Blogging Ottinger (tim)

The Agile AD-2800 in Black Cherry with P90 pickups:

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As usual, the picture of the whole guitar (on the left) is also a link.

This is the prettiest low-cost P90 guitar I’ve seen, and I’ve only seen the pictures. I may have to make this my next Christmas present (planning ahead). I’m pretty much sold on the idea that I want the raunchy sound of a P90, and I want it to be affordable-yet-attractive. Ron’s done me well before.

Is this a gorgeous guitar or what? The PRS-like double-cut is practical as well as stylish, and there is a bevel to help you get up to the really high notes. I also think I might like the LP-style switch on the upper bout. I don’t know, though. It’s further out of reach of my hands. The headstock is a bit more stylish too. I like the black hardware and that it has separate tone and volume for each pickup (I’ll never buy two-knob guitars again).

I like the white/cream binding in particular. Before I got my GG5 CUS (black hollowbody) I never realized how much visual impact comes from the binding. Stepping out with either of these makes a good first impression (which I then have to maintain… maybe I should stick with ugly guitars?).

Black pickup covers are definitely my preference. I hate the white covers I keep seeing, like the ones on the Les Paul Gold Top guitars. The black blends in and lets the styling of the body and hardware stand out better. It doesn’t clash.

Got the album today. I decided to do a quick first impression of each song. Note that even if I read the lyrics, I’m never entirely sure what these songs are about.

I am not unhappy with the album by any measure, and I’m happy to have these songs in my collection. The album is easily worth the price and the anticipation. Edison Glass has such a wonderful way with layering rhythm, instruments, and voices and their arrangements and instrumentals are always excellent. I hope that this album does very well, indeed. While I was a little disappointed with the way the second half trailed off to softer and softer songs, there are plenty of high points in the 12-song project. I think that the album will provide me with a lot of enjoyment in “random shuffle” mode as well.

I will likely return to this post with more thoughts as the album has time to settle in, and especially as it merges into the regular rotation. It’s a very good sophomore project. My recommendation is “buy”.

The power supply for the zoom GFX8 multi-effects pedal is skimpy. It has a tiny, fragile two-conductor cable that runs to the pedal. There is a hard-rubber cover where it goes into the converter box, but it’s too hard and too short. Sure enough, the cable fails right where it runs into the block. It failed at rehearsal on Wednesday night.

I knew it would not last, though it’s made it for a few years. So I figure I can order one from any supply house. I flip it over and look at the specs. It produces (get this) 12VAC 500mA output. Note that it’s AC output, not DC. Also it’s neither nine nor eighteen volts. You are NOT going to find these in ready supply at a guitar store or catalog. In fact, I did not find them in ready supply. There are some about, but the product (Zoom AD0008D) has been discontinued. In a year or two, there probably won’t be any more around.

I hope that the newer zoom effects have standard power supplies, or at least better quality cables. I did order one, and if it’s not back-ordered or out of stock I should get it next week. In the meantime, I’ve lost nearly every effect I own. This is the second time that’s happened. The last time, it was also a multi-effect with a funky power supply. That one later failed from an internal wire break. Ah, the things we skimp on come back to bite us.

I got by on Sunday on just the two channels (clean/dirty) of my Crate “Club” series vintage tube amp, a great little amplifier by the way. That was not too bad, and actually it sounded better and more natural and warm than the effects from my Zoom. That’s to be expected since the Zoom is all digital effects. It has to sound a bit more synthetic than the all-tube genuine analog signal path.

I think I will swear off digital multi-effects. At least if I have individual pedals they will probably die out one at a time. If the power supplies go out I can use standard 9V or 18V DC power supplies which can be purchased at any guitar store. I could even use 9v batteries if I have to. That’s some operational survivability I don’t have now.

With the Zoom I have a boatload of presets that I can tweak and adjust and save, and I can switch between pre-built patch sets with a single button click and banks of four user-defined patches easily. That’s when the unique, fragile power supply is not broken. I really have enjoyed that kind of flexibility and the range of capabilities of this great digital board, and it always sounded good enough to me.

