It’s been a while since my last episode, but I am Back! Episode Seven features Paul Hanson, Boss Clinician and host of Boss Tone Radio.  Paul is a true musician. He understands and applies music theory, writes and records his own music, and he has amassed a backlog of stories! In one of the most interesting interviews featured on our show yet, Paul talks with us about a variety of topics from working as a guitar coach on the movie “Back To The Future” to the column he wrote for Boss and Guitar World Magazine called “The Pedals That Make The Tone“. Paul was once an instructor for GIT (Musicians Institute for those of you who were not guitar players in the 80′s like me) and has worked with and influenced a lot of the players we know today. Paul also writes and records his own music, the latest of which is available for free on CDBaby.com.

Need your Rock and Metal Fix? Don’t forget to visit www.castironring.com to get the best Rock and Metal shows the net has to offer!

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Zoom H2n

Happy Cyber Monday! I know I am not the first person to offer a holiday gift guide, but I plan on approaching it from a slightly different angle. For starters, ask your self a few questions about the guitarist on your Christmas list. Are they in an active band? What Kind of music do they like to play? Do you ever listen to them and think “That is just noise!”? Are they more traditional? Would you consider them “Artistic”?

Answering these questions will point you on the right track to finding the perfect gift for the guitarist on your list. To help the decision making along a little more I have a few suggestions based on the questions above.

Capturing Ideas -

If the guitarist on your list is in an active band, almost anything from strings and picks

Zoom Q3 HD

to a new guitar strap would be a great gift. But let’s look at this from a different point of view. To be a successful band you need to have great songs and a rabid fan base, so how about a way to record your ideas? Two suggestions come to mind for this. The Zoom H2n audio recorder and The Zoom Q3HD Video recorder.

When you have a band, the best way to improve and write more material is to record yourself. The Zoom H2n is around $199 at most retailers is an updated version the Zoom H2. It is easy to use and has great mics. I use mine to capture ideas on my acoustic or electric guitar. What I have learned to do is talk through what I am doing and how I am playing it so when I listen back, I can reproduce what I recorded. Another way I use the H2 is to record face to face interviews for my podcast. Since the Zoom has multiple mics, you can set it to record from both the front and back mics at the same time and set the reorder between the people who are talking. Once you have your recording you can easily transfer it to your computer (Mac or PC) via USB.

The Zoom Q3HD has the same great audio recording that the H2n offers PLUS it adds HD Video. Street price is normally $299. The bonus to this unit is that you can shut off the video and use it just as an audio recorder. I used one recently to record some video at a guitar show. You can see the videos on my YouTube Channel.

Creative Ideas -

A new piece of gear can sometimes stimulate the creative process for a musician, even

Spider Capo

a small one. A couple years ago I discovered a few special capos that let you get more than the standard capo. One that I really Enjoyed is the Spider Capo. The Spider Capo retails for around $30, which is pricey for most capos, but not for this one. What the Spider lets you do is Capo individual strings in any combination. Think of it as being able to re-tune your guitar on the fly. Add in some open tunings and the possibilities are endless.

Another capo that I found unique was Bob Kilgore’s Harmonic Capo. What this capo does is play a constant harmonic at the 12th fret. Musically it adds a great ambiance to what you are playing. At $34.95, it is again more than a regular capo, but for what it does musically it is worth adding to the capo collection.

Make Some Noise -

If you have a musician on your list that makes music that sounds more like “noise” to

Boss Feedbacker/Booster

you than music, then a new effects pedal would make a great gift. Boss recently introduced a new pedal that will let you add feedback to your sound at any time called the Feedbacker/Booster (FB-2). I am really happy to see this pedal come to market. The last pedal like this was the DF-2, Super Distortion Feedbacker back in the 80′s. I am on a quest to find one, and the FB-2 just might delay that quest.

For some serious noise and tones that no one will be able to duplicate look to Death By Audio. Death by audio came to my attention through a Guitar World article a few years ago. These pedals are custom made and very unique. Take some time to explore the site and listen to the demos to find that perfect pedal. These pedals are at the top of my wish list.

The Every Day Gift -

My last gift idea is a twist on something that guitarists use every day, the guitar pick. Why not do something unique and get the guitarist on your list their own custom guitar picks from Clayton Custom. A buddy of mine at work ordered custom picks to announce the birth of his son, which I though was a pretty cool idea. You can do everything from simple text to custom graphics.

Happy Holiday Shopping!

How The Fender Bass Changed The World

If you are a regular reader of this blog then you probably already know that 2011 is the anniversary of the Fender Precision Bass. You probably also know that I am bass player and have been playing a Fender P-bass since 1985. With those two facts in mind it probably won’t surprise you that in honor of the 60th anniversary of the Fender P-bass I decided to read author Jim Roberts book “How The Fender Bass Changed The World“.

