Justin Bieber - Turn to You

Here's a session I did a few weeks ago.

Instruments played - 70's Martin D-35 and Larrivee Parlor (strung high-strung)
Capoed fifth for the intro and verses. Open position for the bridge and choruses.

A how to video forthcoming.

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Greats of the Studio - Tommy Tedesco

Gibson presents Tommy Tedesco

I'm a black hole where gigs go to die.

Years ago a friend of mine's computer business really took off, filling up his weekdays. He wanted to lighten his weekend schedule. He's a very good guitarist who had a couple church gigs that he wanted me to take over for him. One was playing guitar at an Adventist church for their contemporary service. This was on Saturday mornings, a rare time for a gig conflict. Perfect. The other was for another church on Sunday night. It paid quite well.

Flash forward five years, we run into each other at a soda jerk shop in Pasadena and he asks me, "what ever happened to those gigs I recommended you for?"

"I'm still doing them both."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I guess I'm the black hole where gigs go to die."

The Sunday night gig I did for a couple more years after that. Occasionally leading worship. At the Adventist Church, I had in the first 6 months become the worship leader and would go on for a dozen years in that role, serving faithfully until I was just too busy to continue.

If you are trying to build your business it's real important to build your business. Keep your clients and add to them. For years on the weekends I had a Saturday morning, a Saturday night, a Sunday morning and Sunday night gig at three or four churches. Every weekend. It paid a lot of bills. And was ministry too!

Some tips to keeping that gig...

1. Be faithful/consistent.
2. Be on time. I always make a point to be at every gig a half hour before I'm suppose to show up.
3. Go the extra mile. Invest when you need to.
4. Be prepared.
5. Stay current. Don't get lazy and just check in every week.

These are just a few ways to keep those gigs and add to them.

ASCAP vs. BMI vs. SESAC

Article here.

I'm BMI by the way. Because that's what the Beatles are.

Baby, Acoustic Version Voicings

I played the guitar on Justin's acoustic version of the song "Baby". The producer wanted me to emulate the keyboard part. This is what I did...

Now here is how I voiced the chords...

Voicings I used...

D - xx0775  D6 - xx0777

Bm - xx4432  Bm(b6) - xx4433

G - 3x003x  G6 - 3x005x

A - x0765x  A6 - x0767x

Justin Bieber  - My Worlds Acoustic

One Session, Two Lessons

I use to carry a little black book around with me to all my gigs and sessions. And no, not to register phone numbers of groupies (that book was blue). It was my log of thing to work on or get or just something that I could learn from the job I just finished. I try to make everything be a teachable moment for me. So not only am I getting paid, I'm getting a self-prescribed lesson.

For example, I might write in my little black book... "practice playing over Imaj7-VII7 progression" or "listen to some James Brown to get some rhythm ideas" or "tighten up the bottom end on patch 298". Something to work on on days when I didn't have any work.

This one particular session was for a major Latin artist at a major studio with some major session pros. I was already feeling like the low man on the totem pole. I was playing acoustic and was an overdub after the other musicians had already laid down their tracks. The song wasn't a song, but a medley of this artist's greatest hits. A dozen pages of music. The producer was one of my best friends, so on that I rest my confidence. The engineer I didn't know but more importantly, he didn't know me. For some reason he had it out for me. Some people build themselves up by tearing others down. This engineer was one of those people.

I had brought 3 acoustics and my nylon guitar. He set up the mic and went into the booth. I pulled out my Taylor 814, strummed a little, and into my headphones I heard, "Do you have another guitar? That one is too bright." I grabbed the Lowden F22. "That one is even brighter." Uh-oh. Last chance. The Gibson Dove should do the trick. "Nope." "It's the last one I have." I confessed and received a dismayed look and... "I guess it'll have to do."

I hadn't played one note and I was already feeling like a rank amateur. But with the Dove in my hands I forgot my insecurities and began tracking. Often I don't think I can play until I have the guitar in my hands, and then I know I can. We worked our way through the chart. My friend the producer knew the songs very well and is a good guitarist himself so he told me the feels and grooves for each section. After we tracked the steel string we took a break before tracking a little nylon. I headed into the booth, sat down exhausted on the couch, turn to the man on my left and said, "hi, I'm Tom, what's your name?" It was of course the famous Latin artist. Hey, I'm really bad with faces.

There are so many lessons that I could pull from this one session, I could probably fill up an entire black book. But here are a mere two...

1. I needed a darker guitar. Maybe the engineer was just exhibiting his insecurities or maybe he had a point. From that day forward I was on the hunt for a guitar darker than any of the ones I currently owned. And thus I found my 70's Martin D-35, which I love and is now my main acoustic.

2. Know who you are working for. I didn't even know what the artist looked like, let alone know his catalog. I should've known all of his hits at least. Then I would've known every song in the medley I was tracking that day. From now on whenever I get called to work with a new artist I research them. I especially study and memorize their face! I have worked for that artist since by the way.

