dry for 12 hours before. The more lacquer coats the deeper the finish. When your done you can wax and buff using a carnuba wax or a good wood finish wax.

This vid goes into detail, I doubt most of us will go into to.




This vid is a shout out to my homies Yo. Oh sorry, Ovation (purchased by Fender 12/07) is located in New Hartford Ct. right up the road. Ovation began building a solid body electric, the VXT. This video shows what goes into building a guitar.

Playing Guitar

Hey. So you've decided to play guitar.

This vid shows how to string a strat.



Well let's assume you've got it strung, We must tune it.



The following video provides E,A,D,G,B,E rung individually.



Chords, for some visual is the best way to learn others like to read. I searched http://www.youtube.com/ and came up with a coule of vids using different approaches to learning chords. Basically learning is sometimes painful and making your fingers do things they're not accustomed to is painful as well. So start out slow, make it fun, play along with the radio or ipod but always be in tune*.











*-There are alternative to the standard tunings and the barre chords haven't been addressed but you can do a lot by just learning the basics - X

Grant Green - Jazz

I don't spend a lot of time with Jazz but I got this in the Gibson News and I like his tone.

X


Given its predisposition toward a warm, clean tone, the sound of jazz guitar has earned a bad rap in some circles. The “jazz tone”—or “jazz no tone,” as a recording engineer friend used to call it—is often considered dull, flat, and muddy. Sadly, we often live up to (or down to) our reputations, valid or otherwise, so it’s possible that some jazz players have let themselves perpetuate such a sound, having allowed it to be considered the norm. Refer directly to any of the great players, however, the originators of swing and bop and cool jazz guitar of the late 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s, and you discover a tone that’s a thousand miles from dullsville. I’ve always admired the lithe, loose, slightly bluesy and righteously groovy playing of Grant Green, so let’s study his tone as a case in point.
Although Green’s playing evolved through the years, as does that of any artist, many fans refer to his early Blue Note years as a benchmark, and his Green Street LP usually comes to mind first. Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, in 1961, it has a fat, natural, classic jazz sound that is utterly top shelf. The guitar tone in particular is silky, rich, and alive. Dull, be damned—this is a lively, expressive, musical voice.
Check out anything on that album for examples, but refer to “No. 1 Green Street” certainly, and you hear a tone that’s undoubtedly clean, but there’s just a little fur and sizzle around the notes that adds texture and depth. The single-note solo lines feel positively three-dimensional (no doubt a studio full of high-end analog recording gear helps a little, too, as does that simple, classic hard left/right panning of guitar and drums). Perhaps the second track, “’Round About Midnight,” or track five, “Alone Together,” open the window even wider on the guitar tone, being slow ballads that let you hear the space around each note. Green’s sound is warm, for sure, and possibly even leans toward the “dark” side of the spectrum, but it’s a far cry from dull or flat or muddy, with a crispness and edge to each note and a plummy, slightly rubbery attack that helps to make it a very comforting, inviting sound.
The third track, “Grant’s Dimensions,” even introduces a little distortion into the brew. It’s unintentional, no doubt, but listen to the way it thickens up those chordal sections toward the end. He’s got the amp dialed up for a creamy, round solo sound with a little bite and edge, and when he chops out those chords it all breaks up just a bit. Delightful stuff.
You’d be guessing all this chocolatey tone issues from a deep-bodied acoustic-electric Gibson archtop … and you’d be wrong. From his arrival in New York City in 1960 until the mid ’60s, Grant Green played a Gibson ES-330. It’s hollow-bodied, but a thinline double-cutaway model with the body lines of the ES-335 and a rim depth of just around 1 3/4 inches. Gibson had introduced its first thinline archtops in 1955, in the form of the ES-350T and the Byrdland, and brought the radical new ES-335 to the line in 1958. With a solid block through the center of the body to combat feedback and aid sustain and a neck joint around the 20th fret, the ES-335 was an instrument with jazz roots, but employed new features that would appeal even more to rock, country, and blues players.
As such, the ES-335 proved an immediate success in itself, while also helping to justify the veracity of the thinline concept in general. It made sense to apply the format to an instrument aimed at the jazz player, and the ES-330 of 1959 fit the bill perfectly. While it at first might appear to be a “down-market ES-335” with P-90s instead of humbuckers, the ES-330 is really an entirely different guitar. For one thing, the aforementioned fully-hollow body necessitates the use of a trapeze tailpiece in place of the 335’s stud tailpiece. For another, the two guitars have entirely different neck joints, 330s being made with a 17th fret joint (except for a brief period in the late 1960s). The three-fret difference shifts the bridge—and therefore the tonal center—of the guitar further back into the body, adding depth and warmth to the sound, and making the instrument perform more as a traditional archtop electric. Combine these elements with its lack of center block, and the cutting, edgy, slightly gritty sound of the P-90s, and you’re a world away from the ES-335 tone.
Green eases a voice from his ES-330 that shoots right to the heart of great, classic electric jazz guitar tone, yet there’s a clarity and definition there that is sometimes lacking in the big-bodied archtop sound. It’s a legendary jazz tone, for sure, and all the more interesting for the fact that it was achieved with different ingredients.
As much as Green’s guitar is affirmed in the annals of jazz, his amplifier choice is a little more difficult to quantify. Back in the day, jazz guitarists—and in fact guitarists in general who were doing anything less than the big rock stardom trip—were usually less attached to their amps than they are today. Jazz players in particular would frequently be presented with whatever house amp the studio or club had on hand for them to use, and had to learn to make do. They often didn’t develop the associations with an amp that, for example, Pete Townshend developed with Hiwatt or Jimi Hendrix developed with Marshall. That said, the good players certainly knew which amps worked for them and put a lot of thought into their sound, without a doubt, but the logistics of the gigs and the low wages too often attached to the jazz scene didn’t always allow them to dictate their gear requirements on a consistent basis.
Green is known to have played through a range of amps during his career, on stage and in the studio, including a tweed Fender Twin from the late 1950s, various Ampeg models, a big Gibson LP-12 from the later ’60s, and occasionally a Fender Super Reverb or Twin Reverb. All are predisposed toward the wide, round, clean sounds that jazz players demand, but push them a little—as a hollow-bodied ES-330 with P-90 pickups will do when you attack it right—and you can induce a little break up in these amps, too, which adds an enticingly silky sizzle to the tone. Grant Green, a dot-neck Gibson ES-330, a big, vintage tube amp, and a studio armed with gear from the golden age of recording: all the ingredients of a jazz tone to die for.

