CONTEMPORARY G.A.S.
Modern tools to create sonic mayhem!

The humble beginings and continued saga......

    

I'm sure many of you can remember the guitar sitting around the house that you started out on. Mine, pictured above, belonged to my father who really wasn't much of a player in all honesty. He wanted to play guitar and attempted to teach himself but work, family and life in general probably got in the way. Considering that his father was a luthier and musician as well as a master carpenter, it should have been passed along in the genes but appeared to had skipped a generation. So the guitar ended up spending most of its time keeping warm in its canvas case. Don't know where or how he obtained her and the bridge is a replacement and actually the second. I recall one that he hand carved prior to the replacement now seen on the guitar. 

I really never gave the guitar a second thought after dad passed in 1984. It sat in the upstairs bedroom of my parent's home until my mother's passing in 2004. I've kept her stored but for some reason I decided she needed to see the light of day recently. I pulled her out of the canvas case that over time had shrunk and no longer fit. She was as bleached a blonde classical guitar as you'd want but now my time in the vintage world suggested further investigation.

The interior label was still intact and beared the Ibanez Salvador name. It didn't take long to find out the guitar was indeed a very early Ibanez product with a pedigree from one of Spain's best known luthiers. A little history....

Salvador Ibañez was one of the most noteworthy of Spanish guitar makers. His workshop was located in the city of Valencia. In the early 1920's, he monopolized the guitar industry of this city. His small shop produced some of the fines guitars of his time. Ibañez guitars, being of valencian design, were more ornate than the Madrid-designed guitars. The lines were not as delicate, but like many Valencian guitars, they were easy to finger and produced a fair sized and pleasant sound. Due to this fact, and their moderate price, they were very popular with guitar students.

Ibanez guitars started out made in Spain by Salvador Ibañéz. Hoshino Gakki was the official founder of Ibanez guitars as a company, however. Gakki started out selling musical instruments in Japan in 1900 under the Hoshino Gakki Company. Three decades later, Gakki started manufacturing guitars and other string instruments. Gakki’s instruments had very little presence in areas other than Japan until the 1960s.

When Gakki made his move into the western world, he did so by becoming a distributor of the original Ibanez guitars made in Spain. However, Ibanez guitars went off the market after the Spanish Civil War when the Ibanez workshop was destroyed. Ibanez guitars were renowned for their superior quality, so Gakki bought the rights to the Ibanez name. With the purchase of the Ibanez name, Gakki started production on acoustic guitars and Spanish guitars and marketed them under the Ibanez name. The name started out as Ibanez Salvador but was later shortened to just Ibanez.

 So what does all of this mean? Seems as though I have a piece of vintage Ibanez and didn't even know it! I still need to figure out how to date the guitar but my guess is mid-late '50s since a "steel reinforced rod" label appears on the back of the headstock. There is not much in the way of information on pre-Ibanez guitars but I have all intentions of pursuing this one further.

I didn't start collecting vintage guitars until the late 1990s but I have always maintained a nice collection of contemporary players. It all started back in 1975 with a suburst El Degas Les Paul made by Ibanez (there is that Ibanez connection again!) which was purchased at a now defunct music store in Paramus, New Jersey named Bronen's Music. Actually manufactured for the Canadian market, it was an excellent "lawsuit" era copy that came out of the same Japanese factory as its Ibanez cousins. Traditional sunburst it had a bolt on neck as compared to Gibson's set neck and mine even sported the Gibson inlayed diamond peghead ornamentation.

I sold it, now with GREAT regret, to buy my next guitar, an Ibanez Artist, which I consider to this day my favorite player. I remember my dad taking me to Sam Ash in Paramus, New Jersey and throwing in a few bucks towards the purchase price of $350. They also had the doubleneck version but at $800 was to much for my 16 year old wallet. Guess I could buy the reissue with a retail of $3999 for nostalgia sake. Nah!

