Short List Smackdown: Ibanez vs. Schecter

My wife and I were in Fort Collins over the weekend and, as usual, I ended up at my favorite place, Guitar Center. Since I posted my short list of guitars from which I will choose my next axe, I planned on playing as many as I could and telling you, faithful reader, my thoughts on them and adjusting the short list as necessary.

I didn't have a ton of time to play guitars, so I ended up playing two - one that's on the short list and one that's sort-of on the short list - a Schecter Omen 6 and an Ibanez RG3EXFM1, which is very similar to the purple Ibanez I played at Spotlight Music and is the current top choice for a shredder, should it still be available. Well, kinda. I'll explain.

But first, the comparison. I played both through a Line 6 Spider IV 75, only because I have a Line 6 and I didn't want a steep learning curve trying to figure out how to use the amp. I played each for about 10-15 minutes using clean, crunch and metal settings. Since I played the Omen first, I'll start with that one.

Review: Paul Cusick - Focal Point

British musician Paul Cusick is employing a novel way to promote his album, Focal Point. He is using social media to target progressive rock fans through Facebook advertisements, even once offering the album for free for a limited time. This is a grand experiment that probably points to the future of music promotion as social media and electronic publishing slowly replace current industry standards and the CD goes the way of the dodo, or at least the cassette tape.

Cusick's ads say that fans of Porcupine Tree and Pink Floyd would like the album, as it should - the album wears its influences on its sleeve and the comparisons to Porcupine Tree are evident. The album has that dark, melancholy sound that is a hallmark of both Porcupine Tree and Pink Floyd, and the overall production is very similar to Porcupine Tree's latest album, The Incident.

Not to say that Focal Point is a bad album - it's not. In fact, for a one-man self-release it's quite strong. The album is more song oriented than those of its influences and is a combination of heavier songs and ballads, including a few instrumentals. The album starts off well with the title track, a sub-3 minute instrumental in 7/8 time that sets the tone for the record. The musicianship is strong, and even though Cusick played all the instruments, it sounds like a band, which is a testament to his multi-instrumental skills.

My Telecaster's Specs

My Telecaster HH is no longer made by Fender so they don't have the specifications on their Web site anymore. But, thanks to the miracle that is Google, I found them on another site. I'm posting them here for myself more than anything, just so I know where they are in case I need them for any reason. Here they are:

MODEL: Fender American Series Telecaster HH
BODY: Alder
NECK: Maple, Modern “C” Shape, (Satin Polyurethane Finish)
MACHINE HEADS: Fender/Schaller Deluxe Staggered Cast/Sealed Tuning Machines
FINGERBOARD: Rosewood, 9.5” Radius (241 mm)
NO. OF FRETS: 22 Medium Jumbo Frets
PICKUPS: 2 Enforcer Humbucking Pickups (Neck and Bridge)
CONTROLS: Master Volume (with S-1 Switch), Master Tone
BRIDGE: American Tele with 6 Stainless Steel Saddles
PICKUP SWITCHING: 3-Position Blade and 2-Position Push/Push S-1:
S-1 Switch Up:
Position 1. Bridge Pickup with Both Coils in Series
Position 2. Bridge Pickup in Parallel with Neck Pickup
Position 3. Neck Pickup with Both Coils in Series
S-1 Switch Down:
Position 1. Inside Coil of Bridge Pickup in Parallel with Special Tone Capacitor and then in Series with the Outer Coil of Bridge Pickup
Position 2. Outer Coil of Bridge Pickup in Parallel with the Outer Coil of Neck Pickup
Position 3. Inside Coil of Neck Pickup in Parallel with Special Tone Capacitor and then in Series with the Outer Coil of Neck Pickup
HARDWARE: Chrome
STRINGS: Fender Super 250L, Nickel Plated Steel, (.009 to .042), p/n 073-0250-003
CASE: Standard Molded Case
PICKGUARD: 1-Ply Beveled Black Vinyl
SCALE LENGTH: 25.5” (648 mm)
UNIQUE FEATURES: S-1 Switching, Rolled Fingerboard Edges, Sharp ‘52 Style Body Radius
WIDTH AT NUT: 1.6875” (43 mm)
ACCESSORIES: Standard Molded Case

Five months later, the Tele is finally dialed in

Many times I felt like my relationship with my new Telecaster was cursed, if I believed in that sort of thing, which I don't, but you get the idea. I bought it back in February of this year and I rarely played it, which was a shame considering the amount of pain and problems I went through to get it.

