The Audio Museum Has Officially Moved!

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Great News from Indy

My friends from Join the Dead are at it AGAIN! You haven't seen or heard anything about them, but it's coming. They are one of the best metal bands to date and just played a phenomenal show opening for AAF Alien Ant Farm in their hometown of Indianapolis. There is write up of the show from Hear! Hear! Music that pretty much sums it up so I won't go into all that here.  My favorite quote from the article is, "how long before Join The Dead outgrows Indianapolis and goes national?"

These guys are truly inspirational live and though I no longer live in Indiana I will always continue to follow and support this bad ass band. I am so thankful to be friends with their drummer, Jason Carr, and to also have had the privilege of seeing him play at least once with his original band DENT that was simply mind blowing.

If you love metal, and who doesn't love a great metal band? Then it's time for you to Join the Dead!

Discovering your Roots

I started The Audio Museum in 2008. And it's been almost that long since I've used the Invictus guitar as the banner for this blog. Well I've decided to finally take a closer look at this metal hammer and find out where it comes from. The Invictus is no secret, it's made by Monson Guitars, you can check them out here. 

They make some seriously bad ass axes and the claim on their website says,"Custom, Affordable, Hand-made Quality Guitars - Challenging Convention and a Spirit of Independance." Yes "Independence" is spelled wrong on their site but at least they make awesome guitars! And yes even after all these years I still love the Invictus!

Cybertech T-RON guitar inspired by TRON

 
  The love for making custom guitars will never die. This Cybertech T-RON, a guitar inspired by Disney’s 1982 Sci Fi fiction classic TRON was built by James Hutchinson. The T-RON guitar is all draped in cool blue color scheme courtesy the uber futuristic looking light pipe inlays across the whole body. This guitar is defined by the pair of Gibson humbuckers giving a very iconic analog element that is transformed by recessed XY Midipad. This very XY Midipad and the onboard Ghost MIDI interface system produce a melodious and crystal clear array of tones that you always want in a quality guitar.

  The custom made through-body string retainer in solid brass, assuring steady tuning and plentiful sustain all complement each other well in the guitar make. Moreover, the gloss paintwork on the front and back, worn by hand give it a very smooth textured look for high class performance and showing the elements in perfect lighting conditions. 

  You can also get this Cybertech T-RON guitar by Hutchinson Guitar Concepts for around £4000 or about $6300 at their homesite, so if you have got the moolah then this is one awesome guitar you need for your elusive collection.

  ~My personal take on this guitar is that it's a great concept guitar and executed fairly well but I would like to have seen some kind of TRON design up and down the fret board. I think if they had added something like that it would have made this piece exceptional, especially since it has such a high price tag and the fact that this was created about two years ago maybe by now they have made better tweaks in design.

Riffstaion

I wish I had the full version of this. If you play guitar this is majorly sweet. Play any song through this software and it tracks the rhythm, lead and gives you all the chords and notes. Allows you to jam with your favorite songs at any speed.

It lets you find the guitar in the mix, and extract it right out so you can hear it in isolation. You can then slow it down in perfect pitch to learn it easier. 

With the pitch tool you can transpose by up to 12 semi-tones up or down in semi-tone increments without affecting tempo, and yes, you can change that too.

 

Learn the songs you love. Practice at any speed. Develop your technique. Jam with your favorite bands.

RIFFSTATION

 

 

Dark Star Orchestra at The Fillmore

 

 

Dark Star Orchestra (DSO) in their famous tribute to The Grateful Dead, playing live at The Fillmore in San Francisco. The Fillmore is legendary in The Grateful Dead canon as one of their de facto club in the early part of their career and featured in their live album "Live/Dead" and the more recently released "Fillmore West 1969."

The basic idea behind DSO is that they pick a particular concert from the 30 year career of The Dead and recreate in its entirety capturing the tone and pace of an on original concert from a bygone era. Sometimes it's an early '70s show and other times it's a late '80s show and once in a while it's put together from various Dead side projects. At the end of the evening, DSO announces the setlist. 

So how good are DSO? Good enough that DSO's founding guitar player and vocalist John Kadlecik, now plays with Furthur, the latest incarnation of The Grateful Dead led by founding members Bob Weir and Phil Lesh. They're so good, current and former members of The Grateful Dead have on occasion played with DSO. And in fact, Phil Lesh joined DSO on stage for the entire first set.

Check out the videos on Youtube. And be sure to checkout DSO on the rest of their tour as they make their way east across the country.

 

 



 

Custom Amps Have Come Along Ways!

Angel of Death

DAVE MUSTAINE ZERO ANGEL OF DETH II

• Mahogany Top/Body
• 25-1/2" Scale
• 1-11/16" Nut
• Mustaine Spec. Set Mahogany D Neck
• Rosewood Fingerboard
• Pearl Dot Inlays
• Mini Grover Tuners
• Black Hardware
• Tune-O-Matic Bridge
• DMT Design Humbucker Pickups
• Finishes: "Angel of Deth II" Custom Graphic

Gene Parson's String B-Bender

Demo showing a few licks for a B and G double bender guitar. The guitar used in this video is a Forrest Custom Guitars, Made by Forrest Lee Jr in Tennessee. This one (#0003) was made for Dustin Bannister in Mo. Close ups of the guitar can be seen at Forrest Custom Guitars more video on the subject of G bending can be found at www.OutWestRecords.com

Joe Satch talks Hendrix - Part 1

Joe Satriani talks Hendrix. This is one of the best interviews bar none from one of the worlds best guitarists.

