"While we are doing that blues thing let's go ahead on and play this old Bobby Bland song..actually it's a T. BONE WALKER SONG!!"
I think the company that makes the closest to the Fender Tele & Fender Strat is G & L.
PRS is also doing a good job with the McCarty 594 single-cut guitars which are very Les Paul like.
IHMO better electronics and build are better than Epiphone; even in the PRS SE line.
Cort guitars in Indonesia makes the $700 line of both G & L and PRS guitars. At the price point, they are very good.
George Alessandro amps
https://www.premierguitar.com/gear/builder-profile/amp-guru-george-alessandro
Derek Trucks and Doyle Bramhall II jamming
Billy Bob Thornton announces his top 10 southern rock albums!!
Number 1 according to Thornton is At Fillmore East by The Allman Brothers Band and it is head and shoulders above ANYTHING done by Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker, Molly Hatchet etc etc.
The actor went on to say At Fillmore East is head and shoulders above anything done by more modern southern outfits including Tedeshi Trucks Band, Gov't Mule and later albums by the Allman Brothers themselves!!
Amen brother Billy Bob. At Fillmore East is the crown jewel of so-called southern band albums.
Bernie Marsden ( Whitesnake) vintage guitars on Reverb
https://www.musicradar.com/news/bernie-marsden-guitar-sale-atb-guitars-reverb
Rev. Billy F. Gibbons playing his new custom Fender Stratocaster guitar made of CARDBOARD!!
Yes a CARDBOARD guitar made for him by Fender that actually plays!!
Return of the Gibson Les Paul Supreme?
https://www.musicradar.com/news/gibson-les-paul-supreme-2023-cesar-gueikian
@bill_graham Read the other day so far this year Gibson has 34% market share on electric guitars and Fender has 30%. Number three Ibanez has 7%. No make other than Gibson and Fender has more than 10% market share so far this year!
Apparently Gibson and Fender are the Ford and Chevrolet of the world of electric guitar.
And if you count Epiphone and Squire, Gibson and Fender are just south of 40%. Almost 80%.
And Fender owns Jackson and Charvel and has marketing control over Gretsch guitars but recently reached an agreement with the Gretsch family allowing them to once again have ownership of the company.
Years ago the Gretsch family sold the company to Baldwin Piano and they eventually sold it to Fender.
Fender's complete electric guitar product line puts them in first place over all and Fender is the leader in Amp sales.
Slide guitar players!!!
Here is Joe Bonamassa to show us how to play good slide guitar!!!
Back in 1970 and 1971 and after his death, I was convinced Duane Allman was the best guitar player but musicians I encountered then and later usually insisted Ry was the best. I noticed Joe Bonamassa mentioned Ry first.
ESP guitars. Saw I guy at a club play one some years ago and looked and sounded very much like a Les Paul.
Gibson did sue ESP several years ago. Apparently ESP changed their classic enough to pass the legal threshold. The headstock is the main part that must be different according to California courts.
https://youtube.com/shorts/8A2yk3lJzPc?feature=share
The current leaders of Lynyrd Skynyrd announced today the band isn't retiring after all and plans to tour for several more years.
The farewell tours of recent years were in anticipation of the last original member Gary Rossington needing to retire due to heart issues. But the 71 year old died of heart problems earlier this year so there is no reason to end the band now.
Several of the members have been in and out of the band for decades so they see no real issue of continuing to tour as Lynyrd Skynyrd without ANY original members.
We use to joke here about how many more farwell tours are they going to do so now it looks as if the real farewell tour is several years down the road.
Gregg Allman could have been in that band!!
In case you forgot how SRV could step on the gas and suddenly smoke most guitar players in the high octane energy department, here is a clip!!! Seeing is believing!!
https://youtube.com/shorts/RLu5pZn1brE?feature=share
Paul Reed Smith market share is just 3% of the electric guitar market which sounds small compared to the 30 plus percent of Gibson and Fender, but so many new electric guitars are purchased each year in the world PRS's 3% equal about $500 million in sales annually.
John Mayer is primarily a PRS player and so is the great Carlos Santana.
Dickey played a PRS in 1994 and some of 1995.
The current leaders of Lynyrd Skynyrd announced today the band isn't retiring after all and plans to tour for several more years.
The farewell tours of recent years were in anticipation of the last original member Gary Rossington needing to retire due to heart issues. But the 71 year old died of heart problems earlier this year so there is no reason to end the band now.
Several of the members have been in and out of the band for decades so they see no real issue of continuing to tour as Lynyrd Skynyrd without ANY original members.
