Posts Tagged ‘guitar’

New Guitars

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

It is a long time since I have posted and a lot of things have happened since my last post. Two new acquisitions, two inexpensive guitars that I can work on and get up to scratch that will enhance my collection. I have agreed with my wife Kristin that purely on the grounds of how much space we have the limit is 5 guitars in the house. I have reached my limit and it is strictly a one in one out policy from this point onwards.

well here they are and I will explain below what the plans are:

Joseph's guitars feb 2010

My Guitars

From left to right

1) Tobacco Burst 1987 “Epiphone by Gibson” Sheraton II (AKA E-by-G, made in Korea, Samick). Bought this semi hollow guitar for a very good price a few knocks and dings but has lots of character, just what you want for a blues guitar. I want to change the total electrics in this guitar and want a set of Lollar Firebirds, which I will split with pull-push tone knob controls. I will also get this guitar professionally set up. Those pickups should hopefully give me the bite and bark I am looking for from this guitar.

“E-by-G Blues” is a test recording of an improvisation by me playing a little lead over a blues backing track on my “E-by-G”

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2) Cherry Burst 1997 Epiphone “Joe Pass” Emperor II (made in Korea, Samick). A full bodied entry level Jazz guitar. I have a total new assembly in this guitar from Mojotone in the US, and I put in a set of Seymour Duncan pickups Jazz (neck) JB (bridge). I have also changed the tailpiece, bought an additional TOM bridge to compliant the existing ebony bridge (can switch them for tonal reasons) and put a set of black speed knobs. I have plans to change the pickups to a set of GFS mean 90’s sometime in the spring.

“E-by-G Blues: Alternative take” is a test recording of an improvisation by me playing a little lead on my “Joe Pass” over a slow blues chord progression also played on my “Joe Pass”

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3) Tobacco Burst 1989 Epiphone Sheraton II (made in Korea, Samick). Semi hollow guitar I want to change the total electrics in this guitar and want a set of good quality PAF pickups. It might look strange that I will have two Sheraton’s but I am aiming for two completely different tones from the two guitars, I want a sharp biting, barking single coil type vibe from my E-by-G I am hoping the Firebird minis will deliver for me. This 89 Sheraton will be completely different the wiring and the PAF’s I am hoping will get me somewhere close to a 50’s/60’s Gibson 335 classic PAF sound.

4) All my guitars are second hand and this is the least expensive. A nice Vintage Sunburst Samick SG, I was missing a solid bodied guitar and for little money this will fill that niche. Will see if in time this guitar deserves the SD’s I will take from the Joe Pass. Hoping it gives me a nice feeling and I do put that SD Jazz/JB set of pickups in there.

Finally, and definitely not least.

5) My Levin 335 my only acoustic.

“I’ll never get out of these blues alive” is a test recording of a piece of a John Lee Hooker tune played on my Levin acoustic.

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I feel the Sheraton’s cover most bases for me and once modified they are “keepers” the other three are luxury.

I will always hunt for my dream 1960 Epiphone Zephyr 311/312 thinline in natural like the one John Lee had in the 1960’s.

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Found my Epiphone Sheraton

Saturday, January 2nd, 2010
Epiphone Sheraton II

Epiphone Sheraton II

Just before the New Year, I found the Epiphone Sheraton I have been looking for. It is an 1989, Korean built guitar, in Tobacco Sunburst.

It is a very beautiful guitar, and I am very happy with it. It is all stock, exactly as it came from the Epiphone factory and was a fair price and came with a case.

I am enjoying the guitar as it is at the moment, sounds fine through my amp. However, I have started research on the Epiphone forums, about a set of pickups for this guitar.

In due course I will replace all the electrics and mount a new set of pickups in the Sheraton. The guys on the Epiphone forums are amazing, and I now know, where I am headed to find the tone I want for this guitar.

It is not going to be easy, the ideal pickups would be from a 1960 Epiphone Zephyr, they are rare and expensive, so I will have to find an acceptable compromise.

I will try out a few neck pickups, however, I may have found what I am after in the shape of the Jason Lollar Firebird mini.

Sounds like this: Jason Lollar Firebird (neck)

Well, I will carry on with my research and enjoy the guitar as it is for now.

Then, as things progress, I will update this post.

