Dive into the complete episode list for Ask Zac. Each episode is cataloged with detailed descriptions, making it easy to find and explore specific topics. Keep track of all episodes from your favorite podcast and never miss a moment of insightful content.
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Title
Pub. Date
Duration
Hardtail Stratocaster: The Lowdown
27 Aug 2024
00:17:24
The hardtail Strat is a different beast from it's tremolo equipped brother, with a tone, and feel of it's own. Today we look at the history, and spotlight the famous players, all with a beautiful 1957 hardtail Stratocaster.
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Vince Gill is at the top of his game. He recently completed a 4-night run at the Ryman where he played a three-and-a-half hour show each night, still singing & playing the songs in the same keys, or higher. Gill is some kind of superhero, as artists half his age could barely do this. Today we sit down with Vince, as he shares stories about some of his favorite guitars and a life well lived.
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#vincegill #telecaster #askzac
Texas Toast The #1 Country Music Podcast in Texas!
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A discussion with my friends, JD Simo, and Dan "Danocaster" Strain about how they set pickup height on Telecaster type guitars. The discussion begins with a look at Simo's 2nd Danocaster, and how he had just changed the pickups to a set of Budz 58s, that then evolves into a discussion on pickups as JD adjusts his new instrument. We also discuss pickups that favor harmonics over fundamental tones, and how JD and I love our Headstrong Lil King amps.
2023 Headstrong Lil' King with 12" Eminence GA-SC64 speaker https://headstrongamps.com/lil-king-amp
Danocaster Guitars https://danocaster.com/
#askzac #jdsimo #danocaster
Texas Toast The #1 Country Music Podcast in Texas!
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As I was contemplating my last AZ episode of 2021, I realized that 4 out of 5 of my top videos of the year were all focused on amps. So this episode both looks at the importance of amps and lends some additional insight into those amp videos. I take a look at my videos featuring the Deluxe Reverb, Tone Master Deluxe, Vibro Champ Reverb, and the episode on how small amps got big.
Gear for this video:
1957 Fender Esquire with added vintage neck pickup. Restoration and aging on the body by Dan "Danocaster" Strain. Rewind of bridge pickup by Ron Ellis.
Strings: D'Addario NYXL 10-46
Pick: D'Andrea Medium-Heavy
Amp: 1965 Deluxe Reverb with Celestion Vintage 30 speaker, and bright cap clipped on the vibrato channel.
I have always been an amp guy, and have always had a preference for tube amps. With a recent fly date I did with Paul Bogart, I ran into a situation that caused me to finally make the jump to using a direct setup. In the video, I cover how I began to see more and more of my friends and heroes go direct when the situation called for it. My solution was the Strymon Iridium with a Tone Junkie Celestion Vintage 30 IR pack. With it, I could get a nice BF Deluxe Reverb sound, along with the V30 IR to give me a sound I was comfortable with. Though others I spoke with used the Kemper or Line 6 HX, I chose the Strymon as it had actual knobs, and was much easier for me to use on the gig.
This is my beginner's guide to going direct.
Gear for this video 1957 Fender Esquire with an added neck pickup. Restoration and aging on the body by Dan "Danocaster" Strain. Bridge pickup re-wind by Ron Ellis
Strings: D'Addario NYXL 10-46
Pick: D'Andrea MH 351
Pedalboard Turbo Tuner Mirage Compressor Karma MTN-10 Mostortion Boss DM-3 Strymon Flint Line 6 Echo Park Strymon Iridium 9v power via Truetone CS6
Robbie Robertson and The Band turned the music world on its collective ear with the release of Music From Big Pink. Extended guitar solos, fuzz, psychedelic references, and screaming vocals were nowhere to be found. Instead, the listener found the understated guitar, storytelling songs, thoughtful arrangements, and brother-like vocal harmonies. In today's player spotlight, we take a look at Robertson's early days with the Hawk, through the mid-era of The Band, mainly focusing on the period of time that Robertson played a Telecaster. We also take a look at the black Tele he was gifted by Dylan, which was modified through the years and was his main guitar through much of the Band era.
Ever wondered why the amp world shifted from 100-watt amps to 25-watts or less? The short answer is the advancement of P.A. systems. In the not-so-distant past, the typical P.A. was only capable of handling 2-3 vocal mics. Because of this, the guitar amp, and it alone, had to make the guitarist heard in whatever venue or situation they were in. This "amp dependency" was most often the case all the way up until the 1980s when it began to become more common for instrument amps to be reinforced through the more advanced P.A. systems that could handle the additional work. Thus the shift to smaller amps allowed the stage volume to be lowered and gave the vocalists a much-needed break.
