Gearbuds

Notice a little extra rasp in Dave’s voicebox? Blame it on the belting; this week your buds talk about safely getting back in our rehearsal and recording studios. Pro-tip: wireless units, while cheesy, are excellent for physical distancing.

If that doesn’t rev your engine, have you ever been curious on how to record a remote podcast? You’ll definitely learn some tips and tricks on making a pro-sounding episode even when everyone is in different rooms.

Finally, the dudes also get into the recent situation where Hank was able to salvage some gear headed for the trash; with a little elbow-grease and can-do attitude Hank rescued gear such as a vintage EHX pedal, Mackie mixer, Yamaha 4-track, Traynor amp, Gretsch floor tom, DW pedal, Jet City cab, and Basyn MIDI foot controller.

Also discussed: the honestly pretty neat Pickaso guitar bow, free Surge soft synth plugin, former guest Shelby Pollard’s new guitar cafe venture Black Bobbin, Hank writing for Reverb, Great White and The Chainsmokers having Bad Ideas, Black Sabbath, (Peter Green era) Fleetwood Mac and the story of a famous 59 Les Paul Burst, and the Lakland Geezer Butler bass.

Even if you’ve already checked it out in the past, please take a minute of your time and go back to saveourstages.com. Now’s the time.

The goal of every episode is to capture a conversation worth hearing - this week, that happened. Not only is Nathan Graham a ripping Chicago-based guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter, but he also works for Reverb.com, has toured the globe as a sideman, and even appeared on NBC’s The Voice.

Hang out and journey through Nathan’s musical and gear history with Fender, Gibson, and Recording King, the feeling of being giant with a Tele on, the right way to play a safe socially distanced show, an open invitation to join Hank’s 6’3” and over band Tallboyz, the perils of appearing on reality television, and (even after lockdown is over) why you should bring your own damn mic to the gig.

Hank and Dave learned a lot; via Jeff Tweedy’s call for reparations via songwriter royalties, Nathan leads us in an open and honest discussion about Black Lives Matter, how to be an ally, the importance of listening, and why to vote with your wallet.

Also discussed: Roman Fischer’s Hypertron app, The Band, Flying Lotus’ Cosmogramma, and the Bad Fucking Idea of attending Sturgis to see Smash Mouth.

Put your Crocs into Turbo Mode.

Are you a guitar cleaner or a funk leaver? In this concise Buds-only cast, your dudes spend time digging into some classic topics: Gibson suing folks, Metallica being weirdos, and not attending Herd Immunity Fest.

As far as gear, the dudes check up on the Hamstead Soundworks Ascent Clean Boost and the great cause behind it, Kaki King doing some next level otherworldly guitar projection mapping, and the Daredevil Pedals Hype leading Hank to put together a battery-only pedalboard. Also discussed: Reverb increasing their selling fees from 3.5% to 5%, Bob Rock working the controls of Metallica, and the evolution of Blonde Redhead, the world’s most beautiful band. And seriously, so much Gibby talk, including the wild world of authenticating Bursts and the infamous missing ledger, and going after Collings Guitar and Satellite Amps in court because of course they are.

Don’t forget to visit saveourstages.com, ya heard?

This episode has it all, and when we say it all, we MEAN it all.

Set your faces to Entertained as your buddies dive deep with studio owner and UA superdude Joseph Peven. He shares his history in music and recording including an early internship at Gravity Studios, the general evolution of professional studios, building a studio around an API console first at Rat City and now at Palisade Studios, and taking a hybrid approach to recording and mixing. As Product Specialist at Universal Audio, we get Joey to dish on his top 3 favorite UA plugins, Luna, keeping our eyes peeled for fresh announcements, and working closely with a dev team. Plus hey, free recording tips and tricks!

It wouldn’t be Gearbuds without some serious gear nerdery, so we dig into the new Balthazar Cabaret 13 and Diezel VHX amps - don’t sleep on these. Also discussed: the free Kawai K1 plugin, Audiomovers Listento software, Vanilla Ice as a model of failure, Dave Chappele as a model of success, Metallica’s fabled MTV Unplugged, talking more trash on Garth, and loving on Townes Van Zandt, Converge’s seminal Jane Doe, and in honor of 64 episodes, our favorite Nintendo 64 games.

Git yer Crocs off!

Ready to have your mind blown? Not only is it already the second half of 2020, but Henry and Dave decided to talk about quantum computing, quantum teleportation, and humans jamming with computers. Wut.

You see what happens when Summer NAMM get canceled? This is what happens. Hank and Dave talk about some stuff they would like to spend some money on including a Gibson electric for Dave and Bogner Uberschall Twin Jet for Hank since he’s already so madly in love with the Balthazar Film Noir 50.

Also discussed: Herd Immunity Fest is now July Mini Fest and you should still not attend, Vanilla Ice acting like a dummy, celebrating Ringo Starr’s 80th birthday with a livestream on July 7th 2020, the Chicago Independent Venue League (civlchicago.com), Gear Doing Good, and a bunch of record talk with Record Store Day drops, Reverb LP closing up shop, and cataloging via Discogs.

