Cryptic Message On Analogman Pedal?

This Analogman pedal had me doing a double take. 

Analogman Pedal

Silkscreened on the back of this innocuous, but very fine Analogman custom loop pedal is "WE DOPED AL SRIGHT".

Who is Al Sright and why was he doped? 

Intrigued by this cryptic message, I accessed the Oracle of the modern information age. 

But Google revealed nothing.

We have to get to the bottom of this.

It's time to we all head down to our local boutique pedal store to check out as many Analogman pedals as we can.  Don't forget to bring along a Phillips screwdriver so you can access the inside of each pedal as well.  Look out for any serial numbers that might coincide with a date from the last ten years or so.  Just because.

And go ahead and plug 'em into your favorite Class A tube amp while you're at it.  The mystery of Al Sright might be right there in the tone.  Listen closely and let the pedal speak to you.

After you've soaked in all that boutique analog juiciness, buy a couple and bring them home for closer inspection.  No more pedal real estate on that 6' x' 2' custom pedalboard?  Analogman pedals make great stocking stuffers for Christmas!

Let's make this a concerted effort folks.

Bill Connors | "Never Say Goodbye, Variations on Layla"

This one brings back a lot of memories! 

The July 1985 issue of Guitar Player magazine was devoted almost entirely to Eric Clapton and this piece, "Never Say Goodbye -- Variations on Layla" was specially commissioned for the included Soundpage.



According to Bill Connors who composed 'Variations' and played all the guitar parts, "The session took place at Media Sound in New York.  I had trouble hearing the first part back in my headphones, and when I added the middle voice to bars 17 through 22, the chords turned out to be slightly out of tune, giving things an eerie quality.  I considered doing it over, but decided that it had a horn-like feel that I liked, so I kept it."

Connors used his Charvel Strat-copy equipped with prototype DiMarzio pickups through a Dean Markley tube amp and Marshall cabinets.

Readers old enough to remember the heady experience of peeling open the outer shrinkwrap cover of a newly purchased record album will also remember the wonderful aroma of the black record vinyl therein.  (Don't knock it til you've tried it). 

Back in the day, circa October '84 til Dec '89, GP's monthly addition of the free Soundpage -- a paper-thin playable record, manufactured by Eva-Tone -- always featured exciting and unique content, often unavailable anywhere else.   Replete with that black vinyl smell!

It was on the first of these Guitar Player magazine Soundpages that I heard 'The Attitude Song' by a guy called Steve Vai -- blowing my mind and causing me to bust more than a few strings in the process. 

Check out my earlier Bill Connors article here.