Acousticfury

Spandex #1

2005-11-03T09:48:00.000-08:00

Okay - By popular request - for your amusement and my chagrin - Bill Sutherland in spandex. How embarrasing.

Spandex #2

2005-11-03T09:38:00.000-08:00

More spandex. Check out the placement of my wireless guitar transmitter (below my left hand.) I attached to the back of my guitar so it would not get in the way when I threw the guitar up into the air. Once while playing "warm-up act" for the band Styrper I nearly bounced this guitar off the ceiling at Memorial Auditorium and caught it perfectly. Other nights were not so graceful and I would end up catching the guitar after it bounced off of my head or groin (ouch.) I have never, contrary to popular belief, been knocked unconscious while attempting to catch my guitar on the way down. I never ever dropped it, I did miss a few notes doing it though...

Barn Party B&W Photo early 1980's

2005-11-03T08:21:00.000-08:00

This shot was taken at a barn party in the early 80's. I remember this gig as being one of the best concerts I had ever played. I think there were maybe twenty people there. I had forgotten my strap and had to play seated the entire time. The guitar was a Dean "ML" I got from Dean Zalinsky personally. This guitar went on to become Dime Bag Darrell's (of Pantera) main axe. I guess I have made more of a mark in rock & roll history than I realize. No wait they shot Dime Bag during concert didnt' they? I did not have anything to do with rock & roll history...

Bill Sutherland onstage with "Spinal Tap" aka Matrix/Bride

2005-11-03T08:15:00.000-08:00

This photograph never fails to make me laugh aloud. It looks so much like the legendary rock band "Spinal Tap" one of my biggest influences - second only to "THE OUTERLOOP BAND! (who are actually more like my biggest influenza.) This shot was actually taken one Easter morning at my fathers church (NOT!) Thanks to Scott H. for digging these pictures out of the vault and dusting them off for me.

Revelator Headstock

2005-10-25T14:22:00.000-07:00

The "Revelator" headstock. The result of an hour of sheer boredom in 7th grade study hall. The "Revelator" was going to be my guitar line, secure my place in rock and all music history, make me a millionare, enable me to take over the world and with a little luck, maybe score with a chick...

Revelator Acoustic volume knob

2005-10-25T14:19:00.000-07:00

The non-functional yet elegant faux-volume knob. If you have the means I would highly reccomend one...

The Revelator Acoustic front closeup

2005-10-25T14:17:00.000-07:00

Here is a nice front shot of the "Revelator" acoustic I built in the 7th grade circa 1973. Please take a moment to appreciate the off center soundhole which originally contained a stereo speaker which was used as a pickup and the cabinet pull which served as a "volume knob"

The Revelator acoustic.

2005-10-25T14:06:00.000-07:00

I built this guitar in the 7th grade - that would have been around 1973 I guess. I did not know how to bend wood so I came up with a design that would allow me to construct the guitar using all angle cuts. Unfortunately I knew nothing of bridge and saddle placement at the time so it is way out of intonation. The sound hole was cut big enough to allow me to install a speaker I got out of a television set that I found in a dump were I used to ride my bike. It severed nicely as pickup but was removed later to use in some other "experiment" I was doing at the time. The knob is actually a cabinet door pull I also found at the dump and provided the guitar with an non-functional yet elegant faux-volume knob! While the other kids were struggling to make a wall sconce for their mom I was busy trying to start my own line of guitars - "The Revelator!" It bears more than passing resemblance to an electric guitar I built about 20 years later - and with perfect intonation I might add!

2005-10-25T13:54:00.000-07:00

I built this electric guitar in 1995 or so. Considering the life it has led on the road it is in remakably good condition. The body is Mahogany with a Zebrawood top (Zebrawood has a tone similar to ash/maple) The neck is made of Walnut and has an unfinished Maple fretboard. The guitar is very dark sounding but thanks to the mixture of woods chosen it also has a nice pronounced top end and a very defined mid range punch. It has been a good guitar guitar and has never let me down on stage or in the studio. Thanks to the trick wiring of the pickups - Al DiMeola bridge (DiMarzio) and a PAF Pro in the neck (also DiMarzio) it is capable of providing me with both "Fender Stratish" tones and "Gibsonesque Les Paul" sounds as well. The inverted Pre-CBS style strat headstock gives me a little extra sustain and I like the tension it gives to the strings - the little "E" string is shorter than the lower "E" string - normally it is the other way around but this set up is really more appropriate for the string tensions I think. I believe it is one of the little things that made Jimi's tone sound like it did. I think the slight similarities between this guitar and the one I built in 7th grade are kind of funny. Zebrawood-like grain, custom knob, custom wiring, somethings never change...