We use to joke here about how many more farwell tours are they going to do so now it looks as if the real farewell tour is several years down the road.
Gregg Allman could have been in that band!!
Recently an old friend asked me how many times I saw Lynyrd Skynyrd. "Only once", I replied. He then reminded me of having been with me in recent years when "Skynyrd" opened for the Allman Brothers, a street fest performance and a few other shows that we attended together. I told him, "I saw a band called "Lynyrd Skynyrd" several times, but I only saw Lynyrd Skynyrd once.
I wasn't trying to be a smart ass or anything. The recent line-up(s) are more akin to a Toby Keith band or something. They sound nothing at all like Ronny, Gary, Alan, Ed, Billy, Bob (Artis) and Leon. Not to my ears, anyway.
I'm guessing that they learned the art of multiple farewell tours from their work with the Who. 😉
@rusty I hear you Rusty. Yes Skynyrd is not as close to the original band as some of their cover bands are!!
The fans need to start suing bands that keep going after farewell tours. I went to a Doobie Brothers farewell tour show years ago and they are still playing under that moniker!
My guess is the Allman Brothers Band, which according to the late Butch Trucks, never did the farewell tour Butch hoped they would, is indeed over.
I'd be okay with the Brothers lineup doing a salute tour to the ABB. Especially if Chuck Leavell was part of it. But I wouldn't like it if they called it the Allman Brothers Band. Just the Brothers. I'm not sure Jaimoe could do a tour like that at his age. Dickey apparently couldn't. Dickey will be 80 in December and he doesn't need to ever play again. I'm happy being a Dickey fan he is still living and enjoying a nice retirement at his south Florida estate.
But whether I like it or not counts as ZERO with whoever is involved.
@robertdee The Doobies and Allman brothers (for me) still had enough original members onboard to make them an "acceptable" version of the act. Bands like Foreigner, Foghat, Skynyrd and even Yes (one of my favorites) should at least consider adding some sort of clarifying phrase to their band name. "Roger Earl's Foghat Experience"; "Steve Howe's Yesworld" - something like this. When the ingredients list of any product changes 100% - it is no longer that product anymore. As you say, there are cover bands who can reproduce the sound of the original bands better than some of the bands that tour with those names. You can catch these acts for $10 or so at your local bar!
@rusty Last I saw the Doobies, Marc was on percussion which was good since he lost his stop in both the Allman Brothers Band and Gregg Allman Band and Patrick Simmons and Tom Johnston were back and one or the other sang lead vocals on all their big hits.
After thinking about it some more, Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes, Otiel and Chuck Leavell were official members of the Allman Brothers Band and long enough for all those guys to use the Allman Brothers Band name. But on the other hand, I doubt they would call it the Allman Brothers Band without Gregg. Probably the Brothers.
Also Derek and Warren are doing well with their own bands. To me it wouldn't be that attractive to them to do what those guys in Lynyrd Skynyrd are doing. I could be wrong but my hunch is it's how they made decent money playing and touring. That is the big reason they are not embarrassed to tour as Lynyrd Skynyrd without any original members.
@ robertdee, don't forget about Jack, Rook, Jimmy Herring maybe Johnny Neel - will not name another keyboard player......
Warren Haynes cutting with Joe Bonamassa
Wish I could play pretty cord progressions like this. I do okay with simply stuff and simple slow blues.
https://youtube.com/shorts/OMt0FVbSCWI?feature=share
Epiphone US made Casino review
@bill_graham Bill they have a beautiful Epiphone Les Paul sunburst at the big music store here that looks fantastic and sounds like a Les Paul too. 60 % cheaper than a Gibson Les Paul.
I thought about buying it as I've always wanted a Les Paul. But seeing Epiphone rather than Gibson on the headstock makes me pause.
Like a luxury car that looks exactly like a Cadillac and it even says it's a Fleetwood. But the name Opel is on the front instead of Cadillac.
Opel by the way is a badge General Motors uses on some of their European vehicles. Here right now they only use Cadillac, Buick, Chevrolet and GMC.
I was surprised to recently learn Pontiac and Oldsmobile have been discontinued.
Jason Isabell guitar collection
https://www.guitarplayer.com/news/jason-isbell-gibson-tv-the-collection-guitars
Upgrading a Epiphone Les Paul.
For the cost you might as well buy a Gibson Les Paul but an interesting video.
Did not realize Epiphones parts are metric so U.S. made Gibson parts are not just drop in replacements.
