Paul Wesley

Pardon the interruption: I am reshuffling gear, and I'm about to take a couple of very lightly used ribbon mics to reverb. One is an Avantone CR-14, and the other is an SE Electronics R-1. Like new, including case, shock mount, etc. They are pretty much made for recording electric guitars. I'll give you the surly discount...i.e. you won't get one cheaper. PM me if interested.

I don't have an opinion on the plural of time out, but I think "We move ahead to further action" is truly awful. It was a terrible phrase the first time it was used, and it gets worse every time I have to hear it from Lowell.

I didn't know those existed. Would be a nice change-of-pace guitar.

Different models shine in different applications... so much so that they're kind of the industry standard when discussing and measuring other manufacturers in the same instance (U47 on vocals, 47fet on kick drum, U87 on modern rap vocals, the KM84 that jimmyjazz mentioned as a small diaphragm condenser). That model is kind of a Swiss army knife. They're not widely discussed or nearly as sought out as other models (not even close). But they sound balanced and detailed on acoustic instruments. They're amazing on piano. As room mics on a string section, they sound big and cinematic.

Deej, thanks for this link - I've done business with that company. I had no idea that Oliver Archut made guitar amps. I knew of him because of his microphones. As I understand, he developed a mod for Neumann UM57 mics... a microphone that was made in East Germany after WW2. His company (Tab Funkenwerk) took these East German UM57's and installed their own proprietary transformer and eliminated the faradaic shield. I'm probably oversimplifying, but the East German "Neumann" still exists as Microtech Gefell, and they make great stuff. In 2003, they made 75 re-creations of the Neumann UM57, and they used Archut's mods in their reproductions and sold them as the Gefell UM75. A few years ago, I took a big chance on ebay and bought a couple of old Neumann UM57 from Bulgaria. They were cheap, and they came with a second-hand power supply that was crap. I then had them rebuilt by Tab Funkenwerk. They went from Bulgaria to Austin, then to Tab Funkenwerk in Washington, then to Thiersch in Germany to be reskinned, then back to Washington to be rebuilt (and they got a new dual power supply), and finally, back to Austin. Took over a year and a half. There were a lot of moments where I thought I might have bought some very expensive doorstops, but TF made them functionally and cosmetically beautiful again. Anyway, Archut died a few years ago, and I'm not sure how much his death affected the value of his creations, but his mics have exploded in value. He had a hand in making some of the Lucas microphones, and there's a pair of those on reverb right now for $20,000 (!!!). They're almost the *only* mic I can think of that was made in the last 30 years that has exploded in value like that. tl;dr : I'll bet you don't lose money on an Archut-designed anything. My Neumanns:

My advice for Strats and Teles - If you think you're looking for a "forever" version of those, think about late 80's-early 90's Custom Shop versions. They're not so old that you pay ridiculous "vintage" prices, but they *do* come from an era where I think the Custom Shop really did better (and more unique) finishes, materials, and set-ups. I have a mid 90's custom shop Strat that I bought new, and a late 80's custom shop Tele that I bought used (which got relic'ed the old fashioned way). I am just totally head-over-heels for each of them, and I would never sell either one. I also think that if you don't bond with it for whatever reason, you can either send it back, or you can sell it for pretty much exactly what you paid (i.e. the financial downside is pretty low). My .02.

Yeah, Reggie definitely popularized it (though he wasn't going to actually tattoo his moneymaker). Telephone area codes are still about the silliest fucking thing I can think of to be tribal about.

How about tattooing telephone area codes on your face? I mean, you gotta stand for something in this world, right?

When I was 17, I got a traffic ticket around Wimberly, and I didn’t think I deserved it. So I showed up to my hearing, which wasn't really a hearing at all... just a 70-something year old judge just kicking back in his office, with his clerk outside making sure I had a punitive 30- minute wait for daring to show up. I wanted to look respectful, but the only “briefcase” I owned was one that was made to carry cassette tapes. Dumped those out. But if you looked inside, you’d know immediately what the case was for. He listened to me plead my case, and nodded his head very graciously, and said, “Son you can pay (the secretary) as you leave.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Garry_Hoy

