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Josh Gooch and a Gibson Les Paul Classic sound, style and skills!

Taken from Josh Gooch’s website: “18-year old music prodigy Josh Gooch has been surrounded by music his whole life, whether it be playing, listening, or reading. Josh has a photographic and audiophonic memory which allow him to visualize how a song “looks” on the guitar once he has heard it. His homegrown, self-taught style of music spans many genres — from blues to jazz, to rock to funk–yet he has developed his own uniquely beautiful sound, whether playing acoustic, slide or electric guitar.

Josh was born in Seattle, Washington, and now lives in San Diego, where he moved when he was seven years old. Following in the footsteps of his father, who always had guitars around the house and wrote music, Josh began playing when he was thirteen years old and quickly became addicted to playing the guitar, often times every day for six to seven hours per day. He considers playing the guitar a passion, not a job. Within three years, Josh recorded his first major work for legendary producer Johnny Sandlin on the Highly Kind album, Don’t Wake Albert. Josh then followed up with a stint on Bonnie Bramlett’s latest Gospel album.

PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS:

In 2007 at the age of sixteen, Josh began his professional career sitting in with San Diego Blues Bands including Chet and the Committee and The Will Street Blues Band. Josh quickly became the choice fill-in guitar player in San Diego when any band had a missing member.

In early 2008, when Josh was seventeen, legendary producer Johnny Sandlin invited Josh to relocate to Alabama to tour and record with the acclaimed Southern Rock group, Highly Kind, and work as a studio guitarist. Johnny Sandlin has produced numerous acts such as The Allman Brothers Band, Widespread Panic, The Marshall Tucker Band and Aquarium Rescue Unit. Highly Kind features Duane Trucks (brother of Derek Trucks). Duane sometimes tours with Soul Stew, which consists of Derek Trucks and his wife Susan Tedeschi. When Duane Trucks is unavailable, David Crenshaw (drummer for American Idol winner Rubin Studdard) fills in with the Soul Stew.

In Summer 2008, Josh played to sold-out shows in Alabama and recorded with Johnny Sandlin & Highly Kind.

In January 2009, Josh released his first CD, Don’t Wake Albert, on Rockin Camel Records.

In February 2009, at the age of eighteen, Josh recorded the latest Gospel album of world-renowned singer Bonnie Bramlett– performing on tracks with Chuck Leavell (The Rolling Stones, The Allman Brothers Band, Eric Clapton), Doug Belote (Larry Carlton, Jerry Douglas, and Rovven Ford), and David Hood (Aretha Franklin, Cher, Rod Stewart, and James Brown). Bonnie has recorded with acts such as Eric Clapton, Gregg Allman, and George Harrison, as well as with her husband in their band Delaney & Bonnie & Friends. Some of the special guests who’ve contributed vocals to Josh’s tracks include Daryl Hall, Willie Nelson, Little Richard, and Emmylou Harris.

In Spring 2009, Josh played adjacent to Petco Park for the San Diego Padre’s Opening Day with The Road Dogs. He has been playing with The Road Dogs as a featured artist for the past 8 months.”

Previous Podcasts:

• Podcast 8: Interview with Bob Wootton
• Podcast 7: Interview with Margaret Scranton
• Podcast 6: Interview with Steve White
• Podcast 5: Interview with Tom Stanton
• Podcast 4: Interview with LA Jones
• Podcast 3: Interview with Luke Mulholland
• Podcast 2: Interview with Tallan ‘The T-Man’ Noble Latz
• Podcast 1: Interview with Anthony Contreras

Show Notes:

1. Old nylon guitar
2. 1999 Gibson Les Paul Classic
3. Fender Stratocaster
4. Gibson SG
5. Slide Guitar
6. Fender Bullet
7. Leslie West from Mountain
8. Tube Screamer
9. Wah-wah pedal
10. Fender Hot Rod DeVille
11. Fuchs Audio Technology
12. Gregg Allman
13. Highly Kind
14. Arianna Afsar
15. Josh’s Myspace
16. Josh’s Facebook
17. Eric Sardinas
18. Steve Vai
19. Albert King
20. Walter Trout
21. Joe Bonamassa
22. Steely Dan
23. Rhythm Guitar
24. Keith Richards
25. The Rolling Stones
26. Josh Gooch

This week’s review brings me to the ever so fantastic Jackson Randy Rhoads V.  This classic reissue of the original Randy Rhoads Flying V screams aggressive style and prestige.  The RR5 is made of the V shaped alder body, giving you all the screaming tone you could ever want in a V. The neck is a quarter sawn maple through the body, with a thicker profile as you go lower for chording, and a slimmer profile higher up for leads.  The RR5 also has a compound ebony fretboard allowing for chording and sports Jackson’s stylish shark fin inlays throughout the 24 frets.

