Flamin'

Greetings from Greg Pasillas & his custom "Laguna" guitar. His brother Pete Pasillas did the awesome flame paint & pin stripe details. Greg plays this cool axe on a regular basis here the Twin Cities. The guitar gets many comments on the finish as you'd expect, & the back even has a custom MN Vikings logo in the paint. Pete did the paint in southern California where he does all types of custom finishes, stripes, lettering & more on motorcycles, cars, dragsters, and now even guitars.

If anyone is interested in having some custom paint treatments done, I will be providing a link soon.

DaVinci Custom Paint

A couple fine examples pictured here from the Terry North, head painter at DaVinci Custom Guitars. I've had the pleasure to hold many of the finished customs that have been completed through Terry's shop, & they're truly top notch. This is the stuff that makes rock stars. Terry has the skills to bring your fantasy concept into the realm of rock & roll reality. He's a master craftsman & an all around nice guy who promises to work hard to earn your repeat business. Have Terry start your order today.

Guilded

 Peter Berger from White Bear Lake pictured with his 1983 Guild X-702. Wonderful playing bass with high output & great tone. Unique styling with a great headstock & top notch candy apple finish make this one for the archives. These cool 80's basses are hard to find, & this one is a rocker for sure.

Happy Anniversary

1979 Silver Anniversary Stratocaster from Cuffy Parks. Gotta love these large peg head stocks & heavy lacquer bat necks. Looks great in any collection.

7-Up Green

Candy Apple Green, AKA 7-Up Green - You've got to love those Fender colors.
Alder body, Maple neck with a special "V" shape, 22 Nickel Silver fret Maple fingerboard, vintage machine heads, 3 Gold Fender-Lace Sensors, 25dB active mid-boost circuit and blocked synchronized tremolo. Note the Pearloid pick guard up-grade on this 1989 Eric Clapton signature Strat, owned & played by Jesse Ray Ernster of Buffalo MN. I snapped the inset photo while Jesse was doing a stint with Iron Horse, but now you can catch Jesse with the all new show Killer Hayseeds "Amped Up". We'll get more of Jesse's guitars featured here as soon as I can make it out to another Hayseeds tour date.

Retro 54 LP Classic

Here's a closet classic sent in today by a personal friend asking about this guitar that his brother in-law's mom's boyfriend has owned for years. All indicators point to some variation of a 1954 gold top, & condition is remarkable. Still looking into actual production year, but it's so pretty I thought we should post it & gather some comments & see to find out what it's worth, etc. Thanks for reading.

Washburn WR150

Here's another rocking axe from the collection of Stevek Williavich right here in town.


  Washburn Rocker Series WR150. It has been refitted with a Seymore Duncan JB humbucker at the bridge, a Seymore Duncan JB single-coil in the center, and a GFS Li'l Killer at the neck, then custom wired with a coil tap switch for the Li'l Killer and a series/parallel switch for the JB. The 5-way switch is still wired conventional but the pickups and switching make this humble little axe into a very versatile tone machine. It also sports GraphTech saddles on the Fender-type trem and a GraphTech nut.

This guitar is for sale now and comes in it's original hard case. Send your offers to: stringed4you@gmail.com.

Gary's Gibson Fire Chicken

     This week's post by local guitar veteran: Gary Vogel of Minneapolis. 

"I have always loved the look of the original "reverse" version Firebird.  Such a 
lovely shape!  An much more practical than the Explorer, because it does not 
have the big pointy tail that I always find myself bumping into things.

But every vintage one I have tried suffered from two problems:  The neck was 
uncomfortable, too fat like a baseball bat, and those damn banjo tuners were 
either worn out and broken, or damaged in some way.

Well the recently discontinued Gibson Firebird V 2010 model solved both those 
issues!"

http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Firebird/Gibson-USA/Firebird-V-2010.aspx

"The neck is extremely smooth and fast..  The tuners have been replaced by modern 
Steinberger models, allowing the beautiful headstock to be unsullied, and 
eliminating those damn banjo tuners.

