POST # 481 MYSTERY CASE No 24 "WHO" am I ???

G'day Guitar Eureka Detectives!

You are given 10 clues to the identity of this mystery person , see how many clues you require to guess the correct answer, have fun!

1. I was was born in Detroit, Michigan , July 31st 1939.






2. I grew up in a musical family in which my mother played piano and sang in the Second Baptist Church choir and my father favored the banjo and ukulele.






3. I began began playing guitar at age 12 and quickly fell under the influence of such artists as Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt, Oscar Moore, T-Bone Walker, and Muddy Waters.






4. While a student at Wayne State University, I made my debut recording as a member of Dizzy Gillespie's sextet in 1951.






5. I made my recorded debut as a leader on the 1956 Blue Note session.






6. I recorded for Blue Note and Prestige and have played with everyone from John Coltrane, Duke Ellington to Jimmy Smith Bill Evans and many others.






7. During the 1950's I mainly played Gibson ES 175 with single neck P-90.






8. My amps includes Fender tweed, Fender Deluxe, Twin-Reverb, Super Reverb and solid state Polytone. Heritage also makes a signature amp for me.






9. Both Duke Ellington and B B King have sighted me as one of their favourate guitarists.







10. Stevie Ray Vaughan did a cover of my composition "Chitlins Con Carne".


I am ??????


ANSWER:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2DbH1PIWxU

ADDITIONAL TRIVIAS/CLUES

I am also known to have played GIBSON L5CES with Charlie Christian pickups, D'angelico New Yorker, Epiphone Emperor (both with floating DeArmond pickups) and Gibson Super 400CES.

Currently Heritage guitars made a signature model based on my trademark sixties Super 400.


I serve as Director of Jazz Studies at UCLA and teaches a course entitled "Ellingtonia", examining the life and accomplishments of Duke Ellington.

POST # 480 Pat Metheny on the Key to Good Music

Listening is the key to everything good in music

POST # 479 Keith Richards on Writing Music

I look for ambiguity when I'm writing because life is ambiguous.

POST # 478 EBAY PRICE GUIDE 1969 Red Marshall 100 Super Tremolo -- Original

100 Watt Marshall Super Tremolo Head from 1969...scroll down to the bottom to see how much it sold for!



Here's the blurb from the seller:


1969 Red Marshall 100 Super Tremolo

Being from 1969, this has to be one of the absolute earliest metal panel Marshall amps out there, and yet retains all the plexi circuitry. It is a plexi sound for sure, and very strong sounding at that. Original inside and out. Really nice old original transformers. Flat lipped front edge, grey feet in great shape. I don’t think this amp ever made it out of the house or studio much in its lifetime.. Sounds fantastic as you might expect.

Three (3) vintage Brimar and one RCA ACC83/12AX7 pre-amp tubes. Three (3) vintage General Electric EL-34 and (1) rare Amperex Bugle Boy EL-34/6CA7 power tubes.

I purchased this from the lead guitar player in band in California that has had some moderate success making records, and is well know in the vintage circles. I heard the amp on some of his recordings with an old vintage strat before I bought it. He knows Jim Marshall and took the amp to the NAMM show in California in 2005 and had Jim Marshall sign the back of it.

When I was trying to complete a red 1960s Marshall stack, this was the cleanest and best red 100 watter I could find. And, I paid a premium for it. If you have any interest in this rare original red tolex 100 watter, or some red cabs, let me know. Flat fee shipping and insurance in continental U.S. Overseas bidders not encouraged because of shipping and customs hassles, but if you really want this amp and are willing pay the freight on an easy transaction, I will consider it. Serious inquiries only, all sales final. Happy holidays.

Winning bid: US $3,995.00

POST # 477 B B King on Blind Lemon Jefferson

Blind Lemon Jefferson played acoustic guitar — and just solo — but he played the same kind of thing. His way of execution left you with the feeling that you could hear someone else backing him up. And he had a special way of phrasing, too, that I don’t hear from many people today. Anyone can play 64 notes in a bar, but to place just one or two in that same bar in just the right place, or maybe even let one go by, then double up on it in the next bar — that’s something special. Blind Lemon was my idol.

