This is the first solo guitar feature of the album; a Les Paul, a Cry Baby Classic Wah, and the Vox AC 50 – that’s what the solo sound is made of. My Tobias four string bass provides the basis of a Hendrixian groove. The measure is 8/4 with an accent on the count of “3″.

The tune is completed by organ and driving drums. Its mood reminded me of my own angriness at people who don’t care – hence the title. Sometimes the Wah wah guitar seems to talk – sometimes one might discern furious words and phrases…

This little tune of just a few seconds goes to show:

a) Children can also play music (my son is on electronic organ and analog delay) with great wit and understanding

b) Having passed the dark tune “Verfallenes Licht”, we find ourselves in a spacecraft in the middle of nowhere. None of the instruments aboard is working any more, and we have to admit there is nothing we can do now except wait for help. And curse the interference that keeps us from knowing where we are…

As a preparation, please read this former post! I will give you a basic riff to improvise on, by using the mixolydian scale. You can either play this scale the usual way (example 1) or slide along just the G-string (example 2), maybe pretending your guitar was a sitar…

So, use some slides, bendings and so on! Scales are just a raw material, nothing more. You have to make something out of it. Go ahead now.

Psychedelic Basic Riff in A – give it a nice rhythm!

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

–––2–––––4––––5–––––4––––2–––

0–––––0––––0–––––0––––0––––––

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Example 1): Psychedelic Scale (A mixolydian)

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––5––7––(9)–––––––

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––5––7––8–––––––––––––––––

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––4––6––7––––––––––––––––––––––––––

––––––––––––––––––––4––5––7–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

–––––––––––4––5––7––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

–(3)––5––7–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Example 2): A mixolydian on just one string (G string): use slides in a wild manner!

G –––0––2––4––6––7––9––11––12––14–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Don’t forget to practice each scale either way, meaning downward as well as upward! Furthermore, it’s understood that nobody will be able to create a psychedelic sound who lacks listening experience with psychedelic music…

If so, maybe you should listen to the medley in this former post: psychedelic medley and the list of tunes…

red faces devoured by the night

shattered laughs in the vine

and glowing melancholy

spirit torture! a stone falls silent

blue voice of an angel in the sleeper’s ear

declining light

declining light

This an abridged translation of a poem without title from Georg Trakl, an Austrian poet of the Expressionism Era. At a certain point in working with the music of this tune, the need for some spoken lyrics appeared, and by intuition I took out this book of poems. In my younger days I would read Georg Trakl every year in the season of fall, but this time it was neither fall nor did I feel the need for some more melancholic or dark and dreary feelings. This time the overall surreal atmosphere of the music required such a poem…

The instrumentation is different in this tune, with the first obvious appearance of  violin along with mandolin, xylophone and dark vocals without words. Then suddenly you know something will happen, and there is this spoken poem above, embedded in shivering sounds to make your blood run cold. Strangely enough, the meter is 4/4 this time!

Somehow this sounds like a fiddle tune minus a fiddle. It’s my Les Paul Special. Added jaw harp, triangle and some more guitars contribute to a funny feeling of exuberance, growing towards the end. A sudden break lets you fall into a repetition loop, and then fade out.

Although less than perfect, I like this tune in particular for its ending, where we are getting lost.

Do we still reside on top of a mountain? Have we found the way down in daylight?

“Who rides there so late through the night dark and drear?”

That’s from Goethe’s famous poem, which came to my mind when listening to this. Now that we’ve reached the mountain top, it has become dark and windy, and there’s no way to climb down now. So what shall we do?

This is one of the songs in 6/4 measure. I always do riffs in 6/4 unintentionally – it seems to be my natural measure… The wind sound is created by a pink noise generator through a wah wah pedal. I recorded the basic track with my ’80s Tobias four string bass. Solo guitar is a Les Paul Special, and my wife added three layers of recorder at the end. (Originally this was called “Afro Bass” when there was only a rhythm track with lots of percussion.)

Sleep well, and don’t let the strange sounds of the night disturb you…

Dear listener,

at some point last year I decided I had to make an album. Too many musical ideas, sheets with sketches and outlines for songs had gathered.

That’s when I disappeared from here. Albums need my undivided attention – well, besides family, lessons and housework.

This is the third album I’ve done, and the last one. It took me more than three years to make this music in my head audible for others: as sound is my main focus now, preparations included extensive research and much experimenting with amps and effects. Some 26 songs developed from there. Some had to be omitted along the way.

23 songs remained to form an album of about 69 minutes. I myself played most of the instruments, including guitars, bass, drums, percussion, organ and violin. This has been a challenge! So my last album is also the longest one, considering playing time. It’s name is “Winterlese”, a German word containing my surname Winter and something like “vintage” or “crop”.

I hope I succeeded in conveying my idea of a Contemporary Psychedelic Sound, which was realized with strictly analog equipment. Except for recording everything on my computer, no digital means were used. Any sound you hear is a real sound, and there are many guitar parts that do not sound like a guitar…

The order of songs came very naturally this time. I wonder why I didn’t have to think about it too much, which I had expected to be one major problem. Listen to the introduction now, which sets the mood for the album, but lasts just a few seconds. Until next time, see you!

Steve from England has sent me yet another keyboard track with cymbals, named “dark”. This was one I felt challenged by.  In order to surprise him (or maybe myself or you), I added things with no apparent connection to the original track. I wanted it to sound even darker than it was before. This is the first time I tried to record a wall of power chords plus bass in a unison. Although there have been level problems due to so many different instruments, I think the track conveys the original idea.
Thanks again to Steve, who’s track I found inspiring. So inspiring I apparently couldn’t stop playing, and had to add a coda. Stay with the track after the keyboard has ceased – it reminds me of my experimental teenage days, when me and some friends recorded music improvised on self-made instruments. In some respect, it was pure noise, but it had a dense atmosphere… Sadly, I lost the tapes, so I take this ending for a substitute.

All in all, “Darker” may not be everyone’s favorite, but it even contains traces of melodies…

On Simon‘s request, I would like to publish a list of the 17 tracks I used for the psychedelic medley of last year, along with a “reissue” of the medley itself.

1. Electric Prunes: I had too much to dream last night

2. Blues Magoos: Love seems doomed

3. Blues Magoos: Got to get away

4. Beatles: I’m only sleeping

5.  Blues Magoos: There’s a chance we can make it

6. Pink Floyd: Interstellar Overdrive

7. Family: See Through Windows

8. Rolling Stones: Gomper

9. Pretty Things: Bracelets of Fingers

10. Kinks: You’re Looking Fine

11. Cream: Deserted Cities Of The Heart

12. Hendrix: Castles Made Of Sand

13. Electric Prunes: Long Day’s Flight

14. Quicksilver Messenger Service: Too long

15. Vanilla Fudge: You Just Keep Me Hanging On

16. Nice: Bonnie K.

17. Pretty Things: Buzz The Jerk

There is much more psychedelic music from the original period in existence than I had thought. Quite a few bands published just one, but excellent or unique album, so nowadays these band’s names are forgotten. It was a short-lived time, even then. Everything in psychedelic music happened within less than two years. As a suggestion, also listen to John’s Children, the first Bee Gees album, Kaleidoscope (album “Tangerine Dream”), The Incredible String Band, Donovan, early Traffic, Country Joe and the Fish, The Seeds, Aorta, Moby Grape, 13th Floor Elevators, The Chocolate Watchband, Clear Light, Fever Tree, C.A. Quintet. Family’s debut “Music in a doll’s house” is an album I adore.

Virtually any established band, like the Kinks, The Hollies, The Moody Blues, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, brought out a psychedelic album in 1967. For some this was just a matter of fashion (like sitars and fancy caftans), dropped the year after – for some it was a deeper and longer lasting experience. Most of the music mentioned here is also represented on youtube, and there are more psychedelic lists on Amazon etc.

A post on some good experiences with easy amp modification.

About two years ago I tried to build a Fender Champ amplifier from a rather expensive amp kit (TAD) from Germany, including a perfectly made tweed cabinet. It was the first time for me to do this. I really took my time to solder accurately, and it took me many weeks to finish. To my great surprise it instantly worked, and from the moment I finally put away the screwdriver after closing the back it was just plug and play…

For a long time, I really was content with this little box that gives five very loud and intense watts – more than sufficient a sound pressure for my living room studio. I only found the Jensen P 12 R speaker (I had chosen a special champ edition with a bigger speaker for more bass response) sounded too dull. But as I also have a cabinet with two Jensen P 12 Q, I tried this combination and was quite pleased. I found that my Les Paul sounded good as it drove the amp harder and produced some nice crunch, but with my Stratocaster it was, again, too dull. The amp didn’t quite react to my playing, sounding neutral at best.

But come to think of it: non of the above results of my tests are true any more! Not that my ears would change from day to day, but I have applied some very easy mods that I think are not even real mods, and now it’s only the champ when it comes to playing Stratocaster…

A book on tube amps (“A Desktop Reference Of Hip Vintage Guitar Amps” by Gerald Weber), a very practical and easy-to-read guide to some more understanding of tube amps, was the catalyst. I brought together two ideas of which I had heard separately: The installation of a bright capacitor over the amp’s volume pot (as provided in many Fender amps, called the bright switch), and the installation of a multiple switch to house several caps of different values – making it possible to dial in different presets suiting each guitar or even each pickup separately. Remember the champ has but one volume pot – no tone control at all, and even the volume pot serves as on/off-switch in addition, thus canceling the memory of your last volume setting when turned off.

I was amazed at how plainly audible the difference was! With a simple trick that – applied to guitar volume pots – is called a “volume bleed circuit” a vast curtain was drawn back, and I finally had the treble and mid frequency range desired. Nothing is added that wasn’t there before by this procedure – it’s  just changing the balance between frequencies by adding something that the volume pot is taking away when not turned to maximum. Kind of reloading. By trying several different cap values you may affect only the very high treble, or include parts of the midrange, too. Gerald Weber mentions cap values from 47 pF to 120 pF.  You can solder one or several caps to a switch, as I did, or solder the one you like best directly over the input/output of the volume pot, thus losing the original sound. A switch will also be connected to the input/output terminals of the pot.

My multi-switch has six positions. I left the first blank to reproduce the unchanged, original sound. Then I added 33 pF, 47 pF, 100 pF, 120 pF, 150 pF. Lower values just add very high treble, as opposed to the higher values that increasingly allow for more middle to get through… I have already chosen some favorite switch positions for each guitar.

So now there is sort of a tone control for my little champ that I mounted on the chassis where there was some space left. I do not mind reaching for it on the backside of the amp, but maybe that is not a good idea for everyone.

A second step of modification included exchange of all three tubes of the little amp. Instead of a 12 AX7 preamp tube I placed a 5751 that gives lower gain, but clearly more nice treble. Just crank up the volume a bit more than used to, and voilà an excellent sound! Gerald Weber in several instances mentioned a rectifier tube named 5V4 that replaces a 5Y3. It makes the amp a little bit louder, which was no aim of mine, but also gives more, and tighter bass. Since I wished to make the champ sound less “boxy” I had to add more bass as well as treble. To check bass response, the low “E” from an electric guitar (compared to other notes) was perfectly right.

