After a four month layoff, STL finally played a gig at BB's on 11/30/07. The photos and sound clips
here are to highlight two of my Les Paul Standard Fadeds, both heavily modified, and with the PG Mod
as well. I did these recordings for myself, as I wanted to compare the 2 guitars.
Recording environment: Not professional! By ANY means! The recorder is a small Marantz unit which
records to a CF card. I like it because it is tiny and the CF card makes it a snap to get onto my computer. It only
accepts up to 2 mics, and I only used one for this recording. The mic was placed on my side of the stage, so it is
biased towards the lead guitar in all the recordings. The house PA system has 2 speakers mounted high above the
stage, angled down, behind my unidirectional mike, so the vocals sound weak. My vocals were very weak anyway,
not having belted out any songs for around four months. By about 4 hours into the gig (1AM), I could barely reach
notes that are usually not much of a problem for me. By the end of the gig (3AM), my throat was killing me. We
ended with Black Magic Woman, and it was a chore to get through. Consequently, and because no one needs to
hear my crummy singing, some of the cuts have the vocal parts edited out. I'm thinking most people will come
here to hear what Faded Standards sound like live. Nevertheless, I left many harmonica solos as well as a tribute
to the outstanding ability of Corrin Huddleston.
The guitars: Both are 2007 Standard Fadeds. I started out using a Honey Burst, with a net weight of 7lbs., 10oz.,
but switched to my 6lb., 10oz. Cherry Burst later on. I only have photos showing the Cherry because I forgot to have
someone take photos earlier. When my friends, Rich and Susan Rilliet, showed up later, I asked them to take some photos,
which they did with my camera, and their own. The Honey Burst can be seen, but not very well, in the last photo, in front
of the Marshall.
Amplifier: The amp is a '67 Marshall 18 Watt Master Reverb 2X10 combo. The reverb is very tired - I had it
cranked to max and, at that setting, it is just a little less than I would have been satisfied with. I suspect the springs in the
onboard tank are weak and should be looked at. I love onboard reverb (one less thing to carry), but I recently bought a
Vanamps Sole-Mate, which sounds awesome with my other 18 Watt Marshall. I opted to try out the Master Reverb though,
and it was easier to carry than the 2X12 18 Watt and the Sole-Mate. I lectured the other band members before we started that
I wanted this gig to be LOW volume. They mostly complied and I never had to turn the 18 Watter's volume up past 4. When
listening to the guitar solos, bear that in mind.
For My Beautiful Wife: In honor of my lovely wife, Olga, who will be delivering our new baby boy, Shane Lawrence,
by c-section on December 14th, I wanted to put up two songs I wrote for her back in 2005. These have never been posted anywhere,
so I figured it's high time I did. These were recorded by my good friend Dave Mell, who provided the studio, background vocals
with his wife, Ellen, rhythm guitar, and bass and drums by his regular band members. My guitar was an original 1960 refinned 'Burst
straight into a Soulcactus Signature Amp (Victoria Victoriette 2X10) in both songs.
Cuts with the Honey Burst:
Cuts with the Cherry Burst:
For Olga:
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