POST # 476 Herb Ellis on What He's Thinking when Improvising

I think of melodic content. I have no formulas worked out—I just play from the knowledge I have. Like, when you play a Gb chord over a C chord, it’s two triads— a Gb triad on top of a C triad. That’s where we get the two tonics, and if you voice it right, it’ll sound very pretty. But I never think about that when I play. It’s all done intuitively. All I think about is trying to create a melody. I try not to think about what scale I’m going to play for a G7 chord.

POST # 475 MYSTERY CASE No 23 "WHO" am I ???

You are given 10 clues to the identity of this mystery person, see how many clues you require to solve the mystery!

1. I was born on December 26, 1951 in Dayton, Ohio.





2. I was educated at the Berklee College of Music, I eventually left school to record with Chet Baker and Gerry Mulligan.






3. I recorded with Charles Mingus in 1976, and replaced Pat Metheny in Gary Burton's quartet.





4. I gets my tone by running a Pro Co RAT through either a Vox AC-30 or Mesa Boogie amplifier. Some of my effects include an Ibanez CS9 Analog Chorus, a Line 6 FM4 Filter Modeler, and a Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler.






5. Some of my additional effects include a Digitech XP100 Whammy/Wah, a Boss EQ Pedal, a Boss Loop Station, and a Boomerang phrase sampler pedal. I use Dunlop Delrin 2 mm picks.







6. Touring the world approximately 200 days per year with my own groups, I am an Adjunct Professor of Music at New York University, a husband and father of two.







7. I am a masterful jazz improviser whose music generally falls somewhere between post-bop, funk edged jazz, and R & B.







8. In autumn 1976 I signed a contract with Enja Records, and released my first album, in 1977.






9. In 1982, I joined Miles Davis, with whom I remained for three and a half years. I contributed tunes and guitar work to three Davis recordings, Star People, You're under Arrest and Decoy.







10. My longtime stage and recording guitar is a 1981 Ibanez AS200. Ibanez currently makes a signature model after me.





I am.... ????????


Answer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mbQdXBSxpw

POST # 474 Gregg Allman on Writing Songs

I said, other people can write songs, let's see if I can. So the first 400 or 500 wound up on the floor somewhere. Then I wrote one called Melissa.
Gregg Allman

POST # 473 Joe Satriani on Working on the Music and Creativity

With music I know that something great is going to happen because the whole experience feels great. Of course, there is a lot of work that will go into it, and I will sink into horrible depths of momentary depression because I can’t find that last note or the missing chord. But, when it starts to come, creating is the greatest thing in the world.

POST # 472 Ebay Price Guide - Vintage 1966-1967 VOX Tone Bender V828 Tonebender Fuzz

Made famous by the Beatles and featured on many tracks throughout Rubber Soul, Revolver and many other Beatles albums and recordings.

Here's the blurb from the seller...scroll down to see how much it sold for!


Up for auction is a Vintage Vox Tone Bender in great working condition!

Made in Italy, this Vox Tone Bender has the SFT 363E and SFT 337 transistors and is one of the earlier units with the black "Vox" logo face plate and hammerite enclosure, dating it to somewhere in 1966-1967.

Over the years I've owned several tone bender variations, including another early grey vox tone bender as well as DAM 1966 (easily the best vox tone bender recreation). I can safely say that this fuzz sounds just like a great tonebender should and you will not be disappointed... I found this unit to sound slightly better than the other two pedals I just mentioned. It has plenty of output level and is not noisy as some vintage fuzz pedals can get over time.

At one point the output jack started to come apart, so I replaced it with a switchcraft jack... I still have the original jack and can include it, but the replacement has a much more solid connection. The only other parts that look like they might have been replaced are the 9v battery lead and the rubber feet.

Please ask any questions you may have before bidding.









