Trey Anastasio: Phish Summer 2021 Guitar Rig Tour

Guitarist Trey Anastasio explains the effects, amps and what-not he used during the Phish Summer tour. He did one in 2012, shown during intermission at Madison Square Garden in New York.

He will be on the road with the Trey Anastastio Band, kicking off in Portland on September 17.

• 09/17 Portland, ME @ Thompson’s Point
• 09/18 Boston, MA @ Leader Bank Pavilion
• 09/19 New Haven, CT @ Westville Music Bowl
• 09/21 Philadelphia, PA @ The Met
• 09/22 Charlottesville, VA @ Ting Pavilion
• 09/24 Wilmington, NC @ Riverfront Park Amphitheater
• 09/25 Charlotte, NC @ Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre
• 09/26 Asheville, NC @ Rabbit Rabbit
• 09/28 Columbus, OH @ Express Live Outdoors
• 09/29 Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE Outdoors
• 10/01 Washington, DC @ Anthem
• 10/02 New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
• 10/03 New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall

» trey.com

Todd Rundgren: rig rundown

Watch Todd Tundgeren discussing his guitars for a rig rundowwn for Premier Guitar. His band mates Jesse Gress (guitar) and Kasim Sulton (bass) weigh in as well.

For this tour, Todd Rundgren left behind the big stage show and truckloads of gear and opted for a string of streamlined, intimate performances spanning his entire career. To make the show happen, he toured with just two guitars—his longtime No. 1 is this MIJ ’80s Fernandes P-Project “super strat.” As he tells in the video, the industry was much different in the late 1980s. He toured Japan just before the ’90s started, and he was gifted with a pile of Fernandes guitars. He took some of them back to the States and sat on them for years. He eventually got curious and started a tone shootout between all the freebies. This seafoam green model emerged victorious and was bestowed the obvious name, “Foamy.” He never really used tone knob or switches, so he had those disconnected and now it has a single volume control and a 5-way toggle. He uses D’Addario NYXL .010–.046 strings and always tunes to E.

» todd-rundgren.com

Geddy Lee’s Big Beautiful Book Of Bass

Coming in December: Geddy Lee’s Big Beautiful Book Of Bass, a lavishly illustrated book by the Rush bassist about the history of the instrument. Geddy Lee also interviewed fellow bassists John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), Adam Clayton (U2), Robert Trujillo (Metallica), Bill Wyman (The Rolling Stones), Les Claypool (Primus) and Bob Daisley (Black Sabbath, Rainbow). The book is available for preorder via Harper Collins.

Colin Robinson: The Rhythmicon - a software alternative

English musician Colin Robinson, mastermind o one-man band avant-garde act Jumble Hole Clough, made a software version of The Rhythmicon, the first drum machine. He posted a demo on YouTube:

The Rhythmicon was the first electronic drum machine, invented by Henry Cowell in 1930 and built by Léon Theremin in 1931. More than a drum machine, it was a polyrhythm generator. It was said that the Rhythmicon was wonderful in every respect, except that it did not work.

I have made a quick and dirty soft polyrhythm generator based on the Rhythmicon, using Mixcraft 8.1 Pro and a Novation Launchpad Mini. Here's a short demo.

» Jumble Hole Clough on Facebook

Jon Fishman: The Drummer's Resource interview

The Drummer's Resource has posted a two-part interview (one and two) with Phish drummer Jon Fishman. The interview is part of their podcast series and was conducted by Nick Ruffini. It is all over the place, but those three hours fly by.

End of the line for Gibson?

Gibson Custom Jimmy Page Number Two Les Paul

Legendary guitar manufacturer Gibson may be going down if the commpany fails to meet demands from its creditors:

Gibson Brands, Inc. today announced that the company made a $16.6 million coupon payment to holders of its $375 million, 8.875% senior secured notes due 2018.

Nashville Post reporter Geert De Lombaerde about the financial hassle crippling the company:

That simple statement issued a week ago — at all of 26 words, it’s less than a quarter the length of Gibson’s boilerplate company description that accompanied it — suggests a business-as-usual tone of a company taking care of its contractual commitments.

Vintage Synth timeline

Synth geeks might want to have a look at the Vintage Synth Explorer Timeline. It'snot exhaustive, but it's high on trivia and well-written. The oldest entry is for the Chamberlin Rhythmate, a drum machine made in 1949:

The Chamberlin Rhythmate has the distinction of being the first drum machine ever produced. Only around ten were made by Harry Chamberlin from his Upland, California garage back in 1949. Some have said that the Wurlitzer Sideman was the first drum machine, but Chamberlin's invention preceded it by ten years.

The Rhythmate uses a 1" magnetic tape loop which is read by a tape head that can be moved up or down to play back 14 separate drum patterns. The tempo is adjusted by moving a spindle up or down which affects the speed of the tape moving across the head. The Rhythmate has a built-in amplifier and 12" speaker.

Trey Anastasio's guitar tech Brian Brown retires in 2018

Brian Brown, the guitar tech who has been taking care of Trey Anastasio's gear for more than 20 years, calls it quits later this year. From Trey Anastasio's Guitar Rig:

After over 2 decades working for the Phish organization as guitar tech to Trey Anastasio, fan favorite Brian Brown will be retiring in 2018. Brown, 65, has worked as a tech in the industry for 40 years. He explained that the physical toll of the profession has contributed to his decision to retire, including the “heavy lifting, truck loading, [and] 14 hour workdays.” Combining his 10 years as a musician to 40 as a tech, Brown says, “I’ve been setting up concert gigs for 50 years… since I was 15 years old,” adding “Mother Nature is telling me to slow down.”

Trey Anastasio: gear overhaul for NYE run

Phish is preparing for four nights at Madison Square Garden in New York for their annual NYE run. Guitarist Trey Anastasio will be using some new toys as part of a complete overhaul of his set-up. The gear heads at Trey Anastasio's Guitar Equipment have a complete rundown of the cahnges:

The good folks at Custom Audio Electronics, newly relocated in Rock Lititz, PA, released some photos of their rebuild of Trey’s rig in advance of the MSG NYE shows, and it was truly a complete overhaul. The entire midi-switching core of Trey’s rig is brand new, new pedals are in play, and old favorites have returned.

» phish.com

Justin Johnson: how to play the shovel guitar

Justin Johnson was interviewed by Dockyard Guitar and explains how to play the shovel guitar. The instrument was built for him by Mississippi Blues Guitars.

Warren Haynes: Slide Techniques videos

Guitarist Warren Haynes sheds some light on his slide techniques on Reverb.com. He prefers using standard tuning, rather than utilizing opening tuning.

Marco Minnemann's drum set-up

Drummer Marco Minnemann (The Aristocrats, Joe Satriani, Steven Wilson, The Mute Gods) posted a photo of his drum set-up:

Here's the drum set-up you hear on pretty much 99% of the recordings I'm on. It's a custom made DW Jazz series kit, and a hammered 14"x5" Ludwig Black Beauty snare. Cymbals vary and are all Zildjians. Oh yeah and that ride cymbal is a custom made platinum alloy 20", which sounds really unique and lovely. Hope you enjoyed the little geek out.

» marcominnemann.com

David Crosby discussing his acoustic guitar collection

Watch David Crosby talking about his guitar collection in an interview with Acoustic Guitar Magazine. Bittersweet memories about his "1939 Herringbone he traded for “substances” during his years in the grips of a $1,000-a-day cocaine and heroin addiction".

Justin Johnson: playing a 3-String Shovel Guitar

Now dig this: Justin Johnson plays a 3-String Shovel Guitar, built by Mississippi Blues Guitars.

» justinjohnsonlive.com

Guitars & Things with Kaki King

Kaki King has launched Guitars & Things, a video series of guitar masterclasses. In the first to episodes she discusses the tuning and used techniques for Carmine Street and Skimming the Fractured Surface... . Exclusive content is available for those who support her via Patreon.

Andee Black: Dane Sonnier in Dm

Once again NYC guitarist Andee Black asked his Facebook friends to call out a key and tempo. He would the write a tune, name it after the first respondent, and put it on Youtube. Ladies and gentlemen: Dane Sonnier in Dm, who also requested a 85bpm tempo. It's a dreamy, prog metal instrumental on electric and acoustic guitar.

» Andee Black on Facebook

Adrian Belew: 1984 Electronic Guitar Instructional Video

Watch Adrian Belew explain his use of guitar effects in a 1984 instructional video. Geek alert: he uses a A/DA Flanger, an Electro-Harmonix Octave Multiplexer, an Electro-Harmonix 16 Second Digital Delay, an Electro-Harmonix Frequency Analyzer, 2 Foxx Tone Machine Fuzzes, a Boss DM-2 Delay, an Electro-Harmonix Micro Synthesizer, an MXR Dyna Comp, a Pitch-Voltage Synthesizer, 3 Boss Volume Pedals, 2 MXR 10 band graphic equalizers, a Roland GR-300 Guitar Synthesizer, a Boss pedal switcher, an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff, an Electro-Harmonix Foot Controller, a tape loop machine and an Electro-Harmonix Stereo Polychorus.

» adrianbelew.net

(thanks: Matt Stevens)

Tennis Rock-it by Henk Rijckaert

Flemish comedian and avid DIY builder Henk Rijckaert has posted the instructions on how to build your own "Tennis Rock-it":

Sooner or later, every child pretends that his tennis racket is a real-life guitar that you can actually play. Imagining endless encores, we all play on the stage of our bunk bed for screaming audiences going wild.

That’s why I made this tennis racket into an electric guitar: as a noisy tribute to the ten year old boy standing in front of the mirror, jamming on air and dreaming of being the next guitar hero.

Does it work? Well, kind of. And here he is playing Enter Sandman for the Belgian radio station Studio Brussel.

Full instruction (in Flemish) here.

» henkrijckaert.be

Guitar Moves with Keith Richards: "The Acoustic Guitar Is the Most Important"

Watch Keith Richards being interviewed by Matt Sweeney for the Guitar Moves Series @ Electric Lady in NYC.

» keithrichards.com

Trent Reznor & The Haxan Cloak: Archetype Of A Synthesizer

Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) tells about his love for the Minimoog Voyager and its follow-up model, the Mother-32. Reznor in Rolling Stone:

"From my own perspective, I can't overestimate how important the Voyager has been. It managed to satisfy any mini-Moog need I had. I see it everywhere I go, and I always have one in backup in case something might happen because it's part of every project I've ever done. The end.

The interview is set to a score made by British electronic music producer The Haxan Cloak.

» nin.com
» The Haxan Cloak
» moogmusic.com