theMountainview Publishing, LLC

TMReportThe Player’s Guide to Ultimate Tone

Timeless Tone

INSIDE

$15.00 US, November 2014/Vol.16 NO.1

www.tonequest.com

There are so many ways to get your tone – you can spend a little or a lot, but one things remains unchanged… Your sound is either mezmerizing and memorable or not. When you play your audi-ence will either become entranced by your tone, or they won’t. There is no inbetween in this regard – no ‘almost’ or honorable mentions handed out for effort. You either captivate your audience withthe tone of your guitar or you don’t. What’s preferable – seeing a great player with bad tone or someone perhaps not as skilled with mind altering tone? The answer is in the question, isn’t it?

Of course you must know the difference between such inspiring tones and the ordinary as an artist. It is your resonsibility to work through the challenges of using less than toneful gear until you discover the secret of using tools that can move people and inspire them. To do any less is a complete waste of time. You may be an incred-ibly talented player, but if you sound like a hack, it is all for naught.

Now, if you think you can’t afford to sound good, you’re wrong. We’ll prove it here. May we suggest that as a musician you really can’t afford to sound anything but inspiring and exceptional? It would be better to know 12 chords and play them with passion than to know 96 and sound like shit. This is the bane of the touring musician who sets up in unfamiliar territory every night where the variables are unknown. Want to make it even more challenging? Use completely unfamiliar backline gear every night in questionable condition. In this scenario why bother leaving home? Did you need the bread that bad to humiliate yourself in front of thousands? Riverhorse and I once went to a soundcheck be-fore a concert headlined by a major icon in rock music as both a singer, songwriter and guitarist.

Timless classic tone…You either have it or you

don’t.

The ‘65 AB165 BassmanA very different

and toneful blackface version that has been

overlooked until now…

5Tom Colvin

from the Speaker Workshopon tone…

6Bruce Clement’s

excellent BC Audio Amplfiers

The BC Numbers

9 & 10

9Delta Moon guitarist Mark

Johnson on the perfect

BC Audiotouring amp for Europe

11The best 335 ever…

The Memphis Gibson Custom Shop

Rich Robinson Signatue 335

11Tom Guerra “All of the

Above” The ToneQuest Interview

16Nordstrand Tele Pickups

revealedHow Kenny G inpsired a

pickup winder

18The Sawmill Jr. Overdrive Not just another pedal…

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The 335 is one of our favorite guitar designs – our first electric was a ‘67 Gibson 335, nothing else sounds like them, and they are an essential ingredient in the guitarist’s palette of tones. If you don’t own one you really need to…

The Memphis Rich Rob-inson 335 is an utterly desirable classic rendered from poplar/maple ply with a Bigsby and Gib-son’s Burstbucker 1 and 2 humbucking pickups. The guitar we bought weighs just 8.5 pounds and it is every bit as good as any 335 built during any era of Gibson production. We particuarly love this guitar because it neither feels or looks brand new, as if it were gently broken in and ready to play. Of course there was no Plek machine

in 1960 to dress the frets and nut to precise perfection, so our guitar feels and plays better than an original ever could. The neck shape is perfect – a classic full C in the style of a Les Paul .The cherry finish is a classic, and the streaky and dark rosewood fingerboard with ‘60s block inlays and medium jumbo frets is utter perfection – far more forgiving yet precise than ‘60s technology could allow. Key to the tone of the 335 is the maple center block and fully hollow body – a design of genius first created in Kalamazoo 1958. Gibson’s design-ers understood both fluid design, function and tone, and the 335 is a timeless work of art that sounds like no other electric

guitar with an acoustic tone, yet the sus-tain of a solidbody. Freddie King. BB… Nothing sounds quite like a 335 does it? The Rich Robinson model embodies all the tone of a vintage 335 and the and the look and feel, too, which makes it the best 335 they have ever built. Of all the guitars we have acquired and reviewed this is hands down one of our all-time favorites, and the best 335 in terms of tone, playability and visual mojo that we have ever played. It’s new, but it feels

and looks old and worn in a good way. Does it get any better than this? No, it doesn’t. You can’t possibly do better. In fact, this may well be our favorite electric of all time – more so than our Le Paul, Strat and Tele. Stay tuned for our review of Tom Holmes pickups in the 335. If you need a new electric, this is one of the best new old guitars you could possi-bly own and play, reasonably priced at below $3,000. Quest forth…

