Dolphinstreet Guitar Blog 2005

Happy Holidays!

Bailes Irish Cream Coffee is a great tasting drink.

December 16, 2005
So Christmas is around the corner again! What are you hoping to find under the tree? I know what I'm hoping for - some free time to rest. And maybe record a few audio and video clips. December has been quite hectic for me. I have a New Year's country band gig coming up, and tomorrow Myra and I are playing at a private Christmas party.

I just got a nice present; I just had my birthday and now I have a Velbon CX-686 camera tripod. It's very nice, and it's a big help when recording video clips. I've been looking at digital SLR cameras, you know those higher end cameras that reporters and photographers use. The Nikon D-70 or Canon Digital Rebel XT look very nice, but I can't afford one just yet. I'm saving up!

November 28, 2005
Jaron and I played in Alliance on the weekend. We had a good time, although the P.A was cutting out all the time.

November 20, 2005
I have been busy learning a bunch of new songs for some upcoming gigs. I play with Myra at the C.R.E in Camrose for the Festival of Trees; we are doing some Christmas music. Later that same night, I have a gig in Alliance with Jaron Rovensky. The weekend after that, my first real country gig. I have to learn 5 CD's worth of country material before then. Between teaching guitar, running, doing websites and enjoying our family, the next little while will keep me busy!

November 14, 2005
I got a Shure SM-57 off of eBay the other day, and I'm hoping to make good use of it soon. I have not yet recorded one note of good guitar sounds besides what the video camera picks up. I tried straight into my sound card with the Vox, tried amp software simulators, using the cab simulator on pedals, etc. It all sucks. The tones I get that way make me sick; they're horrible. Now I have no excuse. I have a good recording interface and a good mic - should be enough? Oh yeah, almost forgot - how about some talent? They don't sell that on eBay... (as far as I know anyway)

November 10, 2005
Surprise for me! Erikson Music, a Canadian Sales representative for Vox Amplification Ltd, contacted me and said people have been mentioning that this website and I had inspired them to buy the Vox ADxxVT amps! So today I received a T-shirt in the mail and a slick looking Vox guitar cable (VGC-50). That'll come in handy - I lost one cable at the last gig. It has gold plated connectors and it's double shielded. It looks very well made.

Too bad the shirt is Xtra Large - I'm a pretty small guy... Anyhow, very nice gesture by Erikson Music, it was a complete surprise.

November 8, 2005
The gig with Jaron Rovensky was awesome. We played in front many ladies... it was ladies' night out in Castor! We were well recevied, let me put it that way.

The dinky little pedal I bought the same day, the Danelectro FAB Distortion, sounded great. It was just a little hard to engage the switch on it, but what to expect for 30 bucks (CDN).

November 5, 2005
I bought a really cheap little distortion pedal called Danelectro FAB Distortion. It is actually pretty cool! I'll try it at the gig with Jaron Rovensky tonight.

October 31, 2005
Happy Halloween! I have gig coming up this weekend with Jaron Rovensky and our old band, this time in Coronation I think. I think I'll use my Vox AD50VT this time to put it through a long, loud night. I'd like to find out how it performs, since I've mostly played it at home and for small duo gigs.

October 28, 2005
Myra and I (Fundamental Things) played a gig last night at the Cobbler's and Craftsmen's store in downtown Camrose. They had a customer appreciation night, and we were the entertainment. We had a good time trying out some new tunes. We just picked up John Hiatt's Master of Disaster into our reportoire. Old friend Jaron Rovensky also showed up and jammed with us - it was great fun.

October 13, 2005
I went down to Portland over the weekend and ran the marathon there, had a blast. I stopped in at Apple Music there, and bought a Digitech Hot Head. I've never had a distortion pedal since I was 17, and this one was on sale so I thought, let's get it. It's very potent, has lots of gain and it makes my little Hellhound sound like a Marshall stack! I am not sure if I really like it yet; it's a bit fizzy but it sounds good on lower gain settings and with the treble turned down a bit. Time will tell.

Another thing I did at Apple Music was to try a Dr. Z Maz 18 Junior and a Dr. Z Carmen Ghia. Now these are sweet amps! The Junior was a combo, the Ghia was a head. I liked the both, but my heart went out to the Junior. What an amp! I played a G & L Tele, and the clean sounds were soooo good! When turned the gain up, I then got some awesome blues and rock tones. The notes I played just jumped off the fretboard. Dude - try this amp if you get the chance - it is incredible!

