How to Easily Lock & Unlock your Tremolo ~
(Electric Guitar)
Introducing the Tremol-
Temperature and Humidity~
In my years of repairing musical instruments, I have had to repair a lot of damage done by changes in Temperature & Humidity. Unbeknown to owners, of how important it is to guard against the rapid changes in the elements.
Acoustic instruments are made of thin wood which is easily affected by temperature
and humidity. The elements are the most important single part of your guitar’s surroundings.
The ideal humidity and temperature, is a constant 45-
What you want to watch for, and guard against is rapid changes in humidity. If for instance, you place your instrument near a source of heat, the humidity around it will drop much faster than it would naturally, although a sudden dry spell can have the same effect. If the moisture content of wood is dropped down in a hurry, portions of it will shrink faster than others, causing cracks and open joints. It's best not to set your instrument next to a source of heat or hang it on a wall where it will dry out. Definitely, avoid hanging your guitar on an outside wall during winter months, the wall will be cooler than the inside air. The result will cause a conflict between the temperature of the top and back, with potential damage as a result. If you don't have a hygrometer, watch your local weather reports for drops in the humidity.
It's recommended to store your instrument in its case when not in use. Humidity is easier to control in a smaller space. The hard shell case will support the neck and body of your instrument, as evenly as possible. And if it will be stored for a several month’s or more, loosen the strings.
When traveling, and the instrument will be exposed to freezing temperatures, let it warm to room temperature while still in its case. And then crack the lid just a little after a bit. This will let it come up to room temperature more slowly, decreasing the possibility of wood and finish cracks. The same goes for when traveling from extreme warm temperatures, to a cool air conditioned environment.
To help guard against Low Humidity-
There's two things that I recommend:
1) The use of a hygrometer/ thermometer to measure the relative humidity and temperature
surrounding your instrument. Remembering that the ideal humidity and temperature,
is a constant 45-
2) There's a product I found & sell that is very easy and convenient in helping to guard against both Low & High Humidity. (See below for acoustic guitar.) Other types available for other instruments.
Are your Instruments Insured? ~
Do you own valuable hard to replace instruments, and you just found out after that
last gig, they were stolen from backstage or out of the van? Or what if one of your
roadies dropped it and snapped the neck? Or what if it was caught in a fire or flood? Dear
friends, don’t be caught by these unknown predicaments. I highly recommend you insure
all your instruments and gear...down to the cables. I put together a complete inventory
list of all my music gear, (the gear I travel with, & the gear that stays home, I
even included my cameras & notebook computer) and then gave the list to my insurance
carrier. Call and talk to your home insurance or rental insurance carrier and discuss
it. If you cannot find a company to insure you, try Heritage Insurance Services,
(Click on the link or call 800-
Tips & Tricks ~
Rare Photo’s
Links:
Mr. Leo Fender & Mr. Doc Kaufman
1944 Partners (K&F Amps) see History link above.
1944 Partners (K&F Amps) see History link above.
The Dopyera Bros. of National & Dobro
Ed, John, & Rudy during the 1970s
(see History link above)
Rob's First Real Elec. Guitar Rig
'64 Epiphone Coronet Silver Fox & '65 Fender Princeton Reverb
Rob's First Real Bass Rig
‘68 Fender Jazz Bass & Mid 60s Vox AC50 Sovereign
Sir Paul McCartney & Phil Keaggy -
Setups ~
(Acoustic & Electric Instruments)
The basic most important thing to have done for an instrument-
All Setups should include:
* Complete look over for deteriation, wear & tear...and advise.
* Check/Adjust-
* Check/Adjust/Lube-
* Check Frets for Levelness...and advise. (Level and polish if needed.)
* Clean & Oil Fretboard
* Check /Tighten all Hardware
* Check the Electronics
* Install New Set of Strings
* Check /Adjust for Proper Pickup Height
* Check /Adjust Intonation Accuracy with a Professional Strobe Tuner.
(Note: Intonation should always be reset when changing string gauges.)
* Play!
~ Gear & Accessories ~
Now available to to you... on a Discount Order Basis Only ...
Gear & Accessories from the following companies & manufactures.
* The Basics ~
Tuners -
Misc. Parts / Hardware -
Korg -
And More....
* Live Sound Reinforcement ~
Mics (Wireless or Wired) -
Amps -
Shure -
And More....
* Pro-
CD/DVD Players -
Controllers -
Tascam -
And More....
* Studio Recording Gear ~
Digital W.Stations -
Software -
Beyerdynamic -
Toft Audio Designs -
And More....
Call or Email for all Pricing & Availability
Rob-
Repair Dept. (late 70s pre-
What's a Blue Note you ask?
