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Video Link

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Video Link is a friendly competitor of G-Force Media Productions.

The owner of Video Link happens to be the owner of the building that G-Force is renting off of. The owner, Hugo, is quite the business man who does not have the same attitude as most people in the video making industry. He has the personality of your favorite uncle. He is very easy to get along with and, has the eye for the detail that you are looking for in a project manager, that will follow through with your specific and unique needs.

He also sells video equipment as well.

So check out his fantastic site and don’t be afraid to call. Oh BTW, he’s the guy who owns the great reasonably priced,beer dispenser that I talk about in my G-Force Media write up on this blog.




My choice is the Kyser Capo, Quick Change

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I had this capo thrown in when I got my Larrivee L-03 at the 12th fret in Toronto. I had always used the ones with the adjustable straps before with great results. I had seen quick change ones before but I thought that they where not the best way to go. Mind you, they were the ones from 1980’s.

As we approached the cash register to buy my new found love, don’t worry honey I’m not gonna leave ya, the sales guy named Tim, who happens to be a great guitar player in his own right, said “Would you like something thrown in for free?” I looked above him on the wall (where they keep the FOR SERIOUS FINGERS ONLY part of the store)and said “Hey honey, how about that guitar above him for you?” The guitar that caught her eye was a mint 1957 Fender Stat, for around $10,000.00 can. She said “that would be nice”, and that just gave Tim a good laugh. He then asked if I wanted the UNBELIEVABLE GUITAR tech. (who happens to work on BRUCE COCKBURN’S guitars), to give it a once over before I bought it? I said, “sure, why not, if he’s good enough for B.C., then he’s good enough for me!”

After bringing my new baby upstairs, Tim came down and we went out for a smoke outside. To this day when I go into the 12th Fret, Tim remembers my wife’s name and asks how she is feeling. She has been off work for some time now do to stomach problems. This is the type of small town service that you get in this place.

While having a smoke, I asked him about the new capo’s that are out now and what are they like? Tim then replied “Say no more, I will give the same one that I use and you will not be disappointed”. Sure enough, when he brought back my baby from seeing god, he put it on the guitar and I started playing on it,it worked like a dream.

It’s so easy to place and remove on the guitar without looking like an idiot. I don’t have to really tune the strings that much after putting it on either. I still have a couple of the old ones that I have used in the past in my case to be used by players who have forgot theirs when we jam and when they use my Kyser capo they normally go out and get one. They are a little bit pricier then others but in this case, you get what you pay for.

Any other thoughts about what is the best capo out there?

Keep on jammin’

Elixir guitar strings

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I’ve used these strings exclusively on my Larrivee L-03. I play with the “Light .012 – .053”, with great results. They honestly last longer then most and the have a great range of sound. They also allow me to slip and bend the strings with great ease. I might add that they keep tune for ages as well.

The I love the sound I get on the bass end especially when I am in “open D” (DADGBE) when slapping the bottom D with my thumb on songs like “Peggy’s Kitchen Wall, BRUCE COCKBURN” and “Neon, John Mayer”. The mid’s are fantastic on “Penny for your Thoughts, Peter Frampton”.

I change my strings every 4-5 months and they still keep up their sound intensity, but after that my pickiness and stubborn ways would come back into the fold. When I was a struggling musician, I would boil, yes boil, my strings and then place a cloth around the end of the string and wind the string in a circular motion to eliminate the dead skin that had developed around the outside exposed part of the strings.

I haven’t used my electric guitars in a while so I unfortunately haven’t gotten around to try the Elixir‘s on them.

Has anyone tried these strings on their electrics?

Keep on Jammin’

Me and my Larrivee L-03

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I am in love with my new acoustic guitar! This baby plays like a dream and sounds great. The neck is a bit wider then most put I chose it that way.

Larrivee L-03

Truth be told, I got this puppy for a final gig with some greats guys that I played in a band with. A couple of yrs. ago another dear friend of mine called, ago out of the blue, and asked me if I wanted to get the old band back together for one last gig. This was the band that i played in, in high school. These guys were the best bunch of musicians that I had EVER PLAYED WITH period!

I was at my parents house in Brantford while renovating my aunts house when I got the call. I was in total shock when Tony, the best keyboard player I’ve heard, called and asked me about it. While talking to him I drifted in my mind about the greatest high that I ever got from playing live with. Ohhhh …. what times they were.