Winning bid: US $525.00


Pictured here is another 60's Tone Bender (black writing on white faceplate) on Ebay sold recently at Winning bid: US $265.00

POST # 471 Buddy Rich on Creativiy and Style

Almost everything I've done, I've done through my own creativity. I don't think I ever had to listen to anyone else to learn how to play drums. I wish I could say that for about ten thousand other drummers.

POST # 470 Herb Ellis on Comping

I do both, but if the guy improvising is going pretty good—and is playing a pretty involved line—I would just play on the I chord using inversions. I would play sparsely, and the lines he’s playing would sound good against the I chord because of the tension caused by four bars of the I chord.

Now, if he’s playing very few notes, and there are lots of spaces in there, then I’d comp with different chord patterns to fill it up and get a little spark going.

Playing background is an art, and I think it’s sorely neglected. I see groups on the stand, and I get the distinct feeling that everybody is in business for themselves. When they get a solo, boy, that’s their time. After that, they may play a lot of stuff behind the next soloist, but they’re really not listening to what the soloist is doing, and that irritates me. I think that when you’re playing background to someone, you should do your best to help the guy who is soloing.

POST # 469 EBAY Price Guide Yamaha Weddington Custom

Here's an interesting blast from the past, a Yamaha Weddington Custom guitar sporting quite a few high end designs! Here are the specs....scroll down to see how much it sold for!



Standard Colors: Black, Burgundy.
Pick Ups: 2 DiMarzio Custom Humbuckers.
Body: Quilted Maple Top, Honduras Mahogany.
Neck: Five Piece Maple and Mahogany.
Fingerboard: Ebony.
Number of Frets: 22.
Scale Length: 24 ¾ inches.
Options: Set Neck
Mother Of Pearl Split Box Inlays
Single-Ply Neck Binding
Dunlop 6130 Frets
Contoured Heel
Carved Top
Single-Ply Body Binding
Tune-O-Matic Style Bridge
Stopbar Tailpiece
Chrome Hardware
Cream Pickup Surronds
Gold Speed Knobs
Two Volume Controls
Two Tone Controls
Five Position Blade Pickup Selector Switch

(Split Coil and Out Of Phase Positions)





Sold For: US $1,999.99

POST # 468 Judy Garland on Being Yourself

Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.

POST # 467 Slash on some of his more Obscure inspirations

I like the Pretenders' James Honeyman-Scott; the Cars' Elliot Easton, who is one of the best lead players of the last 25 years; Joe Walsh, who's one of the best rock and roll guitar players of all time; and the Sex Pistols' Steve Jones. I'm also a fan of Elvis Presley's guitarist Scotty Moore and [surf-rock guitarist] Dick Dale-to this day I haven't had the balls to sit down and learn one of his songs. And I shouldn't forget David Lindley, who played with Jackson Browne for years. It might surprise some people to hear me say it, but the dude is incredible.

POST # 466 MYSTERY CASE no 22 WHAT am I???

For today's WHAT am I ... its a mini Quiz!!

Mike Stern
Steve Vai
Kurt Cobain
Joe Satriani

What does these guitarist all have in common ????

Answer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKFuwErM2ZA

POST # 465 Pat Metheny on Melody

Right after rhythm is melody. To get the chance to work with Kansas City's best trumpet player, Gary Sivils, for three great years was an unbelievable education in melody. Gary is one of those guys who, no matter what is happening around him, always "tells a story," and he does it with an almost narrative flow. In fact, this "storytelling" quality is something that I think all the great KC improvisers have had in common.


He always played with a kind of inner urgency or intensity that is there in almost all the best players. Also, I'll never forget him for just giving me the chance -- on Paul Smith's recommendation -- when I was 16 years old, and with very little experience, to play with him. My first gig with Sivils was at the old Armor East at 35th and Main. I was really nervous, but Gary welcomed me into the situation and treated me like an adult as he did throughout the years I played with him. It gave me a lot of confidence in myself, and that really helped me out later.

