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My first Chorus pedal

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It was the Boss CE-2. Boy, those were simpler days.

This was my 2nd peddle that my great parents bought for me. I was the first in my direct and indirect circle of Brantford musicians to have this one.

I thought that it was a peddle that Alex Lifeson used. It was that good at reproducing the songs and effects that he used!

I almost died when the one of the knobs broke off this baby when I was going from a friend of mine to back home for the night. I thought that it was broken beyond repair. Yes, I very naive back then, electronically challenged you might say.

Here is The Illustrated History of Boss products that will make you become nostalgic or laugh your butt off! I was doing both.

In a Musician.com article, it says it all. A very simple pedal for a simple guitar player.

Keep on Jammin’




Finger picks?

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Has anyone ever tried these things? The last time I tried them was when I was trying to figure out the banjo! They are silver coloured picks that are used to pluck the strings from bottom of the string upwards. They can be sized to any finger. One size pretty much fits all I think.

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They are fine for this finger style technique but my style has my fingers moving both upwards and downwards as well.

This is where the problem begins. The tip of the pick tends to go under the string when I move in an upwards motion on the strings. No matter how careful I am at a fast picking, I still run into this problem.

Does anyone have an idea to this problem?

Keep on jammin’

Well it had to happen sometime

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Today was like any day, at work in the O.R. recovery room. People coming in to be taken care of and then leaving when they are ready to go to either their in-patient room or to go to the final recovery room, then home.

Last weekend we were at my mother’s birthday dinner treating her to her favorite Chinese restaurant. During the meal I had developed a crack on the fingernail on my middle finger on my left hand. As you know I use my finger nails to play with most of the time and this is a big thing to have happen to a guitarist like myself.

I tried to repair it with a product called Ecrinal. This product is partially made of horse hair resins. This product is suppose to be one of the best on the market but doesn’t work well on my plain finger nails. I could have used crazy glue to repair it but I didn’t have any at the time. Note: medical crazy glue is used on some cuts to close them up in hospitals all over the world.

In my case if I had some crazy glue on me at the time, the glue more then likely would have traveled onto the top portion of the fingernail where the nail meets the skin, at the cuticle. If this happened, the nail will still grow out and the glue would hold the skin and nail together at that point, ahhhhh! It would not allow the nail to grow freely away for the skin, I’ve done it before without knowing what was going on!

So today, while transporting a patient to his room, he was very aggressive and we tried to get him to settle down so he would not rip out any of his I.V. lines. During this, I bent back my nail and it cracked to the point where I had to gingerly remove it from my finger.

I started to do so very carefully, only after the transport had been complete. I wasn’t sure if the nail was completely broken off from the rest of the healthy nail, which is still strong and attached to the other part of my finger.

As I was removing the damaged part at the end of my finger, I thought that it would be quite painful but to my surprise and relief, it came off rather nicely.

So now for the big question, do I get new nails or take the rest off and give the old nails underneath (the fake ones), time to breath? If you are not aware, if you keep fake acrylic nails on your fingers all the time, you run the risk of having very unhealthy looking nails later on in life? Bet you did not know that. Well there you go, you learned something new today!

Keep on Jammin’

My old trusty Roland BOSS Flanger BF-1

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This unit is a vintage pedal to be used with guitar and keyboards. The effects with this pedal is just awesome! It works like a dream when I play Spirit of Radio, Lime Light or Red Barchetta. It phases in and out with mind blowing effects.

If you are a keyboard player, you might want to take a very close looks at this pedal. It can give you a sound similar Leslie Amplifier. The closest to it that is out there. Many other accomplished keyboardist have similar views.

When I was jamming with Tony F., the best keyboardist I’ve ever had the honour to play with live, he wanted to give my pedal a try. To our amazement, it was the best sound that we had ever heard. Tony had the foresight and ear to know that a Leslie Amp. is the best thing going for the serious keyboardist. So he actively was searching for a pedal to give him that desired effect. Little did he know, he had the answer that he was looking for all the time, literally right in front of him!

