starting out with a fresh line up
Entry posted by mark555
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We all love to make live music with our guitars, and it has been a good nine months since the last band I had put together called it a draw when all of a sudden the other guitar player decided that he didn't want to play in a band anymore. But I can respect that, he was after all, coming a long way and was working some long hours. So, we called it a draw and that was that. However, after a few months had gone by, Tony, our drummer, who incidentally had been brought in by Mike, our old guitarist, got in touch and said we ought to carry on. I was very pleased about that and got in touch with my friend Shaun, our bass player, about getting another guitar player into the line up.
I put some ad's out wanting players interested to contact me, and sadly, very few did. I think that there are many people out there who want to play but perhaps are a bit nervous about doing it, and also guys of my age (50) seem to be more content to have their nice guitars and just enjoy them at home. There is nothing wrong with that of course, but we needed a player who had experience of playing live, and the few that contacted us were people who were looking to be in their first band. Anyway, it turned out that Pete, a mate of mine and Shaun, who we had played with before in a previous band in the early nineties, and recently played in a band with Shaun (that had never got off the ground gig wise) was at a loose end and asked Shaun what he was doing musically, and did he know if any one wanted a guitar player?
So When Shaun brought this to my attention, I thought yeah - why not? Pete is an exceptionally nice guy, not exactly a killer player, but solid and easy enough to get along with and will give a proper committment and not let you down. As I like Pete very much I was pleased to have him on board. Pete is pretty minimal when it comes to gear, two guitars, one of which is a USA Telecaster in bright yellow and an electro accoustic. I myself favour guitars with humbuckers in them for the kind of music we are going to play and I am trying to persuade Pete to get a Heritage or something similar. I have recently bought a Tokai Les Paul which is made in Japan - more of that later.
For weeks we tried to get an initial get together, but at Tony our drummer works alternate shift patterns we can only rehearse every other week. This is fine with me as none of us want this to rule our lives. But illness and severe colds and one of the band members daughter having a brain tumour held us back for at least two months. But eventually we managed our initial get together last night.
The oldest guitar in my collection of four is my trusty old strat which I got about '88 brand new. I have never been fanatical about Fender guitars, but they are what a mechanic would define as a good adjustable wrench, able to fit different nuts. And this is what the strat is for me. It evokes no passion in me what so ever, it's a working guitar, nothing else. My next guitar is my Heritage 555 which fulfills the desire I have had since I was fifteen for a high quality semi - few 335's are even in the same ball park as this guitar, it is in mint condition and I intend for it to stay that way. But recently I have bought a stunning Japanese Tokai copy of a 59 les paul standard. Right now I can not afford a 150, I refuse to buy a modern day Gibson as they are just too over priced and not worth the money. I am pleased to say that the tokai performed fantasticly well, sounded superb and is a match, if not better than the current les paul standards out there in the shops. Tokai's that sell for the same money as Gibson's just leave them hanging on the shop wall, mine was £1000 less than a Les Paul standard and is better - that's the Japanese for you, they take what you make and make a better version of it for less money. These are guitars not only for players on a budget like myself, but for real players who are not tied to having a lifestyle brand guitar just for the sake of it.
The rehearsal went well, the best number we did was the old Thin Lizzy version of the traditional Irish folk song "Whisky In The Jar". The three we want down next are All Right Now, I Can't Get Enough and Rosalie, shouldn't be too hard at all, but I'll bet we get a few more down as well next time.
So now I have three great guitars, nowhere near as many as some here, but they all do an individual job. The next purchase for me is change of amp. However you look at it, the Fender amps they make these days are just not built to last. My ideal amp will be made by a local company called 'Matamp'. Completely hand wired point to point amps, these are as good as anything on the market. A small producer of amps that exports mos of its production the the states, but Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash uses them and they sound fantastic live - they will also last for ever.
But for now, it is a case of getting the show on the road. Watch this space.....
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