If you’d be interested in doing some guitar lessons (in-person or online) or learning/talking one-on-one about guitar tone and gear, email me at nathanwrightmusic [AT] gmail [DOT] com

• Invest in YOUR local church – Be present where God has put you. There’s always a need in the church and you’re called to do your part in the Body of Christ. Don’t just serve or earn a paycheck, but give wholehearted. If it’s not costing you, you’re not serving.
• Let God lead you – It’s possible that God can be calling you to move past a dream and into a better reality that He has for you. If your number one dream and desire is to follow God wherever he leads, you can’t go wrong.
• Don’t wait for God to do it all for you – God orchestrates everything, but that doesn’t mean you sit around and wait on Him to do everything. Work hard. Be driven and proactive.
• Don’t give up – From lots of people I’ve talked to, sometimes timing is just off. If you don’t give up, God could always open a door later.

I start playing with a guy when he’s getting offers from different labels, but for some reason nothing ever falls into place. Someone calls me to play with them that could easily have me busy every week all over the country, but it’s not only up to us and those above in management can’t make it happen. Prior commitments prevent me from being able to play with them that one time they ask me and I’m never asked again. Someone else is just a better fit playing with them…then they get signed.

Everyone misses opportunities. I’m not the only one. And you aren’t either. And considering where I’m at now, it’s obvious that none of those have worked out.

I’m grateful for that.

These guys have been part of the David Crowder Band for years and now that they’ve called it quits, these guys have been building a studio and are now making music again. And wow…it’s great!

Check it out here!

I remember being a senior in high school and writing on Xanga (yes, remember Xanga? about how I had finally figured out what I wanted to do with my life. Remember, I played guitar in middle & high school, but really just acoustic and really only at my church and my school’s praise bands. I liked music, but wasn’t really doing anything with it. My senior year, I decided to quit sports (which I had always done and was kind of known for doing) and focus on music. I had started a band that would eventually become Six Piece Suit and really wanted to focus on finding other guys to play with us and starting to get around. I started working on playing electric some then too.

I remember sitting at my family’s desktop and posting to Xanga this post:
“It’s so clear…I want to do music for the rest of my life. I want to tour around the country playing and leading others in worship. I don’t want to do anything but serve the Lord and play music…why wouldn’t I do this?”

I had no idea what that necessarily meant. Or that I’d be posting this 6 years later. In some ways, I’ve been able to do this on a much smaller scale. Of course you always want things to last longer, be more successful, but it’s pretty cool to see God’s faithfulness in that because that’s the only way I can look back and smile about this.

But I haven’t “made it” in music. I am not signed to a label or playing enough to support my family on any of that income. If I was honest, I’ve had a few potentially life-changing opportunities that have just fallen through…one of which happened in the last month…

To Be Continued:
Check Out “[Part 2]: A Missed Opportunity” Coming Soon…

Well apparently EHX has answered with a new version called the Deluxe Memory Man Tap Tempo 550. It’s essentially the new blue DMM they started making last year that I have (which they have now titled the Deluxe Memory Man Tap Tempo 1100), but has less delay time since the NOS IC’s are harder to come by. It’s still using some NOS IC’s, just not the same as the 1100′s. And they’re green…which is kind of weird, but kind of cool. I like it.

One of the dealers I use a lot has some of these in stock and they are cheaper than the 1100 as well. Hopefully this will be a good alternative to the harder-to-find and more expensive DMM-TT 1100.

So I’d be interested in hearing how anyone who grabs one likes it and how it compares in sound to the 1100. Leave a comment and let me know! I may have to have some Deluxe Memory MEN.

Here’s my current pedalboard. It’s a Pedaltrain PT-3…a little bigger than a PT-2, but smaller than a PT-Pro or my old Showcase board. Most of the pedals are the same ones I’ve been using, just missing out on a few. I did get a Deluxe Memory Man with tap tempo…sounds dreamy.

The weirdest thing about this board is all the delays really. I know delay is “the thing”, but here’s how I’m using it:

• The Memory Man is my main delay…almost always on. Subtle delay with some modulation and a decent amount of feedback.
• The first DD-5 is what I use for dotted eighth stuff…mostly. It just sounds better than the DD-20 to me. Always has. It has a tap at the bottom.
• The DD-20 is what I’ll use for any other kinds of delays. I really like being able to program out tempos ahead of time using it. I have an attempt at the DD-5 dotted eighth sound to program out tempos, a mod delay that sounds a lot different than the Memory Man, a cool preset for swells and a few others.
• The second DD-5 is really on there only because I still had some leftover space after I put everything I wanted on. I leave it at a cool reverse setting that I use for swells.

