Finally A Good Blues Rig!

I've been playing through a series of different solid state amps for some time now. I've learned how to get the best tone from them, but at the end of the day, they are not a vintage tube amp, and they don't have the tone that I really wanted.

Searching Craigslist and Ebay and other sources had yielded a number of different good amps to buy in the 5 watt range ( Champ 500, VHT Special 6, etc) but every time I'd call on one, it was gone. What I really wanted was a Kalamazoo amp like Greg Heumann sells.

A couple days ago however, a Craigslist add popped up for a Gibson Skylark GA-5T. Looking it over in the add, it sure looked like a Kalamazoo. Some Googling yielded that it was made in the Kalamazoo factory. I don't yet know however if it is exactly the same circuit. More Googling to be done on that.

So I headed out to the shop and they had the amp. It was/is in awesome condition. I played it and several other 5 watt amps and this one beat the others hands down in the tone area. Price wise, I think they had it underpriced by about half- that did not bother me a bit. I walked out the door with the amp and its in my woodshed now for some playing. I'm still learning how to get the most out of it, but its got tone for days!

 

Opening up the amp, I can tell first that the covers have never been off, and that its never been worked on. This amp is perfect, just like it left the factory.

 



Chromatic Blues Harp

Many many years ago, while hanging out in a music shop to buy a new harp (blues harp/diatonic), I spotted a harmonica with a button on it. As you can imagine, I was intrigued. I bought the funny looking harp and took it home.

When I got home with the little Chrometta, it completely confused me. It was hard to play, sounded like crud and just did not seem like the Marine Bands I had been playing. Windsavers and the slide really threw me off. I returned it (they actually took it back) and that was the end of my Chromatic playing...

Fast forward another 15 years and I was beginning to play diatonic blues harp a lot. I played in the car and really enjoyed it. I was listening to a lot of the classic blues harmonica stuff and found George Harmonica Smith. His blues chromatic harp playing is really the standard by which all other players are judged. The fact that he taught many of them does not hurt that a bit.

Once again, I decided to get a chromatic and learn to play it. I got myself a Hohner 270 and began playing with it. Once again, I was thrown off by the slide and windsavers. The truth is, the layout of the notes threw me off much more, and once again it went into a drawer to hibernate.

The hibernation did not last more than a couple years though, and I began trying to learn Chromatic Blues again. This time, Youtube has helped, as well as a lot of Google searching, and a website called www.Slidemeister.com.

Slidemeister is great. Though very few of the contributors there speak the blues vernacular, they are still chromatic players. Their encouragement has been helpful, and info I've found on that site has helped as well.

This song really gets my attention!

Cigar Box Mandos

I've been collecting a few things to build myself some Cigar Box mandolins. I have some neck blanks and some boxes.

While searching the web for more info about building one, I came across this website and this vid.... Pretty fun stuff.

Ipad Blues Mandolin Jamming!

This Christmas, the wife and I bought ourselves an Ipad. Its our first, so there has been a learning curve with it. Those who have one and moved from a PC to the Apple product understand what I mean!

When I bought the Ipad, I decided to buy a few Ipad/Iphone magazines and see what I could learn. One particular publication had a short 1 page article on guitar apps and accessories for the guitarist. I quickly grabbed that one and read the article through and it tipped me to the idea of using my Ipad to expand the possibilities with my emando. The app

If you plan to do the same, the first thing you have to get is an Ipad/Iphone guitar/emando plug interface. There are a bunch on the market and all seem to get good and bad reviews. None seem to be terrible though. All appear to come with their own App to interface with, but all seem to also interface with GarageBand, the Ipad/Iphone app included with your Ipad when you buy it.

For my guitar plug interface, I went with the 'Jam Up' plug from Positive Grid. This unit is simple and inexpensive but seems to work well. I do wish that the unit was a little more sturdy as the molded plastic case is not the strongest item I've ever attached a guitar/emando cord to.

Plugging up the Jam Up Plug was easy, as it fits into the headphone port in the Ipad. From there, you simply plug in your guitar/emando cord and your headphones.

When I first hooked up everything, I went to GarageBand. I selected one of the amps and began playing. It really was a lot of fun. The variety of digitally mimic'ed amplifiers is pretty impressive, and while I'm not by any means an amp expert, the 'copies' seem right on. GarageBand also comes with an impressive array of effects pedals to play with. To add one, you simply click on the empty spot in the pedal board and the available pedals appear. Click on one and your ready. For the bluesy rock type stuff I play on my emando, I used the 'blues crunch' amp with a delay pedal and a vintage crunch pedal. It had great sound and fit well with my playing.