A Celestion Blue Alnico speaker is in the amp for the entire video
Gear for this video 1957 Fender Esquire with an added neck pickup. Restoration and aging on the body by Dan "Danocaster" Strain. Bridge pickup re-wind by Ron Ellis
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I couldn't help myself, I had to mess with the amp that really did not to be messed with. In this video, I tell how using different tubes and speakers in the Chris Stapleton Princeton changed the sound. Just to be clear, I thought it was great out of the box, I just wanted to hear how the amp could be steered differently both in its gain, and tone.
An Eminence GB128 speaker is in the amp for the entire video
Gear for this video 1957 Fender Esquire with an added neck pickup. Restoration and aging on the body by Dan "Danocaster" Strain. Bridge pickup re-wind by Ron Ellis
Owning and loving both a 1965 Deluxe Reverb and a 1959 Harvard has caused me to become more and more curious about revisiting the brownface amps of 1960-1963. The last time I owned a brown amp, I was in High School. I looked around and realized that Fender had recently released a hand-wired 62 Princeton. Kindly, they sent me one to check out. In this video, I take a look at the history of the Princeton from the tweeds through the BF model, and of course, put Fender's new Chris Stapleton Edition amp through its paces.
Gear for this video 1957 Fender Esquire with an added neck pickup. Restoration and aging on the body by Dan "Danocaster" Strain. Bridge pickup re-wind by Ron Ellis
Strings: D'Addario NYXL 10-46
Pick: D'Andrea MH 351
Amp: Fender '62 Princeton Amp - Chris Stapleton Edition
Al Anderson - NRBQ's Big Man of the Telecaster - Ask Zac 99
28 Jun 2023
00:28:12
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NRBQ was one of the most talented, versatile, and wacky groups to ever play together. From 1971-1994, Big Al Anderson held the guitar seat, usually with a Telecaster in hand. Al's singing, writing, and playing helped define the group during his 23-year stay, yet he was to go on to even greater heights as a hit songwriter in Nashville, TN. In today's spotlight, we cover his story, some bits of his playing, and the gear he has used through the years.
Gear for this video 1957 Fender Esquire with an added neck pickup. Restoration and aging on the body by Dan "Danocaster" Strain. Bridge pickup re-wind by Ron Ellis
Strings: D'Addario NYXL 10-46
Pick: D'Andrea MH 351
Amp: Fender '62 Princeton Amp - Chris Stapleton Edition
The 1959 Fender Super Amp - Top Of The Heap Of The Mid-Sized Tweeds - Ask Zac 98
27 Jun 2023
00:16:16
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The Fender tweeds from1947 thru 1960 are some of the finest guitar amps ever made. They are simple and raw sounding, and their job was mainly to make the guitar louder, not to do much tone sculpting. My favorites are the narrow panel 1955-1960 models, and today we are going to take a look at the best of the mid-sized (30-40 watt) tweeds, the 5F4 (2-10) Super amp. Besides its lineage, we will also look at how to get the most out of these amps by knowing how to use the Bass control, and jumpering the instrument and mic channels.
Gear for this video 1957 Fender Esquire with an added neck pickup. Restoration and aging on the body by Dan "Danocaster" Strain. Bridge pickup re-wind by Ron Ellis
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Here is the tale of my trip to Tulsa, to play some shows with my good friend, Paul Bogart. Besides the road story, I also talk about the gear I took with me, and how I used my 1964 Vox AC10 and the new Fender Tone Master Blonde Deluxe amp in a stereo setup. To do this, and to do it quietly, I used a buffered splitter box with a phase reversal switch and an isolation transformer. This allowed me to have my amps in phase, and to be a quiet as possible, and to not use a 3-to-2 prong adaptor, which is frankly dangerous.
Amps in the video: Fender Tone Master Deluxe https://amzn.to/3eDEEX0. 1964 Vox JMI AC10 with 12" Celestion Blue Alnico Speaker in a custom cab built by Kyle Bollendorf.