He and his wife Laurie had an idea to get all of the bands that Tony played with together for one night at a bar in Milton Ontario called “The Hard Ball”

It was a 80’s style theme night. He called everyone up and they all pretty much confirmed they’d be there. They had the main stage rented and had made tons of food for everyone and a cash bar. The original drummer, Steve Negus, of Saga even showed up. Too bad the rest didn’t.

Anyways, we talked on the phone and decided that we would play a song an appropriate song called “On the Road” by Max Webster. So needing a acoustic guitar while knowing that some heavy weight guitar players would show up, I decided to buy one at the legendary “The 12th Fret“.

I had been to it at their last location around 20 yrs. previous and now that their newer location was down the st., I told my wife what i was going to do. To my relief she was VERY SUPPORTIVE of the idea. We had wanted to get an acoustic that I was worthy of with the working budget of around $5,000.00 can. So I went in and played guitars for around 8 days straight, 5-6 hrs. a day.

The staff was unreal to me. I told them right from the start what I was looking for and said “don’t be afraid to ask anything about anything that you want to know”. They told me to come in early and stay till whenever, they even gave me a great sound both to play in. If you ever are looking for an axe, this is honestly the only place to go. They sell very high end gear so there is no pressure by any stretch of the imagination.

I played many, many, many guitars that week. The staff didn’t even bother me once, they looked at me once in a while through the glass and nodded their head, that’s it, NO SALES PITCHES. The one that I chose was not that expensive and in my opinion, the best sounding one plugged in or not! i won’t bore you with any of the particulars unless you ask so here is the link and check it out for yourself.

Anyone else have one of these babies?

Keep on Jammin’

Gemini, the band that should have been …

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This is a band that played in my back yard for my little sister Anne-Marie’s 16 birthday party.

The band consisted of Steve B (bass), John E (lead/rhythm guitar) Danny T (keyboards) and Eddie C (drums). These guys were very modest in their ability to play. They played a lot of the Cars to a “T”. They took a the simple and direct approach to their playing and it was a pure joy to listen to them.

They were my childhood friends that I jammed with them here and there, we mostly partied! The guitar player John is the person who I have known the longest. I knew Johnny since I was 4 yrs. old, really! his nick name was “e nhoj”, that’s John E spelled backwards, not a lot to do in Brantford during those formative years.

Anyways, he had made his own guitar in tech class and it was HUGE! The guy was a ladder with legs! He was the one who helped me learn how to ride a bike, he was the only one of my friends who was tall enough to hold me and the bike steady to push me off and hope like hell I went a couple of feet down the driveway, really! His hands were massive, he found that playing other guitars were too small and uncomfortable to play for long periods of time. So he decided to make his own guitar. His guitar neck was around 1-2 inches thick. When I played it, it made me fell like I had the hands of a 3 yr. old. I wish that back in 1975 we had the internet because the blog called “Building The Ergonomic Guitar” would have been valuable for him.

Then there was Stevie B, now that guy is a colourful character. The bass player. He still hangs around BIG JOHNNIE in the big city of Brantford or “droftnarb”, please try this out @ home with your name or someone else’s, it’s best played while heavily intoxicated! Steve is now a recording artist and transplanted bass player to guitarist. When I get the link to his site I will update it so you can hear his GREAT CHOPS!

The drummer Eddie was the drummer in that KISS tribute band that I played in. He took lessons and was in a polka band as well.

Dannie, on keys, played his faithful Farfisa keyboard, just loved that sound honestly I did!

Johnnie and Steve are coming up to our place on the Danforth to help install a “Tin Ceiling” in our living room on the weekend and HOPEFULLY will bring their axes! I might even attempt to record us in “intoxicated slur-round sound” and let you all get a laugh!

Sing-cerley
Chris P (sirhc p)

Upkeep of your finger nails

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I am the type of guitar player who uses a combination of playing with a pick, pick with finger nails and nails exclusively.

My style of playing is that of a aggressive one. This is not to be confused with a THRASHING technique. I also playing with a lot of a dynamics’s. I mean having the ability to play any song very quietly/soft (PPP, triple piano) or very LOUD (FFF, triple forte). I find that being able to do this allows me to change the mood of the piece at any given time.

I love the straight forward playing with a pick style but having the tools to be able to incorporate all the fingers is useful as well. But my new re-found love is to get back to my roots and just use my nails. I played classical guitar for a while and did not play ANY ROCK at all.

I wasn’t a BRUCE COCKBURN fan until 1986, this when I was living in a dorm/frat house in Toronto (Bloor and Spadina). Here I would be able to play acoustic guitar for hours straight, but I sure as hell wasn’t! I started to finally listen to HOW he was playing. I had thought that he was using a pick because the only player in the world at that time, so I thought, that used his fingers was Mark Knopfler, boy was I wrong!

