lala - 6-Month Review
It’s been about six months since I signed up with CD-trading service lala, and overall, I’m still pleased with the service. I’ve made almost 90 trades so far, so I thought I’d give another review since I’ve had a chance to get a pretty good view of how the system works.*
As I mentioned above, I’m still pleased with lala overall. However, I do have some nits to pick. Admittedly, some of my complaints might be unfair as I’m used to Netflix and it’s hard not to compare the sites, which is an unfair comparison; Netflix owns its own DVDs and controls their own inventory, whereas lala depends on users to supply their inventory. That being said, it can be frustrating when it takes several weeks before another user opts to send a CD on your Want List, especially when you’ve sent several CDs out to other users. Also, there’s no way to prioritize items on your Want List. This is a function of the system, but there are times when I’ve added a CD onto my Want List that I would have put at a lower priority than other CDs on the list if that option were available.
It’d also be nice to be able to trade CDs directly with another user. For example, if you find another user that has a CD you want and you have a CD they want, there’s no way that I know of using lala to directly trade with that user. If anyone knows if this is possible, then please let me know.
Some of the music that I’ve searched for on lala hasn’t shown up in any searches, so I can’t add that music to my Want List or to my Have List. I’m not sure where lala is getting it’s list of available music from, but it’s not as comprehensive as something like Amazon’s music listings. It’d be nice to be able to add a CD to their database, or at least be able to suggest that a CD be added. If this option exists, I haven’t seen it yet. That issue aside, the search service that lala provides on its site is very good, with suggestions appearing as you type.
lala has added the ability to buy new CDs from the site. I’ve recently purchased a new CD from them and that experience was very good. The price was excellent. Oftentimes, lala’s CD prices are below those of even Amazon. The shipping price was reasonable, and the CD arrived quickly. I’ll probably be purchasing more CDs from lala in the future. This is an excellent alternative to waiting for another user to send you a CD if you don’t want to wait.
There are some “social networking” aspects of lala that I’ve yet to tap into. For example, there’s the concept of friends, where you can add other lala users into your friend list. Then, your friends show up on your home page and you can quickly view their profile to see if they’ve added any music. If you’re a lala member and want to add me to your friend’s list, feel free to contact me or comment on this post.
After six months, I’d still not hesitate to recommend lala if you have some old CDs laying around that you’d like to trade for other CDs. lala makes it extremely easy to trade CDs, and it’s pretty cheap at $1.75 per CD received (there’s no charge for sending a CD). I’ve used other trading sites in the past, and lala has the easiest process I’ve found to trade CDs with other users.
* If you’re unfamiliar with lala, read my initial review.
Magazines Put Out To Pasture
Guitar World has recently, and quietly, shut down operations on several of their magazine properties: Guitar One, Guitar World Bass, and Guitar World Acoustic. As a former subscriber to Guitar One, I figured the magazine had been shut down when I started receiving Guitar World issues with the “best of Guitar One” included, although they never indicated the magazine had actually been shut down. At any rate, it’s not really surprising to see some consolidation with the magazines. There were probably too many magazines for the market, especially with so much information available online now.
(via The Daily Swarm)
Peavey Limited-Edition Orange County Chopper Guitar
Peavey has recently announced the availability of the limited-edition guitar that was created in conjunction with Orange County Choppers (of American Chopper fame). The guitar was featured, along with the motorcycle created for Peavey by OCC, on two recent episodes of American Chopper; the episodes were titled “Custom Shop Meets Custom Shop.” Truth be told, I’m a big fan of the American Chopper show and really enjoyed these two episodes where they built the motorcycle for Peavey and helped design the guitar.
Purchasers of the guitar receive a DVD of the episodes, as well as a display case, travel case, serialized commemorative plaque, accessories, and autographed memorabilia. Peavey have also been taking the guitar and motorcycle on tour, although no future dates have currently been announced.
(via ModernGuitars.com)
Eli Cook
Twenty-one-year old Virginia-based blues guitarist Eli Cook is interviewed in the September 2007 issue of Guitar Player magazine. Cook plays both acoustic and electric blues. He manages to channel influences Alice In Chains and Son House, oftentimes within the same song, to create a unique, and modern, blend of the blues.
In 2005, Cook released a solo acoustic album titled Miss Blues’es Child that was recorded live and unedited in the studio. The CD features four original tunes and several classic blues compositions, including Terraplane Blues and Going Down South. Previously, in 2004, Cook released another acoustic blues album titled Moonshine Mojo, which featured covers of Little Wing, Mannish Boy, and Crosscut Saw, among others.
More recently, Cook has released an electric-based album titled ElectricHolyFireWater. He calls his brand of electric blues blues-metal, and for good reason. The music is rooted in the blues, but features modern, heavy riff arrangements. As the CD Baby page for the CD says: “Imagine Alice in Chains with Muddy Waters singing.”
* Photo © EliCook.com
Comcast On Demand
In the Nashville area, Comcast is the dominant cable television provider. We have subscribed to their Comcast Digital Cable service, and one of the advantages of the service is a feature called On Demand. The On Demand service offers plenty of movies and television shows that are available on demand; you can watch these shows anytime you want. They offer recent movie releases for an additional fee. We use (and love) Netflix, so we rarely use the On Demand service for movies.