Then I tried several types of power tubes. First, different brands of 6V6, but then I switched to another tube (my favorite one on the modeling device “Vox Tonelab SE”) that is called 5881 (kind of a military rugged version of 6L6, but of different construction and sound). That’s when I experienced Strat-player’s heaven! Now that’s how this amp was meant to sound, and it sounds good with humbuckers, too. No matter a 5881 belongs in other amps, like the Fender Bassman – it just sounds great in my amp and makes it sound bigger. No problems so far.

Changing tubes (with the amp off!!!) is easy for anybody, only a little more difficult than exchanging a light bulb. If you are capable of soldering, you may try and add a bright cap to any amp’s master volume, I think, provided you are missing some treble or clearness of sound. The degree of sound shaping achieved of course depends on the way your volume pot is reacting when turned! And on the range of frequencies that is affected by it. So it may work in some amps, in some not. It certainly doesn’t make any difference with the amp’s volume turned all the way up – so the softer your setting, the more effect there will be…

Last thing to do was loosening the four screws that hold the baffle board (a rather thin wooden front the speaker is mounted on) a little, so its extra vibrations can add to the impression of volume, of vibrating tone. I think this measure that is known since the old days put the sound of the internal speaker above the sound of my 2×12 cabinet. What’s also important with these small amps is to place them in a somehow elevated position so the speaker’s cone addresses the ear directly. Otherwise much treble and presence will be lost.

Some months ago, I wouldn’t have dreamt of the sound quality and variability my champ has gained now. This was my first and only experience so far with “amp tuning”, apart from soldering some better tone caps to my AC 15 and changing all the tubes in my amps. Pretty successful for my purpose – I was amazed myself. Please feel free to ask questions.

Finally I’m back, finally my health is better, and here is the next co-production with Steve:

Steve from England had sent me a keyboard track that constantly changes between major and minor of the same root, with some percussion added. He told me he had been playing around with the keyboard lately – and that was a surprise to me, for I knew him as a guitar player.

I liked the feeling of the track with the working title “Latin”. Of course it is a so-called Latin rhythm; only I don’t like the term and so decided to add some sparkle from another one of my son’s pictures.

Steve agreed with my proposal to add some more percussion to make it sound more lively. It was pure fun to play these instruments, but my personal highlight was the guitar solo I recorded immediately afterwards. This was the first time I achieved a sound with a Santana-like sustain and a similar character, and ironically I achieved it with the Jaguar, the good old tube screamer and my Vox AC 15. Not at all the kind of tools one would expect, but I had often tried it with Les Pauls or SGs and never succeeded! The Jaguar has a more nasal sound quality to it (which I like), and I consider my sound not a copy (which it isn’t and I couldn’t) but a parallel.

Anyway, this is not a bad one, and I wish I could have presented it earlier. I would like to thank Steve for giving me this opportunity with his inspiring track. In my earlier years as a musician I never came much forward with soloing, being mostly the bass player. So in a way, this track is a dream come true…

It is one of the kindergarten viruses depriving me of my energy. From the moment our son went there, just about every little infect became more evil, more persistent. This particular virus was said to presumably entertain the infected person for about six weeks (as those who were the first to get through this told us).

So there remains some hope: just one more week! Sorry, folks… I’ll be back as soon as I can. With music. With co-productions and some tracks that are more elaborate than the usual improvisations. Most of that stuff has been prepared for publishing, but I couldn’t finish it.

In addition I planned a track that will be called “The Psychedelic Chord”, giving rise to a bunch of questions like: Is there a psychedelic chord? Is it a chord at all? Is it psychedelic? As most of these questions should be answered “no” by an accurate musicologist, I prefer to give a personal answer in a strictly musical way (maybe “yes” in all three concerns)… Looking forward to those posts!

With its simple double “a” vocal, the Latin or Italian word for “water” underlines this element’s fundamental meaning. An archaic word.

That’s what Steve’s contribution did to my unfinished track from the last post: it was reconnected with a fundamental meaning.

Although there has been nothing going on on this blog for quite a long time, many things happened behind the scenes. Many recordings were made, but I feel I have to elaborate them more than I usually do for blog posts. Meaning I would need a huge amount of time for each track.

Maybe they are to become songs that need a proper production; an album, maybe. It would be premature to extend on this…

But then there was this additional idea: I invited two English guitar players whom I both know via internet to finish some of my recordings; they as well were invited to send me a track I could complete. It should be done in an easy way by simply sending mp3s, and it should be published on the blog.

Steve and Stephen both readily agreed; which cannot be taken for granted – it can be rather challenging to receive a piece you have to add some instrumental part to!

We also agreed that each of us could ask for another track if there were problems. And no hurry!

When I received two keyboard tracks from Steve, I was quite surprised for I knew him as a guitar player – but he seems to be a real multi-instrumentalist. These tracks made it easy for me to solo on, and I enjoyed the whole process very much. I even added some percussion I played myself, and particularly a “latin” track by Steve gave me the chance to indulge in my Santana roots. That was pure fun, and I would like to thank him for that.

The track I sent him in turn was a little bit monotonous, but I thought it would provide a certain mood which makes it easy to find a voice on top. But how Steve managed to surprise me once more! He did not simply add a new layer to it – he superimposed images from a completely different level on my track. Different sounds, different chords, different moods. What you hear in this post is only my original track, leaving space for you to speculate what he might have added. In just a few days I will put up the new version…

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul, Vox AC 30 (vibrato channel), Tube Reverb

These are some pictures taken on our family holiday in a German area called “Franken”, which is not far from our home. As this dates back to mid August, these are belated impressions.

After a week away, I began those recordings I told you about. Most of them went so well, I would never have expected this some weeks before. In the beginning I was quite uncertain about the use of recording ideas (jotted down on paper) whose date of origin is 2006. Is there a “best before…?

As soon as the first files gathered in my computer, one thing was clear: it didn’t matter at all. I simply went on from that point, until it was done. Only basic tracks, though…

It’s enough for at least a year’s work of selecting, cutting and overdubbing. Most of the recordings are not meant as blog posts, but why not post them anyway? Let’s talk about it later… My main concern for the near future will be finding a drummer to complete the sessions, maybe a singer for some of the material. Besides these songs-to-be there are some recordings I will post much sooner to preserve their spontaneity instead of trying to turn them into something “elaborate”.

By the way, those holidays were great!

Though I’ve posted very little lately, this blog is still alive. Most of you will agree it takes some time and a number of steps until a blog post of the kind you see here can be published. What you couldn’t see nor guess is that in the meantime I’ve been recording like crazy. A stock of recordings has accumulated that still need a little elaboration. Not only have I made some drafts for new blog posts, but nearly every musical idea I had jotted down over the past two or three years now exists as an audio file in my computer. Phew.

Until new posts will be ready, I’ll put up some photos of our lovely summer break in Germany, coming soon…

After eight years of continuous guitar lessons a young student of mine surprised me with a good-bye-present of a kind I had never thought to receive:

He had built an effects unit for me! It’s a Fuzz he called “Vanilla Fuzz” because of the yellowish casing – but he has not been aware of a band called Vanilla Fudge which is one of my favorites and fits the topic of this blog perfectly. For this present he must have spent countless hours of building, soldering and even painting; and finally he gave it away just for me…

When I tried it the same day I received it (I couldn’t wait much longer) I found it was nice, but something was missing with the higher notes. After some consideration I resolved to try it with bass – and that was a revelation: it felt like this unit had been built as a bass fuzz device, and as such it is filling a gap in my stomp boxes pool.

As a “thank you” I post a music with fuzz bass on it. And mandolin and conga plus a bicycle bell. Sounds strange? Sure it is!

instruments & gear: Tobias 4-string bass, Vox AC 50, Epiphone Mandobird, MXR Phase 90, Tube Reverb

When I wrote about vintage sounds I promised to explain what makes tube amps so indispensable for guitar players.

Tubes (or valves in British English) strongly react to the player’s plucking the string softer or harder, allowing for shifting from clean to crunch without readjustment of the knobs on your amp. Many players just use the guitar’s volume pot to add the right amount of distortion, so in reality this pot ends up more as a distortion control than a volume pot… All the distortion units on the market are but an approximation to a good tube distortion (some of them melting very nicely into the amp’s distortion, though).

With tube amps, the frequency spectrum varies significantly with any variation in playing technique – there may suddenly be more bass if you pluck very softly, and there may arise an edgy, cutting note if you pluck harder. At high gain settings, the power tubes themselves begin to distort the sound, and this is what is said to be a guitar player’s heaven!

There is a natural compression when you drive a tube amp hard enough, giving more sustain to your tone. It is impossible to describe the richness and the many shapes and colors of tone you can get with a good tube amp. I won’t extend on different types of tubes here, but some are connected with certain amps: the 6V6, 6L6 and 5881 with Fender, the EL 34 with Marshall and the EL 84 with Vox. They do shape the sound significantly, e.g. the EL 34 is held responsible for the “British sound” associated with the rougher kind of distortion of Marshall Plexi amps.

The Fender Champ (used in the musical track above) is one of the simplest, smallest amps in existence, with only one preamp tube (12AX7), one rectifier (EZ 81) and one power tube (6V6). To get some distortion out of it, I used my favorite treble booster, and the usual tube reverb unit to enhance the sound.

To exploit the potential of tube amps takes some experience. I found out I had to practice specifically to be able to handle a new sound or a new amp. Playing technique has to adjust with every amp or setting. What for me turned out to be most rewarding was exploring the field of crunch sounds, as they cover the whole spectrum in between clean and distorted. A bunch of options and variants come in, as you have to find the right guitar with the right pickups to match your amp and give the desired sound…

Some years ago I didn’t seem to know what my desired sound was, but I didn’t let it discourage me. After a while it showed that distinctiveness can only be a result of the process. How could you know what you want, when you lack first-hand experience? So it will take some time, and I can only encourage everybody to experiment on your own, trusting your own ears and nobody else’s.

My personal “master plan” is to create a best-of all-worlds-situation in my studio by having examples of Vox, Fender and Marshall at my disposal. I’m already oversupplied with Vox, but there is no Marshall… I’m planning to built one from another amp kit (like the Champ) …maybe next year…

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Fender Tweed Champ, BSM Fuzzbooster, Tube Reverb

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom (while putting on new strings…), Vox AC 15 Heritage, Tube Reverb

illustration by my son

When putting the music for this post together, an old children’s game came to my mind. It is called “Himmel und Hölle” (heaven and hell) in German, but it is widespread and known under different names in many countries. A squarish multicolored piece of paper gets folded into several compartments that can be opened with your fingers, showing either the “heaven” or the “hell” part. Children also use the game to “predict the future” by writing numerals on each compartment that apply to a code on another piece of paper.

guitar & gear: Ibanez Lawsuit SG, Fender Tweed Champ for the basic track, Vox AC 50 for the solos, Tube Reverb

Finally I made it! It’s so easy to promise new recordings, and then sometimes it’s kind of impossible to record for weeks. But in the end…

The E-major chord in the beginning is out of tune, once again. But as soon as soloing begins, no wrong notes are discernible. I think I have accepted a guitar player’s fate: our instrument is not tempered, and whenever a C Major sounds fine, E Major will be horrible…

In many songs (mainly old ones) I found it very charming to hear a guitar that’s slightly out of tune. But it happens anyway… Two minutes into a recording your having tuned the guitar before is already worth nothing. And I think to a certain degree it’s o.k., since I like the human factor, the inexact and the non-tempered. What makes Miles Davis’ trumpet sound so great? Among others, that his notes are non-tempered! I like the same quality about the early John McLaughlin. And I understand when Neil Young praises his Bigsby detuning his guitar after every application. (Don’t overdo that! Normally, I would have cut off the initial part of the track… And, yes, I know there is a Buzz Feiten tuning system and other solutions out there).

