NC Tone Fest

Stike

Stike

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Dropped by the NC Triangle area tone fest today. There were loads of high dollar amps there Bogners Germinos, 65, Top Hats, Dr. Z's, Fuch's, Two Rock, Splawn, Aiken, Guytron, Bargin Forgeaux.......okay just kidding there but all the shit was pricey except for the hot rod Traynors which rocked quite nicely. Guitars I spied, some PRS, McInturff's, a couple JET's, Briggs, a Suhr that HHB has uber wood for, Tylers, a vintage Vantage(no shit), a couple Pauls and I drug a few Gadows out too. Most importantly there was plent of Eastern NC whole hog BBQ, YAYUH! Here's a small sampling of some of the toys.

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Most of the stuff was owned by private parties but 2 of the local indy high end dealers were there with some gear. Some of you guys may have done business with Stu Carter of Fat Sound and /or Eddie Berman of Indoor Storm, great guys, great stores and I'd highly recomend both of 'em for any high end gear.

As always had a good time hangin' with Brooks and HHB and got to meet Monocosis as well.

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Thanks to Brooks for his horns up for butter blocking the shot of my uber cool Mexican Shlitz Malt Liquor tshirt. /emoticons/default_wink.png

Truthfully I didn't really check too much stuff out. Made the mistake of first up plugging into the Germino 45(which was pretty much dimed I think) and after playing the intro to Hell Aint A Bad Place to Be, a bit of Riff Raff and Gone Shootin' I didn't need to hear no more, bad assed and no way I can afford it. Brooks followed up with a bit of Beatin' Around The Bush and Bill Drove it on home with a bit of Have A Drink On Me. Greg(Germino) by far stole the show when every body stood up to talk about/demo their stuff, think Wooderson.

I got GAS.

 
YOU got gas!!!!? At least you got to play thru a few of those sweethearts. Goes to show that a great HFC moment doesn't have to be a BIG one. Is that a PhatCat in the nck there, sir?

 
big fun! Greg Germino is a cool guy ( the other guy NOT eating meat LOL ) a real character , an awesome guitarist and makes the best marshellesque amp I've ever plugged into !!!! The Young Bro's test made everyone stop and take notice, from Stikes studio to my Taurus the 45 just killed, a stunning amp. You must hear the designer spank it w/ his LP R8 plaintop , straight in w/ killer bottle neck, yeah, Germino impressed me bigtime in everyway. The Suhr strat style calssic is really freakin good, and I was underwhelmed by the Eric Johnson strat bigtime, total GAS loss for that one ( for a change! )

 
YOU got gas!!!!? At least you got to play thru a few of those sweethearts. Goes to show that a great HFC moment doesn't have to be a BIG one. Is that a PhatCat in the nck there, sir?
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Naw it jes a cheepo Armstrong that happens to sound purty dang good, Pheaux Cat. TV Jones TV Tron in the Bridge, Brooks was diggin' it but it might just be the Germino. Once again did we mention it kicks more ass than a crosseyed Rockette?

 
Hey Bill,

Can you give some more detail on the Eric Johnson Strat? That's the first Strat that Fender has put out in about ten years that has even mildly gotten my interest. Not totally shocked that it was underwhelming, but I was expecting it to be something. What's it lacking?

Rich

 
Hey Bill,Can you give some more detail on the Eric Johnson Strat? That's the first Strat that Fender has put out in about ten years that has even mildly gotten my interest. Not totally shocked that it was underwhelming, but I was expecting it to be something. What's it lacking?

Rich
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I did'nt plug it in, just played acousticly to get the feel. The worst thing about it was the neck finish. I've been on a "well applied nitro" kick for the last year, my 82 Sunburst ( now in Wyldbils capable hands ) LP custom shop and TCM all have a really nice nitro finish. I played several Fender relics last week and loved their necks , the worn in nitro feels fantastic to me, anyway, the EJ strat's neck reminded me of 1977, finish everywhere, thick tinted finish that did not look like natural "age" at all, yellow goop instead. The neck shape was cool, soft V , but the quratersawn neck did not "pop" like ones in photos's, you had to really look to see the grain cut, the whole thing was a let down, the neck felt tacky like some of Gibsons worst nitro jobs in the mid 90's. This guitar had so much potential to feel great and can w/ elbow grease and TLC to get the neck finish to feel natural, but the I played did nothing but make me glad I bought a Daytona LOL

ps the Suhr on the other hand, damn, fine strat style fo sho!

 
Nice to finally meet some HFCers. After you left, Greg opened up the Germinos again. If anyone is looking for old school LP + Marshall tones, you can't do any better than these, IMO. Not my thing, but they were the best sounding amps there.

Props to Stike for some beautiful finishes on the Gadows. Really nice guitars by another NC builder.

mike

 
good to me ya Mike. sorry we had to run, it was a 5 hr drive home and I got a stinking speeding ticket to boot! there went that saturday's gig pay /emoticons/default_wink.png

 
Hi Bill,

Thanks for the info. The neck was my one concern on that guitar to begin with. I'm not a big fan of the 12" radius. Add a lousy feeling finish and that pretty much kills it. Too bad Fender can't just get it right.

Rich

 
Rich, my pleasure. I do feel like it could be really nice w/ the right attention, but I guess thats why the one's I liked sell for a grand more /emoticons/default_wub.png

ps you should email Poe, I'm just saying /emoticons/default_wink.png

 
big fun sunday. nice to see jeff terwilleger, sean folkes, & eddie berman again. always nice to hang w/ stike & the BBD boys. nice to meet fellow hfc'r monocosis.

highlight for me was also greg germino's talk and his killer amps. my ass was dragging after the 1st hour, as it was a long weekend of gigs, driving, and little sleep (those BBD guys are some snoring bastids, a-haha).

i'll post pics of my gig w/ BBD when i get a chance, i'm stuck in cary nc for 2 days training right now.

 
i'll post pics of my gig w/ BBD when i get a chance, i'm stuck in cary nc for 2 days training right now.
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They have to train you how to poke around in the forest?
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ha. you said poke.

naw, its for arc view (a geographical information system).

after poking around in the woods, i create maps on the computer

w/ autocad, arcview, and gps.

 
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naw, its for arc view (a geographical information system).

after poking around in the woods, i create maps on the computer

w/ autocad, arcview, and gps.
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Brooks,

I do ArcView all the time at work. I can show you how to find your house on a map and how to crash your computer in the same session. (Warning: These are advanced topics.) /emoticons/default_smile.png

mike

 
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