The new ceramic pickups are really sweet.  Not too hot, but a bit stouter than 
the original ones.   Less noise, too.  A bit brighter than a P90, but also a bit 
smoother in the mid-range, I guess they could be defined as a less "snotty" 
pickup somewhere between a P90 and a humbucker.  I find them to be incredible 
useful when playing complex chords, but I would bet that blues players would 
really dig them too (think Johnny Winter, of course!).

I don't know why Gibson decided to discontinue this particular reissue, poor 
sales probably.  But I am damn glad I was able to find one-- and it took me some 
serious searching before I found a white one-- the rarest of all, and most 
gorgeous IMO.  This baby had originally been shipped from the factory overseas 
to Germany, and ended up at a NY guitar trader who I purchased it from 

Another one checked off my bucket list!

You can see me play this baby at my next show with my band MFG (we are on 
Facebook) at Mayslacks Friday November 30.  We play after the Mighty Others and 
my friends, Capital Sons, who featured my lead guitar on their first CD.  We go 
on at 11pm."

Monster Tone

Since it's Halloween, I thought I'd post a guitar with unusual monstrous tone. Chris Kinoshito sent me a hi-res photo of this fine Fender Bass VI Baritone guitar. It's kind of a guitar & bass together; with baritone sounding tone. It has thicker gauge strings, & it's roots go back into the 1960's surf era. Twitch, twitch.                   H A P P Y     H A L L O W E E N

Rock with me & the Ladies of the 80's Friday Night (11/02) at G.B. Leighton's Pickle Park in Fridley. 

Lombardi Trophy

 

Just swell & nearly seventy years old, This old girl has held herself together very well over the years. She's had a little work done but all the original parts are present. Stevek Williavich sent me this pictures of his 1943 (Harmony made) Lombardi, after spotting my 1945 H700 on Minneapolis Craigslist this week. These Lombardi's arch tops are ultra rare, & feature impressive birdseye maple tops; as well as Brazilian rosewood tails, bridges & fingerboards. This one's a solid player, & it's place in guitar history will surely be proudly preserved.

Rock with me & the Rock-ittes Friday night at the new High-Five night club in Burnsville, &
Saturday night & Main Street Bar in Hopkins

Every Rose Has it's Thorn

I did another show with this camp Friday night at Medina Ballroom & of course seized the opportunity to snap some back stage shots of a few guitars from the Minneapolis based HAIRBALL show. Guitar tech John Lockner seen here holding a Samick Blackbird solid body acoustic, played by Bobby Jensen as part of their POISON tribute. The Blackbird is a perfect choice when you need great tone & playability along with maximum feedback suppression while delivering over 50,000 watts of clean acoustic love. Click HERE for more info on this great show

Iguana Burst

I hijacked this photo from Cory Lake's American Guitar & Band FACEBOOK page. This new Gibson has been affectionately referred to as the Iguana-burst; Doves in Flight. Shipped out last week to a proud new owner of a one-of-a-kind.You gotta love the green Dove, It's 99.4% pure.

Mystery Machine

Today's feature submitted by Jon Tranberry here in the Twin Cities. He's looking for a little assistance in identifying this gem of an acoustic for a friend of his. Knowing how much our readers love to assist other local players I agreed to publish this photo to see who could be the first to offer up the correct identity & origin of this unusual 6 string guitar. You can use the comment section below to give it your best shot. Jon sends his thanks in advance.       }:-D-

Rockabilly Heaven

Here's an early 1960's single pick-up arch top electric from KAY. I've got a soft spot for these old catalog guitars that were once plentiful in rural America which are now becoming increasingly hard to find id decent condition. This is one of a few fine specimens that I picked up this weekend from my fourth cousin (twice removed); the well known HAM radio aficionado Bob Bartkus in Moundsview. He's preserved this axe quite nicely over the years, & I'm certainly proud to call it mine at this time. There is just no substitute for vintage Mojo.

UPDATE, 10/13/2012:  This little wonder has already been SOLD now. Congratulations to Johnny from NE Minneapolis. We'll all still get to see this guitar in his weekly shows here in Mpls.

