The Blues Won't Let Me Go!

I am so enjoying playing my guitars these days.  We appreciate going to the Nursing homes we visit as volunteers to perform music, with my wife playing percussion and my friend, Les, playing guitar.   The folks at the hospital are so supportive and it builds us up to spend this time with them 3-times a month.

I continue to play both guitar and mandolin, but I have been fighting the changes that come with Parkinsonism.  This makes going back and forth between the two instruments harder with the effect on fine motor coordination.  I have been emphasizing two factors as a result:  1) making the guitar my first priority for practice and use as accompaniment as I sing, and 2) using a single pick type to go between guitar-- electric and acoustic, and the mandolin. Mandolin picks, of which I have numbers, are typically thicker and stiffer, but guitar picks are often used, also.  I have decided to use a guitar pick and go between all of my instruments. 

 

This cuts down on the number of neurological adjustments my brain needs to make in order get the job done as I move from instrument to instrument.  I feel as though this is helping me and my blues chops are returning. 

We had a great jam session this morning, as my friend Scott was over to plug in and dig down deep into the blues together at the house.

Of late, I have moved a few instruments out via online sales, and have added some nice used instruments to my arsenal.

Peavey Classic 30 All Tube Amp - Approx. 1996

Fender American Series Strat 2001

1999 Takamine EF441c (cedar top--  MIJ)

The Takamine is a high end Japan-made guitar.  The shape is a mini-jumbo, or an OM, if I am correct.  The shape is comfortable and has a nice focused mid-range coming from the clarity of the maple back and sides and the warmth of the cedar top.  The electronics work perfectly.  A few dings and belt scratches, but overall, in very nice condition.  This is my guitar of choice for our nursing home gigs.

I am enjoying the Fenders and this Peavey Classic is very nice tube amp with both a clean and dirty channel.

My favorite blues songs to sing and play of late are:  Kind Hearted Woman, The Sky is Crying and Sweet Home Chicago.  Thanks for visiting! -- Guitar Man

Mandolins and Tube Amps

What do mandolins and tube amps have in common?  Not much, though it isn't out of the question to plug a mandolin armed with a pure K and K pickup into a Fender Champ!

No, my reason for the title is that I have had a four year excursion into the mandolin, which detracted a bit from my time to play my electric guitars while paired with my tube amps.

What I gained from the mandolin is a whole new set of skills with an entirely differently tuned instrument, with chord shapes and scales that required a new spatial memory.  Very good for me as a guitarist, and also a guy with a Parkinsonian disorder!  Going forward, I will always be a mandolin player and have added a couple of mandolins to my arsenal of instruments. Here is one of them (Gibson A5G '96):

I am enjoying playing and singing for the nursing home community a few times each month, and I do throw in some blues along with our folk rock and country songs.

I have had a resurgence of my interest in the electric blues, though it never stopped.  I spent so many hours practicing the mandolin and I do enjoy the mandolin blues, such as played by Yank Rachell. Those efforts couldn't help but compete with each other.

Of late, I have been selling a number of instruments in order to get back into the electric guitar.  I still have my Deluxe Lonestar Stratocaster and I am in the process of acquiring a used American Series Strat to play through my new (used) Peavey Classic 30 (1996).

2006 Lonestar Strat

2001 American Series

The point: the instruments are merely tools, but the music springs from what is in the soul.  The blues are an expression of the passion and experiences that a life well lived produce.  I appreciate having a community of guitar players to share these thoughts with.  -- Guitar Man-- "It doesn't hurt when you play the blues."