Epilogue - I hadn't been in that studio again until just last week, five years later, when I was tracking acoustics for Justin Bieber's new record. I had a flashback and recounted the above story to the amazing engineer and friend on the other side of the glass. He was mad and wanted to know who this guy was. I wouldn't tell him. Every one in the room thought this unnamed engineer was crazy. "Oh I don't know," I said, "that session is why I got this Martin I'm playing right now." Then I took a break and sat down on the same sofa. I knew who was sitting on my left that day.

One of my First Real Sessions...

From back in 1990. The engineer was Tim Bomba who helped me to sound good with mediocre gear. This from the early 90's sitcom Herman's Head. I played on the theme. It was quite a complex piece of music with all the personalities in the opening credits...

Get That Gear - Part Eight: Get That Endorsement

Are you a famous rockstar? Or a guitar hero? Or like me are just a legend in your spare time?

If you are in the first two categories then getting an endorsement is easy. For the full time no name musician not so much.

Early in my career I kind of resented the successful pro players who got the free gear through endorsements. I mean they could afford to buy a hundred Les Pauls and they are getting them for free? Come on!

But of course it made sense. The big time players offer exposure as their payment. They may play in front of 10,000 or even 100,000 people on a weekly basis. Or on TV. Or in videos. Or their album credits may be a real selling point for a manufacturer. However, you'd be surprised at how much you might qualify for getting free or at cost gear. Some situations that make you valuable to manufacturers...

Do you play with a mid-level artist? Someone who does festivals, concert halls, theaters regularly?
Do you play at a meg-church? One with over 5,000 weekly attenders? Are your services on TV?
Do your gear reviews get 10,000 or 50,000 or more views on youtube?
Do your cover song videos have millions of views on youtube?
Do you teach clinics or at a university?

Many of those are reasons I have acquired gear for cheap or even free. But probably the best way for me was to make a "love connection" at the NAMM Show.

What is the NAMM Show? I blogged previously on getting to the NAMM show here.

With just about every manufacturer is represented at the NAMM show in LA in the winter and Nashville or Austin in the Summer, it's an opportunity to meet and greet and make connections. However, know that they aren't there for you. They are there to make sales to buyers from stores. So remember that. Don't interfere with their business. My tacked, and it's really more of an anti-tacked, is to not have an agenda, just ask intelligent questions, be helpful, offer informed advice if asked. Make a friend. It costs them little to give you a good deal.

Get That Gear - Part Seven: Where?

I've talked about making lists, "checking them twice", having cash ready, avoiding the impulse buys and trusting your senses, now the question is once you are ready, where does one find the deals.

First off, if you have a need and the resources to fulfill that need then you could just go to the local guitar store, be it a Guitar Center or a "Mom and Pop" place and buy it. However if you are willing to be a little patient you might be able to get a couple of things checked off your list for the price of one. 

Some starting places...

1. eBay - Here's my post on eBay from a few months ago. One trick I just found out about is not new but new to me, and a great for finding valuations for things you're looking to buy or sell.  Go to advanced search and check the "completed listings" box and search for your item. This will show you recent transactions so you can see if that deal the store around the corner is really such a good deal.

2. Craigslist - Craigslist has a bit of a bad reputation as of late, however if done right you can find some great deals this way. I picked up a 1940's Kay "archtop" last year. I didn't bring any cash, the buyer met me at a neutral site where we sussed each other out and I sussed out the guitar. Then we went to the bank to get the money and made the exchange. He thought I was cool so he took twenty bucks off the fair price and I thought he was cool so I took him to lunch. I used the guitar in the film Gangster Squad. Just in the background of a few scenes, you aren't actually hearing it. One has to be cautious when going to places with large amounts of cash or when inviting strangers to your gear strewn music room. But I don't really need to tell you this. The neutral site thing works great.

3. Yard Sales - Deals still exist out there. It's been a while, but have in the past gotten some very good deals at yard sales. I generally go looking for cheap things. If you look in your local Friday classifieds you will see listings for yard/garage sales. Look for the ones that actually say musical instruments. Could be an accordion or charango or a Stella acoustic or an early 60's Strat for $300. The latter, 20 years ago, I actually found once and told the seller it was worth $50,000, even though it was worth more like 10-20k, but I couldn't bring myself to buy it and I didn't want him to sell it to any one for less than it was worth. There were times when I would go to yard sales at their listed start time, say 8am or 9am, and be told that guitar buyers were knocking on their doors as early as 6am or the night before sussing out the deals and then low balling their prices. I never did that.

4. Thrift Stores - I picked up a couple of 60's Stella acoustics for $20 each at a Salvation Army once. A match pair - standard and tenor. Both worth easily over a hundred each. Don't care so much about that, they sound cool. The six-string has a very Robert Johnson quality to it and is great for slide and the tenor (4-string) is a very unique sounding instrument which is always good to have. My wife is always on the prowl at thrift stores and will call me if she sees something she thinks I might be interested in. Because of eBay, good deals at thrift stores and yard sales are getting tougher to find. Everyone seems to know what stuff is worth.

