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Tonelab LE

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I was introduced to the Vox Tonelab SE peddle by a guy who I was playing with this past weekend at the Arlington Hotel’s Capron’s Cavern, Paris Ontario.tonelabse.jpg

The event was being held for a dear family friend who was celebrating his 50th birthday. Craig Peeler was the guitarist who played a wide variety of tunes. I brought along my Larivee and he graciously let me jam with him on stag that night.

Wow, I was at Steve’s Music on Queen St. in Toronto today and I was looking at a Vox ToneLab SE. This thing looks HOT! Unfortunately they did not have this in stock but was getting them in this week.

John Boldt was the rep. that I was talking to and he was very up to date on his pedals. He was saying that 12AX7 dual triode vacuum tube is used at the end/output of the inside mother board of the floor peddle. This has quite the warming effect on the sound. The tube is not used for the power of this system! He said that most pedal companies are using the vacuum tube at the beginning of their process but Vox was using it at the tail end instead. This makes sense because you would always want a warmer tube sound coming out the speakers.

I would recommend this little piece of equipment heaven for anyone’s collection!

Keep on Jammin’




OMG you gotta hear it to believe it

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Now I already have a good pick-up system in my Larrivee L-03 but when went into my favorite guitar store, the 12th Fret in Toronto, I feel madly in love with the L.R. Baggs IMix.

Now I have been looking to update my pick-up system in my L0-3 lately and found many systems in which to chose from. I have narrowed it down to two items. (1) the Fishman Ellipse Blend vs. (2) the LR Baggs IMix.

When I went in I talked to my favorite guitar guy Tim Cameron. Being the honest guy that he is he immediately directed me to a acoustic guitar pick up god named Nevin. I told him what I was looking for and told him that I was just looking to hear the differences between the two and he paid as much attention to me as if I was going to pick one up right then and there, now that’s service!

He brought me two guitars that had the pick-up systems already in them and put me in their little music room, plugged me in and let me got at them. Wow, was I impressed with both!

First I tried the Fishman Ellipse Blend. It had a real nice sound but I was detecting feed back. I know that I was in a little room but for some reason the feeling and sound was off to me. I realize I am knew at the finer subtleties of acoustic pick ups, but it was a gut feeling. It was very refreshing to see that you can adjust the position of the mic inside.

Then I tried the LR Baggs iMIX. The sound was full, responsive to very fine picking and it can overpower your senses, in my view that is.

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Guitarist realize that since the sound of the acoustic guitar is very complex and fickle, so therefore it is a must to use more than a single pickup to attempt to sense it.

The iMIX uses the Baggs iBeam under-bridge pickup with a Baggs Element under-saddle piezo. The Element pickup senses the strings and provides the presence and feedback resistance of piezo while the iBeam reads the sound inside the guitar and adds natural fidelity, albeit with increased feedback sensitivity. The signals from the the two pickups are blended, in this case via the rotary blend control, on a side-mounted, Baggs iMIX Onboard, pre-amp. This pre-amp also features three slider controls for volume, treble and bass, plus a phase reverse switch for a measure of elementary feedback control. A fingertip pressure releases the battery from its compartment for a quick change when required.

iBeam

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Element

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Now all that I have to do is get my wife on board!

Keep on Jammin’

I just came back from Dominic Troiano’s house – his old one that is

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I had tried in vain to locate exactly which house the Legendary Canadian guitarist, Dominic Troiano, lived in ever since my neighbour’s son had told me. I kept asking him if he could remember and he kept saying that he’ll someday soon he’ll go around there to try and jog his memory. I’m still waiting on that one Johnny.

A fellow employee in the hospital that I work with was a great friend to my neighbour’s son John. He too also said that he remembers his brother Dominic trying to play guitar. He had told me that they hung around Domenic’s brother and played cards with him for when they were young. I had met him at work one day after John had told me about our previous neighbour and asked him the same question. He had gave me the same response that John gave me.

I, being the very introverted person that I am, talked to everyone in the area that looked liked they lived here for ages. With the same question that I had for John and his buddy in hand, I obtained the same answer over and over again.

Now 5 years later, I stumbled upon the answer on line by chance. My jaw dropped, I grabbed my wife’s Canon camera and got in the car. In case your wondering I took the car because I didn’t want to be seen taking a picture of someone’s in secret. The owners may have thought that I was casing the joint!

Now I’m finally in front of the ex-home of Mr. Troiano. Like a kid at Christmas, I get out of the car and just stare at it. I just can’t believe that I’m there.

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He lived at the house on the right hand side of the picture. This is the type of home that is quite common in our area. It’s a semi-detached white house with brown trim. Small front yard with a small parking pad but just knowing that he lived and grew up here made it fell bigger then what it was.

In the front yard there was a middle aged man with his little dog talking to a neighbour. The man looked like a jazz musician and approachable. So what the heck, I might as well get out of the car and talk to the guy.

It turns out that he really is a jazz musician and very well aware of the history of the home. He told me that he has even approached the Troiano family through e-mail to see if they wanted to re-visit their own home! Now that’s a real gentleman.

