Upcoming: Jonathan Stout Clinic on Allan Reuss

Have you been digging on Allan Reuss? Now's your chance to check out a live, in person clinic all about Allan Reuss-style chord melody and rhythm guitar playing, followed by a concert with Jonathan Stout and Casey MacGill. It's all part of our good friend Tommy Harkenrider's Blues and Roots Guitar Clinic Series. 

And we can't leave you with a little Allan Reuss to get you inspired:

Sat.Mar.19
Tommy Harkenrider's Blues and Roots Guitar Clinic with Jonathan Stout
Jonathan will be teaching and talking about chord melody/rhythm guitar style of Allan Reuss!
The Beatnik Bandito Music Emporium
417 N Broadway - Santa Ana 
$25 - 2pm-4pm
Facebook event page 

AND

Sat.Mar.19
CASEY MACGILL AND JONATHAN STOUT
Swingin' Strings at the Beatnik
The Beatnik Bandito Music Emporium
417 N Broadway - Santa Ana
$15 - 7pm
Facebook event page 

A Tale of Two "Paper Moons"

Here's just a little comparison to show the different flavors and tone colors available within the pre-WWII swing guitar range. 

Here's an example of a solo version of "It's Only a Paper Moon", in the Allan Reuss/George Van Eps-style:

And here's an example of some Charlie Christian-style electric, single-note playing on "It's Only a Paper Moon" over an acoustic Freddie Green-style swing rhythm guitar track:

Cheers. 

"Frosty the Snowman" - Allan Reuss-style Chord Melody, with transcription

Here's something to get you in the holiday spirit, "Frosty the Snowman" with a Chord Melody in the style of Allan Reuss. The changes here a quite simple, and the voicings I ended up with are often triads, which just goes to show more extensions is not necessarily better. This tune also has several spots where the melody arpegiates up the chord tones over a single chord, and these were good opportunities to jump the voicings up or down accordingly, just like Allan Reuss would do, rather than hold the same bottom voicing for more than a measure. 

FYI, I've strung my L-5 with Martin Retro Monel strings in the Tony Rice signature gauge (i.e. 13's), but have swapped the high E and B with a 14 and 18, as is my usual. Unlike my usual videos, this was shot with an iphone 6, instead of the internal webcam of my Macbook and a Blue Yeti USB microphone. 

Finally, here's the link to a print-able PDF file: Frosty - PDF

2015 Holiday Gift Guide

Since it’s almost time to hang those stockings, I figured I’d give an updated list of some of my favorite Swing Guitar-related items that make suitable stocking stuffers. I’m sure we want Santa to leave a D’Angelico or a Stromberg under the tree, but these are all things Santa might actually be able to pull off. 

ALBUMS

While many of these are available as mp3s or what have you, I find that many of these come with liner notes. Good liner notes give you the personnel and dates on each song, and often a nice critical explanation of the tunes. I’ve bought many things digitally, only to have to scour the internet to find out who was playing on a given session. Digital is better than nothing, but I always try to hold out for something with liner notes when I can. 

Charlie Christian - The Genius of the Electric Guitar 

The very best collection of Charlie Christian in the studio. Edited takes have been put back to their original state, and the remastering is excellent. One example is how on “Sheik of Araby” you can really hear the pitches of Nick Fatool’s tom-toms, instead indistinct thuds. The rehearsals and jam sessions on disc four provide a window into the real people involved, instead of just picturing them as 2-dimensional black and white photos. It’s out of print, but it’s worth searching out for this box set, no question. Plus the damn box is fashioned after an EH-150 amp! How can you resist?!

Swing to Bop: Guitars in Flight 1939-1947 

This is a fantastic collection of some more obscure players and tracks. There’s some wonderfully Django-influenced early Les Paul, as well as some really jumpin’ Mary Osbourne, one of the first players to be influenced by Charlie Christian. Her version of “Rose Room” is so badass. There is also some of the George Barnes Octet stuff, and some great Tony Mattola small group stuff. Perhaps my favorite track, unavailable anywhere else, is Carl Kress and Tony Mattola playing “Davenport Blues” live on some radio show. The spoken introduction is priceless, and the tune is even better. 

