Category: Guitar

Alex Lifeson to Auction His Guitar Collection

Oh to be fabulously wealthy. I missed out on Clapton’s ES-335 and Gilmour’s gold top Les Paul, and now I am going to miss out on Alex Lifeson’s custom made 1976 ES-355TD. Sweet Christmas, he’s going to auction off his guitar collection to raise money for charity. Read this article.

As with all guitar god auctions, the first thing I look for is random 1959 Les Pauls. The article only mentions one Les Paul, and it’s the 1970 he bought on the 1974 tour and used on 2112. I would imagine Al has collected a few more Les Pauls than that, especially since he played a bunch of them over the last few Rush tours and he actually has a signature model. The question though… are there bursts?

More important than that, He’s Selling The 355!

It’s not actually this ES-355…

#rush #r40bos #r40live #r40

It’s the one that guitar was copied from. It’s this one…

He’s also selling the Hentor. The guitar he used the shit out of in the early 80’s. It started out as a Fender Strat but he modded the holy hell out of it and turned it into something else.

He’s also selling the Howard Roberts Fusion. Off the top of my head, I don’t know anyone else who played one of those, but he used it all over Moving Pictures and it’s a hollow body legend.

If I were disgustingly wealthy I would buy them all. Seriously. I would have bought all of Clapton and Gilmour’s guitars too, but this is Lerxst’s collection! Epic!

Stalling

I have nothing to write about tonight but I’m sitting here typing this drivel because I still have about 10 minutes of exercise to do and I just don’t want to.

I am watching Star Trek Discovery. Season three. Season four just ended so I am way behind. I’ll get caught up. We cancelled our Paramount+ account last year but I had to re-up in order to watch Star Trek Picard. Now I’m taking advantage of it to get caught up on everything else, Trekkie speaking.

I also started watching Dead Like Me again. I am not sure why. It just seemed like the right thing to do. It’s been 20 years since that show premiered. Back then I was in a long stretch of total ambivalence toward television. Then one night I was awake in the wee hours of the morning, just flipping through the channels, wishing there was a baseball game or a hockey game (I forget what time of year it was) to watch even though it was probably 3am. I don’t know why I stopped on Showtime, but I did and an hour or so later I was hooked on a TV show for the first time in ages. It’s all been down hill since then.

Speaking of hockey… I could go for a Bruins game. I have to wait until tomorrow. Fortunately I won’t have to wait much longer than that for baseball. The Red Sox have a spring training game on Thursday. I’ll take that over a lock out any day.

I haven’t played guitar in 16 days. What is wrong with me?

Okay. Time to exercise. Crud.

Tube Amps are in Trouble

Didn’t I write something about this recently?

We’ve been saying that the days of the tube amp were numbered for decades, but now the end might be in sight. Well, if not the end of the tubes then maybe the end of reasonably affordable amps. Reasonably being a subjective term as most good tube amps are already seriously expensive.

There are only two factories on Earth that still manufacture vacuum tubes and one of them, the one in Russia, is no longer shipping to the United States.

Here’s hoping the tubes in my amps last for another 50 years or so. Also, I was thinking of trading in that Fender Bassbreaker 18/30… now? No way in hell.

It’s worth it, politically speaking. It’s also worth it environmentally speaking. It’s also been inevitable for ages and it’s been a long time coming.

So the question is, solid state transistor amps or digital modeling amps? Those Fender Tone Master things are supposed to be pretty good. Maybe we can talk them into making a tweed Bassman version?

PAF Journey

I spent some time with the Google and the Reddit and the Social Medias today looking for ideas for new pickups for my Les Paul Custom. I want to get as close to the original Gibson PAF’s as I can and I don’t care how snooty and snobby I have to get.

I learned a couple of things. First, it seems most of the people I encountered did not live in the United States, and most of the suggestions would require some form of international shipping. Also, most of the people I encountered have a ton more money than I do. I was hoping for something in the $200-250 range. I saw one suggestion that goes for $1300 and another that goes for $1500.

There were a couple of good ideas in my price range. Something will come of this. Weirdly, the one big company I looked at was actually more expensive than some of the small businesses. I didn’t expect that, but what can you do, right?

First we get through the kitchen, then we can get to the guitars. Also the cellar. All the stuffs.

Saturday

I have been on vacation for the past week. A staycation in fact. I spent the entire week off thinking that each day was Saturday. I would look at the Bruins game schedule and be surprised that they weren’t playing Arizona (because they are scheduled to play Arizona on Saturday, get it?). I would spend each day reminding myself to not miss The Walking Dead tomorrow, (because The Walking Dead airs on Sunday and I thought it was Saturday, get it?)

It’s finally Saturday. Well, finally is the wrong word because that implies I was impatient for it to get here and that, by extension, implies that I was impatient for my week off of work to end. I most definitely was not. I just mean that after spending the week thinking it was Saturday, it actually is Saturday. The Walking Dead airs tomorrow. The Bruins play the Coyotes tonight. Also, I woke up 100% convinced it was Sunday. My internal calendar is a dick.

Anyway, no issues with the CPAP machine last night. More circumstantial (is that the right word here?) evidence that when masks start having problems staying sealed it’s time to get a new mask. Duly noted.

