Halloween fun

It’s that time of year again.  All the ghouls and goblins come out of hiding to scare all us mortal beings.  As a kid, we all had that fear of the dark, or the monster in your closet.

A few years back I employed my wife and my son to help me record a family Halloween song. It was a great experience and it captured my son at an awesome period in his childhood.  That age where you live for Halloween and Christmas.  My wife is also immortalized as the calming reassuring voice of mom, the person who makes everything OK.


“Monster in my Closet” is a fun, slightly scary, retro Halloween song for all ages.

Enjoy

Danelectro Chicken Salad Vibe pedal

The Original Uni-vibe pedal is one of the  most sought after effects in the world.  It's think swirling modulaiton made famous by the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Robin Trower are distinctive and mesmorizing.

For most of us, an original isn't an option.  They are pricey and somewhat noisy and cumbersome. Fortunealy Danelectro has produced a nice compact alternative that will fit nicely on the pedal board and wont break the bank.  While these aren't made any more, you can find these on ebay for around $30.  I myself own three.  :)

Check out this short little video of this awesome modulation pedal.

Santa Clara River Bridge Remains

The St. Francis Dam failure in 1928 was devastating.  The loss of life and property extended for miles.  The remains of the dam still exist but there are some other ruins from this terrible event that can be found as well.

The Santa Clara River bridge was part of the original ridge route which extended from Los Angeles to Bakersfield.  It crossed the Santa Clara river at what was then Castaic Junction.  The bridge there was washed out when the flood waters from the dam failure came through but the concrete supports and some evidence of the old ridge route still survive.

I decided to venture out and find this historic site.  It's amazing that after all these years this site still exists.


Below is a postcard depicting the bridge while still in tact.


The same area today.



This is the asphalt from the original ridge route where it would have met the bridge





Bridge supports

Danelectro Rocky Road Rotary Speaker Simulator

Danelectro’s Rocky Road Rotary Speaker pedal is a great little option for those who are looking for that signature Leslie sound without taking up too much real estate on the pedal board.  For such a compact pedal it packs in quite a few features to faithfully recreate the classic rotary speaker sound.

A speed knob, ramp button, and switchable fast or slow ramp speeds allow you to dial in the right amount of warble and switch between the underwater sounds on the fast side of things to the thick slow pulsing on the slow side of things.

The drive knob allows you to dial in a little grit simulating the power amp distortion often associated with the Leslie’s sound.  From a little dirt to full overdrive and everything in between.

Below is a short video demo of this awesome little pedal

Abandoned Oil Refinery/Beale’s Cut

These days the Santa Clarita Valley can be accessed from the south via the 14 and 5 freeways or The old road and Sierra highway. Back in the mid 1800’s the first path through what is now the Newhall Pass was Beale’s Cut.  A crude path cut through the mountain but an important throughway that allowed people to gain access to the Santa Clarita Valley.

Beale’s Cut still exists although it is somewhat challenging to get to.  Access from the south is somewhat available although it has become increasingly overgrown.  Access from the north requires you to pass through what is left of the Newhall Refinery property which is connected to the Elsmere Canyon open space. 

To find out more about this historical site please visit http://www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/bealescut.htm


Below are some photos and video of my trek to this historic site.

Newhall refinery in the 50s                       and today






Beale’s Cut today

A link to a photo of the same area in the 1870s http://www.scvhistory.com/gif/ap0625.jpg


A view looking north from inside the cut

And a view looking south from inside the cut



A little video of the decent from Beale's cut back through the refinery.

MXR Phase 45 Reissue

Back in the 70’s MXR produced a number of pedals, the most famous of all the Phase 90 which was used generously by Eddie Van Halen.  A lesser appreciated pedal (at the time) was the little brother, the Phase 45. 

The Phase 45 was a two stage phase shifter which had a more subtle effect which to my ears is a little more musical.  The pedal was discontinued and seemed lost to musical instrument history with vintage examples popping up occasionally.  The circuit did find some life in the DIY world with many schematics and layouts for the original circuit.

MXR eventually decided to reissue a faithful recreation of this awesome little swirly sounding pedal.  The SCP105 ‘75 Vintage Phase 45.

From subtle slow swirl to fast warble this pedal produces some really great modulation that to me sounds more like a Univibe type sound rather than a phase shifter.
Check out a short demo  of what this pedal can do.

Corriganville Movie Ranch

Southern California is known for Movies and Television.  There are plenty of big studios in the heart of Hollywood.  While these studios are great for the interior portions of a movie the great outdoors is sometimes the backdrop for many movies.  This is where the Movie Ranches of yesteryear came in.





Westerns once dominated the motion picture landscape.  These westerns needed a lot of outdoor shooting and western town sets. Movie Ranches provided the perfect setting for these needs.









Corriganville was a fully functioning movie ranch for years, later becoming a tourist attraction somewhat like a small scale Universal Studios.


Owned by stuntman Crash Corrigan the ranch was in operation until 1965 when it was sold to Bob Hope.  There were a handful of movies filmed there after that but fires in 1970 and 1979 destroyed the ranch. The buildings are long gone but there is still some evidence of the history of this site which is now part of the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District.



Here are the gates of Corriganvile. 














A shot from the hill above Silvertown back in the day.

Below are a couple of shots from the hill above the former location of Silvertown

Silvertown then…….







































And Now.









This rock formation used to have a facade built on to it to create a Hideout Cave.

This was known as Stunt Rock. A diving platform above an artificial lake.

The famous Gorilla Rock.  I’m sure you can guess where it got it’s name.


For more information please visit http://www.corriganville.net/
If you would like to explore this site yourself it is open to the public.