Chicago Guitar Show Gear Hunt, pt. 2

Since there's been such a huge demand from folks wanting to know what I found at the Chicago Guitar Show (which was in St. Charles, not in Chicago) a couple of weeks ago, I thought I should provide an update. So, here goes! You'll see a photo of some of the items I stumbled across. Let's start with the basic stuff first and work our way up:

To the left, you'll see an old Digitech Digiverb. As best I can tell it's one of the American made ones. Whoever owned it before me removed the screws from the bottom plate and forgot to replace them and also lost the original label with the serial number. However, it has a great spring reverb sound, and I'm also a fan of the reverse reverb setting for those moments when I want to imitate Robert Plant's vocal wails or, better yet, My Bloody Valentine's patented skronk. To honor its DOD ancestors, the switch doesn't always work! Those of you who owned DOD pedals bought from the local pawnshop in the late '80s and early '90s will know exactly what I'm talking about. Oh, in case you don't know about the skronk, let Lester Bangs teach you here.

Next up we have some fine reading material from the late jazz guitar genius and teacher Ted Greene: Chord Chemistry and Single Note Solos, vol. 1 (www.tedgreene.com). For those of you who thought I used weird chords before, things are about to get even stranger (and if you haven't heard Ted's version of "Danny Boy" from his album Solo Guitar, you should download it right now!).

I also finally tracked down a DVD copy of Jim Weider's Get That Classic Fender Sound. Many of you will know Weider as the guitarist in The Band in the '80s and from his group The Honky Tonk Gurus (Jim's site is here: www.jimweider.com). Here's a clip from the DVD you can watch on You Tube...Jim shows you cool gear and then teaches you how to play it:

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Robbie's "Mystery Train" Lick but Were Afraid to Ask

Jim's one of my favorite guitar players and I've learned a lot from his teaching and playing styles. You will too--watch the clip!

And now we have come to the two most important finds at the show. Let me start with the vintage 1980 BOSS DS-1 Distortion pedal. Was it made in Japan? Yes. Does it have that TONE? Absolutely. Does it have a silver thumb screw? You know it. And did I get it in trade? Of course. Pearl's response to it: "Don't you have one already?" Yes, I said, but not a made-in-Japan 1980 silver-screw model. She conceded later that it sounded "pretty warm."

Now, this last item hasn't arrived yet...I've decided to trade my Reverend Flatroc for it, and this new guitar should appear sometime before Christmas thanks to the wonderful folks at Ax in Hand (www.axinhand.com), our favorite guitar shop in Schaumburg. I won't say any more. I will let you follow this link and look at its majesty. And, yes, they finally put a decent bridge on it so it will stay in tune. Pearl likes the purple/gold color combination:

The Purple and Gold Rock Monster

That's it. Now let me get back to my preparations for the Van Halen reunion show coming up at the United Center in a couple of weeks. They better play "Hang 'em High."