One Man's Paradise...

Received these pics from David Kline Jr. last week, & I immediadtely scheduled them in for this weeks post. The Kanji, David Kline Jr's Signature Paradise USA Guitars are mahogany soloist type body w/ Acrylic top. Pickups are: Dimarzio Tone Zone(Bridge) PAF 36th Anniversary(Neck). 1 Volume, 1 Tone, 3 way Toggle, Birdseye maple neck (1 piece), 24 medium/jumbo frets. Gotoh Tuners, Floyd Rose Pro Bridge, w/ mods. Agreat guitar for a  great player. David also is responsible for the Jason Becker Guitar coming to light.

  Thanks for the great submission this week Dave. We'll talk soon. 

Hear about this guitar in Dave's own words via YouTube. 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCmPyqkMMpI 

Fin to Win

As the season winds down, you'll find car shows are pretty much done for the year. You gotta love the classics. Timeless designs that send your mind tripping back to the future with skate boards & hula hoops. This weeks submission sent in by Scotty Clifford of Chaska. Scotty has a great collection of  vintage axes from the 50's & 60's that we'll be featuring on this blog in the near future Meanwhile, you get to enjoy this knock-back to the golden era of automotive greats. Thanks Scotty!

Bursted

Here's a closeup of Gary Vogel's Gibson Factoryburst-- a limited edition reissue of the 1959 LP standard sunburst (only 50 made of this finish).  These babies are entirely handmade to exact standards  of the 1959 models, down to the nth degree-- finish, pickups, woods, everything.  Gary recently got this from American Guitar Boutique. Those guys are great; fantastic service, friendly, expert knowledge, and good prices on the good stuff.

Gary always choose his guitars by playing them acoustically first-- you can easily tell the exceptional ones in how they feel & respond before you plug them in. All of his LP's are of the kind where everything comes together on a particular guitar, to create something magical that sets them apart from the others. He's also got a Silverburst that blew him away even though he doesn't particularly like that color, so he had to buy it. Same goes for his 2009 Tradition Standard. It out-shined nearly 50 other LP's that he tried over the course of a month.

When Gary picked this baby up, he KNEW where all the extra $$$ went-- This baby is awe-inspiring in how it just channels your energy, and sparks your muse.  He's usually into much thinner necks, but the feel of this thicker chunkier profile is not a hindrance for some reason.

Gary says: "I have not played any guitar that comes close to this baby.  Yes, I am in love!"

"Come out to see my band MFG (we are on Facebook, natch) and see and hear her in action.  We play Oct 20 9pm at Driftwood Char Bar in S. Mpls. and Mayslacks Nov 30 in NE Mpls." 

Want to learn more about Gary? Here's some links I found on the Web for additional cool stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl9vcdBFTnU
http://www.effectsbay.com/tag/gary-vogel/
http://www.roundthedialmagazine.com/category/guitar-town-tech-talk/
http://www.reverbnation.com/redonred

Frankenstein

Freak of the week - F R A N K E N S T E I N -
Just a little tease to remind our readers to start working on their Halloween costumes. Know the origin of this fine axe? Use the comment section below to show off your knowledge.

This ORR That

Thanks to ROCKFIST's Kenner Siegrist for this week's feature photo.  A very unique sounding one of a kind hand made bass by Charles Orr. Kenner.is a very fortunate fellow to have this bass in his collection. You can track down the owner of this fine bass at a local TC performance near you, & ask Kenner about this axe.