We first spoke with Tom Guerra back in 2007, when he was getting ready to release a double al-bum with indie rock trio Mambo Sons entitled “Heavy Days.” Tom first gained notoriety

by being perhaps the only “non-shred” player discovered by Shrapnel Records founder Mike Varney, who profiled the then twentysomething Guerra for Guitar Player magazine. Like the rest of us, Guerra has spent his entire 30+ year career making music and searching for tones to make it come alive, and has amassed a fine collection of vintage guitars and amps. For the past two decades, he has written about all things guitar for many fine publications, TQR included, and has interviewed some of the world’s great players as well as created detailed gear reviews. In late 2014, Tom released his first solo album “All of the Above,” a collection of tight, hook laden 3 minute guitar songs representing a catalog of classic guitar sounds.

TQR: The last time you spoke with TQR in 2007, you were getting ready to record a double album with Mambo Sons. After 15 years and 4 albums, why did you decide to fly solo?

As you’d imagine, recording and promoting a double album was a staggering amount of work, and after doing it, one realizes why nobody does it anymore. But we had 20 good new songs and wanted to get them out there, and we were fortunate enough to be on a small indie label owned by a

guitars

Rich Robinson Signature 335GIBSON

Rich Robinson Signature 335

TQ

“All of the Above”The ToneQuest Report Interview–Tom Guerra

“All of the Above”

The Player’s Guide to Ultimate Tone$15.00 US, November 2014/Vol.16 NO.1

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TONEQUEST REPORT V.16 N.1 November 20141212

great man named Marko van der Werff who was more concerned about promoting us than making the big bucks. He was responsible for get-ting our stuff on the charts in Europe! Sadly, we lost Marko a few years back, shortly after he was hit by a drunk driver, and that was the end of the label. All this time, we were playing the same clubs over

and over, and it felt like we were going in circles and not re-ally going anywhere. We decided to put things on hold to see if the live music scene would improve…but unfortunately, it got even worse. And as you know, a lot has happened in the music business over the past 10 years.

Flying solo was really the only option for me at this point, if I wanted to keep on writing original music. From a songwriting point of view, this wasn’t radically different from what I did before, except this time I was writing for my own voice, so I had to create in keys that supported my range, which is a bari-tone.

TQR: “All of the Above” is aptly named based on the varietyof different rock and roll styles and guitar tones from song to song, yet everything hangs together. Talk to us about the recording process, including how you selected which guitar and amp to use for each song…

Many of these songs were sort of sketched out “naked” on acoustic guitar, and I tried to use my imagination as to which “clothes” would look best on them, in terms of guitar and amp sounds. And that was the fun part! I then tried to come up with parts, arrangements that made the songs interesting. I probably have the world’s shortest attention span, and I knew if I could create

something that held my attention others would like it too. I worked closely with the drummer Mike Kosacek on specific grooves, which we developed in his studio outside of Austin, Texas, and he had an instant understanding of what I was trying to do. Coming up with the arrangements helped dictate which tones I wanted for each part of a song. Although the process of choosing a guitar and amp really differed by the song, sometimes, as I was writing a song, I’d have an exact vision of what I wanted to hear regarding a guitar and amp

combination. Other times, I’d experiment in the studio and do multiple takes using different guitars and amps, and see which hung best in the mix. The opening track “Get Offa My Groove” is an example of the latter…I first recorded it with a Strat, then a Gretsch 6120, and then my old ’66 Telecaster which has an old Gibson T-top in the neck position. Not only do these guitars all sound different, but they force you to play in different styles too. I made mixes of each and listened in my car for the next week or so, and it became clear to me that the song sounded best with the raspy Tele, so that’s what ended up on the album. A few folks have told me that the so-los on “Groove” are sort of reminiscent of Big Al Anderson, which is fine by me…

TQR: As we covered in our first interview, you’re a fan of vintage guitars and amps, and “All of the Above” is very old school from a sonic perspec-tive. Did you use all old gear on this record, or is there anything new on it?