However, I have found a feature of the On Demand service that I like to occasionally view. There’s a Music section of the On Demand service that includes a large variety of music videos, concerts and interviews. There’s also a Guitar Lessons feature, which I’ve found to be really interesting. There are usually several lessons to choose from, and there’s a section for Guitar World videos, which includes celebrity lessons and gear reviews. Some of the celebrity lessons currently available are lessons from John Petrucci, Joe Satriani and Steve Morse. These are, I assume, the same videos that would be available with the CD that comes with Guitar World magazine. I would also assume that most of these videos would be available on YouTube. However, it’s nice to be able to load up the videos on the television and watch the lessons from the comfort of my couch. I spend all day on the computer, so it’s nice to break away sometimes and be able to watch videos like this on my television rather than watching them on the computer.
If you happen to have access to Comcast cable and weren’t aware of the guitar lessons available with their On Demand service, you might want to check it out. There is some pretty good stuff on there. If you’re on another cable provider, maybe they offer a similar service.
The Guitar
The guitar is an amazing instrument. For me, no other instrument provides the expressive capabilities of the guitar. With the twist of a few knobs, the guitar can provide beautiful melodies or crushing riffs.
I started playing guitar around 1992 because of Metallica’s Master of Puppets album. Nothing I’d heard up to that point had prepared me for the sounds in that album. From the acoustic intro of Battery to the brutal riffs of Master of Puppets, I was hooked. That album really spoke to me as I was going through my teenage years and had the typical teenage angst. Additionally, that album introduced me to the wide range of sounds that could come from an electric guitar. One of the first riffs I ever learned was the intro to Welcome Home (Sanitarium). I finally convinced my parents to buy me a guitar, a Washburn strat-clone that served me well for many years.
Shortly thereafter, I heard Stevie Ray Vaughan’s version of The Sky is Crying for the first time. It had such an impact on me, I can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing. I’d never before heard the kind of passion that Stevie Ray poured into his guitar and vocals. I began expanding my listening and looking into Stevie’s influences and followed the path back to B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, Son House, and Robert Johnson. As part of the same discovery process, I started learning more about jazz and some of the great jazz guitarists, such as Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell, and, of course, Charlie Christian.
I’ve also always enjoyed and admired the works of Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. It’s hard to deny their impact on the electric guitar over the past 20 years. Essentially, I began expanding my listening to include pretty much any guitarist, regardless of style or genre. I also began trying to expand my playing to include aspects of each of these styles, although, truth be told, I’ve never really come close to mastering any of these styles. During these times, I was playing around with friends and teaching myself as much as I could.
By the time I got into college, I wanted to try something new and hopefully expand my playing further. I went the practical route and majored in business, but kept my passion for the guitar with me and began taking classes towards a minor in music performance. This involved my taking classical guitar lessons. Looking back, I probably learned more about myself in that small room during those lessons than I did in any other single class in college. Those lessons were intense! It was during those lessons that I learned how to push through difficult tasks and see the positive result on the other side. I really learned what I was made of because it was only me, my guitar, and my teacher there to correct me and help me. Another great outcome of these lessons is that I learned to read music during this time and also focused on improving my technique. I ended up graduating before finishing all of the hours needed to get the music minor, but I still learned quite a bit about music during that time.
Like most guitarists I know, I’ve owned quite a few guitars during the past 15 years. I’ve mostly stuck with Strats, but I’ve also owned a Martin, several Takamines, the aforementioned Washburn, a Yamaha, an Ibanez, an Alhambra, more Strats, and most recently, a Paul Reed Smith. However, it was during college that I received the guitar that means the most to me: a Stevie Ray Vaughan Signature Series Stratocaster. I received this guitar as a surprise gift from my parents, so in addition to being an awesome guitar, it has a lot of sentimental value. And, it really is a fantastic guitar. I’m hoping to one day have a house full of guitars, kind of like Geoff Knapp who runs RockandRollWeekend.com.
After graduating college, I actually put the guitar aside for awhile as I began my career in information technology. I focused more on learning everything I could about computers, networking and programming. I actually ended up moving to Nashville shortly after college and it’s said that everyone comes to Nashville with a guitar and a dream. However, I was focused on my career as a technologist, not as a guitarist. As a result, my guitars sat idle for the better part of several years. Every once in a while, I’d still grab one of my guitars and noodle around on it, but those times became less frequent as time went on. However, I never stopped listening to primarily guitar-oriented music and always kept my eye on what was happening in guitar-related news.
Several years ago, I decided to make the guitar a priority again in my life. One of the things that I really enjoy doing is reading about and devouring guitar-related news and information. I had started a technology-focused blog in 2004, and decided in 2005 to start a guitar-related blog, as well. That’s how TheGuitarBlog.com (which has now morphed into GuitarLifestyle.com) was conceived and came into being. I make my living writing about technology, and it only makes sense that I have an outlet for writing about the guitar as well.