Pedalboard Turbo Tuner Mirage Compressor Analog Man Boss TR-2 XTS rehoused Mostortion Boss FV30H Volume pedal Boss DD-2 Delay Line 6 Echo Park 9v power via Truetone CS6 https://amzn.to/3gnJQPW#askzac#guitartech#telecaster
In 2010, Jerry Jones auctioned the entire contents of his Nashville factory. Drill presses, unused custom fabricated parts, prototype instruments, and everything that was not part of the building itself were sold to the highest bidder. For a handful of years, his website was kept up, but finally, it too came down. Now the only information that can be found is from the descriptions on completed sales of used instruments. A recent email asked me for info on Jones, as the viewer had just bought one of his guitars and there was next to nothing about the guitars on the web. My own search ended up with the same results. So I reached out to Jerry Jones through a friend of his, and I was politely told "Jerry does not want to be interviewed, as he is retired, and to talk about this would be to come out of retirement, and he has no interest in doing so." With that dead-end, I pieced together my own past interactions with Jerry and tracked down some of his friends and two of his former employees to put together this story. I also had the help of friends that let me borrow a bevy of wonderful Jones guitars, including the original factory prototype that was used to test pickups. So to the best of my ability, here is the history of Jerry Jones Guitars.
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Today we look at forgotten R&B guitar greats Chips Moman, Tommy Cogbill, Booker T. Jones & Joe South. They each played on huge hits, yet are rarely hailed, and worse yet, many times their parts are credited to other players. We right this wrong by looking at Chip's part on "Respect," Tommy's on Seesaw," Booker's on "I Forgot To Be Your Lover," and Joe's work on "Chain Of Fools."
CORRECTION Estelle, not Mae Axton founded STAX.
Playlist Chips Moman, Tommy Cogbill, Booker T. Jones & Joe South https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6m3jIsJDPv2YsxJaMDfZ23?si=b85ionyPTBekDoX20wYf0w&pi=u-fPRZ8oNKTjCz
1967 Fender Telecaster - stock except for compensated saddles. Refret by Nick at Glaser Instruments
More on the 1967 Maplecap Tele https://youtu.be/K62c9ycOTlU
Amp: 2023 Headstrong Lil' King with 12" Eminence GA-SC64 speaker https://headstrongamps.com/lil-king-amp
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How you prepare for a gig dictates whether you will be asked to work with that client/artist again in the future. In this episode, I show how I prepare musically, what questions I ask the client, how I choose what gear to take, and the importance of having backups for everything. A very practical AZ episode.
Gear for this video 1957 Fender Esquire with an added neck pickup. Restoration and aging on the body by Dan "Danocaster" Strain. Bridge pickup re-wind by Ron Ellis
Strings: D'Addario Pure Nickel 10-45
Pick: D'Andrea MH 351
Amp: 1964 Vox JMI AC10 with 12" Celestion Blue Alnico Speaker in a custom cab built by Kyle Bollendorf.
When Leo Fender released the Broadcaster, he was laughed at by his competitors. His detractors claimed that no serious guitarist would be seen playing Fender's "boat paddle" with strings. But old Leo knew just the guitarist that could give his new plank some respect, Jimmy Bryant. What many are not aware of is that after working all day at the factory, Leo Fender would moonlight as the sound man for the popular Cliffie Stone's Hometown Jamboree show. On a break, Leo anxiously handed his new Broadcaster to Hometown guitarist, Jimmy Bryant, who was by all accounts the hottest picker in L.A. at the time. To his great delight, Bryant loved the fast action, clear tone, lack of unwanted feedback, and the comfort of Leo's new guitar. Soon Jimmy and his sparring partner, Speedy West, had their own recording contract with Capitol Records, and their first LP, with Jimmy proudly holding his Broadcaster, acted as a huge Fender ad in record stores across the United States. The new Fender guitar now was seen as the one to have.
Jimmy was one of the finest guitarists in the history of American Music, and although he is not forgotten, he is often underappreciated. With this episode, I will do my best to rectify that with a healthy dose of his story, and a look at the gear he used to create his decidedly "Fender" tone.
In the video, I spotlight how his use of the Broadcaster, 12-52 pure nickel strings, jazz picks, and an early "woody" Fender Pro influenced his sound. Also, I discuss the blend control, and how Broadcaster wiring was different than what was later used on the Telecaster.
Gear for this video 1957 Fender Esquire with an added neck pickup. Restoration and aging on the body by Dan "Danocaster" Strain. Bridge pickup re-wind by Ron Ellis
How & Why I started my Guitar Related "Ask Zac" Channel using 2 iPhones and a lapel mic - Ask Zac 92
22 Jun 2023
00:17:47
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I started my channel in January of 2020 with 70 subscribers, and a year and a half later have over 20,000 subs. I have gotten many questions about how I create my show, including people wanting to know the specifics of how I capture my guitar sounds. Well here it is, and even a bit of the "why" I started doing my show. And to everyone that has subscribed and supported me, THANK YOU!!