GarageBand is also capable of creating percussion, bass and other portions of music as tracks and looping them. It can also record your playing. Needless to say, it has a lot more capabilities than I'll figure out, or could write up here.

After playing with GarageBand, I added the 'Jam Up' app to my Ipad. Installation was quick and it is free (there is a pay version). This app is much like GarageBand, but decidedly guitar oriented, and much more limited in its selection of amps and effects.

However, what 'Jam Up' seems to do well that I could not get GarageBand to do well is pull in any MP3 track and allow you to Jam over the top of that music. I play over 'backing tracks' all the time with Youtube playing over my computer speakers in my music/computer room, but that does not remotely compare to the sound you can create by setting the Jam Up app correctly. Getting the balance correct is quick and easy, and allows the electric mandolin to come through easily and seamlessly on the track. It sounds good!

Hopefully, over the winter, I'll learn a lot more about using both apps in my Ipad, and maybe even record some music with both. I'll post it here if I'm daring enough....

If you've thought about trying this, I highly suggest it. Jamming with your Ipad gives you an opportunity to play without disturbing your family or housemates. It gives you the opportunity to have a better 'backing track' experience. I think it also allows you to test drive amps you've never played before to see what you like and don't like.

Stella Amp Completed and Rockin!

I finished the little Stella Cigar Box amp on Sunday afternoon and have been rockin' it ever since.

The little amp really is fun. Big tone from such a simple and small package. Thats exactly what I was going for. I'm still getting used to the controls, as they are a bit different than most amps I've worked with. The results are similar, they just behave a little differently.

Mostly, I've been playing it with the volume and trim all the way up, and with the gain up until it starts to feed on itself and buzz out. Back it off just one hair under that level and its got a great gritty tone.

A couple other interesting details about it - It responds differently to the Moongazer MG4 humbucker that I have installed in my BluesBird. Different than my VOX and different than my Crate. The amp also is more responsive to different attacks of the string with the pick. More responsive than both my other amps.

The other fun element to this amp is the way it reacts to a harp microphone. I play harp through an Astatic 335, and with this amp, the tone is really good. Great for jamming in the garage.

I'm extremely pleased with the little thing!

 

 

Stella Amp Quick Progress

This morning I went to work on the Stella as the little ones took a nap. I followed the 'Build It' link on the Stella amp website and made quick work of the board. This was my first time soldering this much on a circuit board of this type.

I had no issues and everything was/is exactly as described. I used a soldering pen just right for the job and was able to solder up every connection without an issue.

I've left the pots loose for the moment so that I can plan out how the circuit board will mount in the amp housing (cigar box!).

You can see a set of dice in the box that I plan to use for the knobs on the box. Should be quite cool looking. Now I need to find out where and how large to drill them to make them into knobs.

 

http://www.crazybutable.com/projects/stella

Stella Amp

I've wanted a truly portable (tiny) amplifier to use with my BluesBird, so I began looking at the different cigar box amp circuits out there. The 386 chip setup seems pretty good, but I wanted something I actually had to build myself. The Ruby fit this bill, but I could not find a US supplier.

In the end, I found the 'Stella' amp circuit. It is a true kit. Runs off 6-12 volts and is pretty impressive overall with a gain, volume and trim pot.

I ordered my kit and found a good cigar box to house it. I think it will turn out pretty nicely.

I'll do my best to keep the blog updated with my progress on building the amp. Wish me luck!

First Recording..........

Well, I had to do it eventually. Frankly, I've been playing a lot this year (not that you can tell from my playing). I've even had a chance to spend some time down on Beale St. this year listening to some good blues.

I need to work on my recording setup, because you can hear me playing, but can't hear the backing track. I don't know why I can hear the backing track on my home computer, but cannot hear it on the version uploaded to Youtube.

So, here it is. This is a standard slow blues in G. Definitely not my best playing. As soon as I turn on the camera, my nerves get me and I stumble around the fretboard. I'll get better about that over time.

Different Wiring Schemes.

A few months back, I posted up on the Mandolin Cafe forum Electric section that I was having difficulty with the volume and tone control on my BluesBird. Frankly, the problem was that I had no control! Volume was an on/off switch instead of linear, and the tone control was non-existant.

