Flock of T-Birds

I found a rather impressive display of Epiphone Thunderbirds hanging around a local used music shop last week & thought I'd share it. Music go Round in Roseville had these Ultra cool Nikki Sixx Blackbirds with traditional goth theme & maltese cross inlay. What's really unique about these is the absence of volume & tone pots; just one over sized toggle switch! Need more info of these? Call the store: 651 487-5600. Pick up one of these basses & It'll be your picture posted here next time.

Tonight: St Croix casino in Turtle Lake, WI.

Goldilocks

Shiny, sparkling, & downright glitzy. Original finish 1999 Epiphone Sorrento, owned, operated, & maintained by George Paulos of Little Canada. As always, a few mods were necessary to get this up to pro standards; note the new Gibson Nashville tune-0-matic bridge. George has installed an upgrade of new cts pots, & of course he puts jumbo frets on everything he plays. George was the luthier at Torp's Music for ten years, so getting the mods right the first time was quick, easy & painless. George can currently be seen using this axe frequently around town with his steady gig Rythm Engine, a five piece rock, soul, & pop combo complete with keys & sax. Click HERE for a list of their current scheduled performance dates

Hit Me With Your Best Shot.

Dan Hansen from the Whatnots offered up a great performance last weekend at the St Croix casino showroom in Turtle Lake WI. The white stratocater that he used was quipped with a PRS dragon humbucker & Floyd Rose trem, but he also featured his new reliced 59 reissue Gibson Les Paul deluxe for a few tunes. They're both fine axes & look great on stage. Erin was in fine form also, & was kind enough to sing me a little Pat Benetar. }:-D- Here's their schedule for the next time you want to go rock for a while.

My Hero

These fine high quality plastic examples are true vogue specimens of the new millennium. Minneapolis power house drummer Eric Althaus proudly displays his red SG Guitar Hero controller which he enjoys using for the many difficult passages in tunes by RUSH. The black Fender strat Rock Band model is more appropriate for noodling along with Dick Dale's Miserlou. Wen he's not busy engaging in fierce family battles with guitar hero at home Eric stays busy performing on drums with twin cities based feature show JoyRide. Be sure to catch a show at any one of various local night clubs found on their tour schedule. Want to know even more about Eric? Click here to learn about Equinox.

Attack of the Spectors

Here's John Lockner of Maple Grove playing a 1986 Spector NS-2. It's a nice sounding & smooth playing bass that's never let him down on stage. This is one of five Spectors that he uses regularly to cover the low grooves. John's had a busy gig schedule, as he's been working with GEMINI for years. That keeps him active when he's not busy selling great gear at American Guitar & Band during the week. His past rock trysts include a long history of performances with great local acts Barilla, Dungeon, & Jaded. John's got a lot more cool axes to share, so check back on this site soon for more vintage mojo from a true dedicated rocker.

Battlescar Gallactica

This high mileage heavy metal Stratocaster is owned & built by Kelly Peterson from Blaine. Great beginnings for this one, starting life as a 1983 alder body reissue of a 1957. New features now include tone zone in the bridge position, dimarzio paf pro in neck position, & stacked coil razor from AllParts in the mid position. Fender logo on Jackson replacement neck with ebony board, Kahler locking nut &super jumbo frets attached to body now routed out for Floyd Rose. This battle worn weapon has earned it's stripes. Kelly has always stayed busy working with many past acts such as Rocking Horse, Regime, Badditude, Killawatts (the list goes on & on). Kelly is as talented & reliable as they come in this business. We got our music degrees together back in the 80's, so you know he's got it down right tight! He's one heck of a luthier as well. Some of Kelly's current projects are K-Train doing classic rock & Custard Pie, a cool Zep tribute act.
You can always hit the official KmanRocks.com website to find out where to rock with the Kman. He might even let you sit in, or at least let you knock over one of his guitars. }:-D-
Stay tuned for future posts featuring more of Kelly's other hip battle axes.

World's Largest Pedal Board

Freak of the Week
I'd get so lost using this set-up. Maybe there's an ap you can get for iPhone (like google earth) to help navigate this thing. We all dreamed of effects arsenals like this when we were teens, but now most of us dream of burning the mortgage. You've got to admit that it'd still be fun to start twanging & stomping all over these pedals. Use the comment section below to try & correctly identify as many of these classic pedals as you can. You can click on the picture to enlarge the photo. I'll honor the winner of this contest with my personal congratulations on their misspent youth.