Gear for this video 1957 Fender Esquire with an added neck pickup. Restoration and aging on the body by Dan "Danocaster" Strain. Bridge pickup re-wind by Ron Ellis
Strings: D'Addario NYXL 10-46
Pick: Fender Medium
Amp: 1964 Vox JMI AC10 with 12" Celestion Blue Alnico Speaker in a custom cab built by Kyle Bollendorf.
Q & A - Princetons, Tele Body Thickness, and Guthrie Trapp's influence - Ask Zac 91
21 Jun 2023
00:19:28
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Today I take a long-overdue look at questions that have arisen over the last couple of months. I cover the common questions I get about Princeton Reverb amps, the Tele body thickness question that was repeatedly asked concerning my 57 vs 67 Tele video, and I cover how Guthrie Trapp has influenced my playing, and how one of his exercises influenced the "Ask Zac" theme.
Gear for this video 1957 Fender Esquire with an added neck pickup. Restoration and aging on the body by Dan "Danocaster" Strain. Bridge pickup re-wind by Ron Ellis
Strings: D'Addario NYXL 10-46
Pick: Fender Medium
Amp: 1964 Vox JMI AC10 with 12" Celestion Blue Alnico Speaker in a custom cab built by Kyle Bollendorf.
1960 Deluxe VS 1959 Harvard - A Fender Tweed Comparison - Ask Zac 90
20 Jun 2023
00:18:26
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Fender tweeds are some of the most desirable vintage amps, especially the late 50s designs, which are considered by many as the pinnacle of Leo Fender's work. Today, I look at 2 of the most revered of the smaller tweeds, the 1959 Harvard, and the 1960 Deluxe. The 2 amps are similar in many ways, sharing even some of the same iron, yet different in their cabinet size, speaker size, and perhaps most importantly the Deluxe having cathode versus the fixed power tube bias of the Harvard. From clean to cranked, you hear it all paired with my 1957 Esquire.
Vintage Amp comparison - Tweed Shootout
Gear used: 1959 Fender Harvard with stock Jensen P10R 1960 Fender Deluxe with Jensen P12Q
1957 Fender Esquire with added neck pickup. Restoration and aging on the body by Dan "Danocaster" Strain. Bridge re-wind by Ron Ellis
How Grady Martin's 1961 Fuzz Solo birthed Keith Richard's "Satisfaction" in 1965 - Ask Zac 89
19 Jun 2023
00:14:36
Check out the opening Squier Bass VI lick played with Fuzz!
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Did you know that the fuzz pedal was born because a Danelectro Bass 6 was recorded using a faulty channel on a studio mixing console? The part, played by the great Grady Martin, was a hit for Marty Robbins in 1961, and the requests to replicate the sound led the studio engineer, Glenn Snoddy, to design the Maestro Fuzz-Tone for Gibson in 1962. Unfortunately for Gibson, the pedal was not a hit right away. They had to wait till Keith Richards used one on "Satisfaction" in 1965, which led to them quickly reissuing the product. To boot, Keith had used the device only to mimic a horn, as he thought his fuzz guitar part was just a guide for the horn part to be overdubbed later. The horns were never added, the fuzz part was kept, and the fuzz craze was born.
Fender has made the Telecaster for longer than many of us have been alive. The elegant, yet simple instrument has evolved and had many variations over the past 70 years. Today, I take a 1957 and 1967 Telecaster and show how the instrument changed from the heart of the Leo years, to firmly in the CBS era. From headstock to pickups, the comparison is quite enlightening, and I finish the video with head-to-head tone examples. To finish the video, I give a quick lesson on the playing examples I used for both instruments.
Gear for this video 1957 Fender Esquire with added vintage neck pickup. Restoration and aging on the body by Dan "Danocaster" Strain. Rewind of bridge pickup by Ron Ellis.
1967 Telecaster - stock except for steel compensated saddles, and the tone control is wired to the bridge pickup only.
Strings: D'Addario NYXL 10,12,16,24,34,44
Pick: Danocaster Medium
Amp: 1965 Deluxe Reverb with Celestion Vintage 30 speaker, and bright cap clipped on the vibrato channel.
