"3pers" Lesson 7 - F# Locrian

Elixir Nanoweb Electric Light Strings 10-46

Dunlop Derlin Pick 1.5

"3pers" Lesson 6 - E Minor

Elixir Nanoweb Electric Light Strings 10-46

Dunlop Derlin Pick 1.5

"3pers" Lesson 5 - D Mixolydian

Elixir Nanoweb Electric Light Strings 10-46

Dunlop Derlin Pick 1.5

"3pers" Lesson 4 - C Lydian

Elixir Nanoweb Electric Light Strings 10-46

Dunlop Derlin Pick 1.5

"3pers" Lesson 3 - B Phrygian

Elixir Nanoweb Electric Light Strings 10-46

Dunlop Derlin Pick 1.5

"3pers" Lesson 2 - A Dorian

Elixir Nanoweb Electric Light Strings 10-46

Dunlop Derlin Pick 1.5

"3pers" Lesson 1 - G Major

The three "3per" shapes...

Elixir Nanoweb Electric Light Strings 10-46

Dunlop Derlin Pick 1.5

Me and My Writing Buddy Jeff

Here we are having fun writing and Jeff is having fun with Final Cut Pro...

Get That Gear - Part Three: Prioritize

Now that you are making a list. It's time to get realistic with that list. Or at least get real. Unless you have eight figures in your bank account replace "'59 Les Paul" with just plain old "Les Paul". Forget the Dumble Amp and maybe shoot for a Two Rock.

Your list should be in no particular order, allowing for a free flowing, stream of consciousness that will allow you to be flexible with your gear acquisition. Priorities will change often. Sometimes daily. So don't be bound by the position of where things are, let need or opportunity dictate your next purchase.

For example if you only have one amp and it's starting to die, move your amp choices to the top of the list.  The list should be a living, fluid document. If you have an audition with a funk band and you don't have that wah pedal that's number 15 on your list, move it to number one. If at the bottom of your list is a mandolin and you see a nice Gibson at a yard sale for $100, need I say more?

Needs vs. wants. Know the difference here. I have had items stay on the top of the lists so long that they were no longer desired or needed. As Garth Brooks sang "Thank God for unanswered prayers."

Here are some items from wish lists past, with commentary...

G&L S-500 - got it and sold it, too noisy
Lexicon MPX-1 - didn't get it right away, then the MPX G2 came out, got it at artist pricing (50% off), loved it and still use it.
Mesa Boogie 2:90 - never got it and kind of glad too
TC Electronics M2000 - never got it, didn't really need it once I got the Lexicon
Egnator Preamp - Never got it
Dobro - got a 1929 National Duolian that I use all the time
Taylor or Guild 12-string - got a Taylor 655 for a great price
Danelectro Baritone - Got it
Neumann KM 184 - still on my list
Gretsch Country Gentleman or similar - still on my list
ADAT Player - didn't get and glad

This is just a small sampling of prior lists, some even included smaller, more attainable items like capos, strings, recordable CD's, etc. But you can see in my ability to predict through wishing was batting 50/50. But that's OK, because most the stuff I didn't get I didn't need.

Get That Gear - Part Two: Make A List

Back when I first moved to LA I was way under-geared. I had spent the previous three years saving money for the move. Money I might need to live on if I couldn't get work. Money that wasn't spent on a bunch of guitars and amps and pedals. The gear I owned for the move fit easily in the back of my Pontiac Gran Prix and the 2000 mile drive to the West coast. It was as follows...

An early-70's Ibanez 175 copy (lawsuit model)
A 1979 Ibanez Artist 335 electric
A 1981 G&L F1001
A Yamaha Classical
An Acoustic 165 amp
And some misc. pedals

This was all I brought to compete with Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour, Steve Lukather, Carl Verheyen, and so many others. What was I thinking? Seriously.

I had used up all my guts and courage to move to LA, and had none left to take chances with savings or credit cards, so that list didn't change much for a long time. Disposable income didn't come easily those first few years and my savings was slowly dwindling.

Once I got married and my wife (God bless her) got a real job, I started to make wish lists. My income from students and gigs and occasional sessions began to grow slowly, and gear purchases were the easiest way to write off some of that income.

I made pretty extensive lists. Dreaming big but with some practicality thrown in for good measure. There were a lot of things on the lists that I didn't get and that's not a bad thing. But I printed up the lists and kept them in a drawer and every now and then would go back a look at lists from five or ten years prior and be amazed at how much from these lists had been acquired. And how much I didn't get and was extremely glad.

There's something about making lists, whether you are checking them often or not, that tend to be self fulfilling prophesy. Call it "visualization" if you like. If you haven't done this I suggest you start one right now.

You can use sites like Amazon or Musician's Friend to create wish lists. But better to just create a doc, date it and print it. You can make one list or separate it out into sub-lists, "pedals", "guitars", "amps". It can be specific like... "Lowden F25" or more general like... "good finger style guitar." Like.. "Carl Martin Fuzz" or like... "fuzz pedal"

Text or e-mail yourself ideas when at guitar stores or at shows of things you liked and add them to your list. Maybe put some context... "Fender Tele Baritone, saw at the Burned Out Monkeys show"

Lowden F25
Carl Martin Fuzz Pedal
Fender Tele Baritone

One of my latest sessions...

Justin Bieber - All I Want Is You

(Under the Mistletoe)

I played my Gibson Dove (double tracked), my Larivee Parlor strung high-strung (also double tracked) and G&L for the power chords in the choruses (oh, double tracked).