POST # 464 Shawn Lane on Vigier Guitars

Vigier I've been playing maybe 5 years. I happened to be in Paris a lot, when I was in Europe and I liked Vigier's guitars. I think he made a really quality instrument and has a unique idea with the kind of some sort of graphite, polymer, artificial material, carbon for a stabilizer in the neck, instead of a truss rod. And the fretboard is also made of this compound. But the neck is wood, so it has a very wood feel, but you have the stability of the polymers.

And also, some of the guitars that he made for me were very consistent and played very low action, real low on the guitar and real high on the guitar very consistent. I had one guitar of his, an excalibur that I used on 'Temporay Analogues Of Paradise' and 'Time Is The Enemy', almost everything. But recently he has given me another fretless guitar that I'm just starting to try to learn, that really would be good for Indian music. I'm already playing it a little bit, but it's very hard to play in tune.

POST # 463 EBAY Price Guide - Gibson ES 150 D 1971 with T TOP patent sticker

Here's an interesting guitar, like a ES 335 but twice as thick! Here's a blurb from the auction ... scroll down to the bottom to see how much it sold for.

You are looking at a Gibson ES 150 D 1971 hollow body ARCHED TOP WITH DOUBLE VENETIAN CUTAWAY with Gibson T Top patent sticker script logo in WALNUT FINISH WITH BING BACK AND FRONT 100% original. The guitar is in super shape for a 40 years old. guitar frets and neck are clean and straight. No refretting original Gibson case who misses the handle but for the rest ITS SUPER clean. This guitar sounds amazing. Body is all mapple double rounded top with small block perloid inlays. 1 master volume + TWO VOLUME AND TWO TONE. ROSEWOOD FINFER BOARD . IT'S 19 1/4'' LONG 15 7/8 WIDE AND 3'' DEEP SCALE IS 24 3/4 . THEY START MAKING THAT GUITAR IN 1969 TO 1975 AND ONLY 2500 GUITAR WAS MADE IN THOSE YEARS IN THE 3 COLORS AVAILABLE .I RESERVE MYSELF TO END THE AUCTION AT ANYTIME. PLEASE ASK FOR SHIPPING COST BEFORE BIDDING

Sold For: US $1,850.00

POST # 462 George Barnes on Learning to Play the Blues

When I was young, I hung around with Lonnie Johnson, and he taught me how to play the blues. He played the first 12-string guitar I ever heard. He used to tune it down a whole tone to make it easier to play. George Van Eps does the same thing with his 7-string guitar.

POST # 461 Ebay Price Guide - Vintage Late 50's Danelectro U2 Electric Guitar Dano

Here's a nice blast from the past...scroll to the bottom to see how much it sold for!

Make/Model:Danelectro U2
Serial Number:3038
Year:1956-1957
Location of Manufacture:USA
Fingerboard Wood: Rosewood
Scale Length:25"
Nut Width:1-5/8"
Weight:6.4 Lbs.
Finish Color: Black
Pickup/Control Layout: 2 x Lipstick pickups, 2 vol, 2 tone, 3 way switch
Features: Includes Chip Board Case.

Condition: This is a sweet old Dano! It is in excellent condition for its age. Aside from the missing tuner ferrule it is all original and all complete! The CTS pots date to 1957, but there is also a stamp of "Nov 15, 1956" on the inside of the guitar (pics) so we know it was a late 50's model. The old Lipstick pickups sound so awesome!! All electronics work well and this guitar rocks! It has some play wear on the back of the neck and the back of the body, where there is a finish blemish in the middle (pics). There is some expected fret wear from a 50+ year old guitar, but they still have plenty of meat left, and this truly is a great player. It has a good neck with low action. The neck is straight. The top looks so clean you would never believe this is a 53 year old guitar. It would be a stellar addition to any collection, and its at a price you CANNOT refuse! Its ready to go!










Winning bid: US $665.55

POST # 460 B B King on Charlie Christian

Charlie Christian was amazing. I first heard him around 1941 or ’42, There were ten-cent vending machines then — like juke boxes, but with pictures. You put in a dime or quarter, and you could see the most popular people of the day. That’s how I first saw Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, and Louis Jordan. And that’s how I saw Charlie Christian.