Very Best of Swingin’ Jive Guitarists

I’m not going to lie, I basically bought this one just for one song, “I Never Knew” by Peck’s Bad Boys, featuring one Mr. Allan Reuss. I don’t believe there is another CD issue of that track anywhere. But, there’s a ton of other good stuff on here from Bernard Addison, Al Casey, Eddie Lang (in the context of a band, not simply solo), several other lesser known guitar players, and even the reclusive Snoozer Quinn. 

Benny Carter - The Complete Benny Carter (Keynote) 

The Arnold Ross Quintet Sessions with Benny Carter are some of the very best examples of Allan Reuss’ playing. More over, there are multiple takes, which is wonderful insight into what parts and phrases were worked out and which were improvised. Some of the other collected tracks featuring an unidentified electric guitarist of interest as well. 

Django Reinhardt: Jazz Tribune, No. 39: The Indispensable Django Reinhardt, 1949-1950

While far from an exhaustive survey of Django Reinhardt’s playing, this two CD collection of 1949-1950 contains some of my favorite recordings of Django. There’s both some acoustic playing and some great electric playing. Among the great tracks, it contains one of my favorite Django tracks of all time, “The World is Waiting for the Sunrise”.  

BOOKS

These are problem the three most essential books on swing guitar playing.

Swing and Big Band Guitar: Four-To-The-Bar Comping in the Style of Freddie Green - Charlton Johnston

For all my complaints about it, this is still the most authoritative book on the subject of Freddie Green style playing. I highly recommend the chapter on inversions, since that is where one can learn to “walk” voicings up and down the neck. Just don’t bother listening to the example CD, because it’s straight-ahead jazz dreck. 

Swing to Bop: The Music of Charlie Christian - Stan Avyeroff 

The exhaustive resource of Charlie Christian transcription is the best available on the subject. There’s no tab, so you;ll need to work the fingerings yourself. Once you have a firm grip on Charlie’s patterns, that becomes easier to do. 

Ivor Mairants: The Great Jazz Guitarists, Pt. 1

I’m a little wary of revealing one of the best resources I’ve ever found for pre-war jazz guitar playing. I felt like keeping it secret for a long time, but I have to share. There are transcriptions of Allan Reuss, Oscar Aleman, George Van Eps, Carl Kress, as well as multiple transcriptions of Eddie Lang, Lonnie Johnson, DickMcDonough, Teddy Bunn, Django Reinhardt, Eddie Durham and Charlie Christian. Plus there’s some interesting analysis of the change from the Eddie Lang/Lonnie Johnson-era - the “First Guitar School”, to the “Second Guitar School” of McDonough/Van Eps/Kress and the rest. Fascinating stuff!

ACCESSORIES

These are just some favorite accessories that might make a good stocking stuffer.

K&M Heli 2 Acoustic Guitar Stand 

My favorite gigging guitar stand. Foldable, light, but very steady. Although the surfaces are not certified to be non-reactive with nitrocellulose lacquer, I’ve never seen any reactions, and I only use them for stage use, so I doubt I ever will. The only downside, for me, is that the recessed tailpiece jack of my ES-150 requires a stand with greater ground clearance (for which I have a Hercules model that holds the guitar by the neck).

Dunlop Primtetone 1.0mm Standard Sculpted Guitar Pick (w/o Grip)

Primeness have become my new go-to, everyday pics. I really love Blue Chips, but they are also $35 a pop. These Dunlops are only a little more than a dollar, and give much of the same feel. I find I like them better the more they break in. For harder-playing gigs, and for anything where I need to mitigate treble, I still reach for a 1.2mm Wegen, but for day-to-day playing, it’s hard to beat the 1.0mm Primetone. I also keep a couple Primetones in heavier gauge around for variety. Be warned there is also a model of the same name WITH a grip, and that is made from a completely different plastic - those are cool too, but definitely not as much like a Blue Chip. 

Snark SN-8 Tuner

A guitar tech friend of mine coined a turn of phrase I really loved, and I’ve repeated many times since: “The Snark: for when close enough is good enough.” He was joking about the use of something like a Snark for fine tuning intonation, which is clearly a job for something much more sensitive, like a strobe tuner. But for day-to-day tuning, and quick on-stage tuning checks, the Snark is more than sufficient. But almost more importantly, the price point for a Snark is so low, that loosing or breaking them isn’t the end of the world. They work well enough, they’re much easier to read than some of the budget, cheapo tuners out there, and they’re dirt cheap. I always have a bunch lying around, and when I start to notice I’ve misplaced one, I just order another. 

