Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame

Quite nice!

To be fair, Google changes swaps "dick" for "penis" in all the non-HFC results. So you get the most results of you Google "Hamer bubs_42 dick"

There is a difference between "one note" and "one fret". Sometimes I see people blurring or ignoring that difference. Discuss.

If I'm going to do a one-note solo, I think I would chose F#. Largely because it isn't part of the d minor scale, which is the saddest of all keys, I find.

Not sure if any of these qualify: Alannah Myles. She's known because of "Black Velvet", but she has some excellent guitar songs throughout her library. ATF (After the Fire). Known for "Der Kommissar", or at least for the non-Falco version. Absolute definition of a one-hit wonder. But the rest of the album had some great songs, great lyrics, great guitar work. A little investigation into their past (the Power of the Internet!) a year or so ago turned up that they started as progressive rock band, and actually had at least one credible tune in that style (haven't been able to uncover any complete albums from that era of their existence), and then turned New Wave. Probably the only New Wave band I liked...later analysis helped me realize: it is because they have a prominent guitar role...for me, if it doesn't have guitar, I don't really like it. Darrell Mansfield. Christian artist, but does some of the best blues harp, blues rock, and even hard rock out there. In my opinion, should have made it big.

It's not the size of the LP collection, it's how you use it. Wait, is this the Outer Circle?

This. The number of bands that I can't stand because of the singer (GnR, Zep, Oasis, REM) is staggering...maybe more rock bands should do instrumentals.

Was it to buy a guitar stand? I can't think of a good enough snappy comeback...

Feynman cut in line in front of me once.

You now have the story recorded for posterity. I'm putting together my first documentary. I've already learned alot. If you ever want to do a documentary regarding Hamer guitars, let me know. I'm game to do the filming and editing.

That is my thumb, by the way. First time I've used the camera hand-held... I'm very pleased with how the sound turned out, tho. As clear as if you were sitting right there.

It will have to be later. I have a deadline I need to get some work done on. Sorry... On the bright side: it extends the enjoyment!

Isn't that what message boards were created for?

Just in case my disclaimer was unclear: all my criticisms were tongue-in-cheek. I am actually impressed with her ability. I like her voice, she plays an instrument (which always makes me a fan), and she chose a good tune. If I had one actual criticism of her, it would be that with her voice, she should be doing hair-band stuff. She needs 20 years of whiskey and smoking before she could do AC/DC vocal stylings any real justice. But I still enjoyed the performance with the window minimized.

Disappointed. I expected a ukelele rendition of this:

All I can say is, most singers think only the singer is important, they think that whatever and however they sing, the band should follow them. Most singers need a band to play with. This young lady does fine playing with herself and posting the video on YouTube for everyone to watch.

Okay, someone's gotta do it: I've seen 8-year-olds smile more she did. She looked bored. Her phrasing and/or intonation sucked. Did I miss any? (full disclosure: Just like the 8-year-old we joke-trashed previously, she displays more talent in one video than I have my entire life. Please don't take statements on a message board as always fully representative of my true views. I see no reason to let truth stand in the way of a good smartass joke. Or, sometimes, even a ridiculously bad smartass joke. Or a dumb-ass joke, for that matter)

I had always been a musician, starting from learning to play songs on our family's little "magnus chord organ" and a songbook, progressing to singing along with anything/everything, playing the recorder in 3rd grade, teaching myself to play "The Entertainer" on the piano in 4th grade, taking a year of piano lessons in the 5th grade, and then joining choir and band (trumpet) from the 5th grade on. As a senior in High School, I house-sat at someone's place for a coupla weeks. They had a 12-string guitar and a basic book, so I taught myself the basic chords. Then they needed a bassist for the local Juco production of "Annie", so I borrowed a bass and learned the whole damn score, only to have them decide they wanted me on trumpet more, and used the keyboard for the bass part. I bought a bass my freshman year of college, and within the first half hour of owning it, I sat down and learned "Don't Stop Believing". I grabbed "Guitar for the Practicing Musician" with bass lines for cool songs, but mostly learned by jamming with some local musicians and learning songs by ear. Within a few years I was good enough for the 2nd jazz band, and bought some books to teach me walking bass so I could comp lines based on the symbols instead of just the ones with notes written out. I dated a girl who had a classical guitar and one time when she was at work I sat down and learned the first 3 songs in her classical book. So I bought a classical guitar. I took 2 classical lessons and couldn't afford to continue. I noticed that even on a classical guitar, everything I played sounded like rock. Then I roomed with a guy who had a strat copy he didn't play much, and got a job working nights at a hotel at the same time, so I started trying to learn to play lead electric guitar. My first electric was a Harmony Flying V copy, the 2nd was a Sebring superstrat, and the rest is even more boring history. Oh, wait, did you mean you only wanted the fantastic players to answer? Sorry...

I have 2 or 3 dozen of every carvin you can imagine + about 200 other guitars ranging from Hamers Dah? to Greg Fessler made Strats, Suhr, Colling and Zemaitis etc. Carvins are great guitar 90+% of the time. pots and pickups can be upgraded after you get it to make it a superb instrument. This is my 2 Cents If you have that many guitars, you should add 1-2 Jon Kammerers to your collection. Great guitars. Tell 'em Nathan sent you.

This has made me think about getting a Carvin, now. There is no better way to get exactly what I would want: ebony fretboard, HSS, Floyd Rose, black hardware: easy. But to specify Swamp Ash body, no fretboard inlays, and a ruby over AAA quilted maple with blackburst edges? You could wait a lifetime before seeing that on eBay, and of course I'm not getting that from Westone or Hamer, both of them being defunct. I guess Jon Kammerer could do it for me, as well, but that would be Custom, and as such would be more expensive.

