LucSulla

Saw them twice in the same week back in 2001, including a show in Birmingham that took place in the midst of a tornado warning. Good times. They kind of lost me after Lateralus, but those first three albums and the Opiate EP were formational. When I was in college, my band rehearsed at this storage unit facility that must have had 10 other bands out there at night. I remember the week after Lateralus came out, all the bands who were doing nu-metal and post-grunge - Papa Roach, Staind, Nonpoint, all that kind of stuff - were out there trying to get their compound time signature on. We had already steeped quite a bit in Tool, but even before we got into them, in the interregnum between Aenima and Lateralus, we were pretty heavily into Faith No More, Alice in Chains, Pink Floyd, Metallica, Helmet, Meshuggah, a smattering of pretentious fusion shit like Return to Forever and Mahavishnu Orchestra, and (unavoidably) southern rock. We never could quite figure out if we wanted people to shake their ass, head bang, or whip out a calculator, so we arrived at porque no todos! Anyway, we'd been leaning into prog rock for awhile and were cracking up at listening to three different bands all trying to figure out how to play Lateralus on the same night after listening to them play nothing but Blink 182 and Nickelback for the past year. Wish I could have bottled some of those days up and taste them again on occasion.

They are kind of a mashup between a tele and a Les Paul, with the initial Tallys being more on the tele side (on steroids) and the Pros having more LP DNA. Both are 25.5" scale. The Tally has humbucker-sized Duncan "Double D" P-90-style pickups in them with a four way switch so you get bridge, parallel, neck, series. They both have V-shaped necks, though I believe on Pros have a softer profile (this isn't universal - I have some kind of custom order Tally that is a V but is much softer than my other Tally). I love them. I take two or three guitars with me to a gig depending on how long we plan to play and the stage size, but find I often just live on a Tally all night if it is one of them. One of mine has the Double Ds, the other has WCR Cherrybuckers in it. While I've never played a Tally Pro, I can verify that that they sound good with the P90s or humbuckers in them. They just sit really nicely in a mix live, filling things out or punching through as needed. I wouldn't hesitate at all to buy one for a good price to see what you think. They are great guitars and very much their own kind of thing. With the P90s, they will do things somewhat in the tele universe, though I find them to kind of be like the G&L ASATS with those jumbo MFDs. They aren't hifi like the G&Ls, but you have to dial them in a bit to countrify the sound, like those G&Ls. What they really want to do is rock and roll. Get some gain on them, and they rip. With humbuckers, they really sing and have a nice, warm character to them without being muddy. The body is chambered I believe, which may have something to do with that woodiness. I regretted selling the first one I had so much that I ended up with two when I finally had the money to correct the silliness of getting rid of mine. I've owned the better part of Hamer's post-80s lineup after they moved away from super strats (though I've owned a couple of those too), and for me, the Studios and Tallys are the two models that I have kept because I just enjoy them so much.

That's one of the few 70s CBGB/New Wave/Punk adjacent albums I love. There is a moodiness to it that is so unique to that album - I can only listen to it in the right mindset because it taps on that so hard. It's the same feeling I'd get as a teenager driving around late at night by myself feeling like both everything is happening and that nothing will ever happen, just chain smoking the ennui and listlessness away in my old Chevelle. I didn't really listen to it until I taught a Rock and Society class when I was a doc student at Florida in my 30s, so it's not a nostalgia thing. I'm also not generally into music from that scene, so it doesn't really touch on anything else I was listening to back in the 90s. I think when an album does that, it really has achieved something artistically perfect. I also find it very rare in the genres Television gets most associated with.

I know what I'm inclined to say is probably not the debut album I listen to the most. I could say the first Sabbath, VH, or LZ albums. But If I'm being honest, I've listen to Remission (Mastodon), Appetite for Destruction (GnR), and Kill 'em All (Metallica) far more often.

The girl and I drove over to Little Rock to see them at the White Water Tavern. Cool show! I couldn't believe how great they sounded in what was basically a cinder block corner of a dive bar. Talked to the bass player for a second afterward. They keyboard player from Uncle Acid was there, and she saw me looking over at the band and my shirt and kind of had an, "Oh no, this guy is going to talk to me" look (she's quite attractive). Nope - Coming over to talk to the bass player about Italy and Hiwatts! Tilting at windmills is bad enough, but especially when the GF is standing there. Still a lot of good music out there for $15. I genuinely don't know how the smaller bands eat these days, but I respect the hell out of them for making a go of it.

That's a good call. I can hear what you mean.

Haha, you may be correct, but trust me, I can be awkward as hell if I don't want to be awkward as hell.

Second video is just a live version of the same song, but queued where the solo stretches a bit more. First time in my life I've ever seen a point to learning bebop jazz, lol.

Hell yeah you do - especially the person posting doom metal pedal comparisons and Mark Lanegan songs. She can sing her ass off, and the guitarist is a complete monster. Craziest shit I've heard in a metal context that wasn't being purposely avant-garde and outside since Brent Hinds was throwing Jerry Reed leads into a sludge metal band.