The problem was the setup. It was definitely set up for a different type of player. I wouldn't doubt that it was used for slide, because the action was way high and the strings were thick, at least for me. They may have been just 10s, but they felt thicker to me. Anyway, I had to fix the setup. I left it that way for too long.

This is where the curse comes in.

Clarifying the short list

In a recent post, I mentioned that I played an Epiphone Les Paul Studio and that it made it on my short list. This comment completely freaked out my wife, who thought it meant that I want to buy a new guitar soon! My wife has been very supportive of my new guitar habit and has, within reason, agreed to my purchases, but there are some upcoming expenses in our life (not the least of which is expensive jaw surgery and orthodontics) that mean guitar and guitar-related funds are in short supply, plus there are other things I want to get first.

So in an effort to clarify the short list, I'd like to first say that I don't plan on purchasing another guitar for at least two years, most likely three. I have plenty of guitars to suit my needs right now and I want to concentrate on other things. I already got the RP90 and I should be getting a new MacBook for Christmas (which will be my recording platform), so all I need is a MIDI controller to round out phase one of my recording studio, and they're cheap enough to be a birthday present. After that, there will be a moratorium on any guitar-related purchases until my jaw surgery and orthodontics are done, which is in about two or three years.

That being said, over the course of these two or three years, I want to play as many guitars as I can when I get the chance so I can whittle down all the guitars I like to a short list of 10 or fewer guitars from which I'll make my decision on my next guitar purchase. I'm putting a cap of $400 on my purchase, because even though there are some amazing guitars out there for a lot of money, 400 bucks can buy a really nice guitar and I can't see spending more than that unless it's an amazing instrument. I'm torn between getting a Les Paul style guitar or getting a shredder guitar, so I'm hoping that by playing them I can make a decision.

Without further ado, here is the short list, broken down into guitars I've played, guitars I haven't played, and guitars I probably can't play:

Slight change of plans

I went to Guitar Center in Fort Collins Wednesday to buy some new strings for my Telecaster, and while I was there I tested out two pieces of equipment that are both on my short list of future acquisitions - a Les Paul and a small tube amp.

The Les Paul in question was a worn brown Epiphone Les Paul Studio. It was an incredible guitar, and although it didn't say "Gibson" on the headstock, the name isn't worth the $500 trade-off. The guitar was well made - beautifully made, actually - and sounded excellent. I played a Gibson Les Paul Studio and I was more impressed with this one. First off, it had a glossy finish as opposed to the matte finish on the Gibson, which gave it a more polished appearance (no pun intended). It looked more complete, plus the color was absolutely gorgeous. This guitar is definitely on my short list.

The amp, however, is not.

Revelations from Rush at Red Rocks

Slightly blurry photo of Rush at Red Rocks, taken from my nondescript LG flip phone.

My wife and I went to see Rush last night at Red Rocks Amphitheater outside Denver. The show was incredible, the venue was outstanding, and the traffic was minimal, at least until we got to Red Rocks (that's a big deal in the Denver metro area). The show was split into two parts with a short intermission - in the words of Geddy Lee himself, the band members are "aging rapidly" and "need to take a break." Geddy's self-deprecating humor was refreshing in an age of ego-centric celebrity.

At the beginning of both sets, the band showed short films where actors took the roles of the band members (basically just pretending to play their instruments) while the band members themselves took on other roles. Neil Peart, not surprisingly, was the most awkward and nervous of the three, owing to his introverted nature, and his scenes were short with almost no dialog. Geddy and Alex Lifeson, on the other hand, had major roles with plenty of lines. It's hard to tell who played it up the best - Geddy as the eccentric British film director or Alex as the fat, bumbling band manager (complete with over-the-top fat suit). The fact that these guys can still laugh at themselves after all these years has to be the main reason why they're not only still together as a group but also are good friends. And I gotta give props to their acting chops. Someone who didn't know Rush would have no idea they were band members and not actors.

The show was a good one, but as Neil put it in his book Roadshow, it's hard for them not to put on a good show after all these years. The only mistake I noticed was in "The Camera Eye." The transition into the second verse was blown by someone, although it was hard to tell whether it was Alex or Neil. Alex also broke a string on his PRS on the second song (which one I can't remember) and had it swapped out for his Telecaster, which was clearly not the right guitar for the song as it took a few moments of footswitch fiddling to get it to sound right. But, being true professionals, neither gaffe shook the band's focus and they just kept on going without a hiccup. Rush always give the crowd their money's worth.

