Guitober is here!  Let’s do a crossword!

This was posted earlier, but now that all the pictures have been posted, here it is again: The Guitober 2008 Photo Reel

The Faculty Concert last night was a great way to end Guitober ‘08.  Thanks to everyone who came out.  It was a great please to share our music with you.

Set List:

• Will Dick – April Come She Will by Paul Simon
• Will Dick & Brendan Burns – Lovers In A Dangerous Time by Bruce Cockburn
• Brendan Burns & Will Dick - Depart by Brendan Burns
• Bob Ward – Prelude No. 1 in E Minor by Heitor Villa Lobos
• Bob Ward - Magic Serenade by Brian Johanson
• Brendan Burns, Bob Ward & Scott Pittman by Egg Radio by Bill Frisell
• Bob Ward, Will Dick, Brendan Burns & Scott Pittman – Stairway to Heaven by Page/Plant

Our Final Clinic this year was Jay’s Repair Clinic.  Jay is the senior guitar tech at Mr. Music in Allston.  He came in to talk about considerations when purchasing a new guitar, how to assess your own guitar and how to maintain & do simple repairs at home.  Topics included:

• examining a guitar for cracks 
• examining the “true” of a neck
• changing strings
• cleaning the fretboard
• input jack repair & maintenance
• maintaining proper humidity
• pickup adjustments
• fret erosion and dents
• problems associated with the nut
• saddle adjustments
• how to set intonation
• tremolo-bar spring adjustments
• fret buzz fixes

Joe Conley let an Guimazing clinic on Saturday with his guitar effects demonstration.  He brought his giging pedal setup and explained:

• pedal ordering & signal flow
• true-bypass effects
• making your own cables
• effects without any pedals
• & demonstrated all his gear

The top 3 guitar fx brands I use:

• Zvex - All those great weird effects. Great Video Clips of each pedal in action
• Xotic - Distortion, Overdrives, and Boosters     More Great Video Clips of pedals in action by top Guitar Players
• Eventide - The be all end all of effects processors

Books I recommend:

• Pedals, The Practical Handbook by Dave Hunter
• How To Build Your Own Effects Pedals by Brian Wampler
• The Guitar F/X Cookbook by Chris Amelar (Hal Leonard)

Some Websites:

• http://www.hugeracksinc.com/forum - Lots of Great Gear Info
• http://www.schematicheaven.com/  - Schematics for making and modding your pedals and amps
• http://www.mouser.com/ - Electronics Component Distributor for buying cable, pedal components, and anything else you could ever want electronically
• http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-Custom-Guitar-Cables-on-The-Cheap/ - Instructions for making cables…plus many other related musical projects

Jason Yost led a Guitabulous Blues Clinic on Saturday filled with an incredible amount of information about comping & improvising.  Some of the topics Jason discussed and demonstrated:

• 12-Bar Blues
• Jazz Blues Chord Progressions
• Dominant 7th chord voicings
• Modal Playing
• Harmonic Substitutions
• Modal Substitutions

Our Second Guitar Night has Gui-Happened!  It was a blast!  Thanks to all the performers:

• Alex Meyer
• David Ullman
• Ben Fox
• Jason Boyle
• Livia Merrill
• George Bell

Photos from Clinics, Classes, Recitals, Tours & Concerts have been posted here, and can be also viewed in this nice little slide show.  Enjoy:

Darcy Kuronen, curator of the instrument collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, gave an incredible presentation of their guitars to Brookline Music School students and faculty.  It was truly an educational and exciting showcase of the musuem’s impressive guitar collection.  Not only was Darcy well informed and a gracious host, but he let us hold and play some of the intstruments.  

Thanks Darcy for Guimazing tour!!

Darcy Kuronen is the autor of Dangerous Curves, a companion book to the MFA guitar exibit in 2000.

Bob Ward & Will Dick led a phenomenal clinic on Finger-Style Guitar playing yesterday afternoon.

Will started things off with a demonstration and explanation of Travis Picking and the Carter Family Flick.  Bob Ward, then followed a brief history of finger-style guitar and a demonstration of different techniques.  Below are a few assets from the class:

• Travis Pick by Will Dick
• Carter Family Flick by Will Dick
• 1-10 of Mauro Guliani’s 120 Right-Hand Studies
• Scott Tennant’s Pumping Nylon
• Thom Bresh Master Class (from Guitar Player Magazine)

Will Dick

Bob Ward