Art House Studio

There’s a new joint venture between Mass Street Music‘s own John Flynn, Isaac Flynn, Matt C and studio engineer Jim Barnes  -  The Art House. It’s  an innovative recording studio located near the heart of downtown Lawrence.  The Art House is much more than just a recording studio however, it’s an arts collective housing visual artists, filmmakers and music teachers, including veteran Mass St Musician Eric Mardis.  So far the reviews have been outstanding.

Between now and April 1st Art House has an introductory recording rate of $250/day, including engineer fees. After April 1st the rates will be $350/day, engineer fee included.  If you’re into home recording Art House will be offering classes.  Having trouble recording  your own drums, or doing your final mix down?  You can even partner with them – they’ll record your drums, you record the rest and then Art House will  mix it down.  More info on Art House can be found  in this great  Lawrence Journal-World article.

You can also check out samples of their work at www.myspace.com/thearthouselawrence.  Interested in booking or more info? Contact Matt C at arthouselawrence@gmail.com, or call 785-220-7195.  Congrats guys!!

Eric rockin' the banjo

We’re sorry to bid adieu to our great  Mass St. Music compadre Eric Mardis, who worked here for several great years.  The Good? He’s still playing with the exceptional Split Lip Rayfield. The Bad? He’s not working here at the store anymore (though he may make a few guest appearances and get roped into teaching a workshop or two). The Ugly? Have you ever seen him after his favorite lunch of General Tso’s Chicken? It’s not pretty.

The best news though is that this melodic maniac is now giving guitar and banjo lessons in the Arthouse Recording Studio building at 912 Illinois. That’s right…a little Deliverance? Done. Thin Lizzy? Check.  Earl Scruggs? Of course. You can reach him directly at 785-840-8530.  Very best to you Eric!

Eric back in May with Bob Taylor and 'the' Cocobolo & Adirondack Spruce

Taylor turned the raw Cocobolo in the photo above  into this killer GA Custom as part of their Build-to-Order program. It’s sounds amazing too! Check out photos of the Ad top on this, with grain so wide you call fall through, plus read more about the BTO GA Custom here.

Woah.

Just a portion of the factory

Taylor Guitars brings together a handful of dealers from across the US every 6 weeks or so to talk about Taylor innovations, to get a first hand view of the facility, and to get to know the excellent people at Taylor Guitars.  Just recently I was invited to visit them in El Cajon.

The first day we all went to the factory for a tour led by Bob Taylor himself.  It was extensive!

Bob Taylor and a whole lot of great wood

The factory tour lasted about four hours with Bob giving us in-depth insight into Taylor’s wood sourcing,  manufacturing techniques, research and development (a mind blowing creative think tank!), electronics, NT neck technology, materials, spray rooms, finish, the layout of the company – everything, including the Tecate Mexico factory…  whew!  It was a lot of information!  It was all very well presented and was really enlightening.  I was very impressed by the way they do things and by the people and machines that make it all work.  Truly a stunning marvel of modern guitar manufacturing.

Bob shows off the totally innovative NT neck

The 'Laser Room' with wood ready to be turned into amazing guitars

Later, we had a great Q&A session with Bob and his VP of Marketing, Brian Swerdfeger.   We discussed all things guitar… the depletion and state of tone woods today, the history of Taylor, how Bob’s Hummer has been modified and more.   It was great to pick the brain of one of the world’s  leading guitar innovators, and to find that he (and the whole crew at Taylor) is a super down to earth guy.

The next day we looked at the Build to Order program and the R. Taylor shop.   Build to Order is an extremely cool way to achieve a one of a kind custom guitar, built to your specs… I ‘built’ two of them for Mass Street – we’re looking forward to receiving these soon (a Custom GS Striped Maccassar Ebony/Bearclaw Spruce & a Custom GA Cocobolo/Adirondack Spruce).

The striped Maccassar handpicked by Eric and Bob for a Mass St. guitar!

They are seriously the sweetest sets of wood I have ever seen.  Have you seen the Cocobolo set on the cover of Taylor’s recent BTO issue of WOOD AND STEEL (note: you can pick up a free copy at Mass Street)?  My set of Coco blows it away!   Bob Taylor and I went through massive stacks of beautiful wood to hand pick these sets!  It was super fun and I learned a lot about wood and how a true custom guitar is made.   The Built to Order guitars get special attention from Taylor VP of Production Chris Wellons and Laser Room manager Joe Bina;  I think it would be nearly impossible to come up with anything less than a 10 when building a guitar with these guys.  I’m seriously building myself a custom GC this fall.

