OMG - GC

 

I haven't been to Guitar Center since before the Flying AIDS started, for several reasons. We somehow managed to escape the gravity of the house and take a trip.

Even with well over a year between visits, the store did not disappoint me. There wasn't a single left handed guitar in the store. Not even a cheap acoustic. This is a record.

The guitar stock was decent, as always, but everything else had been cut back before the Flying AIDS, probably due to that little Chapter 11 thing.

I got to see my first Fender Vintera Strat. This looked like an awesome series of guitars, with not a single one being made lefty. I really wanted a 50s Strat and maybe a 70s. The 50s I picked up was decent, with an actual 7.25" radius and somewhat of a V profile.

I asked the knowledgeable (no, really) salesman about other necks that weren't the standard neck. He suggested one, probably the top line. It was a little nicer. What really got me was the frets hanging off. It's not just the over $1k guitars - every new guitar should have good fretwork and be ready to sell. 

Fender's gone a little goofy with the $2k Strats, kinda like Gibson. In addition, there's a ton of models, without a ton of knowledge about the differences. This is the Radio Shack Syndrome: Yes, we have transistor AM radios. We have 12. Which one would you like?  Alarm clocks? We have 37.   Not that I mind variety, but I'm talking business.

Never thought I'd see the day you could buy albums at Guitar Center. I wonder how they choose which albums they're going to carry, given the small amount of space they have to display them. 

So the verdict is that it's kinda like a year or more ago, only less stuff, less used stuff, and nothing close to vintage. I guess they gotta do what they gotta do to stay open.

At least there's a place to buy strings and cords.

Do yourself a favor and avoid the Cable Hype. Monster guitar cords are not going to sound any better, nor will Monster power cords. IF they were going to sound better, it would be on full frequency spectrum, like hifi. But even there..... these people are known as audiophools.

There's one manufacturer that sells different guitar cords for different music. There's a rock and a jazz. Seriously? If a rock player uses a jazz cord, will it sound like fusion?

During my time as a sound guy, I got bored sometimes, which is not always a good time to be around. An up and coming local act appeared. I had a ton of colored mic cables and told the singer that the bright orange one would go best with her voice (and her hair). She was not amused. The guitar player was, and we used a blue cord on his amp's mic.

Long after my time in sound there was my time as a performer. I got my stuff onstage and quickly noticed no mic on or near my amp. I politely asked the sound company what was up and they handed me a DI box. Look, I understand there are newbies, but this is an expensive event, and you don't run a guitar through a *$&#ing DI. It sounds like excrement (on a good day). This was before plugins and digital modeling.  Plus I brought along a wonderful vintage amp. Sound companies don't run Neil Young's guitar through a DI - they mic his ancient Fender Deluxe tube amps. I want my Deluxe mic'd too. I was still polite, as I've been them, but it took a while to get my chin off the floor.

But they were a great sound company. I heard bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz and said "ground loop." The buzz continued, so I said "ground loop" louder. I was trying to help. Within 10 minutes they had the problem sorted out - there was a ground loop. I somehow managed to keep my mouth shut and pray people would be able to hear us through the p.a.

My entire life performing with a guitar was like this, sometimes much worse. One of my favorites was the resident sound guy who said my amp was making his overhead lunchroom speakers feed back. The amp wasn't even plugged in to power, but he insisted. The venue could not find a way to get him carried off and made busy while the show went on. Or the gig where the p.a. was literally a boom box. But it was a BOSE boom box, so I guess that made it ok.

• It turns out that Scorpions singer Klaus Meine is really talented. He has a high range and is very powerful. Give a listen - the album with the symphony will prove me correct.

I'm coming to be a Procul Harem fan, which is weird, as there's not a lot of guitar work, in spite of Robin Trower (initially). A really interesting song is 'A Salty Dog.' You can tell certain songs were written by piano players. How? The song starts with Dbm7-5.  Same with Stevie Wonder, but some of those changes will make your head explode.