First you listen to the SG with both pickups activated. There is much treble. At around 0:36 you can hear me switch the toggle to the neck pickup – a sound very appropriate for Blues. I try to play around with several styles, getting a bit funky, and presenting some power chords.

I think the Amber pickups are great. They sound incredibly direct and clear. Even though I experience some difficulty with the neck and the overall performance, the SG has assumed a new status in my little studio, mainly due to these pickups.

guitar & gear: Ibanez SG, Tweed Champ, 2×12 cabinet with greenbacks, Tube Trem as a booster

From time to time one has to go back to the roots. The roots of this current creative period in my life are, oddly enough, technical aspects of guitar sound. The point is, I don’t see it like that. I don’t care too much about technics. But I’m amazed by what sound can do to your playing, and thus contribute to your creativity. There are periods when I’m playing around like a child, glad to have found new toys. It happened again these days, and so I have to make you wait some more for the promised recordings of the modified Ibanez SG. But I have already recorded some tracks. One of them needs further overdubs, and all of them need to be mixed…

My latest toys are preamp tubes. I read an article in my favorite (German) guitar magazine “Gitarre & Bass” about how different preamp tubes can affect your sound. It said you can easily exchange these tubes without further adjustment – because they are interchangeable. The difference is in the gain they offer, and in the cleaner or crunchier sound you obtain. Lower gain tubes may contribute to a more stable and cleaner tone. Whoever wants to achieve a vintage sound, should consider replacing some tubes. For most of us it’s not necessary to get the most power out of our amps. I mostly have enough headroom to enjoy being able to crank up the volume a little more than usual, because I use to play in a kind of living room studio…

I had built a Fender Tweed champ from a DIY amp kit several months ago. Now I read in the magazine these 50s amps had a 12AY7 tube instead of a 12AX7. I was eager to hear the alleged more authentic sound of the original tube, and when I received it I found out it had somewhat more treble, and gave a cleaner and more stable tone, just like it said. For lack of comparison I do not know, however, if this sound is more “authentic”.

Here is a list of the most common preamp tubes (valves) from higher to lower gain levels:

12AX7 (ECC83 in European terms): the most common preamp tube today, and high gain. The 7025 is a high grade version of the same type which I prefer for the first input stage.

12AT7 (ECC81): used in Fender amps, often for Reverb, about 60 to 70% of the 12AX7′s gain.

12AY7 (6072): as a preamp tube in 50′s Fender amps (Tweed era), and about 50% of the 12AX7′s gain.

12AU7 (ECC82): mostly in HiFi amps, even lower gain than 12AY7. I had to crank up the volume very high to achieve enough resonance, but I was rewarded with a slim and contoured sound with lots of treble.

(The 5751 is similar to the 12AX7, but only has about 70% of its gain. Often recommended as a replacement for the first input stage to achieve a cleaner sound. I haven’t had the chance to try it yet.)

My Champ didn’t have an abundance of treble, and so I ended up with the 12AY7, that allowed for more gain than the 12AU7, but still had some crispness. I have to add, though, that a single coil strat for example, may require more gain to create enough crunch or distortion for your desired sound, and thus the 12AX7 could be the best choice. You just have to try and compare. Go and buy some preamp tubes. Even if you own a hybrid amp with a single tube in the circuit, it can be rewarding to try different types of high quality. If you stick to the high gain 12AX7, try a 7025! It’s virtually the same, but extra rugged and with a more detailed resolution. Also note that there are significant differences in sound and quality between different brands of tubes, depending on when and where they were produced. There seems to exist no equivalent for original RCA, Siemens, Mullard, Valvo and so on. Today’s tubes are produced in just a few countries, but quality is on a rise.

Most of my tube amps are housing new preamp tubes now, the Vox AC 15 Heritage (also with better EL 84s), the old Vox AC 50 (lent by Markus), and the Tweed Champ. For the AC 50 which is from around 1965, I found an original British Mullard ECC83 (my father had stored many tubes in the basement), and the old tube is great in the old amp!

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Vox AC 15 Heritage, BSM Spectrum fuzzbooster

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Vox AC 15 Heritage, BSM Spectrum fuzzbooster, Tube Reverb

Over the last weeks I’ve been busy modifying another old guitar I had been given by a neighbor about six years ago: it’s an Ibanez, but completely different from what most people know as an Ibanez.

This guitar is from 1971 – maybe a vintage item, if you will, but already slightly beyond the “Golden Age” of electric guitar craftsmanship. Since it’s from Japan, then a low-wage country, its worth is not at all comparable to that of an American original. This SG (a so-called lawsuit model, that became illegal after Gibson won a case) is just a cheap copy, with bolt-on neck at that. The pickups were almost broken as the electronic circuitry in general was.

But from the moment I played this instrument for the first time, I found there was something special about it – not very SG-like, but individual in quality. With a slide it delivered a great sound, and for some years it has been my guitar for special occasions, also for noise orgies…

Until the pickups finally gave up, and I had to get new ones. I decided to order some P90 style pickups. But a few problems arose: there were three pickups originally, but I wanted only two. The third one was activated only in the middle position of the toggle switch, and, contrary to what one might expect, this sound had less power and gave me no criterion to want a third pickup. But what to do with the ugly hole in the middle?

I procrastinated resolving this, and instead went on to ordering hand-wound P94 pickups – they are similar to P90s, but in a humbucker format. I expected a brighter sound than with humbuckers that should be matching the bolt-on neck construction and give a direct sound that could be great with some crunch added.

And so it was. When I received my pair of Amber P94, there was no difficulty in mounting them, and within half an hour or so the guitar was ready to be played again. The sound turned out much clearer and more present than before, and the special design of P94 (with pole pieces instead of screws), only recently available, gives them an exceptionally direct response. Needless to say I had built the electronic circuit anew from scratch, with good CTS replica pots, bumblebee caps and cloth wire, adding to an unimpaired frequency spectrum.

After due consideration I mounted the old middle pickup again, as a dummy, so new and old looks are merging. It looks fine to me. No ugly hole any more…

There were still problems with the narrow string spacing that was already improperly done by the Ibanez factory, the strings not being parallel to the neck. I tried a different bridge I had saved from my Epiphone, but with it I had to carve out a new notch for the E6-string that otherwise would have dropped off the fingerboard. Still it feels somehow weird to play on this neck, but the sound is great – and it’s still great with a slide! This guitar will remain my guitar for special occasions, only much better than before…

Soundtracks featuring this guitar coming soon.

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Fender Tweed Champ, Roland Space Echo

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom, Vox AC 50, Cry Baby Classic Wah, Tube Reverb

So this is the last installment of a trilogy my son illustrated so wonderfully.

This time he even accepted to give it a second try, and it was worth it, as you see. Of course I wouldn’t part with an illustrator like him, and there is more to come. For example I will have a hard time soon, trying to compose some dragon’s music.

Thank you for your kind comments on our collaboration!

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Fender Tweed Champ, Roland Space Echo

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Vox AC 30 (brilliant channel), BSM treble booster (DM-T)

While people from the richer parts of this world travel more and more, I feel compulsiveness in it. By now there is even more hectic produced by “recreational stress” than by commuting in my country.

Why move our bodies around at any rate? Will it really bring us happiness?

Questioning a belief system saying: “you only live once”. Of course not – and there is no need for hurry and pressure.

Why add to this planet’s increasing restlessness?

I find a relieving contrast in psychedelic songs. There is a recurrent theme demonstrated by just a list of song titles.

- Travel with your mind (The Seeds) (no video available)

- Relax (The Who)

- Thinking is the best way to travel (The Moody Blues)

- Heaven is in your mind (Traffic)

I think our task is to find happiness wherever we find ourselves right now. For there is no escape – you always take the weather with you. (Note: this is not to offend those with a genuine interest in foreign cultures and peoples)

The track you listen to makes a transition from an initial restlessness to a sudden insight…

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Vox AC 15 Heritage, BSM fuzzbooster, Tube Reverb

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, 1967 Vox AC 30 (brilliant channel), BSM treble booster (DM-T), Tube Reverb

A list of some of the capacitors I tried with guitars:

“Luxe Caps” (Vitamin Qs), made of Russian military caps, thoroughly coated to look like vintage caps. They are California made, but the link above is to a German distributor, where I bought a bunch of caps (I’m also German), being much more delighted with the sound quality than with their English on the home page. But there are some forums (just google “Luxe caps”) who talk about alternatives to these rather expensive parts. Or look here for NOS caps.

- amongst them: Bumblebees. The legendary Les Paul caps give a nice and smooth sound, but for some it’s just too dull.

bumblebees

- Black Beauties. Used later on in Les Pauls, they are a bit brighter in sound, and my favorites.

Mustard Caps

Jensen (from Denmark, not to be confused with Jensen Speakers in Fender amps)

Jensen

Styroflex (silvery and half transparent looking)

Red Dimes, Orange Dimes (good ceramic caps, but still ceramic..) and many others.

red dime in a 1967 Stratocaster

Personally, out of vintage repro caps, I prefer Black Beauties for all Les Pauls (including Juniors and Specials), for they give a brighter sound than Bumblebees. Both come in 0.022 uF only. There are intended as replacements for original vintage instruments. With little interest in “vintage correctness”, in a way I don’t care too much if they belong in this very guitar I want to tune. The point is: they sound very very good. Even the higher priced ones are worth trying.

The cheapest solution are Mustard caps, and to me they are second best. Made as replacements for Marshall amps, they sound great in guitars. For most users, I presume, there will be nothing left to be desired. My pimped Epiphone Les Paul houses a pair of them…

Capacitor Values: Values (in micro Farrad) differ from 0.01 to 0.1. The higher the value, the stronger will be the high frequency roll off. Fifities guitars often had bright sounding pickups – these were matched by more roll-off (0.05 to 0.1), whereas 0.022 is most common now. Vintage repro caps only come with vintage correct values, but it is worthwhile to experiment with different ones. In this case, you’ll have to try “normal” caps. I had a bass guitar that sounded somehow strangled until I fixed it with a foil cap of a different value – it felt like a miracle! For the Neck PU of my Les Paul I put a 0.033 uF cap so it lost its biting brightness, whereas for the bridge PU the usual 0.022 was fine.

Jensens are high grade, but originally for HiFi. Rather big in size, they give a very cultivated, smooth sound. Except for my Gibson EB3 Bass, I missed some aggression, though.

For my Stratocaster there was no alternative to a “chiclet” 0.1uF wax paper cap (Luxe). I originally wanted a red dime 0.05, like I had read somewhere, but after comparing it to a chiclet, there was no other way to go. I found the same to be the case with a student’s Mexican strat. These foil repro caps give the best and smoothest vintage sound I ever heard with Fender single coils. I don’t care if all the sixties’s strats were provided with ceramic caps – I would even replace these originals (of course keeping them).

Styroflex also turned out fine, but I missed some of the character in tone that other foil caps delivered. They are best for tone stacks in amplifiers (I already replaced some caps in my amps as well, with good results).

