Jim T's Caddy

Hand Crafted Pebble SmartWatch Pocket Watch and Fob

2014-01-13T13:38:00.000-08:00

The Pebble Smart Watch Dressed in Leather and Silver

The case and pocket watch I carried until college.

When I was a kid there was a hill behind our house. It had the foundation of one of the first cabins in the area. It belonged to a preacher named Broad. I got this story from the old folks in the area that are long since gone. I did hear of indian attacks on the cabin and how they would shoot back at them from the rock foundation the house sat on.

I say all that to say this - I like things from the past. I especially like things from the 1860's to the 1880's. As a teenager I carried a pocket watch my Dad gave me. It was an Elgin with the spring loaded top.

Lately I have been interested in the new smart watches coming out. First I looked at the Pebble and dismissed it. Then I looked at the alternatives. I didn't want to spend so much I would feel bad about the purchase later so I kept on looking. Then I looked a the Nano 6th gen. It was cool but since Apple abandoned it I figured it had no future. Then I got back on the Pebble.

I wear vests and while I could have got one of my old pocket watches running I figured I could spend the same (or less) on a Pebble. I also know that ultimately the pocket watch will break again. Plus, I love my technology and the Pebble watch looks like something I should own.

I waited until after Christmas and hit ebay. Sure enough there were plenty of Pebble watches at a Buy It Now price around $100. I had one in my hand 3 days later.

I like what it can do but I didn't love the way it looked and I wanted to carry this thing as a pocket watch. I thought of a lot of different ways to do that but the only practical way seemed to be with leather. I have not messed with leather since I was a kid so I hit the Tandy leather store and bought some supplies.

The Watch Fob

The Pebble leather cover.

The leather and the Pebble cover that the leather will live on.

The question was how to attach the leather to the Pebble without harming it. I found a nice cover for $15 that snaps on and off. Now my leather piece can be removed easily and I can put a band on (that I will make out of leather) any time I want. I also wanted a fob. I measured my buckles and it only took two tries before I had what I wanted (shown above).

Cutting the leather and getting everything just right took some doing but I finally got things looking good.

With a little creative thinking and some trail and error I wound up with almost exactly what I saw in my head - a good looking, practical way to carry my Pebble in my vest via an 1880s silver watch chain.

The final product - A Pebble pocket watch.

Hand Tooled Leather Meets the Griffin Separates - A Cowboy's Dream

2013-11-02T10:18:00.000-07:00

The Custom Cowboy iPhone Case - Griffin Separates Meets the West
I'm was raised on a ranch in Texas that in past times had stage coaches running on it and indian attacks on the log cabin on the hill behind our house. My dad bought me my first real cowboy boots and hat when I was 5 years old. All that to say that for years I have been looking for the perfect iPhone case that would protect it but still have some western flair.

The Hunt
While doing an extensive Google search on "tooled leather iPhone 5" I found a case made by Nocona Boots. I'm familiar with Nocona because the factory is not that far from where I was raised. Nocona is named after the famous Comanche indian chief Peta Nocona. His son was the famous Qaanah Parker.

The Nocona iPhone case had the tooled leather I wanted but the case itself offered no protection from drops. I spoke with Mark from Griffin Technology and he told me about their "Separates" line of cases. These are cases that consist of a bumper and a removable back plate. You can switch out the back plate for different looks.

I took my Nocona case and carefully peeled the hand-tooled leather piece off.

Then I took Shoe Goo and applied it to the Griffin Separates back plate.

Now I have the iPhone case I have always wanted - a hand tooled leather back with a protective bumper for drops.

Thanks to Mark and Griffin Technology!

The Kick Ass 1 Watt Amp!

2013-06-09T19:29:00.002-07:00

The One Watt Amp

So I have lots of 12/15/36/100/130 watt amps.
I like to sit on the back porch and play the blues.
All my Mustang modelers have died on me and I was on the hunt for something tubey.
I stumbled on the HT-1RH 1W. It had the features I needed:
* Low wattage
* MP3 input for backing tracks
* Reverb
* Tubes (push pull)
* Great price

I was also looking at old Fender Champs, Valco amps, Vintage 47 amps, Silvertone etc.

I finally landed on a 1 watt tube amp:

The patented ISF (Infinite Shape Feature) circuit gives you infinite adjustment over the characteristics of the tone control network and takes you from the USA to the UK and anywhere in between. Add a fully specified speaker emulated output, MP3/ Line Input and you have everything you need for recording or practicing.

So the question was how to do take the HT-1RH 1W and also have a cool look?

I put together an extension cab for my 57 Tweed Deluxe - oiled pine wood, potatoe sack grill cloth, Jensen Electric Lightening speaker.

I started out with a pine 12 inch extension cab with a Jensen Electric Lightening.
When the HT-1RH showed up I played it for a while and then I pulled the amp out of the head.
It's held on with the 4 screws that are holding the rubber feet on.

I pulled the back wood off the cab and started playing with ways to get the amp in there.
I could have installed it flat on the bottom of the amp but I thought it would be safer and more accessible on the top.

I put a piece of paper over the bottom of the cab and made a template for the holes.

I made my marks and drilled the four holes in the top of my cab (two were under the handles, so they are hidden. The amp was screwed on tight using the screws from the cab.

It was super simple.

I used the cab wood back plate to go around the amp face and I left the bottom open.
I figured the amp would be pointed away from me most of the time anyway.

I put on a cable keeper to keep from yanking out the power chord.

The cool part is that I can still use the cab for my 15 watt 5e3 if I want as well.

The one watt concept really works. I try to sit on my back porch and play every day. My 57 Tweed was jut too loud. I can get the Blackstar Ht-RH cranked up and get some really rich blues tones. I'm getting killer harmonics as well.

I'm really liking the tone and I really dig I can get some Fender type tweed tones and rounded off Marshall tones.
My final thoughts - a 1 watt, pine combo with a 12 inch speaker? - SICK!!!

Take a listen. My neighbor, and killer guitar player, Karl plays as I jibber jabber:

Seymour Duncan BG-1400 Pickup Wiring Schematic (BG1400)

2013-03-31T08:03:00.002-07:00

Are you the proud new owner of the Billy Gibbons 1400 - AKA BG1400, BG-1400?
Are you wondering how the hell to wire this thing?

Well so was I and I'm here to tell you what I have learned.

First the why - The BG 1400 was designed for and by Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top fame.
This is a custom shop pickup but at $150 it's pretty reasonable. I think Billy was looking for something to put in the bridge cavity of his Esquire but wanted a humbucker.
This is a stacked humbucker. It's really tall but it fit in two Telecasters I tried without an issue.
I have a think for the Bigsby B16 and your only option there is a single coil pickup.
This is why I wanted the BG-1400. It looks stock, will fit in my B16 but is a four wire humbucker with lots of options.

I tend to get as complicated as possible in the wiring dept. and this build was no different.

I have tried 3 way wiring:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7440801/Guitar%20Wiring/EsquireH-3-Way8.jpg
This taught me one thing - you want the outside option. The inside doesn't sound good at all.
I also learned that the tone variations in this 3 way scheme didn't vary that much and I ditched it.

I tried 4 way wiring:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7440801/Guitar%20Wiring/Esquire4-Way3.jpg
This just didn't give me the options I wanted.
Straight to jack didn't sound much different to me than volume and no tone.
Volume and tone sounded about the same as the other two.
The Eldred mod was interesting.

EUREKA! A Great BG 1400 Wiring Schematic!
Then after wiring and rewiring I found a scheme that totally took at advantage of the BG1400's stacked humbucker design. You need a Telecaster 5 way super switch for this. Mine fit in my Tele with no modifications.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7440801/Guitar%20Wiring/EsquireH-5-Way4.jpg
The single coil sounds great.
Coils in parallel is louder and my favorite position.
The two coked wah positions could be handy.
The humbucker is exactly as stated.

