For the gearheads.

Look closely you gearheads.  I couldn’t believe this when I saw this photo in an article discussing the technological marvels of James Cameron’s Avatar.

Next time you think you deserve better gear, remember this : James Cameron uses a muthaflippin Behringer mixer.  For the most advanced 3D movie of all time.  Something is terribly, terribly wrong.

First purchase.

My first purchase thanks to insurance.  All of my gear got stolen in Montreal (no details necessary really – we got badly robbed, it sucked, we got insurance money, good now).

It took me forever to finally decide on one.

All Canadian made Simon and Patrick Vintage Burst CW Cedar HG A3.2.  Solid cedar top, rosewood fretboard, laminate sides.  I really like a few things about this guitar.  Really thick neck for my sasquatch hands, beautiful warm tone (no crispy tinny country sounds ala Taylor/L’Arrivee/Takamine), solid pickup system with built in chromatic tuner.  I’m neutral on the burst/colour.  Sometimes I love it, sometimes I don’t.  In lower lighting the sheen of the lacquer is less which is nice (although my klutziness should lean towards the finish).

It was between this and a Chinese all solid wood Guild.  I know… I’m crazy for not getting the Guild.  Just the headstock alone is sexy enough to warrant wanting one.  Buuuut the colour was gross and it had no versatility as an acoustic/electric.  Sound was great but not worth the price for me, and the neck was a bit thin for my taste.  So it was a head vs. heart battle as usual.  I always thought of Simon and Patrick as a budget brand, but the more I play them the more I like them.  Trying to compare it with the Guild is hard because… it’s Guild and who isn’t swayed by brand sometimes.  I surprisingly made an intellectual choice rather than an emotional one, and I think it’ll be the right one down the road.  I’m no virtuoso, but I’m also a bit of a tone snob.  So we’ll see.

My (eventual) selections.

So without going into too many details, I recently received some money from my insurance company to replace (all of) my gear.  I went on a demo spree yesterday.  Here’s what the new set up will look like. Guh guh guh gear.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaa (angels choirs in consonance).  The holy grail, in my graasp. muah ah ah !!  Fender Rhodes Stage 73 Mark I.  One of the most beautiful sounding instruments to grace this earth.  And the kicker? My brother is donating this to me.  The two best words ever put together are “FREE” and “RHODES”.  Don’t worry, my counter gift will be many homecooked gourmet meals, pints, lifelong niceties, and I’m sure some gear in the future.  Just need a job brosef!    This piece is easily what I’m most excited about receiving, especially learning how to fix them.  I’m thinking about hiring a greasy tech to come to my house and teach me.

__________________________________________________________

AKAI MPK-49 MIDI controller with laptop and DAW.  Built in arpeggiator, 360 degree knobs, cartoonishly awesomely large sliders, 48 assignable MPC style Akai drumpads (aka best drumpads in the biz), 127 assignable controls.  This will go with my Ableton Live sessions and instruments, maybe I will turn into a Logic or Reason guy too.  Learn about MIDI controllers here if you want,  cause you know, hardware synths are so passé man.

_______________________________________________________

Fender Telecaster (72 Deluxe Reissue – MIM).  Tele tradition + humbucker fatness and switches continue to be a great happy medium between Fender and Gibson for me.  Neck is nice and I love fat headstocks too.  I saw one at Capsule for 750.  When Mikey gets a job, this thing is getting purchased.

And likely with that a tweed Fender Hot Rod Deluxe 40W 1×12.  Tube power screams, and even the 15 watt Blues Jr would likely be enough power.

______________________________________________________

Norman B20 HG acoustic / electric.  Good solid standard.  Nice warm and dull tones with a decent Fishman pickup system.  After trying it at Steve’s you can get a really nice tone even from the plugged in version.  My last Takamine was tinny, bright and country crispy tone.  Even better, all of this gear will be less than what I originally paid for it by buying used and/or making smarter purchases.  Nice clean slate.

Candy store afternoon.

Bloor and Ossington to Long and McQuade.  Queen St for Steve’s, Moog Audio, and Capsule.  Yonge and Wellesley to Saved by Technology.

Gear day!  Maybe I’ll bring an acoustic home.

Modular synthesis.

Modular synths are the most expensive, the hardest to learn, the snootiest, thus coolest.   All Radiohead fans are intrigued by Jonny’s tribute to 1/8″ cables, and they can make some truly original sounds.  Below, a video of one of the many controllers one can use to create modular sounds.  Jonny has a similar controller so I thought Radiohead fans would appreciate this.

Nords.

Clavia, Swedish maker of Nord keyboards are my favourite keyboard company with their suite of domination.  Nord Stage, Electro, and Lead are all industry standards. Moog as a notable but limited second.  The Theremin is many musicians’ guilty pleasure wet dream.  Many would deny it, but they’re just kidding themselves.

I have a Nord Electro.  This is the new version, see how this light keyboard compares to the backbreaking Fender Rhodes or the DIY-impossible  B3 organ.

If he changed the onboard EQ in two seconds, it could’ve sounded almost identical.

And here’s proof how flexible the Nord Wave can be: