Tag Archives: 12 string

Finish-up Those Christmas Lists: A Musician’s Guitar Collection, Wish List, and Recommendations

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By Jim Fusco:

Christmas is almost here and that means your list is probably complete and you’re just waiting for the big day- and hoping that you’ll get that special guitar you’ve always wanted!  Well, if you haven’t made your Christmas list yet, or if you’re looking for an idea for the guitar player in your life, then look no further.  I am here to take you on a journey through my guitar collection and my wish-list, which will hopefully give you some ideas.  Below each guitar will be a description and reasons why I have it and what makes it different from the others.  I’ll even give you tips on what to buy for each type of guitar player!  So, let’s get started…

My Guitar Collection:

Ibanez Artcore AM73T Semi-Hollow Body Electric Guitar

am73t

Without a doubt, this will always be my favorite piece of hardware.  It’s just perfect- the styling is classic, there’s great symmetry, and it has that wonderful Bigsby tremolo.  If you’re a classic rock’n’roll fan, this is definitely the guitar for you.  I channel Chuck Berry when playing this axe and the semi-hollow body style is perfect for a much fuller sound than you’d get from a solid-body.  So, I purchased this guitar for three reasons: a) it was literally a tenth of the price of a Gibson that looked exactly the same, b) it’s simply beautiful, and c) it has that great old-fashioned guitar sound.

I will note that I ended up changing the pickups on this to make it a “hotter” (louder) sound.  I put in some serious Gibson pickups and now this thing really rocks!

Ibanez ARX320 Solid-Body Electric Guitar

ar

The Ibanez above may be my overall favorite guitar, but this one is my favorite electric to play.  It’s much lighter than the Artcore guitar above (which induces a large amount of back pain) and is beautiful, as well.  The guitar doesn’t have a ton of features- no whammy bar, no tremolo or anything like that.  But, when I need to rock and it needs to be loud and “cutting”, I pick this guitar up.  It’s a really good multi-purpose guitar.

The guitar is even prettier in person than in the photo- trust me on this one.  There’s good sound and this guitar is a good one for any type of rock music, as it can play both clean and with a lot of distortion.  I asked for this guitar because it looked great, was very inexpensive at the time (it has since gone up for some reason over $100 to $449!), and gives that straight-ahead electric guitar sound without sounding as retro as my Artcore.

Dean Boca 12-String Electric Guitar

boca

Ah, the newest weapon in my arsenal- this guitar is a great value.  Try looking for a 12-string electric guitar online for less than $1,000.  It’s just about impossible, other than the Dean Boca.  I really wanted a new guitar (I had three in mind) because Musician’s Friend had a 20% off sale going.  So, I chose this guitar over the other two because I would get a different sound.  That 12-string sound, used on songs by the Byrds, the Beatles, and many, many others, is so distinctive.  I know I’ll be using this in almost every song I record in the future.  I hope to make it a signature sound of mine, especially because 12-string electrics really aren’t used much in today’s popular “rock” music anymore.

This guitar is definitely for the throwback musician or a guitarist that has tried everything and needs a new sound.  And I would highly recommend this one in particular, as it plays great, sounds great, and looks fantastic.  At around $300, you can’t go wrong, and it’s a guitar I’ll have for life.

Fender Jazz Bass Special Edition

fender-bass

How I got this one?  Well, let’s just say I got it from a desperate person that just wanted to get rid of it.  And, boy am I glad he did!  Let me begin by saying that I had an electric bass already (a really good one, too), but when someone offers you a new Fender Jazz Bass Special Edition for $125, you DON’T say no.  You hand over the money and grab that guitar as quickly as possible.

And that’s what I did!  This thing weighs a ton, but the sound is great- it even smells great due to the quality woods they used.  They style, which is just a natural wood finish, is really beautiful.  Unless I break down and buy either a Hofner bass or a Rickenbacker bass in the future, I really don’t see myself needing anything more than this Fender Jazz Bass.  This one’s good for all types of musicians from rock to blues to whatever!

Rouge Lap Steel Guitar

rouge

This one’s just for fun- my parents are always looking for new instruments for me to try and they thought this would be a good idea.  And I love it!  I’ve always loved that lap steel/pedal steel sound.  There have been some great solos done in rock music on these lap steel guitars.  And I’ve already come up with a couple of solos for some new songs I’ve been working on.  This particular one is a quality instrument, as well.

