A Day In MY JOb

A Day On The Job...

A lot of people have seen guitar techs at the bigger shows they go to and may have some idea in there head what the roadies do. I guess even I was in that position until I started working in this role a lot more and getting to learn the depth and breath of the position within a “road crew” and the industry in general. So I'm gonna try lay out more clearly just what it is we do and what it is we have to go thru and look after and more importantly keep going day after day after day.

I used to try explain to people ,my job along the lines of a Pit crew in a Formula 1 team or any race team, (depending on my closeness to daytona it might have been described as a nascar team)

looking after the prized highly tuned piece of machinery that is the guitarist and his guitar. But thats really just the tip of the icebeg. The job really starts way before the house lights go down and the intro music starts.

Before any tour or one off show no matter where it is I have to work with the artist and there managemant to clarify there show requirements, wheter its an acoustic show or a full blown rock and roll band affair. From there I have to work out what backline or amps the artist – or band as I'll call it is using and whether its there own gear or rental gear from a local compnay or whatever compnay can supply us the gear in the town or countrey we are booked ot play. This is itself can sometimes be a challenge as finding particular amps or keys can be a tough job and finding a compromise is sometimes the only case, If we have to settle for a compromise then the band may requirements may have to be altered. Eg, we have to re-look at pedal boards and add things we can't get in the backline we need. Luckly within my own country I know every backline company and every piece of gear they own and constantly keep updated on it so I am one step ahead of the game, espeically when overseas bands book tours thru here and need backline. Some bands won't budge on requirements and you have to start calling on a lot of favours of friends to source guitars or amps or pedals that the bands must have.

As well as booking and confirming or “advancing” any gear we hire I then have to make sure all our gear is ready to drive , bus, fly or sail to the gig. If we need new pedal boards made up I may be up till the early hours making pedal boards and velcroing pedals and making looms of cables or just heading down to the local store and buying what the band needs ,this is as well as all the strings and picks and batteries and spare cables and such stuff we need before a tour. Its not uncommon for me to do a shop with one of my major artists here in nz and spend into the $500-$800 mark just on picks and strings and tape and batteries and feedback busters and capos and all the things that musicians manage to lose a week after there last tour finishes! I have bought capos for one singer for every tour and I'm sure if they cleaned there practise rooms they'd find a bunch..haha

Once all the extra bits and pieces have been bought its usually down to me to pack and check all the cases for the gear and make up any tour cases with all the bits and pieces we may need on that tour. For a tour with one band its easy , On a big Winery tour thru NZ here each summer I have 3 bands to tech for and that means 16+ guitars and 3 lots of strings and bits and extra cables and stuff so I have two super large Road cases or coffins as there called just for my 'Guitar-World' its a lot of stuff to look after day in and day out so I have to keep it as organised as I can or things go missing and when your loading in at 8am and loaing out at 12-1am the next morning and your brains fuzzy and tired you have to be doubly on your game to make sure all the stuff goes back in the right cases , but also fits back in the cases in such a way as it does fit in.. usually this involves a day or two before the tour packing and re-packing the cases until you have every inch of space used for something.. and it does take time to get it just right.. you can;t afford one square foot of space sitting there empty with more stuff to fit in so you re pack and shuffle until it works.. then I take a few photos on my iPhone of the pack so I can get it inot my head for the next coupe of shows then its second nature by then..

As well as prepping tall th bands gear I also have my own gear to prep. I have various combinations of tool boxes and sizes that all get decided on varying on the show and its length and its proximity to large citys.. if I'm thru bigger citys and venues in town, I can afford to travel a bit lighter as I can dash off to a music store to restock. But for the out of town wionery shows then I am miles from any town or music store so I take everyting I possibley coulf need, and spares, from 3 capos, to feedback busters, guitar stands, Pickup surrounds, machine heads, nuts, bridges, acoustic bridge pins, wire, solder, soldering irons, about 10-12 cables including short speaker and long speaker cables, small jack to jacks and extra long arena cables, and IEC jug cords, and fuses and spare screws, nuts bolts washers, practially a complete workshop. The last thing I can be is stuck needing something 10 minutes before doors and be an hours drive away from a town.

Whilst touring the Warped tour I had TourSupply.com at my fingertips and that was a god send.. just email my order and it was on a courier and delivered to me within a day or two a runner would deliver it to my set up tent at the back of the main stage.. that site has pretty much everyhting you'd ever need on the road and is by far the biggest thing I miss about touring the states.. here in lil ol kiwi land the best I can hope for is have something sent to one of the chain stores down the line and pick it up as I come thru town or or try take a shop into fed-exing it to my hotel for the next city.

So a lot of time and effort and checking and rechecking goes into the prep time of the tour . From there depeding on the scale of the tour its getting all my stuff that I have to deal with in my “guitar world” to the truck or the van its travelling in. Some times I'm driving the van as well so thats another responsibilty I have to look after, not always a favourite but I got to see a lot of the United States and Canada driving my band and there van and trailer round those countrys.

On tour I am just a cog in a large wheel, we may have an Front of House Engineer or (FOH or sound guy), monitor guy, Systems tech for the PA if we're touring one, Riggers for flying the PA, lighting guys, loaders, more riggers, production managers, tour managers, site managemant, security, merchandise, and even ushers on the big winery tours . And if we have to all share truck space then you have to do your part sometimes and make sure your stuff gets to that truck in the time it needs to be there as they load it, as just like my coffins the trucks can't waste an inch of space when theres so much gear and also for safetly sake and have the load spread out evenly , a baddly packed truck can tip on a corner or loose gear can break free and cause a hell of a mess. So you have to do your part and get packed down and ready as fast as they need you, which isn't always great when you have stuff thats broken or needs looking at right away. But you do what you can and your stuff there.. especially the first day! You piss people off there you won't hear the end of it all tour..haha

I hate to say this but there is a certain amount of repitiviness involed with being a guitar tech. There has to be, its what keeps the tour and show rolling. You are there to put the same show together night after night as long as the run lasts, or even if its a one off show, the band wants there stuff done a certain way. We have Stage plots for where there gear goes onstage in relation to each other and what needs to go where, these often have meaurements so the front of the drum risers is adesignated distance from the monitor line or guitar amps are an exact distance apart and on the stage symetrically apart. Or risers for keyboards and bass players are a certain distance from the back screen. And you have to make sure you or the local hands and loaders have that info and get that right.. I have to make sure that the stage no matter where or what city we are in is the EXACT same each show. Musicians get better the more they get used to doing something, its common sense, so to shake things up and suddenly have things all different throws a whole show and I have seen and experienced bands have terrible shows because things were just not right.. to the punter in crowd they wouldn't realise or think there prima donna but there not, when its different it can put bands out ther comfort zone and suddenly they are worrying more about why the stage feels different and sounds different ,than just playting the music and suddenly you have a very pissed off guitarist/singer or someone.. so we check and recheck, luckily on some of the big festivals where we tour a massive truck stage we have the floor all marked or “spiked” with each piece of equipment and even lines for people to stand to correalate with the lighting if needed. Everything goes down exactly as the night before, evenm towels and water, the last thing you wabt is a muso reaching for there beer or water to find its been out on the riser behibnd , I've had people between songs absolutley stress and go off at me for putting it in the wrong place when in fact someones moved it while working and left me to get it in the neck.. not fun.

Also for some shows I will have made up a set of cables or “loom” a certain length so it all fits into place when we have all the gear down and suddenly to be short by 5 feet is an issue. Its mostly important when you have a large band to fit onto stage with a lot of risers, one singer - Dave Dobbyn plays with a 7 piece band and 3 risers on our last tour so we had to make sure it was all laid out right, plus the audio/sound guys usually make up looms of mic cables to fit to the stage plot before th tour so it makes there life easier so if you muck them around again, you won't hear the end of it.

A normal tour day.

Waking up far too early 7-8am mostly. And heading to the venue, for me a day may start helping unpack the truck and getting all my gear out of cases and starting to assemble each persons set of stuff. This is normally all the backline and amps as soon as I am allowed acess to the stage. If there is rigging going on in the ceiling it pays to stay clear benath, but usually lighting is in before I have to be there so there all done and the stage is clear. So I position my risers, measure any distances or set to pre ordained marks on th stage, put amps in ther place and leave the sound guys to mic stuff up, we will usually both be working the stage at the same time as I set they set. If there is a lot of movement and people on the stage I won't lay put my pedals or run my cables until its quieter, the last thing you want is someone or something to drive over your pedal board with the irreplacebale one of akind fuzz pedal or the hot wired vintage coloursound.. guitarists hate broken gear! End of Story!.

Once I feel the stage is secure and safe enough I'll lay out all my pedal boards and check positions of mic stands for each musician, they have to be at the right height even for soundcheck. I'll tighten every bit I can on the mic stand so we don't have the impotent drooping mic stand at any time. Then I'll tape up or fit the pick holders if thats what the guy/girl wants. Each band is different so each has there own unique needs and demands of how stuff should be set. I won't tape down my cables as I'll usually be soundchecking in reverse order, so Headline first then second band then first band or Support band last. So I'll have to shift all this gear at the end of the soundcheck and reset for the next band or there own tech will.