The Cocobolo wood picked by Eric and Bob for another Mass St. guitar. Nice!

R. Taylor was another amazing feature of the plant.  Very small shop for these amazing guitars!  Basically five master luthiers building guitars the old way.  Gorgeous and tone-ful.   These instruments hold their own against some of the finest boutique makers out there. (Check out our R. Taylor Style 2 here)

The Taylor Trip was awesome.  I learned so much, ate massive amounts of great Mexican food, played guitar, and made some great new friends at Taylor.   My already high opinion of Taylor was launched into the stratosphere.  What a great company and simply incredible guitars. – Eric

The infamous 'Pallet Guitar' crafted by Bob from a shipping pallet. Check out the forklift inlay. That's forking amazing!

Bout of the Pallet Guitar - check out the former nail holes. Bob built this to show how essential the talent of the builder is, even more so than the quality of the wood.

Insane! The Robot Buffer - total precision followed by hand buffing by a real person

Various wood destined to be necks

A rare one-off double neck crafted at Taylor

Matt C, Jason, Eric and Matthew K rockin' the special Groshes

Tuesday morning Brent and Yoshi from Don Grosh Guitars stopped by Mass St. Music and brought some very cool one-off guitars and prototypes for show and tell (and some bagels). What a morning…more than anything else it just confirmed why we love these guitars – not only do they have incredible playability and tone but they are some of the coolest looking guitars around. In the photo below, John checks out the 293 – fully hollow. We’ve got a 193 in the store right now, and it’s phenomenal – come check it out while it’s still here.

John checks out the exquisite fully hollow Grosh 293

We also got a chance to check out the very first ElectraJet – one of our favorite models, and Grosh’s bestseller. This seriously is a new standard in guitars – we think it’s only going to continue to grow in popularity. It was a real treat to play the very first ever made and everyone gave it a spin. One of our shop luthiers, Matt Harmon even said this model is the first he’s ever thought about purchasing since he’s learned to make guitars himself.

Matt C plays the very first EJ ever made

Luthier Matt Harmon takes a turn

“Getting to play the first ElectraJet was awesome,” Matt C. said. “It’s hard to make a really new guitar that doesn’t weird people out – the EJ is completely new but familiar too – it’s here to stay.”

More than anything we all learned more about the differences in the Standard versus Custom necks including how the double action truss rods and thicker necks on the Customs all lend to even more tonal transfer. “It was nice to see the actual parts – see and feel the differences in the necks,” said Matthew K.

Bent Top and Retro Classic bodies

Brent showed us both a Bent Top and Retro Classic unfinished body – the craftsmanship is impeccable. Originally cut with the ultra-precise CNC machine, then completely hand finished. We already knew Don has a hand in each and every guitar, but wow – he’s really in the trenches….whether shaping the Bent Tops or fitting each and every neck to the bodies, or doing some of the incredible paint jobs (Bo Ballinger is the other painting master at Grosh). Even before construction begins, the woods are acclimated for 4 – 6 months rather than kiln dried like some other folks – this insures the wood is more stable. Kiln dried wood tends to try to suck moisture back up after it’s dried out. They fit the frets to radiused fretslots so there are absolutely no gaps, giving you even more tonal transfer – that’s what these guys are all about – as they say “Tone, Looks, Playability”. The Grosh attention to detail and innovation is just outstanding. How about that double action truss rod? I held one and it is heavy. It not only allows you more adjustment, but that added mass does give you more of that sweet tonal transfer. They’ve got every base covered.

Brent shows off a killer Bent Top

Yoshi and one of the 'cadillacs' of Retro Classics

They showed us a special Retro Classic with a Mary Kay type finish, gold hardware and Birdseye Maple Neck, loaded with 50s style pickups – “A nice piece of Ash” as one of our guys said.

Jason’s favorite? The ‘raw’ EJ demo guitar, unfinished, loaded with Grosh humbuckers. He said “I want one.”

The raw, unfinished demo EJ loaded with Grosh humbuckers!

Jason (center) with raw EJ, Matt C (left) w/ prototype RC Standard and Eric (right) with the tricked out Retro Classic

The most exciting news from Grosh was two fold – More pickups (look for a review in an upcoming issue of Guitar Player magazine) and the new Hollowtron – we’re really excited about getting this guitar! Thanks to Brent and Yoshi for a great visit! Come back anytime.