My Jaguar, as usual came with ceramic discs, but with the lower value of 0.01uF, as these single coils are rather different from a strat’s ones, and there are two tone circuits involved. So, no vintage repro caps were available. I simply tested several ceramic caps (for the main circuit), but bigger than discs, looking like the famous “Sprague” ones, and ended up with a 0.015. This one gave a fairly aggressive attack I liked so much that I don’t care I cannot turn the pot down anymore – not even a little bit, or it strangles both tone and volume. But after comparing its sound to the pot without any cap, I knew I couldn’t do without it.

For the Jaguar’s “rhythm circuit” I took a different choice. This circuit was created for dull rhythm sounds with the neck pickup only – but I like to use it for smoother jazzy sounds. For lack of space I sought out an old foil cap from a British Quad amp called “Hunts”, looking like a tiny carrot or a candy, and at the same time decreased the value to 0.0056 uF (roughly, only half of the original value). The result was less dampening, so it served for soloing also.

With all the hype of caps, don’t forget to check your pots! New pots (500 kO for Les Pauls, 250 kO for Teles and Strats, 1 MegO for Jazzmaster and Jaguar) might be just the missing thing in your guitar, brightening up the tone until it shines likes a Rembrandt painting exempt from centuries-old layers of varnish…

Don’t be afraid, this time robot had a unpleasant dream (you can tell by the dark cloud in his thought bulb), but he is rescued and there is a happy ending!

He was sleeping in his iron bed, being recharged through several wires, when it happened. His friend who obviously heard noises from robot’s bedroom, opened the door to ask what was going on there – and so robot learned it had only been a bad dream. After hugging each other with some heart-felt robot hugs (bang!) they went to bed with relief, sleeping tight until the next morning.

Last post of this trilogy will be: “Robot’s Love Song”, coming soon.

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Fender Tweed Champ, Roland Space Echo, Cry Baby Classic Wah (fixed)

NOTE: THERE IS A NEW POST WITH TABS ON THIS TOPIC!

Musicians have to learn scales, for scales are the raw material of melodies as well as the raw material of improvised solos.

For psychedelic music one might denote certain scales, but it won’t suffice to just climb them up and down, as one will have to learn how to use these notes.

From my own experience I would recommend the mixolydian scale. Listen to, for instance, “Ride my see-saw” by the Moody Blues. The solo (near the end) is pure mixolydian. But there is no scale reserved for psychedelic styles. So all the scales common in rock music, above all minor pentatonic, if played in a certain way, will sound psychedelic.

So what are these ways of playing? As a hint, you can read this former post.

Or, listen to this former sound track, using the mixolydian scale.

Keep in mind Indian music had a great impact on sixties’ music, especially around 1966/67. Modal soloing over a droning root can be a key to sounding psychedelic. One of the most efficient playing techniques is the use of just one string, regarding the guitar as a sitar. Crazy vibratos, whammy bar effects, and slides add to an overall oriental impression. Oriental sounding scales, such as harmonic minor or phrygian, enhance that effect. Bendings, at times combined with additional vibrato, and double stop bendings on strings g and b are very common.

There is no particular guitar or amp or scale or substance needed (though it might help), for psychedelic music is an attitude. It emanates from a surreal mindset. Studying surrealism is a good starting point.

A fine analysis of psychedelic music styles (with reference to surrealism) is found in Tim Ellison’s book “The band are not quite right” (free download). Thanks to “psy-curious” who led me there!

Appendix: examples of the above mentioned scales in the key of A:

Mixolydian: a-b-c#-d-e-f#-g-a. Minor pentatonic: a-c-d-e-g-a. Harmonic minor: a-b-c-d-e-f-g#-a.Phrygian: a-bb-c-d-e-f-g-a.

While listening, stick to it after 1:20! The real mystery only begins there. Guess what it is you’re looking at?

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Fender Tweed Champ, Cry Baby Classic Wah (fixed), Roland Space Echo

mikes: Electro Voice RE-20, Neumann KMS 105

But there are continuous searches for psychedelically painted instruments hitting my blog, and I would like to show those interested the way to some pictures:

There is THE psychedelic looking guitar! The SG Eric Clapton played during his Cream period, called “The Fool” is the best-known example, and it’s awesome. It can be an inspiration for those willing to do a similar job.

Look here

here or here

Or look at an acoustic guitar

The photo below shows a 1967 strat that in a way painted itself psychedelically by aging. This process has only just begun – maybe some decades from now stars and angels will complete the volcano-like spot on the side of its body…

“It’s possible to sit in hectic. It’s possible to calm down walking. To rearrange one’s impressions is crucial to the inner condition. The more impulses you take in, the more you need to assimilate them; the bigger will be the need for a break (although you might miss the ultimate party).

You are taking a rest when you have reached your goal. Technical devices seem to make anything possible. Some things you may do simultaneously, most things accelerate. With the world going at an ever faster pace, even the two-year-olds experience schedule difficulties. No time to play in their pajamas in the morning.

Relaxation becomes a waste of time though it helps you pacing yourself. It helps regaining your strength.

Even if a break means delay, it’s part of the journey. It subdivides the way. If you have a plan, you know what’s behind and what’s ahead. So you obtain a general view: Earth is moving us around in circles. Where do you go in such a hurry?”

Quote from the local homeless’ journal (translated)

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Fender Tweed Champ, Roland Space Echo, Cry Baby Classic Wah

mikes: Electro Voice RE-20, Neumann KMS 105

What a splendid season! Short-lived, as it is some melancholic undertones creep in, but the overall image is pure beauty…

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, 1967 Vox AC 30 (brilliant channel), BSM treble booster (model DM-T), Tube Reverb

mikes: Electro Voice RE-20, Neumann KMS 105

As a teenager I attended countless concerts of contemporary “classical” music, which in Germany is still called “Neue Musik”, even if there’s nothing new about it (its roots date back to the beginning of the twentieth century).

That’s not exactly what teenagers used to do, even in those seventies! The reason was I had a close friend – a musician, too – who took me along with him to all the avantgarde or similar presentations, and we were both all curiosity about new kinds of sounds, new ways of listening and new ways of thinking.

I still cherish the freshness that lies in the unusual sounds of contemporary music. It’s a welcome relief from all the clichés we are forced to listen to every day. As an improviser I find myself rather on the opposite side of the spectrum, indeed, since mostly there is nothing written and everything spontaneous about my music – but in an attempt to build a bridge between those camps I dared to improvise along with a recorded orchestra.

It’s daring, I know, but at least it is something rarely done. Parts of a work called “Photoptosis” by German composer Bernd Alois Zimmermann ( 1918 – 1970 ) were cut into pieces and guitar noises along with (yes!) some melodies were added. I’m proud it was a first take, and in the end I liked it, hoping those among you who don’t get frightened off by the dissonances, will like it, too! To me, dissonances are one of the coolest things in music…

The ambiguous title is meant to be so. It refers to the literal meaning of “Photoptosis” as well as to the inherent (s)light disorder of all human beings. After all, Photoptosis takes on a different shape if you listen to it under the assumption it represents pencils of rays…

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Vox AC 50, Big Muff, Tube Reverb

But to be honest, I’ve been wondering by myself what kind of amp it really is. It is provided with the same power tubes as a Marshall plexi: the EL 34. The reason was all the famous groups like The Beatles wanted louder amps and Vox had to meet their needs building amps that were louder than an AC 30. Since the AC30 has already a quartet of EL 84 (which are rather low power, but high sound quality), the consequence would have been an octet.

This being rather expensive, and developing much heat in the chassis, they decided to build an amp with different power tubes. Some people assume an AC 50 is nearly the same as a Marshall plexi, but it is not.

There is this roughness in sound, that’s true (a typical Marshall trait), but to my knowledge the amp’s design is completely different. As usual, the entire band would use the same amp in the sixties, except those who were successful enough to buy a stack for each member. So there is a “normal” channel that would provide enough low end for the bass player or for the rhythm guitar (they had this dogma in mind: rhythm is dull, solo is bright).

And there is the “brilliant” channel for solo instruments, which can be really biting! What I found out about the sound is, it is barely balanced. Some bass frequencies tend to dominate, others not. With electric bass my sound somehow got out of hand, and so I preferred my SWR amplifier.

The tone stack is very effective, as one might know from other Vox amps; the knobs are interactive, so you can get a great variety of sounds. With the brilliant channel I had to cut down treble.

But on special occasions this amp is unbeatable! I love the crazy subtones when playing two notes at once with distortion, and I love how the wah-wah sounds with this amp. For reasonable sound pressure levels I use a power soak, and for distortion I prefer a treble booster with inbuilt fuzz.

That’s what I can tell from my own experience. Hope it helped.

For this post I had a new illustrator signed, who much to my satisfaction translates my ideas into pictures. Despite the fact he is only five years old (erm 5 1/2, I am to say), it shows my son can readily paint the psychedelic way (maybe it helps listening to psychedelic music with his father very often), and it shows no mind-manipulating substances of any kind are needed…

So it’s your turn now to guess what this dream’s about! (Amongst humans it’s not a wide-spread knowledge that robots have a very vivid emotional life, but children still know…)

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Fender Tweed Champ, Roland Space Echo

mikes: Electro Voice RE-20, Neumann KMS 105

Is there a distinct psychedelic guitar sound, or is it just the same as vintage guitar sound?

To make sure, I added a short medley here, that you might use as quiz, if you like to. I would enjoy reading your comments, if you recognized some of the bands or songs!

Yes, there is a distinctive psychedelic sound, but it happened to be produced with just the same equipment as connected to “vintage sound” in general. I will try to define the most typical traits of it:

Excessive use of effects: as there were only a few effects at the time, these were cranked up to maximum. Tremolo at maximum speed and intensity, until it gives a shattering sound that splices the notes. Reverb: reverberations that seem to last for years…

I think, Pink Floyd were the first to use the Tape Echo, already in the band’s early times. Many signals in their music are veiled by excessive use of this effect.

Edgy or even biting guitar sounds, predominantly coming from Fender or Vox amps (both reputable for being rich in treble).

Backwards guitar: officially “invented” by the Beatles on their Revolver album, there seem to have been different occasions when a band or a recording engineer by mistake put the tape the wrong way, and everybody went “what was that? can you play that again?”

Excessive finger-vibrato (listen to “Deserted cities of the heart” by Cream! Clapton’s vibrato is incredible there. Could that have been a whammy bar?)

Pseudo-Indian playing style by rushing up and down the neck on just one string. Slides and the modal, drone-like sound provide a recognizable allusion to Indian music, with a chirping sound sometimes approaching a Sitar. Guitar players consciously tried to imitate other instruments, or even a siren.

Amplifier-Feedback: with the volume set high, speakers stimulate the guitar strings until a circle of self-oscillation is established, mostly running up to harmonics.

Phaser, only just invented, mostly got applied to the whole mix (“Itchicoo Park” by The Small Faces), but there may be examples of phased guitar sounds.

The Wah-Wah was invented as a trumpet effects unit (!) in 1967 by Vox, and there are only few examples of psychedelic wah wah . Am I wrong with that? To me it seems the wah-wah is more connected to the Hard Rock era, beginning around 1968. And Miles Davis definitely did not misuse a guitar effect for his trumpet (many listeners protested), but it was designed for just his instrument!

