Sat 6/1/02

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GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

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This week's special: The Sabine Zip-700 Tuner!

See you soon,
Carl

PS: Despite our note listing above, we actually start with the "A" string when we tune, and then backtrack to do the low "E" later. It seems easier to do it that way. Maybe it's because we just like "A" better... Or because it's the key for every AC/DC song... and isn't "A" the note of the phone dial tone?

Sat 6/8/02

I was just in basement of the store looking for my copy of "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" and I found a few Fender Squier hardshell dreadnought cases. (I've *got* to clean out that basement... And I'm gonna... `cause the South Side Summer Street Spectacular is coming up in 5 weeks... and, in addition to drinking heavily, we're gonna have a BIG Found-It-In-The-Basement Sale....)

Anyway, back to the cases.... These are imported, but good, sturdy, molded plastic acoustic cases. I bought them at a good price, now you can too.

See you soon,
Carl

PS: Many many years ago I put a band together, because I wanted to play "Midnight Hour" by Wilson Pickett. And I wanted to have a good time doing it. (After all, music is a wonderfully enjoyable thing.) (I've never really cared for musicians who look like they're in pain when they play... unless, of course, they really *ARE* in pain.... then I'd be impressed!) I called the band The Flashcats, and we did a thousand gigs. Sadly, last year my good friend, and our trumpet player, Sweet Pete Loria, passed away from cancer. Next Tuesday, June 11th, the Pittsburgh Filmmakers will be showing a documentary I put together about Pete. It's called, "Ladies & Gentlemen, Sweet Pete" and it's the story of The Flashcats and the good times we had. It's narrated by Pete, and he talks about the band, the fans, and what it all meant to him. You should come and see it. Pete had a natural comedic charisma and was one of the nicest, funniest guys I ever met. I'm glad that I knew him.... (You'll also get to see me play drums when I was young and thin.) Showtime is at 8PM, and it's at The Melwood Screening Room , 477 Melwood Ave, around the corner from Graffiti, halfway down the block.

PPS: The Flashcats

Sat 6/15/02

I was watching my favourite British TV show, Coupling, last night. (The show was recommended to me by my TiVo recorder, and TiVo was right, I like it!) And one of the characters on the show, Steve, was talking to another, Jeff, and he said, "I was the one who sawr her bottom!" Yep, he said "sawr". Then, in a moment of great insight, I remembered where I heard that before... on The Beatles first Capitol album, in the song "Till There Was You", Paul McCartney sings, "There were birds, in the sky, but I never sawr them winging, no I never sawr them at all, till there was you..." For the last 38 years I just thought that young Paul couldn't say the word "saw", or was nervous during that recording, or something. Now I see that it's just another, lesser known, example of a British accent! And it stood out because, like most British singers, The Beatles didn't have accents when they sang.... Apparently just that one word!

In honor of "Till There Was You", which has a fabulous solo, played by George on a nylon string guitar, we're featuring nylon strings as this week's email special.

See You Soon,
Carl

PS: In case you're wondering, for some reason, "bum" is considered a swear word in England, and so the term "bottom" is used to refer to someone's butt. Strange, but true.

Sat 6/22/02

This morning when I woke up, I couldn't get this song out of my head. It was the one by that famous Pittsburgh songwriter Stephen Foster... "Way Down Upon the Swami River."

Speaking of famous Pittsburgh songwriters, we lent several guitars to The Clarks recently for the recording of their new album "Another Happy Ending." One of the guitars was my 1966 electric Coral Sitar.

It might be hard to find a 1966 electric Coral Sitar these days, but you can almost sorta kinda get that sound with the new Danelectro Sitar Swami pedal.

See You Soon,
Carl

PS: Somewhere on that album is the magical opening chord to "Hard Day's Night," played by Rob on my 1967 Rickenbacker.

PPS: This Week's Customer Web Site:
The Clarks

Sat 6/29/02

You know how musicians are...

Even if you've used a guitar on a 100 gigs, sometimes you need something different, to get a new sound, or inspire you in a new direction...

Occasionally, over these past 22 years, guys from some of my favorite bands have traded in their guitars. And, as a fan of both their bands, and guitars in general, I've kept them. On display this month are guitars from legendary Pittsburgh bands. I have the guitar Warren King used in The Silencers, a bass used by Chief from The Clarks, the Fender Custom used (and heavily painted) by Karl Mullen in Carsickness, three guitars from my favorite band, Gravel (later known as The Corbin/Hanner Band), and more. Stop in, and check them out. I'm happy to own them, and I feel that I'm doing my bit to preserve some of Pittsburgh's musical heritage.

Speaking of famous guitars, this week's email special is a contest...

Many years ago, on Nirvana's first visit to Pittsburgh, Kurt Cobain stopped into Pittsburgh Guitars and bought a guitar. (I believe he had just broken his guitar at a gig the night before.) I seem to recall that the guitar was an Epiphone ET-270... a made-in-Japan-sold-by-Gibson red two pickup solid body. I remember seeing pictures of him with it shortly afterwards...smashing it on stage.

We just happen to have one exactly like it for sale on the wall now...for $250.

This week we're going to give it away. Free.

Here are the contest rules:
-If you'd like to win this guitar, respond to this email between now and next Wednesday, July 3rd.
-I'll print out all of the emails, and put `em in a box.
-On Friday, July 5th, we'll pull one email address out of the box, and the winner will get the guitar... absolutely free... no charge...

Here are some more rules:
One entry per email address, the guitar must be picked up here at the store, and we don't recommend smashing it on stage...it's a perfectly fine guitar.

Carl

PS: Getting back to our display of local guitars, I decided to put some of the bands' albums near their respective guitars. And when I dug out those LPs I realized how much I miss albums. They're so big and colorful and cool. Album covers were an art-form. When a new record came out the cover was as exciting as the record inside. I'm a big CD fan, but I sure miss the packaging of an old LP!

PPS: This Week's Customer Web Site:
The Distractions