The Soundcheck

But once its all in place and mic'd up I'll start be oin contact with the Front of house engineer and go thru and line check each instrument and mic for the performer I am taking care of, on shows where its just me, thats drums and keys included. So its a simple process of starting at the kick drum and hitting it again and again while the sound guy gets his levels and makes sure all the mics are showing up on his desk in the right order, at this point the monitor guy is also getting his levels and making sure I am getting what I know the artist needs in that monitor wedge or in there in ears if there on those. I have my own set of In -Ear buds I travel with so I always have them for each band that uses in ears so I can have a pack on and know the bands got the mix they want or thibgs are going as they should and liase with the monitor guy for any extra needs or requiremnts . From the kick its to the snare and so on thru the kit. Even tho most FOH- desks are becming more digital and have instant recall it still has to be check and rechecked until there happy. To do this job right It pays to know exactly the level and the way the band plays, hit and sings and screams . That way the FOH guy can set all the levels and not have them peak out when the band starts. So you pick up the techniques of the bands you work with a little, and can emulate the way they may strum there acoutsic or how loud there liable to scream in a certain song. All the time spent getting this right now makes the Linecheck faster and simplier for the band, and also saves any loud unwanted feedback when they start playing something at a differnet volume than you'd been checking.

For the guitar amps, I have them all marked where they need to be set, so each night I can dial them exactly as the show before and also have photos so if I'm to fly to another town with a rental amp I can dial in and get as close to the sound as I need. Tho as valve amps are variable things the exact markings can be differnet each day. So I've resorted to decible meteres and all kinds of ways to measure each amp night after night to check its output. So night after night I can get as close to the same set up as the guitarist needs and as it fits with the songs there playing. There are a few times I will have to turn them down as the guitarists turn themselves up night after night.. guitarists are always wanting more.. and it never makes for a great show. The louder you play the less the FOH guy has to work with and in the end the rest of the band is battleing to be heard over the tower of blaring guitars on the side of the stage..

Next up is the soundcheck with the band if there going to be there, or it may be left to the road crew to check it all out. In the bigger festival situations there are no soundchecks unless your the main headline act sometimes, you get 30 minutes between bands for them to clear the previous bands gear and then get your stuff on stage, into place and all run up. Then I have to try get the right tones out of amps and start getting a good monitor mix or an in ear mix . This is usually in 15-20 minutes. This is where the job gets pressured, any cock ups now or things forgotten or left behind or broken really throws a spanner in the works. To make all the time worthwhile I will normally have my pedal boards all laid out side of stage in order and sitting on top of each amp to roll on and I've taped arrows to the back of each map to show the loaders the stage positon so they can be left to roll the stuff right onot position and check it off against the pre sent stage plot.

Normally these changeovers run short on time so its a pressure situation where you have to keep your head and your cool and keep everyting under control and be aware of everything even outside your job and control in case you have to adjust and re assess your plan..

Once the soundchecs are done you may have time with the artist changing pedal settings or experimenting with new gear or switching stuff round.. or you may get left with a bunch of new pickups or things to fit to guitars for the show. If the bands thoughtful they don't dump a bunch of expectations on you an hour before the show but it happens..

If the soundchecks gone sweet and everyones happy I might have to mark the palcement of gear out on stage if it has to move. We call that Spiking. It just means taking some coloredtape and marking out the corners of amps and mic stands and drum kits , keyboards.. you usually have to move at least your pedal boards from front of stage, I might be lucky and not have to move the complete band gear but some shows you have to strip the whole stage for the support bands. This means a lot of spiking..haha . Once the stage is clear its a case of starting re-strings on guitars or more repairs or cleaning of gear like pedal boards before the show. You usually have time to get this done if youe just looking after one band, but on shows where you have a few bands to take care of you normally have to prioritise the jobs and then set up for the next soundcheck. Then try fit in re strings and repairs and general TLC for gear. Some days you may have so much time on your hands you can clean the gear till it sparkles. Take a toothbrush and polish the amps and cabs inch by inch with cleaner or strip the guitars and polish every part. Or you maye just take the time to hit the hotel and get a nap or food or a swim. Its not slacking off some days you need to leave the work area to go over a hectic show in your head and run and rerun the show in your mind and in a zone your clear headed without people or support bands making noise or lighting guys focusing lights and testing strobes and explosions.

After show show starts and the support bands or other bands play I will be tuning and making sure all guitars and effects are ready for the “change-over” cleaning, stretching strings one last time. And just preparing myself and double checking. I'll have water and setlists to set and towels and any other particular trinkets and toys or backdrops that may need to be set.. each band is different and can need there own special things in place for the show.. Finally I'll get the call to set my bands gear and set the stage ready for the show. There will be a quick line check of all the gear again so the FOH guy is happy that everything is coming up on the right channels and I'm happy all the gear works, all the effects pedals go and everything they play or touch is working as planned. If anything doesn't work right then you have to try fix it or get it as it should be. If all else fails then you have to come up with the back up gear or guitars to get the show on the road.. pedals can somehow go down between soundcheck and show time. They can be temperamental , especially if the gears not been looked after prior to the tour.

If everythings going and the rest of the crew are happy then its time to set the bands water, beers, wine, whatever they want and put up the set lists and towells. I usually use an easy to see big white “X” made of gaffer tape on the floor to mark where tha bands refreshments are so if they are in the dark they can see them . Nothing worse than a band searching for waters that are hidden in the dark or set in a different place than normal. It can interfere with there being in the zone again.

So once there all set its pretty much GO time.. I may have to walk to the band and hand them guitars or a mic, or clip on there wireless units and hand them picks or whatever they need then just wait and give them the call to walk onot the stage, when there intros on or the lights are down.. from there on in the shows started and the job moves into the next mode.

I'll hit that up on the next Blog..

Getting Out ON The Road..

I was fortunate enough to get a chance yesterday , to chat with the great guys on the Six String Bliss Podcast http://www.sixstringbliss.com/

and they asked me about what guitars or amps travel the best? the answer is the ones packed and in the the best cases! Simple as that.. any sturdy and well built guitar and bass is gonna take a hell of a beating in a gig bag or a case thats way, way ,way past its best before date. Even tho I still constantly start tours with guitarists cases with missing latches, missing or loose bottoms barely held together by gaffer tape, or missing handles, people just don't think about it until its too late saddly.

If you try travel with a guitar case with no handle.. make sure you don't see how they throw them on the plane..haha

So I'm gonna try help you out with a few tips to get everything ready to travel with that great piece of musical gear you love and cherish. And heres my disclaimer. I'm a guitar tech, a roadie, so i travel a lot with guitars and see them go on and off planes and in and out trucks and up and down off stages I've covered Hundreds of thousands of miles with guitars , this is ''MY" personal experience and what I've been taught and learnt and found out the hard way. so if you disagree then comment I'm more than glad to hear your view. but its mostly common sense stuff.

1. Check over your gear.

Look over your case. First look at the handle, is it fitting tight at the mounting plates? is it dangling off one clip and about to fail. Remember a drop from waist height is enough mark up a guitar if it hits something hard in a loosely fitting case. or even worse if the guitars being swung up into a van or plane hold and the handle gives way then that guitars going flying... on its own, I have found Show repair stores often do suitcase and general case repairs so these guys can fix simple problems,.

Are the latches working.. a Guitar case held closed with tape is just simply unacceptable! it should have working latches that hold the case closed and rain out and your guitar safe inside. you may scoff but I constantly see missing latches and cases with tape from top to bottom show up first day of tour, a your that will send this guitar half way round the world and back again.. Again check your local shoe repair store for latches and repairs..

Check the framing of the case. is it intact? do the corners all attach to the sides? a guitar in a loosely fitting case will move around inside and after constant pushing against the bottom -body end of a lose case the guitar can break the case suddenly you can have your guitar fall out the case. I have seen it happen and its not something you wanna ever see, haha if the case has loose sides or a loose bottom then its time to invest in a new case if you plan to travel with your guitar, Again you all maybe be laughing at these comments thinking who would even think about traveling with a guitar case that doesn't close, doesn't hold together and is missing a handle.. well I have seen as many cases like this as i have seen decent flight cases.

If you have a rectangle case with the neck support inside then check that is it still held in place securely- meaning it will hold your neck in place? these things are generally held by small pin studs and will come loose over time, you can just re screw these in yourself , but make sure your guitars not in the case when you do this.

If all these things are intact and working then its time to look inside more closely.

lay your guitar case on a nice flat surface and open it and put your guitar inside, with your hand gently try move the guitar inside, if there is a lot of movement inside then thats a fast track to a broken guitar. Remember if your about to travel a thousand miles yourself then that guitars going to travel the same distance and is not built as sturdy as you or I.