I just had my protein shake and my first dose of vitamins. I didn’t miss a dose yesterday, which is good, though I did forget to take them around dinner time and ended up taking the last dose at nearly 9:00pm. I hope that’s not a bad thing. It’s just vitamins, right? It’s not like I am taking a narcotic or something. I’ll check with the dietician the next time I talk to her.

I have two things on my to-do list for today. There are a bunch of boxes in the dining room that need to be chopped up and removed. Also, the Kia needs an oil change. We’re taking my step son Harry back to school tomorrow so the car is going to get around seven hours of road time and I just want it to be in tip top oil shape, you know?

What else? I haven’t played my guitar once during the whole week off. That makes me sad, but I was legitimately wrapped up in other stuff. We really hadn’t planned on any of the things we did this week, but we ended up being seriously busy the whole time. It was good. I am very happy with this particular staycation. I just should have played the guitar some.

I am starting to get back into thinking about bringing my two 1970’s guitars to a tech for some work. They both need their frets checked out and possibly (hopefully not) replaced. I don’t want to do that, but I will if I have to. Those two gitters need to live forever. I want to have the wiring and the pots replaced on both of them as well. I want to go with 50’s style wiring (that has something to do with how the volume and tone pots are wired together. I think it’s the output from the volume connects to the input of the tone? Something like that?) That changes the way the two knobs interact, and it eliminates the drop in high frequency response when you lower the volume knob. I guess it also means it’s possible to increase the volume with the tone knob, which is weird, but I’ll get used to it quick. I also want to put new pickups into the Les Paul Custom (not the ES-335, those pickups will stay in forever). I just don’t know what to get. I want to go boutique and cork sniffy and I want to get as close to late 1950’s Gibson PAFs (patent applied for) pickups as I can. I also don’t know where to go for any of this. I have one shop in mind, in Andover, MA, but I haven’t decided. Someday soon I’ll start this ball rolling. After the kitchen fun is over with.

Okay, gotta go tear up some boxes and get an oil change. Your humble blog narrator will talk to you later, oh my readers and only friends.

Lerxst Amps Interview

I was feeling curious about the amplifier line Alex Lifeson released 2-3 years ago. They are way too powerful for my use (though I now know they can step down from 50 to 25 watts which makes them more interesting) so I didn’t look very close when they were first released.

Today I decided to poke around and I found this interview. Speaking as both a Rush fanatic and a gear nerd, this video is literally Gold.

He talks about stage volume and monitor mix preferences! Oh my god the gear dirt he shares! Can you believe it? Wow!

Uncover the Secrets of the Scoop

Yesterday I wrote about the existential crisis I faced when trying to mix up my first protein shake. I had been lead to believe, by my own eyes, that the huge bucket of protein shake powder did not come with a scoop. Today, day two of the new shake world order, I took a tablespoon and tried to dig out about 32 grams of powder. While digging in the huge bucket I found the scoop buried inside.

Now, knowing what the shake tastes like with the exact correct milk to powder ration, how’d it taste? Okay. I promise I won’t be drinking it for fun, but I also won’t be turning my nose up at it. I’ll put it into the weight loss surgery win column.

What else is going on today, no the first business day of vacation? I tried to watch The Walking Dead on my iPad while sitting in the living room with Jen and Harry last night, but they were watching Rick and Morty and I had to join them. I mean… Mr Nimbus, right? I am watching the new episode on AMC’s website and the stream during the commercial breaks is screwing up left and right. I’m not very optimistic that it’s going to let me get through the whole episode, but amazingly I just heard one of the new bad guys use the phrase, “mother puss bucket” in what can only be thought of as a verbal tip of the hat to Ghostbusters but given that I use that phrase as a verbal tip of the hat to Ghostbusters I am feeling seen and acknowledged right now.

So what’s the music plan for my vacation week? I mentioned doing an album in a day, but I am not going to go through with it. Instead I will just try to come up with a couple of song ideas for Record Every Month. I was also thinking of hitting up Guitar Center and trying to trade in my Strat. Instead I might get back into the idea of finding someone to overhaul my Les Paul Custom. Like everything else, it all depends on money.

What about non-musical plans for the vacation week? Well, I’m glad you asked. We are thinking about getting back to figuring out the ways and means of upgrading out kitchen. We’re going to do some research tonight. You know, do some interviews. Ask some questions. Rattle some trees and see what shakes out. We’ll let you know.

Okay, this morning’s zombie watch is now past the point where I stopped last night. I’m going to pay more attention now. Talk to ya’ll later.

Mutha Puss Bucket.

50’s Wiring

I am still planning on getting my old Les Paul, the 1978 Custom, some work. As in possibly a complete makeover.

When I do, I am absolutely doing this:

Add in a couple of 50’s PAF clones for pickups and some new frets (if necessary) and it’s going to be a brand new baby. After that I get the new Les Paul done in the same way and I end up with two spanky guitars. Oh yeah, then there’s the ES-335 and the SG to consider too.