Since I picked up some Tallys, I'm mostly good. I sometimes regret selling the Korina Standard. I was blaming a guitar for a player issue. I regret trading a seafoam green PRS DGT for largely the same reaason and a smidge of wanting to own a Cali. Turns out, I prefer other brands for super strats and got rid of the only PRS I ever really liked to find that out. Pretty unlikely that I'll drop $2k plus to have another one. I do miss the pagan gold SoCal Charvel I had from that first batch of USA production models they did back in 2008. That was a cool guitar that I bought for nothing in 2012 or 2013 before super strats with Floyds got hot again. That's really about it. There's a couple of other things that were cool to have just to have that I will probably never have again, but I never find myself heading to a gig and thinking, "Man, I wish I had that to play tonight!" The only guitar-related kit I ever sold that I really regret is a Mesa Mark III I had. I'd had the R2 mod done and had it recapped and everything. It was an absolute beast of an amp and did everything I hoped a Mark IV and V would do but never seemed to. I think I may have had $1000 in that amp, including shipping back and forth to Petaluma and paying for the mod. But here I am talking amps in a guitar thread.

Also met Bill Keliher from Mastodon and was every bit as awkward as I figured I would be. Uncle Acid is always a lot of fun and is proof positive that you can play Sabbath-esque metal through a couple of Fender Twins. I get why they don't make albums like they sound live, but I wish they made albums like they sound live. I can appreciate the artistic vision, but damn, when your band really is "that" band, why not capture it. I met two guys down front who had never seen them before, and I told them, "These guys are way louder and way heavier live than on their records." Four bars into the first song, and they turn around and mouth, "Holy Shit!" I just nod with a smile. But the real revelation was Messa, kind of a doom/goth band from Italy with an absolutely top shelf guitar player and incredible front woman. There is more than a little jazz in there too. If you want to go see a guy stand up there with a tele into a couple of Hiwatts and suck you in with some absolutely tasty chops only to tear your face off in the best possible way, highly recommend. I don't generally get into things that lean this far into the goth realm, but when the players are this good, you can't deny it. This music video pretty well sums the experience up. Stick with it through the solo section - that note at 7:07... oh man, that's a good note. I've listened to that solo section probably 20 times today.

I agree. I can't remember not knowing how to read, and I'm one of those people who can remember unusually far back. While I know I probably couldn't read going back to my very first memories because I don't see how I that's possible (my first memories are around 25-months old), I do clearly remember reading Golden Books to myself by the time I was three. My parents happily poured gas on that fire, and it is probably one of the most important things they did for me. Funnily enough, I really didn't know much about the Imagination Library other than that is was a thing Dolly did, but I'm going to start contributing to that monthly. My GF is a child psychologist, and she and I were talking the other day about how huge it is for kids to learn to read early and, hopefully, learn to enjoy it. She noted that just having books around and reading to your kids regularly does quite a bit of the heavy lifting because young children pick things up so quickly just through exposure. I also see how important it is when they get to me after high school. My students who enjoy reading are generally just better at critical thinking and learning independently. She really was an amazing person and kind of the platonic ideal of an American in a lot of ways.

There are not a lot of people left in the public eye that stir much southern pride in me these days, but she was damn sure one of them. Sad to see her go, but I hope I manage a 1/10th of the positive things she did for people. Pretty inspiring life for anyone who knew her beyond the boobs and hair, and even that image was brilliant.

On drums. Could you imagine Tracii Guns going on tour as Guns 'n' Roses (aside from the fact it can't legally happen)? To the degree there is anything "original", I'd have to go with Pyle. But in all honesty, that band died with the folks who unfortunately died in McComb, MS, as far as I'm concerned. I don't blame the survivors and company for going out there and making a living. Building a brand is hard, and asking them to just never do any of that music again is silly. I ain't mad them for taking what was obviously on the table. But as to why the audience buys it all these years later, I guess nostalgia is a helluva drug.

Lynyrd Skynyrd beat them to the punch on this one; they are already in a box, unless you want to make some tortured argument about Rickey Medlocke.

