Haven’t been around much - Been busy working on the new FytaKyte album…
Here’s are three consecutive solos my mate Steve ripped out for me this afternoon in a very productive session with just his Les Paul, a Soldano, a Marshall 2 x 12 cab, and an SM57:
yeah baby, he is smokin. THanks for sharing, I look forward to hearing more of the new FytaKyte album.
Steve was my original inspiration to get seriously into playing electric guitar - It’s great to get him to play on a song of mine 
Yeah that is awesome. He is a real inspiration.
First off, I absolutely love the dude. His expressions are priceless. Screw midi, this is the real thing folks. totally made my night. He is a keeper:)
Haha, yeah, that’s for sure, Paul! Steve is a real character. He has bought, owned and sold probably about a thousand guitars and amps over the years. He is a Marshall amp aficionado, partial to the JCM800 series sound. He built my early appreciation for that style of sound.
Strange as it may sound, he has a particular fondness for the humble Ibanez Blazer…It’s his absolute favourite guitar, and he has had many of them over the years. When I first met him in the mid 1980’s he had a pale blue Blazer with a maple neck that was very well loved.
At some stage in the early 2000’s, in a decision typical of his rather mercurial character, he sold his beloved Blazer to a young friend in our circle of musos. I later played in a band with the guy, and he still has and loves Steve’s Blazer. Steve keeps begging him to sell it back to him, but he resolutely refuses! 
Steve has a love-hate relationship with Les Pauls. He loves their tone, but finds them a struggle to play (or so he says). He is forever buying them, only to sell them off after a few months, when they “stop talking” to him. 
At one stage he bought an absolutely magic-sounding and playing 1976 LP that I fell in love with, wanted to buy, but couldn’t afford at the time. Needless to say, I was pretty devastated when I found out he’d sold it off without letting me know!
Even though I’ve known him for 35 or so years, and played with him in a couple of bands, I’d never actually recorded him until yesterday. It was an interesting exercise in getting the measure of a performer’s psychology…
We started out with headphones, but when I could see he wasn’t comfortable (or “feelin’ it”), I suggested we just crank the monitors and ditch the cans. (I had the cab mic’d in a separate room with the door closed, and the bleed from 20 watt Soldano didn’t intrude too much in the studio room). The transformation in his confidence and playing was immediate.
Then I suggested the loop-recording method, where he could just keep playing takes of the solo sections. He’d never done it like that either, but he took to it like a duck to water. He did about 9 takes of each section, out of which probably 3 were very good “keeper” takes.
I would have been happy with what we had at that point, but then I had the idea of filming him live doing a few takes - mainly just for posterity’s sake, and as something to post on Fakebook and Instascam… Well, as you can see, with a camera on him, he just stepped up to the plate and hit it out of the park!.. Definitely at his best as an "in-the-moment performer!
Never heard of a Blazer…have to google that one. Usually when you take an older fella and tell him about the video thangy, they get uncomfortable in a hurry. Not him. Liked the look of satisfaction when he knew he nailed it. This film is special.
I have an ES335 and most likely very similar to the LP’s. To me it is almost like playing an acoustic. Rigid, but some great sounds. I have trouble with bending notes tho. (heavier strings) I use my PRS 24 for most everything because of the ease of the string pressure. I bet a tele or a strat is very similar.
I have to watch my posts, because I have a tendency to go on and on 
I started a new song last week and am playing thru a Line 6 amp and micing it. Never did that before. I gave away my original Line 6 amp because it had to any tweaks and choices. This one has clean, crunch, and metal…simple. Anyway I am also stuck for the first time not wanting the second verse to sound like the first. I am using a chord riff that was used as a transition by Roy Orbison (crying) and Eric Clapton (tears in heaven) With the D chord pressed you hit D first then with your pinky the Bb and then C and the Bb and back. With some distortion it sounds pretty cool. I know TMI Old farts ramble
Fab to watch and listen to !!
Thanks!
Nice guitars, Paul! As I understand it though, theoretically with the same gauge strings on both, Gibsons have a shorter scale neck compared to Fenders and therefore should have less string tension at the same tuning. IIRC PRS guitars have scale length somewhere in between a Fender and a Gibson?
You’re not the only one! Guilty as charged!
Sounds to me like it might be an augmented chord, maybe?
No problem! Glad you liked it!