DEMO Shut up and play yer BIRD. (Firebird pickup content)

[MichaelW]

Well, it dipped down into the 30'S again this weekend in Florida. Too cold in the garage for any bench time.
So I decided to spend my day off recording in my nice toasty office. (My space heater makes an appearance in the video..... )

Some of you may recall my "Black Friday Haul #4" thread where I snagged second PRS S2 Vela at ridiculous discount.

In the thread I documented transforming it into a different sort of creature from my other relatively stock S2 Vela by installing some new pickups.
Specifically the D'Urbano Magnetics Firebird pickup in the neck. (And his 59 PAF in the bridge).
These are fantastic sounding pickups from Australia.

For this demo, I decided to redux a demo video I did last year using my Vela, except with "VelaBird" this time.
This song by Tommy Bukovac was inspired by his non-reverse Gibson Firebird, so I thought it was fitting. I'll post a link to the original demo video so you can hear the difference between the stock Vela and the VelaBird (or not.....)
I used the same stems from the first time recording it as well as the rhythm guitar part played on my Thineline Tele. Unfortunately, I deleted the source video's for that part so it's missing.

Pedals making an appearance in this demo:
My standard "always on" pedals, the General Tso Compressor, MBP ManOWar Analog Delay, MBP Tourbus Analog delay, and PPCB Gravitation Reverb.

For the main melody I used my SushiBoxFX "Echo Foxtrot" boosting my Mach 1 overdrive. Vol on the guitar is backed off to about 7

For the "Part B" melodies I used the Bedrock Overdrive, another pedal that's taken me a little time to warm up to but I'm really starting to like it a lot.
First pass, I used it with the neck Firebird pickup. Second pass with the dual guitars I used it with the same settings on the bridge PAF pickup.

For the bridge/slide guitar solo I used the Pro-10 Overdrive (Green side). And for those interested, that's a "RockSlides" ceramic slide I just picked up. I like it!

For the outro guitar solo, same set up as the melody but with the volume on 10 for a bit more gain.

Here's the video I did last year...

 

[szukalski]

Fecking nailed it, rounded the edges in your tone. Nice and creamy. I hear a touch of Knopfler in there as well. Noice.

Your slide work's a lot better compared to the older vid. Makes me want to practice slide more..

You are making a lot of pedals sound good which I found kinda "ok" (Pro-10 Green, Mach 1). I think I need to revisit these once I get home.

 

[Dan0h]

Thank you for bringing some glassy goodness to my morning. Really cool demos. Your guitar arsenal is insane.

 

[MichaelW]

Thank you for the kind words my Kiwi friend. Funny you mentioned the slide. I just went back and listened to both recordings, you're right, the slide work on the second vid is a lot cleaner with less fret-outs. I played the parts a little differently too.

Funny how memory works sometimes heh. That slide in the first video with the little heart on it is a BigHeart porcelain slide that had the absolute best tone of all my slides. But it's also shaped with a very pronounced curve. Depending on how I hold it, it performs different and sounds different. Drives me nuts. I've been trying to find a plain straight walled ceramic or porcelain slide that sounds as good for years. Still haven't found it yet (I've tried a crap ton). The RockSlide Ceramic I used in the second vid comes close.

 

[MichaelW]

You are making a lot of pedals sound good which I found kinda "ok" (Pro-10 Green, Mach 1). I think I need to revisit these once I get home.

The Nobles and Lightspeed are staples on Tom Bukovacs pedalboard, so I figured I'd incorporate them. The Mach 1/Lightspeed is a pretty bright pedal and really needed @vigilante398 most excellent Echo Foxtrot to warm it up for the main melody.

 

[MichaelW]

Thank you for bringing some glassy goodness to my morning. Really cool demos. Your guitar arsenal is insane.

Well, I'm a total rookie compared to @jimilee . When I grow up I want to be like @jimilee and have 60+ guitars stashed around the house hahaha.

 

[The Gator]

That was great! Very cool melody. You must not be but half way down in Florida if it's that cold.
I have the pro-10 green board in the line up for building here shortly. I actually met Dave Brown at the hardware store lol. Super nice guy. Kinda freaked out the guys workin' there when we started talkin' circuits lol.

Great stuff Mike. Thank you for sharing!

 

[MichaelW]

That was great! Very cool melody. You must not be but half way down in Florida if it's that cold.
I have the pro-10 green board in the line up for building here shortly. I actually met Dave Brown at the hardware store lol. Super nice guy. Kinda freaked out the guys workin' there when we started talkin' circuits lol.

Great stuff Mike. Thank you for sharing!

I'm Central FL. Out in the country about 45 min NW of Orlando. It's been unseasonably cold here with these last couple of winter fronts that have come through. I know my northern friends have had it much worse.

 

[MichaelW]

That was great! Very cool melody. You must not be but half way down in Florida if it's that cold.
I have the pro-10 green board in the line up for building here shortly. I actually met Dave Brown at the hardware store lol. Super nice guy. Kinda freaked out the guys workin' there when we started talkin' circuits lol.

Great stuff Mike. Thank you for sharing!

I love that tune. You should check out the rest of the album from "Trip the Witch", a collaboration between Tom Bukovac Nashville Session Ace and Dean Deleo from Stone Temple Pilots. One of the best "guitar oriented" albums I've heard in many years. But not "guitar focused" rather composition focused. What I love about "The Bird Returns" is the space it has. Tom only plays what's necessary to make the statement to move the song along. Sometimes it's hard to slow down and have that mindset of playing subtle passages to support the song structure.

 

[The Gator]

I'm listening to it now! Driving through the rain.
You're right, this is good stuff!

 

[jimilee]

Well, I'm a total rookie compared to @jimilee . When I grow up I want to be like @jimilee and have 60+ guitars stashed around the house hahaha.

It was an accident, I swear!