Learning To Love Fuzz & Electric Guitar Capo Tips - Ask Zac 87
17 Jun 2023
00:19:36
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Learning to play guitar in the 80s, my only reference to fuzz was articles about Jimi Hendrix, SRV, and Eric Johnson in either Guitar World or Guitar Player magazines. When I finally got to play the fuzz pedals that became available in the 90s, like those made by Fulltone, they were just not to my liking. They seemed way over the top, and not useable in the music that I was playing. I lost interest in fuzz until my good buddy Austin showed me his Analog Man Sun Face Fuzz, and I immediately ordered one from Mike. Besides fuzz, I also hit on some pointers on using capos with electric guitar after pushing them in my John Leventhal episode.
Gear for this video 1957 Fender Esquire with added neck pickup. Restoration and aging on the body by Dan "Danocaster" Strain.
Strings: Gabriel Tenorio NíquelPuro Pure Nickel Strings 10-46
Pick: Blue Chip TPR 35
Amp: 1965 Deluxe Reverb with Celestion Vintage 30 speaker, and bright cap clipped on the vibrato channel.
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John Leventhal is a favorite, and his work in the early 90s acted as a musical roadmap for a young Texas Honky Tonk guitarist trying to stay afloat in the world of pop/folk/singer-songwriter music. In this episode, I look at 7 concepts that I have stolen from Leventhal, that are very worthy of checking out for yourself.
An old friend texted me on a Saturday morning to see if I was available to play at one of the big clubs in downtown Nashville from 2-6 pm that day. I absolutely said "yes," as I had not played in the downtown area since 2003. It was loads of fun, but also quite the eye-opener to how much Nashville had changed in the last 18 years. Besides the fun story, I also go into the gear I used, including my Waterloo WL-14 acoustic guitar, and the things I did right, and how I should have brought a better tuner pedal.
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Tips and tricks to help you unlock a wider array of tones from your Telecaster. We look at a combination of picking hand placement, and some counter-intuitive pickup choices to create a wider array of sounds from the simple 2-pickup Tele.
Rosanne Cash performing "500 Miles" with John Leventhal on guitar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_XgghFZt1o
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My son told me, "Dad, you ought to do a video on your favorite Telecaster licks." So here are my 10 favorite Telecaster licks of all time.
1. Cornell Dupree "Rainy Night in Georgia." 2. Reggie Young "Memphis Soul Stew." 3. James Burton "Suzy Q." 4. Jesse Ed Davis "Six Days On The Road." 5. Pete Anderson "Guitars Cadillacs." 6. Bobby Womack "I'm In Love." 7. Clarence White "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere." 8. John Jorgenson "Highlander Boogie." 9. Luther Perkins "Folsom Prison Blues." 10. James Honeyman-Scott "Kid." Bonus lick 11. Jimmy Olander "Meet In The Middle."
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After getting numerous emails about doing a B-Bender lesson, here it finally is. In this AZ, I show some of my favorite chord voicings and licks for the B-Bender that you can add to your string bender vocabulary.
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Spotlight on Frank Reckard, Emmylou's Hot Band lead guitarist from 1978-1990. A great player, who is sometimes overlooked as he left the music business after his tenure in the Hot Band to go to law school. Taking the position once held by both James Burton & Albert Lee was a task that Reckard took on ably with talent, hard work, and a fat Les Paul TV P90 tone. In today's episode, we spotlight his history as a player, gear used through the years, and have a mini-lesson covering the wonderful intro to his signature tune with Emmylou, "Restless."
Thank you to Dan Forte for his GP article on Frank from 1984.
After the last video, I was hooked and wanted to have a new style Glaser B-Bender installed in one of my guitars. The Bill Crook-built Paisley seemed like the appropriate candidate, so I set up a time for an install, and Joe agreed to the entire process being filmed. Besides me removing the strings, and Joe removing the neck, this is the entire installation process from beginning to end. I hope through watching this you can see what would be involved in having one installed in your guitar, but more than that, I hope you can see both the brilliance of Glaser's design and how ingenious his installation procedure is. The reason for the new bender mechanism being so streamlined was that Joe had to develop a bender mechanism and installation procedures that could be used by large guitar manufacturers. This is the same mechanism that is installed by Fender USA into the Brent Mason Signature model, and by Fender's Custom Shop into some of their high-end models.
Joe also shows how he strings vintage-style tuners and locks the plain strings for greater tuning stability.