My father also installed a Dimarzio Super Distortion pickup in the bridge position with a coil tap switch. Along with a Big Muff, Small Stone Phase Shifter, Cry Baby Wah and Yamaha G50-410 amp it was my "rig" and signature tone of the mid to late '70s. It served me well for many years including my first real band, Abraxas, and later on fusion group, Catalyst. I added a stompbox on occasion (Doctor Q, Screaming Bird, FOXX Tone Machine. etc.) but I was pretty content with my tone. 

Fast forward to day and the recent sale of my Ibanze JS1000 and JEM 7V (sorry Satch & Steve!), I'm back to playing my Artist, a Samick TV Blues Saraceno and a promo guitar from a Chinese manufacturer I work with. This was a special model made for the 2008 Music China show and cost me all of $120. I'll just say that Chinese guitar manufacturing has come a long way in a short period of time!  

She's a real beauty with a stunning carved spalted maple top. The body style looks striking similar to a very high dollar guitar played by the likes of Santana and most recently, Al Dimeola. Some guy named Paul Jones...no Smith perhaps or something like that. LOL Anyway, I upgraded with a set of Giovanni Custom humbuckers.  String through for great sustain and a fast neck makes this a fun guitar to play and it certainly didn't break the bank. I keep her tuned in D for ryhthm adding a bit of chorus and reverb. Sweet!
 
I also play a telecaster style guitar that I built from one of the manufacturers kits. The burl ash top was so stunning I just finished in natural. Giovanni Custom Pickups and all upgraded gold hardware. She's a fine player and receives compliments whenever I pull her out. She started my "Adventures in Guitar Building"!



It was quite awhile before another guitar arrived on the scene after the Artist. I didn't even own an acoustic guitar but a birthday gift from my wife early in our relationship changed that. A deep bowl Ovation from the early '80s was a "rent-to-own" from the Doo Wop Shop in Lousiville, KY. I was a big Al Dimeola fan at the time and the fiberglass body really works well for his percussive style of playing. The top has aged very nicely and the fiberglas, well its the same. LOL 

She also bought me my first real bass, a Charvel Jackson, from Sam Ash in Paramus, NJ along with a Yamaha YS-100 synth and a few other toys including a Korg Symphony sound module. I say real bass because I don't count the cheap Japanese Kingston I ripped the frets out of and used Plastic Wood to fill the grooves for a fretless as a kid. The Charvel is a bit tough on the hands but a start along with a Peavey Micro Bass amp. She was recently modded with a set of Enwistle PBX pickups and a ARTEC active eq circuit.  

Speaking of the wife, she took guitar lessons as a teenager (at the Bizannes Music Mart in Louisville, Ky) and she'll pull out her Guild Madiera occasionally. Actually she taught me how to play Blackbird and Classical Gas. The finish has aged to a wonderful amber and she sure is sweet - both the guitar and my wife!

During numerous moves around the country as a corporate soldier, I picked up a variety of imported guitars and basses from the local shops.  Three (3) that have survived the test of time are a Dean fretless bass, an Oscar Schmidt OE-20 and a Olympic labeled Stratocaster. The Dean and Oscar Schmidt came from the defunct Memphis, Tennessee music store, Colie Stolz, and the Olympic from a small "mom & pop" shop in Denton, Texas who's name I can't recall.

The Dean is a blast to play and has that early '90s thing going on in body shape and color. I was heavily into Brand X and the bass player Percy Jones not to mention Jaco at the time. It sounds decent although it doesn't see much play time as fretless is an art in itself. 

The Oscar Schmidt (aka Washburn) OE-20 is a great example of an early '90s Korean made copy of the Gibson ES-335. Although an entry level model, the natural finish shows off some beautiful grained maple. Its actually a decent playing/sounding copy and was only around $200 brand new. It will undoubtedly receive a pickup/electronics upgrade at some point in the future.

The Olympic strat was definitely manufactured in a Fender factory. This is no cheap knock off and even sports factory Schallers. I recently upgraded the pickups to a set of Giovanni GCS-1s and installed both QDD overdrive and BCU paramteric EQ circuits. Great player, incredible tone and the best $150 I have spent to date!