He said that the home has not been renovated that much and that the feel of the home was almost the same as when he got it. He also told me that he bought it from the Troiano’s. The molding floor and ceiling was original and so was the front door.

After talking for a while, I asked him if I could take some pic’s for this post and he said yes. The thing that got my attention the most was the door. Imagining Dominic going up to that door and opening it sent goose bumps all over me, wow!

So now I know a little bit more about the history of our great neighbourhood and can share it with you all.

Mr Dominic Troiano R.I.P.

Keep on Jammin’

Guitar side ports

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guitarsideport1.jpg The one thing that I see in the evolution of the acoustic guitar today is its link with the past from Canada’s own, Glenn Gould.

He used a unique approach while playing in his later years, around 1983, when he took away part of the piano body to let the sound come out of the instrument in a unorthodox way.

First of all, the guy was way ahead of his time. What he did was to remove the wooden cover section that is used to cover the piano keys. He removed this part entirely. He would also close the piano lid on his concert piano, allowing the sound to be sent through the missing cover section of the piano.

This allowed him to hear the subtle tones while playing his music.

This was best shown in his 1980’s work of the gloomy nature of life. The slowness of some of his canon’s reflect the need for this type of sound exposure that the musician needs to fully understand what the audience hears, but as a very unique approach.

Second of all, the guy went to places that no one probably ever thought of venturing. I wonder if the person who thought of the guitar side ports ever watched Glenn Gould Hereafter? If he did, I bet this is where he may have got the idea, but then again I could be dead wrong.

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I have been toying around with the idea of putting in a new state of the art pick up system in my Larrivee. The system is called the LR Baggs iMIX. It captures a lot of the character in my guitar with an active response to it. That means that the pickups pick up the aggressive or passive playing of the strings on the guitar.

Now in order to place it in there, I must have it installed inside the body above the sound hole, closest to my face. That’s fine with me. The next question is what in the world do I do with the hole that the factory installed system sat in? It would look mighty funny just viewing a rectangular opening right there in my face. Do I just leave it there or what should I do with it? Here is my best option, I think.

I have always wanted both of my acoustic guitars to have pick ups so I can have a back-up on stage. So why not put my old pick up from the Larrivee into my old Aspen acoustic guitar. Perfect, I think? Unfortunately if I do this I will have this opening on the side of the body near my chest where the old system was. It would look so odd and out of place that I would be reluctant to let anyone look at my guitar. So while talking about my problem with the guitar tech at the 12th fret, he gave me this fabulous idea of the side port!

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They could change the look of the old hole and create a fancy looking design in it’s place!

This will allow a small portion of the sound to come up directly to me acting like another sound hole or a monitor if you will. This will not effect the tonal qualities of my baby I have been told. The tech had one in this part of the workshop that he made and let me try it out. Not only did it look very cool and original, but it was nice to have some sound coming from a part of the guitar that I have never heard it coming from in the past.

Now all I have to do is convince my wife about this one, wish me and my Larrivee luck will you all?

Keep on Jammin’

Ashley Holt the singer

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This gentleman was the singer with Rick Wakeman at the concert that I attended on Sunday August 19th, 2007 at the Danforth Music Hall. He was a short and portly man with a full bodied voice. An average looking guy with average attire. His stage presence was like a common guy with regular looking attire.

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I was told by the guy who bought my ticket not to be too judgmental by his appearance.

Yet at the end of the show, he seemed like just an average guy off the street. I am now aware of his resume of the bands that he played with and how important he is to Rock & Roll but I guess that I was looking forward to the music and not the singing.

This legendary singer was a mainstay with Rick during 19 of his solo albums. Now that’s nothing to sneeze at is it? Just being in a band with the caped crusader speaks volumes but for some reason I was not all that impressed.

I hope that the Ashley Holt fan club with be lenient with me on this one!

Keep on jammin’

The Bassist

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The Rick Wakeman concert that I saw a couple of weeks ago left me in a state of music appreciation overload. The level of musicianship at the show was in a realm that only a very talented few ever get to venture into or near.

They were so tight that it just made R. Jackson’s and my head just shake thinking to ourselves that this just can’t be happening right in front of our eyes and ears. When they played a staccato’ed note and then stopped for 2 or more seconds, the whole hall went eerily quiet. Now that’s scary! These guys have a kindred spirit/musical ability all rapped up into one.

Mr. Rick Wakeman was his usual stellar self but his supporting cast took a while to bring it up to his level. The only stand out in both of our eyes was ‘Pearly’ Lee Pomeroy the bass player and when he got going it turned out to be a night to remember!

His regular gig is with this band called Tar Babies.Their site is a MUST to check out in it’s entirety, but don’t let the Tom foolery misguide you. He comes across on stage of the perfect band mate. Always smiling and with positive energy to burn!

leepomeroy.jpg The one thing that caught my eye maybe half way through the show was that he was a left handed bass player and here’s the kicker, he had it strung upside down. He places the thick strings that normally go at the top of the neck on the bottom part.