Guitar Moose

  I met Alex Hartinger this weekend by chance, & he got me up to date with his current guitar endeavors. Check his cool website to find his top shelf leather straps & innovative guitar pics. He dropped me a few samples of his reduced fatigue picks & sticky picks, & I can't wait to try them out. You can meet Alex the innovator in person on Sunday nights at the open mic jam in Blaine. Showcase your talents & get some free samples from the designer himself. He'll make you feel right at home.
http://www.openmicjam.com/
http://www.guitarmoose.com/

Wyatt's Wonderful J-200

Wyatt Cote has been swapping guitars since his early teens & has now accumulated many cool specimens. I think the rarest of his prized vintage instruments currently is a Gibson J-200....Jr.
Made in the 90s at the Bozeman factory, Gibson only did a limited run for a few years. You could travel to guitar shops around the US & you'd rarely see another. Wyatt acquired this at a local pawn shop in Mankato for $900, which was a bargain so he snatched it up and has been looking on ebay, craigslist and gbase ever since to see if he could find another one.

Wyatt is currently seeking a new band to work with in the metro area, He lives in Mankato, but if the circumstances are right he would move or just drive without a problem.  He wants to play guitar for a living, and has done a pretty good job so far at paying the bills so far; but he's finding it a little tough to find work at the moment.

Here is his webpage, it has links to Facebook , Youtube & Twitter  

http://www.wyattcote.com

Thanks for sending the great photos, Wyatt. Best of luck to you.

Space Ranger

Musicvox Spaceranger Bass, proudly displayed by TC resident & discriminating & owner: J-Bone Swanson. This new gold fleck 4 string axe gets used regularly in the successful Minneapolis based cover band PopROCKS, & it's a great looking staple in the herd of electrics that make up the unique PopROCKS sound. Click HERE for the schedule of where you can follow this hip group & check out this guitar up close. Thanks fro sharing this uber unique bass, Jason.

Drea

Honduran mahogany body and neck with a flame maple body cap. The head cap is quilted Honduran Mahogany. The body, neck and headstock have abalone purfling and cream binding. This is a set neck construction. The scale length is 24.625". The fingerboard is Indian Rosewood with gold mother of pearl block inlays and gold Jumbo frets. The pickups are Seymour Duncan Slash Alnico 2 humbuckers. The electronics are wired so that you can coil cut and reverse the phase. The switching is controlled with push pull pots. Tuning machines are gold Kluson waffle back with vintage pearl buttons. A toner was added to the maple top to give it that amber color. Not only is this a custom made guitar, but custom parts were made for the pearl inlays and truss rod cover, the pickups have custom wiring. Case is custom made by Ameritage.
    Contact treede@earthlink.net for more information or contact via Facebook.

Tom Schulz GMW

This guitar is modeled after the BC Rich ST3. Custom built by GMW Guitar Works, currently owned by Tom Schulz of Blaine. Tom has a number of STD's, I mean ST3's. Built in 2007, ebony fret board, Dimarzio chopper pick up in neck position, Tone Zone in bridge position, original Floyd Rose trem. Especially nice tiger quilt maple cap! Features 20 db boost rotary knob, & micro kill switch, finished off with jumbo 6100 frets. Want one of these? Lotsa luck. Read the review of this very special axe written by the original owner & posted on Harmony Central.

Time to Rock

Here's one from Cary Havlicek of New Prague. This guitar clock of his serves as a reminder to practice his guitar. Get yours on Google.  }:-D-  Cary's hip new variety act "Wreckless" has a gig at the Palace bar in Montgomery on Saturday July 28th for Kolacky Days. Check it out.

  Rock with me & the Ladies of the 80's Friday July 27th at Pickle Park in Fridley.

Toe Jam

Incredible "Big Foot" guitar will turn heads in any setting. The perfect axe selection for playing at the next big toe jam. If you know the owner or origin of  this unique FREAK of the WEEK you can use the comment section below to share your smarty pants-ness with our readers.

прикажи детаље

First, I would like to thank you for promoting my electric guitar construction design. I will try, in short terms, to describe its function. Essentially, there are two changes that should be made to the regular guitar design:

1. Change in the guitar neck

A channel should be carved along the full length of the guitar neck as shown in the drawing. It will allow a perfect grip and ergonomics of the hand on the guitar neck, more precisely of the metacarpal bone of the index finger [metacarpus]. The metacarpal bone fits inside the channel and hence decreases the tension of the hand and allows easy guitar playing without unnecessary big effort and tiredness. It will also enable bigger mobility of the fingers.

