GHOSTLORD

GHOSTLORD : GUITARS

There aren't too many material items that I feel I cant do with out...however, without my guitars, I would not know what to do with free time. Each one means a lot to me and is very different for its own reason. I think there are different songs & riffs in every guitar. I can pick up any of my guitars are play something new with out really giving it much thought.

The Guild: My first guitar. I got it when I was working on the Dark Presence game back in 1996. My bro was moving away to Australia and need some cash. I figured that it would help him out and maybe I could learn to play..for the good of the Ghost of course. Its got a great sound to it but slips tunings (just a little every now & then). The action on it is pretty high. I dont play it too much lately. Only when I really want a different sound. Its got a great black & blue color to it, that I've never seen matched on any other guitar. I really have no way to than my bro enough for selling it to me. I have the Yellow guitar strap with black bats still on it...the same one Jim used.

The Les Paul: This is probably the guitar I play the most. I got it on my birthday back in 1997. Jenny Syzmanski (my girl at the time) was going to buy it for me. We went to Guitar Center and there was a pile of 30 guitars all black and looking pretty much the same. With guitars, I really dont like playing them unless I am really close to buying it. I picked up a few and although they looked nice, I could tell they weren't the right ones. Then I found "THE ONE" and although, I'd never bought a guitar before, it just felt different. I plugged it in and love the sound (although I only had the volume very low, as I was new to guitar still and didn't want to look like a idiot in the store). I couldn't see having Jenny pay that much money on me for my birthday, so I told her I wanted to think about it for another day. The next day me and my Jim (my brother, who was back from Australia) come with to make sure it was as nice as I thought. They had it in back, and they had tuned and cleaned it all up for me. Jim immediatly said it was the one to get. To this day who ever plays it I get nothing but compliments on very thing from sound to just he way it feels! On my Mom's Birthday one year, it got tipped off the stand and the rocker switch broke! I freaked out, until it was fixed. I can't stand not having it in perfect condition. I've got a solid black strap for it..slung real low.

Gibson 6/12 String Double Neck: By this time, I was totally caught up in Jimmy Page's style of guitar playing. I really gained a lot of inspiration from seeing him play...easily the best guitarist ever. I walked into Park Avenue music and there it was! I could not believe it. It was an incredible thing...I'd never really even seen a good 12 string guitar before (I was never really looking) let alone a double neck. It looked just like Jimmy Page's. I took it off the walk and couldn't even bring myself to plug it in as I wasn't sure I could afford it. It weighed a ton, but I didn't put it down for at least an hour. The next day things were REALLY bad with my investors, I was really down. So I decided to take my pay and my 2 friend "Mad Dog" Bill Loulousis & George "Werty Caution" Kepnick out for a little ride. We jumped in my Camaro and drove to Park Ave Music. I didn't tell them what I was getting. They would have given me such a hard time calling me a "Page Wannabe" or something...(is that so wrong to want to be like the best?). On the way there I almost jack knifed my Camaro into traffic, I was that excited. So when we got there, they took it down and handed it to me (I could see Mad Dog's & Werty's eyes rollin'). They finally convinced me to plug it in and that was it. I was leaving with it. BUT I only had a little amp so I had to get a new one. So I got my Marshall amp too and they dropped the price on the guitar a little. I was so happy to have it, I had to have Mad Dog drive home so I could play it in the back seat on the way home. I really began to have some confidence playing by now and the new guitar and amp really brought that out I think. Its a pain to tune the thing, but it sounds so nice. It has such a smooth feel to it and a thick tones. I remember I kept it at the foot of my bed of days and would wake up in the middle of the night just to play it. Michelle didn't even really care that I would wake her up with it I don't think I use a solid black strap for it again.

Fender 6 String Acoustic : I was in the fourth studio and really wanted to have an acoustic track on one of the songs for the game. Me & Michelle (my fiancée at the time) looked everywhere but couldn't find one that I like. until I went into the Sound Post. I sat down in the acoustic room and from the first strum, knew that I didn't need to look any further. It had an incredible tone to it and played very nice. I play this a lot now when I'll trying to think of a new riff. I usually play it in my stair well or outside on my roof. I don't use a strap for it cause, if I'm playing acoustic, I just like to relax.

