|
|
|
Friday 9/5/2008 ~ A Pittsburgh
Guitars Theme Song!
Hey!!!
This week, as I was contemplating
the mysteries of the universe, I thought, "Life is good."
 After
thirty years, I still enjoy looking at guitars! And Pittsburgh
Guitars is still fun!
Spending the day talking to folks about music is always nice.
And everyone seems to enjoy the email special pictures and stories and contests. And events like next
week's Pittsburgh Guitars' Big Beatle Show #5 are a blast. (BBS #5:
Saturday, September 13th, The Rex, 8PM)
But then I thought, "Hmmmm....
It is fun! But I wonder if we can make it even more funner..."
At that moment I remembered last
week, when I talked about the the theme song from The Partridge
Family TV  show,
"Come On, Get Happy," and the theme from The Monkees,
"The Theme From The Monkees." It occurred to me that
while Pittsburgh Guitars is a fabulous guitar store, the one
thing we are missing is a Theme Song!!
Here's our newest contest: We
need a Pittsburgh Guitars Theme Song! We'll put it on our web
sites; we'll play it in the store; we'll use it at Pittsburgh
Guitars events; it will be forever linked to Pittsburgh Guitars!!
I don't have a style in mind. From an up-tempo music perspective
(and the Rickenbacker 12-string), I always liked the theme from
"Friends."  From
a story-telling perspective, you can't beat the themes from  "Gilligan's
Island" and "The Beverly Hillbillies." And themes
from movies like "A Hard Day's Night" or "That
Thing You Do!" are very cool. I'm open to suggestions. Instrumental
themes can be pretty effective ("Jaws," "Star
Wars," etc) but it should probably have words. (Although
we don't have to go as far into it as "Creeque Alley" by The Mamas & Papas.)
(Unless you WANT to mention that Scott was at Woodstock!)
You don't have to worry about a super fabulous recording. We
can do the final recording later. For now we just need the song.
I'll start rounding up some great prizes for the winning tune.
Writing a song this brilliant
might take a while, so let's shoot for picking the song in November,
and having the recording done by December 1st, right in time
for the holiday season. Start now! Send in your song at any time.
In any format. And as many as you'd like. The only requirement
is that it is an original song. (I like parodies, and I'm a big
Weird Al fan, but the paperwork will be much simpler if it's
original.)
OK!!! Our biggest contest ever!!
This is your chance to write the Pittsburgh Guitars Theme Song!!!
And make all of our lives just a little bit better!!!!!!
See you soon,
Carl
PS: Next Saturday, Sept 13th!!!
The Pittsburgh Guitars Big Beatle Show #5!!!!
8PM * The Rex
Only $5 for a seventy-five Beatle songs, by twenty-five different
acts!!
PPS: Customer of the week: From
Nova Scotia: Pogey
|
|
9/12/2008 ~ Sound Waves and Modeling
Amps
Hey!
 I
don't have time to write much today... I have to rush off to
load the truck for tomorrow night's Big Beatle Show #5!
Last night I plugged in the six
Vox Super Beatle amps that we'll be using tomorrow... just to
make sure they all still work... and I was reminded how cool
it is to play through a big amp!! I had those things cranked!!!
There's certainly something to be said for standing in front
of an amp that's almost as tall as you are!
Of course, a giant amp, whether
it's a Super Beatle, a Marshall stack, or ANY stack (John's first
one was an Ampeg V4 with two 4x12 cabinets!!) isn't practical.
They're far too heavy... it's hard to fit them in your car...
and there's a good chance the rest of your band will be annoyed
when you're too loud... BUT they sure are fun.
As I was entertaining the neighbors
last night, I thought about the new "modeling amps"
being marketed by many companies these days. I'm not a scientist,
but as I understand it, they've taken a wavospectrogizmometer,
and analyzed the actual sound waves coming from a variety of
amps. Then, using modern computer technology, they've replicated
those sound waves. So one small amp can now offer "models"
of a variety of large, small, new and vintage amps. It works
fairly well, and is certainly economical. For example we have
a small Vox amp with eleven different amp models... and it's
only $134.
As practical as the modeling
amps are (for example, you don't hurt your back when you lift
them), to me they still don't sound exactly like the originals.
As previously mentioned, I'm not a scientist, but here's my guess...
I think the difference is the air. When you're standing in front
of  a big amp, you hear
the sound waves, but you also feel the air pressure change...
as all of those speakers force the aforementioned sound waves
at you. Maybe one of our email special readers, who actually
does know something about science, can clarify things. If a modeling
amp can duplicate the sound waves of a bigger amp... in other
words, the waves look the same when analyzed... do they really
sound the same? Or does my "air pressure" theory hold
water? (Not that air can hold water...) (or CAN it??)