Glaser's New Convertible B/G-Bender and Updated Nashville 3-pickup wiring - Ask Zac 80
10 Jun 2023
00:21:14
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Joe Glaser is the guru that has kept Nashville guitarists up and running since the early 80s. With help from Brent Mason, Steve Wariner, and Ricky Skaggs, his string benders and 3-pickup Telecaster setups became "must-haves" for anyone wanting to be seen as a serious guitarist in Music City. Today, we look at Joe's recently revamped string bender mechanism, which is now convertible between the B or G string, and his updated middle pickup blend control for 3-pickup Telecasters.
Will Barton's Birthday Caster Brian Poe 1-piece swamp ash body, MJT finish, Marc Rutter's saddles, bridge, and hardware. Ron Ellis 50B, Tall Neck, and Duncan 80s Hot Strat Stack. Clive Brown neck re-shaped by Redd Volkaert.
I set up an AB switch with my 1965 Fender Deluxe Reverb, and 1964 Vox AC10, and I had so much fun switching in-between the 2 amps, that I decided to do a video to show the tonal differences between these two great amps. Fender and Vox have created two of the most iconic amp tones, that besides having different sounds, they also make you play differently because of the way they interact with your guitar.
Gear for this video 1957 Fender Esquire with added Ron Ellis "New Tall" neck pickup. Restoration and aging on the body by Dan "Danocaster" Strain.
Amp: 1964 Vox JMI AC10 with 12" Celestion Blue Alnico Speaker in a custom cab built by Kyle Bollendorf.
1965 Deluxe Reverb with Celestion Vintage 30 speaker, and bright cap clipped on the vibrato channel.
Effects used: Boss RV-2 Reverb on the "Plate" setting with Vox only. Live Wire passive ABY box Axcess electronics Buffer with isolation transformer - with Deluxe only 9v power via Truetone CS6 https://amzn.to/3gnJQPW#askzac#guitartech#telecaster
Fender recently surprised me with a new '68 Custom Vibro Champ Reverb amp. I was honored, yet a little concerned as I had never really enjoyed single-ended (1 output tube) amps because they tended to sound small, boxy, and to have not-so-great clean sounds. I thought about contacting them to send it back, but decided I might as well plug it in. Surprise, Surprise, I was blown away by its big clean tones, fantastic tube tremolo, and sweet reverb. Fender got rid of that "little amp" sound by installing a well-voiced 10" Celestion, and further enhanced it by adding a digital reverb circuit that makes this Champ a killer grab-and-go amp.
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Fred Newell, Nashville Now, and the TNN Telecaster - Ask Zac 77
07 Jun 2023
00:25:07
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Fred Newell is best known for his decade-long position as the lead guitarist on Nashville Now, the hugely popular flagship show of TNN, The Nashville Network. Few are aware of all the sessions he played on that were huge hits for Alabama, George Strait, Jerry Reed, and The Kendalls. In this episode, I cover his early days, move to Nashville, session career, a decade on Nashville Now, and his switch to pedal steel guitar and tours with Waylon Jennings. I also take a look at his iconic red-neck Tele that was silkscreened with the TNN logo and heavily featured during the run of the show from 1983-1993.
My Tales from the 2010 Nashville Flood - Ask Zac 76
06 Jun 2023
00:26:19
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The Nashville Flood of 2010 was devastating. Lives, homes, businesses, and a huge amount of guitars were lost. The day the rain started, I took my pregnant wife and 1-year old son to a guitar festival in Leiper's Fork, TN, just south of Nashville. While there, I saw Larry Carlton, Reggie Young, Jack Pearson, and Robben Ford perform and had the chance to view some of the finest and rarest vintage guitars at an exhibit curated by Joe Glaser. But what started as a fun musical diversion for me and my "cabin fever" afflicted wife, ended with us being thankful to make it home unscathed after hours of being trapped in Leiper's Fork, and then a very long and scary trip home.
Gear for this video 1957 Fender Esquire with added Ron Ellis "New Tall" neck pickup. Restoration and aging on the body by Dan "Danocaster" Strain.
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Since I first heard John Jorgenson with the Desert Rose Band, I have been a huge fan. I first saw John play in 1994 with the Hellecasters in Nashville, with Brad Paisley in tow. Brad was 21, and I was 20 with a fake I.D. Paisley told me as we got to the door, "If you don't get in, I'm going in without you." Many years later, I had the chance to interview Jorgenson for the Truetone Lounge, and then he kept being mentioned in my "Ask Zac" show, so I finally decided to dedicate a show to his huge influence in making Vox amps, 6-string basses, electric 12-string guitars, and bold effects popular in Country Music. He is also is a huge reason that Matchless amps ever got off the ground.
Special thanks to Willem van der Wagen, who runs the Desert Rose Band fan website, and YouTube page.
