LCG #187 – Mike Keneally interview

Posted on 02/03/2013 by pjournel

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 43:33 — 50.3MB) | Embed

If you’re a fan of the electric guitar, you must have seen on stage without knowing it at one time or another the guest of this episode, Mike Keneally.

In fact, Mike has played behind Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Frank Zappa and many others.

During the interview we talked among other things about his excellent solo album Wing Beat Fantastic which I offer some excerpts before the interview as usual.

Extracts from Wing Beat Fantastic:

Wing Beat Fantastic
You Kill Me
Inglow
Bobeau

Until the next time, keep on playing the guitar !

Pierre.

Frankenstrat Project – The body

Posted on 26/02/2013 by pjournel

In the previous article dedicated to Frankenstrat Project, I showed you some pictures where you could see the boards that were to be used by Denis from EG Solidbody to machine the body.

Here are the following steps until the final body and neck.

As a reminder, the purpose of the project is to build a replica as accurate as possible (except for the famous black and white stripes) of the Edward Van Halen guitar that can be seen on the cover of their first album. All the details are in the first article of the series.

Ash planks glued in which the body will be machined:

The back of the guitar with the hole for the vintage vibrato provided by Hantug Custom Guitars & Parts :

The body being machined for the pickups and electronic routes :

NOW it’s starting to look like a Strat shape ! Look at the wood grain on this ! Gorgeous :

Here’s the finished body and neck. What do you think of the wood grain ? Pretty nice huh

For your information I chose to have the three pickup holes even though the first version of the Frankenstrat had only one humbucker. If I ever change it to make it look like the latter version of the guitar, the body is ready for it.

Furthermore, having those pickup holes removes some more wood which may contribute to reduce a bit the final weight of the body as Ash is a wood species which is generally quite dense.

A big thank you to Denis Souvray from EG Solidbody for all the photos and for a great job on a gorgeous piece of wood.

I look forward to receiving the body and neck to proceed to the next step whichis to bring everything to Patrick Querleux for the preparation of the body, paint, final adjustment and assembly.

Can’t wait to play the final product !

Pierre.

LCG #185 – Glenn Hughes interview (Black Country Communion)

Posted on 15/02/2013 by pjournel

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:07 — 27.8MB) | Embed

Hello,

Here’s a legendary bass player in that episode #185 with Glenn Hughes (aka @glenn_hughes on Twitter) who is currently playing with Black Country Communion with Joe Bonnamassa.

He is not only a great bass player but also a very unique singer with a voice you recognize at the first word of a lyric.

Extracts from “Afterglow” played before the interview :

Cry Freedom
Afterglow
Common Man
Crawl

Enjoy,

Pierre.

Frankenstrat Project – The body (well, almost)

Posted on 09/02/2013 by pjournel

Hello,

First update after the launch of Project Frankenstrat with the first pictures of body manufactured by EG Solidbody.

There is a lot of information on the Internet about the wood used on the Frankenstrat. The problem is that all this information does not agree!

However there seem to be a general agreement toward Ash. So it’s the wood I selected.

As you can see the body is still two boards which will be glued and routed to obtain the final shape.

Corps01 Corps02

Stay tuned for the next update.

Pierre.

Launch of the Frankenstrat project

Posted on 03/02/2013 by pjournel

Hello,

As a big fan of Eddie Van Halen, I long caressed the dream to add to my harem of girlfriends (aka my guitars) a Frankenstrat.

I’ve always been fascinated by electric guitars with a single pickup (Les Paul Jr, SG Jr, Esquire, etc.) and the Frankenstrat is a very good specimen of that category.

So the Frankenstrat Project is born!

Objective of the project: build a replica as faithful as possible of the famous Frankenstrat guitar in its version called VH1 (Van Halen 1) in a reasonable budget (see below). More precisely, I will have the guitar built by pros as I am way too conscious of my limited ability in that area.

A photo of the famous original Frankenstrat:

Initial project budget: between 500 and 1000 € (i.e. 680 to 1365 US$)

Originally I thought I could start from one of my old guitars, an old japanese Charvel Model 3 from the 90s but after I researched the subject, I learned that the neck pocket of these guitars is not standard Strat. So it would not be possible to put a stock Strat neck with the body.

I used the word “initial” for the budget because I thought I would entirely fund the project myself but after talking with my guitar luthier Patrick Querleux (based near where I live in Patis, France) he proposed to sponsor the project. I would only need to pay for parts and supplies.

Furthermore Patrick told me good things about EG Solidbody which build necks and bodies. I contacted Denis Souvray from EG Solidbody and he gladly agreed to provide me with a complimentary body, neck, vibrato and tuning machines.

A huge thank you in advance to Patrick Querleux and EG Solidbody which allow me to have a revised budget well below € 500 for paints, varnishes and pickup.

Some examples of the beautiful guitars built by Patrick Querleux

Revised Project Budget: less than 500 €

Important note about the project: the most important part for me is the sound of the instrument, aesthetic is certainly important, but not essential. So there won’t be probably the famous black stripes on the final guitar. The original wood species are true to the original as much as possible and the vibrato will be a vintage-style one rather than a Floyd Rose used in later versions of the Frankenstrat.

