Do you own a tube guitar amplifier? Have you ever been at a gig and under pressure when your amp stops working? What do you do? How can you keep your amp in tip-top shape and prevent a disaster? What part of your amp repair can YOU do, and what should you leave to a pro?

So many of us depend on tube guitar amps to get us through the rehearsal, gig or recording session while delivering the sound that only a tube amplifier can deliver.
It’s so easy to get caught off guard and find yourself in a nightmare scenario with humming, popping or smoke emanating from your prized amplifier ten minutes before the downbeat. Relax. I went to the effort to seek out an expert who knows tube guitar amps inside and out; Rick Marshal.

Rick has worked on tube amps for years at Carruthers Guitars in Venice, California. In case you don’t already know, John Carruthers builds amazing handcrafted guitars that are played by world-famous guitarists and musicians that demand the best. So when musicians take their vintage tube amps to the Carruthers shop, the bar is set very high.

While there is some emphasis on vintage Fender amps in this series of videos, this video series focuses on tube amplifiers as a general category. If you watch this four-part series and don’t learn something important, you are probably qualified to be a department head at Musician’s Institute in Hollywood, CA, just like John Carruthers .

So kick back while you listen to the voice of experience on how to prepare for the worst and how to prevent the worst from happening in the first place.

by David Caris

Video 1 – Tube Amp Survival Guide With Rick Marshal

Video 2 – Tube Amp Survival Guide With Rick Marshal

Video 3 – Tube Amp Survival Guide With Rick Marshal

Video 4 – Tube Amp Survival Guide With Rick Marshal

WANT TO CONTACT RICK FOR  REPAIR WORK?

VISIT WWW.CARRUTHERSGUITARS.COM

Rick went through my 1966 blackface Princeton Reverb and re-capped it. The amp sounds spectacular and I will never sell it. That’s my story and I am sticking to it.

The latest creation from the folks at Matchless has their recognizable tonal characteristics in a more affordable package. The Matchless Avalon 30 can be ordered in numerous configurations to suit just about anyone’s taste. Here, chief designer Phil Jamison plays his Gibson Les Paul Standard with TV Jones humbuckers and a G&L Legacy at a variety of volumes and dynamics to demonstrate the tonal spectrum of this new amp.

The latest Matchless masterpiece which is as-yet without an official name. However, they are now shipping this amp.

I recently made a visit to Matchless Amplifiers in West Los Angeles and met with their chief designer Phil Jamison to discuss their unique products. If you have been reading and watching GuitarBandDVD.org, you know I only interview musicians and gear makers that are top-notch. Matchless is no exception.

The product-pride and the laid back, but highly-professional demeanor made it clear that these people are very focused on being the best while loving what they do.

Granted, you can buy a much cheaper good sounding amp, but Matchless has never targeted the lower-end customer. You certainly get what you pay for however. You can’t use the best components and hand-craft amplifiers that sound like a Matchless, and be the low-priced leader.

If you need an amplifier to cover up sloppy chops, this would not be a good choice. This amp line has characteristic shared by every model they make; clarity and nuance. Guitarists can build a style around Matchless gear. This will make you a better player and bring out your true sound.

Phil and I started by discussing the new more-economical amp they are starting to ship (which is as-yet unnamed). In the interview(s) we cover what goes into a Matchless, some of the components and design that make these amps sound the way they do, and gain insight into the technology utilized in the new designs.

For what it’s worth, I have owned a Matchless SC30 since 1992 and I can honestly say, this is the ONLY amp I have never had for sale. I have owned a dozen other high-end amps since then, but sold them all. I never, for a moment considered selling my Matchless.

by David Caris

The term “overbuilt” really applies towards Matchless Amplifiers. You can tour the world with their gear without fear…and many people have.
Click on these pictures to enlarge the details.

The man behind the amps, Phil Jamison.

This is part one of the interview with Phil Jamison

Click on image to enlarge.