If your guitar does have movement in the case even minor, theres is an easy fix. beg, borrow, steal or scrounge some sheet foam.just your average foam and you can take an marker pen and draw the shape you need to fit in the spaces that your guitar is not filling, and then an exact knife or craft knife and cut this out. a little bit of extra foam in a case will prevent the guitar from sliding around inside and hold it safe and snug. I've cut out a complete Les paul style guitar shape from a large section of foam for a case once 7 years ago and that guitar is still traveling the world intact in that snug soft surrounding. It may just be around the headstiock if its on the old tweed style rectangular fender cases or just some more support under your acoustic neck if you have a general acoustic case that wasn't made as an exact fit for your guitar. Also there may be space round the body in the shaped cases and i like to draw the the shape of the case then the guitar body and cut that shape out and fit that inside the large body end and that holds the guitar snug.. If theres only an inch of space around a guitar after constant shaking inside the guitar can take a bunch of knocks it doesn't deserve or worse brake the jack plug plastic if it keeps knocking. and when you place it down the body drops putting more pressure on the neck in the cradle position.

The guitar should be so tightly held within the case that it has no movement.. A few simple pieces of foam can save your guitar years of abuse you never see done to it.!

All that being said, if your serious about traveling with your prized instrument then theres nothing better than a properly made flight case. with alloy corners and proper Penn fabrication Latches. End of story!

But I realize these are out of the average musicians league, money wise as there not cheap, when you think about it as a safety insurance for your prized instrument they do make sense, even if your just traveling to a local jam night. But a good solid case thats as close to the shape of the guitar/bass and has as little room inside for the guitar to get up to mischief inside.

NOW THE GUITAR

Take a minute to look the guar over, closely.... real closely... i mean hold that guitar up to your nose and look at it.. any little ding or crack that could get worse over its travels is best found out now, and fixed or remedied. also you need to check things from the top of the head stock to the bottom. check the machine heads, are they secure and all held in place tight by the right amount of screws? check the actual turning knobs, are they tight and screwed in well. if you lose one of those end knobs on the road, your gonna have to replace the whole machine head with something you'll be lucky to find similar.

Check the string guides , are they intact and screwed in tight. Check the nut, is it glued on still? also is it intact? take a close look. is it chipped or missing that last little bit of nut to hold the high "E" in place.. these things do chip and can be more stress down the track..

Now check the fretboard. is it gunned up and covered in that appetizing black and dark green finger grease and sweat that does clog up the board after long sessions playing..? a little lemon oil oil on an old tooth brush brushed inline with the grain back and forth will shift that crap and re condition your board.. but make sure you mark that tooth brush as a work brush.. I made that mistake once and brushed lemon oil and lord knows what onto my teeth one morning and it ruined my whole day..haha

Dunlop makes a good lemon oil as do most guitar polish companies these days. even if your guitar isn't gunked up it can dry out and the normally dark rose wood or ebony top will take on that light brown grey colour. this is the sign its on its way to drying too much out and starting to show tiny cracks along the grain.. NOT A GOOD THING.. it only takes a few seconds but its worth the care and attention. while you are checking and cleaning the neck check the frets and fret ends, if you run your finger nail along the end of the fretline you can feel any sharp or raised frets. for minor fret issues like the ends lifting. I have a tiny pin hammer that is great to just tap back down the offending fret GENTLY - BUT BE CAREFUL! for anything serious fretwork I suggest you contact your local luthier. like I always say "Don't fret about the frets look to your local Luthier" actually I never say that but it sounds like something i'd like to more often..haha In new zealand I suggest the best gun out there Mr Glyn

http://www.mrglyn.co.nz/

for your local luthier check at your guitar store.

If you play a guitar with a bolt on neck check the screws there are all in place and tight, if its a fixed neck, get down close and make sure there isn't any little cracks starting from the neck joint. you do get finish cracks on the surface but always get a second opinion before you suddenly open your guitar case after a long trip and find its gone "gremlin" on you and turned into two pieces, if you know what i mean. Again if you see any cracks, go see a luthier, I'm not knocking any guys at your local guitar store, but i wouldn't trust the 17 year old metal kid with the ten facial piercings and the Cradle of Filth T shirt to tell me the neck on my 73 les paul is either "totally sweet bro" or "its nothing dude, just a scratch"

Ask the professionals.

Now check the scratchplate screws and pickup surround rings and screws, all this care to detail will pay off in the long run. check the screws holding the height of the pick ups, over time they can just shake loose then suddenly your pickup is dangling inside the cavity and your guitars sounding alike balls. A little trick to keep things in place is to take a little bit of that good old foam again and you can place it under the pickup and it gives some padding in that cavity to stop things shaking around. not to much its pushing back out the pickup but just a little to fill the gap.

Check the bridge and saddles, with the strings out again take your finger nail and and run it down the string groove you will quickly see and tell if there are any Bur's then a little wet and dry sand paper can smooth off any sharp edges that guaranteed will break a string mid song . For some reason, maybe economy the more modern gibson style bridges have been made from worse metal than ever before and I see more modern Les Pauls and such with madly burred saddles than any old 50's-60's style guitars with those bridges.

I have always been a strong believer and personal user of the Graph tech saddles. http://www.graphtech.com/

for constant playing these things will save you pain and grief later on. They make them for every kind of bridge, I even have them on my JAZZMASTER and they rock. It also pays to check the mounting plugs that hold the bridge and tail piece in the body, if they look like there starting to pull out, again call your luthier.

The best thing you can do is build up a good relationship with your local guitar luthier, he can save you money in the long run and at the extreme end completey rebuild your favorite guitar the one night you decide to go a bit "townsend" and smash it thru your guitar cab mid solo.. believe me these guys can work magic! time and time again.

If all these things are in place then lets look at my bugbear when it comes to touring guitars.. The strap buttons.

Ok heres how it goes..

Guitarist buys Gibson les Paul $5000 takes it on tour. Says he doesn't need strap locks as it never falls over. ....

.... One night it does, broken headstock and broken neck.. all for the cost of $20 dollars worth of strap locks..

Not only do guitars fall off straps they can pull the small strap buttons out the guitar. So if your smart, you'll shell out a few bucks for a good set of strap locks, and make sure the strap they are going on is not a worn out piece of old webbing. I was teching for a band last week that had strap locks but they were on a strap that had such a large split in the end hole that it pulled clean off the strap lock still attached to the guitar. So make sure its in great shape as well.

and even if you have strap locks fitted already just take time to check the screws holding them in. if there loose then tighten them, if they've been over tightened and are spinning inside the hole, you can unscrew them and take a matchstick or two and gentley dab a tiny bif of glue on them then tap them back in. i use the little Pin Hammer for this job and it gently gets them down the screw hole . You can then re screw the straplock/button back in. and you'll be set.

the last thing i like to check is the jack. check its securely in place the nuts tight. also if its on a gibson style guitar with a plastic surround check its still all in one piece and not broken. I have found a problem with the plastic surrounds on those guitars, if your a guitar that likes to jump around and swing your axe around, a shrpk knock on the jack end can completely shatter the surround and oust the jack into the guitar. I like to normally replace these with the gibson metal surrounds. its where the tires hit the road- so to speak so its important that its held in place well..

It also pays to check the inside of the jack socket, you can clean the points where it hits the cable male end and a little rub with some fine wet and dry sand paper or a light file can clean off any gunk and grime that does build up on those points over time, you can also look to see its tightly holding the jack enough. they can spring out of shape and over time they won't grip the jack and be loose and start making that crackle noise as it intermittently makes contact as you move around.. so plug it into your amp and gently jiggle the cable and see if its secure and not making any "odd " noises.

Depending on the kind of volume knobs and dials check them out. They may have the allen key or tiny screw told toehold them in place, so take a look and screw them in tight, also check to make sure the actual nut holding the pot under the knob is held in place.. if its loose and the whole thing is spinning not just the knob, then you'll have to gently remove the knob and tighten the nut. DONT TIGHTEN THE NUT WITHOUT HOLDING THE POT FROM BEHIND. or you'll over tighten the nut and actually spin the pot underneath and sheer off all the small delicate wires held to it. so make sure you have one hand round the back, this is easily done if the guitar is on its side edge so you can grab both sides of the pot, or its easier if its all in a complete scratch plate like a strat.

With all these in place and tight check the pots in motion, if the pots are scratchy thru the amp then a little spray with some contact cleaner from your local electronics store will clean them up, if there past saving then once again, go see your luthier. ok, we're almost done.. check all the wires are attached and soldered into place. you;d be surprised at what you find inside a second hand guitar, especially if you know there have been new pick ups fitted. so check them out. you may have never taken a close look and find one pickup wire is just finger wound around a pot.. I've seen that too in my travels.

Now screw the scratch plate back together and tight, or the rear service plate, give your guitar a good clean, and polish and restring it with some nice new strings and a final clean and your ready to take it to the world, or the man... or just your local jam bar.

Your guitar will last you and your next in line a lifetime if its taken care of and looked after, think about the distance it travels with you and remember you get your car serviced every so often so plesase do the same for your guitar/bass its like a physical for your instrument. It will last longer and play better and hold its value better..

and remember if you swap out pickups and strap buttons and machine heads, keep all the original pieces , wrap them really really well and store them in a safe secure box with some bags of Silica gel so if you decide to sell the guitar or retire it off the road you can convert iota back to original spec and get its value back or just return it to its original beauty.. you'll be happy you held onto all the stuff in the long run.

well I think I'll wrap it up on that.. stay tuned for more tips and tricks and I'll write up something from my festival show in Korea this saturday

Gavin

Taking Guitars On Airlines!!! string loosening is dangerous!!