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Levin 335

Sunday, December 13th, 2009
Levin 335 acoustic archtop

Levin 335 acoustic archtop

I intend to have two Epiphone guitars, my Joe Pass Emperor II, and I would like a Sheraton at some point in the near future.

These are moderately priced guitars, that are affordable to me. Then with a  little work I can get them to where I want them to be, and for sure, they can certainly do what I require.

But, in truth what I would ideally like to have, is the quality of the original Epiphones and Gibson guitars. So, if I had the finances, I would have a vintage 1960 Epiphone Zephyr, or a Gibson 175, instead of my Joe Pass, and a Gibson 335 or an original Sheraton instead of one of the later made affordable Sheratons.

So, the aim is to try to get as close as possible to the original quality I want, at a price I can afford.

Living in Sweden, of course I had to check out the guitars made here. My research led me to a guitar maker called Herman Carlson Levin. The older Levin guitars were built to standards that are lacking in later mass produced guitars.

So, one could say the quality of these vintage Levins are comparable with Gibson or early Epiphone guitars. Levin vintage archtops, are beautiful guitars and I have recently, for a very fair price, bought a nice example of a 1959 Levin 335. The Levin quality was such that at one time Martin guitars were made by Levin artisans.

The seller was keen that the guitar be played, rather than just kept as a specimen by a collector. I traveled to Gothenburg to collect the guitar last weekend. The guitar is in reasonable condition given its age, and the fact that, during its 50 years, it has obviously had a couple of floating pickups attached, then removed, it is currently in its original acoustic configuration.

The guitar needs a bit of work on the set up, but the intonation and action are fine, and it plays well, and also has a lovely feel and tone, especially since I changed the bridge. I will have a little work done on this guitar, which I am very happy with.

I might even one day get a nice floating pickup and see how that sounds. However, really just enjoying the acoustic side of this guitar at the moment.

The seller wanted the guitar to played, and indeed it is being played and enjoyed on a daily basis.

The beauty of this guitar is, it is the real deal. The latter day Epiphones are mass produced replicas of once handmade, original guitars. My Levin 335, was made with that handmade precision, and OK, it has picked up some character over the years, but with a little work will be soon back to its pristine glory.

I plan to have 4 guitars to cover the various styles I want to play and learn and the Levin 335 is my second acquisition after my Joe Pass Emperor, and like the Joe Pass, it is here to stay.

I now have two guitars I am very happy with, and can get down to some serious practice hours, enjoying them both.

here I am trying out the Levin, with that Hooker tune I am trying to learn, (you can hear the original here)

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Rewiring my Epiphone Joe Pass

Monday, November 30th, 2009
New electrics nd pickups for my Joe Pass

New electrics and pickups for my Joe Pass

I have just picked up a parcel from town………….

Inside, my especially designed, and made, new electrical assembly for my Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor II, from Mojotone.

All looking in order, except the ground wire seems to be missing, so I will use the existing one in my guitar.

I will be adding to this post as the work progresses to fit the new assembly and pickups.

This is what we have in the box:

Seymour Duncan SH-2n Jazz Model Pickup Black (Neck) 1
Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB Model Pickup Black  1
ES-335 3-Way Prewired Assembly 1
upcharge-23    Solderless Option
Mojotone Nickel Silver Humbucker Pickup Cover Gold 49.2mm (1.94”)    2
Mojotone Gold US Spec Top Hat Knob         4
Mojotone Humbucker Polepieces Gold / 6         2
Gibson Toggle Switch Cap Black         1

All the way from Mojotone, Burgaw, North Carolina, USA.

Wasted no time.

So, when the kids were in bed, I set to work.

I have never modified a guitar before, and it has left me with a tremendous feeling of achievement.

It took a lot of hours, and it is frustrating and nerve wracking work, at times I thought I was not going to make it.

The toughest part, was making the holes big enough for the new US assembly.

Stock Epiphone wiring

Stock Epiphone wiring

Once that problem was overcome, then came the feeding of all the giblets through the bridge pickup cavity.

Got all my strings in a tangle the first time, but had a cup of coffee and a good think, then redone it with a little more planning, and a little tweak here and there on the size of the holes, and there it was, done.

The solderless option my supplier had sorted for me worked fine.

Had to wait till this morning, when the wife had gone to work and kids were in dagis to plug the Joe Pass into my Valveking 112.