Now I have a friend in a prestigious recording school who can build me great analog effects with true bypass (so I can maintain an all-analog signal path except when I really need to patch in a digital effect). I’ve seen and heard some of his work, and it’s quite impressive. I’ll spend a bit more getting a collection of high-grade analog effects, but they’ll be high-grade analog effects.

The new power supply for the Zoom will buy me some time until I have what I want. Maybe a few years. But once I get my first couple of effects pedals, losing the zoom will be less of a catastrophe and more of an inconvenience. I will be able to patch around it easily.

I have the guitars I want for now. Maybe in my future I will add something with P90s, and some more distant year a nice hybrid. I’m happy with my amps and thought I was in “coasting” territory, but now I will need a bit more gear acquisition. I’m sure it will be really cool when I’m finished, if I’m ever finished. OTOH, it’s a hobby, and a hobby isn’t really supposed to be done and over.

Edison Glass (a very fine young band from New York state) have a new album out: Time Is Fiction. I preordered mine from Amazon already, should see it in Feb.

Here’s a new video from them, in which you can see the cover from the new album:

Let Go

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If you don’t know Edison Glass, you’re missing out. They have such an interesting feel and great guitars. It’s great when the lead singer and the bassist/bgv are just wailing. I’ve seen them live twice, and have tried hard to wear out the MP3s I made from their first album, A Burn Or A Shiver.

Here’s a strange video for a strange song from A Burn Or A Shiver

There are a number of songs from both albums up for sampling at Last.FM. Their home page has a list of links to locations where you can sample the music.

I just wanted to mention this for my musical friends who are interested in something different. Edison Glass is something different.

This was the work of true ubergeeks. Not only did they realize that they could vary the pitch, they programmed in a song.

Was that nuts or what? It would have been better without the interjections of the onlookers, but there you go. At least it has that “live” feel. I suspect it was killer loud.

We are unapologetically a Linux-only household. That is generally a very good thing. I don’t have a lot of the troubles that Windows households have, and I get a lot of powerful software for no cost whatsoever. I would happily accept a new Mac into the fold, but have intentionally stayed away from Windows for about seven years. My kids have grown up with free software. This only causes problems when people don’t realize that there are non-windows households. Sometimes people expect us to have the latest version of Word and Excel (we never will, we use OpenOffice.org . Someone might try to give us windows software, or winPrinters, or winScanners, or winModems or similar nonsense. We can at least give them away and make other people happy though.

The latest reminder of this difference is that my music-loving son was given an iTunes gift card. It’s pretty thoughtful, because he’s always carrying around his CDs, and an MP3-capable CD player. We typically will rip a CD and burn an MP3-CD with the music so that he doesn’t have to carry around dozens of CDs to have dozens of hours of music. He has an iPod, but likes his CD player better (going against the cultural flow is apparently a family value). He loves a lot of styles of music, and would keep the soundtrack going 24/7 if he could.

However, the card is not useful to us because we don’t have a Mac, nor a Windows PC. We can try to get the windows iTunes working under Wine, but he’s not going to be able to burn the music to a CD in wine or transcode it to mp3 or ogg. Nor will we spend a few hundred dollars to buy Windows so he can use a free gift card . If we installed itunes with wine, the music would have to live on the shared family desktop machine, where it can be played when there’s nothing else going on. It’s not portable, and it’s not convenient.

Also, my son and I both signed a petition saying that we would not intentionally buy DRM “enriched” music. We’ve stayed true to that, so he isn’t interested in breaking his word even with the gift of iTunes music.

My thought is that he should probably thank the giver, then sell the gift card to a buddy and spend the money it brings on whatever he wants. Even if he sells it under face value, it is still a gift and he has money he did not have before. Ah, if only it were eMusic or Magnatune, maybe an online vender like CdConnection or Borders or Amazon, it would be fine. Likewise, it would be fine if it were to a brick-n-mortar store like Target (where we do a lot of business) or Starbucks or a even a more cash-like gift card rom MasterCard, Visa, etc. The problem is that iTunes is iTunes, and you need windows and mac.