I was still in Indianola, Mississippi at the time. To me, Charlie Christian was a master at diminished chords. A master at new ideas, too. And he was kind of like a governor on a tractor. I used to be a tractor driver, and if a tractor is bogging down in the mud, the governor will kick in and give it an extra boost.

Christian was the same way — when the band would hit the bridge, he would keep the whole thing flying, and get it really taking off. Barney Kessel plays a lot like him, but with ideas that are more of today.

Charlie didn’t fluff notes much, either. A lot of us slide into notes because we aren’t sure. Like if you want to hit a Bb, you hit a B and slide down into it, or hit an A and slide up. But Charlie Christian knew. He was so sure. It really bugs me when someone plays a little flat or a little sharp. All the notes that you play in my band have to relate to the actual pitch. Like if the pitch of C were one inch wide, you could play at the outer edge of that inch, or at the inner edge, but if you get even a tiny bit outside that inch it bothers me. I always play right in the center. I may slide up or down, but I always land in that center.

POST # 459 MYSTERY CASE No. 21 WHO am I ????

G'day Guitar Eureka detectives, you are given 10 clues to the identity of this mystery person, see how many clues you need to solve the mystery! Have fun!

1. I was born in Washington, D.C. on September 4, 1945.



2. I began playing at age nine, joining my first band, the Lancers, three years later. In 1960, I pursued a jazz direction when I joined the Offbeats, where pianist/organist Dick Heintze proved to be one of my biggest influences. I began to attract wider interest in the 1970s while playing guitar and banjo for the group Liz Meyer & Friends.



3. I made my name as a performer in the Washington, DC, area during the late 1970s and 1980s, both as a solo performer and with his Redneck Jazz Explosion. I have also performed with old teenage friend Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen (from Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna) as "Jack and the Degenerates". I also shared a room and friends with Roy Buchanon.




4. I love hot-rodding streetcars!!



5. I was known for using a beer bottle or mug (still half full of beer), without regard to whether it might spill all over stage or my guitar.



6. I played with a jazz-style teardrop pick, and was capable of intricate passages combining Bluegrass, bebop, and garage sounds, executed with amazing clarity and at dizzying speeds.



7. I usually played a 1953 Fender Telecaster (Fender now manufactures a replica of my heavily customized instrument), with Joe Barden pick-ups and Fender Super 250L's, or Nickel Plated Steel (.010 to .046 with a .015 for the G) strings.



8. My picking technique was a hybrid combination of pick and fingers, primarily my middle and ring fingers on my right hand.



9. My album 88 Elmira Street was up for a 1990 Grammy Award for the song "Elmira Street Boogie" in the category Best Rock Instrumental Performance, but was beaten by Eric Johnson with "Cliffs of Dover".



10. I have been referred to as "the Telemaster", "the world's greatest unknown guitarist" and "The Humbler".


I am ????

Answer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYK13NPAvks

POST # 458 EBAY Price Guide - Ampeg Reverberocket 1961 original!

Here's a brief desciption of the Reverberocket from Ampeg's website


Ampeg debuts a new amp in 1961 that offers a fabulous new effect in addition to the traditional tremolo feature...on-board reverb. Ampeg calls its new amp the Reverberocket R12R and uses the neoteric Hammond spring type of reverb. The Reverberocket is introduced at the summer industry trade show in July, 1961, about a year after Hammond introduced their spring reverberation unit. The Reverberocket is quite possibly the first combo amp ever to be offered with on-board reverb.



Here's what the seller have to say about this auction...scroll down to see how much it sold for!

