AXEL MANRICO HEILHECKERPHONOKULTUR
A.M.H. FISHMOONSUNYABEATPHONOROID
GRAND GUITARS
BLUES TURNRED GRAND JAM
GRAND
GUITARS
Brettgeflüster
This
site is just about vintage guitars and reissues. It's related to my
column "Axel Heilhecker's Brettgeflüster" in the german guitar magazin
"GRAND GUITARS" , a column about the classic guitars in Rock, Blues and
Jazz culture.
Old Guitars - Young Hearts
THE
SOUL OF A GUITAR Producing "My vintage and favorite Grand Guitars and
Licks" makes a lot of fun. Concentrating on the character of my old
guitars and their appearance in the Classics of Rock, Blues and Jazz it
makes a big difference to my usual work in writing my music, as well as
playing that close to original classic licks Here i go back to my own
beginnings, where i just was lucky to have the possibility to play some
great instruments, and some things came up to me from those days in a
analystic and conscious way... When i picked up on the music of the
late sixties, and the seventies at that time everything was very
unintentional and impulsive... I was mostly and more impressed by the
idea of spontaneous jams and my ideas, than by copying music, which
maybe was helpful in finding a own style. On the other hand my
knowledge in certain traditional playing technics were not very deep in
those days. Over the years i found time to learn more of those things
as well as i got deeper in the soul of the old guitars, the electronics
and recording.. technics we used and experienced in those days. So my
intention here is to present you some of my favorites of instruments
and players came along my own musical yourney including some players
who refer themselves to the old sounds and musical traditions but with
new reissues of the classic instruments used those days...
One
My alltime favorite guitar-jam ! A tribute to the unforgetable duo
Allman/Betts. The reconstruction of a legendary track - E.Reed
Gibson Es
335 '59 / Es 345 '66 - “Crossroads by Cream"
One of my
favorite Cream-Songs
was this one. I couldn't effort the famous
Double-Album “Wheels Of
Fire“ from '68 - so this single at least made it
for me ! To
memorize Eric Clapton's fab playin' and the great sound
of Gibson's ES
- series i recorded this coverversion.
Grand Guitars
Workshop
Lately
i was asked by the "Grand Guitars" Magazin to refer about old guitars
and their reissues...For that purpose i produced some covers of old and
vintage style tunes to feature those instruments..and their
similarities and differences...To feature the exceptional character of
these instruments i used the same equipment on each of them...Which is
basically the Digtech GSP 2101 and a pedalboard set up for different
kind of boostings...No microphones ! - Kind of wild to some
Retro-Vintage Freaks, but have a listen ! Recorded live on playback '08
The
Tracks
GIBSON ES 335 1959
I
play this one for 10 years now, the former owners are great players, so
it was luck for me to be the..actual player of this great instrument.
Unamplified it sounds already like fullbody acoustic guitar, very open
and present. Acoustically my loudest electric guitar. The guitar was
original set up with a Bigsby. The pickups are from 58' and accomplish
the fantastic dynamic sound of the instrument perfectly cause they're
less hot compared to the pickups from 59'. Essential Pickup - Selecting
! B.B King style says hello on the first part, a bit of Carlton
flavour, second a version of the Rascals "Jungle Walk" as a tribute to
another gifted player : Buzzy Feiten, mixed with some energetic overall
West Coast Rock appeal. Part three is a excerpt of "Twomoon" from my
Fishmoon - album "Twomoon Music". The pedals i used are : "Fulldrive2",
Boss - "BluesDriver", Jam - Rooster and "Ed The Compressor".
GIBSON
SG WITH BIGSBY 1962
One
of my first guitars, still sounding great, meanwhile with a well
repaired neck-break...The track is based in the first part on a cover
of a Derek Trucks cover of the Roland Kirk tune "Volunteered Slavery"
and featuers playing styles of Derek Trucks, Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor.
The second part featueres Frank Zappa styles, these Lead parts are live
recorded at the "Grand Guitar Show" in Nürnberg. The third part as a
encore is a slide part of my latest Fishmoon - album, and shows the way
i use the SG in my own music and producing.The pedals i used for the
track are : Fulltone - "Fulldrive2", Jam Pedals - "Rooster", ..Boss -
"Bluesdriver", Marshall - "Ed The Compressor"
FENDER
STRAT 1967 olympic white
I
just love it ! It got a certain soul, as you can hear, it seems to be
made for this. Somehow it's like the approach in classical music, to
get as close as possible to the notes and the sound idea, why not
?..Here i'm just a player, playin' with a very short, but still
noticable and remarkable musical impact in our history. This is my way
of honoring these 3 "Astroman Jimi" years of unreversable change in the
Guitar Universe. Regards to Mitch Mitchell ! Lead Parts of the Hendrix
- styles were completely live recorded at the "Grand Guitar Show" on
top of the pre-produced backings inclusively the "Watchtower - Space
Parts", which is a real "Pedal-Step Dance" while i have to pick up the
slide-ring. Same as "Manic Depression" with strong "Teletronics" - and
tape - compression, part three comes with modern electronics, a excerpt
of my "Western Electric Suite" from my Fishmoon- album "Twomoon Music".
The pedals i used are : "Fulldrive2", Vox - "Satchurator", Boss -
"BluesDriver", Fulltone - "Deja Vibe" and 2 units of "Ed The
Compressor" Pickups are Kinmans Traditional !
For
a change i feature here a temporary Les Paul Reissue. I never owned a
original 59' Les Paul, but of coarse it was for me the most attractive
electric guitar in my childhood days. No one should expect a today's
guitar sound like 50 years old instrument. But the sound of a 59's
instrument in its younger days is quite present by all these essential
records i grew up with and it's spirit comes along with some of
Gibson's reissues. For example one of the most fantastic intros in Rock
on vinyl was for me "Statesboro Blues" the start up of Allman Brother's
Fillmore Album. You can hear this with my 59' VOS Les Paul followed by
the wellknown Kossov riff and some licks from one of best Bop'n Rock
players, Danny Diaz one of the founding members of Steely Dan and my
favorite player of all their followers. Actually he played this on his
modified Tele with humbuckers, but since i always thought in former
days it was done with a Les Paul, i stayed with that idea. Part four is
a excerpt of "Spanish Electric" from my "Music for 6 String and Tape
Echo". Judge yourself ! The pedals i used are : "Fulldrive2", Boss -
"BluesDriver", Jam - Rooster, Vox-Satchurator and "Ed The Compressor",
Boss Stereo Chorus.
Fender
Stratocaster '67 sunburst with Gladius AVT 18 Amp
Love those
early Marshall 18
Watt amps ? Here is what you need !
Fender
Stratocaster '67 versus Customshop Strat '68 Model - "Little Wing"
Choose
your favorite yourself
out of these two really great guitars !
The
Custompshop-Strat i take most of the time on the road - a very reliable
good sounding
and versatile player !