So I felt like this really got just about everything I wanted out of the pickup.
I spent a lot more time on this wiring job because I wasn't sure what I wanted an no one out there could really help me.

Here is the site where you can find all kinds of wiring schemes:
https://sites.google.com/site/phostenixwiringdiagrams/teles/esquires

One thing to remember is you can use any of the two wire diagrams with the BG-1400. You can simply wire the red and white wires together BUT I highly suggest a push pulll volume or tone pot. You wire the red and white to the center left lug. When you pull it up it sounds louder and clearer.
Deaf Eddie is a great resource for push/pull tricks:
http://www.deaf-eddie.net/pushpull/pushpull.html

Maybe my favorite setting. There are also instructions with the BG1400 for a simple 3 way switch and boots.
I hope this helps anyone out there looking for options for this great blues/rock Seymour Duncan pickup. Mine lives in my Texcaster I put together.

The "Walt Guitar" - Walt Wilkins Guild

2013-03-14T10:33:00.001-07:00

THE WALT GUITAR
As y'all know I'm a huge Walt Wilkins fan. We have been running around since our college days when we were both young and pretty. Walt was my film instructor at Baylor in Waco. Most of what I want to say is in the video but I was pretty stoked when Josh Grider (another great sing/song writer) dropped off Walt's old Guild acoustic from our early Nashville days. A treasure from the past and to top it all off she is still a great player! Thanks Waltus!

You can check out my interview with Walt here.

Jim T's Friday Story - Elvis Presley and Red

2013-02-15T15:14:00.003-08:00

This week's story is about the king of rock, Mr. Elvis Presley. This is the true story of how Elvis used his Karate skills to take Red's gun away from him. The ending isn't pretty...but it's cool!

The Barncaster - My Hand Built 150 Year Old Tele

2013-02-10T09:56:00.001-08:00

The 150 Plus Year Old Barncaster - Telecaster - By Jim T.
I started really getting into barn wood telecasters a year ago. I love the idea of real barn wood being used for a Tele. I would spend my night doing Google image searches of barncasters and I decided I had to have one. I contacted a great body wood crafter. His company is called Wildwood. He cuts great bodies. He had a few pieces of barnwood left over from another project.

The description of the wood:
That is actually wood from a barn. It is wormy chestnut from one of the chestnut barns in the Cuyahoga Valley in Ohio. Chestnut barns are rare. The wood was stored for about 15 years in a climate controlled room to make picture frames and the builder decided that he was not going to use it. It is 150 plus years old and could be much older. The marks on the horn are saw blade marks from way back when. Lots of nice worm holes and more!

I put the guitar together from all my favorite parts:
Neck PU - Lollar Imperial Standard wind heavy relic. Thee hand wound humbucker!
Bridge PU - Rio Grande Muy Grande (purchased on TDPRI)
Bigsby - B17 (GRRRRREAT)
Bridge - The stock was good but the Compton has more sustain. He custom made it to fit the B17 bridge.
Knobs - I made these out of 12 gauge shotgun shells and a .45 acp for the switch.
Control Plate - That is a black GFS tele control plate. I just scrubbed it with a green Scotch pad. They may not make this anymore. I had this one laying around.
Wiring - Toneshaper for the Tele. The cool part here is that I can switch from a 500k to 250k pot depending on where I'm at with my switch.
Neck - That is a CEG Hardtail Mighty Mite. I tried many things to get the color right. Plays great. No complaints. I drilled it with a hand drill and everything is straight.
Body - This was custom made and he cut the neck slot with the 4mm angle in it. I bolted on the neck and it was ready to rock!
Nut - Earvana - I love em.
Tuners - GFS Gotoh locking knockoffs. These are great tuners and drop right in. I have put these on several guitars with no issues and they kick ass. I ordered the black ones and scrubbed them with a green scouring pad while watching Smokey and the Bandit. Nicely aged!
String Hold Down - I was popping the strings off the bridge and wanted something to hold them down. I contacted Trussart and he was nice enough to reply to me but he doesn't sell his separately (I knew he wouldn't). I looked over and saw some .357 shells and an hour later I had a killer home brew string retainer!

This guitar plays and sounds as good as my high dollar Fender Tele, in fact I like it much more. If you have never built your own guitar I highly suggest it. It's fun, rewarding and you get the exact guitar you want.

Here is video of Sam Eakins from Taylor Guitars taking a spin on the Barncaster de Hell:

Friday Story - The Tater

2013-02-08T15:17:00.000-08:00

I thought I might start telling story every Friday. Here is my first about my Dad and a Tater!

The Christmas Caddy - A Caddy Miracle!

2012-12-13T16:47:00.002-08:00

To celebrate Christmas I was out putting lights up on the house. The weather was so nice I got the Caddy out and put some lights on it. I thought it would make for a good Christmas photo. Within the hour cars were stopping and taking photos. Those photos made it to Facebook and people were demanding I leave the car in the front yard lit up! The wife wasn't so happy about this because I used the tree lights on it, but she also wanted to leave the Caddy out.

Fast forward to a few days ago. I heard my girl dog Billie barking. It wasn't the "Mom's here!" bark, or the "Kids in the yard! Kids in the yard" bark. I thought it was the "UPS TRUCK!" bark. I ran upstairs and saw a car from the local government in my driveway. I've been around long enough to know that car isn't usually a bearer of good news. I pondered whether I should lock the door or go outside. I opted for a leap out the door and with a hardy "Hidy!"

As the local govt. official walked up my driveway he was eyeballing my car. I immediately knew what he was about to say. "What's happening!" I asked the man. "Well sir, it seems one of your neighbors has an issue with your car in the yard and called to have it removed." What the neighbor didn't know was just the day before it was raining pretty hard and I had already decided to put the Caddy back in her covered area. "I'll move that car, I don't mind", I said. Then something very Christmasy happened. The man said, "Well I'm going to have to make you move that car by January 11th." Then he smiled, a lot like Santa might smile, and told me to, "Have a good one!"

Now I'll be the first to admit I like be contrary. It just seems natural to me. I called my wife and told her about our Christmas miracle. We both decided there was just one thing to... decorate the living tar out of the CADDY! I'm on the hunt for a Santa for the drivers seat. If I score that then there has to be reindeer pulling the Caddy! I have added more lights tonight and as I was pulling out the LEDs and replacing them with old yellow lights it dawned on me that we are all like Christmas lights. Singularly we can put off a little light but when are all get together and "plugged in" we all shine!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidaze from Jim T's Caddy!

Jim T's Caddy - Rolling Stones Sax Player Bobby Keys Interview

2012-12-09T19:24:00.001-08:00

Jim T. Graham and Bobby Keys sporting "Team Hell" shirts!

BOBBY KEYS

In this podcast I interview my old friend and sax player for the world's most notorious band - the Rolling Stones. You might know Bobby's work from songs like "Brown Sugar" but did you know Bobby got his start with Buddy Holly? This fellow Texan found a sax as a kid and proceeded to change the sound of rock and take a ride most of us could only dream of, and few of us could survive!
I know Bobby from the airfield and we were friends before I ever knew what he did for a living. He has always been nothing but a great guy and I'm proud to call him a friend. Be sure to download this first of a series of 3 podcasts and hear first hand about the rock and roll exploits that myths are made of. Also be sure to go get Bobby's new book, "Every Night's a Saturday Night: The Rock 'n' Roll Life of Legendary Sax Man Bobby Keys.http://www.amazon.com/Every-Nights-Saturday-Night-Legendary/dp/1582437831" It spans the early days of rock and really gives you a behind the scenes look at the formation of rock as we know it.