OK, I'm off to lift heavy amps....
(Owwwww, my back hurts already!)
See you soon,
Carl
PS: Tomorrow, Saturday, 8PM at
the Rex:
Now twenty seven acts! Sixty-four Beatle songs!
Plus: the Pittsburgh Guitars vintage Beatle instrument collection!
See you there!
PPS: I just had an idea! I'm
sending this at noon, so I haven't started loading the truck
yet. But if Betsy creates a link... and put's it HERE...
we can load a picture later this afternoon. SO, if it's before
4PM on Friday, 9/12/08 when you're reading this, don't bother
to click HERE
yet... but if it's now after 4PM Friday (and, by "now"
I mean when you're reading this...), then click!
(I wonder if that will work???
PPPS: To the hundreds and hundreds
of people who got duplicate emails last week, please accept my
apologies. I sent the original email, as usual, on Friday afternoon...
but apparently we have a "server"... and apparently
the email special got "stuck" in the server... and
only a portion of the folks on the email special list got the
email special. I have no idea how this all works (did I mention,
me not scientist?) but by Tuesday, we figured out that if we
cancelled the previous email and hit "resend," it might
go through... which I believe it did. So, sorry again, that you
either received it late, or twice! And hopefully THIS one will
work properly.
PPPPS: If YOU are a computer
expert, and can help us with our "server" problem,
please let me know! We'd appreciate it.
PPPPPS: Oh yeah, last week I
mentioned the new "Write A Pittsburgh Guitars Theme Song
Contest!" I thought it would be nice if we had a theme song.
We can discuss it more next week. But start thinking about it!
PPPPPPS: Customer of the Week:
The Pittsburgh
Steelers
|
|
Friday 9/19/2008 ~ Discontinued
Island!
Whew! The Big Beatle Show #5
last Saturday was a blast! There was a large, enthusiastic crowd,
and the dozens bands and solo performers were great! Even the
people who played the wrong chords (me) were enthusiastically
received. It was so nice to see so many people having a such
good time together. You know, I think the world would be a better
place if people from different countries would get together to
play Beatle songs. (Maybe we should suggest that to those political
candidates!)
Many thanks to John, the new guy, for organizing the show; to
Betsy for keeping things running smoothly backstage; and, of
course, to The Beatles for writing such great songs!
(And, yes!!, we were able to
get the giant amps out of The Rex, into the truck, and back into
storage, without any serious injury!) (No, really, I've always
walked like this...)
 Now
that things are back to "normal," I asked John what
we should do next... to keep ourselves entertained here at the
store. He said, "Remember a couple of years ago when we
set up 'Discontinued Island' in the middle of the store?"
And I said, "Yes, I do. And, how long have you been working
here?? Has it been 'years' already??? Come on... it couldn't
be more than a year and a half... maybe two. Could it? Really???
Is life moving that fast???"
Anyway, sometimes manufacturers
release new models and discontinue current ones. And some companies,
like Danelectro and Hofner, just make one batch of a particular
model, and then they're gone. A few years back we used our center-of-the-store
display island to put extra discounted prices on discontinued,
only-one-left, items. We sold a bunch of stuff (which made us
happy) and at great sale prices (which made the customers happy).
So, we're resurrecting "Discontinued
island!" We're going to empty the center display (currently
holding our Classical guitars), and create a Special Sale area.
And setting up an island is particularly appropriate today, September
19th, since this is "National Speak Like A Pirate Day"???
Awrrrrrrrr.... it's true!
See you soon,
Carl
PS: Things are always fun here
at the store, but you know what would make our lives even more
better??? If we had a Pittsburgh Guitars Theme Song!!! "Here
We Come... Walkin' Down the Street..."
We've started a New Contest: Write a Pittsburgh Guitars Theme
song! You don't need a fantastic recording, we can do that later.
All we need is a hum-able, catchy theme, that we can use on our
web sites and at Pittsburgh Guitars sponsored events, like The
Big Beatle Show #6! Send in your theme... in a any format...
We'd like to pick one by November. And besides the Universal
Fame and International Notoriety, we'll also have prizes for
you!!! So far Fender has contributed a Fender "Classic Vibe"
Squier Strat! And Betsy contributed a bottle of Mad Dog 20/20!!
If you need any background info please check the Pittsburgh Guitars History page... or stop
in the store and interview John, the not-so-new-guy...
 PPS:
Now that September's BBS#5 is behind us, we can move on to our
next massive production: "Night Of The Singing Dead, #16."
Yep, for the last sixteen years we've written and produced a
new musical extravaganza every Halloween, starring dead rock
stars. Here are pictures from 2007's "Night Of
The Singing Dead #15." This year's show is Saturday,
October 25th at The Rex.