Guitar FX

A series of videos from www.youtube.com and an article from Gibson's weekly news letter.

enjoy,

X


Gibson Tone Tips: Effects Pedals, Part 1
Dave Hunter 04.02.2008
As much as many players still enjoy that straight-ahead sweetness of the guitar-to-amp tone fest, the fact is that effects pedals play a major part in sound shaping today. There are more, and better, stompboxes on the market today than ever before, and adding just a few to your signal chain can open up a spectacular pallet of sonic possibilities. Learning a little bit about how to make the most of the effects you use can go a long way toward maximizing your success with sound sculpting, so let’s investigate some of the best ways to chain these things together. This subject demands two installments, so this time we’ll look at traditional individual pedals placed between your guitar and the input of your amplifier. In Part 2, I’ll discuss using pedals in the effects loops of amps that are equipped with them, give an overview of multi-effects pedals and rack units, and offer a few other tips. We’re concerned here purely with the use and running order, if you will, of these effects; there are so many great pedals available today, not to mention all the outstanding stompboxes manufactured over the past 40 years or so, that I can’t begin to tell you which pedals you should be using, but can at least help you get the most out of what you’ve got.

There is an accepted “correct” order in which to chain pedals together for the best interaction and sound, but this subject should only be approached in the knowledge that whatever order gives you the most desirable sound for your own style, or for a particular song, is clearly the correct order for you.

The “quick start” guide to chaining effects pedals says you put tone filters and EQs first, boosters and overdrives second, modulation devices third, and delays fourth (see sidebar, Effects Categories). With this line up, you filter or EQ the raw guitar before distorting and boosting it, distort and boost it before making it spin or wobble (thereby spinning or wobbling the fully-driven sound), and finally, echo or reverberate all that has come before—echo first, reverb second, if you’re using both.

A common variation on this order, one that certainly works best with certain types of pedals, is to swap the middle two of these four stages. Some modulation devices, such as vintage-style analog choruses, phasers, or Uni-Vibes and their clones, do their best work when put before overdrive or fuzz pedals. This is mostly because their function and sound include an element of filtering-type EQ shaping, sweeping frequency notches or out-of-phase signal paths; sending an already distorted signal into this frequency-twisting mayhem can just cough up hairballs of atonal mush, but injecting the ethereal swirl into an overdrive or fuzz that follows it can work a certain magic on your guitar signal.