OK, well I've made it my personal Mission to find out all I can for the reasoning behind the supposed benifits of loosening your guitar/ bass strings before boarding a plane.. I never have because I believe reverse tension in the unstrung neck will do just as much damage in the neck.. and I have finally found an expert, a real expert.. the man behind Taylor Guitars, possibley one of the best if not best acoustic manufacturers in the market today..

straight from there website

Many players and repairpersons believe it's best to de-tune a guitar for long-distance flights, due to changes in air pressure and temperature in the baggage compartment. We don't recommend doing so, because if you de-tune a guitar for any length of time, you also have to loosen the truss rod. Otherwise, the neck may develop a back bow, and it could prove difficult to completely correct that. In other words, you actually could do long-term damage to the instrument by loosening the strings and not loosening the truss rod at the same time. On a Taylor or any guitar, it's best to simply leave it as is, even on relatively long flights. " case closed..

I have argued this point for years with musicians that now enough information to be dangerous. and they've gone on and on, and I've let them win, but now I have proof positive,

Its basic Physics.. a guitar neck is a balanced thing.. the string tension works in direct resistance to the wood and Truss rod on the neck they lye upon.

so if you take the tension off the strings the neck is suddenly pulling tension in the other direction which is BAD BAD BAD!!! and will give you a reverse bow. so the best thing you can do is leave your guitar strung as it is and not touch it!

case closed!

Taylor FAQ

MY ZT AMP GRILL MOD>

for all those people wanting to know how to make the new grill mod. heres the link to a doc and pics..

ZT GRILL MOD

Remember, don't open the back of the amp! if your thinking of looking inside.. Don't! if your thinking of taking out the speaker for a quick glimpse .. Don't . its seriously not worth voiding your warranty or possibly the risk of electric shock or death from messing around inside any thing that plugs into a wall. I have been badly shocked by a vox ac30 24 hours after it was unplugged from the wall!

an amp is not a toy! this is just to help you add more grill, not entice you to start touching what you Clearly shouldn't. THIS AMP IS NOT DESIGNED TO BE MODDED LIKE THE VALVE JUNIOR OR SUCH.

The Soul within the wood steel and strings,,

.. So in this rant/blog I'm gonna try explain my love and almost obsession with the guitar as an instrument , a thing of sonic beauty and a hunk of wood at the same time.I'm not even sure I will be able to get what i wanna say about the guitar, out my head onto this page as its a jumbled tangled mess of feelings , emotions and memories, but i'm gonna try. So bear with me.

For a start the guitar defies fashion and style, whilst at the same time keeping its own style that is so timeless - yet it has outlasted so many other mundane things connected with the music its played the soundtrack too.( boy that was a mouthful!)

I once had an argument with my dad when building a table or chest or desk or something out of wood. I wanted to screw some piece of plastic to the side (hey -i was young) and he argued that you couldn't take amazing quality wood and just slam a piece of cheap plastic on top. It just wasn't allowed then or had it ever been allowed.. We argued till out of breath . I couldn't say how or why but i knew I'd seen it done before. We never met in the middle and I can't remember what happened to the table in the end, but later in life I realized whilst staring at a les Paul in some store somewhere in world..The Guitar defies all the rules and doesn't care!

It takes flame tops and solid Mahoganies, Sitka Spruces and rose woods, Maples and Ash and tiger striped Bubingas and Koa's and lays it beside tortoise shell plastics and silver shell, white 3 ply and metallic reds, ivories and black scratch guards and pickguards gracefully surrounding abalone ringed sound holes.

It has mixed the two since its inception and today still does. amazing rare priceless woods and plastic and IT WORKS!! its beautiful. Take a Les Paul and remove the scratch plate and pickup surrounds and it doesn't look like a Les Paul . The Fender Stratocaster with the beautiful sunburst that plays off against the tortoise shell pick guard.. The telecaster blond wood finish, its grain running the length of its body with a big chunk of white 3 ply plastic holding that pickup firmly in place, and no one says a thing.

Its like it snubs its nose at convention and it takes all it needs to make a guitar and make it work, and then it adds the final touch of chrome either in machine heads or humbucker covers.And thats what i love about guitars. there might be a lot of the same looking guitars out there now, a thousand strat or les paul copies, a million super strat pointy shred machines or artisan semiacoustic jazz bodys, but the players that buy adapt to there needs or play them until they are a one of a kind item.

The guitar is the instrument that travels with you. and doesn't leave your side. It grows with you and you learn its idiosyncrasies, the way it might buzz out on the 13fret or the volume pot only works halfway round. or the tuning pegs are so stiff and won't stay in tune. But they're the originals and 40 years old so theres no way your gonna ever replace them,

I don't know if other musicians get so attached to there instruments aside from bass-players. I mean a drummers kit has to work pretty dam perfectly to work at all,or sound good, a piano players piano always has to sound at its peak ultimate best, and most piano players have to leave there piano at home and tour with there electric set up of synths, and controllers and computers. And if that is a little troublesome then it has to be changed out.

But the guitar gets away with being broken and almost torture to play. Cut open fingers on rusty jagged bridges are common, fingers cut on frets lifting from chipped necks and the general lifelong shoulder pain of carrying a guitar on your strap thats in reality too heavy for any length of time. But we do it. We cherish every scar every pain seems well earnt, and we don't love our instruments less when they finish a tour and may have gotten a new battle scar from somewhere on the stage. Some people even pay extra these days for marks and scratches already worn into there guitars.

No matter what brand or model you start with on guitar ,most people I have spoken to have that one guitar or a few guitars in their head they dream of.. its the one they see when they hear that favorite band on the radio or they see the live show and see the instrument slung low , high or in-between on the band that just makes that guitar live up to every reason it was created....... I had mine..

I grew listening to a few bands almost incessantly, The Cure and The Clash. Dinosaur Jr and a singer called Billy Bragg. These are the bands that had guitar tones that just sounded like no other. I mean they probably did, they must have done. But I found there tones. I clutched these bands tightly as my own. And took delight sharing there recordings with my best friend in regular late night pool and beer sessions.

The way you could put onThe Cures " Faith " or " The Head On The Door" and sit there with the lights almost out and just hear that guitar of Robert Smiths chime out thru the speakers. That sublime mix of jazzmaster and Roland Jazz chorus , the use mix of delay and flanger, but mostly that tone.Chiming and glistening in its sonic sheen. It was haunting and just made their music what it was. It was sterile and maybe piercing at times but so were the songs, I can't imagine those old songs played with a different guitar players tone. It just wouldn't work.It just wouldn't !

And J Mascis who was my first real Guitar "solo" player i didn't think was overkill or pretensious. His band Dinosaur Jr helped were layered withfuzz and distortion at excessive volumes (such a high). Watching him standing in front of towering Marshall stacks on full volume and getting the best feedback still to this day,just sublime .

All out the same guitar that had helped Robert Smith cut his heart and let those songs cry out. it was amazing to have both bands in my head when I look at that guitar, the way it is so perfect for that haunting saddening songs at the same time made it a fuzz legend when you just dared to push the dial up not just a little but all the way on your amp. In some kind of irony Dinoasuar Jr even came to cover "Just Like Heaven" a Cure great! and you could never say they sound the same..haha

The clash, a rock and roll reggae mix up gone right.. grating stabbing guitars, Mick Jones and Joe Strummer beating there guitars into submission .The sound of the Les Paul Junior and most of all its P90 pickup cutting thru the white noise and drum rumble. Tho mick jones went on to play es 175's and les pauls standards he always had and still has a les paul junior somewhere near by- with its p90 ready to break free from its chain and bite some young child. ..and it bite me.. I wanted to get that tone.

I tried so many guitars I thought in my head could surely emulate it, and pedal after pedal.. I approached Micks tone like it was distortion based, clipping red hot over drive pedals mashing tones .. I mean every where i read that the Les paul Juniors were the cheap walmart of the Gibson family.

They were the cheaply made and barely outfitted guitar for the starter market, the student.. but on a magical day back in my teenage years i happened to have a 1959 red les paul Junior in my hands. (I wish to this day i had found the cash to buy it, sadly i didn't) I took the guitar and set up the same pedal i was using at home and plugged into a fender twin and before i turned the pedal on or dialed in the amp, I hit a chord and dam it if i didn't almost tremble with a feeling that is impossible to describe here. It was orgasmic maybe. It was like heaven opened and i heard its harps. this guitar snarled. You hit this thing and it snarled back. It was mid rangy and a little ragged.. it was red-hot and pushed the amp into that dirty stage and had such attack.. it was mick jones and billy bragg rolled into one. It was revolution and anarchy ,and the instrument you knew you could wave whatever flag you marched under from, pinned to its head stock..