What would the '80s hair bands done without their Kramers? Manufactured in Neptune. NJ and endorsed by none other than Eddie Van Halen they defined a brief period in guitar history. After going bankrupt, being purchased by Gibson and manufacturing moved to Asia they have joined the re-issue movement with several models manufactured again in the U.S.A.  

I came across them on the musicyo.com website about 8-9 years ago. Musicyo is Gibson's collection of companies they have purchased including Steinberger, Maestro, Oberheim, etc. The guitar that caught my interest was the "yet to be released" Condor, a solidbody acoustic-electric with German Shadow electronics. I went back to the site a few months later and they were available. I went with the black finish over natural.

Plays like an electric sounds like an acoustic and was obviously born from the Gibson SST model played by the likes of Chet Atkins and Dave Matthews. Straight pull locking tuners are a nice touch and best of all it sounds pretty darn good for the money. I've used it both for studio tracks and playing out. 

I also purchased a Striker Custom with "Hot Rail" (blade) pickups and signature Kramer heastock/body style. It was a gift for my bass playing daughter along with an inexpensive Kramer acoustic that she just recently retired for an Ovation.

My first Washburn was also purchased at Colie Stolz in Mremphis, a thinline acoustic-electric Festival 12 string. Sweet guitar with a low action and EQUIS II Eq system. It's one that still sees a good amount of use.

A solidbody KC-44V followed which retired my Ibanez Artist and became my main player for quite a few years. The H-S-H and locking tremolo changed my style a bit as I explored whammy bar acrobatics which lead to the Inabez JS1000 and JEM 7V.

My first custom shop guitar was the Washburn WM612. I always wanted a doubleneck and this one is simply stunning! The 12 string has both a humbucker and piezo which lots of blend control and outputs. Not overly heavy and well balanced so you can use it for more than one song. This one was an investment and doesn't get played very often.

My latest additions have been been two acoustic from the Godin family of guitars. Manufactured in La Patrie Quebec Canada I've been really impressed with the combination of wild cherry laminate and a cedar top. Very different voice and a nice change from the standard spruce/rosewood or other common wood.
   

BASS GUITAR

My oldest daughter is a fine bass player and as such, allowed me to indulge in some B.A.S. (Bass Acquisition Syndrome) over the years. It started out with the Charvel Jackson and then onto a Ibanze EX-Series that I still play to this day. It was purchased at Strings & Things in Memphis for all of $180. The neck is an incredibly easy player - lightning fast - and the P/J style pickup combination sounds good.
 
While living in Memphis we found a very nice green Ibanez SR-400 in a local pawn shop which became my daughter's first actual bass. For the acoustic stuff she received a Jasmine by Takamine as a birthday gift when we moved back to NJ. Might as well have an end pin in it for playing upright as this thing is HUGE! 

Finally, a U.S.A. made Tobias Growler with a Bartolini pickup and 18V active electronics. It was purchased for "inspiration" when she attended Bass Lines at Berklee when she was 16. Custom ordered black finish by Musician's Friend, it was built in Nashville after Tobias was purchased by Gibson. I purchased used at the local Guitar Center for $500. You can dial in just about any tone possible! Now that she's happily married and living in a revolutionary war home on the Delaware River, the basses have all moved with her. So what was I suppose to do? Buy more basses of course!

The blue Ibanez EX-Series on the right has maintained a "go to" status even though it's a cheap bass. I mean less than $200 new. The neck is fast and the pickups (P&J style) are now Giovannis. Also an Artec Active EQ (2 band) replaced the original wiring harness

The latest addition is another Music China 2008 show guitar that came from my Chinese manufacturer for another $120. Beautiful neck through design, I upgraded with a 3 band ARTEC Active Parametric EQ circuit and Giovanni Custom J and P Bass Pickups. Incredible tonal range and very similar to my daughter's Tobias Growler in terms of electronics.

I used Peavey bass amps for years and with my daughter's departure the opportunity to try something new arrived. She took our Peavey Basic 100 which has served us well for quite a few years. I wanted something in a kick back cabinet style with lots of punch which is exactly what my Carvin combo delivers. XLR output for direct recording and enough power to play a small venue. Carvin's reputation for building great products is well deserved! 