This is a 1961 Ampeg Reverberocket R12R Combo Amplifier with built in reverb and a Jensen Alnico 12" speaker. 1961 was the first year of production for this fantastic amp and this particular amp has a very low serial number of 294. Everything on this amp appears to be original with the exception of the leather handle, the two 6v6 power tubes, 3 prong power cord for safety, and couple of resistors/capacitors that can be seen in photos but this amp is easily 98% original and untouched. I could not believe how wonderful this amp sounded the first time i plugged into it. The reverb is lush and organic sounding, the tremolo has great depth to it and really captures the vintage tone. This amp has a great tone just as it begins to break up as well. No new amps can even compare to the natural warm tone of these old amps. Think Rolling Stones, Zeppelin 1, and older Aerosmith tones, or simply roll back your volume and achieve real les paul or BB King clean tones. All tubes with the exception of the power tubes are period correct 1960's sylvania tubes branded by ampeg and the Jensen Concert Alnico 12" speaker is also original and in good working order. This amp is so low in serial number that someone at the factory actually hand wrote the tube complement inside of this amp. This amp is also nearly dead quiet when on, no noises, hisses, or pops from this beauty. Great shape for a 50 year old tone monster! Feel free to email me with any questions, good luck and happy bidding

Winning bid: US $661.01

POST # 457 Aaron Copland on What Music Means

The whole problem can be stated quite simply by asking "Is there a meaning to music?" My answer would be, "Yes", And "Can you state in so many words what the meaning is?" My answer to that would be "No."

POST # 456 Pete Anderson on Micing Acoustics

I put a condenser—typically an AKG C414—six inches out from where the neck joins the body. That’s far enough back to pick up air around the guitar and minimize squeaks and noises. To capture bass coming from the top, I aim a Shure SM57 at the back of the bridge. The mic is set low, pointing up from the floor towards the D and G strings. I also love recording with my 1975 Sony boombox—it has two lapel mics and an aggressive, built-in compressor. We’re not talking high-dollar, silky country sounds.

POST # 455 B B King on Robert Nighthawk

Robert Nighthawk was Earl’s (Hookers) teacher. Robert Nighthawk was one of the greatest slide players I ever heard — certainly among the best. I can hear his playing in Earl Hooker. I was influenced somewhat by Robert, but only by his slide work. Earl Hooker, though, could get me both ways.

POST # 454 Slash on Scales

Although I was never properly schooled in scales, over the years I've learned what a scale is and how to put together a series of notes that sound harmonically correct. But there are a lot of players whose technical knowledge is far superior to mine-guys that have a good grasp of music theory and apply it to their playing all the time. I can't do that, but I do know how to take a basic scale and change the notes around to suit my needs. I also know how to play major, minor and pentatonic scales all the way up the neck, but that's about as complicated as I get.

POST # 453 Pat Martino on Positions on the Guitar

A lot. They are based on form, symmetry and division. For example, there are only four positions on the guitar before you have duplication of notes. And there are only four registers, too.

The diminished chord shows you that in a capsule: You have four diminished chords going up the fingerboard before you hit the fifth, which is a duplication. That’s because the diminished chord is the division of one octave into four equal parts.

The guitar is totally based on chromaticism. A lot of players see the guitar as an arrangement of frets. I, instead, see it as a reality where the fingerboard can be broken down into five chromatic scales and a duplication. Therefore, it reduces the terms of redundancy.

POST # 452 MYSTERY CASE No 20 "WHAT" am I ???

1. I was introduced in 1948.



2. I am a combo amp.



3. I have top facing chrome panel with white screened labels, controls go from 1-12.



4. I have 1 volume knob with the power switch mounted on the back of the pot. No tone control.



5.use chicken head knobs.



6.I have only 1 powertube, my circuit is single ended and class A.



7. use a 12AX7 dual triode in the preamplifier to provide two stages of voltage amplification, and a single 6V6GT power tube to produce about 5 watts



8. I have an 8 inch speaker sometimes 6 inch. Usually Jensen p8T.



9. I am made by Fender with model 5E1.



10. u can hear me on such recordings as Eric Clapton's "Layla", Jeff Beck's “Cause We Ended As Lovers”, ZZ Top's “La Grange” , Joe Walsh's "Rocky Mountain Way"



I am the ?????

Answer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXmreHo2LMg

POST # 451 Happy New Year 2011

this year we go up to 11 !!