The Dan Electro: I saw an add for the re-release of Jimmy Page's Dan Electro and knew I had to have one. This was the guitar he used for Ten Years Gone...one of my favorites. I had finally gotten my house in order and the music room set up, so this was going to be the first new guitar to go in it! I was told I was not going to be able to get the black & white version as it was going to be very limited and the first batch, was only going to have 1 in that style. But after a few emails, I was told, that I could have it! I also got a really good price break because I prepaid for it. I bought a all black strap for it but wanted to customize it so it would be different then the other straps. So before the guitar even arrived, I embroidered my Japanese Ahmea symbol on it. Its got a solid sound, but not as thick as the Les Paul's. The neck it pretty thin as well, and it overall is light, and easy to have on for hours at a time. The strings are very far apart which is good for picking songs. Its not one I play a lot, but when I do, I always think I should be playing it more.

The Les Paul Transperformance: Back in 1998 I saw Jimmy Page playing a gold top guitar with some kind of weird buttons on it. I asked around and no one knew what I was talking about. After watching him in concert, I noticed that the strings were changing tones as he pressed the buttons! After scouring the web, I found out it was a new enhancement called the L-Cat, by Transperformance. It allowed a guitar to change tunings on the fly! Hearing this made me thing of all the possible tunings I could try that never have because its always a pain to change tunings, I'd eventaully just go back to the standard tuning anyways, but with this, it would be a different story. I got in touch with the Transperformance company and found out that they were very new and not even set up to take orders yet. I kept in close touch and decided, even though it was expensive, I had to have one. So I started looking for the perfect guitar for it to go on. I finally decided to go with a Les Paul Cherry Sunburst. I went to EVERY store, and saw a TON of guitars, but with a sun burst, the wood grains all look different and most of them didn't apply to me. So I kept looking and kept saving my money. Me and Michelle would go out every weekend (she was cool like that) just looking for the one. FINALLY we went to Guitar Center, there was nothing worth my time on the floor, but I asked if they had any other Cherry Sun Burst Les Pauls in the back. The guy came out with an UNOPENED box. I opened it, and it was the NICEST guitar I'd ever seen. The burst was perfect, the wood grain was perfect. I took it out of the box, it felt perfect. I plugged it in, and its sound was amazing! We were in the car heading home with it within minutes (easiest sale that guy had in a long time). I didn't want to play it too much since to me this was the guitar that was going to get the transperformance, and it seemed incomplete. After a week, I plugged it in to tune it up, and all of the sudden, I got tons of feedback. This persisted for a long time. I was going to have to take it in to be fixed. I took it in to Guitar Center and the guy said the pick up needed to be rewaxed and he would have it back within a week. I was hesitant as I heard that Transperformance was going to taking prepayments within a few weeks and then they would need the guitars. But I had to have it done so I gave them the go ahead. A week went by and I was back at Guitar Center with my claim ticket, but my guitar was not there. After hours of calling everyone, they said it was gone. I was very upset. And told them they had to return my guitar within 2 days or my lawyer was going to get a call (and I don't bring up my lawyer in jest). Within a few hours, they had found my guitar and low & behold they already fixed it and I could come get it anytime. When I picked it up, the guy said it was the nicest sunburst he had ever seen (thoughts of him playing it in a concert for the past week jumped through my head.) For my inconvience, he offered me setups for all my guitars. But it was back and sounded great! Then I received word from Transperformance there was another delay, but they were accepting payments. I overnighted them the payment and they said mine was the first to get there and the only one to pay in full. At this time I got my Fender 12 String Acoustic. Finally they said they were ready to take the guitars. I packed it up and sent it out overnight. Mine was the first to get there! So mine was going to be the first FULL PRODUCTION MODELED TRANSPERFORMANCE GUITAR!! I'd be before Eddie Van Halen, Rod Stewart's guitarist, Joe Perry, and AC/DCs guitarist. Me, just some guy who isn't even in a band!! The Transperformance basically, they cut the guitar, hollow it out and put a LCD screen, 12 push buttons, and 6 motors and a mini computer! It can hold hundreds of tunings and can change within a second! Its really amazing! And quite too! I heard Eddie Van Halen got the second & third guitars, but both were wrecked in shipping! Mine made it back to me with only the rocker switch broken, which I quickly glued back to get here. after 2 years I FINALLY had the TRANSPERFORMANCE! I plugged it in,, and it tuned itself! I quickly added all my favorite Zep tunings! Its really unbelievable, how nice this guitar looks & plays. I am pretty selective about who I let play it, even more so then my other guitars. I had to send it in once to get a tune up, but the great people at Transperformance hooked me up with a battery pack for free! And I got a call for the guy who did the tune up who said it was the nicest sunburst he had ever seen. I play it a lot and really have gained a lot of creativity from it. Changing tunings can be like starting over almost. There are so many new possibilities. I have a all black strap for it cause it looked great with the burst!