In the end there should be no dogmatism about what a psychedelic guitar sound has to be. “Psychedelic” can be an esthetic category beyond historic implications, and is determined to develop further on, along with changing equipment and new effects…

A Bluer Bossa than “Blue Bossa”, I heard this tune composed by my dear friend Saman Vossoughi who plays jazz guitar, and I was like: “what scale is that?”. It sounded so – interesting, so different. And usually I know my scales around…

It turned out this tune is based on Melodic Minor, a scale I had always rejected as not feasible. “It’s neither fish nor fowl”, I used to state, “as part of it sounds like Major, and part of it like Minor”. I simply didn’t know how to use it. I’m glad attending my friend’s concert has taught me to stay open, since I began to practice Melodic Minor as soon as I came home after the concert. All of a sudden I found it rather useful. A week or so later we arranged to meet and record the song in my studio as a one-shot collaboration. Here we are.

The “who is who” is easily to be detected, as Saman has the smoother sound, and my Jaguar is a bit more incisive.

(Saman has dedicated this tune to Joe Henderson, famous tenor saxophone player, who among many other things recorded an outstanding version of “Blue Bossa”. But “Mylodic” bears no direct resemblance to the latter, although it’s kind of a Bossa, too).

guitars & gear: Saman: Gibson ES 335, Vox AC 15, Tube Reverb. Gary: Fender Jaguar, Vox AC 30, Gibson EB3 bass, Cabasa, Tabor, Tube Reverb

How can vintage sound be described?

It is said to be smoother and warmer (sometimes called “brown sound”). Maybe that is right most of the time. But chances are you might find typical vintage sounds that are a bit edgy or even shrill. Other than assigning the phenomenon to a certain period of time, there seems to be no real definition what is a vintage sound, and what you find may differ on a large scale.
Others claim vintage sounds are sort of restricted, concerning the frequency spectrum. At least this assumption gives us some palpable hint: the tone doesn’t include the whole spectrum, but is narrower, thus cutting through. Vintage humbuckers (PAFs) are said to sound close to single coils. They definitely don’t share the deep and full sounding characteristics of contemporary humbuckers, rather giving a nasal tone. Stratocasters cover a wide range of sounds, but in general they are prone to providing very much treble (musicians make jokes about bleeding ears).

All of these vintage guitars have their little flaws… and I regret I can’t talk about all the other great guitars here, whether these are Telecasters, Gretsch, Les Paul Junior (P 90 Pickups have their own sound), or – well, you already know I fell for the Jaguar… I heard about modern high gain pickups to cover up the subtleties of the tone, especially the wood resonances. So what for some people may be a disadvantage (like low gain), to others is the only way to go. Hand-wound pickups may offer tonal advantages, but there are never two of them with identical specifications. Variations in wood quality seem to allow for some great vintage guitars, as well as some “dead” sounding ones. (It’s absurd to charge equally high prizes for all of the old instruments just because of their age…)

Less is more – this seems to be the case particularly with vintage sounds. These are far from being perfect, and that’s exactly what creates the magic. Tonal character is probably something like the opposite of universality. In my opinion, the vintage cult can be viewed as a reaction to modern sounds being all too perfect and punchy, and to modern equipment making everything possible.

So our perspective on sound has changed and goes on changing: what had been just the only thing at hand, for sure sometimes complained about at the now called “Golden Age of Vintage Sounds”, has turned into a cult only much later. After countless improvements imposed on amplifiers and instruments it turned out perfection is boring… The failure of transistor amps to accurately reproduce the dynamics of tube amps strongly contributed to that, as well as the fact that we are overfed by ever more frequency range, compression and walls of sound.

But anybody who is determined to make vintage sounds his own, at first has to know he is to face guitars with a fingerboard radius that makes bendings much harder; that he is to face amps without a master volume, and so on. There have been reasons for improvement, and if we go back to an evolutionary step before that, new (old) problems will arise.

But there are solutions out there, and if you are really committed, it will only take you some time before being rewarded with great sounds!

An archetypical 60s rhythm, popularized by the famous and most influential Bo Diddley. Originally a typical Caribbean rhythm, e.g. called “clave” in Cuba, but – unlike this – played with a slight swing feel to it.

Important Bo-Diddley-rhythm-kind-of-songs of the period this blog is all about:

• Not fade away – Buddy Holly/The Rolling Stones
• Magic Bus – The Who
• Get me to the world on time – The Electric Prunes
• Gone and passes by – The Chocolate Watchband

So, let your guitar’s body turn into a red rectangle, grab maracas, and play some wild Caribbean thing! Here we go, Bo…

guitar & gear: Sakurai nylon string, Fender Jaguar, Fender Tweed Champ, Tube Trem, bongos played with mallets, mini-cymbals (no maracas, sorry…)

overall mike: Sennheiser MD 421

To me, the physically old equipment is strongly overrated – whereas there is real magic to some of the specifications of, say 50s or 60s instruments and amplifiers; concerning wood quality, pickups, electronics, capacitors, and so on. Nowadays we enjoy the benefits of being able to buy amplifiers or guitars as an reissue of the original legend, as well as the real old equipment, which is normally exclusively called “vintage”. There is not much sense in discussing the value of vintage equipment, though, without at first knowing your aim, your desired sound.

So, the first question to be answered is whether or not your sound requires vintage equipment – or this search may be merely part of a temporal hype. For me, the answer has been clearly “yes”. (Since psychedelic sounds are old sounds, they may be considered as part of the vintage topic. I will write about this soon.) In addition, I could build upon a family tradition, if you will, as my father was passionate about tube amps. Except he didn’t use them as guitar amps, but for HiFi. Some of the parts he left I could use very well, however.

I concentrated on indulging in “the tube sound”, since before that I had only a faint idea of what this was exactly like, and how it effected your guitar signal. My first step, about three years ago, was to buy a Vox ToneLab, a multieffect device that allows for trying a bunch of different tube amp sounds. I used very little of its potential, for my primary interest was not effects, but a possibly realistic simulation of different classics by Marshall, Fender and Vox. It showed that the ToneLab was a good basis for further research. For months I even believed it couldn’t be topped by a real tube amp – mistake! I will try to describe what the uniqueness of tube sound is all about in a second installment…

Vox ToneLab SE

Another primary experience has been exchanging the guitar’s capacitors, which are virtually always small ceramic caps, giving a rather harsh sound with the tone control at maximum, and suddenly giving way to a rather dull and low signal when the tone control is turned down. In most cases, they should be replaced by foil caps.

The overall tone of the respective guitar was significantly altered by different capacitors, even of the same electrical value, but of different brands and sizes; and even when the tone control was turned to maximum. So modifications of the guitar’s electronics turned out to be a major tool to achieve a warmer, more vintage-like guitar sound. For the first time I saw the use of the tone pot at all, as I could play around with a diversity of colors or sound shapes, all of them sounding good!

Step by step I had thus turned my Epiphone Les Paul Custom into an instrument that bears comparison with an original Gibson (replacement of the pickups and many other parts included). I ended up with the conviction that there are many ways to achieve a so-called vintage guitar sound, and no real old equipment is required. At least for my personal needs. I can very well imagine somebody needing exactly what only a certain old guitar or amp can provide. But let’s abandon the hype! For a majority of players it would be sufficient to “tune” their instruments like described above.

Epiphone Les Paul Custom with Häussel pickups, and new hardware all over

Since I aim at something analogous to classical vintage sounds, not the exact same, I may have had it easier in this respect. In addition I found an effect chain including a tube tremolo and a tube reverb very useful. These two were nearly the only effects available to guitar players up to 1967 (when the wah wah was invented), and with them you come closer to sounding Early or Mid Sixties, for example. Some amps (e.g. the Fender Blackface series) are already provided with tremolo and reverb, but using stand alone devices gives you more versatility. The same goes for external speaker cabinets. It’s fun to experiment by combining different speakers with your amp. Clearly, requirements vary depending on whether you play on stage or just at home…

Tube Trem by GP Lightstone

Tube amps are too big a subject to write about in a few sentences. But it’s a good idea to orientate yourself, which of the trilogy of Fender, Vox, or Marshall suits your desired sound best. Further investigation after this question of principle could concern a specific model, like a Champ, Princeton, or Deluxe by Fender, a Plexi, or JTM 45 by Marshall, or the AC 15 and AC 30 by Vox. To get some idea how they sound like, playing around with realistic modeling technology is optimum preparation – but in the long run I found real amplifiers much more dynamic. Beware of their power, though! To achieve a distorted sound they have to be turned up to incredibly high volumes (at least for your living room), and many originals as well as reissues don’t have master volume. If you are playing at home, a maximum of about 20 Watts is more than sufficient (maybe even five Watts are enough).

Vox AC 15 Heritage Reissue

So, the next tool to investigate was the treble booster, used by many guitarists of the 60s and early 70s to boost the signal. The name is misleading, as it’s primary function is to make distortion easier, not to add shrillness. I found it melts into the amps own sound perfectly. Depending on the degree of distortion needed, also a Tube Screamer or other overdrive unit can be used. My most versatile booster is called “Fuzz Booster”, and provides clean boosted sounds as well as a completely unobtrusive fuzz, making it easy to blend one into the other.

This a long story cut short, but that’s what has made me really happy: a combination of somehow tuned (new) guitars with (new) tube amps, tremolo and tube reverb, at times with a treble booster right before the amp’s input – and that’s it!

- For the second installment click here!

Back in 1966, when psychedelic art was about to embark.

Two seminal songs: The above mentioned by the Rolling Stones (which I stole the title from and made up a new music to accompany it), and the undeservedly overlooked “Rain” by the Beatles. The latter being published only as a single (not found on an original album), contains the first backwards recording ever and Ringos best drumming ever.

These songs are extreme in a way, as is the track above (coming in three movements) in another. It’s a different time, and a different player, who doesn’t want to compare to those giants…

A snapshot from inside a train, the photograph below simply made me think of “Paint it black”, whereas the music was cut on a different occasion and originally called “Scary”.

guitar & gear: ’67 Stratocaster, Vox AC 50, Gerd Schulte Phaser, Tube Reverb

…but my head is still in the clouds.

The title of this post is intended as my response to Elspeth’s tagging me. I was meant to write a six word memoir about myself. Of course this doesn’t allow for much, and I had to break the rules by adding a contrasting sentence…

(I’m not really part of a blogging community, so everybody who would like to write a six word memoir about him- or herself is kindly invited!)

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, ’67 Vox AC 30, Tube Reverb

This time it’s a dream we experienced in 1999, traveling Brazil. Close to South America’s biggest megalopolis of Sao Paolo, there is an island called Ilhabela (“beautiful island”), where at last we found places nearly untouched by civilization. It took an adventuresome tour to the backside of Ilhabela, though, and there were only few people due to the “winter” season, which was not winter at all.

We don’t travel much for several reasons, one of them being the pollution caused by too many planes world wide. But we’re still feeding on that experience. I can’t recall being so exposed to pristine nature any other time in my life.

guitar & gear: ’67 Stratocaster, Vox AC 50, Tube Reverb

When I was young and proud of what I had learned, I considered the keys of E and A as something “dull”. My aspirations rather were to play Jazz and be most versatile in all the 24 keys (12 major and 12 minor). To play in E was something very ordinary, as most of the beginners did that. So I avoided playing open strings at all.