Zebrawood guitar closeup of controls

2005-10-25T13:47:00.000-07:00

A nice closeup of the Rosewood knob, threeway pickup selector switch, tone switch and coil-tap switch. The tone switch is an idea I stole from an old Gretsch guitar I used to have. It is a three way switch with the middle position wired open (no tone shaping) the up position adds a .22 microfarad cap for a nice throaty tone shape and the down position setting of the swith incorporates a.44 microfard cap that is very dark and creamy when activated. It is easy to wire and allows me to quicly and accurately hit the tone position I need. This is real handy when I am playing the E-bow!

Zebrawood Guitar Front perspective

2005-10-25T13:41:00.000-07:00

I built this guitar around 1995 or so. It has a Mahogany body with Zebrawood top. The neck is made of Walnut with a unfinished Maple fretboard. The knobs are made out of Rosewood. The controls are as follows: Two Volume knobs, a threeway pickup selector switch, coil-tap switch and an idea I stole from an old Gretsch guitar I had - a tone switch!

2005-08-04T13:42:00.000-07:00

An early version of the Big Tone Generator. Probably around V.12 I think. Currently I am running on V.22. Rack components are the same but wired a little differently. Both pedal baoards have been built and modified with quick connect "ELCO" connectors. The speakers have changed - I just could not get everything in my Jeep with the big speakers! You gotta dig that vocal side looper pedal board - velcro baby! I wish my stage was this clean - in heaven everything will be wireless. I will put some updated Big Tone Generator pictures up soon. Everything is basically the same except the vocal side pedal board is finished (matches guitar side footboard) and the speakers are different.

2005-08-04T13:36:00.000-07:00

Front shot of Acoustic Rig Big Tone Generator. From top to bottom. Top rack: Monster Power AC Conditioner - filters out all kinds of noise from the AC line plus you can turn everything off and on with just one switch. ADA Digitizer 4 Delay - my main delay repeat hold unit. It is set to very precise time intervals and then I build longer loops from there. TC Electronic M2000 for guitar reverbs TC Electronic M2000 for vocal reverbs. Samson mixing board - very basic just treble and bass (which I leave flat) and volume control. All of my tone shaping is done via the TC Electronic 2240 Parametric EQ units. TC Electronic 1210 Spatial Expander. Top TC Electronic 2240 channel 1 parametric for Trance Audio Lens pickup, TC Electronic 2240 channel 2 for the Sunrise magnetic field pickup. Bottom TC Electronic 2240 parametric EQ channel 1 for Harp Guitar, electric Hamster Cage, Musical saw and Theremin. TC Electronic 2240 parametric EQ channel 2 for vocal microphone. Insert panel for quick cable hook ups (and tear downs). Lower Rack: Furman power conditioner (with lights on, SWEET!) Sabine stereo EQ for house speakers. Mesa Boogie Strategy 500 tube power amp - 250 watts per side of pure beautiful tube tone. Weighs a ton but no matter how many times I try to get away from the tubes I always go back, it just sounds right!

2005-08-04T13:10:00.000-07:00

A close up of the guitar side looping footboard. From top to bottom: Upper deck left side ADA FS-2 - controls bypass and repeat hold functions of the ADA Digitizer 4 delay unit. Upper deck right side - ADA DS-4 allows choice of 1 of 4 delay presets. Middle deck - Boomerang looper pedal. Lower deck from left to right: Off/On for TC Electronics 1210 / Bypass for ADA Digitizer 4 / Repeat hold for ADA Digitizer 4 / Bypass for guitar M2000 / Bypass for vocal M2000. I made the lower deck out of an aluminum door threshhold I found at Home Depot - looks very nice I think.

