Fort Tejon Civil War Re-enactment

Fort Tejon hosted an authentic Civil War re-enactment over the Memorial Day weekend.  All participants were in full period authentic outfits and had complete Confederate and Union camps set up.

Fort Tejon on it's own is an awesome historic place and a great experience. Add all the dedicated re-en actors and vendors participating in this event and it made an great day for everyone.

Below are some pictures and video from my visit to this historic site on this day of remembrance.

 

Mesa Engineering Bottle Rocket Tube Overdrive

Mesa Engineering is famous for the Boogie branded Mark series amps as well as the massive sound of the Rectifier series.  The company has also recently released several pedals to compliment the various amplifiers they produce.

This is not Mesa's first foray into the pedal market.  In the 1990's and early 2000's Mesa released two tube driven pedals. The well known V-twin preamp pedal and the little brother and lesser known Bottle Rocket overdrive.

The V-1 Bottle Rocket is driven by two 12AX7 preamp tubes that create a wide range of overdrive and distortion tones.  This pedal is quite different than the high gain tones of the Mark series amps and crushing distortion of the Rectifier series.  This pedal thrives in the low to medium gain blues, rock, and classic heavy rock tones.

Below is a quick demo of the Bottle Rocket being run through a Fender Blues Jr.

Enjoy

Walker Homestead

I'm fortunate that the Santa Clarita Valley still has some history to be found. While it has built up over the past 20 years you can still find some remnants of what it used to be.

The Walker Family lived in Placerita Canyon in the early to mid 1900's. Frank walker built several homes there throughout the years and the remnants of a few as well as an entire cabin still exists.

I decided to take a trek down to what is left of what is referred to as the "Homestead" to see what was there.  It's a mild hike with some beautiful scenery as well as a really cool historical site.

The site today                             The site in 1910 




Enjoy the video...
















For more information on the Walker family as well as the entire history of the Santa Clarita Valley visit http://www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/scvhistory.htm

Danelectro Pepperoni Phasor

Danelectro has had some great success with their pedals in the past decade.  Their small food themed pedals while not the sturdiest enclosures they are packed with sound.  I have purchased a few of these little gems and I think you get a lot of pedal for not a lot of money.

I decided to break out the Pepperoni Phasor and run it through it's paces. Its controls are super simple, just a speed knob.  Even I can handle that. Even if you only need this thing to get the EVH vibe going it's well worth it. Boba Fett says "Get one of these or I'll encase you in corbonite"

Check out the demo...

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Random Roadside

Throughout my various adventures I stumble upon some intersting things. Some of these things warrant an entire post or video and some are just an interesting side note on the adventure.  The video below documents some of these unique roadside oddities over the past few months

Enjoy

Musician pet peeves

I try not to be a judgmental person. Live and let live. But as a guitarist, I can’t help but have pet peeves about fellow guitarists. I’m not bagging on anyone personally and I’m sure I have some qualities that my rub others the wrong way but this is my blog so I’m gonna let my pet peeves be known.

1) ” Don’t touch my guitar” Ok… I know a man’s guitar can be like his woman but c’mon. Do you really think I’m gonna mess it up. I’m a guitar player too. Get over it, it’s just a guitar.

2)” I need to drink to play my best” I can totally relate to having a beer or two to loosen up. A few beers throughout the course of a gig is fine. If you need to get drunk before you go on stage, you will never play your best, regardless of what you think.

3)” I only know it in the key on the record” Ok, this is where the boys are separated from the men. Yes, you learn a song from the record. Maybe most bands play it in the same key. But occasionally, you will find yourself in a situation where you have to play it in another key. Learn to transpose, it’s part of being a professional musician.

4)“My amp sounds best when it’s this loud” I know we all want to be heard. Trust me, it’s a fruitless effort. While you may not be hearing yourself as well as you like two feet from your amp, the audience is getting more than enough volume twenty feet away. Maybe your amp does sound best at that volume but the band as a whole needs to sound like a unit, not a guitar player with a backing track.

5)” I just can’t get my tone” Translate to: “I’m playing like crap”. I know we all have an ideal tone and yes, there are times where things just don’t seem right with our rigs. This should not diminish your playing ability. You should be able to play just as well on a rented back line as you do on your own rig. Tone is secondary, capability is primary.

OK….I’m not trying to offend but after playing for many many years I have practiced a few of these and endured playing with people who practice some of these.

Scott

Focus on the playing forget about the gear

We all go through periods where the quest for tone becomes almost obsessive.  We think,rethink, and over think the signal chain. “If I had my XYZ box on the board I could get the (insert favorite guitarist here) sound. 

Maybe we think we need another OD just to round things out.  Maybe a speaker change would get us that tonal nirvana.  What about new cables for the board?

I have gone through this myself.  While chasing the perfect tone is fun, it can be counter productive.  You see, it doesn’t matter how good you sound if the sounds being made are not pleasant.  I’m not saying that trying to get a great tone is a bad thing, just make sure it isn’t the only thing.

I have done the past several gigs without even thinking about my gear.  I have a few pedals, wah,a booster, a chorus, and an echo into a Fender Blues Jr.  I stopped worrying about whether the OD I have is the right one or whether I should use another pedal for an extra layer of sound.  I have been enjoying just playing with what I have and it has been great.

I’ve tried to make sure the notes I am playing count more than whether of not the Leslie sound I’m getting out of the chorus pedal is convincing enough. I'm too busy making music to worry about my rig. I’m also trying to make sure I sell the song.  Really making sure that the audience sees the fun I’m having playing the gig.

I have had many last minute gigs and when I find out in short notice instead of worrying about the gear I need I just nodded my head and said ” I’ll be there”.  All I’m concerned with now is the set list.

Try to spend some time focusing on the playing and you’ll be surprised at how easily the rig comes together.