From my perspective, the peak of album sonics occurred in the late ‘70s with albums like Steely Dan’s “Aja.” Although it’s far from my

favorite album, I thought that the recording of the instruments and mastering of that album were simply beautiful and pure sounding. You could hear every instrument perfectly, and the mastering was very warm and dynamic. To my ears, a lot of what happened during the ‘80’s and beyond was sort of phony sounding, with drum machines, synthesizers and tons of gated reverb. Later on, it got even worse when it all became about volume wars and brick wall limiting, which killed a lot of a record’s dynamics. I wanted “All of the Above” to sound old school, but big and yet real. And although it was recorded us-

ing digital technology, there is a real “tube sound” to it, a conscious decision.

In terms of the “vintage” vs. “new” question, the majority of the album was recorded on vintage guitars and amps as those are the tones I’ve al-ways enjoyed most. The old-est pieces of gear I used were my ’55 Les Paul TV Special, and my ’58 Stratocaster,

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both bone stock. However, right before I started recording this album, I got turned onto to a great new amp called the Colby dtb-50, the dual tone boost (profiled in TQR in 2013). I really was blown away at what Mitch and Jim Weider had created, and this amp sounds great both in the clean and dirty modes and records really nicely as well. In fact, a lot of the raw tracks for “All of the Above” are now on the Colby Amps’ website. It’s the first amp you hear on the album, and makes appearances throughout.

The other new piece of gear that I’ve been digging lately is a Brown-Box voltage regulator, which allows you to select and “brown down” to the right amount of voltage to your amp. This thing really makes vintage amps sounds great, and I’ve found that a lot of old amps sound way better using 105-110 volts vs. the 125 volts that’s coming out of the wall. It definitely gives you more sag too.

and coming to terms with what life has laid out for you, but there’s not a lot of nostalgia there. One in particular is “Here’s Tomorrow,” with its distinct 12 string electric tone that is reminiscent of The Byrds. What guitar and amp combination did you play on that?

TQR: Lyrically, a lot of the songs deal with coming of age

That song is about a guy who runs into an old high school flame and wonder-ing about the path she took. I felt that one deserved the full Byrds treat-ment, and though I’ve owned a few different Rics over the years,

I currently don’t own one, so I picked up one of the newer Japanese Fender Stratocaster 12 strings. It was unplayable when I got it, but I spent an entire day setting it up and now it plays perfectly. I ran that through both a Barber Tone Press into a Pure 64 Mean Streets 1x12 combo amp, and also direct into the board, and blended the two tracks together. There are 5 distinct vocal parts and counterparts on that track too.

TQR: One of the album’s standouts is the dobro laden “Love Comes to Us All,” about one of the heaviest events America has been through in the past few years. How and why did you tackle that?

I was about 30 miles from the Sandy Hook Elementary School the day the tragedy happened, and I remember picking my then 9 year old son up at his school, walking uninterrupt-ed into his classroom, and then seeing him, giving him a big hug while fighting back tears. Like a lot of folks, I just felt absolutely helpless by what had gone down and didn’t know what to do. Two days later, with that event in everyone’s mind, I woke up with the entire song in my head, including the melody, the lyrics, the chords and the lead guitar line. I went right over to the studio and laid the whole thing down. I very carefully put together an accompanying tribute video as a show of support to the families, and a week or so later I got an email from the First Selectman thanking me for trying to bring some comfort to her townsfolk. I don’t believe that a song could truly help those people at that point, but it offered a sentiment of support. Although from a sequencing perspec-tive it appears last, it was actually the first track I wrote for this album, and it started off a very productive period for me, writing-wise.