In an excerpt from the encyclopedia Wikipedia & Folklore:
In jazz and blues, blue notes are notes sung or played at a lower pitch than those of the major scale for expressive purposes. Typically the alteration is a semitone or less, but this varies among performers. Though blue notes are usually said to be flattened third, flattened fifth, and flattened seventh scale degrees. These blue notes are what turns a major scale into the blues scale. The same transformation of notes transforms the minor scale into minor blues scale. The Blue Note is also recognized as “The Note” that weaves together our folk roots in Country, Blues & Jazz Music. (And the color Blue is also believed to be "The Color of Heaven" in some cultures.)
Prices quoted are subject to change without notice.
I can’t stand to sing the same song the same way two nights in succession. If you can, then it ain’t music, it’s close order drill or exercise or yodeling or something, not music.
Billie Holiday (1915-
Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn.
Charlie Parker (1920-
The important thing is to feel your music, really feel it and believe it.
Ray Charles (1930-
Music is religion for me.
There’ll be music in the hereafter, too.
Jimi Hendrix (1942-
He who works with his hands is a Laborer. He who works with his hands & his head is a Craftsman. He
He who works with his hands, his head, & his heart is an Artist.
St. Francis of Assisi (1182-
Talk about sitting around for days trying to write songs, in a matter of hours we’d feel we’d been at it too long! John (Lennon) and I were perfect for each other. I do stuff he might not be in the mood for, egg him in a certain direction he might not want to go in. And he does the same with me. If I’d go in a certain direction he didn’t like, he’d just stop it like that.
Paul McCartney (b. 1942)
I’ve gone to the guitar because I’ve had an idea, a line or a riff. But I don’t do that when I start playing…I do something completely different that I had no idea I was going to do. Something inside that is an uncontrolled wish to express itself, and that’s where I begin.
Eric Clapton (b. 1945)
I can’t read or write music, so sometimes, in trying to find things, I just stick
my hand on the neck…I visualize things-
Stevie Ray Vaughan (1954-
I can’t talk about my singing: I’m inside it.
How can you describe something your inside of?
Janis Joplin (1943-
All music is folk music.
I ain’t never heard no horse sing a song.
Louis Armstrong (1901-
It’s just a chord or riff that inspires me and then I go
on and see how it goes color-
just grows like an acorn or something.
Jimmy Page (b. 1944)
I like to write songs like “Castles Made of Sand”, personally.
When it comes to the ballads, the ballads I really like to get together.
That’s what I dig.
Jimi Hendrix (1942-
You should take that into account when you write song-
it should be fun to play. When you write a song that’s a chore to play,
the performances never sound anything but strained.
Jerry Garcia (1942-
To me the success of any truly great rock song is related to the fact
That people who couldn’t really communicate in normal ways can quite easily
Communicate through the mutual enjoyment of rock music.
Pete Townsend (b. 1945)
I try to forget about the audience when I’m singing.
I just think about the words and music.
Rod Stewart (b. 1945)
I’ve dedicated my life to music so far. And every time I’ve let it slip and gotten
somewhere else, it’s showed. Music lasts…a lot longer than relationships do.
Neil Young (b. 1945)
…the blues is for me. It’s like a shoe. You take a number seven shoe, you sure
can’t wear a size four. You wear the one that fits. The blues fit me.
Muddy Waters (1915-
You can have an idea in your head, but if you can’t execute it, what’s the use? You got to have the technical [side] down. You’ll be playing and all of a sudden, you’ll have an idea in your head and your fingers will just go with it.
Eddie Van Halen (b. 1955)
How to Maintain More Sustain ~
(Electric Guitar & Bass)
Check out the Full Contact Hardware replacement Bridges from Babicz. They are direct
replacements for Strat., Tele., Tune-
The Advantage with the new Babicz Full Contact Hardware system lies within the Full Contact Saddle itself. The vast majority of guitars on the market use only two tiny set screws to set the guitar’s saddle and string height. This robs the guitar of virtual sustain and tone transmission to the body.
The Babicz FCH system uses the equivalent of over 50 contact points between the string and the body on each saddle, as opposed to just two. Multiplied by six strings and you have over 300 times the transference, resulting in unmatched sustain and tone.
With FCH, string height or "action" can now be set with more precision. The "eCam” saddle allows for instant "action" adjustments without ever adding space or air gaps between the saddle and the body of the guitar, and conventional string height action adjustment set screws are eliminated. With the Babicz FCH design, the bridge saddle can never "sink" or "shift" while playing. Each FCH eCAM saddle also includes a specially designed “String Height Lock” feature, which keeps your string height setting in place…even during extreme saddle vibrations over time. Precise intonation adjustments are also easily attained and in most cases include a “Saddle Housing Lock” feature.
There is no loss of transference between strings and body, even as string height
and intonation adjustments are made. (Cost $95-
When I installed my first one on a customer’s Tele. the sustain & ring was unbelievable! My customer jumped up and said..”This is incredible, I used to have to really press hard to hold a note to get it to even halfway sustain as long as this! I was thinking maybe a pickup swap...but now I’ll wait on that!
Sound Checking the New Blue Note Bassic Bass