This is a great guitar for “classic rock” (70’s) fans and country-rock players.  But, I’m going to attempt to use it in some creative ways in my music, so I hope you’ll stay-tuned!

Ibanez AEG10 Acoustic-Electric Guitar

acoustic-electric

I asked for this acoustic-electric because we were playing more live shows and I needed something that was easier than using a microphone or an acoustic pickup.  This isn’t the greatest guitar in the world, but it does have a nice Fishman pickup…that blew out on me and I had to have repaired.  Alone, I wouldn’t play this as a normal acoustic, but when plugged-in, it definitely gets the job done, especially for the price.

Ibanez AW100 Acoustic Guitar

acoustic

This is my first real guitar.  I wanted an acoustic that was around $300 and I asked the guy at Guitar Center which one to get.  And then my love for Ibanez began.  This guitar is great- I will admit that the frets are now worn-down, but other than that, it’s a great solid-top acoustic that sounds bright and stays in tune well.

Laurel Mandolin

I was given this guitar as another “see if he likes it” gift- and this one was a real home-run!  I love playing the mandolin and this is a quality instrument, as well.  If you know someone that plays in an acoustic band, really recommend one of these- it adds a great folky dimension to the sound and can be great for soloing, too.

Arrow ST-369 Classical Acoustic Guitar

classical

If you’ve ever seen my acoustic cover song music videos on the Laptop Sessions music blog or on YouTube, then you’ve seen this guitar.  Coming in at about 45 Euro and making the trip across the Atlantic home with me is this nylon string acoustic guitar.  It’s small, so it’s very portable.  It’s not very loud, but in a nice room, the tone is really great.  It’s SO easy to play- I honestly play this guitar more than any others because I can just sit down and feel like I’m a pro.  It’s fun to solo on this, as well- I really think everyone should have a guitar like this!

Wish-List of Guitars (Relatives, please take note!)

PRS Soapbar Semi-Hollow Electric Guitar

prs

I’ve always loved the look and quality of PRS guitars, but most are very, very expensive.  This one combines good looks with a kind of Rickenbacker styling, plus it’s semi-hollow, which gives that great warm sound I like.  Problem is that it’s not going to be much of a different sound.  I’m just hoping it plays really nicely…

Gretsch Double-Jet Solid-Body Electric Guitar with Tremolo

gretsch

Okay, so I really want a Gretsch.  I really would like a Duo Jet (which George Harrison is holding on the cover of “Cloud Nine”), but this guitar is so classic-looking…and costs about $2,000 less…  Has the Bigsby tremolo, but this one is solid-body, which should provide a different sound.

Cordoba CK-25 Ukulele

cordoba

While in Hawaii for our honeymoon, I really wanted a real Koa wood ukulele that was made in Hawaii.  Starting at $700, I figured it was out of my price range for an instrument I’d use so rarely.  And even though I had the opportunity to purchase this Cordoba all Koa wood uke for only $170, I passed on it because of how little I’d use it and the fact that it wasn’t made in Hawaii.  Maybe when we go back for our 25th or something… 🙂

Fender Player’s Deluxe Stratocaster Solid-Body Electric Guitar

strat

My brother Mike has this guitar and I LOVE it.  It plays so well- I need to have it.  He has the natural blonde maple fretboard that’s so much easier to play than rosewood, so it’s great for soloing.  Plus, I can’t believe I don’t have a Fender electric.  I want the blue model with the blonde maple fretboard, but I’d change-out that ugly-looking pickguard.  This is a must-have for me someday.

Finally, I’ll say that I would love to get a Martin like my Laptop Sessions partner (and fellow Traveling Acai Berry) Steve.  His guitar is BEAUTIFUL and plays like a dream.  I understand now why Martin guitars are so expensive.  Also, if you’ve seen some of my recent acoustic cover song music videos, you’ve seen my colleague Noreen’s amazing Gibson 12-string acoustic guitar from 1967.  Just put that on my “yeah right- not in your lifetime” wishlist!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this trip through my guitar inventory and my wish-list.  I hope this gives you some great Christmas, birthday, or any other holiday ideas!  And, of course, I would love to hear about your guitars and why you got them- hey, maybe one of your guitars will make it to my wish-list, too!

