A Stevie Ray Vaughan Lesson

27th August 2010 marks the 20th anniversary of Stevie Ray's passing.

Has it really been that long? 

Blankenship Amp Owned By Mike Landau On eBay!

Up for your perusal is a Mike Landau owned Blankenship Fat Boy Supreme with Sour Cream option -- a 6-position bright switch.

Unlike the stock Fat Boy Supremes which come with a single 15" speaker, this amp is outfitted with a pair of 12" Rola Celestion G12-65's which seem to be Mike's favorite. 

And to up the deliciousness factor, this particular amp comes in a rich chocolate-brown tweed.

According to Blankenship's website, their Fat Boy amps allow the player to switch  between a pair of 6V6 or 6L6 power tubes, without having to re-bias the amp.  The Sour Cream option gives the customer a choice of either a Volume and 6-position bright switch or two dedicated Volumes, controlled by a footswitch.

Decisions, decisions..

Past listings by the seller, LA Vintage Gear, also included a pristine 1967 Fender Twin, also owned by Mike, that was reworked by Roy Blankenship.

eBay Item #:  200504434748

Eric Johnson | Birthday Tribute!

Born 17th August 1954, Eric Johnson is 56 today!

Steve Lukather Getting It On With Multi-Tap Delay

Tired of conventional reverb washing out your tone, making you sound like you're playing from a bathroom in the building next door?  Let Mr Steve Lukather lay down the rules of using a multi-tap delay.

The concept is pretty simple.  Stack three (or more) delays of different delay time lengths together -- let's say 200, 600 and 800 milliseconds -- and have at it.  For added juiciness, pan the different delays in a stereo field to taste.

Of course you'll need a pretty slamming delay unit if you're going live -- in this vid, Luke demonstrates the vintage Lexicon PCM70.  Allan Holdsworth, another die-hard multi-tap delay loyalist helped design the now sadly discontinued Yamaha UD Stomp which featured no less than eight individual delays in a stompbox floor unit!

Or as Lukather puts it, "The most fun that you can have with your clothes on.."

Paul Rivera's Fender Princeton Mod Link

If you read my post on Steve Lukather's Rivera modified Princeton amp, here's a link I recently discovered that provides instructions and schematics to get your Fender Princeton souped up to Lukather's specs:

http://www.stratopastor.org.uk/strato/amps/prii/modifications/gainmods/gainmods.html

Bear in mind that I make no claim as to the accuracy or safety of the amp mod information on that site. 

And make sure you know what you're doing before opening up any amp and poking around in there -- these kinds of mods are best left to a qualified technician.

Making A Gypsy Jazz Guitar Pick!

For those who can't bring themselves to fork out 15 bucks or more for a handmade Wegen pick, here's a vid showing how you can make your very own Gypsy jazz guitar pick.

In true Gypsy jazz guitar tradition, the base material looks to be at least 3mm thick!  Acetal plastic was used for the pick in this video, but for some downhome Gypsy authenticity, beef or hambone could also be used if you're so inclined.

Respiratory masks are a must when making your own custom guitar picks!