The neck was heavy and thick, like a slab of hard wood so you really had to grab this thing. It wasn't dainty and it certainly wasn't one of this paper thin shred necks. You had to grab this guitar and grab it hard. You had to almost re learn to fret notes with your left hand . This guitar was like a freshly broken wild horse you had to show respect to.If you got lazy then this guitar would buck you and make you look a fool, but if you held on tight you could make this thing your own and then ride it to god knows where.

If you've ever played a real old Les Paul Junior you'll know what I mean. Its such a simple guitar, its basically the bare essentials, one pickup, a simple one ply pickguard, the amazing neck that finishes where it joins the body and 3 aside on a tree Klusons with old faded ivory tuning heads. but thats all you needed, not a amp with 3 gain stages or an array of pedals. just this rock and roll machine and a cable.

Billy Bragg played his thru an old roland cube and it still snarled and wailed, I watched him play to a mesmerized packed town hall with just his guitar and amp. And he made it really push your heart back in your chest and gasp for breath. Mick jones played his thru old mesa mark 1s and fenders but its that guitar that was the sound.

Then as I grew and I heard these indy bands that had all taken to the big gretsch hollow bodies and guitarists like Billy Duffy with his White falcon the guitar that was the most expensive in its day ( tho i heard it was the white penguin that was most expensive to be honest) and The strays cats, leading to find Bo Diddley and the rockabilly guys. Gretschs were there with that other tone on the frequency chart and a guitar that looked more like something more from the Cadillac line than a guitar shop. Big and shiny in all the right places, Filtertron pickups with there unique shape and look and DeArmond single coils with there distinctive logo ablaze over the front.. Grover Imperial tuning keys sparkling off that massive headstock that held a name that was synonymous with class.

If the snotty nosed street urchin played the Les Paul Junior then the aristocrat owned the Grestch. Tho over time I've seen some pretty angry bands play some pretty cool Gretschs.. Jesus and the Mary Chain being one,. Gretsch had an air of quality and were the kind of guitars that people always talked of saying.. "One day I'd love to own a Gretsch"

Whether it was the Tenneseen, or the Chet Atkins, the gretsch white falcon or Anniversary they all had that grestch twang.. heavily used amongst the country and rockabilly scene they still are the mainstay of Punk rock overlord Tim Armstrong, from Transplants and of course Rancid, he plays a right handed Country club, flipped over and played left handed, once natural wood colour now painted matt black its a beast of a guitar and it fires on all cylinders in his hands.

All this rant and emotion is all because of simple pieces of inanimate wood with a spool of wire round some metal and magnets, that without a cable and amp make no noise worth writing about.. but in the hands of their players ,those players express, sing and scream and shout down those wires and magnets. There internal voice screams down that cable and comes wailing out those speakers and hits you.... well it hits me.

I have never considered myself a great player.. certainly after the length of time i have been playing the damned instrument. maybe because in the times I was playing in bands more. I never owned the instruments my heart had really connected with. I had gone thru,Hamers, Westones, Corts, Emperadors, Diplomats and Diamonds, Ibanezs and Segovias, probably the odd Vester and Samick, all great guitars ...well not all great , in fact mostly average.. in fact some were just horrible. But i strapped each one on and plugged into whatever amp i had and just really went nowhere with my tone.

I didn't make the same tones that i had heard in my head, flowing out the headphones of my walkman or ebbing and pouring like mercury thru the night air from my boombox on my bedside table.These guitars were just guitars, and because of this fact i went thru them like boxer shorts.

It was only thru the magic of time that I finally got to live out my dreams or at least try attain a foot hold and own the instruments that I still listened to.

I had searched guitar stores across the staes for an olympic and tortoise shell Jazzmaster but had no luck , then most strangely I flew home and upon my first visit back to Bungalow Bills ( the shop i first worked in) there it was hanging on his wall.

I finally bought a Grestch. (A sadder tale) but upon my fathers death , with the money he left to me I sat for a while trying to figure out what to buy with it. I wanted something to remember him by and to keep him with me and it certainly wasn't mag wheels or a big screen tv, then i realized i could finally get that Gretsch i was always after, and I was lucky enough to find a respected dealer online in new York and took a punt on a guitar I'd never seen in the flesh let alone play.. and Its nothing short of an outstanding amazing guitar, even friends that have Grestch guitars comment on the natural sustain and tone and feel of the neck. All of this on top of the special place it has in my heart and my life as a living memory to my dad.

And i finally had to get the closest thing i could afford and find to that 1958 Les Paul Junior from my youth and my memory. These days a real 58 Les Paul Junior can fetch up to $10,000 dollars US. Its way way out my league. But I found Phil at Precision Guitar Kits online and bought the neck and body to assemble my own 58-59 Les Paul Junior. Cherry red with the closest pickup I can find to that old guitar, a seymour duncan Antiquity P90 and a fat fat baseball bat neck... This guitar has that snarl that you can't do much else with, but rock out.. Its Mick Jones and Billy Bragg in my hands. Its the like sound that you always remember if you've ever been in a car accident .... Its scary and almost violent... its a bulldog on a weak chain, you hope you can just hold onto it long enough before the chain breaks and your amp overloads into feedback at the show.. ITS HEAVEN!!! :)

And now i can get those tones out of my head into my cable and thru my speakers.. even tho i might not be playing with anyone else I can head to my workshop and plug in my jazzmaster and chuck on some Cure Album or even just start some drum loop or home recorded track and let the guitar do the talking as they say.. its subtle soliloquy filling the silence...layers of lush delayed strings falling upon one another and slipping echoing into the darkness ,like voices from a passing couple disappearing down the dark street behind you.

Or I plug in my Les Paul Junior and push myself to keep my rhythm hand in its gallop strum, palm muted and locked down. Pulling down so hard on the strings I fear my fingertips to split wide open around the strings. The grit and grunt from the slab of now chipped and scratched wood and the overdrive that just doesn't let up, every gap in strumming lets in the unescapable 60 cycle hum you just gotta put up with with P90's and when you finally out the guitar to bed you feel like you've just ran a marathon and had a full workout and your arms feel sore , and your hands feel like a guitarists should.

Or I plug in my Grestch and the beautiful mellow well rounded notes sparkle into life. big open ringing chords all breezy and breathy. that mid rangy top rolled off single notes, or the jazz box bottom end when you switch all the tops off and lay down some fat groove... nothing else sounds like it.

Again all these tones, memories, songs and moments created by a piece of wood with a piece of plastic stuck to it. Its so simple in construction really, they got it right so much the first time, the electric guitar hasn't really changed since. Sure they might be making carbon fibre or graphite guitars these days. They might have new space age magnets or robotic tuning heads.. but that unchangeable scale length neck be it 24.75 or 25.5 its steel strings and a pickup.. (and no the variax doesn't count, cos that just computer chips trying to sound like a pickup. ) sometimes a volume knob, sometimes just bare holes where the knob once sat. Its those things coming together in unison at the hands of musical genius or a kid straight off the streets with the notes written on the fret board or guitar neck. The sum of those parts have helped mould our lives with there music, they certainly moulded mine.

Some of use were so moved, to try make history of our own with these parts. I tried.. and left the odd track from the various bands i played in. But nothing that will inspire the next generation sadly.. well not yet. But I am still moved when i see these guitars, and I don't think everyone could know that feeling aside from other guitarists, why we love such pieces of trash and treasure.They don't have engines, or come from artisan builders all the time, there not always finely tuned but when we own them they become so much a part of us. And in some ways we are joined even if by the 7th degree to the Robert Smiths and J Mascis and Mick Jones and Billy Braggs.. we are a little closer than the other guy on the bus. We are connected by the way that there was a first day they bought those guitars ,or they came into their hands. And they first played them and they realized that day they had found the "one" that very special "one".

Gavin

From the Musik Market to find Bungalow Bill

Over the years many people have sat down to tell the story about a icon and mentor in the music biz, but I'm gonna tell my side from my tale that has been lucky enough to interweave with his and the shop that brought myself and so many like us together. The man is Bill Lattimer and the shop as it stands today is Bungalow Bills.

It was decades ago now I first stepped foot in the original store "Musik Market" ( and its adjoining studio The Lab) it was called back then. It was located in the top end of Symonds street in Auckland New zealand and I was around 13-14. Bill lattimer had set up the shop after he had worked for Jansen and Kingsley smiths(i hope this is right- it might have been lewis eadeys)

Anyways this is my view of the story and it starts at Musik market.

The shop was something to behold, it was a vast expanse full floor to ceiling with every kind of music instrument you could imagine. it was a empo

rium of rock and roll day dreams, a cavern of cravings from the Les Pauls on the wall to the Gretschs and Rickenbackers and Fenders that hung glistening like wet oil in the sun. And then there were the weird shaped guitars the late 50's and 60's spewed out on its acid tripped psychedelic garage rock trip.. Eko's , Tiescos, Vox tear drops, Hagstroms and the obligatory Mustangs, Jaguars, Jazzmasters, and broncos.

