Guitars and Life

It was my birthday earlier in the month.  So with the various vouchers and cash I got I've acquired a couple of bits of new kit. 1. Harmoniser pedal. I thought I'd try one out and didn't want to spend a lot on something that has limited use to be honest.  I watched some reviews of the cheaper mini pedals that have been coming on the market recently.  Influenced by Mooer who came up with the format.  The idea is just genius.  They figure most people who are serious have a pedal board already and that has a 9v power supply on it.  Therefore why to all pedals continue to have to have space for the 9v battery and that dictates a lot about how small a pedal can be - a format long championed by market leaders like Boss. So take that out, minituraise as much as possible and suddenly pedals can be really small actually.  Small enough that you could have 3 or 4 easily on a little board with a power supply and be able to put it in the pocket of your gig ba...

Many many years ago when I first started playing the guitar etc. John Miles was an artist I liked.  Remember him?  Most famous was his breakthrough hit of Music - which is a marvellous tune, with a bit of 7/4 timing thrown in with piano, orchestra and rock guitar solo. Anyway John Miles had a black Les Paul Custom - hmmm.... another influence on my desire for one of these in later years maybe.  But his was special.  Many customs from the late 50s were built with three pickups - it was the default set up and continued into the SG custom that followed in the 60s - it is extremely rare to see a two pickup SG custom although two pick Les Paul Customs became the norm after the 1970 reintroduction.   John's had three pickups but rather than the usual three way switch and two vol and tones his had a four way slider switch and six controls. Here is a video of him playing it in 1976 in one of his hits Slow Down.  Esp about 1:30 in you'll see the guitar duri...

Here is a picture of the new Gibson Les Paul Standard 2019 model. In the snazzy looking Blueberry Burst.  Not possibly the colour I'd choose if I was buying this guitar but interesting and actually quiet innovative for a production guitar finish - you've got a standard burst idea - i.e. fade from light to dark from the centre out to the edges and a colour transition from the neck joint to the base of the instrument.  Now - if you search on the Internet for Gibson Les Paul Standard 2019 - you'll find a whole host of articles and videos with people in melt down.  I've not seen this level of hate for Gibson Les Paul since the addition of robot tuners and the height adjustable brass nut. I thought I write and give my take on this... firstly by talking history. Exhibit one the original Les Paul model as introduced in 1952. (from GuitarHQ.com) Let us roll on to 1957. (This is actually Snowy White's guitar that he has used throughout his career with Pin...