Just Strings: Bulk Strings 

If you’re like me, you might use a particular set of strings, but feel compelled to bump up the gauge of the high E and B strings. Problem one is that it leaves you with quite a few extra E and B strings in gauges you might not want. But the much bigger problem is needing an extra single string of both the B and E in the designated gauge. Plain steel strings are basically fungible, and the brands are basically the same, so you go with any brand of single string - D’Addario, Ernie Ball, whatever. And you’ll need to pack some individually wrapped single strings with you for gigs, in case you break a string on the gig. But at home, I tend to buy a pack of a dozen single strings from Just Strings in 13, 14, 17 and 18 gauges, and leave the individually packaged single strings in my gig bag. The Just Strings bulk strings come by the dozen, bagged in a long vinyl pouch. Just find a poster tube or something to store them, and you’re set. 

Belkin 6-outlet Surge Protector with Rotating Plug (8 ft)

It seems dumb put something as fungible as serge protector on this list. After all, unless you’re looking at something that has real protection, or line conditioning (ala a Furman or something), one office supply store surge protect is as good as another right? Maybe, but the benefit of the Belkin suggester here is that the plug head rotates for more options when plugging it in, and it has an 8 foot cable built-in. I can’t tell you how many times the cable from a normal surge protector almost, but didn’t quite reach to where I needed it to be, resulting in me daisy chaining multiple surge protectors in a row. Using the 8 foot Belkin has kept me from breaking out an extension cable in months. Of course, there are still times you’re going to need a 25- or 50-foot extension cable, but for so many stages, the 8 feet attached to the power strip is more than enough.

Monoprice XLR Cables
25 ft cables
50 ft cables

About 2 years ago I tried out moonrise XLR cables. Based on the high quality and low price, I eventually replaced all of our XLR cables with them. A couple of our mics where particularly sensitive about certain cables and certain jacks being ill fitting, causing a lot of pops and cutting out. Once we switched to monoprice, we never again had these kinds of problems. I also order a bunch of shorter run XLR’s for connecting my Lav Mic->Mute Switch->A/B Box combo together, before using two longer XLR’s to send to the board. If and when they eventually wear out, the low replacement cost still has you ahead of the rest. 

Flight Case Blues: Cracking Canadian Calton Bumpers - FIXED with Sugru

The previous owner of my '32 Epiphone Deluxe had a Canadian-made Calton Case custom-built for the guitar, and once I bought the guitar, I just had to buy the case for it too. For those unfamiliar, Calton cases are considered the standard in flight cases. They are generally custom built to fit your specific guitar (though models in standard shapes are generally available), have a fiberglass shell and are designed to be checked over and over again for years and years. The main drawback is that the cases are pretty friggin' heavy - schleping one on my back around NYC did kind of suck. Still, I can check the thing and not give it a second thought. The extensive padding fully isolates the guitar from impacts, even with airline baggage handlers doing their worst.

Originally made in the UK, a Canadian franchise was opened for North American sales, but eventually, after a couple of years of poor customer service and trouble keeping up with orders, the Canadian company folded. Recently, an Austin-based US Franchise has resurrected the brand, and all indications are the cases are better than ever. But, since the US company has no relationship or responsability for the Canadian cases, it means there is basically no service or support for the older cases. 

One of the design changes from the Canadian cases to the new US ones is a switch away from plastic or rubber bumpers, because the ones they used tend to get brittle and eventually crack, finally falling off leaving an unprotected screw that can catch on things or get bashed into the guitar. 

I was able to find some information on one Canadian dealer who was still providing replacement bumpers, but even after he kindly sent me some (for free! what a guy!), more of them fell off, so I was still left with some unprotected screws. 

Eventually it occurred to me that Sugru might work. Sugru is a moldable silicone rubber that cures into shape in about 24 hours.  I've been hearing about Sugru for a couple years now as an amazing "fix it all" product, but I'd never had occasion to work with it. I finally order some last week. Here's how it comes:

So here's what I did:

And the final product:

Sugru cures in 24 hours, though they advise thicker forms may need additional time. I gave it 3 days, it is perfect. The bumper is solid, but not rock hard - ideal for being durable while absorbing repeated impacts. The second bumper I made using Sugru wasn't as pretty, but it totally works. We'll see how these sugru bumpers handle their next flight for Lindy Focus.