There were organs, synthesizers, clavinovas, electric drum kits, acoustic drum kits, tamborines, autoharps, harps and brass instruments.. I learnt the make and origin of so many brands and the genealogy that exists between two instruments made on different continents but inspiring each other all the same time.

Then there was the far east guitars, back then china hadn't started the take over of the budget brand guitar like we see today with countries like Indonesia and korea and malaysia and india fast in tow. japan reigned supreme in the far east and there copys were in some respects better than the american companies that had gotten fat and lazy.. there are many japanese vintage guitars still around today that supersede there american clones.

Then there was the pandoras box that opened to show the magical world of stomp boxes' or effects pedals,

there were Distortions, Over Drives, Turbo Distortions, Turbo Overdrives, Super FeedBackers, Metal Zones, Grunge pedals, Thrash pedals, Chorus, Stereo Chorus's, Analogue delays, Digital delays, Tape delays, tremolos, Flangers, jet Flangers, Phasers, Noise suppressors, compressors, Enhancers, Boosters, Buffers, Big Muffs, Small Stones, Wah Wahs, Cry Babys, ColourSounds, Fuzz pedals, Samplers and Pitch shifters, octavers and EQ's..

You could twist and take your guitar and bass signal in so many directions that nothing was impossible. Your imagination was the only thing holding you back. Working weekends in this store was like a a kid being given the keys to a lolly shop and told to go mind the store for the weekend. Each trip in I fell in love with another guitar. Normally at my age you'd only be able to read about a 1958 Gibson les paul junior not actually play one thru your choice of amp, fender, Vox, Marshall, mesa Boogie. I could get my hands round the neck of a 68 Gretsch Tennessean and feel how it was different from a 68 Gibson 335. I could play a telecaster and hear for myself how the twang was so different from the Stratocaster from the same company.

It was like a university of tone and wood, a PHD in Pickups and a Doctorate in Distorions, Don't let me lure you into thinking i was some 15 year old guitar genius with pitch perfect ears and a well rounded taste in things.. hey i was 15, I liked loud abrasive stuff, I was involve with the fender jazzmaster and i knew one day I'd have to have one of those. My parents had bought me a xmas present of a cool les paul copy and practise amp from bills so i was underway with a good start. I truly believe every parent should give there kids any opportunity to learn an instrument. even if they try it and put it in the cupboard, they will come back to it and the gift of music is such a precious thing to give or receive .

Bill also had a recording studio which he'd run in various locations and guises over the years and now it was thru the back door of the guitar shop. So this shop was also linked closely with that. Between the cool array of gear and the studio the shop was a constant hub for the local new zealand and international touring musicians as well as local heroes all round. I met every band that had been signed the flying nun or Wildside or the other indie labels that sprung up from the whole DIY ethos theater was a leftover remnant from the 70's punk movement. And those musicians loved to shop here.. I think the theory is this, if you buy your brown cardigan from your local opshop and you don't shop at those chain stores your not gonna hit a chain store for your prized dream guitar or instrument. A brand new guitar is a nice instrument, it will play and it will make a great sound, but it needs wearing in.. it needs used.. But luckily Musik market specialized in amazing 2nd hand instruments, so you got that a well worn in guitar theater just felt amazing when your fingers curled round the neck and felt the neck of the fretboard smooth fr

om years of chords in its past.. you fall in love with its character and the little marks and tell tale signs that "this guitar has been played" . The scratches and dings made it original, Sure it might have rolled off the factory floor 20 years ago along with its 12,000 brothers and sisters but not you could tell this guitar from every single one from its tell tale cigarette burn on the head stock and the way it might have worn at the place your arm brushes over the body. these guitars had stories within there bodies and luckily sometimes we were lucky enough to know the stories to pass on with each sale which really made each guitar we sold more than just another sale. In the chain stores what can they say about a brand new Les Paul or Ibanez... Nothing! we could tell you the Gretsch you had just parted your hard earned wages for was originally bought into the country by a big band player from such and such a place and it went to his son that went on to play with a certain band that nouns heard of but released an album way back when, and end up in the hands of a flying nun band that owned it until they sold it to pay for there new record. So many guitars had stories like this, and bill knew them all and passed on that kind of information gathering to me. we took delight- true delight in matching the right people with the right guitar, not the right guitar with the right credit card. we took our business seriously and personally and our business was rock and roll.

I was allowed time to learn about guitar repair and i setup my own little work bench and started simple fix it jobs for the store and its customers, from simple restrings to new pickups, intonations and retrofits. the guitar industry exploded in the 80's with hordes of companies making replacement parts to hot rod your guitar so a new era of guitar customization was on the horizon.

Don't get me wrong, the shop was only frequented by the unshaven and unkept indy musician.. or the carry wearing brown leather shoe flying nun rock god. We catered to every age and music style, Bill would even push himself to learn a different style lick or riff so if a person came in looking for something particular Bill could display it well and along the way try teach me new licks.. sadly I think I can only remember a few jazz chords he attempted in vain to teach me,haha but I did steal them and use them on my first CD i released, in fact I wrote a whole chorus around them..thanks bill!

We could spend hours each day selling recorders or Casiotones but we took as much delight in knowing we might have started a families music journey and we did see kids return over the year, move from acoustic guitar to electrics to premium gear and form ban

ds, break up bands and reform bigger and stronger and go onto success in the local and overseas industry. Some people gave the bright lights a chance and changed there mind and ended up on the sidelines of rock and roll as great engineers and producers and techs like myself.

I worked part time on the weekends to begin with but upon my early leaving of school Bill offered me a full time job and i jumped at the chance, I'm sure in the early days, he may have regretted it. My time keeping skills were along way from where they are now and I kept bill guessing with whatever hair style I'd have that day at work. But for the most part I think I was a great addition to the team. I was following closely in my brothers footsteps as he had first met Bill when recording his first single with his band Splitting Image (who as a sideline play there 25th anniversary show this weekend with me in rhythm guitar position.) then he went on to work in the store and was there on the weekends when i was there but had moved on to be a top sales rep at Fostex.

This is when I also got my first insight into the studio recording procedure with my nights after work helping Terry Moore round this studio. Plus my weekly vacuuming run would often take in The LAB studio if it was empty so I got to see a lot of nice studio gear and learn how to spool on a tape (pre protools days) throw a mix across a desk when bill let me take time out and learn the signal path of a channel strip.. all things I used time and time again in later life.

The main chore of the store is something that I know laugh about looking back on it. Each day I would have to go round and check the tuning on all the guitars, guitars are the most temperamental things that shift tuning with the weather and the time of day and any temperature change or humidity.. and we had more guitars than you could swing a Neuman U87 at. The thought of checking each guitar and retuning time and time over seemed such a chore but now i make my living from it and its taken me along with my other skills around the world. I have the most technological comput

er programs and electronic machines to help me these days so at least its a bit easier but the basics still the same.. an out of tune guitar sounds like Balls!

Sadly there came a day when a big corporation called Brierlys started buying up all the land around us and forcing the occupants to move out, so we watched as each neighbor forced with ever increasing rent shut up shop. It was such a great little area and it became a ghost town overnight. Brierlys was in the running to build auckland Sky tower and they had Upper Symonds street as the location and they would stop at nothing to get us out. They raised then re-raised the rent, they even sent death threats to the store.. real bad hollywood movie style.. made out of cut up newspapers. Bill took them head on and wouldn't budge we watched as we were left the last standing lonely shop on the strip and it was a sad area now.. closed down empty shops and empty streets now except for the last bus stop out of town outside. We battled on but in this period the shop closed under the strain. Bill moved his office out the back into the studio and started looking for a new store and in a short while another music store up the street closed and there lease became available.

It was a much smaller shop but i think after the wallet raping that Brierlys had suffered upon Bill the smaller size and rethink was a helping hand. I think Bill was sad the dream had been scaled back but at least it was still there. We set about renovating and building this new shop to be the next phase with a new name, taken from a Beatles song "The tale of Bungalow Bill and Polythene pam" I think.. (sorry Bill) and with this new start I could see Billy settle back into things again. It was a smaller space but because of this we could make a lot more changes regularly, move stock around, re arrange guitar walls, make cool displays and have a better sight over the whole store. it was hard to find spaces to fit everything some days and all the cardboard boxes that go along with everything we bought in.

I was still doing repairs and had now moved onto some serious restorations of guitars we'd buy in in terrible badly abused condition and I could spend a few days and bring back the great instrument underneath-something I have taken delights in still thought my life, nothing feels better than seeing an old beaten down guitar, I assume its like when a sculpture sees there block of blank stone but can already see every angle and line of what there hands are about to create. Ok I'm not making it from scratch, but with things like new working machine heads and pots and jacks and pick ups you suddenly have an incredible guitar that plays as good as anything out there.

We had a good number of years in that shop. Great great summer days the sun beating in thru the glass surrounded by every imaginable trinket and toy a guitarist could want. I was soaking up everything i could read or research on guitars, this was pre internet days so it was books and magazines and brochures, and sucking as much info as you could from visiting reps and salesmen from the importers. I think it was during this period I had partnered up with a friend from the theatre circle called Dominic Taylor and gotten a demo together to hit Bills new label Deepgrooves he'd started with Kane Massey and Mark Tierney. This whole story is another one that didn't end up happily for myself with Kane massy or bill for different and separate reasons. But it was another strand of life that intertwined us again. After the demise of that band I was playing in the hallelujah Picassos another bunch of guys that knew bill and the shop so my world was pretty much based around the shop and all its friends.