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Today's episode features two legends of the Nashville music scene, Joe Glaser and Steve Wariner. Glaser's innovations include a neck plate mounted bender system, 3-pickup Tele-style builds, Plek fret leveling and nut cutting technology, Music City Bridge hardware and tool supply, and running the world-respected Glaser Instruments repair shop in Nashville. Steve Wariner is one of the most acclaimed singer/songwriters & guitarists to ever hit Music City. The 4-time Grammy Winner formed a guitar style using two Glaser Bender-equipped guitars, a Strat-style with beautiful neck inlays, and a red 3-pickup Tele. Both instruments became closely associated with Wariner via the many public appearances, videos, and photos featuring them. Today Joe and Steve discuss the inspiration and creation of these instruments, and how their collaboration helped shape their careers.
We also look at Jeff Senn's painstakingly made copy of Steve's red 3-pickup Tele that was made for Wariner to fly with when he wants to leave the original at home.
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The 3 pickup Tele is commonplace now and is often referred to as the "Nashville" Tele setup. Joe Glaser pioneered it in the early 80s with the help of test pilots, Brent Mason, Ricky Skaggs, and Steve Wariner. For Mason, it was hot-rodding his 1967 Tele, for Skaggs and Wariner, Joe made the equivalent of formula one racers from the ground up with eye-catching finishes, flame maple necks, the aforementioned middle pickup, and his patented string benders. These were the very first Super Tele's, made to cover a wide variety of tones and get you noticed. Today, we have the rare opportunity to look at a pair of these extremely rare Glaser-built birds and see and hear what makes them so special that they almost never come up for sale.
Special thanks to Joe Glaser for his valuable input, and to John Thompson and John Stokes for the use of their Glaser guitars.
Gear for this video: 1986 Glaser Bender guitar. Fiesta red. Duncan vintage neck, hot strat stack, and Lollar 52 bridge 1986 Glaser Bender guitar. Purple. Duncan vintage neck, hot strat stack, and Duncan Alnico II bridge.
Pick: Fender Medium
Amp: 1965 Deluxe Reverb with Celestion Vintage 30 speaker, and bright cap clipped on the vibrato channel.
Roy Buchanan took the Telecaster, and guitar playing in general to a new level with his groundbreaking use of volume swells, tone control "wah" simulations, pinch harmonics, and feedback. Although influenced by Buck Owens and Roy Nichols initially, while living near Bakersfield, he would go on to take in a host of diverse musical styles and influences. In today's episode, we look at his history, playing style, gear, and how he has in one way or another influenced legions of players. Also, we look at motifs of his tune "Cajun," including how to play the snaky intro lick.
With the blessing of Redd Volkaert, who has an album by the same name, this Roy Nichols episode is titled "No Stranger To A Tele." Roy of course was the guitarist in Merle Haggard's band, The Strangers, from 1965-1987, but there is so much more to his story than just his time with Merle. Today we look at his story that takes flight during the depression, going through his time with The Maddox Brothers and Rose, Lefty Frizzell, Wynn Stewart, Johnny Cash, and his seminal work with the Hag. Of course, we take a look at his gear, and specifically what he used on the Merle live records that are to many the "Nichols Bible" of licks and tone.
Buck Owens & Don Rich set the world on its ear with their bright, twangy guitars, and their incredibly tight vocals. In today's episode, I take a look at the Bakersfield Dynamic Duo that influenced everyone, including the Beatles. I also look at their gear, and elements of their playing styles.
In 2020, I checked out the original Black Tolex Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb and thought it was pretty good, but not great. In my video, I mentioned the virtual bright cap, the verb, and the speaker as being in need of upgrades. Well, Fender did just that with the new Blonde Tone Master Deluxe Reverb, hence "revenge" in the title. In this Deluxe fan's opinion, this is a much better amp, and much more fun to play through than the former model. I showcase the verb and tremolo and take the amp through some clean and overdriven sounds using the power attenuation that is built into the amp.
Gear for this video 1957 Fender Esquire with added Ron Ellis "New Tall" neck pickup. Restoration and aging on the body by Dan "Danocaster" Strain.
I have tried to be a Vox guy for years; buying and selling them over and over and never finding the right one. I had to come to the point of giving up when a friend let me borrow his 1964 Vox AC10, and I finally found the tone I had always been looking for. In this episode, I discuss probably the least known of the JMI era amps, going through its specs and tube layout, and why in many ways it is the perfect Vox design.