It was $22 for 8 packets from Amazon. That comes to $2.75 per bumper. Not bad, right? Also, I'll be watching as the other bumpers begin to crack over time, and see if Sugru might be helpful in repairing them before they fall off. 

Of course, the US-made Calton cases in current production don't use these bumpers any more, so they don't have that problem. As for me, when I had a case made for my ES-150, I went with Hoffee Cases. Expect a review of the Hoffee sometime soon. 

Chord Melody Transcription - Sunday

I've been working on chord-melody playing for the last couple months, and occasionally posting some of the tunes on our youtube channel, www.youtube.com/campusfive.com. One of the most common comments on those videos is a request for another chord melody lesson and/or a transcription. 

I recorded and posted this video of "Sunday" yesterday, and I was able to crank out a rough transcription this afternoon. I wanted to get something up asap, since I tend to start, but then never finish, stuff like that. So, here's a tabbed-out transcription of the head of the tune. 

Here's a link to a PDF. At some point, I'll try to sketch out the second, ad-lib chorus. Cheers.

NGD: 1932 Epiphone De Luxe

So, I've been cyberstalking every guitar store that deals in acoustic archtops for a couple months looking for a 16" L-5, or at least that was the theoretical goal. The very best examples of acoustic archtop I've ever played were the few '28-29 L-5's I've played, along with Joe Vinikow's personal 16" walnut-backed broadway, and John Collins' D'Angelico Excel. I also hadn't played a bad 20's L-5, although I'm sure they're out there. There was also a wonderful 40's Deluxe owned by my friend that owns the acoustic music store in Denver. I had an idea that a 20's L-5 would be a good match, but I also knew that not having owned any vintage acoustic archtops, I had a lot to learn.

I picked up the 1935 Gibson L-12 I posed about previously, because I spotted a good deal, and indicia that the guitar would be something special (super light weight, a ton of play wear). But I also was interested in learning about what an "advanced", x-braced guitar would sound and feel like. Well, after dialing in the strings gauges to really make the guitar sing, it's been a very interesting and inspiring learning process. I've been so inspired to play solo guitar, chord-melody type stuff, and it's because the guitar is it's own orchestra. Deep bass, nice treble zing, and sustain. Of course, even with those strengths, it has drawbacks. One small complaint are the tuners and frets - nothing worse than playing chord melody and just one random fret here or there is just out of tune enough to drive you crazy! 

Still, the most intresting thing to learn was how amazing that guitar sounds alone, or in a duo or trio context, compared to how it sounds in a band with a full rhythm section. The L-12's rich bass is unnecessary when playing with a bass player, and the sustain and nice treble are lost when playing with drums and horns. It's as if the guitar simply disappears in a band. Since I do almost all of my playing with rhythm sections and horns, I could tell that the L-12 was not going to be "THE" guitar for me. That said, I can tell that this specific L-12 is a great one, and it's something I will keep for a long time. At home, alone, I tend to find it the most satisfying to play because it's so balanced. 

So, learning from that, I figured I would be better suited to something on the "punchier" edge of the spectrum: Epiphones (which are all parallel-braced) and parallel-braced Gibsons. If nothing else, I had a great sounding chord melody guitar I could keep, and so I figured I should be looking for more of a rhythm and single-note cannon. And so I kept cyberstocking.

I noticed Lark Street music listed a 1931 Epiphone De Luxe that looked awfully familiar. I recognized it as my friend Ted's guitar, so I checked with him about it. He's known me and my playing for 10 years, and he said this would be the perfect guitar for me, and that it easily beat out a 16" L-5. After a bit more research, I found the archived listing onarchtop.com: Fine Vintage Instruments Online from when Ted bought it. (1932 Epiphone Deluxe) Anyway, I got a 48 hour approval period, and Ted basically intimated he'd buy it back from me if I didn't love it, so I couldn't say no with such guarantees. 

I had the guitar shipped directly to my favorite local music store/repair shop, Westwood Music, so I could have them look at it and adjust it if need be. I brought the L-12 along for comparison. 