The show isn't written yet, so
I don't know much about it... but with such funny cast members
as Monty & Zeke, Larry Richert, and Steve Hansen, I know
that hi-jinks will ensue. Mark your calendar now. Tickets will
be available beginning next week.
PPPS: You know, as I listened
to the songs last Saturday, I was struck by some of the cool
lyrics. I'm a big fan of songwriters. And while there's certainly
nothing wrong with simplistic lyrics like "Love me do, You
know I love you, I'll always be true," I particularly enjoy
songs that tell mini-stories... Songs, that in the space of two-and-a-half
minutes, create a scenario in your mind... For the next couple
of weeks, as a tribute to songwriters, I'm going to end the email
with song lyrics. No particular band, or writer... just things
I heard, and liked, during the week:
"I don't want to spoil the
party, so I'll go.
I would hate my disappointment to show.
There's nothing for me here, so I will disappear,
If she turns up while I'm gone please let me know.
I've had a drink or two and I
don't care.
There's no fun in what I do if she's not there.
I wonder what went wrong, I've waited far too long
I think I'll take a walk and look for her.
Though tonight she's made me
sad, I still love her
If I find her I'll be glad, I still love her."
"I Don't Want To Spoil The
Party"
@1964 John Lennon, Paul McCartney
PPPPS: Customer of the Week:
The
Screaming Orphans!
|
|
Friday 9/26/2008 ~ Kustom Amps
Yesterday, as I was fast-forwarding
through some TV commercials, a guitar caught my eye.
So, I backtracked the ol' DVR,
to see what was happenin' in the ad. (If only advertisers would
realize that we'd stop and watch every TV ad, if they'd just
put guitars in them!) It turns out that it was a commercial for
the Pennsylvania Lottery.
 The ad involved two
Lottery guys interrupting a band rehearsing in a garage. I didn't
really pay attention to what the guys were saying, because I
was too preoccupied with the band's equipment. (Oh, wait, I guess
that negates my earlier recommendation that advertisers use instruments
to get me to watch...) The guitar was a modern-day Strat, which
was certainly nice, but not something that would leave a lasting
impression. HOWEVER, behind the guitar player were two late-1960s
Kustom amps! One appeared to be a PA, and the other was a 100
watt head on a 2x15 cabinet. Now THAT'S the kind of quality entertainment
that's next-day-around-the-water-cooler-conversation worthy.
Kustom amps hold an interesting
spot in Rock & Roll history. For a few years they were the
hippest, coolest thing to have. They were big and powerful and
came in six sparkle colors (plus the old stand-by: black). It's
easy to recognize a Kustom amp (even in the background in a commercial)
because they were covered with padded, pleated, "tuck and
roll" Naugahyde.
The company actually started in a garage... Bud Ross's garage
in Chanute, Kansas, to be exact. That's where, in the early 1960s,
Bud first re-covered an old Fender bass amp with  colored
vinyl. The instant local popularity this re-covered cabinet led
to orders for more, which  eventually
led him to develop his own line of distinctive amps. By 1966
he was marketing Kustom amplifiers nationally.
And like many stories of success,
timing played an important role. Had he only manufactured guitar
and bass amps he would have found a certain amount of success.
After all, the 1960s were a wild and innovative time fashion-wise;
and his bright colors and padded cabinets fit right in. BUT,
what really made Kustom a household name (or at least garagehold),
were the Kustom PAs!
Like many Pittsburgh Guitars
Email Special stories, it all goes back 1964, The Beatles, and
the baby boomers... After that fateful February 9, 1964 Ed Sullivan
appearance, every kid in America wanted to play guitar and start
a band. By the late 1960s many of them had... there were bands
on every block. And while Fender, Gibson and dozens of other
companies were providing great guitars for this generation of
new musicians... and Fender and a few other manufacturers were
offering great amps... no one was making a decent, mobile PA
system. (Many bands were actually plugging mics into their guitar
amps, along with their guitar!) Finally, one of the world's best
microphone companies, Shure, developed an easy-to-move PA, the
Shure Vocal Master. And quick as you can say, "Hey, let's
put some sparkle padding on that!" the Kustom PA was born.
Like the Vocal Master, the Kustom PA had a 100 watt head, with
two speaker columns. But unlike the conservative Vocal Master,
which looked like it should be used in a church (and many of
them were), the Kustom PA looked Rock & Roll.
Here's the Vocal Master.
Here's John with
a Kustom PA.
The Kustom PAs were an immediate
hit. Even bands who couldn't afford the Kustom guitar and bass
amps bought the PAs. Here in Pittsburgh, Jim Hollowood Sr., who
at the time was teaching guitar lessons out of the basement of
his house, bought a number of the PA systems... and rented them
to every band in town. And the rental charge, for the Kustom
PA head and two speaker columns, was $10 a night! I remember
often driving to the back streets of McKees Rocks, and going
down his driveway, around back to the garage, where we'd load
the columns into the back seat of the car. And, you know, I don't
think we paid him the $10 until the next night when we brought
them back! Wow, that was a different era!
