Pictures I'm tagged in

Wednesday, Nov 12, 2008 12:16PM / 35 pictures

Holy Cow!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008 6:12PM / Standard Album / Members only
1 picture / 459 views / 3 comments

I don't dislike myself in this picture. Chalk that up to

A) The other person in the photo.
B) Black has a slimming effect.
C) Rick my trainer has even more of one.

Hello Kitty: Guitar #15 is Finished.

Monday, Apr 28, 2008 11:17PM / Standard Album / Members only
19 pictures / 1016 views / 15 comments

Fender released the Hello Kitty Squier as a means of encouraging women, more specifically girls, to play guitar. Well, I'm not a girl (or a woman), and I don't need any encouragement to play guitar.

The guitar is hot pink, with pink fretboard dots and a fixed bridge. Great color, but the neck is too small for my hands.

The Custom Shop version is over US$20,000 and there were only 3 made. Besides, I don't like it.

When in doubt, make your own.

I bought the pickguard from a Squier on eBay and had it shipped from the US. Same for the strap.

I bought a one-piece mahogany stratocaster body from Warmoth. Birdseye maple neck. Locking Gotoh Floyd Rose tremolo, in black. White Seymour Duncan bridge pickup. A neck pickup ishidden under the pickguard. Pink aluminum knob.

Lots of women will love this guitar. Sadly, they'll all be approximately 12 years old, too.

Maybe if I'm really lucky, somewhere out there is a woman who will take one look at this and develop an acute cotton allergy, whipped into a paroxysm of lust and irrational desire.

Then again, if she just laughs, that's okay too.

It's a start.

This guitar sounds really good, and while it is still in its infancy and will need lots of adjustment, it is already a great sounding instrument and I look forward to playing it in front of people.

Go ahead and bust my b@lls; do you have any idea how much this guitar (and/or me) weighs?

My Guitars and "Guitar World."

Tuesday, Apr 22, 2008 10:59PM / Standard Album / Members only
55 pictures / 1588 views / 9 comments

The first thing I did with my first guitar (in 1982) was learn to play "Back in Black."

The second thing I did was take it apart.

I love to work on guitars almost as much as play them. I have learned to build, fix, maintain and improve guitars and I love doing it.

I've even gotten to be a guitar tech for one of my guitar heroes (a real person, not a video game), Warner Hodges. He's an amazing player, a great guy, and a lot of fun to be around. I love working for him, but it's work. My job is to take care of his guitars in whatever space I can find at the side of the stage. He calls this space Guitar World. I've recreated it in my house, because I have 14 (15?) guitars now, and they always need adjusting or improving. But it also keeps my skills up so if I got to Europe to work for Warner this summer or fall, I'll be ready.

I never get tired of looking at, playing, or working on guitars. I'm just glad that I have something that I stayed interested in so long.

If you have any questions, please just ask. I love to talk about guitars. They're like the children I never had.

But at least when you get tired of a guitar, you can sell it on the internet and not go to jail.

#13 (I think)

Tuesday, Apr 22, 2008 10:44PM / Standard Album / Members only
8 pictures / 588 views / 2 comments

I made this guitar using local and imported woods and parts and a local painter (Kenny at Kone Helmets does GREAT work, and not just on helmets!) This guitar looks ugly, but it is very comfortable to play standing up or sitting down. I went a bit overboard aesthetically because I wanted to see how far I could push it. Once you break the bounds of subtlety there is no turning back. I'm pleasantly shocked at how well it turned out.

Random Hong Kong Stuff

Sunday, Apr 20, 2008 6:47PM / Standard Album / Members only
20 pictures / 1588 views / 3 comments

These are random pictures I have from my time here. One night at about 3:30 I went outside to find the river channel FULL. That was interesting...

The other pictures are just some interesting/funny stupid things I have stumbled across.

Yes, according to those criteria, there should be pictures of me in here too, but there aren't.

The 8 Immortals Restaurant Human Meat Roast Pork Buns

Saturday, Apr 19, 2008 10:39PM / Standard Album / Members only
6 pictures / 730 views / 1 comment

Herman Yau's Category III classic (aka The Untold Story) is considered one of the most disturbing films ever made. It's based on a true story that took place in Macau. The last time I was there I took pictures of it. I ended up asking a police officer where it was since the few people I asked practically ran away when I asked. Of course, she was a very young and very pretty police officer, and my Cantonese is not good. So when I finally just asked "Human meat roast pork buns restaurant?", she looked at me like I was a freak, which, I guess, I am. But she showed me where it was and I went and took pictures. It's in the north end of Macau, near the dog racing track. It's in the middle of the city, which makes the crimes even more horrible since they went on literally under people's noses. People stopped eating cha siu baau when the movie came out. But right after taking these pictures, I found the closest place for dim sum and ate them. Yummy, even if you never really know what's in them...

You Can't Buy a Woody; You Have to Make It Yourself

Sunday, Apr 13, 2008 7:16PM / Standard Album / Members only
29 pictures / 1863 views / 5 comments

Like most guitarists of my generation, one person was so far past everyone else he didn't even have to try. Edward Van Halen redefined rock music and the guitar. I always loved his Kramer 5150, and I always wanted to make a guitar like it. But anybody can paint. I wanted to do something different, especially since he has copyrighted the paint scheme! So I built Woody, my tribute to Edward and the original 5150. It's made from three kinds of wood; Ebony, Maple and Padauk. I used a router to inlay the stripes. It came out much better than I expected. 

We Are The Road Crew Vol. 4: Nashville, TN, June 1 & 2, 2007

Friday, Apr 11, 2008 12:34AM / Standard Album / Members only
4 pictures / 383 views / 0 comments

8,897.6 miles.