The RR5 comes with two Seymour Duncan Pickups and a tune-o-matic bridge as well as the Rhoads V-plate for maximum sustain.  The Gotoh/Jackson tuners keep you in tune fairly well, just don’t bend more then 1 ½ steps or it will lose pitch.  The RR5 comes in black or white with either gold or black hardware.  Another  of its cool features include the 12” to 16” compound radius neck which makes it easier to keep the low E-string on the fretboard unlike some of the earlier models.  The Seymour Duncan bridge pickup is the JB-TB-4 while the neck pickup is the Jazz SH-2n.  The RR5 has a 3 way toggle switch and master volume/tone for the bridge and a tone pot for the neck pickup.  Since the RR5 is of the utmost quality it comes with a free SKB Hard-shell case. Which is awesome because trying to find flying V cases can be frustrating as you may already know.

My over all opinion of the fantastic guitar is while it exudes beauty not everyone will be able to just pick it up and rock out.  Maybe it’s just me, but I find that most flying V’s tend to need to be played with finesse on the low E string as it’s easy to push it off the neck.  But this model is better in that regard because of the compound neck.  It has an epic rock and metal tone as it was designed for.  The clean tone is a bit muddy, but for this type of guitar, I can’t imagine you playing on clean tones very often.

This is a great guitar if you are looking for an aggressive sound and look.  I stress that if you are used to playing Fender Strats or late model Les Paul’s, the action on this neck will be troublesome for you as the cut of the neck is right under the high and low E strings, so be careful when bending or heavy vibrato.  The price tag is very expensive which is why I’d recommend this to professionals or collectors, not the jammer.

That’s my rant for the week, till next time keep shredding.

Title track off the album Texas Flood by Stevie Ray Vaughan!

A guitar is not only a musical instrument. Sure, it is capable of filling rhythm, lead and harmony bliss. And once you figure out how to jam on a cool riff, there is something that bonds you to the playability of the wood, strings, metal and paint. If all of the fun one could obtain from a guitar ended right there, that would be okay. But the guitar god’s were very kind to us and they did not stop there. Guitars in all of their various models, shapes and designs are also a work of art.

First a guitar has to be conceived. Someone thinks it up! They draw a sketch and after several revisions, they come up with a final design. The design must be built into a prototype. Wood must be selected, and crafted into shape. Routing, sanding, wiring, painting and after so much labor the guitar is born. The process has been repeated many many times. So many of these times, something truly spectacular has been born. For you it might be a Goldtop Gibson Les Paul Standard or a Vintage Sunburst Fender Stratocaster might be your cup of tea. Maybe you’d prefer an acoustic guitar like a Martin D35 or a 1962 Gibson Hummingbird. Some players get weak by the Fireglo Rickenbacker 330 12-string or the Gretch Country Gentleman. The list goes on and on. The point is, guitars are works of art that should be played and displayed. People who recognize great art enjoy displaying them. If you were the owner of a Picasso you wouldn’t store it in the closet after admiring it throughout the week would you? So here are a few ways to show off that axe for your own enjoyment or to show it off to your friends and family.

1. Guitar wall mounts – There are several types of wall mounts to chose from such as the String Swing and even the Apex Guitar Wall Hanger with Picture Frame!  It is easy, inexpensive and a really cool way to display your guitars. Access to the guitar is quick and it is also one of the best ways to treat your guitar as the balance and weight is distributed to protect that guitar for years of enjoyment. Instructables.com shows the steps involved to install a guitar wall mount, check it out here.

2. Guitar stands – Guitar stands are an easy way to go. They are practical, inexpensive and they are very portable so you can take them to gigs or move them around the house. The nice thing about a guitar stand is it makes it possible to grab the guitar on the fly and offers up protection against damage. I have tried several guitar stands over the years. From the cheapest to the more expensive and although there are so many to chose from, the Hercules product line is my personal favorite.

3. Guitar display cases – If you want to crank it up a bit and treat that guitar like a museum piece, then the guitar display case might be just the way to go. Several companies offer products that essentially frame your guitar for mounting on a wall. Some are large shadow cases that include built in lighting and others are more like a picture frame. Check out Playola Cases to get a good idea of what is available.

4. Guitar display cabinets – Another way to show-off that guitar collection in a way that will really impress is a guitar display cabinet. The only down-side here is that your guitars might not be as easily accessible as other options but you can still grab them when you need ‘em. Access N Sight has a great selection to check out if you are in the market.

5. Guitar rack – For those who are interested in a more utilitarian method of guitar display, check out guitar racks. These offer the ability to store several guitars togther (side-by-side)  in a safe, efficient and easily accessible manner.   Some look very simple and other types are more stylized. Check out Guitar Storage for more info and options.

So as you can see, there are many ways to display your guitar, but just remember to treat her right and she will return the favor!

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