Yeah, I use JBs….you got a problem with that?

If you were a fan of shred guitar, particularly Racer X in the 80s, you’re aware of Bruce Bouillet. He’s the only other guy in the world who could keep up with Paul Gilbert! The man not only has astounding, world-beating chops, but exceptional melodic sense as well. He also has a bluesy side, which he showcased post-Racer X in the criminally underrated – there, I said it – band The Scream (a band that also featured then-future one-time Motley Crue frontman John Corabi) in the 90s. An unfortunate, debilitating hand injury sidelined Bruce as a guitar player for nearly a decade. But he never really left the industry, transitioning to production. His work on Motorhead’s “Whiplash” earned the album a Grammy nod in 2005. Since regaining the ability to play, he’s also formed a music licensing library. He’s done extensive work for film and TV placement over the last few years. You’ve probably heard his work on broadcasts of the NFL, MLB, or perhaps NASCAR and didn’t even know it. In 2007 he did a G3 tour with Gilbert, John Pettrucci and Joe Satriani. He’s also released two solo albums, “Unspoken” and “Interventions.” Continue reading “Bruce Bouillet And The Order of Control”

Maybe it’s because I’m feeling nostalgic now that David Letterman has announced his retirement, and with that comes the retirement of his infamous Top Ten List. Maybe it’s because I enjoy sharing my opinion on bassists you should listen to, and like reading a lot of angry retorts. But maybe, as a musician that works hard to continually improve, listening is one of the easiest things we can do to achieve that goal. And with that in mind, I present to you yet another TOP TEN list, but this one’s a bit different. These are guys/gals that you probably haven’t heard of, but you owe it to yourself to listen to them. Let us begin. Continue reading “Top Ten: Bassists You Should Listen To”

Setting up on Thursday afternoon, MJ is already making sales!

If you’re headed to the 38th Annual Dallas International Guitar Festival, come and see us! The festival is on from Friday May 2 to Sunday May 4 at the Fair Park Dallas TX Automobile & Centennial Buildings, Dallas, TX. The Dallas show began in a small meeting room of a hotel in 1978. Now it’s in 140,000 square feet of display space at Dallas Market Hall, bringing together guitar dealers, manufacturers, collectors, celebrities and music enthusiasts. And it’s not just guitar gear: there are performances from Johnny Winter, Gary Hoey, Paul Reed Smith and many, many more, including a Saturday night all-star jam. See the full performance schedule here. Continue reading “Seymour Duncan At The Dallas International Guitar Festival”

I started my walk on the musical road to perdition not as a guitarist, but as a singer. I received a fairly traditional, classical education. I learned to read notes, solfege (learning relative intervals: think of the famed scene of the Sound of Music where the children learn to sing via Do-Re-Mi: that’s solfege!), all the modes. When I switched to the rock and metal side of music I experienced major troubles: I couldn’t get rid of my belcanto-techniques. Belcanto is a singing technique, used in classical music. It can be used for opera, church music, Rennaissance era music… practically anything except rock, metal and blues! Fast forward: a decade later I see myself confronted in a Belcanto surrounding yet again when I was invited for a reunion of my old choir (which was lots of fun, if I may say so!). During the reunion I got to talk with the musical directors of the choir and get a crash course update on the current trends in music pedagogy. In this article I want to discuss  how classical music may have influenced the pedagogy within so called ‘light music’ paradigms as well as the other way around.  Continue reading “Evolution In Music Pedagogy”

When you’re a gear-head, nothing is ever – EVER – completely perfect. Sure, you’ll throw in the Steve Harris Signature Pickup into your P Bass, and enjoy the tone (and for my impressions, click here). But then you’re thinking, “Wouldn’t an STC preamp completely unleash the beast?” and you’d be right. But you’re left with a quandary; keep the passive vibe or go active. Well gents, I’m going to tell you how with hot-rodding your STC preamp, you can have BOTH. Continue reading “Hot-Rodding the STC Preamps”

Mom always told you when you were young (and probably also when you were old enough to know better), “Play nice!” And while it was probably given to you in the context of a sandbox, or during a Transformers debate (because while everyone longs to be Optimus Prime, they yearn to rule the world with the cold hand of Megatron), it translates directly into the role of a musician, especially when it comes time to play with musicians you’ve never met or played with before, or when you walk into a situation that you’ve never been in. And that ability to “play nice with others” will provide invaluable as your musical palette expands. Continue reading “Play Nice With Others”

In the last music theory blog article, I introduced you to the odd and sometimes dissonant chords derived from the melodic minor scale. This time we’ll look at the prettier-but-slightly-aloof older sisters of the melodic minor chords: harmonic minor chords. This article will explain how to derive the chords from this dramatic scale, and provide some ideas for chord progressions using those chords. Continue reading “Chords of the Harmonic Minor Scale”

For many years, players have been asking us to make double-cream humbuckers: pickups with two cream-colored bobbins. We make single coils in cream of course, but for certain reasons we’re not allowed to make double-cream Seymour Duncan humbuckers. So we’ve decided to go one better by introducing the Seymour Duncan Triple Cream LD Model™. Featuring three whole coils of rich creamy goodness, this pickup is available exclusively from the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop.

“Sounds like a great idea guys, when’s lunch?”

The basis for the LD Model™ is the Duncan Distortion. In place of the Distortion’s traditional ceramic magnet we use a Fe-Ni alloy extracted from slivers of the Chelyabinsk meteor. The wire was salvaged from the actual giant speaker used to jettison Marty McFly across the room in Back To The Future (we found it at a yard sale in Encino), and the bobbins are potted in a special wax formula derived from Earwig nests, and for smoother consistency we blend this wax with whipped cream (we got the idea when we dropped an Éclair into our wax potting mixture during this photo shoot, oops). This helps to neutralise microphonics and also gives the pickup a gently sweet aroma.

So how does it sound? Well, in a word, loud. It’s 133 percent more aggressive than the Duncan Distortion when wired in series. Or you can hook it up as a regular twin-coil humbucker with a mini-switch or push-pull pot to engage the third coil for additional gain for solos. Probably. We haven’t tried that yet. We’re too busy trying to chisel an extra-wide pickup cavity into one of our test guitars.

The only problem we’ve encountered with it so far is that its increased magnetic field disrupts the navigational senses of passing bats, but frankly it looks really cool having a colony of Pteropus poliocephalus nesting amongst the Black Winters and Nazguls.

Jerry Donahue has had quite the career. Playing with folk rock bands such as Fotheringay and Fairport Convention, and working with artists like Robert Plant, Joan Armatrading, The Proclaimers, Elton John, George Harrison, Hank Marvin, Cliff Richard, and Roy Orbison just to name a few. Add The Hellecasters to the mix and you’ve got one very impressive catalog of work. His preference of the Telecaster shape, and his mastery of string bends has helped give him the title “Bendmaster of the Telecaster.”
We thought we’d ask Jerry a few questions about his influences, his signature Seymour Duncan pickup, and his new signature Fret-King Black Label JDD Guitar. Continue reading “Five Questions With Jerry Donahue”

What? Of course we’re playing in the present. I’m playing right now! Is that present enough for you? Playing in the present isn’t nearly as hard as it sounds, but it does require some focus and effort. Well, this article will help our playing stay in the present, as well as some tips to play in the past and for the future too. Hold on, as it is going to get bumpy. Continue reading “Playing in the Present”