I kinda liked Carvin's pickups. I had a self-build (not built by me) Bolt that rocked, still regret selling. I also had a cherry burst bolt with an ebony fretboard that I still regret selling. But I picked up a few older Carvins from eBay at good prices, and they were all falling apart. Compared to "can buy with confidence" you get from built-like-a-tank used Hamers, I just gave up on them. The ones that were in new condition all seemed slightly overpriced when compared to other decent quality used guitars like Peavey Vandenbergs, Alvarezes, Westones, etc, that are all slightly less quality than Hamer, but much less expensive. So if I had $500 to spend, I'd rather sniff out a few used Yamahas or Westones, or wait around for a beat-up appearance but functionally flawless Hamer USA shredder than a used Carvin. If I had $1000+ to spend, I'd rather wait around for a pretty much mint Hamer USA or get a brand new Jon Kammerer guitar than a new Carvin. But I'd jump on a $300 mint Carvin if someone angry woman was selling her ex-'s guitars in a revenge sale.

I have made no secret of the fact that I like Styx, After the Fire, and to those I will add that I really like the Xanadu soundtrack.

Right. Catharsis vs mood alteration I'm convinced that Metallica got me through my late-teen angst w/o a suicide attempt because I got to scream along with Fade To Black instead of actually making everything fade to black. But when I want to pull myself out of a bad mood, I often go with upbeat jazz forms, whether fusion, dixieland, big band, or Latin. If not, then upbeat 80s-style rock. It is difficult for me to give specifics, because those are mostly mid-/late-90s Chinese pop stars... I used to separate my music by mood, but the "Down" folder very nearly caused a divorce, so I stopped doing that.

This. TOTALLY THIS. Great job Zen. A coupla Super V orders coming SD's way from the UK Wow Kevin, that is waaay cool. Just to let you know... it is a vintage output pickup... has a good bit less power than a JB or DD (sort of on the level of a Seth Lover or '59). I probably could have raised the height of the pickup to give it a little more power but I just kept it at a decent distance from the strings anyway. The Super V (despite it's many unique and excellent qualities), is low output sort of like his Screamin' Demon... not what a lot of people expect attached to a name like George Lynch, but it's just the reality. It's like crossing a Seth Lover with the easy pinch harmonics of a JB and the tightness of a Distortion. There does seem to be a notch in the lower frequencies which allows the midrange texture to be so detailed and sort of high resolution. Man, I can honestly say that I didn't even think of that... Gold would look soooo sweet and it could have matched my guitar which has gold hardware. F**k, I should have asked for gold!!! That's the main reason why so much of the video is in B&W. I didn't want the chrome to clash visually with the gold hardware. Hey Jim, If you don't have an X3 Live, I don't think the download will work... I'm not really sure of that but I am going to assume that the CustomTone patches aren't interchangeable, backwards or forwards compatible. Patch is a 1968 Plexi Jump Lead: Bass -27% Mids-100% Treble-66% Presence-87% Gain-100% Cabinet is 4x12 Greenbacks & Microphone is 57 (off axis) backed off of the cone with 35% room tone EQ is -12db @50Hz +3.8db @500Hz +5.2db @ 900Hz +5.2db @2kHz Delay is 400ms with a pretty heavy modulation (speed 68% depth 72%) and pretty decent feedback at 46%. The mic is set low at 24% where you don't actually hear an audible repeat but it blends in with the reverb. Reverb is a vintage plate with a big Pre Delay of 56% Decay at 43% Tone at 100% and mix pretty high at 74% Of course, that is only in the left channel submixed to mono. The Princeton Reverb + pedals is what's in the left channel... the blend of the two is what makes the "phantom center". I did a batch of recordings as sort of a preparation for the video review. These recordings have no modeling and is just my Princeton Reverb with SM57 in the left channel and the AKG 414EB in the right channel. It's most of the stuff I did for the video except for "The Hunter" I think. Gives a great insight into how much the modeler adds. I did process the finish result of the video through Ozone 5 and Slate FG-X Mastering plug-ins but the Princeton only tracks off of Soundcloud are unmastered and not as loud. I LOOOOOVE the sound I get from my pedalboard + Princeton and 2 microphones... highly addictive tone for sure... makes me not turn on my modeler much unless I am recording. http://soundcloud.com/zenmindbeginner/sets/seymour-duncan-custom-shop-1 Badgerplex? Wha . . . ?Must google immediately But first, absofrigginglutely decimating playing, ZMB. Damn! Thank you sir! The Badgerplex AC pedal is a faithful recreation of the Maestro EP-3 preamp circuit. It's a FET based preamp with a 180 degree phase shift that imparts a sort of 3D character to the signal. The preamp also leans out my sound a tick while providing some extra grit to my tone. Makes harmonics just JUMP off of the fretboard and gives single notes a "life" and vibrance to them. I like a nice upper midrange edge with an accentuated pick attack and midrange "bloom" with the plain strings. The Badgerplex preamps are just right up my alley. And since it's AC... it doesn't utilize a charge pump to boost the internal voltage up to 22 or 23 volts which is what the original Maestro EP-3 preamp section used. Of course, I am describing a subtle effect and not some overwhelming change to my tone... I am not planning on looking for another magic box though, the Badgerplex AC is the real deal. ClinchFX makes an almost identical product although utilizes a charge pump to boost the voltage from 9 volts to 22 volts like the other non AC versions of the Badgerplex PRE pedals. I'm not a stupid guy. But it is going to take me 10 years to understand everything you said here. And I don't think 10 years would be enough for me to learn to play like you did in the video. Impressive! Got any original guitar instrumentals on YouTube anywhere?