Yoshi checks out Flynn's late 90s Retro Classic burst while Brent checks out Eric's own Retro Classic T

Yoshi rocks Flynn's RC and former MSMer Brian Soden checks out the RC Standard

2009 Fender Ritchie Blackmore Stratocaster

I’ve often said that Ritchie Blackmore is the whole reason I got into playing music.  I wore a Deep Purple T-Shirt 3 out of 5 days a week in high school… my friends Peter Nisenkier and Jeff Conrick turned me onto Purple and a great deal of other music when I was about 14 and I still listen to most of it, and revere it to this day.

This guitar is sweet.  It has 2 Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders (3 way switch) -the middle position is a dummy pickup set flush to the body, Big old 70s peghead, and a vintage trem.

The big modification to this Strat is the scalloped fingerboard. The scallops are more severe on the treble strings and as you travel up the neck. The bass side and lower frets have a gentler scallop depth.  Much nicer than the super scalloped Yngwie Malmsteen model.

Let no rosewood touch thine finger tips...

I’ve been trolling around eBay for last past couple of years looking for a 1997 Japanese made Blackmore Strat. This works out way better… those things are demanding quite a price these days. Way to go Fender.  Did I need another electric guitar? no. Did I have to get this? YESSSSSSSSS

Blackers before the renfest ate his soul…

one more for the road...

John Flynn – Don Grosh Retro Classic S Shape

This is a fantastic instrument and now that Birdseye necks are going to skyrocket in price, this is a great time to get one at the old price. This guitar plays and sounds amazing. Definitely a brighter “Robert Cray” type tone. The neck is super stiff and just has a great vintage feel about it and Don’s new pickups are just as amazing.

This Grosh has been taunting John - he can see it from his office

Isaac Flynn - Don Grosh Retro Classic S Shape

Like father, like son…Isaac had this to say on the RC, “It’s so easy to play, the Grosh pickups are the best I’ve heard, and the guitar just looks awesome!”

Eric Mardis - Ome Sweetgrass Banjo

This banjo is so gorgeous. The fit and finish are second to none, but the real payoff is when you put on some picks and let loose on this thing. Â The tone is bright without being an “icepick in the forehead.” Bright yes, but also full and pleasant at the same time. Â I’m truly impressed with this, our first OME Bluegrass banjo!

Sweetgrass Ome Banjo

Matthew Khomsi – Mogami 12′ Right Angle Platinum Cable

I thought I would see what all the hype is about with these high-end cables. Well, the jury is in and let me just say, from the first second I plugged it in, my bass sounded substantially more massive. I was genuinely shocked at how big a difference replacing my instrument cable had on my tone.

Worth the hype? Matthew gives a resounding thumbs up

Jason Jones – Fender Hau’oli Tenor Ukelele

I choose the new Hau’oli Ukulele from Fender. Hawaiian for “happy”, this ukulele lives up to its name with its rich tone, stable tuning, and great price that are guaranteed to put a smile on your face!

O Happy Day, the new Fender Tenor Uke!

Matt Christenot – Fender American Vintage 52 Tele Reissue

This 52 tele reissue is a must have for tele lovers. Very cool.

Fender 52 Tele Reissue

Anne Tangeman – Squier Classic Vibe ’50s Tele

That’s right…I said Squier. Honestly the past two years they have been making some very cool guitars and basses and I think this Classic Vibe line shows them off at their best. This tele has a retro eye on the past, it’s well made and it’s inexpensive. Twang!

Squier (that's right) Classic Vibe 50s Tele

Ready to ROCK

This is my “rock” pedal board.  I only use this one with tube amps that have high gain distortion channels and effects loops. I use a 100-watt Marshall JCM 900 or my 120-watt Peavey JSX head.   I hate distortion pedals (save for one which will remain un-named until next time) so there is no better way to go for me than to set it up like this:

First, for those who don’t know, an “effects loop” allows you to place your modulation and time based effects (chorus/flange/phase/delay/pitch shift) AFTER your distortion. Basically, the signal jumps out of the amp after your preamp section, hits whatever pedals that need to be in the loop, then back into the amp before heading to the power section…  makes for much “cleaner” tones.

In my case, this board is split in two:Â Pedals that hit the front of the amp, and pedals in the loop.