This is a great interview with one of the best slide guitatists of our time!

Guitarists Bucketlist

1. Play a real ’59 Gibson Les Paul Standard.
2. Join an online guitar forum.
3. Get into an argument with someone on an online guitar forum.
4. Get invited upstairs at Gruhn Guitars in Nashville, Tennessee to see the good stuff.
5. Fire a drummer.
6. Take a factory tour at C.F. Martin & Co in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.
7. Have at least two quotes from This is Spinal Tap committed to memory.
8. Attend Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival.
9. Host a house concert.
10. Play “Eight Miles High” on a Rickenbacker 12-string.
11. Perform a song you wrote at an open mic.
12. Order a custom guitar from an independent luthier.
13. Pay for a neck reset.
14. Buy a ukulele in Hawaii.
15. Have a moment of twang on an original Blackguard Telecaster.
16. Stick a mirror in your acoustic guitar’s sound hole to look at the bracing.
17. Attend a NAMM show, the annual trade show for musical instrument manufacturers held in Anaheim, California.
18. Own a guitar worth more than your daily driver.
19. Find yourself in a strange neighborhood chasing a Craigslist lead.
20. See B.B. King perform.
21. Swear off a particular brand of strings.
22. Go to the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco, one of the world’s greatest music festivals and it’s completely free.
23. Film yourself playing and post it on YouTube.
24. Introduce yourself to one of your guitar heroes after a concert.
25. Order a flight case to keep your favorite instrument safe and sound.
26. Teach a kid his/her first three chords.
27. Install a humidity gauge somewhere in your house.
28. Change a broken string onstage in the middle of your set.
29. Walk around Greenwich Village in New York City contemplating Bob Dylan and step into Matt Umanov’s store.
30. Travel to Paracho, Mexico to see the world’s only community centered around guitar building and order a nylon stringed model to take home.
31. Play “Wipe Out” through a spring reverb. 
32. See a show at McCabe’s Guitars in Santa Monica, California.
33. Play a show at McCabe’s Guitars in Santa Monica, California
34. Attend a guitar-centric summer camp such as Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch or the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop.
35. Listen to Leo Kottke tell a joke between songs at one of his concerts.
36. Take a class at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago.
37. Take a long roadtrip listening to Ry Cooder’s Paris, Texas soundtrack.
38. Hoard a stash of tone woods for a custom guitar that you haven’t fully decided upon yet.
39. Hold a blacklight up to a vintage guitar to see if it’s had any finish work done.
40. Install a boutique set of pickups by yourself – will do that too, soon enough!
41. Buy a cheap acoustic guitar specifically for outdoor jams and barbeques.
42. Strum a pre-war Martin herringbone.
43. Play a Carter Family tune on an old 16″ Gibson L-5 like Maybelle’s.
44. Buy a pick that costs more than $20.
45. Lend a piece of expensive gear to a musician far more proficient than you.
46. Play through a tape echo.
47. Attend a multi-day bluegrass festival like MerleFest or Telluride; partake in too much music and other stuff.
48. Carry more than $5000 in cash to a vintage guitar show, just in case something catches your eye.
49. Play a little Robert Johnson on a 1920′s or ’30′s Gibson L-00 or L-1.
50. Talk about vintage Martin guitars with expert Richard Johnston of Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto, California.
51. Play Django Reinhardt’s “Minor Swing” on a Selmer-style guitar.
52. Peruse the halls of the Montreal Guitar Show, a giant showcase of the world’s best lutherie held every July during the Montreal Jazz Festival.
53. Burn yourself on a hot vacuum tube.
54. Busk.
55. Find yourself backstage at a stadium rock concert.
56. Play a Collings at Quincy’s Guitars in Austin, Texas.
57. Learn how to Travis pick.
58. Visit the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee.
59. Refuse to buy an otherwise great guitar because you don’t like the way the neck feels.
60. Have Westwood Music‘s Fred Walecki captivate you for at least an hour with storytelling and guitars.
61. Drop your guitar and then realize it’s not the end of the world.
62. Learn the middle and end of “Stairway to Heaven.”
63. Grow your fingernails out.
64. Capture a Les Paul Monday at the Iridium in New York City (bonus points if you actually saw Les Paul play when you could).
65. Try to play a harp guitar.
66. Adjust a truss rod without any outside help.
67. Attend a show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.
68. Play a vintage Weissenborn.
69. Force your family to visit Buffalo Brothers and take a Taylor Guitars factory tour on your San Diego vacation.
70. Own Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music, the influential boxed set of early blues and old-time music.
71. Build your own cigar box guitar.
72. Find your inner bluesman by taking a pilgrimage to the Crossroads Monument in Clarksdale, Mississippi, where Highways 61 and 49 meet.
73. Attempt to play “Dueling Banjos” on a 5-string banjo.
74. Learn an open tuning.
75. Buy a 12-string guitar.
76. Go to Elderly Instruments in East Lansing, Michigan and ask to see the Tone Balls.
77. Collect a vintage set of strings for the cool packaging, even though you have no intention of ever using them.
78. Buy a short-scale or parlor guitar specifically for travelling.
79. Find yourself on the Staten Island Ferry holding an instrument you just purchased fromMandolin Brothers.
80. Play James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain” on an Olson guitar.
81. Scratch and sniff a piece of Brazilian rosewood.
82. Go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
83. Conduct a photo shoot with your current guitar quiver.
84. Own at least one guitar made in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
85. Own at least one guitar made in Fullerton, California.
86. Visit the Cavern Club in Liverpool.
87. Learn a song written by a musician who is fifteen years younger than you.
88. Learn a song written by a musician who died before you were born.
89. Restring your guitar in “Nashville” tuning.
90. Play “Little Wing” on a Strat loud enough to upset the neighbors.
91. Go look at the Stradivarius guitar at the National Music Museum at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion.
92. Catch a set by Telecaster whiz Redd Volkaert at Austin’s Continental Club.
93. Regret that you sold a great guitar when you were younger and needed the cash.
94. Learn the difference between a Duolian and a Triolian.
95. Contemplate buying a guitar made the year you were born.
96. Own an effects pedal not carried by Guitar Center.
97. Miss a day of work because you were up too late playing.
98. Write a song for your significant other.
99. Subscribe to the Fretboard Journal.
100. Order a custom guitar and amplifier to create your own unique sound.