It was kind to give a gift of music to a music lover, and a good idea to let the very eclectic gift-receiver make his own choices. The real issue is that the iTunes store is dealing in DRM-polluted music, and only certain platforms and devices can play it. If it were free of DRM (like emusic and magnatune) we would have the freedom to download, play, and even convert audio formats. The gift-giver just didn’t realize that the whole world is not populated by Windows and Mac users. It was simply a matter of not understanding our computing setup, which reflects the philosophy we live in a practical way.

PS: He agreed that the correct thing to do is to sell the card to someone who feels differently about DRM and has Windows or Mac at home.

Especially Tal Wilkenfeld. She looks like a little kid, but she doesn’t play like one.

She was at the 2007 crossroads guitar festival (organized by Eric Clapton for the sake of the Crossroads Centre, Antigua for the treatment of drug and alcohol addictions). Tal played with Jeff Beck, who is a favorite guitar player. Videos are available in the Crossroads DVD (recommended) and also on YouTube, which is embedded here:

Before someone jumps on me for being sexist or ageist or something, the “girl bass players” line is courtesy of a young lady bassist I know (Hi Andrea!).

I was looking around at Rondo Music recently, and found this lovely P90-equipped guitar.

Generally, I like a little more contour on my guitars, but I like this one even though it’s not beveled or arched at all. That’s very unusual for me. I think that a little shape work would make it look like a much more expensive guitar. I think the features that catch my eye are:

• Transparent red (vintage cherry) finish
• P90s.
• Grover tuners
• Chrome hardware all around.
• Black covers on P90s instead of white or cream
• 24 frets (jumbo)
• Set neck
• No pick guard shows off wood better
• Another angled neck. Why do I like that?
• It matches my wife’s electric bass guitar. It’s cute when couples match.
• The Price.

Downside

• Not much in the way of contour other than the neat scoop on the back.
• I would rather have separate volume for neck and bridge pickups. And separate tone controls.

Maybe when I’m in the market for my P90 I’ll pick one up. No time soon, with my collection and situation being what it is. I have plenty of good music equipment. I’m in no hurry. But it sure is cute.

Look at this cutie (pic is also link) with a “whiskey cola” finish:

It is not surprising that this guitar would set you back about USD$2200.00. That’s pretty much what you would expect for a hot hollow-body guitar made from good woods and well-appointed. The thing you would not expect is that it comes from First Act, the same company that makes those cheapie starter guitars you see at every Wal-Mart and various other resellers. The Mal-Wart contract must have been good to them, because they have a quite attractive line of higher-end guitars at higher-end prices.

There’s another attractive
Delia version with a single lipstick single-coil in the middle position. That guitar is visible in the video:

I guess I need to learn to think differently about first act. The reviews are very good. I suppose being introduced to them in the toy aisles at MalWart had placed a certain image in my mind, but these guitars contradict all I was thinking. Good on them.

A friend of the blog wrote me about his new Crafter hybrid. The following has all identifying info removed, b/c I didn’t actually ask permission before posting it. Hope that’s okay.

Bought the guitar finally… gigged once with it so far. Ideally, I think I’d like it through an accoustic amp, but I played it through my all tube amp and was very pleasantly surprised at how it still managed to have that “accoustic” tone even through the tube amp (clean channel). I’m working on doing an accoustic duo type thing with someone, and I’ll feel very safe in using this guitar.

The fit and finish is very nice. Guitar plays very well and sounds very nice. Very little issues with it staying in tune…I haven’t even had it set up, and Im incredibly happy with it. Overall, this Crafter is an amazing buy, particularly since the price was very reasonable for a guitar that requires nothing extra to be used professionally.

Thanks for keeping my Crafter daydream alive!

This is an interesting (I can’t say “pretty”) guitar being re-released by VOX:

I love my SX GG5, but I can’t find a case to fit it. The reason is the fairly extreme angle where the neck meets the body. Most hollowbody cases aren’t deep enough, and the guitar ‘bottoms out’ at the end of the headstock and the heel of the body, and then the guitar at the neck joint is still too tall to allow the case to close.

I am going to have to go visiting a number of guitar shops and try out all their cases to find one that works. What other guitars have this profile and this problem?