If you are not aware, Leslie Speakers/Cabinets are speakers inside the cabinet that rotate, yes rotate to give you that natural whirling sound. They are those big wooden boxes that you see in church choir lofts. This will make you think twice when looking up at the band upstairs thinking that there are no undiscovered secrets in a church!

When the old band got together for a re-union show a couple of years ago, Tony told me that he still had that old pedal and that it still had the box and manual with it. It’s really nice to know that there are still very decent people roaming around the planet like him, a real throw back to gentler days.

On this Boss Flanger site you can hear the sound that you get from it. Check it out you vintage sound seekers. It also has a great picture at the bottom of the page.

The Morley Fuss & Wah wah pedal

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This is the pedal that I lost some time ago to an old boss and friend at a company called Mr Case in Toronto. He used it many years ago when he was gigging and I wasn’t. The band always practiced in their warehouse and one night it was broken into and yep you guessed it, off it went.

I loved this thing for one reason and one reason only, the sound that I got when I used it for La Villa Strangiato, from Hemispheres, 1978.

This is the part when they start playing. He uses the Morley Wah pedal to get that great Gothic church organ effect.

I used to sit and try this effect for hours on end at home. With my old Boss Chorus, Boss Flanger and Morley pedal, running through the HIWATT it sounded just like a church organ.

For a pedal that I used for only one thing, it worked flawlessly! The way that the sound slowly just crept out of the amp. … It still gives me goose bumps just thinking of it.

The Fuss effect part of the pedal I never really explored, too bad ’cause it may have had some use at some point when I was playing a lot.

It was big, scary and cumbersome looking but I still miss it! RIP, Mr. Morley, wherever you’re playing.

Keep on Jammin’

First Echo Machine

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I was watching a copy of the Grammy Awards the other night. I’m honestly not into this stuff but when we found out that The Police were going to be playing, we taped it.

Halfway through the show we came across the memorial segment. In it, it showed that Roger (Syd) Barrett had passed away. My jaw hit the ground. My wife reminded me that we knew of it, but as usual I forgot.

So anyway, I went on a hunt for Roger(Syd) in cyberspace and found some of the equipment that he use and I learned about the Binson Echorec Box..

This thing reminds me of the Roland Space Echo that, Scott Merrit, a childhood guitar hero of mine from Brantford used. This Binson Box was the forefront of special effects pedals that has lost it way in todays crazy marketing world of guitar special effects.

So let’s pay some homage to the past and look for more blasts from the past and if your lucky, you’ll learn something that can be used today!

Keep on Jammin’

Schematics for old Pedals

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Well have you ever had a old pedal that you wish you had the SCHEMATICS for, so some electronic buddy of yours said that if he had it, he could fix or re-build it for you? Well look no further.

While surfing the other day I came across this site BUT I HAVE NOT TRIED IT YET. If by chance someone out there does contact this site can you please tell us about your response to the quality of the schematics that they send you.

My DigiTech – Multi Chorus

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I bought this item from Tim at the Twelve Fret in Toronto in July, 2006. My DigiTech Multi Chorus was bought with my acoustic guitar in mind.

I just love a big full sounding guitar when I’m playing live. I first try to achieve this while playing unplugged so when I play live, it sounds perfect. As you may or may not know, I’m a bit of a perfectionist. I have to have something always ringing on my axe when performing. I just hate a nano-second of dead air. I am just a sucker for a true full sound. This is where the sound of my new pedal comes in handy live. The owners manual is a big help as well!

I always plug in stereo whenever I can. I’m a huge Alex Lifeson nut so … that should say it all! He has sound that just hangs in the air while, other parts drift in and out. When playing live I strive for the sound that he gets when playing Lime Light, Red Barchetta, or my all time favorite, Spirit of Radio. This type of sound is sacred to me. This pedal allows me to take this direction without the high cost of multiple rack mount units to lug around.

The ” Voice ” button is my best friend on this unit. It goes up to 16 voices like a joke and the level control is a close 2nd. The fading/panning aspect that you get out of your P.A. using this is a real pleasant and relaxing sound to listen to when you are playing intricate pieces. I hope to one day play on a true QUAD P.A. but, I may have to wait awhile for that one.