2. Change in the guitar body

The point of the guitar body where it connects to the neck has a cuboid shape. That creates difficulties when playing high notes. My design suggests curving and rotating the cuboid with radius as in the drawing. The junction is created using 5 bolts with special cone-shaped shims.

I believe that this is a radical improvement of the electric guitar design and with proper marketing, advertising, and promotional operations the market will accept it swiftly.

I do not have the required financial and physical facilities to conduct the design changes on my own, so I am hoping for your involvement in the realization of the project. Tell me what your opinion is on this, we can discuss the details at a later stage.

Looking forward to your reply,

Best regards,

Ljuben Karalievski

Dame Gruev 82

6000 Ohrid

Republic of Macedonia

  Join me Friday night 7/20 at 8:00 pm for a FREE concert at the Spirit of the Lakes Festival at Surfside Bay Park in Mound. 

Fudge Factory

Ibanez JEM Custom. unbound neck with dot inlay, factory Floyd Rose, & cool modified paint scheme. Steve Pritchard collection, Rogers MN. If you hurry, you can see a good chunk of his collection with the short lived rock camp "Fun Factory" based here in the twin cities

What's the Story?

A cool recent submission today from TC vet performer Paul Story. He's just acquired a gorgeous 1965 Guild CE-100D. It's very similar to a Gibson ES-175, with a slightly more shallow body and brighter pick ups. In some ways it's very Gretsch-like. The Guild Bigsby is fun, and as long as it's not abused, the guitar stays in tune. It's an amazing guitar on many levels, & a joy to show off. Thanks for sharing Paul. Find out more about Paul's musical journey by visiting PaulStory.net.

Rock with me Friday July 13th at Main Street Bar in Hopkins for Raspberry Festival.
Viva la Rock It Science

Crime Doesn't Pay

No it's not a mirror image, it's Dillon Jones, front man for the up and coming young twin Cities POP rock band LOVE OUT LOUD, showing off his uber-rare lefty 2005 copper Gibson Xplorer. These are truly sweet guitars as anyone who's ever owned one knows. Dillon was lucky enough to recover this sharp axe after a recent theft followed by a lengthy recovery process. Follow the LOVE OUT LOUD tour on FACEBOOK, or listen to their tunes on YOUTUBE. Best of luck on the summer tour gentlemen, the music can't lead you astray. See you Wednesday July 11th for your main stage performance at the Sonshine Fest in Wilmar, Minnesota.

1968 GIBSON Dove - Honorary Las Vegas Submission

  Bill Binnings pictured here with his sunburst Gibson Dove. He's owned it since new (1968) & sent in the pic after visiting this site from his home out in Vegas. He does a regular gig with this fine guitar at the Sambalatte Coffee Shop in Summerlin Nevada. The playability and sound is the big deal, on this vintage acoustic. Bill gets compliments all the time from other guitarists. The tone is so full, resonant and mellow....the wood is wide-open after all these years and it is all-original with a perfect setup. 10 gauge 80/20 bronze coated D'Addario strings sing like a bird, huge tone, quick break-in, triple the life of a non-coated string (for real). Bill can't say enough about his one owner guit-fiddle. "You have to play and hear it to understand. It is a life changer"!!

  Thanks for writing, Bill.
 Rock with me Saturday night at the Wild Rice Festival in Deer River.

Wycoff's Chrome Tele Hollow

Feast your eyes on this custom one off submitted by twin cities troubadour Nate Wycoff. It's a very unique project guitar with a Jap neck that Nate had purchased from Jeff Johnson at Mars Musical Adventures in Hudson WI. See & hear axe this along with his other fine Fender benders by following the link at: http://www.natermusic.com/. You might also catch Nate performing in "Just", his Radiohead tribute act.
  Rock with me & my camp this week, July 3rd at the Bayfront Party in the Park II, in Duluth MN, along with other TC greats, Boogie Wonderland, & HairBall.