The making of the Vox cab video by Kyle Bollendorf of Vintage Wood Workshop. • Building a Custom...
All-About the Vintage MXR Script Logo Dyna Comp - Ask Zac 68
29 May 2023
00:21:54
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The first pedal compressor, and somewhat of a misunderstood effect. Today we will look at its history, including the changes in the pedal throughout the 70s, users, and how compressor pedals have gone from a "sometimes" effect to an "always-on" box for many.
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In today's lesson, we look at a fun technique for helping you learn inversions up and down the neck to help both your rhythm and solo work. In the lesson, I cycle between G major and A minor inversions on the D-B strings, G-E strings, and A-G strings. I also run G6-G9 up and down the fretboard.
Gear for this video 1957 Fender Esquire with added Ron Ellis "New Tall" neck pickup. Restoration and aging on the body by Dan "Danocaster" Strain.
Strings: D'Addario NYXL 10-46
Pick: Danocaster Medium
Amp: 1965 Deluxe Reverb with Celestion Vintage 30 speaker, and bright cap clipped on the vibrato channel.
Boss DM-2, DD-2, & DM-3 - Boss Delays of the 1980s - Ask Zac 66
27 May 2023
00:24:40
Today I take a look at the Big-3 delay pedals that Boss released in the 1980s, the DM-2, DD-2, and the DM-3. They were all revolutionary when released, and are now considered important delay classics. They are all favorites of mine for different reasons as all three have strengths and weaknesses.
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When Vince stops singing, his Telecaster takes over. Gill was a big part of keeping the Telecaster front and center during the 90s, Country Music's most popular era. Besides covering some of his history and gear, I also showcase some Vince-isms that are an indelible part of his playing style.
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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 - https://my-store-be0243.creator-spring.com/
If you play gigs with an electric guitar, you have most likely been told to "turn it down" multiple times in your performing career. To help you address this common problem, we look at a variety of methods for dealing with electric guitar volume, including the pros and cons of each. These include turning the amp around, having the amp behind the stage, using plexiglass shields that reflect sound, and the use of sound-absorbing baffles.
I have always had a jaundiced view of the Fender Jazzmaster. I thought it was only for surf, punk, or players with extremely large pedalboards. I learned I was horribly wrong after spending time with Dan Strain's 1965 Jazzmaster. They are beautiful sounding instruments that have their own very identifiable sleek & sinewy sound. As a known Tele-Guy, I take a look at the Jazzmaster, and spotlight what I see as its strengths, and how I was quite uninformed when it came to my former opinion on them. As a bonus, I take a quick look at a 1967 Guild Starfire V that was modified with a Lollar Firebird pickup in the neck.
Gear for this video 1965 Fender Jazzmaster with Mastery Bridge. Restoration and aging on the body and neck by Dan "Danocaster" Strain.
Strings: D'Addario NYXL 10-46
Pick: Danocaster Medium
Amp: 1965 Deluxe Reverb with Celestion Vintage 30 speaker, and bright cap clipped on the vibrato channel.
Effects used:
TC Polytune Mirage compressor pedal AnalogMan Boss TR-2 Tremolo Ibanez Mostortion Overdrive Boss DM-3 Delay Line 6 Echo Park Delay 9v power via Truetone CS6 (Amazon Aff link) https://amzn.to/38S9rZK #askzac#guitartech#jazzmaster
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Rhythm guitar techniques in the styles of Ry Cooder, Keith Richards, Jimmie Vaughan, and Jesse Ed Davis. I had so many comments on how players had both enjoyed and incorporated concepts from my "Country Electric Rhythm Guitar," that I decided to do a companion piece covering more roots/rock styles.
Gear for this video 1957 Fender Esquire with added Ron Ellis "New Tall" neck pickup. Restoration and aging on the body by Dan "Danocaster" Strain.
Strings: D'Addario NYXL 10-46
Pick: Danocaster Medium
Amp: 1965 Deluxe Reverb with Celestion Vintage 30 speaker, and bright cap clipped on the vibrato channel.
Ray Flacke - Brit Telecaster Strangler - Ask Zac 62
23 May 2023
00:27:36
Ray Flacke is another Tele-favorite of mine. I became aware of him through his work with Ricky Skaggs and soon started scouring the record bins for anything he had played on. I found that I had a great affinity for his singular style, which utilized low-string bends, an aggressive attack, and a sense that at any moment he might fly off the tracks. In this episode, I lay out his history, gear, and some licks that are very "Flacke" sounding.
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