This was probably due to an incorrect wiring job by myself. Here is a pic of the original.

Several people posted up opinions on what was wrong. Andrew Jerman of

http://www.crossroadswood.com offered up that he might have a better wiring scheme for the instrument. Shortly later, he offered to make me up a new harness for my instrument if I would make before and after sound files and post them on the Cafe. What a great offer!

So, the wiring harness arrived this week and I installed it in the BluesBird. Did not take very long and fit right in.

Here is the new harness.

From the first, I was very impressed with it. First off, I have full volume and tone control. Both are very effective. Probably due to having the right wiring, right cap and right pots.

Here is a video of the difference between the harnesses.

I'm currently waiting to hear a few other 'Cafe visitors comments, but I'm pretty impressed so far. Now I have 3 distinctly different channels. Two of the channels are full and strong, but distinct from each other. The 3rd channel has a 'faraway' tone (to borrow Andrew's wording).

Frankly, at this point, I think I like the 3rd position best with its full tone and slight edge to it. Its pretty fun and is the tone that I like when playing the blues!

Thanks again to Andrew Jerman at www.crossroadswood.com. Great guy, very knowledgeable and makes a beautiful mandolin!

Great Del Grosso Interview on Mandolin Cafe

Sorry for the delay in posting..... Life definitely gets in the way some time.

The guys over at Mandolin Cafe did a great interview recently with blues mandolinist extraordinaire, Rich Del Grosso!

Check it out!

Rich Del Grosso's interview at the Mandolin Cafe!

New picks and Powerful Stuff

So today, I was out running around and found a place that sells off old stock from closed stores. They've had cycling stuff, motorcycle stuff, pretty much anything you can think of. This time they had bought out a music store.

They had a huge stock of old Fender stuff (semi new) as well as all sorts of other stuff. I even bought a new Hohner BluesHarp in G. That was pretty much my only missing key in my quiver of harps.

The other two cool things I found were an old Alamo Tube Amp. I'm researching it right now to learn if its any good.

The other thing is kinda a silly minor thing, but I'm a detail guy. I found Fender Heavy picks in exactly the finish I have on my BluesBird emando. Very cool!

PRETTY COOL!

So what about Powerful Stuff? I'm a huge Jimmy Vaughan fan, as well as a huge Kim Wilson fan. That of course means I love the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Their blues based rock has always kicked arse!

So this afternoon, I was listening to Powerful Stuff on ITunes. I quickly realized I could play this on the Emando in G. I'll leave it to you to figure out the fingering as I have no tab-writing software. However, listen to the tune and you'll quickly figure it out. Base it on a G blues scale and progression.

More Blues Jam Tracks

I found another good site full of Jam Tracks.

The site is http://www.bluesblast.com/. Check it out.

How do you use these things though....

I do a couple things. First off, I save the songs to my computer. Next up, I run them through ITunes. With that running, I can see the titles, and most often, the title of a jam track includes the key of the song.

Knowing the key is critical to making this work! Its music!

RIP Etta James

Support Your Local Blues Society!

http://www.memphisbluessociety.com/home.cfm

Want Some Great Blues Music?

I'm a lucky guy.... I married a Librarian!

Why lucky? Well, librarys often have large collections of CD's. And being a Memphian, our libraries have large collections of blues music.

So, I had my wife check out a bunch of good music today....

I currently have:

Best of The Blues - Live at "Newport In New York" - BBKing, Muddy Waters, BigBoy Crudup, etc
Blues Breakers - John Mayall with Eric Clapton
The Road We're On - Sonny Landreth
Skin Deep - Buddy Guy
Live In Chicago - Luther Allison

Good stuff, great to listen to and great to learn from!

So get on out to your local library and see what they have. You might be surprised!

She's Got The Devil In Her

GREAT song to play electric mandolin with. Song is in the key of G and so the G blues scale works perfectly with the song. Chord progression is GCD. Easy to follow fun to play along with. Give it a try.



How I Got Bitten By the Blues Bug

I grew up in a musical family. Dad was a trumpet player (I eventually played Trumpet as well) and Mom played the Oboe and the piano.... My mother's uncles could play anything. Seriously, anything! I also spent most of my life in Memphis TN, the home of the blues.