Have a Ball

Ernie Ball Music Man, Circa 1982. I was honored to meet proud owner, player & regular guy David Weeks-Wynne at my place on the north side. I've see his cool band Trailer Trash a few times in the past, but had never been introduced to Dave. He's a great guy with a smooth style & cool sound, thanks to this early Bartolini powered thunder boomer. We all appreciate you sharing this picture Dave.

Bo Diddley

 

I ran into Jay Gillespie on Sunday in Saint Anthony. He had this Gretsch beauty out for sale on the Parkway, so I stopped to chat for a few minutes. It's a G5810 Bo Diddley signature model from 2005, & it's clean as you could hope for in a used axe. He's got a nice little collection consisting of electrics, acoustics, banjos, & tenors, & they're all in great shape. He was only asking $225 for this specimen. Always a treat to find cool guitars for sale just by chance.

Tiptoe through the Tulips

I met a cool cat in NE Mpls on Saturday down by the University Ave Farmer's market. He's got a couple guitars, & was kind enough to display one while I snapped this pic with my phone. Steve's got a nice PRS  too, but he's seen here posing with his 1967 Teisco Del Ray Tulip which is surprising shape considering all the decades that it has been exposed to. Good luck with the move Steve, & thanks for the amps!

Join me Saturday, June 23 at 8:00 pm for the Golden Valley Fire Relief Association Community Event. It's a FREE outdoor concert located at Chester Bird American Legion, - 200 N Lilac Dr, Golden Valley, MN.

Mini Jumbo Prairie State

Just by chance I stopped into Johann Brentrup's garage sale (N. Mpls) the week before last to learn there was a master luthier lingering on the premises. The images here are from his site at: http://brentrup.com/. This beauty is called the Mini Jumbo front with the Prairie State 18" rear, & retails around $3695.

Standard features:22.875” scale
X-bracing or Ladder-X
Red spruce top
Mahogany or white oak back and sides
Solid headstock
Grover tuners
Ebony fingerboard with dots
Pyramid bridge
CF tone tubes
Ivoroid Binding
Lacquer finish

Click HERE to see how these finely crafted instruments are constructed.
I can't wait to get my hands on one of these.  }:-D-

Optek FretLight

The 1994 Optek FretLight FG-200 Guitar. Click on the photo to enlarge. Innovative LED equipped Strat style body that hi-lites chord notes or scale notes. I'd love to get my hands on one of these. Owner Robbie Harrison of Milford Connecticut contacted me last week to purchase a guitar pictured on this blog, & was kind enough to share these pictures after I shipped him his vintage axe. He's got a great collection, & even though he's not from Minneapolis I'll post his submissions since he's now found his twin cities connection. Thanks for everything Robbie. Happy hunting.

Spruce Goose

Frosty Atkinson from East Bethel, MN; seen here holding his Takamine EF 350 MC. Frosty stopped over last week for a quick jam session, so I seized the opportunity to snap a couple photos of this high end gem. With a little help from Adobe photoshop I was able to show both the front & back of this spruce beauty. Believe me when I say it sounds as good as it looks. Full on-board electronics make this a joy to own. You can catch Frosty doing a show this Saturday June 16th at Povlitzki's in Spring lake park. He'll be happy to tell all about his cool guitars. Make sure you call him "Frostbite", he just loves hearing that.   }:-D-

Medieval Twang

Here's the latest custom medieval creation in the works from ace educator & world class performer John Schumacher of Iowa. John & I have had some great times jamming together over the years. His wife does the intricate wood burning seen here on his new tele. Nice, huh? Contact him on FaceBook for details on this new Fender Telecaster project. .

Maton Luge

The unique design found on this Australian classical performance guitar was enough to turn my head when I first found it two weeks ago. The sleek head stock on this Maton is cool, but what really sold me was the neck joint. It's extremely unusual to see a classical guitar built this way. It must be structually strong enough; after all, it's already survived 43 years & traveled half way across the globe at least once now. I really like this guitar, but for some unknown reason I sold it too soon, & too cheap. Find more pictures HERE on Ebay for the transaction details.

