Friday Morning Jam
A quick improv over a backing track. Music Man JP15 into a Marshall Code 25, recorded on a cellphone 🙂
HD500 Looper Jam
A random little jam using the POD HD500 looper and the new Plexi amp models:
I’m quite impressed with the sounds in the new 2.02 firmware!
Testing out the new Telecaster
So, I broke one of my two rules of guitar; never get a Telecaster! Â I picked up a new Fender Blacktop Telecaster recently, as I think it will come in handy in the recording studio (who knows, I might even play it live one day). Â The guitar felt and sounded really good, and it had humbuckers so was instantly more in my stylistic ballpark than most Teles.
Within minutes of taking it home I had set to work replacing bits on it 😉  So far I’ve replaced the bridge pickup (with a Rio Grande ‘Bastard’ P90), the 3-way pickup selector switch (standard one wasn’t very good), put an orange cap in and replaced the tuners with some locking ones.  Tuning stability wasn’t great with the standard tuners.
A bit more about the pickup; the Rio Grande one is designed as a neck pickup, but I thought I would try it in the bridge. Â After trying it out, I’ve decided I’ll move it to the neck and get a Rio Grande ‘Fat Bastard’ P90 for the bridge. Â Really liking the sound of the P90, but I need a bit more roar in the bridge. Â I had also forgot about single-coil hum! Â I’ll learn to deal with it…
Here’s a video of the guitar through my Splawn Street Rod head into a Mesa Recto 2×12 cab. Â A little bit of delay from an MXR Carbon Copy delay pedal.
No explanation will be given for the John 5 finger nails 😛
Mojo Hand Colossus demo
A video demo of me playing the Mojo Hand Colossus fuzz pedal:
Nothing too over the top with the playing, just a few runs through of some similar chord and leads bits to try and show the different sounds you can get with the pedal.
A jam with Raf
I’ve just returned from a great week in Sydney.  While I was there I spent a couple of days with my friend Raf and we recorded a one-take virtual jam over a Robben Ford backing track “Help The Poor”.  I got to play on Raf’s most excellent “Catherine” guitar, which was a dream to play and sounded fantastic 🙂
Here’s the video:
A quick video test of the Frankenstrat
I had a couple of minutes spare, so threw the camera in front of myself and did some noodling on the Frankenstrat.
The lighting makes the guitar looking a much lighter shade of red than it actually is!
Amp is the lead channel on my Crate V30H through a Marshall VS112 cab. Volume was quite low on the amp as well.
P.S. yes, I know I spelt Frankenstrat wrong in the video intro…
The Frankenstrat is finished!
Adrian at ASH Custom Works finished the paint job on the Frankenstrat last week and I received the completed body earlier this week 🙂
It was all wired up, ready for final re-assembly. Â The paint has turned out great!
Quite possibly, the best part though is the custom-made pickup he made for the guitar. Â It’s based on the specs of Ed’s original pickup, and boy does it sound good. Â Very clear and defined, loves tons of gain, but cleans up really well with the volume backed off.
Anyway, here’s the photos:
I’ll get round to making a video of it in action soon!