So listening to his music I found this thing called ” Open Tuning “. The first open tuning song I did was “Tokyo” by BRUCE COCKBURN. I played this tune for days on end! It was new, refreshing and something that I had never done before. So, one day I got out the phone book and looked up his name, found his number and called him. Sure enough, it was his number and his wife at the time answered and she told him “that he would not be home for some time.” Well at least I tried! True story.

Anyways, when I first started to take my nails seriously (this was in grade 9 remember),I had used MANY products to strengthen my nails. I had gotten use to shaping them to fit my attack. The long nails held out not bad but I was always pissed when they broke!!! This was just something that I had to get use to. After I had had enough of this style after 2 yrs., I went off to different ones. I loved to try different styles that I could bring to my playing.

So fast forward to July 8th 2005, my birthday. My wife was working as a ER nurse in a Toronto Hospital and I had just dropped her off at work, it takes literally 1 minute, we live just down the street, and I had a finally got up the nerve to try this fake nail thing, YES FAKE NAILS! When I was done I just had to go back to work and show her. She just laughed and laughed, not to mention her buddies as well, I work with them all so that was fine.

I just love them! I can play at any time without having to worry about them braking and not having them when I want to play. The only thing that I don’t like is the fact that when they grow out they look weird. They look like I have jaundice of the finger nails, they have a yellow hue to them. Women are lucky because they can just throw some nail polish on them. If I do first would be divorced or placed on the H6 Ward of our hospital.

The cost is around $10.00 and that’s not bad. Does anyone have any other ideas that they use for their nails other then the fakies that I use and please tell me how durable they are and be honest!

Keep on jammin’

G-Force Media Productions

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As you may or may not know but I am a 40 yr old guitar player living in Toronto Canada, who is continually upgrading my genre of music and sometimes wanting to record or just screw around in a recording studio. I, as well as every guitar player/musician on the planet, know how pricey it can be to just walk into a recording studio (not to mention the mixing time, which can add up to a great down payment for a house in Toronto) makes you feel like your a 3rd rate citizen.

But this place is run by a dear friends of mine. They are younger then I am but have quite the unbridled enthusiasm of seasoned professionals anywhere in the business. THESE GUYS HAVE THEIR CHOPS ON THEIR BOARD DOWN RIGHT!!!!!!

RICHARDO JONES, the true driving force behind this venture, has worked with me at a local hospital for 5 years. He is quite the accomplished keyboard player, greater in years then he looks. I’ve been in G-Force studio many times before, even helping out fixing up their new unique Shang-gra-la like recording location when they first got the keys for the joint. It’s also very difficult not to get along with this guy, really!

It’s a professional but very relaxing studio, this is the kind of place that any man would give his left nut to have in his basement.
They even have a beer dispensing machine in it, which is reasonably priced I might add!

The sound that he can pull out of his board is UNREAL! The equipment is old school looking, but the software and the versatility he has with it (most importantly), is TOP SHELF!!!

They also do video shooting editing and pic’s as well, done by a fine young man named Sye, for New York City. I’ve been fortunate to have known this guy, as well as Steve, for the same amount of time as Rick. This is VERY interesting as well, trust me. When you go down just to see what they have, ask them to show you some things they’ve done in the past, it’s a scream!

If your like me, or you just want to have had a experience just like, then JUST GET OFF YOUR ASS AND CALL THEM! Their NOT SALESMEN!!!! They love their craft and you’ll find that abundantly clear when you meet them, no more no less, that’s it.

Check them out at G-Force Media Productions.

Neon

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This is the most challenging song that I have come across in years! It also sounds great in the acoustic or electric version of the tune. Below is the link that I felt that best showed me how to approach playing the song. If you are going to attempt this tune then take your time on it.

I’m a perfectionist and I have been known to stop a song and start it up again to the annoyance of many an audience. I love the high you naturally get from pulling off a master piece live and people REALLY lovin’ it! Perfecting this song at this time in my life will have to be put on hold for now.

So I set my sights on another tune that is similar in difficulty but more achievable now. This is John Mayer’s acoustic version of Neon. I just got my hands on a couple versions of this and my favorite is from a show from Chicago (on a PBS network)that is acoustic. Buddy guy plays with him in this show but not on this tune.

When I first came across this tune I was instantly captured! It was very challenging from a physical stand point too. Truth is, my thumbs have problems approaching/playing the low E on the neck. I have never ever thought that this is a technique that I would ever have to use.