Rock with me & Rock it Science this Saturday 6/2 at Benton Station in Sauk Rapids.  }:-D-

Plecostomus

The latest release from rogue builder Doomadelic Guitars in Coon Rapids. A lot of notoriety has come his way for his tasteful one-offs. Get the details on this unique hot rod from designer Steve Janke at: TheMapHead@Hotmail.com

Enger & Frank

This FRANKENSTEIN bass is a custom built beauty conceived, calculated and crafted by Derek Enger of Elk River. It began as a "no name" Fender that was purchased from Mainstreet Music in Elk River. It came with a twisted neck, low grade tarnished brass & chrome hardware, & natural grain finish. Purchased mainly for the body & EMG pick-ups. It had a good clear defined tone for recording, but definitely needed updating for optimum playability. Neck was replaced with a Mighty Mite, tuners updated to gold Schaller, & bridge swapped for a gold hipshot. This bass’s balls dropped, but not completely satisfied with the look, finish was coated in black with tortoise pickgaurd. The action is set high, for a beefy edge good for all slap, fingering & pick techniques. As a final piece to this bass, Derek would like to add a hipshot drop D tuner on the E string. Hmmm; I think I've got one laying around here somewhere... This is now a serious bass to be reckoned with. You can ask Derek all about this & his other axes this Saturday June 2nd at Benton Station, 303 North Benton Drive in Sauk Rapids He'll hanging out with the rest of the band.

FREAK of the WEEK !
Gary Kramer Kramertorium. Here's a hi-performance version of the classic V design with a JETSON'S twist. More info here: http://www.garykramerguitar.com/Kramertorium.html

Rock with me & the RISROX crew Saturday night at Main Street bar in Hopkins.

To Suhr, with Love.

You know there's a good party going on when T.C. veteran entertainers Jonah & the Whales hit the stage at a local suburban pub here in town. Last Friday was no exception when lead player Scot Prudhomme layed down the solos at Robbinsdale's newly remodeled night club: "The Lodge". Scot says "the guitar does all the work", though I'm not convinced that's the whole story. He was playing a Suhr Pro Series S6 that plays like a dream and has the second best feeling neck he's ever played (next to his ’89 Strat). Most Suhrs have to be custom ordered but he found his config at a dealer in Florida and bought it sight unseen based on the reviews. He needed something with a Floyd Rose to cover the Whales gig, and wasn’t finding anything that tripped his trigger from Jackson, Ibanez or Ernie Ball. It is the only guitar he's purchased without playing it first, & it's been one of his best gear purchases.

Suhr is a high end custom builder doing mostly unique orders. They cut their own bodies, necks, pickguards and wind their own pickups. Unlike the Suhr Custom series, The Pro series has a set config which allows them to keep the price lower by producing in quantities but uses all of the same parts that the Custom line offers. This one is a Suhr Pro Series S6 in Honey Burst- Basswood body with 5A grade Flame Maple top. The pickups are the hot and juicy but clear SSH+ in the bridge and the classic and sweet sounding SSV in the neck with a Gotoh locking Tremolo. The neck is a very friendly even taper slim C shape. The thickness runs .800" at the first fret to .880" at the 13th fret. It is their most popular shape and John Suhr's personal favorite.

You should get out to a Whales gig & have Scot show you this impressive rock grinder.

Join me & the whole Rock it Science gang at the Basement in Prior Lake this Friday 5/11/2012 - That is if they get their liquor license reinstated by tomorrow...

The Versatile Librada CUSTOM

The Librada is a exquisitely beautiful acoustic/electric model that is meticulously designed & built for the gigging musician who wants one guitar that will give great acoustic guitar sounds, as well as great electric guitar sounds.
Very special thanks to Tim Reede of Tim Reede's Custom Guitars for this week's submission. The acoustic guitar circuit is completely separate from the electric guitar circuit, & there are two separate output jacks. The acoustic sound can be sent to an acoustic guitar amp or into a direct box to a PA system. The electromagnet pickup can be run to an electric guitar amp. You may use one or the other or both at the same time for a stereo effect. This is a great guitar to use with sampling pedals. You can sample an acoustic rhythm and play an electric lead over it. How cool is that?
Contact Tim for a consultation to find out just how he can help you.