Specs:

Ash Body
Maple neck
22 jumbo frets, radius 12 “(yes the original is 21 but hey, it’s MY project right ?)
6 screws vintage tremolo
Strat style tuning machine
Bronze nut (not 100% sure)
Black pickguard with a single location for the bridge pickup
1 humbucker
1 volume
Jack Strat-type

Of course, the major interest of this project will be to chronicle the project various stages of the guitar, from the construction of the body to the finish made by luthier. The highlight of the project is of course a complete soundseeing guitar.

I swear, you will know everything!

Next article: the first pictures of the body.

Pierre.

LCG #183 – Jonathan Bloomer (GuitarNoize) interview

Posted on 31/01/2013 by pjournel

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:49 — 42.2MB) | Embed

Hello,

As I say often, there will never be too many blogs and podcasts about guitar, that’s why I am very happy to present you with an interview of Jonathan Bloomer who manages the excellent Guitarnoize I am a big fan of.

Yes, we both talk about guitars. No, we are not competitors. I think we actually complement really well each other as there are so many subjects and musicians to cover.

Coincidentally, Jon has just released a Steve Lukather interview on his blogcast here a couple of days after mine and by listening to both interviews you will be able to realize how much we cover the same subject differently.

Happy listening,

Pierre.

LCG #181 – Steve Lukather interview

Posted on 18/01/2013 by pjournel

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:48 — 39.5MB) | Embed

Hello,

For the release of his solo album Transition I had the pleasure to meet Steve Lukather for a video interview.

I have fond memories of playing over and over a VHS tape (yes, I am that old) where Steve explained his licks so you can imagine I was quite thrilled to meet the man himself.

Subjects discussed during the interview :

His new guitar, the Luke III from Ernie Ball Music Man
The recording of his latest solo album Transition (which I think is great)
His guitar playing over the years
His current projects
And many more

As usual this interview is available in video on YouTube and in audio format in mp3 via the podcast.

Extracts from Transition played in the audio version :

Transition
Creep Motel
Rest Of The World
Smile (the superb instrumental song we talk about in the interview)

Enjoy,

Pierre.

Dear artists, let me download your music !

Posted on 10/01/2013 by pjournel

Dear artists, give me the means to listen to your music properly. Let me download it!

Even now, some artists with whom I come into contact suggest I listen to their music online either through Spotify, Soundcloud, YouTube or other similar services.

These tools are very good to discover the music of a musician but not really suitable for quality listening in my opinion.

I prepare my interviews by listening to an album many times on my stereo at home or on my iPhone with a good pair of headphones. In both cases, the quality of MY listening is determined by hardware and not by varying quality of an online listening sites and by the bandwidth of my Internet connection.

Furthermore, I do not know about you but when I’m at my computer I’m doing several things at once and I am not at all focused on what I am listening running in one of my tab browser.

This is why I ALWAYS request a link to download the album in MP3 files of good quality or failing that a physical CD (but it is more expensive and slower for the artist).

Dear artists, you put your heart and soul in your music, give me the means to listen to it in good conditions !

If I ask you a download link is not to spread it around me, what would be the point?

If I am asking this for YOU ! To give the best chance to YOUR music.

I’m on your side, to promote you guitarists and bassists who make the music I dig.

I will not sell your MP3! So let’s simplify our lifes, you and me and provide me download links.

There are lots of ways to send a full album: YouSendIt, WeTransfer, DropBox, etc.. Some online sites like Soundcloud can even have an option activated to allow to download files for offline listening.

I hope I was able to clear this matter which comes up quite often when the first contact is established.

Pierre.

PS: I listen to EVERYTHING I receive. I then make my choice entirely subjective and I totally assume those choices to decide which artists I interview or not. It is by no means a qualitative judgment on my part, it’s just a reflection of the emotions I feel when I listen to the music.

LCG #178 – John Norum interview (Europe)

Posted on 21/12/2012 by pjournel

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:38 — 30.9MB) | Embed

Hello,

We all have in mind the slightly annoying synth riff of “The Final Countdown” when it comes to Europe. At least it was the case for me until I listened to their latest album called “Bag Of Bones” which allowed me to discover a powerful music.

So it was with great pleasure I interviewed John Norum, Europe‘s lead guitar player to talk about this album.

Extracts played from “Bag Of Bones” :

Riches To Rags
Demon Head
Mercy You Mercy Me
Not Supposed To SIng The Blues

Enjoy,

Pierre.

LCG #173 – Mika Tyyskä (Mr Fastfinger) interview

Posted on 02/11/2012 by pjournel

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (47.8MB) | Embed

Hello,

It seems that the countries from northern Europe have something special to have so many incredible guitar players, Mika Tyyskä from Finland and also known as Mr Fastfinger is one of them.

“In Motion” is a great music album full of superb guitar playing. Yes you will hear some heavy shredding in there but this is NOT your typical shredder’s album, it’s way more than that. Mika’s music is both intriguing and enjoyable.

Extracts from “In Motion” played before the interview: