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EVERYTHING SEEMS TO HAPPEN IN THREE’S. I’m not sure if it was my good or bad luck, but all three of the Fender tube amps in my studio have died in the past couple weeks. I’ve got a 1972 Deluxe Reverb, and two 1969 Bassmans—one with a stock 2×15 cab (we use that for bass) and the other set up for guitar with a Fender Showman Tone Ring single-15 cab, with the original JBL D130 woofer and the bizarre—yet cool-sounding—ported design.
The good luck part was that these things have run for decades (some, like the Deluxe—with the original tubes) and almost no maintenance. The bad luck part was that they all finally stopped working. Anyway, I figured it was time to go through these thoroughly, clean ‘em up inside and out and start from scratch—with all new tubes. I called Groove Tubes and they were very helpful with suggestions on exactly what tubes to use. They rate their power tubes with individual distortion ratings, so you can tailor the tunes to the spacific application/musical style/tone you’re looking for. So getting the tubes was the easy part.
I must be getting old, because I had nearly forgotten the weirdness one encounters when disecting old Fender amps, with their arcane (those four long screws) method of hanging the amps upside down—bat style—inside the cabinet. That itself isn’t so weird as trying to figure out who actually has hands with fingers skinny or long enough to hold the nut in place while reassembling the thing. But reassembly wasn’t the problem. The hang-up (pardon the pun) came from the amp assembly getting stuck on part of the sheet metal that shields the top of the amp (under the handle) from stray cosmic radiation from other galaxies. So on one of the Bassman heads, I had to completely remove the front grille and take the amp chassis out the front of the cab. Yuk!
From, there, things were a lot easier, especially when I saw that all the caps looked good. Somehow I was expecting to see sweatly blobs of goo and drippy caps, but these looked fine. But ALL of the pots exhibited noise, so each one got a shot of Caig DeoxIT and came out sweet—no static at all… And besides blowing a ton of dust out, I also hit the tip contact on each jack with a couple light file strokes—just to clear the light corrosion that can build up. Then came a cabinet wipedown and reassembly the retubing, which was all Groove tubes, except for a favorite Mullard 12AX7 that went onto one channel on the “guitar” Bassman. I did have some Groove Tube 12AX7M’s (these are the modern recreations of the vintage Mullards), but since I did have one nice NOS Mullard, it went in anyway.
After a quick bias check (highly recommended) and a couple hours burn-in—probably not necessary, but after spending an afternoon working on the amps, it was Miller time (actually Dos Equis time) at the local taqueria, which provided a nice respite before giving the amps the listening test. All were greatly improved, but the Deluxe Reverb was absolutely amazing, with exceptional tone and sustain. Morale: if an amp’s worth having, it’s worth retubing—definitely.
When not working on Mix stuff, George Petersen records and performs with the SF Bay Area-based rock band ARIEL. Click here www.jenpet.com and check ‘em out.
ONE OF THE CHORES OF RUNNING A SMALL LABEL is promotion, and when you don’t have a lot of money, you need to look into all kinds of outlets to get the word out about your artists—ALL KINDS…
Last weekend, I went to The Expo 2007, described as the San Francisco “Bay Area’s grassroots connection fair for independent arts, music and culture.” It was a pastiche of free workshops, music performances, art show and bizarre bazaar—all wrapped up into a one-day event. I was there to help promote Chelle & Friends, a group that does an amazing blend of R&B/spiritual/gospel/jazz vocals that cross genres and decades. As they were among the featured acts, we went along to hawk CDs, t-shirts and merch.
It was everything I expected—more or less. It was a very San Francisco event, more from the diversity of experiences offered, from the publishers selling underground picto-novels and photo essays on extreme piercings and body fluids—not for the squeamish—to painters, sculpturers, radio stations, a couple small record labels (us included) and several arts groups/schools, including the Women’s Audio Mission. A worthy non-profit organization, the San Francisco-based Women’s Audio Mission is dedicated to the advancement of women in the recording arts, with access to audio technology, and training in its use to record sound for music, radio, film, television and the Internet for women and girls.
In the long-cherished local tradition of hippie-dippiedom, the turnout for the event was sparse. It was well-underpromoted—signage at the site was almost nonexistent, so even finding the place if you were looking for it was difficult. At the same time, there was a huge, packed home-improvement show in the Gift Center pavillion across the street. I’m sure that some of those attendees could have been persuaded to check out the cool art/music festival just 50 yards away—if for only to pay the modest $2 admission and kick back, have a beer and listen to some music during their lunch break—had they known about it.