After a while I think the shop got quiet, well too quiet for both me and bill to be working so i headed off to work for South Pacific Importers , along with a short run in another store that made me miss my old store all the more.

Bill was eventually to move once more to its current location round the corner at the top of Khyber Pass . The current store is a return to the days of Musik Market in a great old building with tall ceilings and the space for bill to really express his vision within. The shop is still the one stop shop for the local muso's and the famous, in the past month its seen Jack White and Wilco and Faith No More. Sure the Huge Chain stores are still eating up more and more mom and pop stores and amalgamating them into the nz long chains But Bills stood the test of time and Bungalow Bills has as well and inside Bungalow Bills is that first store Musik Market, those ideals and personal service that comes with dealing with a guy like bill is a given, its not something "trained" into staff like those other stores, that most of the time get it wrong.. I know cos I've been to so many music stores around the country and the world now.

It might have been my talent and skill that has got me to where I am today but without Bill and Pam Lattimer I wouldn't have been given the chance to grow. I know there were days we might have disagreed on things . We come round and we are closer friends than ever before. I still go work in the shop when Bills stuck or just go visit and jump into help him if theres customers that need help. I no longer work there full time.. I like to think I just haven't quit either or been fired.,,haha .

as long as there is a Bill Lattimer there will be a Bungalow Bills and as long as there is a Bungalow Bills and the similar stores around the planet that stay self owned and run the big chains won't force you into playing new shiney pointy guitars or the flavor of the month amp.You won't walk out of the store with the guitar the salesman needs to sell to make commission or get his T-shirt or key ring from the importer, but you'll get Bills knowledge and advice and straight up no bullshit approach to life. you'll walk out with a guitar you'll keep falling in love with each day and a special invitation to the little club we all are part of around that store.. I'm a proud card carrying member myself!

Gavin

On an after thought, heres a story i was told in Los Angeles back in 04.

I had a lay over before returning home after a 3 month tour with steriogram in theUSA and i headed into The Guitar Centre to try pick up a fender jazzmaster i'd seen a month earlier, the only colour they did that year was a cherry red that was horrible , but i was resigned to paint it, I was only shopping there as i had a discount with the band i was touring with. We got talking and he said he could maybe freight one out. After he learnt i was from new zealand the sale sguy remarked he had holidayed out here years before and loved it, but went to a music store called the "The Rock Store " or something and had been offended when the salesman wouldn't let him try a paul reed smith hanging unless he was a serious buyer, and had the cash. he declined the offer and walked out , unknown to fact was the guy is a close friend of Paul reed Smith himself and used to work for the company, he was totally put off by the smug approach he'd had at the shop and the next day he found a crazy little store full of cool guitars and run by "a crazy englishman" I stood listening without a word and then told him thats where i worked part time and had gr

own up. he went on and on about that shop and meeting bill and saying what a cool guy and what a cool approach he had, the total opposite of his other experience. And I was stoked to know this guy had left new zealand with that great experience, so great he shared the story to this stranger

http://bungalowbills.com/index.php

http://www.labstudios.co.nz/

Opshops Ten Gigs In One day..

well for the start of the tenth anniversary of nz music month, Opshop one of the bands I work with alot came up with the idea to play a release for there new single Pins & Needles..

It was to be a nonstop jaunt from Christchurch in the south island of nz working our way from town to city all the way up to our hometown of Auckland for the nz music month afterparty..

Well In general 2-3 gigs in a day are a bit of a chore and getting them all to work out is at best a mission, let alone ten in varied places with different guitar amps you've never seen or will get half an hour to plug in and set up.. we had about 5 minutes from getting to venue to unload and tune up 7 guitars, and set up 3 pedal boards, drum cymbals, and our loops. Then try the fastest amp dial in, and line check and make sure all the leads go to the right place.. 5 minutes for all that is incredibly tight.. buck luckily I was working with some great crew, Joseph our soundguy and resident inhouse guy for The bedford in Christchurch and a new friend I can't say high enough about called leon who was on pedals and guitar change overs with me.. we nailed show after show after show..

every show went off without a hitch - aside form the last auckland show, but we'd gone back to in ears on that show and probably should have kept to monitors maybe for ease of fast setup after the day.

it was a 22 hour long work day and we must have covered thousands and thousands of kilometers.. we even had a birdstrike that grounded our plane in gisborne.. but did give us a well deserved rest for an hour..

we were playing 20 minute sets in each town, which were the new single Pins and some other favourite opshop songs.

We had the best airline crew, who even let me sit in the jump seat for the landing into nelson which was a once in a lifetime experience.. the view form the cockpit was unreal and the amount of dials and switches was quite overwehlming compared to the few i have to deal with on the average guitar amp..

for more info on our day I'll leave it up to the news people to tell the story..

www.3news.co.nz/OpShop-play-10-gigs-in-one-day/tabid/312/articleID/153702/Default.aspx

tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news/one-news-extra-opshop-s-gig-plane-1-10-video-3505264

http://tvnz.co.nz/content/3505400

our tenth gig was on board the plane at 30000 feet above MT Cook..... a rather nice view indeed

Hey all..!!

Well I've been told I should write down some of the stuff I've been up too and done in the past, whilst on tour with one band or another or just with stuff I'm up too.. If one person reads it I'll be amazed.. but I will try keep it entertaining.. to start off with the easiest way to maybe get to know more of me is for me to shamelessy steal an interview I did with the Elboneshaker mafia.. so this will give you some idea of who I am, what i have done and why I do it time and time again,..

A big shout out to Kershaw and Byron for making me seem quite interesting...

for a link to there badass site go here

http://elboneshaker.co.nz/

Gavin ‘gunforhire‘ Downie is a one-of-a-kind music nutter from Aotearoa. Starting off in Auckland’s northshore he turned tuning guitars into a world-wide adventure being roadie for some of the top cats out there, from Billy ‘the beard’ Gibbons to NZ’s own Opshop. Also happens to love his bobbers which is where we ran into each other and after hooking me up with a few of the numerous bands he associates with for interviews soon to be on this site, I decided to start off with our first music one on one being the gun for hire himself. So without any more delay read on and enjoy…….

THANKS FOR THE TIME MATE, SO WHEN DID YOU GET STARTED?

I first started work in Musik Market guitar store way back when I left school, the store is now called Bungalow Bills based on Khyber Pass, I still help out there when I’m not on the road. I started working full time as a touring guitar tech/roadie/stage manager approximately 7-8 years ago. A lot of this time I was also playing in my own bands as well.

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED?

I was sick of running bars, I had been running a bar called Papa Jacks Voodoo Lounge in Auckland and was just over the whole bar industry and wanted to pursue more work within the music industry full time. At the time I was just mixing bands and the odd show here or there teching, So I quit my job and just started looking round. My mates from school had formed a new band called Elemeno P, I got a few gigs with them, then it just sort of snowballed… next I was working with bands like Blindspott, The Feelers, The Bleeders – as sound guy. Cold By winter (who’s album I produced in the studio) The Mint Chicks, Neil Finn and Eagles of Death Metal. Through word of mouth round the country and the globe I had more bands approach me, so I started working more and more with Dave Dobbyn looking after his guitars on the road. Then american punk rock legends Strung Out, who eventually would take me through the states on a 3 month non stop tour called The Vans Warped Tour in ‘05. Since then I’ve worked with a lot of bands, but I’d say I work mostly locally with Opshop, Dave Dobbyn, and Elemeno P, just due to the fact they’ve been the bands playing most around the country.

WHO HAVE YOU WORKED ALONGSIDE?

Dave Dobbyn (NZ). Opshop. (NZ). The Feelers (NZ). Elemeno P (NZ). The Mint Chicks,(NZ). Autozamm,(NZ). Goodnight Nurse,(NZ). Blindspott,(NZ). Seven Worlds Collide, (Neil Finn, Ed O’Brien, Johnny Marr)-as guitar tech. Wilco,( Production Manager NZ Tour). Strung Out, (USA) ( 3 NZ Tours and The Warped Tour 05 USA). Steriogram, (NZ) (several nz tours and 3 months in the USA on tour). End of fashion,(Aus). Thirsty Merc, (Aus). Evermore,(nz & Aus). THE MISFITS,(USA). Eagles of Death Metal. (USA). Alexisonfire, (Can). Blindside, (DEN). Anika Moa, (NZ) The Topp Twins. Blindspott,(NZ). Madball, (NYC). Goldfinger, (USA). Death By Stereo, (USA). NOFX,(USA). BAD RELIGION, (USA). LAGWAGON, (USA). The Draft, (USA). The Bleeders, (NZ). Atreyu, (USA). Presidents Of The USA (USA). Shihad, (NZ). The D4. MGMT. Tim Finn (Crowded House) Don Macglashan.. Gomez

WHO HAVE BEEN YOUR INFLUENCES?

