Sign Of The Times

Friday greetings, stringed soldiers of the interweb. Tonight, I reveal the first monthly project for Guitar Punisher.

I find a large cross section of my younger peers seem to shun the idea of forging an identity for themselves as a guitarist, which really is a shame when the guitar and the music made with it hold such an abnormally diverse and well documented history. The fact that there are people who play the guitar, but don't identify themselves as a "guitarist" is something I will never quite understand. On the other side of that coin, there is a very large community of people who barely play, but obsess over the instrument and spend astronomical amounts of money on guitars and amps that will simply be fondled and tinkered with in a bedroom or basement, rubbed down with a special cloth, and placed lovingly back in it's case, or in some sad instances, relegated to the sad realm of decoration on a wall hanger. While there is nothing particularly wrong with either of these extremes, I do feel that those who play and perform frequently should really take a bit more pride in what they're doing, and who has impacted them as a player. What does this have to do with my project?

As mentioned in the Gary Moore post, I'm fortunate enough to have a guitar playing father. He is responsible for my growing into the musician I've become, and for introducing me to the arists' who sunk the hook in deep. Some of my absolute fondest childhood memories are of trips to NYC with the family, and breaking away with him to spend a few hours in the shops on 48th street. As integral as his support for my playing and his cultivation of my tastes were, when I hit my teens, rebellion manifested itself in me as it does in any young man. This would be the appropriate time for most people to find the guitar, or if you were a real asshole, the drums. I couldn't pick up an instrument to rebel as I was already playing, but I sure as hell could get into some music that I thought my Dad would never approve of. In his defense, he was NEVER critical in a negative way of the stuff I was listening to.

I found myself attending hardcore punk shows in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale with my older friends, and it became a huge part of my life. South Florida boasts a strong scene, and though it see's its cycles like any other, I was fortunate enough to catch the tail end of a great period and witness some very scary shows, though I know every guy from any generation before mine will immediately say something along the lines of "you didn't see shit, this band was around at (insert date) and did (insert crazy shit) at (insert defunct club)" but, I met most of my best friends at these shows and those times really helped to shape me as an individual. WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH A PROJECT?!?

Hardcore fans have a very strong sense of reverence for the founding fathers of the genre, and for good reason; they were all REALLY good. Black Flag, Minor Threat, The Misfits...you get the drift, however, being pretty enamoured with the instrument already, I found the cross-over bands with flashier guitar players really struck a nerve, and it was a lot easier for my yet undeveloped punk rock palette to get excited about the guys playing shreddy solos than the more subtle genius of people like Greg Ginn. The players I found myself really into were Parris from Cro-Mags, Doc Know from Bad Brains, and at a later age, I became a very very (very) big Danzig, and more importantly, John Christ fan. These guys all shared something other than being great players: they all used B.C. Rich guitars. Unfortunately, It's not particularly en vouge to play one these days. They look like cartoons, the current production models are all built in Korea and generally play like it, and most of the people I know who listen to and play hardcore seem to buy Norlin era Les Pauls when they spend the money a vintage USA Rich commands. They are too expensive for me to justify, however, I was lucky enough to have a friend donate a perfect project guitar for me!

I just picked the thing up and my sleeves and pants disappeared. The 80's must've ruled!

He purchased it out of sheer irony a few years back, however, this bubblegum pink 80's NJ Warlock happens to be a nice sounding and playing guitar. Not quite the same stellar quality I've found in most 1980's Japanse made guitars, this thing will still be really cool with a little TLC, and is a great step up in quality from the current Korean made Rich's. The idea here is to make it look era specific, with-out paying specific homage to any of my favorite Rich players as none of them were Warlock users. I'm going to be gutting it, doing a full refin, and I'm considering plugging the neck pick-up route and covering it with a small pickgaurd to add my own little twist. I'm really looking forward to getting started on it!

For a great read on Parris Mayhew's red B.C. Rich, check out the link below to Double Cross; this blog is really great if you're into hardcore AT ALL!

http://doublecrosswebzine.blogspot.com/2010/06/parris-mayhews-red-bich.html

If you've got a show to play, knock em dead, and otherwise, have a great weekend!

-DVB