TQR: There’s what sounds like reverse guitar on “Queen of the Autumn Moon,” a sort of T. Rex vibe. What were you playing and how did you get that effect?

There’s all sorts of mischief on that track, using backwards guitar parts. I have a great ’69 Fender Stratocaster that’s one of my whammy bar guitars, as the trem just plays perfectly. I ran it into a Keeley FuzzHead, into ’69 Mar-shall smallbox 50, and did alot of whammy bar tomfoolery. It was a bit clinical because when you’re playing backwards, you need to play start at the end of a passage and play over the backwards rhythm, to ensure you’re playing over the right changes. It came out really nice though, using that Strat/Keeley/Marshall setup. The crunchy rhythm really drives that along, and for it I used the ’55 Les Paul TV Special straight into ’69

Marshall PA20.

TQR: Speaking of the PA20, the last time we spoke, the boutique amp world seemed to be on a big 18 watt / EL-84 kick…do you think their popularity has waned?

I don’t necessarily think that the dual EL84 / 18 watt move-ment is dead, as I do think they are absolutely great studio amps, and my PA20 is one of my “go to” sounds. That being

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said, in a live setting, it is very tough for these

amps to keep up with a drummer. I’ve tried, and found that I need a bit more headroom out of an amp before it mushes out.

The drummer did a great job on that one indeed. The rhythm guitar on that is indeed Blackmore-ish, as it features a 1970 solid maple neck Stratocaster into the Colby dtb-50 dirty channel. For the lead, I used that same ’69 Fender Strat with the bar, straight into Colby dtb-50 dirty channel. You’re right, there are also snippets of backwards guitar on this as well, using the same lead setup for some “battle cries.”

TQR: There’s also what appears to be some backwards

rock players is the fact that you don’t use a tremen-dous amount of gain on your guitar sounds. Care to elaborate?

I’ve always considered myself a “rock and roll” player vs. a “rock” player and have found that for my playing style at least, a

little overdrive goes along way. From a playing perspective, it is way less forgiving than a high gain sound, but it allows you to retain a lot more of the guitar’s natural tones and dynamics. Have you ever heard a player playing a Strat with so much gain, that if you closed your eyes, you’d never know it’s a Strat? Talk about an insult to Leo Fender (laughs).

TQR: It’s obvious that you’re influenced by 70’s rock and roll, and you’ve got Mott the Hoople’s keyboardist playing on “All of the Above.” How did that come about?

I truly believe that Mott Live is one of, if not the greatest live

albums of all time, and Ian Hunter is one of our truly great songwriters. I met Mott keyboardist Morgan Fisher in London right before the group’s now-fabled 2009 reunion concerts. We kind of hit it off as I really have always been a fan of his musi-cal genius, and he seemed to like what I was doing. When I started writing for this album, I got in touch and he delivered some great keyboard tracks. His piano really pushes the

song “Frankenstein Boots,” which is sort of my 21st century version of the “Monster Mash.”

TQR: “Refrigerator Blues” features some heavy sawtooth distortion and some pretty pointed lyrics. What inspired that, and what guitar and amp combination did you use?

About six months before he died, I met Philip Seymour Hoffman on a city street. I say “I met” him but it was more a matter of us walking by each other, and both of us stop-ping and turning around, simultaneously looking at each other saying “hey man, howya doin’?” followed by a laugh. Because he was human, he wasn’t perfect, and obviously had his demons and addictions, but what a talented guy... Around the same time as his death, I started reading about all of these young kids that were dying of heroin O/Ds…And that’s what “Refrigerator Blues” is about, cause after they take your body to the morgue, you’re put in one. It’s really an ugly song about an ugly topic, and that’s why I tried to use a real gnarly sound. It’s not a preaching song, it’s more of a reality song. You mess with that shit and it’s gonna get you…like my friend Dave says, how many people can honestly say, “yeah, that heroin really worked out well for me!”? For the rhythm tracks, I used two P90 guitars, a 1976 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe (with factory P90s) into a Fulltone OCD fuzz, into ’69 Marshall smallbox 50 and a ’63 Epiphone Coronet with a slide into ’63 Gibson Discoverer GA8T, with the trem on. For the solos, I used the ‘76 Deluxe into OCD fuzz into’69 Marshall smallbox 50, and you can hear when I change pickups.