You will also need to apply a little thought and experimentation in the case of certain pedals that like to sit in the same position. One such conflict can involve vintage fuzz pedals and wah-wah pedals, each of which like to sit first in the chain for their own reasons. Some fuzz pedals react most dynamically with your guitar and playing style when they are connected directly to it, which is to say, when you place it first in the chain. Very often, however, if you’re using both fuzz and wah, you will want the wah’d sound going into the fuzz, and not vice-versa, in order to achieve that vocal, chewy sound of a wah-wah governing the fuzz textures (although interesting results can be had from reversing this, certainly). Another case might be that of a stereo analog chorus pedal and distortion pedal used in the same chain; perhaps the effect you want to create is best achieved with the chorus in front of the distortion, but if you want to use both stereo outs from the chorus to feed two amps—and have them be similar, although stereo-flipped, signals—you will need to have the chorus pedal last in the chain. In such cases all you can do is experiment, try things out every conceivable way, and use what works for you.

As with any formal music training, begin from an understanding of the rules, then break them as necessary to achieve what works for your music. Experiment, juggle your sounds, and see what you can come up with.

Dave Hunter 04.09.2008




In Part 1 of this Tone Tips mini-series on effects pedals we discussed stompboxes used in a chain between your guitar and the input of your amp, and that’s still the way the majority of traditional, one-effect pedal units are used. But some of you will have been thinking along the way, “What about my amp’s effects loop? Isn’t that the place to stick ’em?” In many cases, yes, but in other cases, no—which is to say, certain pedals work best plugged into the front end of an amp, even when you’ve got an effects loop built into it, while others will indeed thrive in yonder loop. Let’s investigate, and help get you wired for optimum sound.

Before you can figure out which effects to put where, you need to understand where an effects loop occurs in an amp’s circuit, and how it is intended to function. The majority of amps with effects loops, if not all of them, are modern-styled, high-gain amps, which often have footswitching to let you change between two or three channels for clean and lead sounds (sometimes with a “crunch” sound in between, in the three-channel amps). These amps seek to give you an all-in-one overdrive sound and eliminate the need for overdrive and distortion pedals, although you might still like to have your favorite OD or two in the rig to tap into different flavors of lead tone. With these high-gain preamp options at the front end of the amp, followed by individual or shared EQ stages, it makes sense to put the effects loop after all the up-front overdrive and tone shaping within the amp, but before the output stage, where the volume gets ramped up before hitting the speaker, and that’s just where amp makers put them. There are also some non-channel-switching amps that are made with effects loops, and on these the loops still go after the preamp and before the output stage. It’s just that you’re more likely to use some form of booster or overdrive pedal in the front of these amps to achieve your lead tones.


Now, refresh yourself on the “standard” effects order discussed in Part 1, and you begin to discern what should go where. Since overdrive, fuzz and distortion pedals usually want to go at the front of the signal chain—which is where the channel-switching amp automatically puts them—you naturally want to put modulation and delay effects such as chorus, echo and reverb in the effects loop, where they will affect the overdriven sound. Similarly, rack-mounted reverbs and delays want to be routed through the effects loop. Some vintage-style analog chorus, vibe, and phaser pedals might best do their thing for you if placed in front of the amp’s input (as discussed in Part 1 regarding placing these pedals in front of overdrive devices), and if you’re using overdrive, distortion, or fuzz pedals in addition to your amp’s own channel-switching clean/lead capabilities, those pedals go in front of the input, too. Also, some stand-alone “surf style” vintage tube reverb units perform best when routed between guitar and amp input.

Be aware that there are two main breeds of effects loop: series and parallel. The series loop is the simplest and operates as if you have snipped the wires inside the amp between the preamp and output stage and wired in a “send” jack at the front end and a “return” jack at the back end. In fact, that’s exactly what it is, using a switching jack to hard-wire the circuit back together when nothing is plugged into the loop. These loops send the entire signal out through whatever effects you plug into them. Parallel loops, on the other hand, include a bypass route and a send/return route, the two of which are usually balanced with a “mix” or “blend” control of some sort. These allow the player to decide how much signal is routed out through the effects in the loop, and how much bypasses the loop and goes straight to the output stage as a “dry” signal. Each has its benefits, and detractions. Certain effects might sound fullest when you route the entire signal through them, while in some cases doing so will dull or thin out your tone—in the case of effects units that deplete your unaffected, “dry” sound in some way or other—and routing part of it around the loop via a parallel loop’s mix control can help to keep it full and true. What works best for you is usually a matter of some experimentation.