October 2, 2005
I've been looking for a decent but inexpensive audio interface for my computer. You know, a sound card box that uses Firewire or USB so I can record my amps and vocals without spending a fortune on gear. I didn't want a PCI card for portability reasons - I want to record on a laptop too. Well, I just scored a Tascam US-122 on eBay. I've been reading up on these things for a while, and it seems as though Firewire is the way to go, because its transfer rate is much higher than USB. However, those interfaces are also much more expensive. So, after some research, I've found that many users are happy with the US-122 for recording one or two tracks at a time, and it has XLR inputs and mic preamps, as well regular 1/4 inch inputs. It seems perfect for my needs. Latency issues are there, but by using the monitoring feature, I should be okay. It should definitely be a huge improvement over my old Soundblaster Live 4.1... It should arrive some time this week, and I'm eager to see what it can do. I look forward to being able to create some decent recordings now so you guys can hear something else than just video clip improvisations from me!

October 1, 2005
I just want to say I am really thankful for all the great feedback I've been getting regarding my website. I started putting up my gear reviews and my video clips/video lessons as an experiment to see if anyone would find some if useful. It seems many enjoy these little tidbits of mine, so I'll keep at it and add more stuff as much as I can. I am working on some more blues and jazz video lessons, as well as more guitar pedal demonstration. If you like my website, please let me know, I respond to all feedback I get. I also want to encourage using my forum for talking about my website. Lastly, I would like to mention that I have started up a new website - a discussion board for guitar players and bass player. Please help me get it started by registering and posting messages on TheFret.Net. It is a friendly forum where everyone is welcome to share their thoughts about guitar and bass stuff.

September 23, 2005 - Moved to a new server
My whole website is now running on a new, faster server. I hope you can tell everything loads faster! Please excuse the mess on here today as I moved things around.

Our new discussion board TheFret.Net is up and ready for more traffic. My good friends Scott and Rob are helping me get things going there. I encourage you to sign up there and help us build a great guitar and bass community.

September 4 2005 - Myra won!
My friend Myra Marshall won a vocal competition at Ceili's Irish Pub last night! Awesome prices - $1000 for first pace, 4 hours in a recording studio, an Epiphone Les Paul 100 Goldtop, Limo tour, promo pictures and more. I am so glad for her, she really deserves this! I will be lucky enough to play guitar for her in the studio, it should be fun!

August 31 2005 - New Squier '51 Pickguard
My new friend Scott sent me a black pickguard for my Squier '51 that he didn't need, and it's now in place. It looks really good. Man, I can't believe how I excited I still am about my '51. It just is so right for me. I would like to upgrade my Telecaster next - get some decent pickups on it and do some hardware changes. It's really good too, but I am not crazy about the pickups now that I have the '51. I would also love to have a '51 neck on the Tele - it is such a nice neck. I am definitely gonna go with maple necks from now on if possible.

August 23 2005 - Fridge Door Accident!
Ouch! I literally dropped a fridge door on my left hand ring finger today. No kidding! It is now looking real pretty, with purple, yellow and dark red colors alternating. I'm hoping the nail won't come off. I haven't even tried playing guitar yet, but I'm thinking I can try to play in a few days. The fridge was making strange sounds, and I held my hand under the door as I looked to see what was wrong. Thump! Ouch! I really didn't need this to happen...

August 3 2005- New Pedal!
I found a used MXR Micro Amp at Avenue Guitars in Edmonton. Bought it on the spot. Great pedal, definitely a keeper. It boosts the signal and drives the amp harder, and it's great fun to play with it. It sort of makes your amp come more alive.

May 1 2005 - New Guitar!
I went to Long & McQuade in Edmonton yesterday, and went home with a Squier 51. I was looking for a decent strat, and I tried both a US Fender and cheaper Squire strats, but after playing the Squier 51 I just fell in love with it. It sounds great and has a maple neck, something I was looking for in a guitar. The best part - it costs under $200.00 CDN! I am a happy man for a while now. I might just get more than one of these babies.

See amp video clips on my video clip page.

My current band is a duo project with Myra Marshall, called Fundamental Things.

February 24 2005 - Bad Monkey
My wife bought me a Bad Monkey! Whoa, the Bad Monkey rocks! I love it, it is probably the best buy a guy like me can do. Inexpensive, very bluesy tone, and sounds great no matter how you treat the bad monkey. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED pedal!

February 2005 - Scott Henderson CD Alert!
I have to recommend Scott Henderson's Live CD that just came out in Feb 2005. Incredible playing, and what a guitar tone! Unreal stuff - buy it - and feel your jaw drop. This guy is the most amazing jazz/fusion/blues/rock guy you'll ever hear.

January 7 2005 - New Amp!
I bought a Vox AD50VT. Great amp! I like it a lot. It has really versatile sounds in it. It seems to like my Strat and '51 better than my Tele, and I bet it would sound great with a Les Paul too. I can get some smoking humbucker lead sounds with the Squier '51.