Cables: I use George L cables and ends cut to length… I recently added a Pedalsnake which stows nicely below, has lines for the front of the amp, effects loop send/return, and even a power line for juice.  This snake eliminated (4) 18-foot cables and the extension cord that provided front stage power. Now I have one cable that runs from board to amp! Much cleaner and faster to setup/tear down.

Front end:  It starts of with the good ol’ BOSS TU-2 stage tuner. This guy powers everything on the board as well thanks to a ROLAND PCS-20A multicord.  From there the signal heads to a Morely “Bad Horse” Wah.  Yes, this pedal was designed in conjuction with Steve Vai, but the reason I bought it was the lack of a toe-switch.  It’s always in the “up” position, so when you step on it it engages. When you release, it has a 1 second buffer and you’re back to your sound.  I always hated switches on wahs… so here it is. Dunlop makes a nice CryBaby now with this feature.   From the wah we head straight to the input of the amp.  (Sometimes I’ll pop a Keeley Comp or MXR Dyna Comp into the spot before the wah… comps sound best in front too.)

Loop: First, a BOSS CE-5 Chrous Ensemble.  Don’t use it much, but it’s there. Then we go to a Morley “Little Alligator” Volume pedal. Yes, another Steve Vai-ism. I got this because it works great, has a min volume control, and matches my Wah. One note here: Vol pedals can go either in front or in the loop.  I chose “in the loop” because I wanted a master volume. If you go in front of the loop, it acts more like the volume knob on the guitar… it cleans up your distortion. Both methods have their uses. From here we go to a BOSS HR-2 Harmonist. This takes the note you play and adds 2 voices of intelligent harmony over it. Just set the Key and what intervals you want. (A little basic music theory helps here) – Basically a pitch shifter, this things sounds like Iron Maiden in a box when distorted single note lines a played. You can only use this pedal once or twice a night – but when you do, it’s like showing a card trick to a dog! Hilarious.  From here the signal heads to a BOSS DD-6 Delay, then back to the effects return on the loop.

The board itself is made by Pedal Pad.

I generally use my Music Man JP6 or my 1981 Gibson Les Paul Custom with this rig.

This board has been in use for about 6 years – it has served me well.  Next: my “jazz” pedal board! – Eric Mardis

L to R: Fender Road Worn 50s Tele, '58 Fender Tele, Seuf OF-20

1958 Fender Telecaster $20, 499.

The vintage 1958 Tele

Note – this tele’s bridge pickup was rewound at some point by Charlie Davis one of ‘the’ Fender guys who probably wound it when it was made in the ’50s.

Jason: The sound on this is the best of all three – the bridge pickup…it has the most body, most bite. The neck pickup is warmer with a lower output – it was geared towards jazz at the time it was made, so it’s much mellower and it’s kind of …not really geared for modern music. This one plays the worst of all three guitars, it’s harder to play. The frets are shorter, smaller. The bridge pickup is ‘the’ sound though. I’d be afraid to take it out to play though.

John: Hard to beat the sound on this, the bridge pickup is just incredible. It’s ‘the’ tone. The frets are small.

Eric: It’s a given – this is a super cool guitar. You’re holding a piece of history. The bridge pickup is the magic tele sound.

Mike: This has surprising output. The bridge pickup has really great presence. I love the way it responds. The playability is ok…it’s got low fret height though. Doesn’t have a modern tele feel – you can feel the fretboard. No complaints, it’s just not a feel I like.

Fender Road Worn 50s Telecaster $950.

Fender Road Worn 50s Telecaster

Jason: This is great. The Tex Mex pickups aren’t the best of the three, but it’s the best priced. The neck feels great, it sounds alright. I think for the price, it’s great.

John: The pickups are pretty darned good – but not as good as the others here. For the money this guitar is a bargain. Any guitar is going to sound anemic next to that 58 Tele!

Eric: The sound is comparable to the Seuf. I think the Road Worn might be the coolest tele for the least amount of money that Fender’s ever done. The fretwork is comparable to the Seuf too.  It’s nice Fender noticed other relics – they probably had a ‘Duh’ moment when they realized they could do it with their own designs. They nailed down their own history. Nice.

Mike: Not bad. It’s more akin to a Nash. The playability is good. This is a better made guitar than the Nash. Plays great and the fretwork is well done, but not as highly polished as the Seuf. It doesn’t have the sound of the ’58 or the wide range of the Seuf with its Fralins. It’s more one dimensional, but it’s good. The signal output is just lower than the other two.