AMPLIFIERS      

My primary recording amp up until recently was an early 1990s Marshall Studio 15. This was another purchase at Strings & Things in Memphis with a slight twist. I originally purchased a different Marshall model that required service. It was stolen from the shop so they gave me this one as a replacement. This is the only Marshall model that uses 6V6 output tubes and only 500 were manufactured. Sounds great miked with a Shure 57 slightly off axis.


One of the benefits of my Guitar Fuel venture is all of the new toys I get to play with....I mean demo of course. My Chinese amp manufacturer also builds for a very well known U.S. based brand name but provides boutique building services for us smaller guys. We've been developing a small line of high quality tube amps called the GF (Guitar Fuel) Series rated at 5, 15 and 30 watts. Killer amps I use the GF30H with a 2-10" cabinet loaded with Special Design Jensens and a GF5H (tweed) with a custom made 1-12" cabinet also loaded with a Special Design Jensen. The GF5H is a pure recording monster and the GF30 is my gigging amp. So what about the GF15? Not pictured but it gets used as well!

EFFECT PEDALS

Did I mention that owning Guitar Fuel has some benefits like lots of effect pedals to choose from? The picture is just a partial pile of ARTEC, BIYANG and Beta-Aivin models for guitar and bass. I've always been into stompboxes and have a substantial collection of vintage pedals including the first Electro Harmonix product from the 1970s, the LPB-1. First versions like a FOXX Tone Machine, Big Muff, Small Stone, etc. are all stored away increasing in value while I play with about 100 new pedals from my Chinese vendors. Needless to say, my pedalboard changes weekly!


CATALYST STUDIOS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everybody has their "space" and this is mine. Catalyst Studios was a small biz I established while living in Memphis although now its just my personal studio. I've been recording for more than 20 years starting out with a little Fostex 4 track. I followed the trends and upgraded to reel-to-reel (Fostex R8), then on to the ADAT format, BOSS BR1600 and just earlier this year, Roland's flagship 2480CD workstation. After spending more time on the learning curve than I'd like, I sold the Roland and bought a Tascam 2488CD, BOSS BR1200 and Zoom M2 to handle all of my my recording needs.

You probably figured I had a Pro Tools setup, right? I made a conscious decision not to enter the PC/Mac recording world and stick with a stand alone workstations. No latency issues, no PC crashes and old school controls. If I need a full blown studio with all of the bells & whistles, I have access to my buddy Bob's studio complex located in Hackensack, NJ. Wonderful live room and lots of vintage equipment including the 2" tape AMPEX 16 track that was used for Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly" and many others notable songs from the analog days. Bob has a nice rooster of folks including Richie Havens and Joe Lynn Turner. He's a good friend and has great "ears"! 

So why two recorders? The Tascam can handle 8 inputs and is 24 track for group stuff. The BOSS BR1200 is the recorder I use for quick "gorilla" style recording and all my acoustic tidbits. Both are easy to use and produce results that are down right scary on occasion. The ZOOM M2 is always running to capture those little tidbits that I'd never remember otherwise. 

As for some of the other stuff in my room, a Roland JD800 and Korg TR88 workstation more than suffice for my keyboard needs. I purchased the JD800 right when it first came out in the early '90s because of its analog style control and fat tones. The TR88, with its full-sized weighted keyboard, has an incredible sound engine with lots of great user control. Sequencing is still old school with an Alesis MMT8 MIDI recorder. Don't laugh as I've read a few bands still use them on tour! 

This is my second set of Yamaha electronic drums. I started out with their original DTXpress kit and then stepped up to the "Special" earlier this year. The original set now resides with my son's drum instructor who's mother appreciates the headphones! Great for my style of recording, they provide some convincing drum tracks without much tweaking or the need for microphones. 

My son's Yamaha Tour Custom set would take up the entire studio so they stay downstairs which is not exactly a great recording space with sliding glass doors, low ceiling, etc. One of the reasons I went with the Yamaha electronic set for recording. His kit continues to grow as we seem to add cymbals on a regular basis.