Also, different effects loops sometimes put out different signal levels, and it’s important to check the users manuals of both amp and effects to ensure that the line levels of the outputs and inputs of each are compatible. Some parallel-loop amps and some rack effects likewise allow you to switch between two preset output or input levels (-10 dB or +4 dB, for example), or provide a “level” control of sorts that lets you set the desired level of the loop signal. Others—series effects loops in particular—give you an all-or-nothing signal. In the case of these, you sometimes need to work carefully with the effects placed in the loop to avoid overloading sensitive reverb and delay units. This applies to digital effects in particular, which will issue nasty digital clipping when hit too hard.

Before closing this installment, let’s briefly discuss the multi-FX units that have become popular with some players. Pros, tonehounds and pedal freaks aren’t usually big fans of these all-in-one units, and tend to be drawn more toward the depth and texture afforded by effects pedals that devote themselves to one sound at a time, but having a wide selection of selectable, footswitchable effect sounds on tap in one handy box is certainly a great boon to plenty of players. The simpler of these devices have routing functions that are just like big stompboxes, which is to say, just a straightforward input and output, with all the available sounds—filters, overdrive, chorus, echo, reverb—sandwiched in between. As such, they really need to go into the front-end input of your amp (although in some cases, and particularly if you’re going to use your amp’s lead sounds more than those of your multi-FX, saving the latter for its modulation and delay effects primarily, you might try it in an effects loop).

Some more sophisticated multi-FX floor units include their own effects loops, routed between the overdrive effects and the modulation and delay effects. This configuration is intended to let you place other favorite effects in a loop routed through the floor unit, but you can achieve great results by routing and effects loop-carrying amp in the multi-FX unit’s loop. Here’s how you do it: plug your guitar into the multi-FX unit’s input, route the loop “send” from the unit to your amp’s input, patch a cord from your amp’s effects loop’s “send” to the “return” of your multi-FX unit and, finally, connect the unit’s output to the “return” of your amp’s effects unit. This puts the multi-FX unit’s filter (sometimes including wah-wah), booster, and overdrive effects in the front end of your amp, and the modulation and delay effects in the amp’s effects loop, right where they all want to be.

Come and Go Blues: The Incredible Guitarists of the Allman Brothers
From Duane Allman and Dickey Betts to Dan Toler to Jack Pearson to Jimmy Herring to Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks, the Allman Brothers six-string legacy goes on forever
Ted Drozodowski 04.07.2008


Southern rock guitar has a slew of sonic signposts: daredevil solos, multiple six-stringers, unison and harmony lines, greasy slide tones, and typically the warm purr of a Gibson guitar through a high-powered amp. And the Allman Brothers Band established all of them.
Sure, plenty of other groups from the Charlie Daniels and Marshall Tucker bands to Lynyrd Skynyrd to 38 Special to the Outlaws have made great contributions to the genre, but when it comes to the brawniest and brainiest guitar interplay, the Allman Brothers have consistently raised the torch the highest.

