guitar nerd domain!

Probably way more information than needed, but oh well — some people love this kinda stuff...

1988 Paul Reed Smith with half-moon pearl inlays

1986 Kramer Explorer guitar with added Seymour Duncan 'vintage' neck pickup and a Roland GR50 synth pickup

1992 Hohner neck-through electric bass with drop-d steinberger bridge and active pickups

2003 Alvarez steel string cutaway with electronics

Amps

Ever since I sold my Mesa Boogie MarkIV and its replacement bit the dust, I've used a Fender Blues Junior tube for guitar.

Picks

I play straight fingerstyle (no more fingernails, though) and also with finger and pick combination. My picks tend toward the teeny fender heavy tortoise shell teardrop numbers or Jim Dunlop Jazz III's . Sometimes I'll use a paper clip or coin or something for different textures as well.

Strings

For my steel string I'm converted to Elixirs. For electric, I've always had good luck with DR, Ernie Balls or D'Addarios. However, I'm pretty convinced it doesn't matter and I couldn't tell anyway!

Effects

Danelectro 'BLT' slap-back echo pedal
Jim Dunlop Cry-Baby wah pedal
ProCo Rat distortion pedal
Boomerang Phrase Sampler for up to 4 minute looping

Prepared/Table Top guitar

For the past 7 years I've been doing a lot of performance with the guitar in abnormal positions. Many of these have been done on a massage table, allowing me to approach it from all angles. Oftentimes I'll incorporate looping into these performances (with a Lexicon Jam Man or my Boomerang) and they're always improvised. In these instances, I use a lot of diverse tools to attain different textures and sounds. Some of these include: clarinet reed, blush brush, chopsticks, wood screws, radio antennaes, 'adult' vibrating toys, feathers, clothespins, whips, etc. Good clean fun!

Some of my favorite guitarists/bassists include:

Michael Hedges, Bill Frisell, David Rhodes, Marc Ribot, Fred Frith, Frank Zappa, Prince, Jeff Beck, Tim Sparks, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Bireli Lagrene, Dean Magraw, Julian Bream, Derek Bailey, Charles Mingus, Tuck Andress, Albert Collins, Joe Pass, Tony Levin, Jim Hall, Jaco Pastorius, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Snooks Eaglin, Jeff Berlin, Bootsy Collins, John Williams, Steve Vai, Ani DeFranco, Charlie Hunter, John Frusciante, Jimi Hendrix, Buckethead, Jamie West-Oram, Carlos Barbosa-Lima, Hubert Sumlin, Chris McDermott, Steve Morse, Jon Damian, and Bill Laswell

Perspective

I've been playing guitar for well over half my life, and it was definitely the first tool I explored for expression and catharsis. For a long time I'd take classical lessons (which my parents approved of and paid for) and electric lessons every week. My teenage need-for-speed was fueled by the whole Mike Varney neo-classical metal niche (Yngwie Malmsteen, Vinnie Moore, Tony MacAlpine), but luckily it only lasted a few years.

I admit I went through a (necessary?) phase of jazz snobbery as well. Then I only listened to "new" music like Harry Partch, Stockhausen, Cage, etc.. Nowadays, still getting my feet wet in my third decade, I listen to and play all sorts of stuff. While I still go through smaller-scale phases, I try to keep my mind and ears open to everything. Recent loves include Sibelius' Symphony no. 2, Neil Young's Harvest, David Byrne's Grown Backwards, Beatles Anthology and Jack Johnson's On and On. My favorite thing to do these days is visit the library every week and just pick through the random circulation racks. I think that's how music should be presented: no order, labels, categories, hierarchies, etc. You'll never know what surprises you might find when you poke your head into other genres!

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