I'm gonna be honest here - I hated it. 

I took a couple of days to play the thing constantly, changing strings and gauges, and it took until the 11th hour before I would have to send it back, but then it clicked with me. I think, partially, the guitar was dealing with some issues related to the travel and climate (it was unusually humid in Los Angeles when it arrived), and the guitar didn't feel "open". However, I came to realize that such a guitar is an entirely different animal than the L-12, and the L-12 had set my expectations wrong. The joke I've been making is that I felt that "This apple is such a crappy orange!" 

I decided to keep the guitar and took it with me to Lincoln Center and Beantown, and used the opportunity to guitar shop while I was in those fine cities. What was very satisfying was how the De Luxe stood up to even the fanciest of guitars. However, because I hadn't had a gig where I could compare the performance of the L-12 to the De Luxe, I couldn't fully appreaciate the De Luxe. 

Then after we got back, I had a wedding gig where I was stuck playing drums. Fortunately our good friend Craig Gildner was in town on vacation and agreed to cover the guitar chair. He didn't bing a guitar with him, but of course, I had guitars he could use, HA! Anyway, I had the perspective of sitting on the drum throne listening to him alternate between the De Luxe and the L-12, and it was perfectly clear how perfect the De Luxe sounded in a band context. The rhythm chords jumped, chord melody solos jumped, single notes jumped! And the L-12 disappeared by comparison. Before the band started, I had to do an hour of solo-guitar on the patio by myself, and I used the L-12, and it sounded profoundly good. So, it's not to say that the L-12 doesn't have it's uses. However, for most of what I do, the De Luxe is exactly what the doctor ordered. 

Anyway, here's a video review of the guitar, and I hope you enjoy it:

NGD: 1935 Gibson L-12

Without pickguard, as arrived.

So, I find myself in the market for a serious vintage acoustic archtop, and I've been cyberstalking every pre-war Gibson or Epiphone on the internet for weeks. Nothing wrong with my Eastman (quite the contrary, it's been providing a benchmark many of the vintage axes I play fail to meet), but it's time (financially and logistically) to invest in a serious, real-deal vintage guitar. 

Now I've been at a loss for what exactly I want in such a guitar, other than it being something truly special sounding. Does that mean 16" or 17"? Parallel- or X-braced? Gibson or Epiphone? I'm not 100% sure. It has to be something really open and resonant - something that speaks to me. 

I was focused mostly on a 16" Gibson L-5, because several of the best guitars I've ever played have been 20's L-5's. However, I was also open to something like a 30's Walnut-backed Epiphone Broadway, because those can be really cannons, and even open to something like an Epiphone Deluxe or Emperor. I also didn't want to exclude a 30's advanced 17" Gibsons, because not having played very many, I couldn't really say if it was something I wold dig or not. 

I'd been watching everything online very carefully, and was pretty pissed when I saw a great looking 16" L5 get sold in a matter a couple days after listing from a music store in Kansas, and every other 16" L5 was either refinished, renecked, or had a replacement fingerboard, or was a signed Lloyd Loar and this absurdly expensive. Now, while a guitar with major work, or a refin, or whatever could still be awesome sound if done right, but since I couldn't play it first, I was reluctant to drop $8k-$10k even if there was a trial period. I even found a local walnut-backed Broadway, but it would've needed at least a refret, if not a full neck reset. Although it was comparably affordable, I was worried about the guitar being a money pit. 

Well, I was watching an ebay listing for a 1935 Gibson L-12, which is a 17" advanced, X-braced guitar. The guitar had fail to sell once because the reserve was not met. On the second go-around, there was little to no attention being paid to the guitar and the price was very low. The thing that struck me the most was the ridiculous playwear on the back of the neck - clearly that guitar had been played a lot, and for decades. I watched the auction during dinner on my phone, and managed to snipe it manually for below what the previous auction had ended at, and a good $500-$1000 under value. I was a little hesitant to buy the guitar without having played it, but there was a 24-hour return period, and at worst, I'd be out the shipping. 