What’s remarkable is that the firepower and intensity of the Allmans’ guitar frontline has endured despite major shifts in its line-up since the group essentially invented Southern rock as a genre in 1969. But, then again, Duane Allman, Dickey Betts, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, Dan Toler, Jack Pearson, and Jimmy Herring are all remarkable guitarists. DUANE ALLMAN AND DICKEY BETTS
The band’s story, of course, begins with Duane, who remains one of America’s most influential guitarists 37 years after his death. He and his singing organist brother Gregg had been in at least three outfits—the Escorts, the Allman Joys, and the Hour Glass—together before the Allman Brothers. After the Hour Glass lost its contract with Liberty Records Duane went to work in the studios at Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and Gregg went to Los Angeles at Liberty’s call to explore a solo career.
Through his Muscle Shoals contacts Duane met drummer Jai Johanny Johanson and bassist Berry Oakley. They started jamming seriously in Jacksonville, Florida, with guitarist Dickey Betts, drummer Butch Trucks, and keyboardist Reese Wynans. Hearing magic –especially in the interplay of the dual drummers and in his own rapport with Betts—Duane summoned Greg back from Los Angles to replace Wynans on organ and to sing lead.
Wynans would come to fame a little more than a decade later with Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. And today he’s a respected figure in the Nashville music scene. But for the Allman Brothers stardom arrived quickly. Shortly after forming in March 1969 they became a major concert draw in the South. That same year they released their debut album, The Allman Brothers Band.
It took one more LP for the rest of the country to catch on, but The Allman Brothers Band boasted two numbers that would become rock and roll classics. “Dreams” reflected the group’s live improvisational instincts. It’s a swinging, seven-minute blues waltz in 12/8 time with a lyric that gives way to Duane’s corcidin bottle slide on, likely, his ’61 Gibson SG. Duane’s solo is followed by the butter-toned, vibrato laden blues licks of Dickey’s ’57 Redtop Les Paul. The tune climaxes with the harmonized unison guitar lines that would become an Allman Brothers Band trademark—fashioned by Duane and Dickey, but upheld by every one of the group’s guitar teams since.
The other number fated for history was “Whipping Post.” It’s charging twin-guitar intro demands attention and establishes a stomping momentum that propelled the band to epic jams in concert. Good as the five-minute version on The Allman Brother Band is, however, the song was immortalized two years later when it was re-recorded on stage at New York City’s famed Fillmore East. There—as they did every night—Duane and Dickey painted a collage of musical images, coloring the tune to 22 minutes. (See Russell Hall’s ode to The Allman Brothers’ At Fillmore East.)
At Fillmore East remains the original line-up’s Rosetta stone, but the apex of their studio mastery was their second album, Idlewild South. Legendary record man Tom Dowd produced the 1970 release. He reigned in the band’s free-form approach to developing songs and cut the radio friendly tracks “Midnight Rider” and “Revival.” The album also includes the band’s first instrumental, Dickey’s beautiful “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.”
Named for a woman whose tombstone Dickey spotted in a cemetery in Macon, Georgia, which the group and their label Capricorn called home, “Elizabeth Reed” was the Florida-raised guitarist’s tribute to Miles Davis. Dickey plays a series of modal solos over the fast, aggressively swinging double-drum attack of Johnson and Trucks, alternating sax-like clusters of notes with the smooth turns of the song’s graceful, voice-like melody. And again, there’s his magical unison playing with Duane.
Betts and Allman were rock’s finest guitar partnership – tied perhaps only by Duane’s 10-day collaboration with Eric Clapton on Derek & the Dominos’ Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. They shared a charmed blend of similarities and differences.
What originally brought Duane and Dickey together was Duane’s desire to have Berry Oakley in his band. Oakley was reluctant to leave Second Coming, his Jacksonville-based group with Betts. So when Oakley finished an early 1969 session at Muscle Shoals and headed home, Duane and Johanson followed. Oakley still held out – until Duane conceded that Dickey could also be in the band.
Dickey was a veteran of cover outfits, but he’d been playing since he was five and his chops and sense of harmony and swing were well developed. His renditions of other artists’ hits rippled with excitement. As the legend goes, Dickey’s group the Jokers – who mixed Top 40 cuts with stone blues like “Stormy Monday” – inspired Rick Derringer’s “Rock ‘n’ Roll Hoochie Koo.” They’re name checked in its lyrics. And in 1975 Betts and his red Les Paul would get another shout-out, in Charlie Daniels’ “The South’s Gonna Do It Again.”