Dual Guitar & Synth

When you're ready to get really creative, you may wish to try a guitar synthesizer like this PG-380. Matt Olson's vintage Casio is one of the earliest full functioning guitars that actually has a full on-board synth module. This one's for sale, & you can contact him direct at: brahmancomputer@gmail.com. I beleive he's looking in the $600 neighborhood. The core of this guitar itself was subcontracted from Ibanez to be the basis of this product line, & you'll find that it's a great guitar in it's own right. More pictures available at: https://picasaweb.google.com/108077002384960764916/CasioPG380?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOvLiaGGiK3NvwE&feat=directlink .

Parts-O-Caster

A friend of mine stopped over to jam a couple weeks ago, & without missing a beat I leaned over & snapped a couple shots of his back-up 6 string tele while it was resting on the stand. The Bender is a surprisingly sweet playing axe with bastardized tremelo, as indicated on the custom headstock decal. The neck feels meaty, with the big frets you wouldn't expect to find on a fender. This is one guitar you need to see & hear, the next time the Whatknots play in a burb near you. Dan Hanson, the regional sales rep for Fender will be happy to show you this & other guitars he uses on the show. Click HERE for their web page. They're practically the world's greatest cover band.

Rock with me tonight at Neisen's in Savage. It's gonna be a great NO COVER show.

Never Smile at a Crocodile

This isn't the first custom manufactured guitar strap I've gotten from Painted Creek Saddlery, but it's easily the coolest. Yes, it's real crocodile; no, it doesn't bite. This is the gear that can make a worthy musician into a rock star. Custom accessories that are tailored to your needs will put you in a class above the rest, & that's exactly what it takes to succeed in the entertainment business. If you don't stand out, you'll go un-noticed, thus un-remembered. Painted Creek creates many varieties of leather fantasy rocker stage gear to help transform you into the rock star that you truly are. Gauntlets, belts, hair accessories, jewelry, guitar straps, wireless pouches, chaps, & wrist bands are all standard fare, & business as usual for this hip twin cities custom leather designer. Hit the site at PaintedCreekSaddlery.com & take the first step to fulfilling your destiny & living your dream. In a big hurry? Contact them by phone at: 763 228-2986
Stand out - Make your personal style memorable. Be all that you can be.

Want to see this & other cool leather work from Painted Creek? Stop out to a show & see many of these various leather products used live on stage.

Root Beer - Ibanez RG570

The ever reliable Ibanez RG-570 is known to be one of the fastest & smoothest playing guitars around. With the world famous ultra slim Wizard neck at the forefront of desirable components on this axe, you can close your eyes & swear you were playing IBZ's flagship Jem. Anywho... I won't be using this guitar any longer in our current setting, so I launched it on Craigslist this week (http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ank/msg/3103251249.html). Shoot me an offer at Duganrox@aol.com if you find yourself in need of a locking Floyd Rose equipped tone monger that sustains til next Tuesday & dive bombs like it's WWII. It's in great shape, as it's never left my house even once over the years. The finish is metal flake, & it's called Root Beer Sparkle.

Rock with me this Saturday Night (4/21) at GB Leighton's Pickle Park in Fridley

Mellow Yellow

I stopped into the Anoka Flea Market today & spotted a plethora of used guitars, banjos, & mandolins that made for a pleasant perusal. Patty from Earthway Music runs a musical exchange in South Haven, & was kind enough to show me this screaming yellow zonker. It's a neck through Les Paul copy import that's priced to sell, & plays surprisingly well. Check out the odd pick-up array of Humbucker, single coil, & soap bar. Hmmm... if you recognize this guitar you can use the comment section below to correctly identify it & claim your bragging rights. Watch for Patty's unique selection of stringed instruments at various trade fairs around the area, or contact her at 320 236-7852 to shop her axes. Here's the email contact as well: earthway@lakedalelink.net