All posts in September 2015

Episode 90- Ovation Guitars Returns to America!

The return of Ovation Guitars to American production is something we are all jazzed about. Here’s our interview with Ovation production Manager Bill Xavier where he discusses what’s ahead for this great American Brand. Plus, an interview with long time Ovation player Geno White. Gene recorded his entire “Music in the Lighthouse” album using only an Ovation guitar.

For more on Ovation- http://www.ovationguitars.com

Ovation Fac

Episode 89- Ulrich Ellison- Viking Blues from Austin TX

Get More Ulrich at- http:/http://ulrichellison.com

Can this guy play or what?!?

Episode 88- Redd Volkaert

Check out Redd at- http://www.reddvolkaert.net

Here’s Redd at the Dallas Guitar Festival 2014- We had a Real Good Time-

How about some more? This is from 2015-

500 Words With Adam P Hunt- Cheap Guitars

500 Words Cheap Guitars

I’m sure I’m not alone in this but I’ve often found myself fantasying about what guitars I would own if I had unlimited resources.

In my mind’s eye I own a vault’s worth of late 1950’s Gibsons and Fenders, a couple Tony Zemaitis, and some of pre-Beatle era Gretch for good measure.

Of course there would be a rehearsal room that had some classic Fender, Marshall and Vox amps to play through but because I’m a working guy my resources are limited.

I’ve had owned a couple of 50’s era guitars, a Gibson ES 125 and a Danelectro of some sort, but to be honest with you they both lived in their cases a greater amount of time than I actually played them.

As much as I liked them the two guitars had problems associated with vintage gear, such as underwhelming pickups, tuning stability and feedback.

Today I own a handful of guitars including my new favorite a Stewart-MacDonald pine body Telecaster. None of my guitars are what you would call “collectables” but instead they are a mix of functional off-the-shelf guitars set up to do a specific job.

As a player my ear and proclivity leans much more towards a vintage guitar sound but in order to capture more of that vibe I’m running a couple of vintage voiced amps with some relatively modern guitars.

I’m not going to fool myself to thinking that I can replicate vintage tones but I can at least live in a neighboring area code.

To me there are several reasons to buy a cheap guitar over a more expensive counterpart:

Most of the major brands offer lesser expensive versions of their premium level instruments.
Often times the lesser expensive versions can be found at a dramatic discount on the used market.
Playing live is risky because of the possibility of damage or theft.
They are a low risk alternative to buying collectables.
With a little massaging they can be star performers.

I can’t speak to your specific needs as a player but I can say even sub $500 can be dramatically improved having professional set up done either by a guitar tech or doing it yourself with guidance of several excellent home repair books.

Dan Erlewine’s “How To Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great!” is a very good guide even for non-professionals and so is “Complete Guitar Repair” by Hideo Kamimoto.

While there may be more after market pickups than you can shake a stick at don’t forget to change the pots and caps while you are at it. Replacing subpar pots and caps can radically improve the sound and response of even non-premium guitars.

Stickers on your guitar will always improve your tone too.

If you still aren’t noticing any improvement in tone you may want to buy a guitar cable suitable to the genre of music you play and even trying a different gauge of pick. “Cheap” doesn’t need to mean “bad”.

Adam P Hunt is a freelance writer who has previously written for The Library Journal and Premier Guitar Magazine. We are so happy to have him join us here at Guitar Radio Show.com.

Episode 87- Joe Louis Walker Blues Great!

Check out Joe at- http://www.joelouiswalker.com

Episode 86- Mato Nanji from Indigenous