During his first all-out jam with Duane, Dickey began crafting guitar harmonies on the fly. Thus one of the Allman Brothers Band’s hallmarks was effortlessly forged. There’s a detailed description of that marathon in Scott Freeman’s excellent Midnight Riders: The Story of the Allman Brothers Band.
Typically Dickey and Duane would trade third- and fourth-position harmonies around each other’s sterling guitar lines in the studio. But they’d go further live, improvising into seventh- and sixth-position harmony lines in tunes like their “Mountain Jam,” which is captured in full glory on Live at the Atlanta International Pop Festival, a set that also features an exploratory “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.”
Betts still often crafts his solos around seven-note diatonic scales, as he did with the Allman Brothers. He also enjoys playing minor scales against their relative majors, like his classic solo in E on the post-Duane smash “Ramblin’ Man,” which is in the key of G. Another of Dickey’s favorite moves immortalized in the best of the Allman’s catalog is switching between major and minor scales during his solos. That’s something he likely plucked from bluesmen like T-Bone Walker, Wayne Bennett, and others who played the Texas-Louisiana-Florida crawfish circuit.
Duane’s and Dickey’s shared blues roots gave them rapport and provided the Allman Brothers an instant springboard for improvisation. Like Dickey, Duane was also a modal player fond of jazz kingpins Miles Davis and John Coltrane. And the demands of playing sessions for Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, and others had made Duane flexible and savvy about tailoring hooks.
Duane also came to the Allman Brothers Band as the most sophisticated slide guitarist of his day. Inspired by bluesmen like Blind Willie McTell and then supercharged by hearing Jesse Ed Davis, he’d dived into the technique, which relies on vocal and textural sensibilities as much as practical musical knowledge. His tool box of slide tricks included downward phrasing, forceful right-hand muting to keep his notes dampened, dark, and distinct - which gave him an uncommonly rich and controlled slide tone – and careful adherence to the five-fret rule (always stay within two downward frets and three upward frets of the tonal center).
As a textural player and an avowed Jimi Hendrix fan, Duane was also curious about sound’s sheer power and emotional value. Dickey shared this interest and they developed a heavyweight arsenal for the band. Duane employed his ’59 Junior, a Tele with a Strat neck, a late ’50s or early ’60s ES-335, a ’57 Les Paul Gold Top, a ’61 SG he most often used for slide, and other instruments. Dickey preferred Les Pauls. Both played through Marshall amps and cabs during the band’s heyday, preferring 50-watt heads and 4x12s—another reason why their guitar lines were often so seamless.
Because of Dickey’s and Duane’s seamless sound and intertwined playing, many Allman Brothers fans initially thought the band had only one lead guitarist—the more charismatic Duane. Sadly, this became true on October 29, 1971, when Duane died in a motorcycle crash.
DICKEY SOLDIERS ON
In the period following Duane’s tragic death, Dickey proved his mettle as the Allmans’ sole guitarist. He completed 1972’s Eat a Peach. The enduring tracks “Melissa,” “Blue Sky,” and “Little Martha” reflect a gentility that seems, in retrospect, both mournful and partly the result of Dickey’s more purely melodic style of composing on guitar. Keyboardist Chuck Leavell was added to the line-up, which was delivered a second blow when Oakley died on November 11, 1972 in a bike accident just blocks away from Duane’s fatal crash.
Dickey’s ascendance in the band was complete by 1973’s Brothers and Sisters. He was the architect of the group’s first top 10 hit “Ramblin’ Man” and the FM airplay staple “Jessica,” a seven-minute excursion pinned to his reverb dappled Les Paul. The album’s radio breakthrough also announced the ascendance of Southern rock, paving the way for hits by the Marshall Tucker Band (featuring the brilliant guitarist Toy Caldwell), the Charlie Daniels Band, and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Then, as they often do in rock ‘n’ roll, things got ugly. Dickey and Leavell butted heads over the groups’ musical direction. While Greg Allman tried to make peace, his own alleged issues with drugs made him ineffective. For the first time the group recorded an album without congregating in the studio to cut tracks together, abandoning the live interplay that had sparked their birth and been their core. The result was 1975’s messy, ill-received Win, Lose or Draw.
A year later Allman was busted by the feds on drug charges and ended up fingering the band’s long-time road manager and friend John “Scooter” Herring as his supplier. Allman got a break and Herring took the fall. The other band members were outraged and vowed to never work with Allman again.
“DANGEROUS” DAN TOLER AND DICKEY
“Never” lasted two years. Betts stoked the solo career he’d begun with 1974’s Highway Call by forming his group Great Southern, which he still leads today. Allman pursued his independent career, which he’d launched with 1973’s Laid Back and its number 19 re-recording of “Midnight Rider.” Leavell, Johanson, and Oakley’s replacement Lamar Williams formed the fusion group Sea Level. And they all went back to playing bars.
