blues - Gary Mullins - Professional Guitarist

Blues Junior Rebuild

April 29, 2015PermalinkGuitar Repairs, Miscellaneousamp, amps, anniversary, beds, blues, bucks, cabinet, celestion, combo, edition, fender, g12h, herts, junior, keynes, milton, oxford, point, rebuild, repair, repairer, to, valve, vyse, wiring, wycombe Leave a comment

This month I spent a couple of days rebuilding my poorly Fender Blues Junior with the chaps at Vyse Amps in Pinner, London.

The amp has been my go-to combo for 8yrs, and being 12yrs old and seeing a lot of action, it has had a lot of heat cycles through the solder joints which is the root of the problems coming through. The power amp valves’ solder was beginning to crack, and the tracks on the PCB were lifting and ultimately breaking.

The solution to this – which would become endemic throughout the rest of the amp in time – was to remove all of the original components, and replace with a new circuit built in an old-school ‘point-to-point’ fashion which would enable me to make modifications or replace any faulty components much more easily for the life of the amp.

Since completely changing everything except the cabinet and reverb tank, the amp has taken on a different character, but is a beautiful alternative to the Blues Junior I knew and loved. It’s now got a Celestion G12H Anniversary Edition speaker, and in conjunction with the up-rated electronics is more articulate as a result. I’m still getting to know the amp, but can’t wait to see how it performs on gigs and shows as they come in!

’13’ at the Radlett Centre

February 25, 2015PermalinkTheate Work13, 16, 3120, acoustic, aer, albans, blues, bucks, centre, electric, guitar, guitarist, ibanez, junior, martin, musical, omc, radlett, repair, rg, st., teacher, theatre Leave a comment

Last week I played guiyar for the ‘Sticks and Stones’ production of ’13’ – a youth show about a Jewish lad moving from New York to a sleepy town, and the trials and tribulations of coming-of-age and making friends in a new place.

The music is very eclectic, covering a number of different genres including Death Metal, Reggae, Funk, and beautiful acoustic ballads.

Electric and acoustic guitars are required for this show, and quite fortunately there are not many rapid guitar changes as these are mainly done between numbers.

There are two guitar parts, and as on similar shows I had to compile both into one, reading from both pads and using a series of post-it notes to indicate what to read from which pad. It’s pretty rapid at times, but I relish the challenge to concentrate so much throughout a show. I also really enjoyed the diversity of the music and trying hard to play as authentically as possible with the tools at my disposal.

Most of the sonic variation was was modified via the selector switch on my electric guitar. The switching on the Ibanez RG3120 is really versatile, giving you power and delicacy with ease.

I did the show a few years back and really enjoyed it, and it’s nice to get my hands around it again with more experience under my belt. I look forward to doing it again too!

Sweet Charity with Abingdon Operatic Society

November 2, 2014PermalinkTheate Work60, abingdon, aer, amey, band, big, blues, charity, classical, compact, electric, fender, guitar, junior, les, musical, operatic, paul, raimundo, society, sweet, tango, theatre Leave a comment

I’ve just come to the end of a run of Sweet Charity at the Amey Theatre with the Abingdon Operatic Society. This is the second time I’ve done the show, and I had a real blast doing it.

The music is really interesting, and in many ways quite unlike any other show that I’ve done. The pad is quite unhelpful, really, since it has some directions for the guitarist (such as ‘no amp’ or ‘all on highs’) which aren’t straightforward to interpret! Having said that there are a variety of different styles (big band and tango are the highlights for me) that you have to cover, as well as interesting time signature changes.

A lot of the show is in 2, so quite rapid for much of it, and this requires a good knowledge of lots of chord shapes in each area of the neck.

I mainly used my Les Paul and Raimundo classical for the run, and these guitars did a great job to cover the disciplines required. Playing the Raimundo with a Tango feel was great fun, and sounded pretty raunchy to my ears!

The theatre appeared to be packed every night which was exciting to see, and all appeared to enjoy the production.

It’s now time for me to concentrate my energies into a completely different show, as next week I’ll be playing in Avenue Q at the Court Theatre in Tring. The writing and instrumentation is very different to Charity, so it’s going to be good fun and a good challenge.

Grease at the Court Theatre with TFC

September 13, 2014PermalinkTheate Work2014, blues, court, fender, grease, junior, pendley, stratocaster, tfc, theatre, tring, usa Leave a comment

I’m the sole guitarist for this production of Grease, so my part has changed slightly from the production I did earlier in the year. I exclusively used my USA Strat with a Seymour Duncan Little ’59 mini humbucker in the bridge position.

This is a great guitar. In fact all strats offer the options I’ve enjoyed on this show. The switching combination is sonically diverse and has offered real flexibility, sensitivity and power, whenever I’ve needed it.

I’ve made a great deal of use of the middle pickup; a key position which I feel is generally undervalued and under-used. It cuts beautifully but isn’t too bright, and is weighty enough to be used for choppy rhythm.

The out-of-phase positions offer some real delicacy in moments where I’m playing ballads, country-esque pieces, in the sensitive moments in tunes, or if I simply want an option to the neck pickup, which I’ve used in turn for a warmer alternative to the middle pickup.

Since this is a 50’s show, I’ve employed my Line6 Echo Park unit set to the Slap Back setting, along with another Line6 pedal – the Tap Tremolo – for a light tremolo in a couple of ‘dreamy’ and sustained parts of songs like ‘Beauty School Drop Out’.

The material is interesting to play too. Lots of high ‘chips’ with little chord voicings of triads and 7th chords, with one staccato strum per bar. Coupled with lots of arpeggio based parts there’s a lot of tight plectrum control and confident timing required.

We’ve used the broadway arrangement of Greased Lightning which is more interesting and challenging than the original version. I get to use the bridge humbucker here in conjunction with a Zvex Distortron distortion pedal. This is a great sound (although it is a liberty taken) and I get the chance to bust out a few chops in a solo here, too.

All of this goes through the Blues Junior, so I have a compact and versatile sound. I hope I get to do it again soon!

The ‘home of the blues’!

February 5, 2011PermalinkUncategorizedain't, blues, but, carnaby, home, london, nothin', street Leave a comment

Last week I went into London to watch a band called Gentleman Tim and the Contenders. This was at Ain’t Nothin’ But… a blues bar in London that has live blues acts playing every night of the week – amazing!

It was quite a small venue, with the band at the far end squashed onto a small stage, but they were great, the main attraction, and there was a really happy vibe in the place.

The bar boasts that it has the best the blues this side of the Atlantic, and that it is ‘the home of the blues’. Quite serious statements! I’m not sure how accurate they are, but I’d definitely go back, and hope to play there soon too!