Wow, what a difference. The volume and tone knobs now actually do what they are supposed to do.

The Duncan Jazz sh-2 in the neck sounds great.

But the biggest shock for me (I play mostly blues and jazz oriented stuff), is the Duncan JB sh-4 in the bridge position. I hardly ever used the stock bridge, because it just didn’t do anything for me at all, but I am getting some lovely bluesy tones out of this new bridge pickup.

I have done it…, been planning this for a while and now I am over the moon…….:-)

I will now give the guitar a thorough set up and throw on new nut, then my total outlay on this second hand, Samick built, Joe Pass, with top quality wiring, and Duncan pickups, will be just a little over what a new Indonesian made Joe Pass would cost in Sweden.

I am well happy.

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Dennis Coffey

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
Funk Brother - Dennis Coffey

Funk Brother - Dennis Coffey

Since, I decided to take my guitar seriously, a couple of months ago, I have been listening to all the music that has been a major part of my life.

There are all the obvious guitar legends from blues, soul and funk who stood out front and got all the plaudits, and then there are those studio artists who were so important to the music, who were not in the forefront, they were just credited on the album covers in small print.

One of the most influential musicians in my life, has to be Dennis Coffey. Guitar: Dennis Coffey, was a credit I came across on a lot of my albums.

When I was around 11 years old, my father bought a stack of second hand soul albums, from a guy in Stanley Meat Market, where he worked, back in Liverpool.

He brought them home and gave them to me and I took them upstairs in my bedroom and spun that vinyl on an old Dansette record player.

I was hooked. Especially, on a group called The Temptations. I bought all their albums, Cloud Nine, Puzzle People, Psychedelic Shack, the list goes on, but that will do to be going on with.

Around 1968, a producer called Norman Whitfield wanted to bring in a new sound when producing the Temptations albums, and from the session musicians at Motown, The Funk Brothers, Whitfield heard Dennis Coffey with his “Wah Wah” pedal, that was the sound he wanted.

If you listen to those three albums mentioned above, in particular, you can hear Dennis Coffey’s influence on the Motown sound.

Only those who lived through the sixties, will now the feeling of change at that time, the Civil Rights movement and the struggles against prejudice, racism and injustice.

The music of the time was a big part of that, Norman Whitfield in particular, was a very political influence, listen to Slave, Message from a Black Man, Don’t Let the Joneses Get You Down, Cloud Nine, War, these are all social statements, that influenced a generation; they said something to me, made me think about those issues.

Dennis, also played on many other classic soul hits (as he was not solely contracted to Motown) these are a few that are in my all time favourites list:

“Who’s Making Love” Johnny Taylor, Hang on in There Baby” Johnny Bristol, “Give Me Just a Little More Time” Chairman of the Board, “In the Rain” The Dramatics, “Still Waters Run Deep” The Four Tops, “Don’t Knock My Love” Wilson Pickett, “If I was Your Woman” Gladys Knight, Dennis, also played that Sitar on “Band of Gold” by Freda Payne. The list is endless.

Many rap artists were not slow to sample Dennis’s solo projects either check out this list:

People who have sampled Dennis Coffey tracks

Here is a Youtube video of Dennis playing a jazz improvisation of “Just My Imagination”

Dennis, has a wonderful website where you can check out his discography:

Dennis Coffey

You can also see Dennis Coffey on a site called freep.com. Freep.com has a dedicated video library of clips about Motown and clip 18 “Hot Licks” is Dennis Coffey talking about the sessions.

www.freep.com

Here is an interview with Dennis

Dennis Coffey, thank you for your influence on the music I love. A true, guitar great.

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Brilliant guitar lessons on the net

Thursday, October 29th, 2009
Delta Blues Tips

Delta Blues Tips

Living way out in the Swedish countryside, I needed something to pass the time, and decided, to at last, take my guitar playing seriously.

I would love to find lessons. possibly a night class or something, but that would mean driving miles, and as I am interested in blues, there would be no guarantee that I could indulge myself in that area.

Most people I have met in Sweden, are either into dance bands or metal of some description (with the exception of my friend Magnus Jönsson, who has a very good and eclectic taste in music :-) ). So, I started to look around the internet. I have found tons of resources, but I would like to point visitors, to one site in particular.

It is called Deltabluestips (just click on the link to take you there).