Jim Roberts is name well known in the bass playing community mostly for the fact that he was the editor of what was at one time the only publication of it’s kind: Bass Player Magazine. The book was copyrighted in 2001, and despite that fact it still remains remarkably relevant. Jim opens the book up with a pre-history of the electric bass, which nicely frames just how important Leo Fender’s invention really was. It also points out that contrary to popular belief, Leo Fender did not build the first electric bass. Leo did however build the first commercially successful electric bass. And as Jim points out, he changed the world with that success.

Until I read this book there were a lot of things I took for granite. For example, I thought that the electric bass has the same long illustrious history as the electric guitar. I did not realize that by the time I picked a P-bass for the first time, the instrument itself was really only 23 years old itself. Which also means that the people teaching me to play, were still learning the instruments capabilities themselves. I also took for granite the freedom I had with the bass, both in a physical sense and a melodic sense.

The book did a great job of tying in the cultural events of each decade that paralleled the development of the electric bass. It did such a great job of breaking down the development of the bass that I have found myself listening to the 5o’s, 60′s, 70′s and 80′s channels on XM and comparing the bass lines. I have heard a majority of the music featured on those channels before, but I never noticed how different the bass sounded in each decade until now. By the end of the 50′s it is almost like a switch was thrown. The bass was all of the sudden in the foreground.

Jim also points out how a lot of the breakthroughs in  electric bass playing were actually made by upright bass players who made the jump to electric because of the freedom of the instrument. One of the most notable players being James Jamerson, who played on countless Motown recordings. His bass lines are infamous among bass players and have been studied the world over.

On thing that fell Jim did not explore was the impact that the Fender bass had on upright players. In the early days of the electric bass Jim talked about how a lot of upright players made the jump to electric. They made the jump because they saw the electric as a more versatile instrument. Something I have noticed in the last two decades is electric players taking those electric techniques (ironically enough, techniques inspired and created by the first upright gone electric players) back to the upright bass. Take for Example Mike Silverman, AKA “That One Guy“. He is an upright Jazz bassists who evolved his instrument to a two string almost sculpture like instrument. A very ELECTRIC instrument. Mike Silverman has been very influenced by the electric players of our time, and he carried that influence into the Magic Pipe.

The bottom line is that this book is a must read for any bassist. It provides a music history lesson as well as an insight into how the instrument has developed over the years. Anyone who plays bass, guitar, or just enjoys the pop music of the last 4 decades will thoroughly enjoy this book.

Aaron with Mike Watt

Since 2006, I have been on a mission to see Mike Watt perform live. On Sunday April 10th 2011 I accomplished that mission. Mike Watt and the Missingmen played at the Brillo Box in Pittsburgh, and it was an amazing show. What made it Amazing?

For starters, as I walked up to the club,  my buddy pointed out that Mike was just chilling out in front of the club talking with fans. He was surrounded by a small crowd who were clearly thrilled at the opportunity to chatting with him. He was completely at home. This is someone who truly appreciates his fan base. He didn’t turn anyone away and no one mobbed him. The fans were just as appreciative of him as he was of them.

Next, when I interviewed Mike for the Iron City Rocks Podcast I learned that Mike was Planning on performing his latest album “Hyphenated Man” in it’s entirety. And that fact right there says a lot about Mike and His approach to music. Most artists today with a large back catalog will put out a new Album with one or two

Aaron Meeting Mike Watt

decent songs that make it to the live show. The live show in turn will normally be padded with the “hits” and feature a lot of old material. Most Artists….but not Mike Watt. Mike appraoches his music much like Bach or Mozart would have, write a complete work and then perform it.

If I had to sum up what Mike Watt and the Missingmen sound like, I would call it “Punk Jazz”. That term does the music a disservice however, because it is so much more than that. Mike’s bass style is a cross between Miles Davis and James Jamerson. He can complicated busy lines like Miles, or just pull back and groove like James. The band plays so well together, they feed of each others energy. Another thing that amazed me that evening was the control that the band had over their dynamics. They would be raging on hard, loud and fast and then stop on a dime and slow down to a quiet whisper.

The more I go to see shows, the more I find myself delighted by the local openers. And so another treat of the evening was the opening act, a local band called The Neighbors. I really enjoyed their energy and sound. They were a refreshing take on 80′s alt-pop, without sounding dated. I look forward to hearing more music from them in the future.

Aaron with Mike Watt's Van

As you may have noticed, I not only had my picture taken with Mike, but also with the Van. Mike’s van is almost a legendary as he is, and so I posed for a picture with the Van. And on that note I leave you with a video of Mike discussing his van. Enjoy!