The dudes also check in on what is and isn’t banging; Garth Brooks doc - not a banger, Will Ferrell Eurovision movie - not a banger, but fun for gear-spotting with Nord, Yamaha, Fender, and Moog, and Them Crooked Vultures - DEFINITELY a banger.

This episode - maybe a banger?

Want to hear Hank tell the embarrassing story about being on NBC’s The Today Show last week? Cool cool cool, step right up, this is the episode for you.

ANYWAY, this week your dudes are joined by professional actor and musician Noah Pelty from NYC. We talk to Noah about growing up as a street rat in Manhattan, coming up as a child of the theater world and finding his way to Broadway, how his band Canon Hill is weathering the pandemic, and letting your rig be determined by context.

Also discussed: the joy of vintage gear catalogs, proto photo flame, the Acon Digital Multiply chorus plugin, the insane selling prices of Prince’s DX-7 and Kurt Cobain’s MTV Unplugged 1959 Martin D-18E and Boss DS-1, Mike Judge’s Tales from the Tour Bus, and David Bowie’s Hunky Dory. We also found time to cover Dave’s new Teac turntable, Focusrite interfaces being updated to work with iPad Pro, Apple ditching Intel processors, and tongue-twisters with That Klick Knob’s That Klick Classic.

Please don’t go to Herd Immunity Fest.

Can you hear that? It’s the sound of another Monday with another rad episode, this time featuring our buddy James Beesley III from Downbeat Studio.

We spend a bunch of time sorting his musical history, getting an early start in high school rap metal, moving to Chicago and living in an art loft called FUCK MOUNTAIN while playing keys in his band Them, Roaring 20s, and transitioning from being a road dog into launching the multiple iterations of Downbeat Studio. Tune in if you want to learn about analog recording philosophies, Wurlitzer 200A and Fender Rhodes pianos, rebuilding and refurbishing vintage gear, and expert advice on adding a tape machine into your recording workflow - spoiler alert: it’s all about Otari.

Other topics include the reopening of Chicago Music Exchange, INXS and their “bangers,” protest music with Machine Head and Hank’s personal diety Neil Young’s new old record Homegrown, noisemakers for protests, stellar Craiglist posts, Prince’s Yamaha DX7, and Fender’s masterbuilt guitars for the Crew Nation charity.

Shake that tambourine, folks.

This week the buds took a week to catch up on some gear and peel each other’s grapes; strap in for a tooo-iiight sode.

Dave flips some scripts this week by making the leap from Garageband to Logic, recording his vox on his new MacBook Pro, AND even throws us a curveball in Dave’s Docs by featuring the Talking Heads seminal live performance Stop Making Sense. Sheesh dog, take it easy. Speaking of bassbois, we also discuss the pending auction for Dee Dee Ramone’s 1975 P Bass and talk a bit about the Doner Designs Delorean time machine bass.

We also get deep into the Fender Custom Shop controversy with former Masterbuilder John Cruz, and the opposite of that ugly episode with The Ally Coalition’s current efforts on Reverb. Also discussed is one of Hank’s all time favorites Shellac’s 1000 Hurts, the free Caelum Audio Tape Cassete 2 plugin, the Mad Hatter Products Luminator switch, scientists at Stanford creating a sound so loud it boils freaking water, The Flaming Lips going full bubble for a live performance, AI bots writing AC/DC songs, and the loudest shows we’ve ever attended.

You have a voice. Why not use it?

This episode is a complete delight, featuring our first multi-remote-guest recording with our newest guitarbuddies Max and Dmitri from Rookie.

We get into some deep Rookie talk, including forming out of Yoko and the Onos, their gear journeys (namely the importance of the Vox AC30, touring with a Rhodes and Hammond, and treble boosters) songwriting in a 6 piece band, touring with Cheap Trick, splitting guitar duties, and working through the quarantine.

Your buds also discuss the controversial practice of putting stickers on guitars, swapping pickups in a cheap axe, Motown and Jamerson, Run the Jewels, politics in the gear world via Fulltone and Keeley, the Light 4 Sound oPik pickup, Squier Paranormal Series, a whole mess of Terry Kath talk, and even have a brief check-in with Neil Young(ish). Dave and Hank got the script flipped and had some questions asked of them this time, hoo buddy!

Rookie’s debut self-titled full length LP on Bloodshot records is available everywhere, an absolute must-listen for fans of the rock and the roll.

BLACK LIVES MATTER.

Need a respite from the day to day? Look no further; the Buds welcome our good friend Gretchen Hannum from Pylons into our virtual hang sesh and it’s safe to say she really classed up the joint.

G talks about getting into guitar as a teen, DIY punk shows in the suburbs, her approach to playing in her band Pylons as well as developing solo material, recording at home with the Universal Audio Arrow and Luna, and oooooobviously we had to talk about her stunning ’68 Mustang with competition stripe and vintage Ampeg Gemini I.

We also found time to discuss the free miRack from mifki, a Bolivian Orchestra trapped in a haunted castle in Germany, Sound City, Refused, Amphetamine Reptile, Milli Violini, the Oskitone Okay 3D printable open source synthesizer, and the Audiogridder plugin.

Dave likes to party, and it ain’t a real party until the V-Drums get CRANKED.