“Sundown” (Gordon Lightfoot Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Oh…My…GOD!!  I am so angry right now!!  THREE TIMES- that’s right, three perfect takes of “Sundown” by Gordon Lightfoot it took before I could render tonight’s video and publish to YouTube.  Why?!?!  Because, for whatever reason, my computer corrupted my video TWICE!  It’s so much later than I want it to be.  And, if you know anything about me, you’ll know that I like to (and most times ONLY will) do things once and that’s it.  Tonight, I brought home Noreen’s 1967 Gibson 12-string acoustic and needed to get this song done.  Grrrrrr…..

And, of course, this happens on GROUNDHOG’S DAY!!  Wait, am I Bill Murray?

Anyway, onto the shorter (due to the late post) description of tonight’s video.

The legend of the guitar I’m playing in this video is that it was actually OWNED by Gordon Lightfoot at some point!!  I don’t know if that’s really true, but wouldn’t it be crazy?  I just had to ask Noreen to borrow it tonight.  Someday, I may inherit this beautiful guitar…but, seriously, I’m not hoping that day comes anytime soon at all.

I’ve always known this song, and always kind of knew Gordon Lightfoot did it, but I never knew the name (thank you Shazaam App on my iPhone!) and when I heard it again on the radio last week, I knew I had to do it.  Listening back, I noticed that it was recorded using a 12-string guitar.  Imagine if it was the same one on the recording…

This song is so easy- just slap a capo on the second fret and play E and B for the verse.  Then, do E, A, and D for the chorus and you’ve got it!  But, even in its simplicity, I find “Sundown” to be a very powerful song.  It’s got such a great tune.  And the original has really cool harmonies on the chorus.  I was hoping to round-up a posse to sing with me, but remembered that I live in Connecticut and would be nowhere near any semblance of a “posse” for at least 500 miles…

So, you get the standard one-man Laptop Session version of “Sundown” by Gordon Lightfoot here on the best blog ever created!

I have some new plans (that’ll cost me some money) to promote both the blog and my original music.  I save emails that interest me (advertisements, etc.) and then I let them stew in my mind for about four months.  After that, I have a pretty good idea of what I want to spend my money on.  And I think I’ve come up with two great ways of promotion that will help get me fans of my original music and help give the Laptop Sessions music blog some better search engine traffic.  If I play my cards right, I can do it all for under $100, which in terms of internet promotion is a STEAL.

On a final note, my brother Mike suggested today that he and I record the brand-new Barenaked Ladies single, “You Run Away” from their upcoming album in March.  I cannot wait for this album to come out.  It’s so exciting to get a new album from BNL and I’m excited to hear them as a four-piece band with more contributions from the “secondary” (if you can even say that with them) band members.  I hear there’s THREE Jim Creegan songs on the album!  He’s like the George Harrison of the group now. 🙂  Anyway, “You Run Away” came out on iTunes today and it’s AWESOME.  You really have to buy it.  They sound great.  They didn’t try to change their sound too much.  It’s just great rock’n’roll with great vocals.  And that’s the way to please me musically, folks.

I’ve been listening to some new stuff lately and can’t wait to share it with you- hopefully I’ll get some time soon.  Until next post, have a great week!

NOTE: This video was remastered in 2020 for improved video and sound.

“Blue Christmas” (Elvis Presley acoustic Christmas cover song)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome, welcome to another edition of the Laptop Sessions in high definition!  Tonight, I bring you the second video from last week’s recording session.  This one is truly a classic off of one of my favorite all-time albums: Elvis Presley’s 1957 Christmas Album.

“Blue Christmas” is a song everyone knows.  And, I’m pretty sure that with tonight’s recording, that every single musician in the last 50 years has recorded a version of it.  I happen to do mine in Elvis’ style, but I love Brian Wilson’s version on the Beach Boys Christmas Album, too.  But, while Brian’s version is sad and melancholy, Elvis gives this song so much raw soul.  It’s his “uh-huh” singing at its best and is on my list of “perfect recordings”.  Those are the songs (like, for instance, the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows”) that couldn’t be any better- just the perfect blend of instrumentation, songwriting style, vocals, etc.

Of course, “Blue Christmas” was even recorded earlier than Elvis’s version- as early as 1948!  But, Elvis made it a rock song and that’s the version that everyone knows.