They're also breaking from tradition and playing new songs on this tour. They played two, "I Was Led to Believe" and "Caravan," the latter being the better of the two.

Now back to the topic of this post. I had a few revelations at the show last night. Here they are, in no particular order:

1. At 50-plus years old, these guys can still rock. On any given night they could give any band a run for their money. Rush are still the best live band around.

2. Geddy's voice still sounds pretty good after all these years. My wife noticed that it's not what it used to be, which is true, but when he wants to he can still hit the high notes. I noticed that he saves them for a few key songs and skips them on others. This time, he saved it for the high bits in "Free Will," which he sang like a 25-year-old, and kept them out of "Marathon."

3. Red Rocks is an incredible place. Geddy called it "the most beautiful venue in North America." But for all its beauty, it is apparent that it was designed as a state park first and a concert venue second. The narrow two-lane road up to the amphitheater was a slow congested nightmare, not helped at all by people who insisted on parking their cars along the sides. And then there's the hike up way too many stairs to get to the seating area. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. My breath was shallow and my heart was pounding. No wonder they have signs along the way telling you to "check your heart rate."

4. I think I'm allergic to pot smoke. Maybe I'm out of touch, but I've never experienced that much pot smoke at a concert before, and I've seen Pink Floyd. I think pot is just so much more ingrained and accepted in our society now, even more than it was 20 years ago. Unfortunately, that meant I was inundated with smoke, even in the open air. After a while, it made me cough terribly. And not the normal I-don't-smoke-so-it-makes-me-cough kind of cough, but the allergies-gone-haywire kind of cough that I used to get in the fall in Pennsylvania when the tree pollen was high. At least I know I can never be a pothead.

5. I'm getting old. If the trek up the staircase of doom didn't prove it, the fact that I could barely stay awake on the ride home surely did. And it was only midnight! I used to stay up until 1:30, 2:00 a.m. regularly and then get up the next morning for class. Getting old sucks.

6. Ear plugs are divine. I don't know how I ever enjoyed a concert without them. I think they actually improved the sound of the band by eliminating the clipping and letting the nuances through. Plus my ears don't hurt and I can hear today.

7. Drunk, seat-hopping assholes should be shot on site. A few of these choice individuals decided to fill in an empty area next to my wife and pretty much ruined the second half of the show for us. They were loud, obnoxious, rude (they stole our seats when we went to the restroom) and they kept bumping into my wife the whole time. Between that and the pot smoke, we got fed up and left early. I missed Neil's solo! I was so pissed. Hopefully they'll make a DVD of this tour and I'll get to see what I missed.

That's it for now. Despite number seven, my wife and I had a great time and I loved seeing my favorite band again. Every time they come through the area I want to see them, because you never know which tour will be their last.

Bad timing

One main reason, I think, that some guitar players become great and some (like me) struggle has a lot to do with timing and motivation, specifically the timing of motivation.

I was reading up on my new god (praise JP) and his practice routine. He said that when he was younger, he practiced six hours a day, but now that he's a professional musician and has a different schedule he practices about an hour or two a day.

Six hours a day?

Really?

Shit.

I can handle an hour or two, but six?

I have a new guitar god

Praise be to John Petrucci! Honor his name and keep it holy!

OK, so I took that analogy a bit too far. But it shows how much I'm completely blown away by this guy's playing. This isn't new news for anyone who already knew of him (like 99% of the guitar playing population), but I'm a little late to the game. I was familiar with his band, Dream Theater, through their drummer Mike Portnoy who is part of the Transatlantic supergroup, and I remember hearing "Pull Me Under" on MTV - you know, back when they used to actually play videos - but I never had a chance to really get into their music. I acquired some of their stuff when I first discovered modern progressive rock but I was more interested in Spock's Beard, the Flower Kings and the aforementioned Transatlantic. I knew I'd get to them eventually, and eventually turned out to be this week.

DeQuervain's Revisited, or Why the Hell Isn't it Happening Anymore?

I made a big deal on this blog about my DeQuervain's tenosynovitis and how it has always affected my playing, even when I was a kid. I even set up an experiment to see if scale length had any affect on the symptoms (it didn't, at least at the time). But something odd has happened lately.

It stopped.

Yup, it just stopped. Just like that (imagine me snapping my fingers when you read the word "that"). And I've been playing my guitar a lot lately. A whole lot. I just got a DigiTech RP90 and I've been spending hours playing with all the settings. I've also had some really good practice sessions over the past few weeks.

So why has my DeQuervain's suddenly gone away?