Just finished the first gig without my trusty Custom Charvel strat, which I've used at every show since late 2002.

I totally bonded with that guitar and love it to death but tonight I played the Yellow Flame Up Charvel which is part of the Pro Mod series that came out in 2008. I didn't know much about them as I wasn't paying much attention but when I saw this one I got interested really quick!

Here it is on the right of the stage:



It's the only guitar I brought as this band plays in Eflat so I set this one up for that tuning and it's the only one so far. I am still trying to make myself mess with the Bullseye as my backup, but it is just set up perfectly for E it's hard to do it.

Anyway, can't say enough good things about this Charvel. It plays like an old friend, just a joy to play. I won't miss my old Custom which will now most likely be retired from live use, along with the Koa SD1.

I love all my guitars, but I really do like a good bolt-on strat shape with an unfinished neck, ala Charvel. Just a simple rock machine. Floyds are great too, of course.

sounds like fun

It was Chris, to be surrounded by your guitar sound. You would know what I mean.

I've played some gigs where the band has to be quiet and it really sux. You can't tell rock to turn down!!

Playing loud is what electric guitar is all about, the strings come alive to your touch.

Of course I wear ear plugs, have been for many years. They save your hearing and they also help to lessen the effect of your ears getting "tired" from being assaulted by the drummer and the amps, so things sound better for longer.

We've been invited back for another gig and will be shooting a video clip for a song there in two weeks time.

It was also great to play live again after about 18 months spent looking for a good singer.

One bummer is I managed to drop my Marshall getting it out of the car, it just slipped from my hand. I think I was tired and not concentrating.

bummer driopping an amps blows,

as far as volume with christine ohlman and rebel montez we play all these small seat rooms they seat like 70 ( some times there are large rooms for like 1500-3000 people). but the vol. cant come up past 2 crazy but its the truth. i gtta play soft and the drummer dosnt hit hard either, when im in thunderhead we play on 11 . what a contrast. id rather not be too loud because its lil more intimate and i can hear everything better. just my personal opinion. i find i play better.

did i really just see Mapex Drums.. lol.. only kidding.

Dino, you're a drum snob....lol.....what do you have against Mapex? It's a very good kit that one.

Chris, I love playing loud, I wanna hear it loud, right between the eyes!!!!!!

Truthfully I never heard them before. There is a great Australian drum maker by the way.

Sleishman?

Fiddock http://fidockdrums.com/listen.htm
They use Tasmanian Blackwood which is supposed to be a brother of koa and some say sounds better. Not sure they look vintage enough for me but I like some of the sounds a lot.

Brady Drums are highly sort after and they tend to use Australian Myrtle and some wood called Wandoo which sounds good too.. http://www.bradydrums.com.au/drums.html I am not as keen on Brady but they are amazingly made and offer solid 1 ply shells too.

Spirit Drums.. not keen on the logo but they sound great and they use this wood called Australian Ironwood that is so heavy that it sinks in water. It will never warp and sounds great but too heavy for a solid body guitar.. maybe it could be used for necks but it would certainly dive if the body wasn't made from a pretty heavy wood (At least maple I would say). http://www.spiritdrums.com/snare/sounds.html

I like the australian drums because they tend not to use the same old maple, mahoganny etc.

Cool, I know Sleishman make some pretty mad kits, but they are very rock/metal.

just checked Sleishman out.. i like some of them. Much better than Tama!!!

Aye,aye,aye!!!! LOL I like great sounding drums, whatever brand!!

i don't mind the 70s and 80s Tama's , I just think they tend to make bland generic drums for the most part these days. Like I say I do like the Tama Copeland snare but thats a copy of Peter Criss, Art Blakey, Shelly Manne and Stuart Copeland's old Pearl Jupiter snares from the early to mid 70s.

You can make a good sound from any drum but I just think they are so middle of the road boring.

Good news on my amp, it seems to be fine. Phew!!!

Do you have any live clips we can see to check out your band?

I always use the same 3 guitars live.... And I usually play only 1 so I totally understand that feeling.

I'm not sure if anything that was shot is usable. I'm checking with the other guys if we want to release anything from this show, or wait until we are better prepared.

I'm also going to get a new video camera more suited to filming live shows. I brought along a Sanyo waterproof one I got in December which is ok for outdoor stuff but has limited zoom and battery. My old Sony Digital tape one was good but now it's a hassle with the tapes. New one looks to be a Sony again.

The big problem is finding someone reliable and good to take the footage. I hope to do a whole lot of filming to post on Youtube, of this band and the version that does originals too.