5. Local Guitar Store - So much of life is about relationships. This is true in gear acquisitions too. Some of my best purchases were from stores that I frequented. And by frequented I mean, bought stuff at, not hung around at. Store owners can be friends too. Sometimes they'll give you their cost on something because they appreciate your business. Sometimes even lose a little on a sale because they need the cash, just like anyone else, and would rather lose money to you than a stranger. I've gotten some of my best deals in such situations.

6. Friends - I have a acquired a few instruments from friends who either wanted me to have an instrument of theirs and they made me an offer I couldn't refuse, or had friends with guitars that I've told, "if you ever decide to sell this instrument talk to me first." In those situations I always offer/pay market price as I don't want to take advantage of my friends. My son got a great deal on a Gretsch Tennessee Rose in such a manner. I got my 60's 175 from a friend I'd known since 1974. Known the guitar that long as well. You can always make known your offer. In the case of the 175 it took 30 years to "adopt".

Get That Gear - Part Six: Trust Your Senses

Ok. This is a sad post. If you are prone to cry at failed relationships of the gear variety read no further... or at your own risk.

There have been a few times when I didn't listen to my heart, or my intuition, and passed on something that I would never forgive myself for. Ergo, this post. Let it be a warning to you all!

Now while my last post dealt with hasty, ill-conceived purchases, the bad twin, I'm going to deal with the good twin here - purchases of the heart.

It's a fine line. We've all confused the two, bought a guitar and later thought "what was I thinking?" and other times we didn't buy a guitar and thought "what was I thinking?". It's a tough distinction and one that will have you second guessing every purchase. But let me tell you of a couple of missed opportunities and see if through thorough analysis we can avoid the mistake of the missed opportunity in the future.

Dateline 1981 - I taught guitar lessons at a store in Indiana. A lot of lessons. I was there Monday-Thursday and Saturday morning every week. I made about $300 a week, which for a 20 year old kid was pretty good coin, but my focus was moving to Los Angeles so I was power saving big time. Most of my days were four to six hours of half hour students, with the occasional no-show or cancelation. There was a two month period where when I had the involuntary half-hour break I would faithfully gravitate to the blonde Gibson 175 hanging on the wall. OK, sit down. It was a 1959 and was only $300! Hindsight and all that so hold your trap. This is when old guitars were called used and not vintage. The thing played like butter. I was really in to Wes Montgomery and George Benson at the time, but I already had a 175. Well, not really. I had an Ibanez 175, bought at the very store for my 13th birthday. For $300 I believe. Well one day it dawned on me that I needed that guitar. That day? My day off...  Friday. Did I wait until Saturday to drive the fifteen or twenty minutes to the store? Nope. Apparently I sensed the need to move on the guitar that had been hanging in the window innocently for the last couple months. Of course you know the outcome. When I got there it was gone. Sold that morning to a guitarist in town who played with a fairly well-known local band. I was literally in shock. I had played it the night before. "I should've..." "If only I had..." still echo in my head thirty-plus years later. Stayed tuned for analysis.

Next story - Dateline - mid 90's - There was a store in Pasadena that I frequented, and by frequented I mean bought gear at, and even occasionally worked at. One time there was this weird instrument I'd never seen before. It was an acoustic instrument. Made of Koa. It appeared to require a slide to play it. And it seemed to need to lay on one's lap. What kind of crazy guitar was this? Even the neck was hollow. OK, most of you know what this is. And it was an actual 1930's Weissenborn. The price? I'm embarrassed to answer that question. $300. What is it with me and things priced $300? I thought about buying it right then and there but hesitated. I went home. This was before the internet revolution so I didn't really know what it was. But I went back the next day and it was gone. That was the going price at the time. But that would would quickly change. "I should've, I should've, I should've..."

OK, example one. My saving-at-all-cost nature cost me the 175. If I'd added up the facts, done the math as it were, I would have realized...

1. I had a COPY 175, here was the real thing. For the same price.
2. I was into jazz. It was the perfect guitar for that. Though my teacher said, any guitar is a jazz guitar if you play jazz on it.
3. I loved it. It played itself. At the risk of being over dramatic, my hands felt like they were home when I played it.

Example two. My hesitation cost me a Weissenborn that would soon be worth ten times what I would've paid for it. Did I know that then? No. No one did. That's why it was going for three bills. This is not where I made my mistake. Here's where I blew it...

1. It was an instrument I didn't own. I have a policy to get one instrument a year that I don't know how to play. This would've fulfilled my quota for that year.
2. It was well within my "cash on the side" budget.
3. It was at a friend's store.
4. My wife told me to get it.

Even my lovely bride saw that it was a good deal. If I could kick myself in the pants right now I would.

So had I been following many of my own rules of engagement I would own both of these lovely instruments. There have been others, but I'm too sad to talk about them now. Share your's in the comments.

Gibson 175
Goldtone Weissenborn Hawaiian Style Steel Guitar