I also have an epic guitar story about a drunk, a gun, a bullet and a Les Paul! This story was so good I broke out the recorder and had to include it. It teaches a lesson we all should already know - a guitar can save your life!!

Check out this episode!

Davis Raines - The Adventures of Big Boy

2012-11-29T06:35:00.002-08:00

Last night I had a dream. I was in a foreign country and I walked up on Davis Raines and his band playing. I yelled to the stage, "DAVIS!!!" He smiled, nodded and kept blasting out the real country music. Then I walked past and there was a wall. It was a wall filled with a variety of cowboy boots (I approved of them all), old jeans, snap button shirts, old straw cowboy hats and Telecasters all made of barn wood (one was in the shape of Oklahoma). I remember thinking to myself, "Holy hell, how have I never been here before? It's like heaven."
When I woke up I went down stairs, flipped the switch on my 57 Tweed Deluxe and laid down the song I heard in my dream. Too damn cool.

Here is the good news for you fine folks, Davis has a new album out called "The Adventures of Big Boy". So far "Jump Back Midnight" is my favorite but if your looking for real life country music you don't need to look any farther than Davis. He is the real damn deal.

Stay tuned for my next interview that will be featuring Davis. Hell, He literally lives 4 minutes away from me. I could yell the questions to him and he could yell them back. We probably won't do it that way though!

Go check out "The Adventures of Big Boy" here...right now!

The Avett Bros. Meet Randy Travis

2012-10-31T10:28:00.000-07:00

The earliest memories I have of country music are going to my Uncle Kenneth's bluegrass shows that he held in his aircraft hangar in Sadler, Texas. I got my proper country music education from a 20 record set that spanned the progression of country music from the early 1920s to the then current date of the 1970s given to me by my Grandpa. I was 5 years old at that time. I distinctly remember singing "Hey, Good Lookin" to a girl in first grade. That song convinced her to "go with me." My Dad always liked to ask where we were going...HA!

I'm not sure when I became aware of Randy Travis but I do remember the song that got me. It was "He Walked on Water." That song will actually give me chills. I was pretty close to my Grandpa growing up, and that song takes me back to that time. I miss him a lot. So I "get" Randy Travis, and man he was huge back in the day.

A few years ago after the Nashville flood the wife and I were just about over the edge with getting the house back together, spending money we didn't have and trying to put things back to normal. Each night that summer we would sit on the porch, drink a little wine and listen to Pandora. Every so often a song would come and I would say, "Who is that!" It was always the Avett Brothers. So we decided we needed to own their music and that was the Avett Bros. summer. We listened to them every night. We went to see them at the Ryman. Then we started traveling to see them. This was an actually living, breathing band that was alive and writing new songs that I loved. A rare thing for me.

Fast forward to last week. A good friend of mine that I went to college with and later art directed country music videos for, invited us to the taping of CMT's Crossroads. This episode featured The Avett Brothers and Randy Travis. I knew the wife was going to be excited. She clapped her hands, jumped up and down and said, "oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" So I guess she was excited about getting up close to the Avett boys.

I had just finished redoing the interior of the Caddy, and it was just days before the weather changed into being too cold, so we dropped the top and headed to Franklin, TN. About half way there I realized that Ang really wanted to see the show, and taking the Caddy might have been a risky choice. I just had tons of mechanical work done on it but I was still concerned. What if she blew a hose, or threw a belt? I tensed up. The good news is that the Caddy did fine, and we made to the show.

Ang admitted she was pretty nervous. "Nervous about what? Watching a show?" She couldn't really explain why she was nervous, she just was. We met Thom and Beth for drinks and dinner. I got lucky; the restaurant, Saffire, had chicken fried chicken, and they knew how to do it. 5 stars!! I also had a martini. I think a good martini should make you want to cry...just a little. This was one good but no tears were shed.

Luckily we had VIP passes. The line was long but we slid in and took our seats. It was great to get to see Randy and the Avetts be themselves between songs. The first 3 or 4 were Avett songs. The last 3 or 4 were Randy songs. I'm not sure if Randy actually learned the words to the Avett songs but he did seem to know how they went, so that was good. Seth and Scott seemed natural and friendly on stage and laughed at the stories Randy told between songs. Randy said that due to recent events he was petty sure they pulled the sign down that said "Home of Randy Travis" in his home town. The Avetts said their sign was down as well, but probably because it was made of cardboard and they had put it up themselves. They were having fun up there.

It was interesting hearing Randy try to use his 80s vocalizations on the Avett lyrics. I will say that when he sang in his natural voice he sounded pretty damn good. It made me want to hear a Randy Travis album with no super low/super high notes. I know that is his signature sound but I think he would sound good singing in his own voice. He blew a few lines but joked with the crowd telling them he was doing pretty good for a guy that had 7 concussions!

At one point Randy was trying to figure the key of a song on his guitar. Scott Avett walked over and took Randy's capo off the head of his guitar and clamped it on Randy's guitar two frets from the top. Randy smiled and Scott smiled. They genuinely seemed to get along.

The mood shifted gears when Randy's band came on stage for the second part of the show. Randy was in his element and they blew most of his classics with one take. I know some folks would say the Avett Bros. are country but they are not on any country spectrum that radio would consider. Scott Avett sounded great singing to Randy's songs. I'd hate to see it happen, but if he had to, I think he could sing "country" music with the best of them.

The show concluded with "Forever and Ever, Amen." It was at the end of this song I realized I was going to get to hear Randy Travis do the ending of that song live. When the time came he worked it! I mean he he took the "Amen" up and down! He took it North, then he ran it South. I never knew you could get so much out of such a small word, and then...it was over. Randy shouted, "GOOD NIGHT!" Everyone was big smiles and we left the building.

PS - Here is one of my favorite Avett Youtube videos.

Tres P90 "Hell" Paul!

2012-10-11T12:49:00.000-07:00

Well it was a pretty long journey to this guitar. It all started because of a single P90 pickup. That sparked a guitar build project that took on a life of it's own. Here is a journal of how this guitar was conceived and created: 01-27-2012 06:24 PM 1 LP Body, 3 P90s and a Bigsby

So here is what I'm thinking: Black Les Paul style body 3 P90s - GFS Mean 90 6 way switch or 3 volume knobs and 1 tone or push pulls B70 or B7 Bigsby All chrome hardware (not gold) Chrome knobs Chrome trim rings Chrome locking tuners GFS roller bridge I'm basically going to pull everything off and rewire/rebuild the whole thing.

