Behold! The newest addition to my pile of instruments!

2009 Fender Ritchie Blackmore Stratocaster

I’ve often said that Ritchie Blackmore is the whole reason I got into playing music.  I wore a Continue reading

Ah spring! Incessant rain, purty flowers, hay fever and some cool new gear in the store. Here’s what we’ve been drooling over lately:

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 Continue reading

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. Continue reading

We’ve already done a Fender Road Worn review and there’s been a lot of talk about how they compare with other relic jobs. Well, we’re lucky enough to have not only the Road Worn, but a real 1958 Fender Telecaster and the new Seuf OF-20 in the store at the moment and we couldn’t help but throw them all in the ring together for a battle royale and see how they compared. We’re a Nash dealer too, but we haven’t got any in stock today. We played each of the guitars through a Dr. Z Carmen Ghia and Eric, John, Jason and shop manager Mike went a round with each guitar. The winner? Well, depends on who you ask.

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 Continue reading

I thought it might be fun to go through some of my personal instruments and amps to reveal some of their secrets…Â I’ll add new stuff periodically.

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. Continue reading