Here is the weird part, being born in Liverpool myself in St Andrews Gardens, and now in my 50’s living in Sweden, the site I find most useful, which I found completely out of the blue, is a guy from Liverpool, my home town, who was born in Gerard Gardens (a stones throw away from where I was born), who is in his 50’s. How strange is that, or maybe something Jungian.

It seems this guy who prefers to stay anonymous (for reasons I fully understand), as very similar tastes in music to myself. This guy hangs out in the Egg Cafe and Lark Lane in Liverpool, which are old haunts of mine. So, we have so much in common it is spooky that his site popped up when I was looking for inspiration on the world wide web. Here is an example of what can be found on Deltabluestips:

Delta Tips 1

So if you are into blues, check out Deltabluestips. I wish that “masked man” every success with his project and hope it brings him the rewards he deserves. Thanks fella (whoever you are), hope this post drives loads of traffic your way and more power to you. Keep up the excellent work, if, when I am back home sometime, I can track you down, I will buy you a few pints.

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Guitar blues

Saturday, October 17th, 2009

EKO Ranger 6

EKO Ranger 6

I am at home most days now, looking for a new line of work. Hopefully something will crop up by January. I look after the kids most time, but I need something, to focus on, creatively.

I need that.

So, at long last, I have picked up my guitar. I have a EKO Ranger 6, that I have hawked around with me for the last 20 years, but have never found time to play.

Well now I have that time. I have been looking for guitar tutorials on the net, and I have found lots of brilliant resources which I would like to discuss in greater detail in another post. (that post is now up and running click here)

I have always been deeply into blues and soul music. Therefore, most of what I want to learn to play, falls within these genre.

The John Lee Hooker video above is brilliant, and is a blues number in the key of e (as many of John Lee’s songs are).

The guitar John Lee is playing, looks to be an Epiphone Zephyr, or very similar model, a thinline guitar with twin mini humbuckers, which evolved from the deeper bodied Zephyr jazz boxes.

It is great to try and work out what he is doing and pick it out on my EKO.

I have also bought myself a very cheap electric guitar and amp, that will do for the time being. However, I am enjoying myself so much that I plan to reward myself one day with a “real” guitar.

After much searching and consideration of what would be my ideal guitar (considering my budget), I have decided on an Epiphone Sheraton II vintage sunburst. Hooker, played a Sheraton later in his career, but I would suspect his early recordings sound and tone came from deeper bodied guitars similar to the aforementioned Epiphone Zephyr or Emperor.

If I practice enough, and I am happy with the way things are going, I will get my semi acoustic blues guitar, one day, and hopefully, one that will give me a tone, that will encourage me to practice and practice.

The video below is someone testing the Epiphone Sheraton II vintage sunburst. So if you can imagine me trying to learn the song from the top video, and one day, playing it on the guitar in the bottom video, you get the gist of how I am occupying my time these days.

UPDATE:

My newly acquired Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor

My newly acquired Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor II

There has been a twist to this story. I spoke to the guy in my local guitar shop and he advised me, in his opinion, to stay clear of recent Indonesian built Epiphones, and he showed me an example of an acoustic, a recent Epiphone that was shocking.

Very poor finish and showing signs of not going the course. So, I decided to hunt for a second hand Epiphone made in the days when quality control was a big issue during builds in Japan and Korea.

I found a used (but in very good condition), Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor (I can’t afford a 1960 vintage Epi’ Zephyr, this is as close as I can get), on Blocket (Swedish, Ebay type site), for half the price of a new Indonesian built Epi’ Sheraton. The serial number is S701xxxx which means it was made in Korea in the Samick factory in January 1997. It is a beautifully made guitar, within its range and price bracket.

I love the way she looks, I love the way she plays, I love the way she feels…….(imagine that to the tune of Dimples by Hooker)

The plan now is over time to change to Gibson pickups and redo the wiring completely so it has a Epi’ body and a Gibson heart and hopefully soul. Once she has had the makeover and the project is complete this Joe Pass will be renamed “Annie Mae”.

Will add to this post when I start the transformation.

Found this amazing and inspirational video, of a music student from Brazil, pedromoser01 playing Jazz , getting some beautiful mellow tones from his Epi’ Joe Pass Emperor II (unmodified with standard Epiphone humbuckers) and a Fender Blues Junior tube amp……..

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