01-29-2012 11:23 AM Here are some Photoshopped mockups I have made:

02-10-2012 12:33 AM I have decided the Gibson '60's Tribute had everything I want - flat laquer black paint, chambered body, routed for two P90s, perfect candidate for a Bigsby and Vibramate and it's a real Les Paul! I purchased one site unseen from a shop off the web and I'm hoping for the best!
03-04-2012 03:00 PM So The Bigsby is done. I ebonzied the neck to get it closer to the black body. I ground down a mexican peso until it was thin enough to work as a poker chip. Next week I'm supposed to get my dogear routes. I may go soapbar is the dog ears are going to be a pain to adjust but I love the look of dogears. Some photos (the peso pic is before i dyed the neck)....
Painted the Bigsby red:
My mock up with dogears:
After I ebonized the fret board to get the neck to be as black as the body:
My Peso poker chip. This was a coin my Dad brought back from one of his many Mexico trips: [hr]
Also - I was wanting some silver/chrome for the poker chip and could not see paying someone $15 for a chrome washer. After I had the peso idea I was on ebay and it hit me that after my Dad died I found a bag of coins in his closet. I dug it out and found a nice peso in there. So now there is part of my Dad in the guitar. Nice.
03-05-2012 10:49 AM Pickups I'm pretty firm on going with the VintageVibe P90s set of three. I like the whole magnet concept:
03-07-2012 02:18 PM Routing the LP Where it's at! So I dropped her off at Glasers today. 3 soap bars coming up. About to order the Vintagevibeguitars p90s.
I just got back from Glasers Instruments - the best luthiers in Nashville! They said it would be 2 weeks but it was only one day. The only thing left is for my VintageVibe Guitars P90s to show up. I'm going to bolt on the Bigsby and start the wiring this weekend.
03-09-2012 12:55 PM Nick from Glasers did the routing:
The LP with the P90 covers slid in. I had to route the existing holes corner radius for the non Gibson P90s to fit:
There is no sign for Glasers but the mailbox gave them away: Wiring (Les Paul, 3 P90s, 6 way rotary switch from Stewmac, push pull pots: So Deaf Eddie came through again! I know I like P90s but I have never had 3 to play with before. Deaf Eddie hooked me up again! Go check out his site. Here is the schematic:
and here is what it does ala Deaf Eddie: PULL the bridge volume, and it puts the bridge pup out of phase. This will affect throws 2, 3, & 4, you can make them spikey and/or sweet, but also nasally and thin, DEPENDING on how you balance the volume of the bridge pup with the other volumes. Lots of tonal variations here from working the volume knobs.
PULL the tone control, and it puts the bridge pup in series with the neck pup. This is a "brute force" tone (usually). This will affect throws 1 and 2, and the series combo should be BIG and FAT, and probably a tad louder - some players think they hear a little high-end rolloff, but it's just the bass coming on gangbusters. A side effect of series combos is that the bridge pup will "disappear" from throws 3 and 4, as it is shunted by the presence of the neck pup.
PULL BOTH, and the bridge is in series/out of phase with the neck pup. On almost all the axes I have - single coil or humbucker - throw 1 will be a stinging solo voice, and I like it a lot. Sounds best with some overdrive/crunch. Throw 2 will be a tad mellower, and the other four throws will again be missing the bridge pup.
The red chicken head will point down at the neck pickup. With this wiring here is how that works ala Deaf Eddie: "the sweep is all on the "neck" side of the arc, with "up" as the neck and go clockwise "down" as the bridge"
03-10-2012 10:48 AM I put the Bigsby on and the knobs just to see how she looked. I think the Bigsby bar looks better than the Chet bar but I have found a Bigsby with Chet bar is a lot more controllable for me. It comes close to Strat trem with the Chet bar. The Chat bar also stays in the perfect place for me. I don't have to go hunting for it when I need it.
03-15-2012 10:02 AM 1. She looks killer! 2. For the first time ever I got the wiring right on my first try! (I had one ground that popped off but after a resolder all was good!) 3. Where the Gibson P90s were like, "that sounds pretty good!", the VintageVibeGuitars.com P90s were like, "WOW!" 4. I got to play it for a while with some throw away strings and now it's off to my friend and luthier JFK at Virginias Music Center. He is going to make sure the frets are good and round them off, do a setup and make her right. 5. I'm going with .10s
I should have her back tonight!
Changes - The volumes are dependent so I think I will rewire it to be independent this weekend.
To do: If I can bring myself to do it it still needs to be pinstriped but man it's looking good the way it is!
(She isn't fully put back together in this photo but she is fully functional!)
03-25-2012 12:41 AM She is finished just in time for guitar night. The only thing left are the pinstripes and I'm going to have to warm into that idea. I like so much right now I don't think I can stripe it just yet!
It was passed around quite a bit at my guitar pull last night and even the guys that didn't want to like it ended up playing it for a long time. The chambered body of the '60's Tribute seems to really add to the tonal characteristic of the guitar. You can almost get an acoustic sound out of it but it will also get severely gnarly as well. I was afraid after all the thought, time and money I put in the guitar I might end up not liking it but man do I love it. The action is also great - super fast. The B70 with Chat bar is also very smooth and responsive. And totally by accident the balance is perfect. I don't know the actual weight but after adding the extra p90 and Bigsby it is still lighter than my Epiphone Pro FX but now feels substantial like an LP should. My luthier commented that the combo of the chambered body and the Bigsby somehow really opened up the sound. Audio clips soon but today I have to do my first mow of the season!

Painting the Bigsby

2012-10-08T20:41:00.005-07:00

Bigsby's are cool, but how could they be cooler? By painting the black part red of course!

Here is what I did:
First I tried to do it with One Shot enamel and my squirrel hair pinstriping brush. That did not work. I found a can of red spray craft paint that worked with metal and applied light coats.

Then I hit it with my head gun and sprayed it again. I put on four coats. My Bigsby cut out left a lot of black around he letters so I shot some of the spray paint into a plastic cup and then got my pinstriping brush out and painted around the Bigsby logo until it was pretty perfect. I'm excited that it came out so nice.

A Pine Speaker Cab, Tung Oil and a Burlap Sack!

2012-09-21T15:00:00.002-07:00

When I started planning my all pine 57 Tweed Deluxe clone I had in the back of my mind that it would be Johnny cool if it sat on a matching cab to form the ultimate tweed stack.

The Tung Oil Learning Curve
I found a cab maker on ebay that had a pine 1x12 box that mimicked the combo amp cab I already had. These two cabs are so similar that I almost thought the same guy had built them both, but I'm sure this is a pretty common design. The combo was done when I bought it. If it was up to me I would have a less glossy version but the combo does look pretty sexy.

The speaker cab was raw with no finish. The combo was finished with tung oil. I looked on my shelf and I already had two bottles. After my first application I read the label and the Formby's Tung Oil has no tung oil in it! It is a thinned wiping varnish. I hoofed it to the hardware store and bought the Minwax Tung Oil. Guess what, Minwax doesn't have tung oil in it either!
After some Googling I found out most people use the Minwax. I let my first layer of Formby's dry for 24 hours and then I applied my Minwax. I followed the instructions and wiped the excess off after 15 minutes. The problem was after 2 or three applications I found it hard to believe it would ever look as shiny as my combo cab. I thought, "man that guy must have used some sort of clear coat and not confessed to it!"

I went back to the builder of my extension cab and asked how he got his cab so shiny in the "after" photo. He simply replied, "with 400 grit sand paper." I found it hard to believe but this gave me a chance to drive the Caddy and crank up my new favorite song - ZZ Top's "Heartache in Blue". I almost bought some clear coat for backup but I came home with 8 sheets of 400 grit. I sanded the cab and then wiped it down. I hit it again with a nice wipe down of Minwax Tung Oil. 12 hours later it looked better. I sanded it again and noticed that the sanding was actually shinning it up in some areas. I laid down more Minwax but this time I didn't wipe it down after 10 minutes. I let it sit in the sun. Right before I went to bed I sanded it down and hit it again and left it "wet" over night with no wipe down after 10 minutes. When I woke up I ran down to the basement and it was pretty shiny! I was afraid it might not dry and be gummy but it was pretty good. I waited until noon and sanded and wiped it down with Minwax one more time. By 5 PM it looked almost exactly like my cab. I would have never believed it!

Burlap Potato Sacks are Cool

After watching Heartworn Highway and spotting Charlie Daniels wood amp cabs and burlap feed sack speaker covers I had to have my own. That led to me sitting on my porch in the evening on Ebay looking for two feed sacks. It's not as easy as you would think. I would find cool burlap sacks and they would want $80 bucks for them. There is no way I could bring myself to pay that much for some burlap. The other problem was finding sacks that looked cool but also had a graphic that would fit the cab. After weeks of looking I wanted the sack that Charlie used. I had given up and then out of the blue there it was and for only around $8!! The sad reality was that there was no way it was going to fit my cabs. It was just too big.