Hong Kong to Nashville; Perry Baggs, the Scorchers drummer, needs a new kidney.

The Bottle Rockets, Jason and the Scorchers, Dan Baird, Edgar and Blanche Hodges (Warner's parents), and a bunch of others. I worked my ass off for two days.

Jason told me it was the most technically difficult show they ever did, because around 10 people were 'special guests' on songs throughout the night, and I did all the gear changeover for everyone.

He couldn't believe I pulled it off by myself. They used to have a 6-man stage crew back when they toured heavily. Now they have me.

I changed a guitar string in under two minutes. You think it's easy? Try it. Oh, and it has to be stretched in and tuned. 120 seconds. Go ahead, I'll wait.

If you think I've got rose glasses, look them up. I don't use the term 'greatest live band' lightly; they have earned and kept that title for over 20 years. From three feet away, it's one of the greatest things I've ever seen, and I am very happy and proud to be a part of it.

We Are The Road Crew Vol. 2: Nashville, TN, Dec. 31, 2001

Sunday, Apr 6, 2008 12:42PM / Standard Album / Members only
55 pictures / 828 views / 0 comments

The Scorchers celebrated 20 years on New Year's Eve 2001. The Exit/In in Nashville was over-sold and you couldn't move. It was a great show and lasted more than three hours. I spent the whole show in "Guitar World" since there was literally no room to go elsewhere. After the show, some huge guy (190cm, 125kg) in a kilt and a Rose Tattoo t-shirt comes up to me, drunk out of his f@#$ing mind, and says something incomprehensible. Mostly because he's Scottish, but at least partially because he's drunk as f@#k. But it seemed a positive vowel movement, so I was at least glad he was on our side, so to speak. That's how I met Colin. He flies to the US to see the Scorchers play just about every time they do. He helps me move gear and we room together on tour. Hopefully I'll see him next month in Europe.

We Are The Road Crew Vol. 3: Texas, 2002; Dallas, Austin, Houston, Houston

Sunday, Apr 6, 2008 2:20AM / Standard Album / Members only
31 pictures / 605 views / 2 comments

Four days in Texas. Four shows. Last show is in Houston, so that's where we fly to. Why? Because returning a rental car in the city where you got it is a lot cheaper than not doing it.

Land in Houston.
Drive like loons to Dallas. Check into hotel. Load gear in club. Go back to hotel. Go to club. Do show. First one with new drummer and with SH*TTY rented amps and drums. Go eat breakfast. Return to hotel around 3:00. Get to sleep around 4:00.

Get up at 9:00; gotta get moving.

Drive like loons to Austin. Check into hotel. Load gear in club. Antone's is the club where Stevie Ray Vaughan got his start. We walk in at 4:30 and the PA is up and running, the air conditioner is on, the dressing room is prepared, and the sound man doesn't have his head up his ass. In fact, he's amazing. Go back to hotel. Go to club. Do show. Goes over great; crowd loves them. Go eat breakfast. Return to hotel around 3:00. Get to sleep around 4:00.

Get up at 10; it's a shorter drive, but we lose the hour and more to traffic. When you do clubs, you ALWAYS arrive at the city for rush hour.

Drive like loons. Check into hotel. Load gear in club. Go back to hotel. Club per diem is a free meal at the barbecue place across the street. Me, Kenny and Fenner go eat there. Great food, a rare miracle on tour. Go to club. Do show. Great crowd. Colin finds Scottish people in Houston; gets incomprehensibly drunk. I eventually say "Colin, I can't understand what the f@#$ you're saying." Go for breakfast. Return to hotel around 3:00. Colin decides he wants to swim. I go to Warner's room to drink coffee, because touring completely screws your clock up. By the time I get back to my room, the door is wide open and Colin is laying on the bed in just his swim trunks. He hears me, wakes up, mumbles, flips me off, and goes back to sleep.

The second show in Houston is in the same club. Although we get no per diem, we go back to the same restaurant and eat again. Some guy hired the band to play his wife's birthday party, as The Scorchers are her favorite band. It's also a surprise for her. He's a lawyer and she can't imagine why she's getting dragged into this sh*t-hole rock club (and I mean that positively) but loses it when the band walks out. So does Jason; he has no idea Colin brought Warner a kilt to wear, so for the first half hour Jason can't look at Warner without cracking up.

Go eat breakfast. Return to hotel around 4. Get up at 9:00 (I guess; no memory) to drive like loons back to Houston airport and get on the plane home.

Just as your body adjusts to this horrid schedule...

We Are The Road Crew Vol.1: Memphis TN, Dec. 2001

Sunday, Apr 6, 2008 1:29AM / Standard Album / Members only
26 pictures / 456 views / 0 comments

One of my favorite bands ever is Jason and the Scorchers, whose guitarist, Warner E. Hodges, was one of my inspirations and influences in my own guitar playing. I first met them in 1993, during their reunion tour. I saw them whenever they came remotely close to wherever I was living, and I always helped move gear and especially look after Warner's guitars.

In 2001, they invited me to go on the road for some of their 20th anniversary shows. I was flattered, and of course I went.

Since then, whenever I can, I try to meet the band and once again become "The only PhD roadie in rock and roll," as Jason likes to introduce me. I even flew back to Nashville from Hong Kong in 2007 to help out at a benefit for the Scorcher's drummer, Perry Baggs.

I've met a ton of my musical heroes, and Warner is now my best friend on earth. The only downside is that when I send my 'friends' my new songs to get their response, they're people who've made around 20 albums and toured all over the world.

In May, I am planning to go work for the band in Europe. No sleep, no laundry, no daylight, no rest, no problem. 8 countries in 12 days, or thereabouts. The trick is to find the darkest sunglasses you can and wear them religiously.