Fender 12 String Acoustic: I purchased this from Guitar Center on Halloween of 1999. I had just broken up with Michelle, which was very sad. And I had also just finished Blue Screening (a 2 year effort for the good of the Ghost). I needed to get out and even though I had thought about buying a 12 string acoustic it was really more of a gift to myself. Its got a great sound to it...very full. Again I dont use a strap with it like my other acoustic. The neck it pretty fat but plays very smooth. I usually end up playing softer/slower songs with it, just due to the things it makes me thing of when I got it. It is the same style as the other acoustic so they look like quite the set together.

Gibson Black Beauty: After buying the Led Zeppelin DVD set I saw Jimmy Page using a guitar I didnt even know he had. My B-day of 2003 was right around the corner so I had my sister & Mom pay for the guitar (I won it off Ebay) Upon getting it I had it customized with a BIG BRIAR Whammy Tremolo bar (put on by the guy at Sound Education) I changed the gold tuning heads to chrome fast stringing locking tuning heads. Also I changed the pickup covers to chrome and the knows to chrome with crosses on them. I use a black strap on it. Its a sweet guitar, and the triple pickups allow from a broad array of tones.

MY OTHER MUSIC STUFF

Mandolin: I picked this up in an antique shop in Poland when I was there with Michelle. She asked the man working how much it was, and he said it was only for display. She talked him into selling it to me for $18! Michelle is cool like that. I didnt put it down for the rest of the trip to Germany. I played in a mall and was told to stop playing or they were going to kick us out...they thought I was playing for tips. Its an old 8 string mandolin, its not in the best shape, and it falls out of tune every now & then, but its still fun to play. Its a little warped and has a bad fret or two but, every time I play it it makes me think of how much fun Germany was.

OVATION Mandolin: I got this with money from my sister on my B-day in 2001. I won it on Ebay at a good price. Its acoustic/electric and is really fun to play. Its got a spider web strap on it right now.

Theremin: I'm not every skilled with the theremin. I picked it up online a few years ago. Of course Jimmy Page plays one. Its fun to mess around with, but I wished I spent more time with it and actually learned it. The Theremin is a box with 4 knobs and 2 metal rods on it. It makes a feedback "squaking" sound that changes in tone the closer you get to it. The other rod makes it get louder the further away you move your hand.

Echoplex: I use this with the Theremin. Mine is an early 1970s model (By chance, its the same kind Page uses) Its basically a box that records and replays sounds, great for making layered guitar effects. You can also use the slide to bend & distort everything. Really fun, but again I dont use it much

Bad Ass Bass II: This was given to me by Werty Caution. (I dont know if I should thank him for that or not) He left it in the second studio for me to work on music with (for the good of the Ghost). I do play it often, but only when no one is around.

RP 6 - My Effects board...it was give to me by my brother. I think he regretted giving it to me....he thought it gave off a buzzing noise but when I plugged it in, there was no buzz. It was a great B-Day present though.

MDMX CD 4 Mach 2 - My recording deck. Its a 4 track digital setup very nice & uses mini Discs! This was bought for use on the Dark Presence game. I still need to learn to use it better.

EBOW - On Thanksgiving of 2002, I woke up to being very sick. The night before Jim had told me I would probably really like using a EBow and it was a pretty unique thing. So Guitar Center opened early, so feeling sick and all I drove out and stood in line until they opened. I got my Ebow and drove home to use it for the first time. I picked up my Transperformance and turned on the Ebow and started getting an awesome sound and messed around with it for a little bit. Then started to think: How cool this things shoots a electromagnetic signal to vibrate the strings....very cool. Wait...shoots electro magnetic signals? shoots electromagnetic signals into my computer controlled Transperformance? DAMN IT. Long story short, I had to re programmer everything into it.

Looks like a drum kit: I start playing the drums in the 4th studio when I took Kevin Pasons drum kit away from him for lying about work he wasnt doing...long story. Anyways...I loved playing them even though I was REALLY bad at them. I was loud though, I could be heard over a block away I was told. I had to sell my drums so I could afford to go see Michelle in Germany. I couldnt afford a new kit for a long time, but eventually I decided I had to have a kit. I ran out and bought a cheap kit from Guitar Center. A snare, 2 Toms, Bass (with the double pedal cause you know someone who cant play drums needs a double kick pedal) a high hat, Floor Tom and a Crash. Mad Dog helped me set the kit up and when he logged on the manufactures website, it said "Get the Look and Sound of a real Drum kit" and had some dopey ass kid playing them....he laughed at me for quite a while for that. So what...Its still a good starter kit, and I've greatly improved my drummin skills, but I'm still a guitarist foremost.