In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been watching a lot of videos featuring one of my main guitar inspirations, Mr David Grissom. I first discovered him around 1991 when I bought the album Whenever We Wanted by John Mellencamp. David’s playing on that record is so fantastic and he has one of the greatest tones out there.
One thing I love about his playing, is the fact that he is so obviously talented but never overly flashy. And did I mention that tone? 😉
Like a lot of players, I’m comfortable soloing using minor pentatonic and blues scales, but I’ve never really felt as at home, when soloing using major scales, so its something I try to work on.
In this video, I programmed a very basic backing track using bass guitar and drum loops in Logic. I added a bit of Hammond Organ afterwards, just to fill the sound out in places. Playing over such a simple bass line, locked into the key of G, really made me think about where I could go on the fretboard in that key.
There are some cool open string possibilities in the key of G and I also tried to incorporate some of the hybrid picking and pedal tone techniques that David uses.
Anyone who likes David’s playing should definitely check out his Truefire video tuition courses.
I hope you find something useful from my humble tribute to a monster player!
Gear used:
2009 PRS DGT guitar
Victory Amps V50 Head and Zilla 1×12 Cabinet
Wampler Euphoria Overdrive pedal
Strymon El Capistan Tape Echo pedal
Shure SM57 on the speaker cabinet
Into Logic via an Apogee Duet 2
You can definitely hear the 70s rock vibe going on here. When I wrote the music, it became immediately apparent that the song would lend itself to that sort of sound and we tried to keep that sound during the recording.
The Stratocaster I play in this video, is my heavily modified 2008 American Standard. I really like playing this guitar, even though I still have my PRS addiction!!
This is the last of the playthrough videos for a while, as I have other stuff to be getting on with now.
The other evening, I got to thinking, really thinking, about the players who had inspired me on this journey of guitar playing. So I thought I’d share them with you. I’m probably going to do this in chronological order, as I discovered them, but I might jump about a bit here and there!
So, number one, the first player to really get me thinking about the guitar? Hang on a minute, that would probably be my Dad!! It was my Dad I really heard play first, usually at bed time in an effort to get me to sleep. Then I started bashing away on his acoustic guitar. It was strung with what felt like cheese wire and lets just say, it had a “mans” set up. Guitar players will know what I mean 😉 But when I got my first guitar, my Dad taught me a few chords and I did the rest.
Anyway, I digress….
No, sorry Dad, but my first real insight into the sort of playing I wanted to do, came when I discovered a certain record in your collection.
Picture the scene: me, aged about 10, laying on the lounge floor, listening to my Dad’s vinyl through his 70’s black and white headphones. I thought those headphones were so cool, with the black coily cable and the individual volume controls on each ear cup. And what was I listening to? Cliff Richard (Wired for Sound era!) Dr Hook, Smokey, Elkie Brooks. When I look back now, I ask myself why wasn’t I listening to my Dad’s blues records? Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Terry, Blind Blake!? Anyway, the epiphany came when I finally discovered some 70’s rock, in the shape of The Free Story.
Yes, Free. Alright Now. But there is so much more to them than just that one mega song. Mr Big, Fire and Water, The Stealer, Be my Friend, Heavy Load, the list goes on and on. At the time, I was too young to know what a big deal they had been, but all I could hear was the incredible playing by Mr Paul Kossoff.
Years later, I realised where my fascination with the Gibson Les Paul had come from but, most importantly, how his amazing vibrato technique had influenced the way I developed my own vibrato. Now I’m not for one minute comparing myself to Kossoff or his incredible skill, but I clearly soaked something up from him, from the way he used to shake those notes and get incredible sustain.
Like many genius artists, Kossoff had his demons and his death at 25 years old, was obviously a massive tragedy. I realised years later, that he died in 1976. I wasn’t even 2 then. So by the time I discovered his playing, he had been dead for not far off a decade. Just imagine what he could have achieved if he had not succumbed to addiction. Whist he is revered amongst many in the guitar playing community, if he had managed to overcome his difficulties, he would be a household name like Clapton.
It wasn’t just the vibrato that got me, it was the blues influence in the song writing and the rawness of the sound that captivated me. The tone he had was something to behold and was something I wasn’t hearing on Cliff Richard albums!!
I listened to The Free Story in the car the other night, on the way to rehearsal with The Nightwires. I felt quite emotional at times whilst I was driving, for lots of reasons really. But the songs stirred something in me and at rehearsal, I played the best I have played for quite some time. I tried solo things that all came off for once and I really tried to concentrate on my vibrato. I loved it.
So, there we have the first of my guitars heroes. Without hearing Paul Kossoff play, I would still have continued playing myself, but my style would now be very different. As I’ll talk about at some point, other players may have influenced me massively in later years, but I owe a lot to Paul Kossoff….
However, in this digital age, you need to have your music available on the web (mores the pity in some ways) so to that end, you can now listen to all of the album on our Soundcloud page. If you like what you hear, you can follow the “buy” link to purchase a physical copy.
Here is my set up from last nights rehearsal, for The Nightwires upcoming show in Cromford:
PRS DGT Gold Top
PRS RH2010
Gibson J45 Standard
Laka Electro Ukulele
Pedalboard for electric guitars
Boss TU2 into Orchid Electronics DI box for Acoustic/Uke
Morgan AC20 Deluxe Head into Zilla 1×12 cabinet
PHEW!!
This is the “big” setup for when we do longer sets. Our next gig is 2 x 45 minute sets, so I have to play electric, acoustic and ukulele. Its a lot to transport about but needs must.
Its a setup I really enjoy playing through and I can get some great sounds.
Here is my latest playthrough video. This time its “Sidetracked” which is one of my favourite tracks from The Nightwires new album. I think this is probably the shortest song that Russell and I have ever written!
guitar geek 