The casing of this unit looks strong enough to drive over it with your car a couple of times but, I truly don’t recommend it. If I was a betting man, I’d try it or, if I had more dollars then cents (get it?) why not.

I honestly don’t use it a lot because I do not play live too often so, I can’t tell you how long the battery life is. You’ll have to try it for yourself and get back to us on that one.

Keep on Jammin’

My 1959 Fender Duo Sonic

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This is a picture of a Fender Guitar, not my 1959 Fender Duo Sonic (pre-CBS) but one that I found on-line. Unfortunately, I have lost the tail piece cover and the volume and tone knobs on my Fender. The 1964 Duo Sonic Manual is a blast to look at, check out those beatnik guys dancing around on the front page!

This guitar is like a “Student” model but it plays great if you are a speed freak! The guitar player in Steely Dan, (Walter Becker) and Scott Merrit from my home town of Brantford, Ont., use one!

The guitar is a Student model which is great if your a speed freak. The pick ups are single coiled that has a rich warm sound. The neck on it is fast and smooth flowing and very small. It’s well worn to the point where it practically plays itself.

I remember the day I first saw it. I was in my parents living room doing something when my mom walked into the house with this dusty old guitar case. I asked her what it was and she said that this was an old guitar that sat up in a friends of hers attic for many years. Her son was said to have had it forever and that he had just died and she wanted to get rid of it. Here we go, my mother was always looking for great deals in anything. She had brought some guitars home that would be great to break on stage but that was it.

So she plopped it down on the couch and she let me open it. My jaw just dropped and I proceeded to play this blast from the past and then asked her how much. She replied ” $130.00 (Can.)”, I said “YES!!!!”. I said yes just because it just felt so right! I didn’t even plug the thing into my “Hiwatt, 50 watt bulldog, 1/2 stack”( I will talk about that later).

I also remember vividly the day that i went to look at guitars from Steve’s Music in Toronto and took this with us to see what the price of it might be for curiosity sake. When we opened it up, some older guy came up to us and offered $2000.00 (Can.) right on the spot. We looked at each other and said ” No thank-you sir ” and acted like good country bumpkins that we were, that had just fell off the turnip truck.

In todays market it’s not worth that much but it sure as hell made my mom feel like one of those people on the Antiques Road that used a violin called something like “Stradivarius” to hold open the barn door only to find out that it’s worth just a few more bucks! I just loved that look on my mothers face that day!

Keep on Jammin’

My 1980 Fender Lead II

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This is the guitar that I have is to play more Rock and Roll tunes on. It’s a lot lighter then the RD Artist but heavier then the Fender Duo Sonic. The width of the neck is right in between both of the other ones. The intonation is perfect for the Ozzie stuff but it’s not as wide for the Jazz approach. I find is fabulous for playing the electric version of Neon that allows me to use my thumb on the upper E string.

The 1980 Lead II and the 1982 Lead II are both fine guitars. The Lead II Manual, which I wish I had the original, went missing somewhere in my parents house in the 80’s.

Not many scratches (I think that they’re character markings like the colour of the neck being worn down) on the body. The pick guard on the other hand has lotz of character, because of my aggressive NOT THRASHING style of attack in my playing. I use the D’Aaddario True Blue medium strings on this puppy.

My Serial # is E0009736 which makes it made in 1980. The guitar came with a brown shoulder strap bag and that was it, bare bones. I purchased in Hong Kong by a foreign exchange student but, his name eludes me right now. He live at Mr. Zryrini’s house down the street from my parents home in Brantford. I remember him being a great guy who could play the guitar not that bad but, he sure looked like he was having a hell of a lot of fun playing it!

He was a bit strapped for money at the time so I bought it off him. He was always at our house that summer and i showed him tons of stuff. I really felt bad for the guy because he no did not have an axe to jam with at home so I lent him the one he sold, weird eh? I had to because there is nothing worse then stunting the growth of a guitar player!

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