Now to put it in a way that non musicians can understand, just envision this for one second, imagine using your keyboard turned upside down and having to type that way. It’s almost like walking backwards, you could do it, but when it comes to running it’s a whole new ball game.

So to give the nod to the best player in the band besides Rick Wakeman, Mr Jackson and I would have to give it to the guy above … really you had to be there!

Keep on Jammin’

More on my 1959 Fender Duo Sonic

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This baby was first introduced to us in mid 1956, the original Duosonic (two pickups) were Fender’s 3/4 size, student model, 22.5″ short scale beginners guitars.

With the switch in the middle position, the two pickups are in series, giving a humbucking pickup type sound. These short scale student models were made to the same high quality standards and materials that Fender used for its more expensive models. For this reason, Duo-Sonics are very well made.

In late 1964 both models moved to second generation, coinciding with the introduction of the Mustang. A buddy of mind, Serge Roy of Brantford has one of these puppies! The “II” designation was then added to the DuoSonic and MusicMaster names. These models are more like the Mustang (except the Mustang has a vibrato), than the original DuoSonic/MusicMaster models. The differences in the new generation were in the body shape, pickguard, and electronics.

It was available with either a 22.5″ or 24″ scale, but is most often found with the longer scale. The 24″ scale Duo-Sonic II, Musicmaster II, and Mustang of the September 1965 to October 1966 period are sometimes found with a slab rosewood fingerboard, usually of Indian rosewood.

Some Fender experts today speculate that the slab board necks were leftovers from 1962 Jaguars. Don’t tell Serge about this one,ok?

No matter what is said about this vintage instrument the only thing that matters is how it plays and sounds. I am truly blessed by having this little gem of a guitar and I know that. If you ever get the opportunity to play a 1959 Fender Duo Sonic you will know what I mean and remember this post!

Keep on Jammin’

A Canadian Amp called Traynor

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I never did have an interest in the sound that Traynor amps had so I didn’t pay any attention to them. No great guitar player played on one except my most influential guitar teacher Chris P. Even the place that he taught at, the old “Alonzo’s Music” on Colbourne St. in Brantford which is now called LA Music, was stacked to the ceiling with Traynor amps. Ah, but Mike Defo from the Brantford 80’s band “Vigilance” used Traynor guitar and P.A’s. Boy did I envy his playing as a young guitar player!

petetraynor.gif Peter Traynor is a longtime friend to Dominic Troiano, both from Toronto area , who made these Traynor amplifiers that are the most famous amplifiers that ever came out of Canada.

Troiano and the boys from “Bush” were the first band to take that equipment across the border and play it in the USA.

Peter Traynor isn’t a wealthy man, because he sold out to the person that was funding him.

Anyway, it’s a company called Yorkville Sound. It’s probably one of the biggest corporations in Canada, but it is Bush’s amplifiers that were made by Peter Traynor that actually broke through in the United States and made them money.

traynorhead300×161.jpg Traynor went well out of his way to make sure he got it right for them. He was a great innovator. He’s a genius and a very important person in the Canadian culture of music. After the infamous accident in Death Valley on their way to Vegas, they played the gig, and it was all that Traynor gear – the guitar amp, the bass amp… they just dusted it off, stuck things back on, and it all worked. Talk about Canadian toughness, I guess he got that toughness from our way of dominating the ice in HOCKEY!!!

I was inspired to write this post after reading a “Bush” site about John Prakask, the great bass player from the band.

Keep on Jammin’

The Mosport peace concert July 1970

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While reading the Toronto Star the other day, I found a great piece of music history that never was.

lennon_ono.jpg It was to be organized by John Lennon and whats her name. This event was to be part of their peace campaign, shortly after John left the Beatles. It was to have been a star studded event North of Toronto Ontario.

Unfortunately for us the US government got involved with it. I still to this day have no idea why the US Government was so concerned with John Lennon in the first place? If he was such an eyesore to them then why didn’t they just ignore him. You know like what I say about Micheal Jackson all the time, ” If you just ignore this freak, he will eventually just go away”. Just like the school or village idiot?

But even common sense has to prevail once in a while. Although the Ontario government at the time tried to put the ca bash to this one, the courts stepped in and said that it was ok to proceed.

When was it to have taken place, Aug. 7-9, 1970. I bet it would have been a blast!

John Lennon R.I.P.

Keep on Jammin’

Rick Wakeman’s band is terribly talented

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Oh my GOD!!! The show left me literally in a state of incomunicato.

Not just because of R. Jackson’s generous gift of buying a ticket for me (which I WILL remember for the rest of my life!), but due to the pure talent of Rick Wakeman and his band mates.

The tour is called Rick Wakeman’s Grumpy Old Picture Show.

The caped keyboard crusader was at his all time best!

When they started to play the first song I thought that these guys were just a rinkie dinkie band of whoever that he put together at the last minute. A funny thing happened later on though, they started to morph into this MEGA BAND right before my very eyes!

The band consisted of Rick Wakeman and the English Rock Ensemble.

I only wish that you all were there to enjoy it as much as we did. Thanx again R. Jackson for the memories!

Keep on Jammin’

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