Ask Zac

Luther Dickinson is an acclaimed sideman, solo artist, and producer, noted for his work with the North Mississippi Allstars, Phil Lesh, and the Black Crowes. We begin with a discussion of his legendary producer/musician father, Jim, and how he nurtured his son's playing and his work ethic. We also dive into how Luther became a devotee of open tunings via his dad's obsession with Bo Diddley. Dickinson is currently out playing shows with JD Simo and drummer Adam Abrashoff.

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Built from 1953-55, the Wide-Panel Princeton was short-lived, yet in that brief time had 5B2, 5C2, and 5D2 iterations with earlier versions using octal preamp tube, and the latter using a 12AX7. Though both the tweed Princeton and the Champ were single-ended (single power tube) amps, the mighty Princeton throughout the 50s in most years had a bigger speaker, larger cabinet, and the addition of a tone control. For fun, we go all the way back to the first year of the amps production, 1946, and take the amp from it's woody birth, up through TV-front, wide-panel, and narrow-panel versions.

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1957 Fender Esquire with a 1954 neck pickup, and original bridge pickup. Restoration and Aging on the Body by Dan "Danocaster" Strain. Refret by Nick at Glaser Instruments. Both pickups were rewound by Ron Ellis. Pickguard design by Jay & Kristi Smith of Juicebox Designs.


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In the mid 1980s, Ricky Skaggs and Steve Wariner were frequently seen on television playing eye-catching Tele-looking instruments equipped with B-Benders, in vibrant colors, with beautiful flame maple necks. Though I had no idea what they were, I wanted one. I finally found the answer in the January 1987 issue of Guitar Player magazine, where it was revealed that these were custom instruments built by Nashville luthier, Joe Glaser, equipped with Seymour Duncan pickups, and his patented string bender. When I started gigging in the early 90s, I began saving my money, and once I had a respectable amount saved up, I called Glaser, only to find that he had ceased building guitars, and was instead concentrating on repairs, and his string bender business. I continued to search for one, but they seemingly never came up for sale. Recently, some of Joe's crew raided the shop attic, and they began using some leftover Glaser guitar parts to build out a handful of instruments. 

Today, we look at the last Glaser Bender guitar, and how I ended up with it after 35-years of searching. We also do a deep-dive on the Seymour Duncan 53-Tapped Tele set, and the Music City Bridge Wiring, plus clips with the guys that worked on the guitar, and Joe Glaser explaining his preference for single-bound Tele bodies, and figured maple necks. 

The pickups
https://customshop.seymourduncan.com/53-tapped-tele/
https://www.seymourduncan.com/single-product/hot-stack-strat

Get on the list for a Glaser Convertible Bender installation
https://www.glaserbender.com/scheduling-and-options

Playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2SZpvTAXnsVbdDB6TSrFMv?si=42f8c409f9af4bd7

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NYXL Strings Amazon Link
https://amzn.to/3Yo5hpr

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#askzac #glaserbender #seymourduncan

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Today I share the story of playing the American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special with Brad Paisley. He had a new single, "Truck Still Works," and wanted to fill things out with another guitar player. I lay out what I did to learn the guitar parts he wanted covered, the experience of playing on the show, and the gear that I used.

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#askzac #bradpaisley

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Today we sit down with the incredible father/son guitar team of Stuie and Sonny French, of The French Family Band. They tell their tale of how they moved from Australia to the United States in 2019, and quickly made an impact on the Nashville music scene through their shutdown era livestreams, and their more recent appearances on the Grand Ole Opry. Gear wise, Stuie shows us his modified Jason Isbell Tele and Gretsch, while Sonny shows off his Gibson Les Paul Special, and vintage Fender Coronado.

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#frenchfamilyband

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Ricky Skaggs released Highways & Heartaches in September 1982, and the album quickly moved to the number 1 spot on the Country Album chart, and spawned 3 number 1 singles. Besides being a well polished example of Ricky's Bluegrass/Country hybrid style, it also spearheaded the neo-traditionalist movement that brought an end to the more pop oriented "Urban Cowboy" era. The album featured Ricky's crack road band, and a couple of cuts with studio heavy hitters Lloyd Green and Joe Osborn. Besides the incendiary Telecaster playing of Ray Flacke, Skaggs himself burned on the albums closer, "One Way Rider," using a unique instrument built by Joe Glaser, a 5-string, bender equipped, Mandocaster. Today we look at the impact of the album, and we look at the Glaser built Mandocaster.

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#askzac #rickyskaggs #zacchilds

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What is the best speaker for my Deluxe Reverb, is one of the most asked questions of all-time. A friend recently asked me about doing an episode on this topic, and added that I should give it some added weightiness by finding out what all the pros I know use. So I queried Brent Mason, John Leventhal, Tom Bukovac, Duke Levine, Luke McQeary, JD Simo, Guthrie Trapp, Redd Volkaert, Steve Wariner, James Pennebaker, Jeff King, Jerry McPherson, Rob McNelley, Jedd Hughes, Stuie French, Ryan Wariner, Andy Reiss, Derek Wells, and Kenny Vaughan to find out what they prefer in their Deluxe Reverb. I thought we would have a huge variety of speakers, but surprisingly, it really came down to 3-types. Today we compare those 3 varieties, and look at their strengths and weaknesses. We also look at the stock speakers that were shipped with vintage (1963-1967) BF Deluxe Reverb amps, and why most players don't use them.

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#askzac #deluxereverb #zacchilds

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In the 1960s and 70s, the JBL D120/K120 was the top choice  for the touring pro who didn't want to worry about blowing a speaker on the road. However, in 1983,  Electro-Voice released the EVM-12L, and soon after everyone from Eric Clapton & Stevie Ray Vaughan to Mark Knopfler and Larry Carlton were using EV speakers in their rigs. Today,  I lay out some history/context, and compare it with my usual Eminence GA-SC64, as we look at the 200-watt, 20 pound, 12" speaker that changed guitar tones throughout the 80s and 90s, the EVM 12L.

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#askzac #evm12l #zacchilds

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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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#askzac #hardtailstrat #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

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