2005-08-04T13:01:00.001-07:00

TACKY! This is the original working version of the Vocal side looping footboard. From top to bottom: Blue Pedal upper left corner Boss Harmonizer - used only for doubling my voice, all of my harmonies are done live. Tan pedal middle center Boss EQ used originally to recreate a nasally AM radio kind of sound I have recently started using it as a boost to shore up the softer whispery vocals that need help. Grey pedal right top DOD direct box to break the 1/4" plug down to an XLR balanced send to the board. Lower left pedal FS-5U tap tempo pedal. By tapping this in time with the music I can set the delay repeat time to be in sync with the song. Big green pedal Line 6 delay. This is what I use to stack hatmonies and build ambient rhythms. The buttons tend to want to stick so you have to watch it. I have found that wiping the swithes down with a little guitar polish does wonders - the silicone I suppose. Also I carry my stage shoes in a little leather bag and do not put them on until I am ready to play that way I do not accidentally get dirt and "crud" down into the pedal switches plus I have an excellent excuse to carry around a little leather bag! Lower right creme pedal Boss Delay. Lower right dark red pedal Octaver for guitar for when low just is'nt low enough. I ran with this version until I was sure what pedals and the order of them I was going to use.

2005-07-27T10:48:00.000-07:00

The Koa wood Takamine with banjo stops. Front view.

2005-07-27T10:46:00.000-07:00

The Koa wood Takamine closeup of top Rossette and 12th fret marker inlay.

2005-07-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

Check out the 12th fret position marker. Laser cut to perfection. I think it looks like a "Space Invader" from the old arcade game.

2005-07-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

Solid Koa wood back and sides - beautiful, I hear it is on the endangered wood list now. Koa is from Hawaii and really seems to come alive when you tune down a little bit. No wonder the Hawaiian players discovered the "Slack Key" method of guitar playing! Hard to see but you might notice the center line of the back matches the Rossette design around the soundhole. Classy. Dig that Koa wood grain, sometimes I look at it and weep. I tend to do that with J-lo's backside as well.

2005-07-27T10:14:00.000-07:00

The off set saddles make for a better intonated instrument and also give greater clarity and definition between the wound and unwound strings. I have the treble side wired seperate from the bass side so i can play in stereo. This effect coupled together with the banjo tuners glissing notes up and down makes for some very interesting textures and really exagerates the suggestion of two "different" people playing at the same time. I guess there are really, me and my split personality...

2005-07-27T10:10:00.000-07:00

The Rossette is made of Koa, Ebony and Pearl. The pieces are cut very precisely with lasers and then put together like puzzle pieces. Beautiful.

2005-07-27T10:06:00.000-07:00

A front shot of the Koa Takamine headstock. I like the amber pearloid machine heads but where are the other three?

2005-07-27T10:04:00.000-07:00

A view of the headstock from the guitarists (me) perspective. Banjo tuners on the treble side and "conventional" tuners on the bass side.

2005-07-27T10:02:00.000-07:00

A close up of the Banjo tuners with the two (1 black, 1 gold) stop points. The stop points allow a musician to tune up to a pitch, lock the point and then tune down to a specific pitch and lock its point. Now, in theory, you can gliss back and forth between the two pitches very quickly and dare I say "accurately"? Also shown are the Takamine "HAP" tuners. The hole in the middle of the "HAP" tuner allows the player to "unlock" the cap stan of the tuner and adjust its height up or down and by doing so affect the tension of individual strings. Sad to say but Takamine no longer offers these tuners. I don't think many guitarists realized what they did. Lucky for me I bought up a small "stash" before they were all gone. heeheehee...

2005-07-06T17:33:00.000-07:00

A beautiful shot of the harp guitar. My wife loves the aesthetic of this guitar and when company is coming over she often asks me to place it in our dining room so everyone can see it. Sometimes I just sit and stare at it. Sometimes when my wife is gone I dress it up in her naughty underthings and sit and stare at it. Okay, maybe I just made that last bit up. Maybe...