It was a sad burlap sack hunting day. I ended up scoring an Indian head that looked super bad and was just the right size. Usually I would feel a little funny about an Indian head as art work but since my people walked the Trail of Tears I figure I can pull it off. I also scored a sack with a train on it. When they showed up I was blown away. I just didn't expect potato sacks to look so damn cool! My wife and I both felt bad that I had to cut them up. I think I'm going to get a few more to frame for the basement.

There you have it - my retro, all natural, potato sack boxes of wood. The cabs look even better than I thought they would...and how often does that happen?

Jim T's Caddy - Featuring Walt Wilkins

2012-09-15T19:40:00.001-07:00

Click above to listen to Jim T's interview with Walt Wilkins!

(right click/saver this link to download the MP3)

The whole crew at the Alamo during SXSW

I've known Walt Wilkins since my college days. Walt was my film professor at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He always had a guitar in his office and had the kind of parties at his house that Robert Earle Keen might write about. We ran back into to each other in Nashville many years later and did our best to wring out Nashville in every way possible. He was a professional song writer at that time and I somehow finagled my way into running a record label called Groovetone. Pretty soon Walt was on my label and we were fully engulfed in the music scene in Nashville. It was all music all the time and when the bars closed we would all head back to my house on Woodlawn Dr. to keep the party going as long as possible. I also met my wife around that time. Walt played a role in helping me woo her with the song "Big Hopes." All that to say Walt has been one of my best friends over the years and an amazing song writer and performer. He is in Texas now with his lovely wife and great singer Tina, and his son Luke.

During this interview we go over his early days in Austin, his influences, his Nashville Music Row days and now his role as hardcore troubador in Texas. We also talk about the first song Walt ever wrote, "Songs About Texas." This was a nice hit for Pat Green and one of my favorites. For his birthday I did a version of it with Alabama bad ass and my neighbor Davis Raines. I can barely stand to hear myself sing but I put our version of the song at the end of the podcast.

Walt is just on of those guys that can take the stage and take the audience out of their every day lives and wrap them up in his songs.

Be sure to check out Walt's new CD Plenty, as well as his other CDs.

Sit back and get to know Walt and his music a little better!

Check out this episode!

Friday Thoughts - Potato Sacks, Guitar Pedals, and More

2012-09-14T15:21:00.003-07:00

After my Coca Cola pedal board I had to keep going down the tunnel of custom. I have been all over the Ebay looking for suitable burlap feed sacks to use as speaker cloth on my 57 Deluxe Pine Mini Stack. One of my sacks showed up today. As I took it out of the container I was excited to see it looked 10 times better than I expected. Then I realized I was getting excited over a potato sack and had to rethink my thinking. My wife assures me that this is a good thing. The Tung oiled pine cab on the amp already made my office smell pretty good but holy shite have you ever smelled a burlap bag? It's very burlappy but not horrible. My USA made Warehouse Guitar Speaker is already here but my handmade pine 1x12 cab is on the slow boat and by slow boat I mean the USPS. Have you ever tried to track anything with the USPS? Here is how it goes - "You item has shipped" - "You item is in transit" - I'm sure after I get it I will get an email that states "Item arrived!" That's not tracking. That's just telling me what I already know! No wonder the USPS is in the red.

I'm also about to start making guitar pedals for fun. My recent rust experiment with my pedal board got me to thinking - what if I made some equally rusty pedals? You know, worn paint, dented and rust flavored? I'm getting a nice order together with Parts Express.

And now to our Friday music report:

I purchased the new ZZ Top album La Futura - It makes for the perfect Caddy driving music. More on this in a future article.

I stayed up late last night trying to determine what electric blues albums I needed to own. I gave up at midnight and still can't decide. I'm all into Smokin' Joe Kubek. Once again I'm learning that sparse is good.

I took my girl Miss Billie out in the Caddy. She loves riding shotgun. She's 11 now but I hope to have here around for many more years to ride with me. When I left LA I had Cecil as my Caddy partner in crime. That dog rode next to me with the roof down from LA to Nashville. That was a hot ride!

I found a great video for you Steve disciples. This is an in depth interview from this month (Sept. 2012). Steve talks about his time with Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, his son John Henry, Allison, The Pogues and a lot more.

Now it's time to sit on the porch, light my tiki torch and watch the traffic go by with Miss Billie by my side. Happy Friday!

Coca Cola Pedal Board!

2012-09-09T17:33:00.000-07:00

I'm still working on my "Woody 57 Tweed Deluxe Mini Stack" amp. All pine, all hand wired, all the good stuff. I decided I wanted some pedals to go with it but I want to be careful about his whole pedal thing. I have fallen down the guitar pedal rabbit hole and I actually made it back out. I have had the boutique high dollar pedals and I have had $20 Danelectro pedals. What I don't want to do is get lost in my pedals when really the tone I want is going to come from the amp. With this in mind I ordered two Danelectro Fish N Chips equalizers (1 for each channel), one Visual Sound Garagetone Axel Grease delay, one Visual Sound Garagetone DriveTrain OD, and A/B box that goes to the Equalizers and then out to the amp and finally an ancient volume pedal. This story is not about the pedals, it's about the board.

I have been watching a Facebook page from a pretty cool pedal board maker called Salvage Custom Shop. They make killer boards that are new and also use old type writer cases and suitcases. You can see their stuff here. Don't go look yet though. I thought I was going to get one of those but I didn't really want to lay out the cash. So then I was on Ebay and found a killer board that was all fauxed out in my favorite colors. The problem is that one doesn't pack up in a case. Right after I looked at that I walked out of my guitar room/office and my eyes landed on two wood Coca Cola crates given to me long ago as a birthday present by the vivacious Cheryl. BAM!! I knew right then I was going to make a Coca Cola pedal board! I put some pedals in one and while not huge it seemed about right for what I needed. Then I slept on the idea. By morning I had the whole build worked out in my head.

First I started with the two wooden crates. I wanted to make sure every piece of the board looked as old as everything else. That is when I realized I could take apart the wooden sections that held the cokes and use them for the board. They were already close to the perfect sizes. The other holder was for two six packs and it had some nice wood in it as well.

As I was trying to figure out how to get them apart I really got a good look at how these were built. While the long sides were always red I realized the short sides were originally yellow, the old color. Also under the red paint is the name of a town and the word "TEXAS", how cool is that?! It also looks like these were hand made and hand cut. I have no way of knowing for sure but they look hand made to me. It made me wonder about the people that worked on them. Another interesting thing is that when I was cutting some of the pieces the wood smelled just like Coca Cola. All I can figure is over the years more than a few cokes were spilled on these crates.

I used the main piece of wood for the pedal board floor. I hinged it on the back so I could open it up and put my daisy chain power supply under there. It also has enough room for extra cables, slides and pedals. I used a piece of the wood as a lip for the board to lay down on to stay secure while playing.

To create the case I went to our hardware store and bought 4 snaps and put them on all four corners. I didn't know if that would actually worked but damn it did! They also had a metal handle that looked perfect to me. I got all that together one evening and brought it upstairs to show the wife. She actually really liked it. She even called it "art." High praise!

I decided the new hardware didn't fit. It looked too new. Everyone went to bed and I googled "aging metal hardware." The first link listed things I had in the house so I set out to age all the hardware. By morning every piece of metal looked as old as everything else. I was petty blown away.

I stole some rubber feet off an old type writer we have and took two of the side boards to elevate the front of the board. After I was done it looked great and worked just as well!

