Ask a guitarist ...

[Thumpalumpacus]

Who's your favourite guitarist?

Gosh, I really don't have one. I love a lot of 'em. Eric Johnson, a fellow Texan, is pretty close to it for me. Larry Carlton, too. Guy from the old New Wave band Television, Richard Lloyd, is great -- he always sounds like he's about to fall off the rails, but pulls it out right at the last moment. Elliot Easton, from the Cars. Joe Satriani. Wes Montgomery. Jeff Beck. My biggest influence is probably Alex Lifeson from Rush, and for good reason -- he's a well-rounded player, lead, rhythm, and texture as well.

What's your favourite guitar?

Right now?

My #1 for 15 years was a 73 Les Paul. I went through an acoustic phase, sold all my electric gear, and when I returned to electric 7 years later, got a Gibson SG. I've been an SG guy ever since -- wider array of tones than any guitar aside from a Telecaster.

Right now, my favorite is my Ibanez AS93. My SG is sulking in the corner, but it cain't do blues like that fatbody.

What's your opinion of buckethead?

I've never heard his playing, believe it or not. I've heard great things about him, and should probably look up some of his songs. If you've got suggestions, I'm all ears.

What are your favourite genres of music to play?

Blues, rock, and both influenced by jazz. I do the strummy-acoustic-thing-on-my-porch as well.

What are some of the best comliments/reactions to your guitar playing you've had?

The best reaction to my playing has been a dance-floor filling up when we went into "Hurricane" or "Breakdown", something that got asses moving. Others --

-- A sweet kiss and perhaps a little more

-- "Damn, Thump, that's how I want to play."

-- "Dad, my friends say you rip."

-- Same son, falling asleep to some fingerpicking.

What recording equipment do you use? I'm just talking about the daw not all the microphones and so on.

I haven't recorded my own music in almost two decades. I write and play. I should probably get something for recording ... maybe a producer.

 

Have you ever considered using your music knowledge to produce different genres of music using different instruments? Do you play other instruments?

Yep. When I was recording my own songs, I worked through a variety of genres -- rock, jazz, funk/fusion, R&B, country, and even a hip-hop-sorta-thing. I play bass, keys, and drums in addition to guitar, and on most of my demos played all but bass. I'll play any sort of music, any time, anywhere.

Funny story -- when deployed to Riyadh shortly after the war, a few coworkers and I went to the mall. The music store in there had a couple of guitars, but what caught my attention was an oud -- lute-sized acoustic instrument, 12 strings in six courses tuned like a guitar, and fretless. I had just started learning Phrygian-dominant and Hungarian/Gypsy scales, which are all very consonant with Arabic music, so when I started unwinding this in the store, the shopkeeper was a little surprised -- "who's this blue-eyed white boy as can play this oud?!"

What other instrument would you like to learn the most?

Saxophone, no doubt. Listen to Wayne Shorter and tell me it isn't just singing through an instrument, y'know?

Have you ever been in a band or are you now?

I'm not now, but I've been in a few, perhaps seven? None you'd have heard of, I don't think. Two of those bands, I was the bassist, the others, on guitar. I've never gigged on keys or drums, I'm not good enough on those instruments.

I'm not now in a band, but I'm hoping to get into one soon. See, in 2011/2012 I sold my electric rig (four guitars, three amps, pedals) to help finance my move back to Texas from California. So until November of last year, I'd played acoustic-only for about four years. Last November I got a nice Ibanez semi-hollow and started shaking the rust off'n my electric chops. I still can't play with the speed I used to have. But I can milk a note like nobody's business. Anyway, the rust is coming off the knuckles, the gear is coming together, and I'm hoping to join a band again soon. Its been too long!