Well said. I can relate. Probably everyone reading this thread can relate. Also well said. As far as I'm aware, the best solution to that sentiment is from Duke Ellington. I have seen several variations of his quote, but it's essentially, "Don't give me more time. I don't need time. What I need is a deadline." I have written around 40 songs in my life, and at most, there were 5 of those that were completed without any kind of a deadline. All the rest went something very close to this: I had three or four song ideas. Some more realized than others. I looked at my calendar and chose a day off that was several weeks in the future. I booked a studio, hired an engineer, a drummer, and a bass player. Sometimes also a keys player. Then I *had* to finish them. At least, I had to know the tempo and the structure of the song. I had three weeks to sit at the kitchen table work out song structure, sing the melody to myself a thousand times, decide that the ABCB rhyme scheme that I'd spent 20 agonizing hours working on... these lyrics really would work better with the chord changes if it were AABB. I started over. The kitchen table and the acoustic guitar were essential. I'm a night owl by nature, so this usually happened between 10pm and 2 am in the weeks before the session. I made Nashville-style chord charts for everyone. I used the metronome on my laptop or cell phone to make scratch tracks. Often that is very revealing (e.g. "Shit, the way I've mapped this out, it's a six and a half minute song."). Most of the hired players are *really* going to want to hear the vocal melody when they do the tracking. So if the lyrics weren't finished when I made scratch tracks, I had to sing the same lyrics in every verse. If the lyrics were non-existent, I'd sing "Doo doo doo" or "La la la." I cut a disco song last year where the lyrics were eluding me ahead of the tracking date, so for the scratch tracks, I sang the words to "Life During Wartime" to my own melody... which turned out to be really fun and energizing exercise (I even felt some remorse when my disco tune no longer had a falsetto, "Heard about Houston, heard about Detroit, Heard about Pittsburgh, PA." It was cool.). Anyway, NONE of this comes easily to me. I am meticulous and reserved by nature, and I am embarrassed to sing or play anything in front of other people unless I think it's *already* pretty good, so scat singing nonsense into a microphone is a truly horrifying feeling. As far as level of discomfort, it feels like recording myself performing something I've written in big, complex, and dramatic Spanish (which I definitely cannot actually do) and then playing that recording for a room full of highly accomplished Spanish writers. I usually don't cut lyrics on the day of the full-band tracking. So that requires ANOTHER DEADLINE where I book an engineer two weeks from now. Now I have to finish the lyrics. Back to the kitchen table. Anyway, that's what I meant when I said "discipline and grit." Sorry for such a long post.

I like the chord changes. Feels cinematic.

What thread does this go in?

Good topic and a fun read. In terms of singer-songwriters, few have gone into a studio for the first time with more wealth of material than Tracy Chapman.

Me too. It was terrifying. Had a minute or two of being squished, feet off the ground, with moments where the entire mass of people lurched in one direction or another.

Thanks for those pics. I’m not a bass player, but that lineup was pretty amazing.

I think I became aware of Audley because I knew some guys who were working with the Dixie Chicks while he was playing with them (and maybe on the Courtyard Hounds too?). And they raved about him, which made me go back and listen to his other work.

Wow. That's awful. Cringeworthy and profoundly wrong.

I just watched that '98 live video, and before I had even scrolled down to see the next few comments, my impression of the show was that Audley is criminally underused. There may or may not be guys who are a better fit for that band-- I'm not convinced there are -- but I don't think it would have mattered when there are already too many guys on the floor who need the ball in their hands (it's a strained metaphor, but you get it). I hired Audley to play on something a couple years ago, and I spent a few days with him. I can't rave enough about him as a musician, as a masterful guitarist, and as a kind and thoughtful person (an opinion shared by pretty much everyone who works with him).

All true, but the yokels talking about tyranny and freedom and control and "I woke up in a free country..." --- fucking zero of them could explain on the very simplest level how *any* vaccine works, much less how cellular biology and messenger RNA works.

Wow. I really dig this song. Odd time signatures aren't usually my thing... but this one works for me. Bravo. Only thing I'm not liking is the sound of the acoustic (or maybe that's a clean electric?) -- it's kind of thin and buzzy, and it feels like it overwhelms the other rhythm electric (which sounds great). Very cool tune. Also, I cannot tell you how much I identify with "ridiculously ambitious work that may never get finished." If I were to describe the last 3 years of my own creative efforts, that phrase would pretty much sum it up. Here's to finishing.

This gets discussed every year or so, and the usual names come up (Erlewine, Lauren at Strait, etc). One of those usual suspects is Tom Oatley. He works out of the garage behind his house in South Austin. Does pro-level work for a fair price. Here's an article from the Gibson website (so, of course they're going to talk about Les Paul and Gibson guitars): http://es.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Features/en-us/Gibson-Preps-For-SXSW-with-Guitar-Tech-Tom-Oatley.aspx Tom has a facebook page with contact info. If I needed pickups swapped out or minor-level set-ups, I'd use Tom. If I needed a bigger job (refret) or I had a guitar with major playability issues (buzzing strings, minor warping), I'd go to Danny Shoemaker - who also works out of his house in South Austin - simply because as far as I know, he has the only Plek machine in Austin: https://straightfrets.com/pricing-and-services/plek-machine/

"Fretless" also works.

Wesley's Law: As a bass player gets more bald and/or overweight, the chance he will wear a fedora approaches 100%.

A haggard, convicted felon who - during the height of his fame - was caught on tape dropping N-bombs... telling Fox News' audience about how policing should work.