When I was really playing a lot I was always keeping my ears out for songs that were very challenging to play because that is what interested me the most. I never paid attention to the words because I was not a song writer. This type of playing was pure cheating I thought so I would never have anything to do with it! I guess I was very short sighted as a 14 yr old.

Is anyone trying this tune out?

John Mayer, love him or … at least try to learn something from him!

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Boy, John Mayer, who seems to everyone else on the planet except me; to be the best guitar player from an technical/artistic aspect, is a girlie guitar player? For me, this is the biggest crock of shit coming from these musically challenged people who happen to listen to him, even if it just in casual listening!

My guitar playing approach, is to (1) listen and see how difficult and unique the playing approach is and (2) well … that’s it!

I live to be able to pick guitar players brains and incorporate them into my own distinct style of performing! After all, there is no suck, in my thinking anyways, performer that has come up with a definitive original style that is completely theirs and theirs alone! Everyone has certain influences that help them create their own style.

When I listen to John Mayer, I see different colours of sounds. I am aware that basic chords are … just chords, in the primary position. But what John does is, rip them apart and put them back together in a refreshing way that helps cut through the different direction/genres that are out there right now.

I had the chance to see/copy a show that John Mayer did in Chicago (my brother lives there and what a place to see, if you have not been there then don’t just surf there, go there!). Buddy Guy was playing with him for 2 songs and wow, what a treat for the uninitiated. John Mayer was ripping these chords off and Buddy Guy was blasting away these solos and then trading off with John. Man, if that guy, John Mayer or Buddy Guy for that matter, walked into a music store and I was there playing guitar, I might just put mine down.

I am currently figuring out a song of John Mayer’s called “Neon” in the acoustic version. This is a song that I can play technically but the fine nuances will take me a while. It’s like the time I was figuring out how to play Lady Madonna”, the piano part that is, on the guitar. It was the first time that I attempted to use a pick (Jim Dunlop, 1 MM) and every other finger on my right hand to play the song. It took me around 1 whole year practicing it until I felt comfortable to play it on stage.

The thumb slapping on “Neon” is fun, as usual! The best album to listen/figure out this on is “Inside wants out”. I have become accustom to this technique by playing “Who put that bullet hole in Peggy’s kitchen Wall” by Bruce Cockburn. I also put in a bit of a bass thing in there to really create the big sound!

So, who is the young girl or soccer mom, who listens to John Mayer Now?

My first Rock Bands Concert … a KISS tribute one at that!

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I mercifully skipped grade 7 for you all and went right to the good stuff.

Well I just have to let the cat out of the bag and swallow my pride on this one! Yes I was playing in a KISS tribute band and was Ace Frehley. Well in all honesty, the majority of the tunes were KISS tunes. I was the only one in the band who did not belong to the KISS Army though.

I was into more challenging music but the only guys I knew that could play were these guys! Don’t get me wrong, these guys were my best friends for the longest time! Eddie, was the drummer and had extensive gigging with a “Polka Band” and Brian, the guy in my previous posts was the other guitar player. We didn’t have a bass player at the time due to the fact that no one we knew played the bass.

When I was in grade 7, I remember playing with the Muroz brothers. It was fun because they had taken lessons and could play their instruments well. I think we played some Queen, Led Zeppelin and some pop tunes of the day. I forget why we broke up but I guess that is how it goes. Sorry, I just had to write a bit about the grade 7 thing!

Anyways, we would practice and practice for hours on end. I keep trying to get these guys to slow down and take apart the songs that we were playing and it did sink in to some degree. I’m sure that they would tell ya differently but it’s my blog so there!

As we grew older we found that other schools had band and that they were playing live at their schools so we had no choice, let’s do a live show. Our first and only show was to be played at “St. Bernard’s” school. This was what we thought was our big break!

During this time I had been introduced to another band in the making. They were both in high school and they were just who I was looking to play with. They were Tony, the keyboard player who sounded like a god on that thing, and Harry the guitar player who could play quit well technically but lacked the feel that you need!

Anyways, when we played the show, I had a blast! My soon to be band mates where in attendance and the show went on. Brian, who was like Gene did this wild guitar solo in the audience with the help of MANY GUITAR EXTENSION CHORDS while i was lying on the stage moving these knobs on my old ” BOSS BF-1 FLANGER”. Our band was named “Duce” and when we played it to start off the show, the words go something like this, “Get up and get the hell on out of here!” and there goes Brian singing it directly to a nun, I almost blew a nut laughing so hard on stage!

So, how was that?

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