I got to use my colleague Noreen’s 12-string Gibson acoustic from 1967 on this one- what a great sound!  It was so much fun to play.  When you’re using that guitar in a room with good acoustics, you feel like you’re a one man band.  I’m loving this new setup.  And, this week’s video was much easier to edit- literally took just a minute until it was rendering.  It’s such a nice feeling to get something done right the first time.

On a personal note, things have never been busier.  Whether it’s decorating the house, going shopping, cooking, working, etc. I’m never just sitting and relaxing.  I have a feeling it’s going to be like this until after the New Year, but I tell ya- I need some more sleep!  I’m looking forward to a couple of work parties, a couple of get-togethers at the new house, and general Christmas cheer.

If you haven’t done it yet, head on over to WCJM Free Internet Radio at wcjm.com and click on the Moore Hits in the Morning radio in the center of the screen.  You’ll then be taken to all of our radio shows that you can listen to absolutely free- click on any of the numerous Christmas shows and get ready to laugh!  They’re really entertaining and I listen to each of them at least twice each Christmas season to get me in that yuletide mood.

Okay, off to bed now- make sure to keep checking back this week for more great articles and videos from the Only Music Blog- The Laptop Sessions!

“If You Wanna” (Paul McCartney Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome, one and all, to the new and improved Laptop Sessions Cover Songs Music Blog!  If you’re a regular viewer, make sure to check out the homepage of guitarbucketlist.com and see our new features and new redesign.  It may not seem that different at first, but I think you’ll agree that it’s much easier to navigate, especially if you were a first-time viewer.  And, for a limited time, you can get a free mp3 download of my album, “What About Today?” by subscribing to the music blog!  That’s right- just enter your name and email address and we’ll send you new acoustic cover song music videos every week- cancel at any time, but keep the free mp3 download as our gift to you.  Sounds like an infomercial, doesn’t it? 🙂

Tonight’s video will also be the last one in HD (there may be a couple of instances where I can’t get the HD camera, though).  Today, after a scare, I got our new HD video camcorder!  It’s a Canon HV10 and man, what a good deal we got on it.  I found it on eBay in Canada and paid literally a third of the price for it.  It’s basically brand-new and came with a whole bunch of accessories and extra tapes.  But, don’t go thinking I went out and bought a camera just for this- I got it to finally play back our wedding videos (which were shot in HD) and edit them onto Blu-Ray.  I can’t wait to see how it came out!  Not too many people these days gettin’ married in HD.

I’m also posting this relatively early tonight in hopes that my music partner Steve will be able to see it before he goes to bed.

Tonight’s video is a slightly obscure one from Paul McCartney from his 1997 album, Flaming Pie.  What a great album.  Steve and I played for about a half hour extra last Thursday, just going through every song on that album.  I’ve written about my love for Flaming Pie in the past (click on the Paul McCartney category in the upper left on the sidebar to see my other posts), but this is actually good timing because I haven’t recorded a McCartney song for months.  Plus, I have Steve with me, playing his usual great guitar and singing the bridge with me.

“If You Wanna” is just a good driving song- when Paul McCartney got together with Steve Miller for a writing session, he promised himself he wouldn’t write an Americana driving song….so much for that idea.  But, it was really fun recording this one- Steve and I always get so pumped after a good take.  And this one was ONE TAKE!  We had never even practiced it before!  We just went over the structure once and hit record.  Such is life when you’re running on a tight schedule.  I keep hoping for the days when we can have a lot of time to just jam and record a bunch of tunes.

Of course, you’ll see me playing our colleague Noreen’s beautiful Gibson 1967 12-string acoustic, which never sounded better.  I’m hoping she’ll let me borrow it next week so I can record a song from a sorely underrated band.  That song will usher in the “holiday” (there’s a clue) season nicely.  Speaking of the upcoming holiday, I’m incredibly excited!!  I can’t wait to finally play some video games, eat, and go shopping for someone else for a change!  We’re hoping to do the midnight madness at our local chain of outlet stores.  Don’t worry, I don’t plan on trampling anyone for a TV at Wal-Mart or anything.  We’re just looking forward to a really cool opportunity to ring in my favorite time of year: Christmastime!  You know, we’ve recorded many Christmas songs already- you should check out some of those acoustic videos by choosing the “Christmas Songs” category up top.

I hope you enjoy tonight’s collaborative effort and I’ll be back next Tuesday with an all-new video in HD for the first time!  See you then.