A few days later my pedals arrived and I went about figuring out how I wanted everything laid out. It all fit perfectly! I found some foam for the top and bottom. The top foam holds all the pedals in place firmly. I will anchor the pedals down with bicycle chain links when I feel good about what I'm running but it totally works as is now.

I can unplug the power and cables, put the top on and lock everything down and actually haul this thing around. I think it looks pretty damn cool. It's exactly how I saw it in my mind...and that's a pretty rare thing. So there you have the "Coca Cola Pedal Board" from Jim T!

Amps, Watts and Decibels

2012-09-05T16:25:00.001-07:00

5 Watts is Half the Loudness of 50?!
You know the old amp wattage battle that occasionally will break out on the intrawebs. The concept is that a 100 watt amp should be twice as loud as a 50 watt amp. Another twist to this is that people will say a 5 watt amp is half as loud as a 50 watt amp. How can that be you ask?

Not Buying the 5 Watt Theory
When I was trying to decide on my amp this became a real life question for me. I wanted a Champ, but most Champ amps are 5 watts. An amp builder I was talking to kept telling me 5 watts was more than enough. On occasion I will do a gig so I wanted something I could love at home and play at a show. To me 5 watts just didn't seem like enough. My amp guy kept telling me I would not notice the difference between 5 watts and 12 watts. "It's all about headroom", he said.

Ear Drums Be Damned! Testing the Theory
I decided it was time to do my own tests in my own labratory, aka my guitar room/office. I own a few amps. I have a highly tweaked 5 watt Valve Junior tube amp, now called the "Hell Junior" with an 8 inch speaker. I also have a 130 watt MusicMan 2x12 HD tube amp (love that amp). It can do amazing cleans and I finally figured out how to get it to break up as well. I have a 32 watt Kustom Coupe tube amp with a 12 inch speaker.
I like this one but I might sell it to fund something else. I have a 100 watt solid state Mustang III with a 12 inch Celestian speaker. Finally I have a Fender Blues Jr. with a 12 inch speaker and 15 watts.

The Testing Begins!!

The first question is how do I test the decibels of these things? I download a free app called Decibel by Skypaw for my iPhone. It was free and simple. I was a little concerned it might not be accurate but I decided even it it wasn't at least it would be accurately inaccurate between each amp and that data would be useful. Based off the numbers it seemed to be right on. I also had a set of ear plugs.

Amp Findings
I warmed up all the amps and then rolled all volumes and masters to 10. Some of them fedback at max volume but I wanted to see what they would really do. If I strummed a chord I would get a solid reading and then it might fluctuate up a db or so for just a second. I went with the decibel rating that seemed the most stable.
The 5 watt Valve Junior amp was pretty damn loud. It came in around 95 decibels. The 8 inch speaker pushed no air. It also broke up earlier than a 12 inch would. I know that because after testing it with the 8 I plugged it into a 2x12. Neither seemed to push any air though. That comes into play later.

The 15 watt Blues Junior was slightly louder at around 98 decibels. I couldn't really feel much air being pushed by this one either.

The 32 watt Kustom Coupe came in at a respectable 98 decibels! It pushed some air.

The 130 watt MusicMan did what it does best - GET LOUD. Prior to being married I lived in a house on Woodlawn Dr. in Nashville. I used to turn that amp as loud as it would go and shut all the doors and windows and sit on the porch and play it. I crap you negative when I say it literally shook the windows in their panes. That bad boy was pushing around 102 decibels. Now you wouldn't think there would be a big difference between 95 and 102 but holy hell was that a lot louder! The 2x12s were also really pushing the air and the bass. You could feel it in your body. This has a lot to do with "feeling" loud as well.

The surprise of the group was the solid state Fender Mustang III 100 watt modeling amp. I really do like this amp for all the things it can do. It has every effect in the world build in, not to mention all the classic amps. While it may not be the purest amp on the planet it gets close to sounding like some of the best. When I cranked this thing up it was LOUD and it sounded GREAT! To top it all off it really pushed a lot of air! It was right there with the 120 2x12...almost. I was severely impressed! It came in at around 99 db.

Based on all this I went with a the hand wired 5E3 Fender Deluxe Tweed clone at 15 watts with a 12 inch Jensen Lightening speaker. It pushes 100 decibels and seems plenty loud. The breakup on a 5E3 comes early with the right tubes and I'm fine with that.

The Outcome
So the ultimate outcome for me is that a 5 watt amp is a lot louder than I thought. I also learned that a few decibels really make a big difference in loudness. Who would have thought it would have taken that much wattage to increase the decibel level. Could I gig with a 5 watt amp? Sure, if the sound guy ran a mic to it. Is 5 watts too loud for home use - very possibly yes! The fact that 130 watts is loud was no surprise but the feel of 130 watts really
surprised me. It pumps right through your body.

SIDE STORY - I was at a show in SC and I guess I cranked my MusicMan up during a song. The lead singer leaned back and yelled in my ear, "Your really burning it up!" and I yelled back, "THANKS!" and then he yelled back, "NO! YOUR TOO LOUD!!" Whoops.

Attenuation of the Situation
While the 5E3 is exactly the tone I was looking for to get it I had to crank it and if I kept going at that level I would go deaf. I jumped on ebay found a killer attenuator. An attenuator connects between your speaker and your amp. It's not a master volume. This one is super nice with a bypass and a bright switch. I tried it during my decibel test and the attenuator would crank up to full volume levels. It also allows you to get full tube grind at living room levels. If you like saturated amps you should own one!

Steve Earle and the Dukes and Dutchesses - WOW

2012-08-27T12:55:00.001-07:00

STEVE EARLE - HELL YES!
So my friend in music Richa sent me a message via Facebook that Steve Earle was playing 3rd and Lindsley. Sometimes I will wait around to buy a ticket, you know, to see if I'm actually going to be in town or not. For this show I went ahead and pulled the trigger. It's a good thing I did because that show sold out super fast. Saturday night was the night and we got there at 5 PM. The doors opened at 6 PM so we were like 8th in line. I was chatting up people in line and then I realized that from inside the bar I could hear Steve and the band playing Copperhead Road. I made everyone stop talking to soak in the fact that it wasn't an MP3 or CD playing...it's was Steve and the band. Bad ass.

TABLE UP FRONT
We scored a table right up front. The first thing I saw were all the guitars. Then all the cases, which was equally as impressive! No one was really there yet so I had free roam to take photos with my iPhone. I wish I would have taken a shot of the pedal boards for reference. Next time.
There was no opening act, it was pure Steve Earle for the night. 3rd and Lindsley is a great venue. Almost every seat in the house is a great seat, the waitresses kick ass and it's pretty laid back.
The first time I ever saw Steve live was his first show he did after he got out of prison. That was a killer show. Very rock and roll. Another memorable show was one he did with Bill Monroe. It was great to see Bill do his thing. He even had what looked to be his 15 year old bride in a granny dress sitting on stage. The problem was that Bill would not get off stage. I'm pretty sure Steve had to take the mic away from him. You could tell Steve didn't want to do it but hey, it was the Steve Earle show.
All that to say I was curious what to expect. I was told to expect a lot less rock and more politics. I get that politics are important and shape our lives and our kids futures but sometimes you just want to hear some music. I hoped it wouldn't put me off the show.

LOOKING GOOD
Steve came out in a big alt country beard, a short sleeved snapped button shirt, biker chain and round toed cowboy boots. A very Buddy Holly looking guitar slinger strode out with what I described to a friend as a red, curly haired fiddle player that looked like something create for a 3D movie. I mean that in a good way. This girl looked like a red headed angel dropped from heaven to play fiddle for us. Nashville favorite Kelly Looney looked like a short haired version of himself. I have heard his name on live albums so much (think Copperhead Road where Steve yells "KELLY LOONEY!") that every time I see him I yell, "KELLY LOONEY!" The drummer was low key and keeping the groove and of course Steve's wife Allison Moorer, looking just like she should. Have I mentioned I think Allison has the best female voice in country music? How is she not the most famous female country artist in the world? It just reaffirms my belief that talent and fame have very little to do with each other.