I passed country stores and ranches, hovels and estates and then I got to Carl Verheyen’s lovely house where he ushered me in to his home studio and I set up to do the interview. He had two blackface Princeton Reverbs, shelves of effects pedals, and a beautiful original 1958 Stratocaster that he bought on the recommendation of pickup czar Seymour Duncan.

Carl proceeded to noodle in a way that would have silenced all those kids playing high-gain metal riffs at your local Guitar Center. His tone was pure, clean and magical and was only enhanced by a T-Rex Replica delay. Though he had just returned from a six-week tour of Europe with his own band days ago, he had been busy working on the soundtrack to a Will Ferrell flick.

Thankfully, he took time from his busy schedule to do this interview. There was so much great stuff there I decided to break it into two parts. I also made filmed him playing Goodbye Pork Pie Hat by Charlie Mingus. What a treat. Be sure you register for www.GuitarBandDVD.org and get his video lesson and 10 Minute Blues Bootcamp. His lesson should keep you busy for some time. It is brief, but packed with useful tips.

by David Caris

View Part 1 of the Carl Verheyen Interview here

View Part 2 of the Carl Verheyen Interview here

He’s been building guitars for decades and his client list reads like a who’s who list of some of the biggest and most talented players in the world. His designs have been responsible for some of the most sought-after guitars by players and collectors worldwide. He earned his stripes as a consultant for Fender, G&L and Yamaha (to name a few) and he has been quietly building some of the most responsive, ergonomic and advanced guitars out of his Venice, CA shop for more than 30 years.

I have know John for years and have learned more for from him about what makes a guitar “magic” than anyone else I know. In this video he shows two of his recent designs and we discuss his experiences from being a columnist for Guitar Player Magazine to his current position as a department head at Musician’s Institute in Hollywood and owner of Carruthers Guitars. If you are into guitars, this interview is both entertaining and educational.

It’s All About Context
Everyone needs a larger musical vocabulary. So how can learning someone else’s guitar licks improve your vocabulary? The answer is that you make them your licks by choosing when to use them, what effects (if any) to use and what tone you play with. It’s all about context.
I’ll give you an example. Play a some blues licks in the key of E over a background of G, C, D country strumming and your blues licks will become very country sounding.
Another example of context is to play your licks with a clean tone with most of tone rolled off on your guitar and now the same licks sounds jazzier.
You can play the first part of a solo lower on the neck and shift to the higher octave position towards the end of the solo to build intensity.
So where you place the Tricks and what tone you use dramatically alters how they are perceived.
An Exercise Idea
Pick three 2 Minute Guitar Tricks and try using them on one song. Try them in different order or at different points in the song and then change the order in which the licks appear. The process of figuring out what works best and where it works best is valuable.
The Tonal Equation
The tonal equation is made of two basic components, your fingers and your gear. Let’s get away from gear. Aside from having a properly set- up guitar and new-ish strings, you can practice unplugged and don’t need the rest of your gear. You need to feel the fingerboard and strings. You should strive to gain control over your vibrato technique. If anything defines your sound when it comes to blues and rock guitar playing it is your vibrato. Really focus on the intonation, timing and where to place your vibrato. Here’s a great way to improve without learning new guitar riffs; try to play all the Guitar Tricks WITHOUT using a pick.
Now let’s talk about distortion. I am a fanatic about it and I just love classic tones. I love natural tube-driven distortion and I like distortion pedals that sound tube-like. High-gain tones that are harmonically rich, compressed, sustaining etc. are a lot of fun to play solos with. It’s very easy to defer to that kind of sound every time you take a solo, but it may be undermining your ability to express yourself musically.
Clean Guitar Tones
As a younger player, I used to hide behind effects and distortion. I used to rely on high gain tones to cover up sloppy fast-picking. I would only clean up my tone for strumming chords or arpeggios but for a fast lead I always slathered on as much distortion, delay, reverb etc that I could muster and get away with.
It wasn’t until I had been playing for many years that I realized how important it is to feel comfortable playing lead with a clean sound too. I still use all the aforementioned effects, but there is another galaxy of playing that exists when playing clean.
Clean-tone playing is much more unforgiving since it practically highlights your mistakes. The big payoff however is that that is where the nuance is. The subtlety, the emotion and the best way to orchestrate and serve the song is often with a clean sound. You are not hitting the listener with a ton of bricks, you are persuading them with melody. Playing with a clean sound also forces you to play accurately and melodically. Don’t be afraid to clean up your act. The rewards are there.
Combine Clean and Dirty Tones in Your Solo
You can also create tension in your solos by playing the first part of your solo clean and then graduating to a more gritty tone towards the end of the solo.
Solos need to have a beginning, middle and end. The solo can be viewed as a small musical story. Use the 2 Minute Tricks, experiment with which ones work best and place them in the order that tells the story you want to tell over the chord changes they sit on top of.
Play It On Acoustic
Practice on an acoustic guitar as well as electric guitar. Finger strength and improved vibrato are natural byproducts of playing on an acoustic guitar. You may view my 2 Minute Guitar Tricks as electric guitar riffs, but they are really only notes. They work on any guitar. You may not have the ability to play the higher positions if your acoustic does not have a cutaway body, but see how far you can get. Early blues was played on acoustic instruments and you should consider playing one too. A great exercise is to record a rhythm track on acoustic and play a solo over it. Do that over and over. Be sure your acoustic rhythm track is in time and in tune. Try different Tricks and experiment by adding and subtracting notes.
I encourage you to post here and let everyone know how you are doing with my 2 Minute Guitar Tricks do your experiences can help someone else.