2005-07-06T17:28:00.000-07:00

In the sound hole you can see the magnetic field pickup that captures the string energy of the guitar side of the harp guitar. If you look at the left side of the pickup you can see an appenditure coming off it and pointing down into the guitar, this the "arm" of a choir microphone meant to reference the acoustic cavity of the instrument. I have since moved on to a Sunrise magnetic field pickup (the best) and the Trance Amulet Lens system (also the best). At the time this picture was taken there were 2) Magnetic Field pickups on the sub bass side, 6) hex-a-phonic pickups on the bridge of the guitar side, 1) magnetic field pickup in the sound hole of the guitar side, and 1) Choir microphone inside of the guitar. You think I am serious about nailing the guitars tone? You better believe it!

2005-07-06T17:17:00.000-07:00

I try to play this guitar at least twice a day to keep my fingers in shape for it. The sub bass strings tend to blister your fingers if you do not keep them toughened up for it plus the co-ordination involved in playing both necks simultaneously is rather difficult.

2005-07-06T17:13:00.000-07:00

It was hard to find pickups thin enough to slip under the sub bass strings. These are actually "Floating Jazz Guitar" pickups that I modified to use on the harp guitar. I had to use two of them in a slightly staggered position to cover all of the bass strings. There are two small holes drilled beneath each pickup for the wiring. Ouch!

2005-07-06T17:08:00.000-07:00

A up close and personal look at the "hex-a-phonic" pickups on the guitar side of the harp guitar. These pickups offer amazing clarity and string seperation. At the time of this writing I have since moved onward (and upwards!) to the Trance Audio Amulet system which I believe to be the best for the honest reproduction of acoustic guitar tone. I did like the hex pickups quite a bit though, my main beef with them is they did not reference the wood volume of the guitars body which is real important when you slap around on it for percussive effects. I plan on using the hex pickups on the sub bass side of the harp guitar that is currently being built for me, I think they will be perfect for that.

2005-07-06T16:57:00.000-07:00

A backwards glance at the headstock from behind. I still get confused sometimes when I try to tune this guitar because it is so easy to grap the wrong tuning machine! Fortunately this out of tune-ness goes nicely with my out of tune vocals! The sub bass headstock tuners were modified with Schaller banjo tuning pegs - kind of pricey but well worth it.

2005-07-06T16:54:00.000-07:00

A close up of the two Harp Guitar headstocks. Look closely and you may be able to see where the sub bass headstock actually attaches to the guitar side headstock via a metal bracket. Care must be taken when restringing because the release of string tension causes the headstocks to "drift" apart about a 1/4". The guitar side headstock tuners were modified with Godin tuning machines. Thank you to the folks at Godin who were kind enough to send those to me.

2005-07-06T16:50:00.000-07:00

A nice close up of the Sub Bass Headstock Tuner and "nut". I made the nut by taking an ebony strap button and filing a groove in the top of it just wide enough to wedge a piece of bone saddle material. It worked like a champ and greatly improved the guitars tuning stability and tone.

2005-06-22T14:30:00.000-07:00

Sometimes this guitar comes to me when I am asleep and lay dreaming. It floats me up and takes me to visit Jimi Hendrix and Michael Hedges. Then I wake up. (sigh).

2005-06-22T14:21:00.000-07:00

The Dixon Sustainer Acoustic Full Frontal perspective. My black beauty I picked up for $20 bucks. This guitar had one of the most perfect necks I have ever come across and I picked it up for cheap. Whoa baby! I feel an experiment in tone modification comin' on!

2005-06-22T14:17:00.000-07:00

A rather boring shot of the back of the Dixon Sustainer guitar.

2005-06-22T14:16:00.000-07:00

Dixon Sustainer Acoustic. The sustainer pickups work as an electro-magnet which allows a musician to sustain a note or a chord for as long as they please. Infinite sustain! Imagine the possiblities when employing a two-handed playing technique. I had to use extra caution when routing for the bridge pickup as it had to be placed (inconveniently) right over the "X-brace" of the guitars top. Heard but not seen: EMG under the saddle transducer pickup.

2005-06-22T13:48:00.000-07:00

A nice sideview perspective of the sustainer circuit controls. One switch by the heel of the neck turns the sustainer on and off, the other controls the mode of the sustainer. You can sustain the original note (the fundamental) or the harmonic of the note. In the middle position you can start with the fundamental and let it disipate into the harmonic. The other controls on the side are volume, tone and pickup selector switch.