Blues Masters iPad App

Cherry Lane publishing has jumped into the iPad app business with an awesome Blues Master application created by G-Men Productions. There are two versions: the Free Blues Masters app which includes a dozen licks from 8 top-notch blues players (Stevie Ray Vaughan, BB King, Albert King, Eric Clapton among others) and the $9.99 paid version that includes 16 artists and over 100 licks.
 
Of all the guitar applications I've seen, this one has the highest production value. Cherry Lane has really done a great job using the iPad interface to showcase the artists and then show off the licks. You get the lick with a backing track, video (in some cases) and a tablature that animates. Well, not exactly Guitar Pro style animation, but it does a pretty good job showing you where you are when the lick is being played. Since all the licks are in the key of G you can mix and match to put together some interesting styles.

The free application is a great introduction to the full-blown app and it's useful in its own right. Even if you're just starting out with the blues, you'll find some useful licks here that you can easily put into practice.

My only beef (and it's really quite minor) is that for beginning players it would be useful to provide some basic information about the key (G), and what Pentatonic shapes are being used. It would also be nice to have some options to transpose the licks into other keys. Still, that's not much of a knock on a great application.

As much as I love the TrueFire 50 Licks series of iPad applications, Cherry Lane has just raised the bar.

Blues Sweet Blues!

Good ole fashon blues.
Shane Speal's Legendary Macanudo - 15th Anniversary Model

Blind Man Gets to Play with Bono on Stage

This is just a cool story.

Blind Man in Crowd Gets Invited to Play with Bono on Stage: MyFoxPHOENIX.com

Herbie Hancock, Tedeschi Trucks - Space Captain

The ultimate in blues and jazz. This is a must see!

 

 

The 42 Best Overdrive, Distortion and Fuzz Pedals of All Time

Click to go to the full Article.

Sweep Picking Lessons

This is one of the best lessons on sweep picking I've seen in a while. Enjoy!

Jimi Hendrix Themed Park Coming to Seattle

I’ve been meaning to mention this since I noticed the story over at Guitar World. Janie Hendrix, President & CEO of Experience Hendrix, L.L.C.; and Founder of Jimi Hendrix Park Found and Jimi’s half-sister, has donated $20,000 to the Jimi Hendrix Park Foundation, with the more than $600,000 in funding and donations coming from local sources. So you will notice from the title it is a Jimi Hendrix THEMED park not THEME park, but I couldn’t resist creating a funny pic because that is what Guitar World called it.

Potential New Park Features
Landscape with trees and native plants to provide year-round interest and wildlife habitat
Musical platform with flexible size and seating for a variety of events
Walkways with inscribed Hendrix lyrics, etc.
Seating areas and tables
Educational and interpretive features
Green infrastructure opportunities, such as treatment of stormwater, solar power and recycled materials
The park may also feature a performance space dedicated to showcasing the talents of local artists and musicians.

So yes on the one hand, enough with the Hendrix overkill already Janie! But on the other hand this actually sounds really cool and it has the potential to inspire a new generation of musicians. Personally I think if they are going to do this though they should go the whole hog, make it like Disney Land they already have the perfect name, “Electric Ladyland”.

Posted by Jon in • Guitar Legends

This is a Must See!..... Cigar Box Guitars

These cigar box guitars have an oldschool blues sound, see for yourself.