The lesser fortunes to be won apart from the Allman Brothers led Dickey and Gregg to, if not exactly put aside their differences, at least ignore them on stage and in the studio. Along with bassist David Goldflies, Betts drafted fellow Great Southern six-stringer Dan Toler and the Brothers reformed, releasing 1979’s Enlightened Rogues and hitting the arena circuit once more. The single “Crazy Love” renewed interest in the Allman Brothers brand, but it was the instrumental “Pegasus” - which also won radio play - that gave notice of the formidability of the Toler and Betts tag-team.
Toler was an Indiana kid whose father exposed him and his drummer brother David to jazz. In the early ’60s Toler became a popular local draw at sock hops and county fairs with his group Danny Lee and the Upsetters.
Intrigued by Toler’s jazz and blues background, Betts lifted him from obscurity by inviting him, and David, to join Great Southern, and then the re-formed Allman Brothers.
Toler and Betts still play together in the latest version of Dickey Betts and Great Southern. They are fiercely compatible musicians who at times seem mirror images of each other. Like Betts, Toler is an unerring melodist. They recaptured the seamless, harmonized elements of the classic Allman Brothers Band that Dickey and Duane had perfected. And they upped the ante by playing essentially the same gear.
“How we got the sound was with a Marshall 100,” Toler explained in an interview with Lisa Eicholzer-Walker for the rockforever.com web site. “In 1980 I had four Marshall 100s and I had 16 12-inch JBL speakers. Dickey had the same exact rig. We only used two heads at a time. We had two for spares in the rack. What we'd do is take one head and put the volume on two and the other head on eight. The midrange was on two, presence on six and bass and treble was adjusted by feel, usually five or six for us. We'd have a Les Paul, in fact I have a ’57 that Greg Allman gave me that I still use. I was using a ’58 with the Allman Brothers, but I sold it. We also had PAF pickups. They would provide a little bit of sweetness to the sound.
“For example, if you were playing a solo and your volume on your guitar was at about a seven/eight and it sounded really nice, when the band would get a little louder and you'd get that dynamic with the crowd going and you got that rush you'd crank that guitar up to 10 and it would become this intense, sweet beautiful sound. I think Dickey used a bit of digital delay. Dickey had a great sound and Duane Allman had a great sound and it is that signature Les Paul-Marshall combo.”
Dan and Dickey were the torchbearers of the Allman Brothers’ guitar legacy for four years, when the band surrendered to an inability to regain its once-immense popularity.
WARREN HAYNES AND DICKEY
In 1989 Dickey and Greg decided to go for round three. This time they regrouped with the great Warren Haynes on second guitar, and thanks to a recent solo hit by Greg (“I’m No Angel”) and a resurgence in catalog sales, the Allman Brothers Band hit the summer shed circuit playing mostly its classic repertoire. Old fans and a new generation of listeners welcomed them and they’ve since remained one of the most consistently popular live acts on the road.
Haynes was playing with country rocker David Alan Coe, a friend of Betts, when they met in the mid-’80s. In 1987 Betts invited Haynes to sing back-up on a solo album he was recording, then asked him to stay on as guitarist. Again it was a blissful match—two improvisers with a background in jazz, blues, and R&B, two Les Pauls, and two heaps of Marshalls.
Betts and Haynes recreated all the Allman Brothers Band’s guitar signatures with fire. But their union as the group’s instrumental frontline was also the first time Dickey was paired with a player whose vocabulary had some significant differences. Haynes introduced a psychedelic element, employing Leslie-like effects and Hendrixian octave pedal tones in his already darker sound. He was also the most formidable slide player in the group since Duane, who was one of his major influences.
Warren and Dickey soldiered on together until 1997 when the side project that Haynes and Allmans’ bassist Allen Woody had formed with Great Southern drummer Matt Abts in ’94 – Gov’t Mule – demanded Haynes and Woody’s full-time attention. (For a wealth of stories about Haynes and his guitars including his Les Paul signature model, his slide technique, etc., plug his name into this site’s search engine and go nuts!)
JACK PEARSON AND DICKEY
Pearson remains the most mysterious of the Allman’s guitarists. He was the first to bring Fender-styled guitars – G&Ls and an axe with a white Stratocaster body and a Telecaster-type neck, all with Seymour Duncan pickups – on stage as his main instruments. He also played a National Reso-Electric and an Alvarez acoustic with the band, sometimes adding a tube screamer and a graphic eq. His amps were either Marshalls, Hoffmans, Soldano, or Randall’s pumping 12-inch Electro-Voice speakers.
The ripping virtuoso played during a two-year period from 1997 to 1999 when the band recorded no albums, so his work with the group remains undocumented outside of private recordings by the band and its fans.