In everything I can say Joe Strummer from the Clash has always been a big influence, The Clash was one of the first bands I was ever into, and I was really luckily when I was working at a Big Day Out concert a few years just before his death, I had met him, we got to talking and I got to ask him everything I’d always wanted to know, pick his brain and even got an impromptu guitar lesson from him, I got to sit and play his #1 main guitar, I had seen in so many videos and shows, It was a special moment made doubly so when he sadly passed later that year. I also am heavily influenced by Bob Mould and Husker Du, my favorite old hardcore band from the U.S.

FAVOURED GUITARS?

I myself have a few now in my collection as follows:-
1. Gretsch 6118 Anniversary- this is a special guitar to me as I bought it with the money my dad left me when he passed away 2 years ago. Its a piece of Rockabilly Chic at its best, two tone Cadillac green from the 1957 era Cadillacs with leopard pickup surrounds and a nice Vargas Pinup girl in the corner of the body. I also did a bit of a modification and shaved and sanded the neck down and oiled the wood so its smooth and sweet and faster to play.
2. Fender jazzmaster, a guitar I’d always wanted since I saw all my face bands playing them. Robert Smith from The Cure had one and I think I got hook on that, J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr and Kevin Shields from My Bloody Valentine.
3. A Custom Shop Fernandez from the states, This was sent to me as a present from Billy Gibbons the Guitarist/vocalist for top Texas band ZZ TOP, who I’ve been good friends with for about 11 or so years now. we still exchange guitar gear, hot rod mags, biker mags, automobile clothing and whatever we both find along our travels.
4. A 57 Les Paul Junior Reissue, just a good simple basic 1 pickup 1 set of knobs guitar, this I have hot-rodded to hell, shaved and sanded the neck, overwound the pickup till its scorching, then added a custom hand made preamp from a friend in Oz, so this thing really wails.
I think this is all I have these days..

BEST MEMORIES ON TOUR?

Its hard to pick one or even two.. The warped tour in ‘05 was unreal, hanging out with my favorite bands that became my friends , like the Dropkick Murphys, No Use For A Name, amongst others riding on a nice big, fully laden tour bus. Just like in the movies, haha, playing 50 shows across america and canada through the summer, chilling with awesome peeps each day and drinking into the sunset with them. Playing in Dubai was amazing as well , touring to London and pulling together a show to 9000 people with Dave Dobbyn is another highlight. Watching my favorite bands for free from side of stage each night. Touring with AFI through Australia, or Alexisonfire and Blindspott on there Australian tour and working for Punk rock warlords The Misfits, plus many many more.

COOLEST GROUP TO PARTY WITH?

Tough…. BIlly GIbbons is always down for a crazy night when we go out, he’s always a laugh and he always get recognised. In New Zealand it’s gotta be a band like Blindspott back in the day, there were definitly some insane nights on tour. Cold By Winter always put on a good party even before the show and people went home with injuries. The Eagles Of Death Metal are another great bunch of guys to party with, they can drink. But I think a night out with Scruffy Wallace from Dropkick Murphys is a night you pay for for weeks after.. we had a monumental one in Manhattan Mid tour which lead to us getting busted throwing beer bottles out a stretch limo as we sped through New York and I was drunkenly crowd surfing over everyone packed into our limo. The next day my head felt like a black hole, the sight of beer made me queasy.. The worst but at the same time best was a night out in Richmond, Virginia, USA on a Steriogram tour, we played alongside HIM and Puddle of Mudd and this lead to that and that lead to this and then the hotel bar closed and I ended up drinking shots of tequila back at this locals house looking through his gun collection,including Spas 12 shotguns, Glocks and assault rifles, to then finally realizing I had to leave early so I made my way to the hotel. I got lost, left my glasses behind, so was blind and got woken by a policeman with a flashlight and his gun in my face on a park bench just by the ghetto, where I’d passed out after walking for hours. Luckily he saw my backstage pass realized I was lost and I got a safe police escort to my hotel to find my manager slightly awake and mostly angry to be woken by the cops, haha luckily I didn’t get patted down by the cops, cos as it ended up I had a pocket full of bullets from the guys glock as we unloaded the magazine before we accidentally shot each other waving these guns around..hahaha

AWESOME TATS, STORIES BEHIND THEM?

I haven’t had much done in recent years, but I loved the art of tattooing. Being born in Scotland I wanted a celtic tattoo then they just rolled from there. I have my black tribal kinda stuff on my arms I designed, and a cool old authentic 1940s pinup girl tattoo from a 1940s vintage design book my tattooist was sent from Honolulu. I have a friend whose also a Guitar tech in the USA and he got M*E*X*I*C*A*N*O tattooed across his knuckles, so I got his tattooist who was out for a few days on tour and working from the back lounge of the bus to tattoo K*I*W*I*C*A*N*O across mine. I also got a tattoo for my old band The Hallelujah Picacassos on my shoulder. My old friend who was part of our crew and designed our albums Martin F Emonds Initials underneath as he took his own life the week before I landed in Los Angeles and was to meet up with him. I got that done in Chicago one night after a bottle of whisky, it was a tough tour knowing one of your best friends has just killed himself days before your arrival.

WIFES THOUGHTS ON THE LIFESTYLE?

So far she loves my job, I know she doesn’t like when I’m away a lot, but in the recent years I haven’t had any long tours away, nothing over a month so its worked well. The hours are long but she’s understanding, when I’m not on tour I am home all the time so we make up for the time, although I’m usually in my workshop working on my bobber.. so she has to deal with that…haha

WHY THE GUITAR OVER OTHER INSTRUMENT?

Truth is I wanted to be a singer, and a guy in my brothers band said ‘to be a great singer you had to play an instrument so you can better understand music’. The guitar took first place as I was into punk and my heros were Joe Strummer and Bob Mould from Husker Du, I have just stuck with the guitar and now make my living and my job tuning and repairing and looking after so many other bands guitars out on the road.

PAST BANDS CURRENT BAND PLAYED FOR?

My first high school band was called Parama Violet, Our biggest claim to fame was Blondie (Debbie Harry) came to watch us play at the old Gluepot, as she had a night off before her show at the Powerstation, we only had about 12 people before she turned up, so it was handy we need the cash to pay for gas home..haha and of course she gave us all tickets for her show and said how much she loved our band.. at 16 we were over the moon. Since then I formed a punkrock Hiphop band called Colony, we got a grant from NZ on Air, got a record deal, recorded an EP, had a fight, stopped talking, and broke up.. Then I was asked to join The Hallelujah Picassos, – who were my favorite local band so I was on cloud 9. It was a dream come true and still my face memories of being in a band.. it was just the best time. Even when it was turning to shit around us. Then I was playing in metal/hard rock act Future Stupid. Then SKA band called The Managers for a few years on and off, in and out.. as well as a freeform dub electronic ensemble that jammed at our friends bar.. it was hours of unrehearsed dub epic songs..haha fun but draining.. Right Now I’m sitting in playing guitar in my brothers old High school band for there reunion show coming up at The Masonic, its all old 80s-90’s covers, just fun party stuff. Its just great to be playing and not working on guitars.

YOU’VE BEEN ALL OVER THE WORLD PLACES TO GO STORIES BEHIND YOUR TRAVELS THERE?

I love touring the USA, once you get off the beaten track and out the major cities its the most beautiful place, amazing deserts, mouton ranges, beaches and forests. I’m a sucker for Hollywood and all its fake-ness and plastic-ness, I’d love to go back to New York and spend more time there, its intense especially on Manhattan, so many people so little space. made me claustrophobic, but I wanna go back. Dubai is also an insane place, its a true Oasis in the middle of the desert. All brand new, shiny and safe feeling – zero crime! go figure. However they still cut off your hands if your caught stealing haha. I’ve spent all my time traveling with bands that are my friends so its been the best way to see places and being put up in 5 star hotels occasionally isn’t bad. But I still think I love most my tiny bunk on my tour bus on Warped Tour, riding up front with the bus driver and seeing the country as we went from state to state, learning all I could.

BANDS TO LOOK OUT FOR?

Right Now I think Snakes Of Iron are one of my fave new bands on the metal/hardcore scene. A band Like Black River Drive, that’s a band that’s gonna go somewhere I think and of course MY next band when I get enough time to form a new one and get back on stage myself.

PLUGS/SHOUT OUTS?

Well El Boneshaker of course, Kershaw and Byron are cool cats and doing great things amongst the scene bridging the music and biker and rod scene.
Bungalow Bills Music store, still the best guitar store in the land.
Peterson Tuners, (petersontuners.com) These guys have been looking after me and my gear since 04. I use 3 of there Digital Strobe Tuners. Its nice to be given your gear for free, its not cheap to do what I do for work.
Justin and the crew from Rattlers Who have been helping me along my current bike build..
And Ryan from Custom Audio Boutique (customaudioboutique.co.nz) a longtime friend and guitarist from Lugar Boa who’s always looked after me and my bands with gear and advice and helping me hotrod my own gear.