Well, this has changed completely. Today I just love to play open strings, and I love to play in E or A (major or minor). Since I’m trying to listen more closely to what the guitar itself “wants to play”, or what one might denote as inherent in the instrument, I don’t worry any more about keys. When I improvise the respective keys define themselves without me manipulating or choosing at all. It may sound weird, but it often gives me the feeling of letting the instrument itself make the choice. After all, those “dull” chords sound just fine, and open strings can be very inspiring in various keys…

What I “found out” playing this way, was not only a preference for E and A, but another one for the key of B in the seventh position. I seems like just any electric guitar provides optimum performance there.

At least this goes for rock music – I really like the smooth feeling of keys like E flat or A flat in Jazz. These statements are only a basis for discussion, and for sure there are many more aspects to this subject, as there are down tunings, capodaster playing etc. But that’s exactly what makes playing the guitar such a great thing!

It could be the dream of an hidden island.

Or it could be an island dream hidden in the middle section of this track, framed by a not so dream-like beginning and ending.

Or is there a hidden dream within you?

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, 1967 Vox AC 30, Tube Reverb

guitar & gear: erm, my Les Paul Special being unplugged, what you hear is the plug itself. No kidding (finger percussion)! Gerd Schulte Phaser, Tube Reverb.

A symbolic photo, the inscription saying “old-new-creative” – which means they sold second hand articles, as well as new ones, as well as creative things (whatever these should be). Then they put a sign in the window, saying “for rent”, just above the word “creative”.

I admit, this conjunction triggered my sarcastic side…

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Vox AC 15 Heritage, Tube Trem, Tube Reverb

It’s a monument. This “august” tree I photographed last August has lost none of its dignity, which I guess is the reason why the farmers in the area have saved it.

guitar & gear: Stratocaster, Vox AC 15 Heritage, Cry Baby Classic Wah

But death is the source of new life:

Following my habit of stealing titles (not music) from other artists – this is the title of an album I greatly admire: “Conference of the birds” by Jazz-bassist Dave Holland, who played, among many others, with Miles Davis.

But improvising in a similar manner as birds do, was an idea that came to me out of the blue (the association with the above-mentioned album being called up afterwards).

Yes, it is a conference they are holding, and no, we usually don’t even take the time to listen.

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Vox AC 15, Tube Reverb

We all know a song of this name, and if you are old enough (like me), it probably brings up certain memories. But the music you hear when clicking the player sounds different – although it is kind of an extension over the original intro…

Clearly we cannot reproduce silence as musicians, but silence may become an essential part of our music. And sometimes it’s the most powerful part.

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar (using a capo for the mandolin effect), Gibson EB3 Bass, Vox AC 15, Tube Reverb, Susannes voice (phased)

Download audio file (cubism.mp3)

I was 14 years old, when I painted my “masterpiece”, uniting some of my influences in an oil painting I was really proud of at the time. Well, not much later I abandoned painting for something more important to me: music. I know it’s far from a really good or professional painting, but there’s something about it, especially considering my young age…

I never liked skiing that much, though we live in an era where everybody goes skiing. Starting from a photo which I abstracted step by step, the motive was just an inspiration to me for it’s dynamics.

The music is an attempt to reproduce – by musical means – the shift of perspectives, and the edgy, modern feeling that made cubism the starting point of contemporary painting. After recording several tracks, I heavily edited, cut and doubled etc. So this is another collage…

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Vox AC 15, Treble Booster, Cry Baby Classic Wah

Download audio file (gnome.mp3)

Unlike Modest Mussorgky’s famous piece (from “Pictures at an Exhibition”) this is not a heavy march, but a lighter and slightly annoying improvisation, using the built-in damping mechanism of the Jaguar. This patented invention by Leo Fender was something he was really proud of, whereas most musicians found it useless and demounted it right away.

This, among other things, has contributed to the Jaguar’s fame as a “faulty design”; but at least for this recording it proved useful for me, providing sounds only available with this strange mechanism. If you listen closely, you will hear it activated 20 seconds into the track…

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, 1967 Vox AC 30, Tube Reverb

An improvisation using the tremolo channel of the AC 30.

I encountered this fountain in the center of my hometown, and instantly decided to make up a post named “the kiss”.

The world fades away in this special moment, water freezes, and only the echoes of togetherness remain. The word “tremolo” this time made me think of weird expressions like tremor amoris or fontana tremi.

Again, the resonance strings of the Jaguar and switching to different sounds can be heard.

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, 1967 Vox AC 30, Tube Reverb

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Vox AC 30 (Vibrato-channel), Tube Reverb

It’s the best-known song of an excellent singer/songwriter and an excellent blogger, too: Christine Kane. It inspired me to contradict in sympathy: how can anyone dislike this beauty?

But I understood the meaning of the song’s title. She is not a woman like a woman is expected to be. She has her own mind. And that’s why I love this song.

Dear Christine,

I hope you don’t mind me doing this – it’s completely non-commercial. This song was an inspiration, and that’s true also for many other songs you wrote and performed. I know I forgot some bars in the chorus. I had to record this within a few minutes, but I also think it doesn’t make much difference on an instrumental. I omitted the bridge, but I will never forget the words of that part:

And if all your dreams come true/do your memories still end up haunting you/is there such a thing as really breaking through/to another day and a lighter shade of blue?

Thank you, Gary

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom on three tracks, Vox AC 15 Heritage, Tube Reverb

My new Jaguar has a whole bunch of switches that repelled many a guitar player before. You know, they usually like to play without having to think about knobs or buttons. Just plug and play, and that’s okay.

But for me switches are paradise! I now have three different capacitors instead of one in my guitar, and I can even switch from foil to ceramic, if I like to, and I simply love all of the sounds they produce.

For years now I use to modify my guitars by replacing their tone capacitors by better ones. Capacitors obviously are the poor cousin of even the best manufacturers. Usually you don’t see them, and that seems to be enough of a reason to provide only the cheapest ones.

But anybody with ears to listen can hear the difference, though it’s never spectacular. With a Gibson Les Paul or the like I prefer foil caps that give a much smoother sound than the ceramic caps provided. You can turn the tone control all the way down to produce the “woman tone”. Still it will sound good and present, while ceramic caps strangle the tone until it virtually disappears!

With a Fender Guitar, they say, you should use a ceramic cap, but one that’s much bigger than the cheap ones. It is called “Orange Dime”. But the really old Strats had foil capacitors, too. After trying one of them, I would never return to a ceramic cap. But that’s a thing you can argue about.

With the Jaguar it took me some time to find out the right items, though. As always, it was trial and error, and I had to change one capacitor’s value from 0.01 uF to 0.005, for instance. The result is amazing. There is a right-in-the-face Rock sound as well as a smooth Jazz sound, and so the Jaguar has become the most versatile guitar I ever played. Oh, I forgot to tell you about the “resonance strings”: they have their own, harp-like sound adding to the many possibilities of this guitar.

For those who want more information, there is a recent post on guitar caps here.

Max Ernst (1891 – 1976) was an exponent of Dadaism and Surrealism. Trees and the woods were essential to his imagination. His recollections of walks with his father gave him a mystic approach to this subject.

That’s what I always liked about his art: it resonates with my own childhood memories. And for me “psychedelic” is very similar to “surrealistic” – only the two belong to different decades of the 20th century.

So, when I “met” this really surrealistic tree, I decided to compose a fitting music. This time I cut the recordings into pieces and made them into a collage.

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar, Fender Stratocaster, Gibson EB3 Bass, Tweed Champ, Tube Trem, Big Muff, Tube Reverb

Around the time when most people are super-busy in preparation of celebration, I often find myself in a mood which is best described by the exclusive use of minor chords in this piece of improvisation.

Mostly simplified as musical sadness, minor is like the Yin side of music, not action, but reaction, shade as opposed to the bright light of day.

Listening to the completed track, I found it totally adequate to my current mood. And then I listened again…

guitar & gear: Fender Jaguar on three tracks, Fender Tweed Champ, Tube Trem, Cry Baby Classic, Tube Reverb

It didn’t happen for the first time: I fell in love with a music nobody else around me seemed to be able to appreciate. Except for my friend Hans, with whom I grew up musically, and who influenced me to no end. But that’s just another story, and Hans has disappeared from my life anyway.

I’m talking about the album “Devotion” by John Mclaughlin, and this happened decades ago. Typically, “Devotion”, not much of a success at the time, wasn’t even much appreciated by the artist himself later on. He talked about the loveless way “Devotion” was produced, and he certainly could have imagined to make it much better. But there’s just one album like that for me – that kind of music I never encountered again. Not even on the other albums of this great guitar player, who had much more success forming the Mahavishnu Orchestra, right after the time we are talking about.

What’s so singular about “Devotion”, recorded in 1970?

First: the players. On drums: Buddy Miles, who had played with Jimi Hendrix as a part of the “Band of Gypsies”. From the moment I got to know this music, I liked his drumming much better than that of the regular Hendrix drummer, and it occurred to me that the Jimi Hendrix Experience should have always been like that. He provides a strong, driving yet sensible beat. (He has been a Soul singer afterwards, but I miss his very specific strength there.)

On Hammond organ: Larry Young, simply a wizard on this instrument, producing one eerie or sparkling sound after the other to add an extraterrestrial aura to the group sound. Definitely my favorite player of this instrument!

On bass: Billy Rich, whom I still do only know by this record. But he is an integral part of the sound, playing beautiful melodies like the others while keeping the groove. His feel for dynamics makes way for the quartet climbing up to the clouds, as I feel it when listening.

There are no vocals on the album, usually being labeled as an early form of “Fusion”, a mixture of Jazz and Rock elements. But there is a unique guitar sound on multilayered tracks. Which makes me come back to my point:

In some way or another, this album influenced me like only “Bitches Brew” by Miles Davis, or the Late String Quartets by Beethoven could.

When I read the book “Zen Guitar” (go to “The Psychedelic Zen Guitar Story” Page of my blog to know more about it), the first advice I got was: go back to the original sound that made you play your instrument! Go back to where it all began. Try to search for the sound of the divine spark within us all. The sound of one hand clapping (to understand this very important Koan, please read the book!).

After having indulged in Santana’s use of the Gibson SG on the first Santana albums, I proceeded to Classical Rock guitar sounds in general, like the Les Paul and the Stratocaster. I began to experiment with tube amplifiers, trying to build up on my father’s profession as a Audio technician. Before his death, he was really into tube amps. I sometimes wish I could have adopted more of his skills when he was still alive…

This taking me already several years, I only recently arrived at the guitar sound of the “Devotion” album. Guess what?

John McLaughlin played a psychedelically painted Jaguar these days.

I’m certainly far from playing like John McLaughlin, and I certainly don’t even try to imitate him. But listening to the improvisation above I can hear his influence, while my only intention has been to capture the sound of the Jaguar. Except for one short part that is a direct quote from one of the album’s tracks.

So now I’m all Devotion to heavenly sounds as well as to a creator who carried me so close to them, letting me dwell in the creation of music who’s seeds were sown such a long time ago.

guitar & gear: the “olympic white” dream below plus a 1967 Vox AC 30 (lent by Thomas), and Tube Reverb

Oh, it’s an exaggeration, of course. I never had in mind to even try to compose a symphony. By the way, my favorite ones are the seventh by Ludwig van Beethoven, and the fourth and last symphony by Johannes Brahms, if you’d like to know. Take your time to listen to them! They are just incredible…

But what I wanted to do here is just another improvisation, as usual. At the very moment when I began recording, the doorbell rang. I knew it was not for me, and so I could go on playing. How I love these spontaneous opportunities!