The PAs put Kustom on the map.
And if you could afford one of their big guitar or bass rigs,
there were a lot of options available to you. One of the most
dramatic was a vertical bass  cabinet
with three 15" speakers. It was BIG! And heavy! Here's a picture from the catalog. They also
offered a guitar cabinet with a 15" speaker and a 15"
horn! Like this. And one amp set-up listed in their
catalog was a 200 watt bass head, with FOUR 2x15" speaker
cabinets! Imagine this as your bass rig!
Kustom's glory days were the
years 1968 thru 1971. By mid-1971 the company was purchased by
Baldwin... and it was downhill from there. (Much like what happened
when Baldwin bought Gretsch.) Although, in this case, you can't
totally blame Baldwin for Kustom's eventual demise. Anything
that has such a unique appearance... and is the hippest, coolest
thing around... faces a rapid decline the moment that its moment
passes. A gold sparkle padded amp was something to be proud of
in 1969... but looked pretty out of date by 1974. The padded
Kustoms fell out of favor for decades.
But you know, they were and still
are, great sounding amps. The PAs have been technologically eclipsed,
but the guitar amps, and especially the bass amps, still pack
a punch.
Here's some of the
Pittsburgh Guitars Kustom Kollection.
Hey, you know what would look
good with your colorful Kustom amp? A colorful, coiled guitar
cable! Like this!
See you soon,
Carl
PS: After Baldwin, the Kustom
brand name changed hands several times. It was eventually purchased
by a wholesale company from Cincinnati. They are making new amps
under the Kustom brand today.
PPS: We've already received a
couple of entries in the "Write A Pittsburgh Guitars Theme
Song" contest. And I must say, they are pretty good! There's
still time for YOUR song, though. Like most theme songs, it should
be a minute to a minute-and-a-half long... and catchy... And
it should mention the store! This is your chance to go down in
history!! Write a theme song, and we'll link it to everything
associated with the store.
PPPS: Speaking of big cabinets,
I found two in the basement that are in my way. They are both
vintage Fender cabinets. And they're both empty. Although they
are the same size, one holds two 12" speakers and one holds
two 15" speakers. They're both a little dirty, but there
aren't any major tears, and the grill cloths are decent. Here's
a picture of John with the cabinets. The one with the aluminum
channel around the edge of the grill cloth (which dates it to
1969) is the 2x12 cabinet. Today's sale price: $125 each. (Sorry,
this is pickup only. They are too big to ship.)
PPPPS: We like to lend a hand
to travelling bands and last month we helped a band called The
Secret State with an emergency guitar repair. They just sent
us a nice thank you note, and this photo of them on-stage in Florida with
the Pittsburgh Guitars "Go For The Neck" bumper sticker
prominently displayed.
PPPPPS: Last week I mentioned
my admiration for songwriters. Chuck Berry not only inspired
generations of rock & rollers with his guitar playing, he
was a brilliant lyricist. How can you not admire a phrase like,
"She moved around like a wayward summer breeze..."
As I got on a city bus and found a vacant
seat,
I thought I saw my future bride walkin' up the street,
I shouted to the driver, "Hey conductor, you must slow down.
I think I see her, please let me off the bus."
Nadine, honey, is that you?
Oh, Nadine, honey, is that you?
Seem like every time I see you,
Darlin' you got somethin' else to do.
I saw her from the corner when she turned
and doubled back,
And started walkin toward a coffee-colored cadillac.
I was pushin' through the crowd tryin' to get to where she's
at,
And I was campaign-shoutin' like a southern diplomat.
Nadine, honey, is that you?
Oh, Nadine, honey, where are you?
Seems like every time I catch up with ya,
You're up to somethin' new.
Downtown searchin' for her, lookin' all around.
Saw her gettin' in a yellow cab, headin' uptown.
I caught a loaded taxi, paid up everybody's tab.
Flipped a twenty-dollar bill an' told him, "Catch that yellow
cab."
Nadine, honey, is that you?
Oh, Nadine, honey, is that you?
Seem like every time I catch up with ya,
You're up to somethin' new.
She moved around like a wayward summer breeze.
"Go, driver, go, go'on, catch her for me please."
Movin' thru the traffic like a mounted cavalier.
Leanin' out the taxi window tryin' to make her hear.
Nadine, honey, is that you?
Oh, Nadine, honey, is that you?
Seem like every time I see you,
Darlin' you up to somethin' new.
NADINE
© 1964 Chuck Berry
PPPPPPS: Customer of the Week:
Adam
Marsland
|
|
|