EYE TO EYE
When Steve hit stage I saw him scan the audience from left to right in a very intense way. I mean eye contact on every near the front. It was very deliberate. I wondered, was he looking for old friends, old enemies, super fans, super crazies, label execs, all of the above? If I ever get him on the phone I'll ask. He put this head down and they launched into the show.

Steve did a great job of spanning his career song wise. I found Steve when I was 19 and Guitar Town had just come out. That was it for me. I was just about pure Steve Earl all the way up until around I hit 40. I like to say that Steve Earle was the soundtrack to most of my life. He did Guitar Town, which was great. He did Copperhead Road and told everyone that was waiting to hear that song that now they could leave and check in with their probation officer - ha! He did some songs off of Train A Coming. I taught myself the mandolin to that album. I was also amazed at how many of the songs I knew the words to... just about all of them. It was truly a great show and I think we were all pretty happy about it.

Allison Moorer
Allison Moorer got up and did a few songs and just killed it. Kelly Looney even did a song but the two that blew me away, other than Steve, were the Mastersons. Chris Masterson has the glasses and teeth of Buddy Holley complete with neckerchief, and 50's rolled up jeans bottomed off with biker books. He was KILLING that guitar. I mean in an in your face sort of way, then in a subtle way, then back in your face. I'm a fan!! His wife, Eleanor, had it all - great voice, great guitar work, mando picker, crazy hair, pretty face and she looked to be all of 18. When I got home I immediately looked up their website.

THE END
We got in at 6PM, the show started at 8 PM and I don't think we left until around 11 PM. We were on encore 2 and then folks started leaving. Richa told us, "The shows not over until the lights are on." The lights weren't on and Steve come out for encore number three. He gave us a brief talk talk about why this year's election is so important, pointed out some facts and then sang his Woody Guthrie song. We ended the night with "This Land is Our Land." and the whole crowd joined in at the end. I'm getting chills writing about it right now.
It was a helluva show. Thanks to the Steve Earle family!!

Verlon Thompson - A Guitar Pickers Guitar Picker

2012-08-25T22:09:00.002-07:00

Jim T. and Verlon Thompson

Click above to listen to Jim T's interview with Verlon Thompson!
(right click/save this link to download the MP3)

I don't remember how I got hooked up with Verlon Thompson. I do remember when we first met. I had a pretty swanky office back then with Hatch show prints on the walls and my guitars all around. Verlon came in and we talked some business and then we just chatted. I could tell right way Verlon was good people. I had my mando hanging on the wall and he said he had just written a song about his mother and would I like to hear it? Of course, who doesn't want to hear a song about someone's mama? Well Verlon sawed one off and killed me with his song called "Darwetta's Mandolin."

Then there's the story of Greasy Bend, OK where his mama grew up. They lived on the banks of the Quachita River and right across from their house a battle was fought. He said a hog farmer got into it with a water melon farmer and it ended in a battle on the bank of the bend of the river. There were dead pigs and water melons everywhere and that is how it got the name "Greasy Bend." His mama was a mando picker and song singer. Verlon liked to say she was the Francis Scott Key of Greasy Bend.

I always felt pretty close to Verlon and over the years we have kept in touch. One day while driving down the road my cell phone rang. It was my great Uncle on my Dad's side. He gave my Uncle Kenneth his first guitar in 1956 (I still have that guitar). He said, "Jimmie I met a friend of yours today!" The last time I saw my great Uncle was at my Dad's funeral so I wondered who the hell he might have met. "Do you know a guitar picker by the name of Verlon Thompson?" It turns out Verlon's people and my people all live around each other. That solidified to me that Verlon and I were officially related in some way or another.

I have always thought of Verlon as friend but then I heard a song he did called "The Guitar." Oh I was smitten. I was crazy over that song. I have a serious guitar problem. I also have a serious amp and effects pedal problem but I mainline guitars mostly. This song is about a fella that walks into a guitar store and see's one up on the wall and decides he should play it. After that more than a few magical things happen. I won't spoil the ending for you but what a song! My favorite line is, "He said you tell me what it's worth You're the one who wants it Turn it up, play a song And let's just see what haunts it." I realized that I had just crossed over to being a huge fan as well as a friend!

As long as I'm reeling off favorite songs Verlon has anot"er one called "Joe Walker's Mare." As Verlon says, "This song is about a horse, but it's also about loyalty, dedication and honor... and a horse." I loved that song so much I had to learn it and at times I force people to listen to me sing it.

Rewind to the first of this summer and you would have found me at 3rd and Lindsley bar to hear Verlon and my other hero Guy Clark. Guy and Verlon have been touring together for years now. I was as for in the back as was possible in this place. I was so far back that I took it upon myself to direct folks that looked lost to the bathroom...which was only feet from where I stood. A ways into the show I heard Verlon hitting those notes to Joe Walker's Mare. Oh did I let out a Texas yell. Now there's no way Verlon could see me and he didn't know I would be there but he leaned up to the mic and said that this one was going out to his old friend Jim T.! Lordy did put another Texas yell into the air. There I was mouthin' the words, tapping the beat on my jeans and fully engulfed in what I realized was hardcore fandom. I have been a fan of someone then a friend but I think this is the first time did in reverse.

I say all that to say this - Verlon Thomspon is good people. If he couldn't pick a guitar or write a song he would be equally valuable to the human race. The fact that he happens to be a helluva a guitar picker and a piercing song writer doesn't hurt. So here's to Verlon who is out there on the road somewhere right now warming people's hearts and souls. I'm a big fan.

New Amp Day!! 57 Tweed Deluxe!!

2012-08-23T20:37:00.001-07:00

This just in...I GOT A NEW AMP! Usually my problem is guitars but due to a chain of events I have a new amp.

The NAD (New Amp Day) Timeline

1. I accidentally find a Supro Thunderbolt at Corner Music. It looks so much like the amp I played during the 90s in the band Saint Christopher that I stare at it for so long the owner comes over to see if I'm OK. I get that feeling in my gut like I just ran into an old girlfriend from college.

2. I'm at the BlueBird and Danny Flowers shows up with a 60th Anniversary Woody Pro Junior. Danny could play a barn door and make it sing but the all wood aspect gets me to thinking.

3. I'm watching Heartworn Highways (find it, buy it, live it) for the 100th time and notice Charlie Daniels amps. They are in natural wood cabs with burlap feed sacks for grill cloth. I search the web for info and come up with nothing. My lust only grows thicker. I take a screen shot.

4. I realize that on my Mustang III amp (get one now) I only play the tweed tones. This makes me realize I really need is a tweed amp.

5. I price Fender's 57 Tweed Deluxe and see the price - I look for other options.

6. I realize they make kits and I'm pretty good with a soldering gun. I spend the next few weeks pricing out wood cabs and speakers.

7. I comment to the owner of Union Jack Amps that the amp he built for himself is exactly how a 57 Tweed Deluxe should look.

8. I sell my digital gear and build up a nice amp pile of money. At this exact moment the owner of Union Jack Amps emails me and says he wants to sell his 57 Tweed....for the exact amount of money I have. Fate!?! YES AND YES!!

9. 5 Days later I'm in Tweed bliss.

The Long and Short
All hand wired 57 Tweed - 5E3 - amp, 15 watts. Mercury Magnetics iron, Sozo blue vintage caps, Tung Sol tubes, hand made pine dovetail cab and a killer Jenson Jet Lightening speaker that keeps the bottom tight.