Sorry… nerding out in a major way right now. I’ve been watching all sorts of Les Paul videos on YouTube while I try to finish my exercise for the day. I’m almost done. Maybe one more video. Let’s go.

The YouTube file wouldn’t embed on my first try. I tried a second time, but if it still doesn’t work you can click here to see what all the fuss is about.

Amp Swap

I made some changes to the bedroom music nook today. Sort of celebrating the fact that the RPM Challenge is over. Mixing it up, ya know?

I moved the Vox MV50 Nutube amp and the Fender Bassbreaker 112 speaker cabinet back into the living room. The electric piano is plugged into it again. I took the Bassbreaker 15 that I’ve been using for months and months down cellar and brought up the Vox AC15. The next time I play it will be through the AC15.

I am trying to work up the Covid courage to ask the band what their late-March schedules look like. I’m sort of hoping someone else brings it up first so if we all get Covid I won’t feel that extra layer of guilt. That’s ignoring the fact that we won’t be getting Covid, but that’s beside the point. I’m also thinking about bringing the AC15 to that first bad practice.

Speaking of venturing out into the world, I have been wondering to myself if this week’s vacation will be the time I finally bring my Fender Stratocaster to a music store, probably Guitar Center in Nashua, to trade it in for something else. First on the potential trade list is a Les Paul Junior. Second is the Fender reissue of the silver face Deluxe Reverb. Third would probably be a Gibson Firebird. All of those things will cost more than I could get for the Strat so price is an issue as well as store stock. Also, Covid. I don’t know if I am up to that yet. I don’t know if I’m up to anything yet, but going to the office once a week over the last three weeks, as well as some in person doctors appointments… my courage is building up.

We’ll see.

Tubes

It’s all about me. World events? The Russian invasion of Ukraine? It’s all about me.

No it isn’t, but this is partly about me but also about guitar gear in general.

Vacuum tubes, right? The best guitar amps are powered by tubes (valves if you’re one of our British friends). The technology dates back to 1904, according to Wikipedia, and the guitar amps many of us like date back to the 50’s and 60’s. Suffice to say it’s not exactly cutting edge stuff.

The only industries that still use tubes are guitar amps and effects and hi-fi stereo systems. That’s it. Tubes used to run everything but now it’s down to those two hold outs. As a result there are only three factories on Earth that still manufacture vacuum tubes. Three.

One factory is in Slovakia (I think… or is it Slovenia? No, pretty sure it’s Slovakia). Another factory is in China. From what I hear, that factory recently had a bad fire and they have been offline for a while. The result of that is that tubes, already in short supply, are in a full blown shortage. Thank goodness for that third factory, huh? Hey, where is that third factory anyway?

Russia.

Shit.

I haven’t heard anything specific but with the sanctions the entire world is leveling at Russia to convince them to stop being evil and get their military out of Ukraine it’s safe to say that we won’t be seeing any tubes out of that Russian factory any time soon. That means that we’re effectively down to one factory. One. Let’s all send as many happy and safe vibes we can to JJ Electronic in the hopes that they keep rolling at peak efficiency with all of their staff being exceptionally happy and healthy and satisfied in their professions.

I own four tube amps. Three Fenders and a Vox. I haven’t been a tube amp guy for long, but in my very teeny tiny experience I have never had to change a tube. Please, guitar gods, let the tubes in my amps last forever. Pretty please.

One other guitar gear thing I want to mention is petty and pointless and exactly the sort of thing that the trump ass cult ranks on people like me ceaselessly for. I can’t help it though.

I really like using fuzz pedals. Of the three classic types of fuzz pedals, Fuzz Face, Tone Bender, and Big Muff Pi, my absolute favorites are Muffs. They are just ferocious and I really love them. In the last two years or so I have used a clone of a Big Muff pedal for probably 80% of the lead guitar parts I have recorded. Most of those tracks were recorded using a pedal by a company called Wren and Cuff that is called the Super Russian. Big Muffs were originally made by the Electro Harmonics company back in 1970 or so. That company fell apart in the late 80’s or early 90’s (not sure exactly when) and a new company was formed from the ashes that was called Sovtek. That company was based in the newly post-Soviet Union Russia. Many of the EHX pedals were redesigned to use Russian components and manufactured and sold by the new company. The Super Russian pedal on my board is based on a Sovtek period Big Muff.

The pedal sounds amazing and I love playing through it. It’s pretty much perfect. Still… when I was posting my RPM stuff to alonetone.com I was adding notes about what gear I used (so that I can know what I used when I listen back years from now). I kept having to type the word Russian into those notes. Even though the pedal and I have nothing to do with the evil spewing out of Moscow right now, I felt kinda dirty every time I wrote one of those notes. It is totally irrational and makes zero sense, but that’s how I felt. Feelings don’t need to be rational, after all. I mean we aren’t Vulcans, right?

So I guess what I am saying is… I might be in the market for a fuzz pedal that isn’t based on a Sovtek circuit. It is entirely possible that this might just be my Gear Acquisition Syndrome trying to trick me into buying a new pedal, but let’s not think about that.

Whatever. I should just send $200 to a Ukrainian charity instead and just get over my irrational self. I should also start hoarding vacuum tubes.