2005-06-21T10:38:00.000-07:00

M&M Takamine Acoustic. Full frontal Yum Yum! Once briefly considered for the guitar role in "Chocolat" starring Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche,(Johnny Depp actually played guitar in three scenes, he is from Kentucky you know...) but Ms. Binoche felt like it clashed with her hair colour or something... Ah so close, and yet, still so far.

M&M Takamine Acoustic. Closeup of body.

2005-06-21T10:31:00.000-07:00

M&M Takamine Acoustic. Melts in your ears and hands - but not in your mouth! Tonefully delicious! (not.)

M&M Takamine Acoustic. Closeup of bridge and pickguard.

2005-06-21T10:29:00.000-07:00

M&M Takamine. Closeup of bridge and "pickguard". The "pickguard" is showing some little signs of wear but after 7 years I am impressed that the candy and its coating has held up this long. Check out the "Fung-shwe" mis-matching of string pegs on the bridge. That's art!

M&M Takamine Acoustic. Closeup of headstock.

2005-06-21T10:27:00.000-07:00

M&M Takamine Acoustic. Closeup of the assymetrical (emphasis on "ass") tuner configuration. A conglomeration of various tuners over the years. Note the vintage shrunken tuner on the "B" string.

2005-06-18T08:09:00.000-07:00

Washburn "Brunette" close up of the "Stevens Extended Cutaway". This was such a great idea - complete access all the way up the neck and into the body. I do not know why the stopped production of this instrument. "KIll the beast, the beast must die!" - B-movie actor Richard Steele from the movie "The Monster Guitar From Planet Q".

2005-06-18T08:02:00.000-07:00

Washburn "Brunette" Headstock. Slightly burnt but none worse for the wear.

2005-06-18T07:59:00.000-07:00

Washburn "Brunette" backside. I had to remove the back of the guitar's body to remove and modify the bracing. The strat style backplate was added in case repair work was ever needed on the electronics. The entire cavity of the guitar is coated with a sheilding paint that is no longer available on the market (I think it caused cancer in lab animals or for people to become involved in politics or something horrible like that...) An interesting phenomenon I discovered while working on this guitar was that the top vibrated different notes (frequencies) in different areas of the top. To help defeat feedback I turned the guitar up real loud and let it feedback while tracing my fingers lightly over the top to feel where the vibrations had gone out of control. I then marked this area under the top and added varying amounts of "envirotex", a two-part epoxy mixture to deaden these "hot spots". This guitar sounds like a million bucks! Imagine a guitar that is so clean sounding it hurts your teeth but add a little distortion to it and it will peel your face off. Ah the perfect blend of Hannibal Lectur and Eric Johnson! If I could only keep one guitar from my arsenal of happy mutants this would probably be the one. Affectionately nicknamed "The Beast" by my roadcrew this guitar weighs in at a svelt 15 pounds! This is probably why I am built like Arnold Schwarzenegger (not).

2005-06-18T07:43:00.000-07:00

Washburn "Brunette" A really good shot of the burn plate and "torchered" headstock.

2005-06-18T07:42:00.000-07:00

Washburn "Brunette" Upclose of humbuckers and tremolo. Notice how I cut away the original bridge to make room for the new!

2005-06-18T07:38:00.000-07:00

Washburn "Brunette" closeup of back of burnt headstock. The "burn plate" was located on the bass side of the headstock and was made of a piece of metal shelving and two alligator clips. There was an air gap between the burn plate and the headstock so the damage seen is actually much less than it would appear - primarily smoke damage. Please do not attempt this, it is dangerous and I did get burned from time to time. Ouch!

2005-06-18T07:33:00.000-07:00

Washburn "Brunette" upclose of headstock "Burn-Plate". For a cheap thrill in concert I would attach a peice of cloth to the headstock, pour lighter fluid on it and then catch it on fire. Very entertaining but in retro-spect in light of the Great White Club fire tragedy, a very stupid thing to do. It was still fun though. Ah stupidity is blissfulness!

2005-06-18T07:30:00.000-07:00

Washburn "Brunette" close-up of Tremolo.