I was thinking about my guitars, past and present. Why not get a discussion going about this. How about you? Starting with your present guitar(s) list the pros and cons and then list the guitars you’ve owned in the past with the same pros and cons and some associated memories.

My current guitar is a Royal Blue Ibanez RG321.

Pros

• 24 Jumbo frets
• fast action
• light weight
• great overall tones for all styles of music that I play
• inexpensive

Cons

• None - I love this guitar.

Guitars from the Past

Les Paul Custom

Pros - Great deep rounded clean tones for the blues. An investment!

Cons - H-E-A-V-Y, expensive.

Memories - Sold to take care of daughters medical bills. Well worth it.

Gibson SG

Pros - Without a doubt the best guitar I ever owned or played. I still get teary eyed when I think about getting rid of it. Traded up to the Les Paul. Big mistake.

Cons - None! My all time favorite guitar.

Memories - The guitar I owned when I met my wife. Used to serenade her with this guitar. I guess it worked, we have been together for 31 years.

Fender Stratocaster

Pros - Tones that you can only get with a Strat because of the “out of phase” pickup wiring. Fast action.

Cons - I had a real problem with the placement of the volume control. I do a lot of string muting and even heavy strumming and the volumen control always got in my way.

Memories - I used to think Jimi Hendrix was a god. I know now there is only one true God. But Hendrix is still at the top of my list for guitarist. This is why I had to own a Strat. Then there was Clapton doing blues on the Strat and this list goes on. I bought the Strat and a Cry Baby Wah and thought I would be the next Hendrix. I was young and I guess it is good to dream.

Rick Andrews rocks! That’s it in a nut shell. Don’t take my word for it. The guy just jams out. You must check one of his latest jams, ‘Precious Jade‘ - title inspired by his daughter. How cool is that?

Rebound (this time for real) is a collabortaion with another Spotlighted RiffCaster, Stratoace. Awesome tune.

Keep rocking Rick and thanks for sharing your talents.

I can only imagine the caliber of music we are all in store for once Riffworks 2.0 is released with collaboration.

I’m not sure how much this will help folks, but ChordGuide.com is a site I really love. I don’t read music, so learning is always a challenge for me. I find that taking a ‘D’ chord and just playing it in all of the different variants allows me to hear different phrasing for various styles or moods of a song. Hope that makes sense. Anyway I hope that you can find some use for this.

In the Feb newsletter, Sonoma announces V2 upgrade pricing - ” For users who purchased RiffWorks prior to February 1st, 2006, the upgrade pricing to RiffWorks Version 2 will be $30.”

Free upgarde for those who purchased on or after Feb 1, 2006.

I am more than ready to spend my $30. Thanks Sonoma!

Now all we need is the date.

I truly enjoy listenting to Bob Sweigart. He has some great tones and the layers he puts together are at time somewhat unexpected - but always fresh.

Like Butta is the spotlight funky pick. It is just a cool groove and some fancy pickin. I had to listen a couple of times to really pick out the bass line, but not because it is a bad mix, I was just listening to the guitar.

Bob also has submitted a tune called ‘Drop In‘ that “…is going to be the background track for a music video on a few snowboarding websites…”. An extreme tune for an extreme sport.

Bob, thanks for sharing your talents with us.

Stratoace is spotlighted not only because of his guitar playing but because of his use of RiffWorks, and his participation in the forums. I have learned a great deal from his tips and links he has so unselfishly shared with all of us. It is so difficult for me to pick a favorite song. So I will spotlight two!

SPANISH BLUES remix - In this song Stratoace mixes some samples into his song using Audacity. The term Audacity has been thrown around a lot in the forums and that is because it is a great “FREE” program for post-Riffworks production. Great job!!

AINT GOT THE BLUES remix - This is a very smooth tune and the mix sounds pro. Very clean!

Keep the riffs coming! And keep watching for you name and songs to be spotlighted here!

Happy 90th Birthday Les Paul

The legendary Les Paul turns 90. He is unfortunately going to miss the 90th Birthday Salute All-Star Concert bash due to health problems. Check out the line up of guitarist that are gathering to honor Mr. Paul.

I plan on spotlighting a Riffcasting guitar player/song at least once a week.
Scott Carrera’s rendition of Edgar Winter’s 1973 mega hit “Frankenstein” is my first pick which not only highlights Scott’s great guitar playing, but also the capabilites of the RiffWorks software.

I am blown away that anyone would even think about recording this song in RiffWorks. I have to admit when I read the song description my first thought turned to the drumming in the original recording was so strong, how is that going to come out in RiffWorks. It turned out great. Strong guitar and bass playing in the song and the mix was incredible.

Kudos to Scott for the recording and once again to Sonoma for a great product.