Possibly the most important instruments in your inner band is the drummer. Without a solid groove your music will suck. Every time I walk into a guitar store and hear players playing lightning-fast licks that don’t groove I just cringe. What’s the point of all that speed without a groove? Lack of groove makes the song pointless.

So you need to hear the drums, the bass the singer etc. when you are practicing. The whole point of playing is to play with other players and make music together. Think of the players you admire most. I will bet you they played in a band at least most of the time. I guarantee you they heard the other parts in their head every time they practiced alone.

So what do you do when other players are not around? Channel your inner band that’s what. Imagine the drummer’s groove locking to the bass player and play a solid rhythm part. See if you can lay down a solo and seamlessly jump back into the rhythm part without missing a beat. If you can’t do that, then keep practicing until you can.

You have to hear the other players to do that even if they are not physically present.

I don’t care how many chords, scales, picking techniques you know or how fast you can play them. If you want to attract an audience you need to groove. So start hearing the band playing in your head and figure out parts the fit into the framework of the song. Listen to what you imagine are the other players and strive to play WITH them by not stepping on them and playing with the beat. You can train yourself by playing to drum loops or a metronome.

If you can hear your inner band, your actual band practice will go much better because you will already have some idea how you fit in. You will have to adjust your playing around the actual players but you will relate to the song differently. And if you record your playing alone and when playing with others you will find out if you are grooving. Then you can fix what does not work.

So you aren’t crazy. Hearing imaginary musicians is actually a good thing.

I am in my forties and I think it’s great so many younger players and listeners are embracing the music I grew up with. These certainly is no shortage of great players today, but classic rock is big with plenty of younger players and even, well… kids. My 12 year old daughter has friends that love the Beatles and Jimmy Hendrix. How cool is that. Some of them have Hannah Montana and Creedence on the same iPod.

I find this amazing and I want to know why you think this is happening.

I would like to hear from you if you have been able to work the classic rock guitar riffs when you jam with your rock band, when you rehearse, or even when you are songwriting. Even if you learn the riffs note-for-note they will sound quite different in other types of music. Your creativity will invent new places for your arsenal of tricks. If you spend a fraction of the time practicing these classic rock riffs people spend on Guitar Hero or Rock Band your playing will improve dramatically in a short time.

Also, I would love to hear from you and find out about the style of music you play and if you have a rock band. Tell me about your band and what inspires you.