Anyways, that’s what I’m running and doing now.

This is what James is playing through around February-March 2012. Here’s the pedals (not certain on the signal chain):

• This1sMyne Mini Buffer (under the board) – he has used the JHS buffer before too
• JHS modded MXR Dyna Comp
• Walrus Audio Voyager – I’ve heard a lot of great things about this company and this overdrive
• Ibanez Handwired TS808 – heard he doesn’t like this as much as his TS-9, but it’s currently broken
• Paul Cochrane Timmy
• JHS Morning Glory – another lighter gain overdrive, as he’ll stack them to reach a higher gain stage
• Cusack Tap-A-Whirl – he does some killer trem stuff
• Goodrich Volume – made better and sounds better than the Ernie Ball
• Analogman Mini Chorus – a new addition for him…be interesting to hear how he uses it
• EHX Deluxe Memory Man with tap tempo (w/ mini expression pedal) – I love this delay so much
• Boss DD20 (with tap)
• Boss Tuner
• Boss RV5

He also uses a Micro POG, Walrus Audio Deep Six Compressor or Kent Pedals TRANNY boost sometimes. James’ board is a Pedaltrain PT-3 put together by Motley Customs and made with Voodoo Lab supplies and Lava cables.

James plays a Revelator S (Strat), an American Strat, a ’52 reissue Tele, a ’66 Mustang and a Gretsch Anniversary Hollowbody. He mainly plays through Matchless Chieftain and a Trainwreck Rocket Clone.

For more on James’ gear, check out this post on his blog. Here’s a demo video Travis from Motley Customs made of James playing:

We’ve all experienced a time when we’ve been told to turn down our amp. It happened to me last weekend at a church we were leading at. Sound guy tells me I’m not in the house much because it’s too loud on stage, but he doesn’t understand that I don’t have a master volume switch and I’m compromising my tone. Neither of us can win.

We’ve all been there. You can try to put the amp backstage, in a closet or a cool soundproofed box with insulation all over, but if it’s not there or available…it’s a tough place to be. That’s why I love the idea behind this IC-1.

It’s an isolation box…and a cab. Simply run your speaker cable to it, plug in, mount the mic inside, shut it and go. It’s got a mic clip and mount, jacks for you to plug in your speaker cable, and XLR, pyramid foam for insulation, and even a speaker included (Eminence Private Jack…I’ve had one before and liked it, especially for the price!).  You don’t even have to have a head to use this cab, you can run it from your combo out of the speaker jack! And the best part is that it’s portable. You don’t have to be at church, but anywhere you go, you can have this with you and not compromise that tone you need and desire.

This seems like a no-brainer and easy winner for anyone who is tired of having this volume problem and having to compromise tone. Check out Pursuit Custom Audio’s IC-1 Isolation Cab!

just kidding…had to do that with a title like that one!

Seriously though, I played with Chris Orr outside of Birmingham this weekend and it was a great weekend. Ty was back playing keys with us (first time out on the road since we’ve started working together) and my brother, Avery, played drums too. It was a great weekend. It rained most of Saturday and Sunday, and we were ready to get home after the Sunday morning services. We tore down quickly and got everything by the door to wait for the trailer to be pulled up. Then it happened…

We were going for a record time of packing the trailer. I think we got it all out of the church and into the trailer in three minutes. I was the one packing in the trailer nicely and a few others were bringing the gear out. I got the Duesenberg, but someone must have overlooked my Tele in my Incase case.

We got the phone call when we were probably 45 minutes or so down the road and had just finished lunch. We could’ve gone back but Chris had to go back in the next few weeks anyways and I could make due with the Duesenberg. I tweeted asking if anyone was able to bring it from Birmingham to Atlanta and I had quite a few responses. So hopefully my friend Michael will bring it back to me tonight.

It’s not that I didn’t have it and thought I wouldn’t get it back…it was the fact that it was left that made me feel so bad. Almost like leaving a kid somewhere. You may get them back perfectly fine, but YOU still left them.

Am I the only one who has left a guitar or piece of gear behind?