Woods & Strings

I wouldn't have thought it out of the gate, but... OK, let me explain: I have this saying that "building kit guitars combines three of my passions: music, woodworking, and not getting divorced for buying $3,000 Gibsons." Hey, it's fun, and you get a great guitar if you put in the learning and some cash for upgrades. My favourite kit supplier is Solo Music Gear (< that's an affiliate link), because their service, prices, and product are all just fantastic. I own two instruments of theirs: a JEM-style electric, on which I haven't done any real work except change the knobs and the strap buttons, and a Strat-style electric, on which I changed almost everything. More on that one later, but you can see some of the before and after on my YouTube channel . I decided that for 2021, I want to do the same sort of upgrading on a Solo Les-Paul style kit. The problem is, I couldn't decide whether to upmod it as a vintage-toned model or a modern medal machine. So I p

This year, October 31st is the night of the full moon. It's also a blue moon, meaning it's the second full moon of this calendar month. This alone, to those interested in the folklore of autumn, is a very significant event. In fact, it crosses over between a number of very interesting seasonal occurrences. In the Christian world, this night is the eve of the day devoted to All Saints. While it's usually celebrated on the closest Sunday, it's rare for All Saints Day to happen on an actual Sunday. According to legend, the eve of All Saints (All Hallows' Eve, or Hallowe'en) is the night when the veil between the spirit world and the living world is at its thinnest, and spirits "leak through" to our side. Black cats and Jack o' Lanterns are supposed to repel these spirits from the home, but the victory of the saints is what really protects humanity through the winter. Of course, this is one of those fusions of traditional paganism with early Catholicis

Traditional Finnish instrument with new life  I did it. I took the leap and bought a Finnish kantele kit from Musicmakers. I know that doesn't sound like a big leap. But considering the price tag ($169 US) plus the shipping to Canada ($58.50), by the end the total after conversion was $313.50 CAD. Again, not a massive outlay, but look at the difference between the sticker price and the final cost, and hopefully you can see why purchasing something online, made out of wood, can be a bit nerve-wracking at this price point. It was an unknown commodity to me at the time, although I will admit I've been wanting to buy SOMETHING from Musicmakers for a long time. To cut to the chase, this is an instrument I play pretty much every day, so it's 100% worth the price of admission. This was also quite early in my Woods & Strings journey, so I unfortunately didn't have the foresight to run up a whole build video. You pretty much get the unboxing, and a couple of test tracks. But

I love playing with words. Back in the day -- which, for me, was quite a long time ago now -- my friends and I used to practice writing by giving each other assignments. One of our favourites was the "15-Minute Sonnet." We would set a timer for 15 minutes, and put the hammer down on crafting a Shakespearean sonnet. But, it had to be good! Challenging, yes, but a great exercise that forces you to do things with language you wouldn't normally do. In fact, prior to that I was awarded with a young playwright's award in my home town for having composed an entire Shakespearean comedy in five acts. It was actually my major assignment for my writing class. Winning garnered a live stage reading, so that was pretty cool. Flash forward to 2016, and my wife and I were discussing Shakespeare once again, and I thought, "I wonder if I can do this with song lyrics?" So...I did. This is what I came up with. I realize it's not iambic pentameter, but it's still a fun e

A canto, in memory of Hubert O'Hearn. A spontaneous improvisation, not unlike a conversation with Hubert: casual, meandering, tongue-in-cheek. Happy, but with a mist of melancholy. Press play and read on... Hubert was poised to give his support to my blues project; but, as we creators who knew him know well, he didn't "support" his friends the way most people do, with a Like on Facebook and maybe a one-in-ten chance of buying the finished product. No, he championed the creators he believed in, throwing the weight of his critical voice and substance of his publishing platforms behind their projects and using his literary voice to make sure the world knew and appreciated what his friends were up to. Hubert O’Hearn was one of my creative mentors. I was never brave enough to do the things he did; throwing caution to the wind and expatriating myself to more authorly climes as he did. But he was always encouraging with my writing, always willing to hand

Originally published August 7th, 2011 on The Man Sphere When I met Hubert O'Hearn, I was just a pup coming up in the arts sector in Thunder Bay. Hubert had the role of antagonist in a cheesy melodrama production I had the dubious honour of directing music for. One thing about a man who knows his craft; whether as an actor or as a writer; is he knows when the upstart who "outranks" him in production needs a subtle nudge in the right direction, and when to stand back and let the upstart's training speak for itself. When a master ends up working for a student, the master's strength shows in his ability to let the student work confidently. Of course, being a writer, Hubert's interview took on a prose of its own. So I left it. The answers are all here. Name:  Hubert O’Hearn Age:  53 Occupation:  Writer Relationship status:  Engaged/Common-Law Spouse to Kimberly McInnis For how long?:  6 years Kids:  Two Step-children: Amanda age 22 and Bradley age 15 Pe

Tight, classic tone. When I was growing up, I wasn't all that into guitar effects. Distortion, maybe some kind of reverb or delay, and that was about it. My friends and I discovered Rocktek pedals, which were the cheapest of all possible budget pedals, and that changed our ability to experiment. My buddy got a Flanger, and I got a Phaser. And we had literally no idea what to do with them. In fact, his dad referred to my phaser experiments as resembling "frogs farting underwater." That ended my phase shifting career. Flash forward some 30 years, and while watching some guitar FX demos on YouTube, I saw a great one for the Joyo Vintage Phase. In the hands of the player using it, I realized what I'd been missing. It isn't just a modulation sweep effect. It can create a leslie or tremolo effect as well. So when I saw a used one for sale on the Facebook Marketplace, I grabbed it. I mean, even brand new these things sell for less that $50 Canadian on Amazon, so