Crazy Interesting Stuff
So the circuit is super simple but the way the controls work is very complicated. The tone knob is like a TBX - it either expands or cuts the treble and boosts the bass. Each volume affects the other. You can actually dial in distortion or clean up the tone by adjusting the other volume knob. I'm running an A/B switch to channel 1 and 2. Channel one I can keep pretty clean. Channel 2 I can get a little dirty. Hit A and B and you get volume increase and some big fat greasy blues. PERFECT!

It also reacts really reacts different with each of my guitars. My Strat with Texas Specials is amazingly clean and complex - very seductive and beautiful. My 335 copy roars like a damn dragster through this thing! ZZ Top all the damn way. My Tele is very punchy and my 3 P90 Les Paul can just about do all of the things listed above.

I'm not even going to pretend I have a good working knowledge of this amp yet but I am in awe. How often does something sound as good as you think it will? And how often does it go beyond that?

Jim T's Caddy - The Jimmy Davis Episode

2012-08-17T15:39:00.001-07:00

Click above to listen to Jim T's interview with Jimmy Davis!
(right click/save this link to download the MP3)

The "Memphis sound" has always escaped a simple definition. Diversity and individuality characterize the musical tradition of the city that gave the world Beale Street, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, the Blues, Sun Studio, B.B. King, Rock ‘n’ Roll and W.C. Handy.

Jimmy Davis is no exception to this rule. This versatile singer-songwriter, named "Premier Male Vocalist" five times by the Memphis Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, knows no boundaries when it comes to musical styles. Influences range from The Beatles to the Eagles, Johnny Cash and Gram Parsons to Jackson Browne. His songs have been recorded by Martina McBride, Restless Heart, Joy White, Johnny Rivers, as well as many other independent artists. Davis has appeared as a backing vocalist on numerous recordings by artists such as Johnny Lang, former Eagle Bernie Leadon, Danny Tate, Eric Gales, William Lee Golden, Mark Collie, Keith Sykes, Iris DeMent, Cory Branan, Susan Marshall, John Eddie, and the late Toy Caldwell. But it’s Jimmy’s charisma, warmth and talent as a performer that make him stand out among his well known peers.

Lightnin' Hopkins - "Life Ain't Nuthin' but the Blues"

2012-08-13T15:31:00.001-07:00

When I lived in Waco, Texas I discovered Lightnin' Hopkins. Getting tracks of his songs wasn't very easy as I recall. In fact I have no idea how I got them. But the minute I heard him I knew I loved it. I remember one day my brother walked in, stopped, listened to Lightnin' and said, "what the hell is this shit?" (those were his exact words) I looked at him and realized he didn't get it. He didn't get just a little, he didn't get Lightnin' at all. Then that made me wonder about myself. What is different in me that makes me love the music Lightnin' was making, when the guy I grew up with on a ranch in Texas thought his music was shit? This of course is pre internet, pre google, pre external knowledge of others that might think and like the same things you do. It was just me, my cassette tape of Lightnin' and my appreciation. I just had to accept that I was different and loved that music...period.

A few times a week I will get my Les Paul I built out and an amp and play along to blues tracks on my front porch. Sometimes I play louder than I should. I grew up on an acoustic but the most fun for me is the blues on an electric guitar. Last Sunday night I put on a blues Pandora station and my wife said, "If you ever become a blues player I'm sorry to say I'll never come to see you play. I just don't have a shred of love in me for the blues." So there it is, even my life long partner, my mate, the mother of my heathens doesn't even get the blues. Life is funny but like I told my 9 year old at Costco, "life ain't nuthin' but the blues." He didn't really get it either.

I'm happy to say years later I found other people love Lighnin' Hopkins as much and maybe more than me. Currently I'm all crazy over the music being made by Ray Wylie Hubbard. I went to a show and he talked about how he loved Lightnin'. So it's great to know the artists I like like the artists I like too.

No go enjoy some Lightnin' Hopkins on me:

The Ultimate Amp - A Tone Quest

2012-08-04T12:43:00.003-07:00

During the Malibu fires it was me and my Caddy. Here you see what I decided to save.
Note the Supro amp, two guitars and other less important stuff.


The Supro Thunderbolt

My first real amp was a Supro Thunderbolt. I paid $250 for it and gigged with it in my early band days. I hauled that thing all over LA. There have been a lot of amps between then and now. The interesting part is that I have been hunting that Supro sound ever since.

Music Man 212HD - Heavy and Loud!

I went from the Supro to a MusicMan 130 watt 212HD. Some people have bad things to say about this work horse but I notice lately the prices are going up and people are raving about them. It's a heavy bastard but I still really like it. I also have a Kustom Coupe 36 sitting here and I like it. Nice cleans, pretty cool grind. I have a friends Blues Jr and I think everyone should own this amp. I have a modded 5 watt Valve Junior. Super cheap and super easy to mod. I built an attenuator for it and it will wail at low levels. I have various amps I picked up along the way that are more decoration than anything else now.
SIDE NOTE - That is an actual Dwight Yoakam boot sitting on the MusicMan!

I know this is blasphemy but I like to see what is happening on the electronic side of things so I own a Mustang III modeling amp. This thing is 100 non tube amps and has a 12 inch Eminence speaker. The price is $299 and I love it. Sure it doesn't sound exactly like all the amps it models but it's pretty damn close and for computer recording I think it's fine. It's also fun. It's light and I have some tones I have programmed from my Mac on there that just kick ass. If this is where modeling is going then I'm on board. I'm still waiting to see these modeling amps move past the classics and show me tones that don't exist yet. That will be fun.

All that brings me to this - the Supro would start out clean until I was into song 3 and then it would just get fuzzy, wooly and grind like a dirt pedal. At the time this frustrated me but now it's exactly what I want. A few months ago I ran into a Supro just like the one I owned at Corner Music. It stopped me in my tracks. You could hear my boots skidding. I looked at it and looked at it. I wondered if it was the amp I let go years go. A funny feeling came over me. The kind of feeling that you get when you run into your ex girlfriend from college. I just couldn't walk away. I sold my Supro back the original owner for exactly what I paid him for it - $250. The price tag on the one in front of me? It was was $1,100. That ain't right. I walked away from the Supro but a seed was planted.

So after lots of pondering I'm on the road of building an amp. I sold off some gear that I never use and now I have the money together. I have the tone in my head and I also know the tones I'm always trying to dial in. The MusicMan does the clean Fender thing in spade so clean is not what I want. I want that ZZ Top wooly sound. Let me quote a guy from Harmony Central, "It has the thickest, creamiest, fattest, most amazingly soul-satisfying, melt-in-your-mouth-but-not-in-your-hands, deliciously raw and juicy, yet intensely rich and sweet, harmonically-loaded, overdrive drenched, orchestral vintage Tone that deserves a capital T, and you get it even at bedroom volume levels. " THAT IS THE SOUND I WANT!

I have cruised ebay, all the guitar/amp forums and I landed on one guy - Jim Nickelson of Li'l Dawg Amps. He takes the old tweed amps and adds his magic at a decent price. I'm still battling between a Champster and a Mutt. The Mutt is a cross between a 5e3 (Tweed Deluxe) and a Champ. That sounds like what I want. I'm going to drop this into a hand made wood cab and to top it off I'm going to use a vintage flower sack ala Charlie Daniels from the 1970s as a speaker cloth. I will keep you updated and when I'm all finished we will see if I got the tone I was shooting for. Here is a link to some of Jim's sound clips. Listen to the "Lil Dawg 5F1 Champster - Clip 1" to hear what I'm shooting for.