I just began expanding on the Big Ben Theme of our doorbell, which is real low at the beginning of the track (can you hear it?), due to the microphones being close to the speakers of the amplifier. And it was the beginning of an interesting journey to…, well whatever. Just listen.

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom, Vox AC 15 Heritage, Tube Reverb

Some musicians suffer from a disease called “gear acquisition syndrome”, or GAS, and it looks like I am one of them. Or maybe not.
Like those people, I always have another amplifier, a new guitar, or at least a little stomp box in mind, and it’s not only pure pleasure I get out of it (though many people perceive me like that).
Like with my new Fender Jaguar guitar, buying something can be followed by hard work and frustration (for the modifications required). Of course, in the end everything turns out well, and as soon as I’m done with one thing, it’s just about time to make a new plan.
That’s one perspective. Another perspective serves as a proof I’m not infected: I hardly ever sell the gear I buy, and I’m totally dedicated to using everything I own in a creative way. Only there’s so much creativity, linked to sound and equipment in a peculiar way (which I only got to know over the last few years) – the artist within demands ever more searching!

And what have I found this time? Well, now it’s not a surprise anymore, and I could tell you, like I told you when I got the new Vox AC 15 amplifier, that it’s the best guitar I ever had or even played. And it would be just the truth. The Fender American Vintage Jaguar is a little known guitar with an arguable fame, but like always, everything depends on on taste, on perspective, on you. Or me.

Instead of arguing, I’ll show you some pictures. And for very sure, you’ll get to listen to this instrument in one of the next posts. I think I’ll tell you the whole story how I got to this guitar in one more “News”-post, coming soon.

What about you? Are you GAS-infected, too? Or maybe something similar…

This music in 6/8 + 7/8 odd meter is additionally intended as an hommage to Carlos Santana, one of my all-time-favorite guitar players. Whoever heard what Senor Carlos did in the early Seventies (the jazzrockydevadip-phase) will feel reminded. Ethereal.

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom, Vox AC 15 Heritage, Tube Reverb, Big Muff

Generally, electric guitar playing is considered to be a macho thing. The behavior of “guitar heroes” mistreating their instruments, or even smashing or burning them leaves us with no doubt about who’s playground the stage is.

The more I get bored with those heroes, the more I appreciate one of the greatest guitar players cultivating a thing called “woman tone” – a common name for Eric Clapton’s guitar sound in certain songs during the late Sixties when he played Gibson guitars. It is done by simply turning the tone control for the guitar pickup down, while turning the volume control to maximum. With the guitar plugged into a softly overdriven tube amplifier, the result is a characteristic sound that combines rock’s roughness with a wind instrument’s vocal-like voice. Voilá!

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom, Vox AC 15 Heritage, Tube Reverb

guitar & gear: Gibson Les Paul Special, coming in two tracks; Vox ToneLab, Tube Reverb

Here for the first time I’m trying to keep my music from the over-earnestness to which I strongly tend. Those among you who are really ambitious (like I am) know how hard it is to see or hear our own mistakes over and over again, and to know they are out there for other people to stumble over or even laugh about them.

It’s so hard to let go of your self-criticism in favor of spontaneity. For this blog I had to learn that, hoping an impression of freshness would prevail also in the listener’s minds.

Mistakes and little flaws inevitably creep in when you improvise over a period of, say, four minutes or so. The trick is to not let them distract you. And afterwards, when listening to your “product”, not to take the music and the whole project too serious.

A few seconds into this little piece of music there’s an awful chord, but I turned it around as if it had been on purpose and it became the starting point for a very vocal-like expression… So why bother?

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom, Vox ToneLab, tube reverb

These are two friends of mine showing a typical reaction to my music… Kidding. What you see is alcohol-free late night amusement (it’s possible!) at a party in my house, and there were still some other guests…

Would any color be as striking if presented on its own, without the help of a contrasting color? (This could be seen as applying to other issues as well…).

When listening, there is an awfully mistuned chord (about 12 seconds into the tune) we have to accept as the price of improvisation – grumble… Coming soon: a reflection on “embracing mistakes”.

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom, Vox AC 15 Heritage, Tube Reverb

(This post has been drafted right before the disastrous fires in California. For some reason I felt I should publish later. Now we know… This is not meant to take lightly what is happening, but to reflect on a different level what is always there and all too easily being overlooked).

In ancient times people used to dignify the natural elements we are confronted with, mostly in the shape of gods and goddesses.

I feel there is a lack of this approach in our times, even if there’s no way of returning to ancient practice. We should honor from time to time what is mightier than us and lies at the base of our existence. Fire is an elemental force, at the same time warming, delivering energy, and threatening. A sense of this, which has been very lively in our ancestors, still lives on in every one of us.

It is sometimes baffling and surprising how systematically we are pushed towards certain objectives throughout our lives, only much later being able to see the pattern in it. Seeing this, I feel encouraged to go with the flow and to trust my feelings even if I should now be unable to derive any sense from them.

Indulging in my own past I found I had been preparing what I’m doing now literally for decades. Only then no one could see a pattern in these diverging aspirations, including me. As an example, this shows a psychedelic picture I drafted when I was about fifteen years old, combined with a piece of music I recorded in June this year.

guitar & gear: ’67 Stratocaster, Vox ToneLab, Tube Trem

Strange muffled sounds reaching your ears – where could they come from?

Is what is supposed to be a door leading anywhere? In any case you’ll have to enter the unknown after you managed to open it. Maybe it just falls off its frame instead of opening, and you will be facing the void…

Meanwhile the clock on the wall might turn out a Salvador Dali “flexible” or “soft” one, rather irritating than showing the time. Melting away. Take a step out of time, out of your believed-to-be-safe life. Enter the next floor.

And that’s what I was so blessed to experience through music and sound these days. After a period of uneasy waiting, desperately seeking for something to do while my only motivation was to expand my musical environment in order to take the next step – now the really best amplifier I ever heard with electric guitar finally hit my studio. And it’s mine.

I suppose only few of you can imagine how – well, non-materialistic, almost spiritual such an experience can be. Unless you are infected by the same virus as me, it may be just an amplifier to you, designed to annoy the neighborhood.

But it’s much more. It brings a vision into life. It fulfills a lifetime dream of mine, one I didn’t even really know I had, for lack of knowledge. Well, I only knew this amplifier’s bigger brother, the legendary AC 30, when I was young, but nevertheless this is the final point of a several years’ research, of my search for the right amplifier. This one has the smoothest and most pleasant high frequency response I ever heard. It’s just the right size for my studio and it makes any guitar shine…

To explain the cult around a thing one could consider as a simple tool: for electric guitar players the amplifier is just an extension of their instruments, almost part of these or rather one out of two instruments played simultaneously. A tube amplifier kind of develops a life of his own, reacting to the dynamics of the player in a very individual and vivid way.

So it’s no wonder the whole thing turns me (the player in this case) upside down. It will also take some time until things get settled in order to record new material with this new equipment for the blog. I have several amplifiers here to be tested in different settings with different speaker cabinets, some of them being loans. Everything needs to be built up from scratch now, until I will hopefully regain command over my equipment.

While I am feeling like a pioneer and an archaeologist at the same time, delightfully plunging into sound, I must have you waiting. There are some posts on stockpile, though. So as you can continue listening and looking here, you will now know what I’ll be doing in the meantime…

The Vox AC 15 Heritage is an anniversary reissue of the very first Vox amplifier which was introduced in 1957. With the lights low, you can see the tubes glowing behind the “diamond pattern cloth”. Much better than watching TV!

Download audio file (Cm2.mp3)

A few days ago I looked more closely at a drawing hanging on the wall that was one of the last examples of my drawing or painting efforts. It was made on October 7th, 1976, when I was sixteen years old, and about to embark on the musical trip rather than on fine arts.

Although the picture shows some not too idyllic houses of my home town, I always liked the atmosphere provided by the blue skies around them. Pondering what I could do to honor my friend Elspeth’s birthday, I read the numbers on said drawing, and discovered it was just the date of her birthday!

Elspeth has inspired me by writings and pictures on her blog Now Is Wow in the short time since I have known her, and I simply enjoyed several collaborations we did together.

I’d like to thank you, Elspeth, and wish you a happy birthday!

This is actually not on clouds alone, but on the interplay of light and water in the skies.

Take your time to stop and watch what is shown up there every day! It’s for free, and it’s terrific.

guitar & gear: Gibson Les Paul Special, Vox ToneLab SE, Gerd Schulte Phaser

Imagine you are the insect that detected this wonderful flower – that’s the point where the music starts. See where it’s going to take you…

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom, Vox AC 50, Gerd Schulte Phaser

why this dusty kind of work rescued my soul

Did I ever like the color gray? I can’t remember I have… but owning this guitar for nearly two decades I have repressed the notion from the beginning.

Though – now that it’s past recovery… I guess it looks better than in real life here. Must be the camera…

Surprise! Underneath the gray appears a layer of blue. But it had been perfectly hidden. At this stage at least 8 layers of paint have already been removed.

First glimpses of wood

Nothing but wood left. And it looks nice, except for the dark primer.

No primer left

Painted anew. Few strats look like that.

Electronic upgrade kit installed – now waiting for new pickups…

These instruments are not played exactly the way they normally are.

But, hey, this is Psychedelic Zen Guitar, and there has been an intention to show the madness in normality here as well as the normality in madness right from the start…

There are four Garys here, playing different instruments like crazy, and maybe they are…

(I’ve been doing experiments like this since I was around 15 years old – for more than three decades now! I hope I have improved in musical insanity since then…)

The pictures show cymbals in my friend Markus’ drum studio.

guitar& gear: ’71 Ibanez SG, Vox ToneLab SE, Tube Reverb, cymbals, Gibson EB-3 bass played with violin bow

Download audio file (octavefunk.mp3)

After a long time interruption this is the third and last installment of my little vernissage of Ismael Kamara’s paintings. This guitar looks to me like a freshly opened bottle of champagne!

At the end of the short piece of music here you hear sort of an echo. This was done by simply omitting the two main tracks of the recording. (I always have three tracks: two different microphones, and reverb on a separate track to make it easy to allot the proper amount of this effect).

Another guitar picture Ismael painted in collaboration with his son Salif was shown in lydian.

guitar & gear: ’67 Stratocaster, Vox AC 50, BSM treblebooster, tube reverb

guitar & gear: ’67 Stratocaster, Vox AC 50, Tube Reverb, emulated Tape Echo

Finally, vacations are over. During the last six weeks, in opposition to my plans motivation went down, not up – mostly due to a systematic arrangement of obstacles I’m still unable to comprehend. It went on like this even after I had decided to go with the flow, or rather to give in to the non-flow…

I still am without my computer (it’s in repair for the third time now), and I cannot accept the substitute as a working tool. Psychologically. I really don’t feel like using computers these days (sulk…). Some will have noticed, and I’m really sorry for that. All I can say is: it’s not personal. And sorry again. Besides, I’m still waiting for a replacement of the ultimate guitar amplifier…

The weather has been depressing, too, so what else was left for me to do than to make up a new project – one that’s completely palpable and non-virtual? After I had returned the old Stratocaster guitar I remembered I had my own Strat! Only I didn’t like the color, the finish and the sound. I remembered I had tuned and changed some other guitars, too, and so I decided to sand it. And more. Sanding took three entire days – my lungs can tell. I painted the body anew. I ordered a new set of pickups; I changed some other electronic parts and so on. Now I have to wait for things I ordered, but it’s a different kind of waiting – it’s exciting! My ambition is to make it a completely different and completely personal instrument. And I’m sure that will work, after my thoughts have been circling around this project for weeks now.