Seuf OF-20 $1699.

Seuf OF-20

Note: These are new relic’d guitars, made by Dave Seuferling in Kansas City and we just received them last week.

Jason: Great playability. The pickups are good – just not the total essence of the real deal. This is the best player technically. Aesthetically it’s more authentic looking. It’s handmade, not mass produced like the Road Worn. Great quality.

John: Playability is great on this. The sound of the Fralins is fantastic, but I’d use a Katana Boost. Again, any of these are gonna sound anemic next to that ’58.

Eric: I love the finish checking on this. It’s one of the best relic jobs I’ve ever seen. It feels really good. It sounds good- the Fralins are great.

Mike: The playability is good. The fretwork on this is excellent. You can get a wider range of tones than the ’58 due to the Fralins, but you don’t get the same ‘oomph’ of the ’58. Definitely one of the better relic jobs I’ve seen – not perfect, but a whole lot closer than most I’ve seen.

Eric putting the Fender Road Worn 50s Tele through its paces

Here’s where the chips fell when the battle ended:

Jason: The Seuf OF-20: Just because, all told, the price, the availability, the quality…this has the most usage potential for me.

John: Seuf OF-20: It just played great. I’d still add a Katana Boost.

Eric: Fender Road Worn 50s Tele: It’s not just budgetary. Aesthetically I like it a lot. Maybe there’s some subconscious thing about that Fender mojo versus copycats, and having the Fender name on the headstock. Like I said, it’s nice they’re nailing down something from their own history.

Mike: The ’58 Fender Tele: The bridge pickup sounds better than any tele pickup I’ve ever heard.

Suef 2, Road Worn 1, ’58 Tele 1.

Mike checks out the '58 Fender Tele

A good battle was had by all

There really is no question in my mind as to which guitar gets to go first.  My 1981 Gibson Les Paul Custom has been with me for 20 years and is the apple of my gear eye.

1981 Les Paul Custom

I bought it in 1988 from a guy (Steve?) that worked at Nillson’s Guitar World in Overland Park. I was 16 at the time, had been playing for 2 years and had a severe case of Les Paul fever.  Funny, It wasn’t Jimmy Page, Gary Moore, Slash, Mick Ronson, Randy Rhoads or any of the LP guitar heroes that inspired me to follow the Les Paul/Marshall path… it was Mike Tobin (former Mass Street Employee) and his band Kill Whitey. I saw Mike three times in about a month and decided that I had to have that gear. Anyway, this guy Steve calls me and says “I hear you like Les Pauls…”  I bought the guitar without playing it (no pickups or strings) for $700 which seemed like sooo much money then. (thanks Mom)

Steve gave me an old passive neck pickup out of a Jackson Soloist (it was the 80s) and I put an EMG 85 in the Bridge. Threw some D’Addarrio 9s on it and it was good to go. Awesome.  I played this guitar for years like that.

Every battle scar tells a tale...

I moved to Lawrence in 1990 and it wasn’t long before I found Mass Street Music.  In about 1993 I had the Jackson neck pickup replaced with an EMG 60 for phat necky goodness.  It was around this time that I learned of the rarity of the tuners… they feature a sweet little flip-out arm for quick string changes (see pic). I think Gibson only did this for 2 or 3 years. I’ve seen these tuners go for $50 a piece on E-Bay.

Rare Flip-out tuner

Around 2001, I asked Mass Street’s Repair Shop maestro Mike Horan to do something drastic.  I had a new bone nut made, replaced the shredded tune-o-matic bridge, replaced the old EMG 85 bridge pickup with a deadly EMG 81, and had the guitar re-fretted with huge Dunlop 6000 fret wire. This last mod was a gamble on my part- I knew I liked big frets, but LP Customs are often referred to as “fretless wonders” because of the low frets Gibson uses. I knew the guitar would be waayyy different and it was scary waiting for the results.

EMG 81/60. James Hetfield has been ripping me off.

The results? Best rock guitar ever. We’ve been through a lot together and this LPC has never failed to sing its wanton song of rock destruction.  It can do everything from the heaviest palm muted thrash to sweet, singing, uber-sustain lead work… the cleans are lovely as well. It has earned its place at the top of my mountain of gear.  -Eric