It was Haynes who introduced his fellow Nashvillian to the Allman Brothers as he felt the draw of Gov’t Mule’s road schedule pulling harder. Once again, Dickey found an able sparing partner in Jack, with a background and style that was much closer to his than Warren’s.
Pearson is a Nashville native who already had a strong reputation in Music City as a songwriter, studio musician, and all around six-string virtuoso before joining the Allmans. He started playing professionally at age 14, developing a versatile style based on a breadth of knowledge about jazz, R&B, rock, and country.
Like Duane and Dickey, Pearson is a melody man with a lyrical approach to single-line solos. He also has a vocabulary that includes extended chords and the chops to play chordal solos at single-note speed, which brought a new dimension to the group.
Pearson picked up Duane’s slide mantle as ably as Haynes had. He also brought an element of surprise to his traditional single-note blues soloing. Pearson has a sense of timing similar to Buddy Guy on a hot night. So in tunes like “Trouble No More” he’d lay back, fall a tad behind the beat, and then uncoil a venomous cobra strike of clustered notes laden with vicious vibrato and wicked bends.
ENTER DEREK, EXIT DICKEY
When Pearson chose to return to a quieter life as a session player and songwriter, the group literally looked within the family for his replacement. Drummer Butch Trucks’ nephew Derek Trucks next took the guitar spotlight next to Mr. Richard Betts.
Two years earlier, at age 18, he’d emerged with The Derek Trucks Band album, a stunning slide-driven work as steeped in the Southern traditions of blues and soul as in the eastern microtonalities of Indian music. Duane and the colorful jazz bandleader Sun Ra are among his main influences, so the fit was easy. The one departure: instead of Marshalls, Derek prefers to plug his SGs into a 1965 Fender Super Reverb with Pyle Driver speakers set on “stun” volume. So avid is his affection for Duane’s slide approach that he uses a Dunlop Pyrex recreation of Duane’s corcidin bottle on his .11 gauge strings.
But Dickey and Derek’s recreation of the original Allman Brothers guitar sound was short-lived. The other band members decided to suspend Dickey right before their summer 2000 tour. Fans and the guitarist himself were stunned. He was part of the group’s soul - a founding voice as distinctive and important as those of Duane and Greg. He was an innovator who’d helped give birth to a genre.
Nonetheless, Betts had missed Allman Brothers Band concert dates during the ’90s for “health reasons.” For a stretch John Mellencamp guitarist David Grissom had subbed for Dickey, although never officially joined. And Dickey’s struggles with booze, violence, domestic issues, and the police showed up in newspapers. Betts responded to his suspension by suing the other members of the band and they’ve remained divided ever since, with Dickey putting his energy into the aptly-named Great Southern.
JIMMY HERRING, DEREK AND WARREN
Jimmy Herring also played his first gig with the Allman Brothers Band as a sub for Dickey. He stepped into the group for the night of July 30, 1993 after Dickey was arrested right before a gig in Saratoga Springs, New York.
The North Carolina native’s touchstones are roots guitar supernova Roy Buchanan and country-fusion pioneer Steve Morse, and Herring’s first high-profile gig was with Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit, Southern rock’s answer to Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention. His other notable dip into high-profile fusion was with Jazz Is Dead, a hyperactive virtuoso Grateful Dead cover band featuring drummer Billy Cobham and Dixie Dregs keyboardist T Lavitz. Today he is also guitarist for the Band and Widespread Panic.
Once again, a blend of roots and jazz influences made Herring ripe for the Allman Brothers. So Jimmy was called back on deck after Pearson’s departure, and he and Derek quickly hit it off - two new guys thrown in the deep end of one of the best loved and most scrutinized bands in the world. With his Strats, Teles, and a Paul Reed Smith Custom 22, Herring’s sound put a little more brightness in the Allmans’ mix, and when turned loose he and Trucks took their soloing to screaming modal heights that were a logical extension of Sun Ra, Coltrane, Zappa, Duane, and Dickey.
But when Haynes once again became available in 2001, Herring returned to his other gigs. Warren and Derek have held the guitar reins ever since. These days Gov’t Mule and the Allmans generally work around each other’s schedules, and also schedule in Haynes’ gigs with the Dead. And Trucks had divided his time between the Allman Brothers, recording and leading his own band, and playing with Eric Clapton.
Recently the Allman Brothers Band cancelled their April and May 2008 shows due to Gregg’s battle with Hepatitis C. He says he’s bested the sometimes-fatal virus, but needs to recharge before returning to the stage this summer.
When he’s ready, Warren and Derek will be, too, making sure the torch Duane and Dickey lit continues to brightly burn.