Tag: gig

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Gigs

Solo Guitar Shows: L.A. Confidential & Furtive Frisco

LA_kitty

Psst…this week I embark on a grueling two-city solo guitar tour.

I’m playing my first ever L.A. solo show next Tuesday, the 12th, with one of my favorite players on the planet: the brilliant Mark Goldenberg. I’d previously know his pop work, but only became aware of his amazing solo playing last year when we both performed at one of Teja Gerken‘s guitar events. It was love at first note. We bonded on our affections for Ellington and ’60s L.A. pop, and the fact that we were both Ted Greene students. Plus, he’s just a cool guy.

The show’s at Genghis Cohen (740 N. Fairfax near Melrose). Danielle D’Andrea plays at 8:00 PM, Mark’s on at 9:30, and and I play a bit after 10:00. Maybe Mark and I will even work up a duet or two.

Admission is 10 bucks. The show is all-ages. If you’re in SoCal and free on the 12th, please join us!

My pal Bill Selby drew this amazing illustration. I'm going to hell for defacing it in Photoshop.
My pal Bill Selby drew this amazing illustration. I’m going to hell for defacing it in Photoshop.

And then, on Thursday, the 14th, I play my monthly solo show at my beloved local dive, San Francisco’s El Rio. This one’s special too: My guest star is another astonishing player, Giacomo Fiore. Giacomo is rightly renowned as one of of our greatest avant-garde classical guitarists, specializing in difficult modern repertoire. But this time, Giacomo’s performing an all-electric set. I have no idea what to expect, though I’m certain it will be astonishing. (In addition to releasing some remarkable recordings, Giacomo lectures at several noted Northern California universities and conservatories, and he gets excellent marks on Rate My Professor. Just sayin’.)

This show is free, but over-21 only. I play at 7PM sharp, and Giacomo starts around 8.

Remember, you heard it here first — off the record, on the QT, and strictly hush-hush.*

* This quote, the post title, and the noir pics are inspired by James Ellroy’s L.A. Quartet, probably the greatest series of hardcore crime novels ever. (And Ellroy’s newly released prequel, Perfidia, is every bit is awesome.)

Categories
guitar

The Latest in Guitar Prosthetics!

Ever wish your finger was a little bit longer?
Ever wish your finger was a little bit longer?

I just procured some clever new gizmos designed to help unfortunate players who were born without 12-inch fingers and five-foot arms.

First up: The VKnob from Option Knob, an angled plastic lever that replaces standard volume and tone knobs. It’s worth investigating if you’re interested in pedal steel-style swells, “manual tremolo,” or wah-flavored tone-knob manipulation. There’s a half-inch notch in the lever, perfectly position for resting your picking-hand pinky and spinning the knob without having to stray too far from the springs. It takes getting used to, and it may collide with some whammy bars, but it’ll be a cool solution for many players. FWIW, I tend to play fingerstyle, and I’m accustomed to spinning knobs with my pinky while picking strings with my thumb. Even so, the VKnob makes the technique easier, and it may be a godsend for pickstyle players. (Price: US $13.)

Option Knob also created the OKnob, a Y-shaped replacement knob for stompboxes. It lets you manipulate pedal knobs by “kicking” the OKnob’s arms or resting your foot in the fork where they meet. I’ve enjoyed using OKnobs to control the cutoff frequency on filter-type effects, especially when playing The World’s Nastiest Stompbox™. Like so:

Uglyface Demo

But now the OKnob has competition in the form of the KickDisk, a circular, clear plastic replacement knob.

The OKnob (left) and KickDisk (right).
The OKnob (left) and KickDisk (right).

Both knobs work great, and each has its advantages. The OKnob doesn’t force you to position your foot at a specofic altitude, and it looks freaky-cool. But it can be awkward to manipulate from some angles, especially when the arms are positioned north and south. The KickDisk is easier to operate from all angles, and its transparency prevents it from obscuring stompbox LEDs. I like both options. (OKnobs are ten bucks each, or $12 for the glow-in-the-dark model. KickDisks go for $7.50.)