But attendance aside, there was a bright side here. Yeah, we moved enough CDs and merch to make it worthwhile, picked up a couple of future gig bookings, and I even had a chance to check out some of the other acts, which leaned toward punk-folk, some blues and a few I will never have the words to describe. One interesting act in the latter category was the Hobo Gobbelins, a “troglodyte jug band” that offered an intriguing blend of eerie vocals and instruments (banjo/dobro/accordion/tuba/fiddle/ukelele/washboard) and green/black face painting with some delightfully fun—and yeah, pretty dark—songs about rats, eating brains, decapitations and such. I bet they’ve got Halloween gigs booked up through the next millennium! But they were a fun diversion: Somebody needs to sign these guys—they’ve cornered the market on the hillbilly gobelin genre. Only in San Francisco…
When not working on Mix stuff, George Petersen records and performs with the SF Bay Area-based rock band ARIEL. Click here www.jenpet.com and check ‘em out.
WITH THE PLASA SHOW ON THIS WEEK IN LONDON, it seems somehow appropriate to talk about touring and I just finished reading Tour Book: How To Get YOUR Music on the Road, a new book by U.K. tour manager/live engineer Andy Reynolds. Yeah I know what you’re thinking… I’ve probably see a least of dozen books like this and they all sucked, usually filled with “helpful” hints (by someone who’s never toured), like “make sure to pack some extra guitar strings, batteries and drum sticks before you go on the road”—yuk!
But this one’s different. Reynolds actually KNOWS what he’s talking about, and the 464-page book focuses on the independent artist that’s surviving on gig merch, and trying to make ends meet by traveling by bus or van. It’s loaded with practical advice, hints, and tips on putting on a live show, including rehearsal, equipment, travel, accommodations, show booking and promotion, sound checks, contracts, taxation, working abroad and marketing.
It also deals with the mundane—yet essential small points that really make or break a gig, such as making sure the promoter/venue guarantees you parking space with an AC power drop for your RV/bus/van. Often it’s these little details that make all the difference, especially when you’re loading out at 3:00 am.
Tour Book: How To Get YOUR Music on the Road is also kept interesting with numerous vignettes and real-life scenarios, such as dealing with bandmembers issues, such as the problematic drummer that gets arrested while on the road. The show must go, on, so what do you do…??? At $29.99,this book will surely do a lot more for career than a custom guitar strap—and it’s probably cheaper, too.
The book published by Thomson Course Technology. For more details (and a 10% online discount), visit www.courseptr.com.
When not working on Mix stuff, George Petersen records and performs with the SF Bay Area-based rock band ARIEL. Click here www.jenpet.com and check ‘em out.
HERE WE ARE AND AES IS JUST A MONTH AWAY! It doesn’t seem so long ago when we were at AES (at least the San Francisco show) and now AES is upon us once again. If you haven’t done so already, now–or at least 21 days before the show to get those advance-purchase fares–is a good time to lock in those cheap plane tickets. Or if you’re really lucky to live within a manageable distance—train tickets.
Or to steal the lyrics from a song about another U.S. city, “GONNA TAKE A BUS. GONNA TAKE A TRAIN. EVEN IF I GOTTA WALK, GONNA GET THERE JUST THE SAME…
New York AES is the place to be if you’re an audio pro. By all indications, the show’s gonna be great, with hundreds of exhibitors hawking the latest hoo-hahs and a great selection of workshops, papers and events to keep you way busy on October 5, 6, 7 and 8th.
But the magic of AES isn’t necessarily the show itself, but a gathering of the tribes and often the best place to find the real action is late night, at the bar of the Marriott Marquis or any of the dozen other official AES hotels. In fact the number of products on the show floor that are directly attributed to sketches made on rum-soaked cocktail napkins from last year’s AES is just as staggering as the comical gait that many attendees have when exiting the bars at closing time.
If you’re really smart, call the Iridium Jazz Club (212/582-2121) and snag a couple tickets for one of Les Paul’s shows, Monday night October 8th. Les is really an American icon and in a day when the word “living legend” is bandied around to apply to nearly anyone, Les is the genuine article. The shows start at either 8 or 10 pm, but it’s best to get there early to get good seats, as there are no reserved seats and it’s first come, first serve. Check it out at www.iridiumjazzclub.com.
If you’re really, really smart, bring something for Les to sign after the show. He’s usually pretty nice about such things, unless you walk in carrying a Strat. In that case, you’re on your own, and you certainly don’t want to mar your New York experience by needing to drag yourself into an emergency room to have a (Fender) guitar neck extricated from one of your body cavities. My advice? Leave the Strat at home, bring a CD, LP or your ‘58 gold top Les Paul guitar to get signed. And watch out, because Les sometimes “forgets” to return your pen after he autographs something. In any case, a performance by the Les Paul Trio is a wonderful and unforgettable experience that’s well worth the $45 ticket price. Don’t miss it!
And if you really need a great reason to attend NYC AES, just say the words “Ray’s Pizza” three times and you’ll be magically whisked to the doors of the Javits Center. But if that fails for some reason, just grab a cab… from anywhere. And for more info about the AES show, visit www.aes.org. You’ll be glad you did!
When not working on Mix stuff, George Petersen records and performs with the SF Bay Area-based rock band ARIEL. Click here www.jenpet.com and check ‘em out.
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