Well, it arrived today, and the first thing I noticed was how light the package was. Turns out the play wear was only one of the telltale signs of a great acoustic archtop, this guitar was super light too. Awesome. I was so excited I un-boxed in my mailbox place. I put the bridge on, and slowly brought the strings up to tension, and was immediately pleasantly surprised. I brought it home, futzed with the bridge placement slightly, and was greated by an amazingly open, resonant, singing guitar - every bit what a pre-war, X-braced 17" archtop should be. Check out the back of the neck:

I was taking a webcam video to show a friend, and just decided to a full review and playing demo on it. So check it out. 

Since recording the video, I learned that this guitar definitely has a maple neck. I thought mahogany necks were one of the features separating L5's from the lesser L-12 and L-7, but that only turns out to be true of 16", pre-advanced models. However, there are mahogany examples of 17" L7's and L12's, but those are less common.

Also, I threw at set of 13's on the guitar and had it set up. Unfortunately, after a couple of days it was crystal clear that it was just not working with 13's on it. Going back to 12's (of course with a 13/18 pair swapped in on top), and the guitar came back to life. The 13's felt and sounded like they were throttling the guitar, and almost over driving the top, rather than making it sing freely. I still believe in using the heaviest strings you can, but I'd add using the heaviest strings that sound good on your guitar. This was clearly a case where 12's were perfectly sufficient to make the top move.

Since this guitar was only a 3rd of what I'd budgeted for my "investment", I have some options. I could trade this toward something like an L5, or I could keep it, and look for something else, like perhaps the more reasonably priced Epiphone line to have something that contrasts the L-12, or who knows. 

I'm just excited to get to play a really open-sounding 80-year-old guitar for right now, and learn as much as I can about the sound of 17" X-braced Gibsons. 

UPDATE: Here's what it looks like with a repro-pickguard from www.archtop.com:

The Internet Archive saves Charlie Christian sites!

Hey, so I like to think of myself as relatively computer savvy, but it never occurred to me to try looking for Gary Hansen's lost Charlie Christian website using the Internet Archive... until this morning. It occurred to me because the other GREAT Charlie Christian website, Leo Valdes's Solo Flight, has now disappeared. 

So, may I present to you... working links for the internet's two best sources of Charlie Christian content, and two sites that were absurldy important for my development as a Swing Guitar player:

Gary Hansen's Charlie Christian Site (via web.archive.org) - featuring many transcriptions in both notes and tab, and lessons on the "geometric" pattern-based playing of Charlie Christian

Leo Valdes's Solo Flight (via web.archive.org) - featuring many transcriptions and other resources, most notable for it's alternative theories on Charlie's fingerings of certain patters. Some of them make perfect sense, others not so much. Still, it's a valueable resource. 

New Gear: National Style 1 Tricone in Vintage Silver

I'm not gonna lie: John Reynolds is my hero. Always has been, probably always will be. 

John Reynolds plays a National. A Tricone National. 

Ever since I had a lesson with John 15 years ago, I've always wanted a National. Even my wife, who is usually against any additions to the guitar colelction, would always agree that I should have one someday. Well, just before Christmas, a bunch of things came together, and I got my wish. 

I had resisted the urge to buy one of the suprisingly decent Republic resonators guitar when they came out a couple years ago, because every time I compared one to a National, there was no question that a real National just had "it", and the Republic was an ok copy, but it wasn't magic the way a National is. I had also decided to wait for a Tricone, specifically a Style 1 (the plainest metal-bodied one), even though I did also enjoy the brasher and louder tone of a Style 0 Single-Cone. John was kind enough to lend me is ~1930 National Style 0 Single-Cone for a gig, which I definitely kept longer than I should have - it was too fun to give back!!!1

Anyway, I just happened to see an ebay listing for a barely used 2012 Style 1, and this one wasn't made of the regular brass, but rather of "German Silver" which is an alloy even closer to the original 20's-30's Nationals. Now, I personally think the National Guitars made in San Luis Obispo in the modern era are easily every bit a great sounding as the original ones (let's face it, metal doesn't age like wood does!), and the standard brass alloy sounds fantastic - but the "German Silver" is even warmer soudning and weighs slightly less (it's still pretty damn heavy, though). 

Though the guitar didn't make it in time to open Christmas morning, once it arrived, I was delighted to find that it was every bit as good as I'd always wanted. Here's a couple videos of me playing it. Enjoy.

"All of Me"

"Blue Skies"