Obviously, your stompboxes must be secured to a pedalboard or other surface, or you’ll just kick everything over. But while knocking pedals over is a drag, it’s not nearly as bad as toppling your laptop. That’s why I was eager to replace the flimsy stools and utility tables I’ve been using for laptop gigs with my band Mental 99.

Don't tread on me.
Don’t tread on me.

There are several stage-worthy laptop stands, though most are tabletop models aimed at laptop-lugging DJs. I opted for the Quik Lok LPH-003, a sturdy metal tripod when a laptop shelf plus an extensible mousepad surface, which works great as a holder for picks, slides, EBows, and street drugs.

The LPH-003 weighs a lot more than my old stands, but it’s far less likely to get knocked over, even by a hyperkinetic klutz like me. Particularly reassuring are the four adjustable, rubber-tipped arms that secure your leptop, even at steeply slanted angles. So far, I’m digging it. I’ll let you know how it works at gigs. (I paid a little under $100 for mine.)

Have any of you tried these? Or can you share info on any other clever, simple, and cheap guitar prosthetics that help you do what you do?

Categories
Gigs

I’m Performing Solo. Yikes.

joe_solo
Seriously, dude — where’s my band?

Anyone have much experience playing solo instrumental guitar gigs?

Even though I’ve been playing since the Pleistocene, I’ve only performed solo once since I was a teenaged classical guitarist. But I’ll be making the stumble leap this Wednesday, Sept. 11th, when I perform north of San Francisco at the Sleeping Lady Cafe in Fairfax. I’ll be a guest at Teja Gerken’s monthly fingerstyle guitar showcase, performing alternating tunes with Teja and Mark Goldenberg. (Gig details here.)

Both Teja and Mark are gifted players and composers — check out the evidence here and here. I believe they’ll be playing acoustically, while I’ll be dragging up my whole frickin’ looping/synth rig. Because what could provide better counterpoint to an evening of refined and intelligent fretwork than a goddamned electronic racket?

Oh — that one solo gig? It too was a multiplayer solo guitar night featuring some astonishing players: Will Bernard, Jim Campilongo, and Buckethead. Will, Jim, and Brian were as amazing as you’d expect. Meanwhile I put everyone to sleep by performing the entire Bach A Minor Lute Suite on steel-string acoustic. (I’m sure the audience was duly impressed by my formidable memorization skills as they nodded off.)

I’m not repeating that mistake! This time it’ll be fuzz and feedback, with a double side order of ring modulation!  :pity:

So got any survival tips for performing solo? Any good jokes for during the inevitable laptop crash and reboot?

If all else fails, I can borrow a trick that the late, lamented Danny Gatton once shared with me in an interview: A lifelong tinker, Gatton built a stompbox designed to blow the power in any club. If he didn’t like how the gig was going, he’d click it on, plunging the venue into darkness and calling it a night. (Or so he claimed.) Hmm — maybe that’ll be the next tonefiend DIY project….

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DIY Effects Gigs Recording

A Tale of Two Pedalboards

Is it just me, or do many guitarists these days find themselves alternating between separate analog and digital setups?

I’m posting some pics of my current pedalboards (bearing in mind that, for reasons I’ll get into in a sec, my pedalboards only tend to stay “current” for a few days at a time). Both were assembled using store-bought housings, though I’ll talk a bit about total DIY boards as well.

First, the mostly analog setup (the exception, of course, is the digital Boomerang III looper).

Joe Gore’s mostly analog pedalboard.

The case is a newly purchased SKB Stage Five, a full-featured unit in a relatively rugged molded plastic case. These retail for a whopping $540, but you can find them heavily discounted. (I forget the exact price I paid for mine, but it was under $300.) It’s loaded with cool features, like dual effect loops, a built-in buffered preamp, and support for 9- through 24-volt DC power, plus 9V AC for those digital pedals like Line 6 modelers and many loopers. There are even trim pots on a few power jacks to simulate dying batteries. I’m less impressed by some of the fittings (like the cheapo plastic jacks), though I suppose they keep the weight down. And make no mistake: This thing is heavy!

Verdict: Too early to tell, since I haven’t subjected it to road abuse, but I trust it enough to at least give it a go. I think I’d be a bit disappointed had I paid full pop, but it strikes me as a fair deal if you can find it at a 40+% discount. 

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