On a trip to my grandmother's while still in gradeschool, my grandmother bought me a harmonica at the local drugstore. I honked and tooted along on that thing endlessly..... annoying anyone within earshot.

At 11, while on a vacation, we stopped in a little side of the highway Arkansas stripmall and in the stripmall was a music shop. The owner inside sold harmonicas and I bought one. He took the time to teach me blues harmonica bending to get proper blue notes, and while I was there, it really 'clicked' for me. Rapidly after that, I quickly got better playing blues harmonica - and as I learned I became a fan of the blues.

One blues man in particular caught my ear - Stevie Ray Vaughn. So with that, I had to get a guitar. Tragedy hit me however as I managed to cut off one of my fingers on my left hand. Not completely off, but I almost lost it. The doctor suggested learning guitar as a way to rebuild my hand and make it work again. So I bought a guitar.

Not long after, I was trying my hardest to sound like SRV and play the blues. I listened to WEVL blues shows in the morning and listened to every influence that guys like SRV, Kenny Wayne Sheppard and Eric Clapton listed in interviews with them in magazines. I was not as good a blues guitarist as I was a good blues harmonica player.

The final step for me came in college. I was lucky enough to meet a guy named Kent Dushane (sp?) He is a Dobro playing blues man who learned from the greats. His skill was wonderful, and from him, I managed to learn to play bottleneck/slide blues in open tunings on the guitar. Again, something I'm not great at, but can play a handful of tunes on....

So a year ago, I bought my first mandolin and very soon after had figured out the blues scales on the mandolin and began researching mandolin blues. That takes me to here....

The Blues Bird - Blues Mandolin

So I looked at all the electric mandolins on the market. There are a ton out there, Mandobirds, Schwabs, Ryders etc. Unfortunately, they were all a little rich for my blood (except the Mandobird, which looked like it needed a new pickup to make it viable). If you want to see a bunch of great electric mandolins, then check out http://www.emando.com/

Then I found Moongazer Music. A great guy named Tom Morici runs it. He's a 40+ yr veteran of the lutherie business. He runs a website http://www.moongazermusic.com/ where he sells electric mandolin kits and their parts. His site is great. He allows you to buy individual tuning machines instead of sets. Bridges just for emando's and a great variety of emando pickups. Tom's kits are top notch and look really good.

I wanted a little more however and wanted to design my own. To that end, I designed the instrument in CAD.

I then contacted Tom and purchased wood blanks and all the parts needed to build the mandolin. He even provided a partially completed neck. Tom was also great in providing advice on the build.

I started building in the fall and ended up with a killer little instrument. It turned out beautifully, and the tone is exactly what I was hoping for. I was gunning for a little bit of Buddy Guy grit and that is what I got. I run the BluesBird through a Crate 2x10 amp and it sounds really good.

The BluesBird has construction just like a Fender Thin-Line Telecaster. She has an alder body capped with a fiddleback maple cap. The neck is maple with a rosewood fretboard and a Moongazer corian nut. The blank for the pickguard came from Japan and holds a Moongazer/Almuse MG4 pickup wired for coiltapping.

I love this little electric mandolin!!!!!

So what do I play....?

So what am I trying to learn mandolin blues on? I've got several instruments which I've been using for some time now and some new ones.....

I started playing guitar when I was in my mid-teens. I learned on this Epiphone Strat copy. Over time, I modified it to run some genuine PAF Gibson Humbuckers that were given to me by a fraternity brother in college. I've since updated the pickguard and wiring. I still play it a fair bit....

I also happen to play blues harmonica. Have since I was 12. I am not very technically proficient, but I can make it wail....



But this is a Mandolin Blues Blog... So what mandolins do I play?

My first was a Kay Model 68. Was pretty rough when I bought it, so I restored it fully. It turned out pretty nice and I enjoy the loud sound. Not a tone monster... just a volume monster....

Next up is my oval hole mandolin. I purchased a Michael Kelly Legacy Oval. Another instrument which needed a pretty good bit of work to be playable... Nut job, Saddle adjustment and fitting, truss rod adjustment and fret filing in a couple areas. But it is a very nice instrument now.

For traveling, I have a travel mandolin. Fits in my carry-on and is fun on trips. I've enjoyed it. I also upgraded the tuners on it to Grovers, as well as adding pau abalone dots.

Finally, this fall, I built my first electric mandolin. I built a 4 string I called the Blues Bird. This one gets its own post.....