So I picked up a 2009 VHT 2/50/2 Power amp for running my Tone King Imperial and Friedman IR-X through just to try something new. I had planned on getting into the whole Synergy thing next year, but a fellow on TGP offered to sell me a SYN2 with Tone King Imperial and Marshall JMP modules, a Syn 5050 power amp, a Live Wire 9 outlet power conditioner (this ain't fancy, but it's at least better than remembering a power strip), and a Gator Rack case for $1900 shipped. I couldn't pass that up, so I "loaned" myself the money out of savings knowing I'd have at least a redundant power amp and the Tone King Imperial module to sell. What I'm trying to figure out is which power amp to sell. VHT 2502 Pros - Separate volumes, presence, and depth knobs and separate hi/low signal and voice buttons for each channel. Separate Class A/Class AB switches for each channel. Cons - Built in 2009. Looks pretty good inside, but it's bound to need a cap job sooner than later. The two tubes for Channel B (12AX7/12AU7 complement) cracked in shipping, which gives me a touch of gear hypochondria that something else may be lurking to fail at some point. Cannot be bridged, so no more than 50 watts (class A) to a single speaker (this is more theoretical than anything because it's not like I'm using the 50 watts available to begin with). The lack of bridging makes it easy to accidentally flip Channel B on without a load when not running two cabs. This is a user error thing, but things happen on a dark stage. In fact, I have already blown one fuse, haha. Heavy and takes up two rack spaces. Incidental - EL34 Power Section Synergy 5050 Pros - Lighter, and only takes up one rack space. It's a newer unit that was serviced before shipping. These are also designed and built by Fryette, so the quality is there. Brigable to 100 watts, which also takes Channel B out of the mix (no accidental fuse blowings or worse if you hit the wrong standby). Cons - While there are volumes for each side, presence and depth are universal. There are also no options for A vs. AB, voicing, or hi/low signal. Incidental - 6L6 Power Section. Also only uses a 12AX7 as a phase inverter for each channel, rather than the 12AX7 for the same purpose in the 2502 but with an additional 12AU7 for each channel as a line driver. Overall, neither sucks, and this is a high class problem to have. The VHT is older gear with all the ups and downs of that, and it weighs 10 more pounds (though a lot of that weight is in the transformers I'm guessing, which is not for nothing). The Synergy is newer with a more recent service but is not as flexible in many ways. Even today, the Fryette 2502 is pretty much the same as the VHT badged ones, and they still cost a bit more. And it does sound really good - just smooth, clean power for days. But the Syn 5050 sounds pretty nice too. Either way, one needs to go, and I was curious what the opinions around here are.

They ain't chuggin'. They doomin'. I occasionally enjoy some doom metal if I'm feeling particularly heretical that day. I'm guessing that makes me and Saul about the only people here who do, lol.

Given Blackmore's legendary ego, I think it's awesome he got up there. He seemed to be quite aware that he wasn't going to blow anyone away. Good on him to give Ian GIllan a call and just getting up there, and good on Ian for making it happen. I'm not even a huge Deep Purple fan, but they are one of the Big Three of heavy music to me. That's a helluva legacy. I guess what I'm saying is that most of us picked up an instrument joined an ensemble of some type because it's fun to make a thing with friends, especially when it turns out that thing is really good. Good reminder that most of the "bullshit" that gets between us over the years really isn't all that important in most cases and that it's kind of dumb going to grave never trying to get a little bit of that original joy back if it's just a phone call away. And I think one of the benefits of being our age on this board is that we can watch that and get it, whereas when I was 20, I probably wouldn't have. Now I should probably go give my Mom a phone call, haha.

This rambling interview (really more of a recorded hang) with Reinhold Bogner is great. I'm glad he's doing a little bit more publicly lately. The guy seems flighty on the surface, but he's really just a very based guy. He definitely seems to care more about making exactly what he wants more than chasing sales numbers. It's refreshing and really makes me rethink selling my Atma. Teaching strategic communication for the last 10 years has made me really jaundiced toward all things "brand," but ole Reinhold is a good reminder that there still are people who just enjoy making high quality things that other people enjoy and prioritize that over milking every last drop of equity out of the name. I reckon I enjoy being a part of that. Also watched the Paul Di'Anno documentary Sunday. Pretty sad watch, and the scene where they do the knee replacement is harrowing. I've known so many musicians like this - lifers with all the talent in the world who never could get out of their own way. Guy had a perfect voice for metal, and it was largely still intact. But he just wasn't equipped to be anything but a trainwreck. I'm not an absolute Maiden nut (love what I love by them though) or a Di'Anno head, but I'm glad someone captured his story. It's definitely a chapter of 20th Century music lore worth preserving.

Sometimes, legendary assholes make legendary pedals. As much as I tried to get away from my MDV-2, it's just the shit. The closest vibe I've bought to it that suits my ear is the Lovepedal Vibronaut, and it is great for a small board. But nothing beats have a treadle on one of these things for the full effect.

I'm running an IR-X and a TK Imperial on a board. I plan to get a Synergy with a BE/BB module (that Buxom Betty clean on the BE-50 Deluxe is the best part of that amp, and that's saying something) and probably a Fryette Pitbull to stick in a rack with the VHT 2502. The TK-Imp and IR-X are just killer for jams, fly-dates (all one or two of those a year I do, lol), or just any situation where you need a really portable set-up. Correct!

Matthew Hughes

...I went to the darkside. Bought a VHT Two-Fifty-Two power amp to run the Imperial/IR-X preamp setup through and even through a CE-2w in to throw into the CE-1 setting and do a just-barely-chorus for a stereo set-up. Selling off several heads and probably going to a Synergy Syn2 module set-up soon enough. I also have the Banker build finishing (hopefully) this fall and just bought an engagement ring, so that has hit the old bank account, but I'm hopeful I've accounted for everything well enough. I'm really enjoying these modular and/or pedal-format preamps. Just enough software to be able to do a few cool things while keeping a mostly analog work-flow is kind of the best of both worlds for us dinosaurs too stupid and hardheaded for something like a quad cortex.

Everyone needs vices, and guitars have been far less troublesome than food, drugs, and strange.

Chris Wyse. He's played for a gazillion people, including Mick Jagger and Ozzy. He was playing with The Cult when I saw them back in 2006.