TQR: “Down on the Turnpike”captures a sort of '70's porn

I thought that “Explicit” label was absolute bullshit…I wrote this song as sort of a back story to the song “Dirty Son,” and it’s about a very seedy strip called The Berlin Turnpike in Newington, Connecticut. Before the interstate highway

interview

TQR: One thing that differentiates you from many modern

guitar on “Indian,” one of the heaviest tracks on the album which features tribal drums and a Deep Purple type of riff driving the song.

funk vibe and also earned you an "Explicit" label on the cd. Tell us about that one...

TONEQUEST REPORT V.16 N.1 November 2014 1515

system, it was the main road to New York City, and you could find anything you wanted on it. I was told that the first line of the song was the questionable verse… “Once upon a time, way before the big box stores, the Berlin Turnpike was a friendly place, for junkies, pimps and whores.” To me, there is nothing explicit at all in that, it’s just telling it like it was. Lyrically, it’s about a young boy growing up in the ‘70’s in a rundown motel, and all the goings on around him, I thought the sort of funk wah sound, heavy bass riff and clavinet gave it a sort of throwback, Bootsy Collins type of vibe. I’ve always loved Parliament Funkadelic, and that’s the vibe I was going for on it, though some folks have said it sounds like Frank Zappa. The wah rhythm guitar goes right into the solo, and like lot of the solos on this album, it was done in one complete take. I was playing the ’70 maple necked Strat played through the RMC wah into the Colby clean channel, and although I could have made the solo more screaming, I kind of wanted to lay back a bit on it, like J.J. Cale.

TQR: You were asked by Johnny Winter to write the liner notes on his last few albums. Care to comment on his passing?

What can you say…Johnny was a legend and one of the true greats. Like a lot of

people, his career and his fortune waned due to bad business decisions and substance abuse. A lot of guys my age don’t even know he played at Woodstock because of a bad decision to keep him out of the film. Despite this, just about every great rock player you speak to worshipped the guy. I spent some time with him over the years, the last time being shortly

before he left us and he was in great spirits, happy about the way things had turned around for him. He was play-ing great again right up until the end…and you know what, you’ll never see another like him. The business simply has changed too much…

TQR: Speaking of that, Gene Simmons of KISS declared rock and roll dead in a recent interview. Do you agree with that?

When I heard about this statement, I was ready to jump on Gene, but after I read the interview, I realized he was talking about the machine, the music busi-ness, and he’s right. The

industry has failed artists, songwriters and musicians. When the first file sharing site came out, the industry did absolutely nothing, and it gave millions a license to steal, and the idea that music is free became the norm…In a nutshell, it devalued music. By the time they started cracking down, the horse was already out of the barn. In some ways, they are reaping what they sowed. They no longer groom artists for greatness, and it’s all about The Voice and American Idol. If you think about it, it truly allows them to combine two bad concepts, reality TV and instant pop stardom based on vocal histrionics. You look at the greatest musical talents of our generation…Lennon, McCartney, Dylan, Townshend, Stevie Wonder, Zep-pelin… Do you think that ANY of these could make it today? Can you imagine Steve Marriott on “Idol?”

TQR: What do you think the future holds for the vintage guitar and amp markets?

After three decades worth of unstoppable growth, I think the vintage market was dealt a terrible blow in 2008 with the eco-nomic meltdown. Before that, anthing old was considered collectible and “vintage.” Recovery has been way slower than anyone could have anticipated, and it drove some of the vintage dealers I know simply out of the business. That be-ing said, the demand is still there for the classics… 50’s Les Pauls, pre-CBS Stratocasters and Telecasters, at least with my generation and the baby boomers. These are the instruments that created the soundtracks of our lives.

interview

TQ