Although there has been quite a bit of time over the past 15 years where I wasn’t playing the guitar daily, I’ve never lost my love for the guitar and, in fact, I’m just now truly starting to see how important the guitar and guitar music is to me. Unfortunately, I currently don’t work around many musicians, and although I’d like to get involved more in my local musical community, it’s hard to stay connected musically to what’s going on, which is why it’s great to see such a vibrant community online surrounding the guitar and guitarists. It’s great to be able to listen to so many great guitarists online.
For all of these reasons, the guitar has had a special place in my life for the past 15 years. Few things have kept my interest for that amount of time, and the funny thing is, I’m probably more interested in learning and expanding my knowledge of the guitar now than at any other time in my life.
What’s your guitar story?
Joe Bonamassa - Sloe Gin
Joe Bonamassa is set to release his new album, Sloe Gin, on August 21st. Like his previous album, You & Me, Bonamassa has teamed up with producer Kevin Shirley for Sloe Gin. Tom Watson at ModernGuitars.com recently reviewed the album:
…Sloe Gin isn’t a summer album. It has the makings of a year-round classic that could set a new standard for recorded blues, rock, blues-rock and a few other genres not always associated with “Joe Bonamassa the blues artist”. Within the first 20 seconds of the opening track, “Ball Peen Hammer”, it’s clear we’re in the presence of something special.
Watson has also recently posted an interview with Joe about Sloe Gin on Modern Guitars.
Reunited
Van Halen and David Lee Roth have officially announced their reunion tour that will begin in September. However, it won’t be a true reunion of the original band, as Michael Anthony has been replaced by Eddie’s son Wolfgang on bass.
The tour dates currently announced are:
- Thu 09.27 Charlotte, NC Charlotte Bobcats Arena
- Sat 09.29 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum
- Mon 10.01 Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center
- Sun 10.07 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre
- Wed 10.10 Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena
- Sat 10.14 Indianapolis, IN Conseco Field House
- Tue 10.16 Chicago, IL Allstate Arena
- Thu 10.18 Chicago, IL United Center
- Mon 10.22 Auburn Hills, MI Palace of Auburn Hills
- Wed 10.24 Minneapolis, MN Target Center
- Fri 10.26 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center
- Sun 10.28 St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center
- Tue 10.30 Boston, MA TD Banknorth Garden
- Sat 11.03 E. Rutherford, NJ Continental Airlines Arena
- Tue 11.13 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
- Tue 11.20 Los Angeles, CA Staples Center
- Fri 11.23 Glendale, AZ Jobing.Com Arena
- Sun 11.25 San Diego, CA Cox Arena
- Tue 11.27 Sacramento, CA Arco Arena
- Thu 11.29 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion at San Jose
- Sat 12.01 Portland, OR Rose Garden
- Mon 12.03 Seattle, WA Key Arena
- Wed 12.05 Vancouver, BC General Motors Place
- Sun 12.09 Edmonton, AB Rexall Place
- Tue 12.11 Calgary, AB Pengrowth Saddledome
Paul Reed Smith - “Experience PRS”
Paul Reed Smith is conducting their 1st annual “Experience PRS” Open House on September 28th and 29th. There are some exciting events planned for the weekend, including a seminar by Al DiMeola on Friday, September 28th. Other artists that will perform during the Open House include David Grissom, Mark Tremonti, Miles Kennedy, Chris Henderson, Johnny Hiland, The Grainger Brothers, Derek St. Holmes, and Dan Toler. On Saturday, September 29th, there will be clinics, guitar-making workshops, seminars and factory tours. Additionally, PRS will be announcing a new guitar model during the Open House.
For PRS fans, this certainly sounds like an event not to be missed! Note, however, that customers cannot attend without a sponsoring dealer.
[via Modern Guitars]
Charlie Hunter - Mistico
On July 31st, 7- and 8-string guitarist Charlie Hunter released his latest album, Mistico. Like many of his former albums, on Mistico Charlie blends jazz, rock and funk to create a unique sound. Playing with Charlie on this album are Erik Deutsch on piano, Fender Rhodes, and CasioTone, and Simon Lott on drums.
I had a chance to see Charlie Hunter play live several years ago, and it’s amazing to watch him play his 8-string Novax guitar. In addition to the addition of extra bass strings, Charlie’s Novax guitars use an innovative fanned fretboard concept. With fanned frets, the scale length is tweaked so that fret spacing is “wider for the long scale and closer for the short scale.” Ralph Novak, creator of the concept, indicates that:
One of the real advantages of the Fanned-Fret® concept lies in its application to instruments like the seven-string guitar, eight-string guitar, five-string bass, six-string bass, baritone guitar, and mandolin. The range of tunings and number of strings force compromises that make these instruments poor performers or even impractical when constructed with the traditional single scale-length. The fanned-fret concept addresses those problems and makes these instruments playable and practical.
Watching Hunter play both bass and lead guitar at the same time is really interesting, but more importantly, it sounds great! If you weren’t watching him, you’d probably never guess that the same person was playing the bass and lead guitar simultaneously. Below is a video of Hunter playing Just a Closer Walk with Thee.
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About
Welcome to my guitar blog! My name is Josh, and this site is my attempt to celebrate the guitar, its history, and its players. Read more...
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