Ask Zac – Détails, épisodes et analyse

When you’re young and dreaming about hitting the road, touring sounds like the ultimate adventure, until you actually do it.

In this episode, I look back on my first tour experience with the long drives, bad gigs, and all the hard lessons that came with it. It wasn’t glamorous, but it taught me things I still carry with me every time I step onstage.

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In this episode of Ask Zac, I put my 1957 Fender Esquire through a true bridge showdown, comparing the classic 3-saddle setup that defined early Tele tone with a modern 6-saddle bridge known for better intonation, and for beefing-up the sound.

We’ll dig into:
The history of Fender bridge designs, and why Leo Fender stuck with 3 saddles
The tonal differences between the two setups
Direct sound samples recorded on the same guitar for an honest comparison
My verdict after playing both

Guitar: 1957 Fender Esquire

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In this video, I share how Eric Clapton’s Just One Night album completely shifted my musical direction, and how the real surprise was Albert Lee. Clapton’s fiery playing grabbed my attention, but it was Albert’s Telecaster tone, precision, and country-infused style that opened the door to a whole new world of music for me. In the episode, I forget the names of 1985 tour members Shawn Murphy and Tim Renwick. 

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A visit to JD Simo's House of Grease to get a tweak done on my wah ends up leading him to demo his new fly board, talking about his love for StringJoy Broadway pure nickel strings, and us getting to hear his Headstrong Lil King (Princeton Reverb) amp that he has been relying on recently for shows and sessions. We also cover in-depth his Danocaster's wiring scheme, which features a Gibson humbucker, plus a Telecaster bridge, that has the tone control wired to only the bridge pickup.

No tone on the neck schematic
https://www.askzac.com/post/no-tone-o...

#stringjoy #jdsimo #headstrongamps

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

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Enter promo code "ASKZAC30" to save 30%
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To Support the Channel:

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Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com

I have loved the classic wah sound for years, but have never been able to find one I liked. Years of buying various models, and feeling like they had too wide of a tonal variance finally caused me to quit looking. Recently, a friend told me that old wahs had less travel and that 70s models were available for well under $200. I picked up a Thomas Organ Wah for $120 off reverb.com, and I was so pleasantly surprised to find out how much difference the lesser travel made. It was now more vocal sounding and more in the range of useability for me. Besides my wah journey, we also have Bill Keck modify the unit to be true bypass, and we follow up with our book nook segment.

Schematic to true bypass your old wah
https://www.wah-wah.co.uk/bypass.html

The proper switch for True Bypass Wah
https://www.amplifiedparts.com/produc...

Gibson Amp Book, which is unfortunately out of print:
https://amzn.to/3XG165R
https://www.jwpepper.com/Gibson-Ampli...

Gear Used:

1957 Fender Esquire with a 1954 neck pickup, and original bridge pickup. Restoration an

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

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Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac
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Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com

The low down on my 5 nights of gigging with @austinskinner  in Las Vegas. Being that the venue had a Boss Katana amp, I decided to leave the Strymon Iridium at home, and try it out. I also took a mid-70s Cry Baby Wah, and my 2008 R9 Les Paul to have more tonal offerings than just my '57 Esquire & my grab-and-go pedalboard. I also had a crazy adventure trying to visit J & E Guitars. I found out they were closed due to a robbery committed during business hours. The assailants used a crowd-control pepper spray device that coated all of the store's stock, rendering everything unsaleable.

#askzac #austinskinner #zacchilds

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Enter promo code "ASKZAC30" to save 30%
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Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com

Between my work with the Truetone Lounge and Vintage Guitar Magazine, I have interviewed many award-winning musicians with long and storied careers. It struck me recently that every one of them had a pivotal moment in their story where 3 important elements came together to launch their careers. These integral ingredients can be distilled down to hard work, risk-taking, and timing/luck. All 3 of these are incredibly important, and the house quickly falls if any one of these elements is absent. To illustrate, I share anecdotes from my interviews with John Jorgenson, Pete Anderson, and JD Simo showing how the elements of hard work, risk-taking, and luck played out in their careers.

Gear Used:

Baxendale Kay Mandocello

Pick:
Blue Chip TPR 35

Amp:
2021 Fender Handwired 64 Princeton Reverb with a Jensen Neo 10-100 speaker.

Effects:
Boss Analogman mod TR-2, MXR Reverb

#askzac #zacchilds

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Enter promo code "ASKZAC30" to save 30%
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To Support the Channel:

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Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac

Venmo @AskZac 

Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com

Today we spotlight Clarence White's former #1 Telecaster, which he used on some of The Byrd's "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" tracks, and likely the "Nashville West" recordings. After Gene Parsons installed the B-Bender on his sunburst backup Tele, it knocked the white Tele to the #2 position, and it was soon traded to his bandmate Bob Warford for a Nobel acoustic guitar.  Wanting to also use a B-Bender, Warford & his dad engineered their own system based on Gene's original design, but with a few improvements including the allowance for a slimmer body to fit in a standard guitar case. Once learning the ropes of the mechanism, Bob would feature the B-Bender-equipped Tele with such greats as the Everly Brothers, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Herb Pedersen, and Chris Hillman. Today's video drills down on the modifications done to it, and we look at the ingredients to his rig to produce the memorable tones he featured on Ronstadt's "Willin'" and "Dark End Of The Street."

Spotify Playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2kK...

Bender plans and photos
https://www.askzac.com/post/bob-warfo...

Gear Used:

Crook Paisley Tele.

Strings:
Webstrings pure nickel 9-42

Pick:
Blue Chip TPR 35

Amp:
2021 Fender Handwired 64 Princeton Reverb with a Jensen Neo 10-100 speaker.

#askzac #clarencewhite  #bobwarford

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Luke McQueary was Don Kelley's final guitarist in his long line of amazing players. Today we sit down and talk about his beginnings and the importance of Don's tutelage in his progression as a musician and performer. Though Don Kelley is now retired, the tradition lives on with Kelley's Heroes Wednesday through Saturday, 6:30 -10:30 PM at Robert's Western World. Luke also shows off his rig which includes a specially ordered Custom Shop Telecaster Thinline, vintage Deluxe Reverb, and a small pedalboard.

#askzac #donkelley #lukemcqueary

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Support the show

Enter promo code "ASKZAC30" to save 30%
Truefire https://prf.hn/l/LbY3nGL

To Support the Channel:

Patreon  https://www.patreon.com/AskZac

Tip jar:  https://paypal.me/AskZac

Venmo @AskZac 

Or check out my store for merch  - www.askzac.com

In 1969, Burton put his 52 Telecaster into semi-retirement, and would use his 1969 paisley Telecaster all throughout the 70s and 80s playing on countless recordings, and touring with Elvis, Emmylou Harris, John Denver, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis Costello. During that time, he made quite a few modifications to the instrument, including changing pickups, bridges, hardware, and even a neck swap or 2. Today's episode spotlight all the changes the guitar went through in the years he used it as his main guitar for both the studio and the road.

Spotify Playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/47J...

Gear Used:

Crook Paisley Tele.

Strings:
Webstrings pure nickel 9-42

Pick:
Blue Chip TPR 35

Amp:
2021 Fender Handwired 64 Princeton Reverb with a Jensen Neo 10-100 speaker.

#askzac #jamesburton  #zacchilds

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