What else? Susanne and I have been to Paris, and I shot some strange photos, some of them like the ones you are used to see here. These will be published soon, albeit without music.

And I concentrated on my son. I really love him, and I noticed he needs more attention and more interplay. We had a great time together during the past weeks. Except for the twosome Paris days.

Thomas, the great lender, left me another precious item as a compensation for the old Stratocaster he took home: an original Vox AC 30 amplifier, built in 1967, simply a legend. It’s also a great consolation these days going down to the basement (it’s too loud to be played in my regular music room) and playing electric guitar until my ears fall off… Again, I’d like to thank Thomas!

I still haven’t given up on my plans to record some new material, and as I’m in front of a computer now, this may be an encouraging sign. Today our students will return. Paradoxically, this could mean more time for creative work! See you these days…

Download audio file (bassmangroove.mp3)

Nothing more to add…

guitar & gear: ’67 Stratocaster, Vox ToneLab, Tube Reverb

Download audio file (dropDstrat.mp3)

In the first installment I didn’t mention how inspiring the old Stratocaster has been for my photo-shooting . If you like, take a look again at the edge of its body in “volcanology”. Or how it matches the Vox AC 50. Or as a colorful vision in a dream.
Since there are quite a few photos remaining, and some more recordings, too, I add a second installment here. Maybe even a third will follow. I know I stylized and exaggerated a little bit, but how could one handle and “digest” such an experience without doing so? An experience you are lucky to get once in a lifetime…

Download audio file (flangestrat.mp3)

I already told you. “My old guitar”, the rare Fender one, is not really mine.

But in between it almost felt like it was mine, since I have spent several months with this instrument of special vibes, and we had quite a few experiences together. Moments that felt a little uneasy because my hands don’t like the neck and fingerboard (I’m a Gibson Player), and moments of great appreciation of it’s rich tone that resonated with me…

So parting with it feels ambiguous, too. I’m glad I explored its potential as far as I could by improvising regularly, by recording as many tracks as possible, making up many posts here and doing drafts for some songs I’m going to work on later.

With a tear in my eye I am proud to present some of the very last recordings I made with this guitar. Recordings done without a purpose, just to “jot down” the sounds of the 1967 Stratocaster, that a friend of mine fetched today. He has every right to do that, as it’s his guitar. Rather, I’d like to thank Thomas for his generosity. En lieu of the guitar he left me something equally precious I will soon write about.

Just a few minutes ago they both headed for a far away town, and this is my “bye, bye”. (There will be another installment coming soon.)

There were some obvious reasons, too: my computer broke, and after it had been repaired, it broke again. Just when I planned to start some bigger work on songs that I had projected months ago. For this reason, and some others, I feel thwarted. Nearly anything I am currently starting to do has kind of a brake attached to it. Mostly I just begin for a few minutes and then I’m forced to stop.

Family life is a permanent tug-of-war with all three of us feeling missed out. Many things around the house and the garden have to be fixed, and each item seems to block the other.

But then I was looking forward to the ultimate compensation for all this: I ordered a new guitar amplifier, the one that I have been looking for for years. When it was delivered, I realized it was damaged during transportation, and now I’ve got all the trouble sending it back, getting another one etc.

So, that’s the news from me. Right in the middle of the time I thought I would be composing and recording like crazy. Sorry, folks, I’m sure there are better times to come, and I will keep up with trying to stay motivated. There’s more music and some blog posts prepared, standing by. And there will be three posts coming soon about a very special guitar I’ll have to part with…

Collaboration with Susanne

It’s a summer’s evening in the country. The air is moistening, but still warm. Our friend’s summer celebration has just begun, the tent is pitched, and we take a look down the hills before joining the party.

This is the light version (pun intended) of an evening atmosphere, dusk in this case meaning the beginning, not the end of something…

The musical piece this time consists of far more than the usual one-man-improvisation: though it began exactly like that, it was elaborated as a multi-track-tune, re-recorded and in the end Susanne sang partly improvised, partly well-arranged melodies to it. I can publish tunes like this only once in a while – or it would be just one post a month. But I liked the light atmosphere of the original improvisation so much, it brought up a bunch of additional ideas.

For those curious about the original, I add it here. It may be interesting to follow the evolution of this piece:

Download audio file (dusksolo.mp3)

participants: Susanne Fritzsche – vocals, Gary Winter – Fender Stratocaster, Gibson EB3 bass, percussion

At some rather early point in our lives we were told that shadows aren’t real. Our caretakers wanted to prevent us from unnecessary fears, and raise our sense of reality.
But now we are ready to know that shadows are just another interpretation of reality, only on a different level. Since the alleged “original” picture of an object that we perceive is not the real object itself, either, its shadow is by no means less real than what our eyes tell us to be the object itself.

In case you doubt if there’s real music after you clicked the player, just exercise a little patience, since the building up of these audible shadows takes a few seconds (you may hear some noises like wind in the beginning and in the end).

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom, Vox AC 50, BSM treble booster, DOD wah pedal

Somehow what I’m trying to do here is to give examples of how we can look and listen. “Psychedelic” in this respect is just a code for a different way of perceiving, for shifting perspectives and uncovering hidden meaning.

It may be essential for us all to learn how to be present in the moment, and to experience the Now wherever we are. Awareness is a primary value for the future, as it is already now. And it is something we have control over, something we can begin with right now.

Perhaps it doesn’t fit the concept of this blog all too well, and I know it’s not the most important thing to do to state one’s Weltanschauung in front of other people. But I would feel bad if I wouldn’t give it a try, at least for once.

Here come my personal “Eight Commandments”. For sure I’m not holier than thou, but I’m trying to build my life around them, every day anew.

1. Live in order to respect and protect life in it’s many forms.
2. Learn how to contain aggression instead of suppressing or falling prey to it.
3. Believe in /find your life’s purpose – there is one.
4. Believe in what most people call God. Don’t worry about the name.
5. Support sustainability. Don’t waste energy and resources.
6. Be grateful for every little thing you got. You’ll live much happier by that.
7. Be tolerant instead of dogmatic. There’s more than one truth to the world.
8. Learn how to think globally instead of just talk and consume globally. This planet is small, precious and vulnerable.

Spreading thoughts like these, and being an example to other people is one of the most powerful means to change the world.

Amen. Thank you.

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom, Vox ToneLab, Tube Reverb

A COLLABORATION WITH “ONE PLUS TWO”

A few weeks ago Jen made a request, writing a comment on the collaborations Elspeth had initiated.

After my first reaction: “this is impossible”, it stuck with me, and I decided to try to create a musical piece about homeless people, which in itself is not easy at all. One evening the inspiration came, I recorded and mixed it, and now I’m quite happy with it. The music resonates with me, and also with you, I hope. Maybe even with those whose rather involuntary way of living this post is about. That’s my greatest wish, since the music was created for them.

I’d like to thank Jen for dragging me into this. It’s a step out of self-sufficiency, out of my encircled psychedelic universe… It’s a good thing for us all to bear in mind that there are those not as fortunate as we are, and how easily we can lose what we might take for granted. Jen, who works with homeless people, offered to contribute the words to this post, and here’s what she wrote about a conversation she had with this man:

Tom, age 59

“you know, it wasn’t always like this. i used to be like you, i had my own apartment, a car. that was a long time ago but i had it. living on the street’s not so bad sometimes, but you know what gets to me? that people are afraid of me. that they grab their kids arm when they walk past me. do they think i am going to hurt their kid just because i’m homeless? when did it become a crime to not have a place to stay? or worse, when I try and talk to somebody, not to ask them for money but just because i want to have a conversation and they look past me as if i am not even here. or worse, they walk around me in a big circle as if i can’t tell exactly what they are doing, if i can’t tell they aren’t afraid of me. that really gets to me. it makes me want to ask them if they knew i fought for this country, that the reason i don’t have a place to live is because i got hurt over there and i didn’t come back right. i mean, i made it work for awhile but i just couldn’t hold it all together. i’ve still got a metal plate in my head. you didn’t know that, did you? i don’t tell people because they think it makes me crazy and i’m not crazy but it’s no use cause people think what they want. that’s the worst part really, people thinking what they want just because i am on the streets. you don’t really know how much you miss being normal until it’s gone and you almost can’t remember what it was like to go into a store and have people treat you right or to be able to go where you want to go.

there’s some good things about being here too. i notice the small things that other people take for granted. see those birds over there, the ones on that wire? they come every single day, the same three birds. sometimes if i’ve got some bread i give it to them. we’ve gotten to know each other, me and them birds. and there are others like me and we help each other out. there’s a guy at the park who can’t walk right. i go and see him every morning to make sure he can get up. sometimes he can’t and i have to help him. once i found him and thought he was dead. i was pretty upset for a minute and then he started moving and i knew he was alive. but i don’t know what would happen if i didn’t check on him. i’m all that guy has. you don’t think of this when you drive past us in your cars with your coffee all nice and warm. you don’t think about how much i’d like a cup of coffee. or about how i am not that much different from you. i’m a person too.

but there’s hope you know. some guys and me are thinking of getting a place. one guy thinks he’s got some money coming. we all get on alright and if it works out we’ll have a place and that’ll be cool. and when i do i won’t walk around anybody on the street, that’s for damn sure.”

Remember the Just Post roundtable:

guitars & gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom, ’71 Ibanez SG, Vox ToneLab SE, Tube Reverb

This feels like an unsettling journey in the beginning, but it’s promised to end on a consoling C Major chord! Though it had never been planned this way – it happened spontaneously.

Once upon a time there was a hitchhiker traveling the universe, and those of you familiar with the story may feel reminded – at least a little bit.

The picture below is a shoot out of the alien spaceship right after landing. The planet’s strange trees and it’s population, electric guitar playing mice, are in sight…

guitar & gear: ’67 Stratocaster, Vox ToneLab, Roland Space Echo

Only a few days ago I rediscovered a very special vinyl long player in the basement. A former student of mine who had recorded his self-composed music on it had given it to me as a goodbye present about 15 (!) years ago. It’s title is “Psychedelic Underground”. Sounds pretty appropriate for this blog, doesn’t it? I didn’t really appreciate his gift then, not understanding its content and the effort it took to accomplish such a work.

As I don’t feature his music here in order to let my own ideas come through, I focus on the exceptional look of this record: did you know vinyl doesn’t have to come in black? This one has all the right colors on it, and I went some further by moving the camera around, thus creating a hypnotic and shaky effect…

guitar & gear: Epiphone Les Paul Custom, Vox ToneLab, Gerd Schulte Phaser, tube reverb

Would it be possible to improvise on just one and the same note? That’s a challenge I imposed on myself one day. Like in meditation, sometimes it’s good to restrict your field of action. When actually trying it, I found out it would be better to add the octave. Is an octave a different note?

I don’t know. But to be one with yourself like this tree, amidst all weathers and despite the loss of some branches – that’s a virtue.

guitar & gear: ’67 Stratocaster, Vox ToneLab SE, Tube Trem