A difficult year but I will be releasing a new CD/ physical format in the New Year (2012) and hope to include up to 12 new tracks on this which will include tracks released on this web-site and two or three. All tracks have been produced by me and I play all instruments and vocals. Rupert Cobb guests on one track. Provisional title is "Suburban Narrative".

LD/DL

You might remember that the VG88 was a successor to the original VG8 and was the first guitar modeller on the market predating what became the market leader, the LINE 6 POD. Expensive at the time too, coming in at a eye smarting £800 in 2001. As with all high-end gear it is still a usuable piece of kit. There are still some decent sounding patches (I particularly like the Em9) which have stood the test of time.. In fact it got a run out just before Christmas 2010 in a local school production of "Grease"- I wanted something that would give me a Gretsch type sound under relatively low volume and obviously didn't want to shell out the £2500 for a 5120 (though I was tempted...)

As for the GR33, I have to say that the years have not been so kind. Cursed with the same old squonks and glitches that I remember from the last time it came out the box it feels clumsy and forces you to almost "unplay" the guitar in a way. This is an odd playing experience and ironic too given that some of the patches are designed specifically for guitar players. I know they now produce a GR55 (and indeed a VG99) which may be more usable but I won't be buying. Sorry Roland...

But still, I've now got a playable Squier Korean which will do the specific job as a controller for the VG88 and a "born again" American Standard Strat. It's Ebay (or a museum) for the GR33. Mustn't grumble.

Pictures of all the gear mentioned above to follow...

And that's just a tease, I know. There are some things to look forward to. Interchange went to the duplicators last Friday and should be out on the net within a few weeks. Check out some early mixes of these tracks in the MUSIC section.

Is physical media now obsolete? I may now simply load up new material via the site and My Space/Facebook/Reverb Nation/ Sound Cloud and enable listeners to download direct. I asked some of my students the other day what they would be prepared to pay for music downloads. The answers ranged from "nothing " to 2 pence. In fact the highest amount they were prepared to pay was 20pence - and that was for an album. And we used to claim that "home-taping" was killing music. Who gets paid along this food-chain, then?

So we'll swim with the flow and put it out for nothing- help yourselves everybody...

We'll make it back on the merchandise. In fact this is just the business model pre-Beatles. Music released at a loss to promote the tour. Jagger recently claimed that the period 1970-1997 will be seen as a golden age of the recording artist when they had commercial control and were able to make money from recording and writing. Now they just look like the early 19th Century handloom weavers or some other group frozen in time and condemned to the "condescension of history".

Oh how we  muse on music ...

This is a beautiful electric guitar which certainly lives up to the EB hype of being a "players' instrument". I met a guitar player some years ago with an EB Albert Lee- he also concurred that these instruments are up there with the best. It's just a shame that this seems to be one of those best kept secrets in the duopoly of the world of electric guitars since it would seem that no one wants these secondhand. In other words it's not quite a Fender neither is it a Gibson. In fact it has parallels with the car I drive- an Alfa Romeo- a "drivers' car", beautifully styled, a fine lineage and no one wants it as a used sale.

Of course, all of the above might suit a potential secondhand buyer much to the seller's dismay. Neither of whom will be me however- this is a keeper.

This story starts with an under-performing OVATION CSE44SE Celebrity purchased brand new with a delightful hard case in November 2009 and though it had an action lower than my American Standard Strat ( and that is lower than a bottom feeding ocean going squid) also buzzed like an un-oiled buzz-saw and had to be traded in. Those things have a Marmite factor and I woke up one day and in a moment of clarity decided today was the day to trade. I chose "Rock Around the Clock" in Crouch End, N8 who are very reliable and a good local shop serving musicians big and small for 20 odd years and they gave me a decent trade in on the Ovation in return for this new Martin DCX1RE. 

A lot has been written about these plastic Martins. Yes, they might lack the cachet of the all wood sub £1000 models such as the D15 (which I also own) but the ringing tone and balance of this instrument is excellent. Action a little high but I'll get a local luthier to fix that when I've become used to the feel of the neck. True this guitar does not have much wood on board save the spruce top but one still gets that "joy of ownership" sensation that playing a high end instrument delivers too. Plugged in with the Lewis trademark (SIC) "more delay than the London Overground sound" it sounds fantastic too.

It is a beauty and unlike the unfortunate OVATION will be a keeper too. This is my fourth Martin (D15, D12X1, LX1) and comes highly recommended. Now Martin that's got to be worth a free tour around your factory, eh?

I bought this little gem as a "traveller" to accompany me on various jaunts westwards to South Wales thinking it would be convenient to travel and relatively light on my middle-aged shoulders. It certainly lives up to its name there, being billed as a "travel" guitar. The body is HPL composite "wood" with a spruce top and gives a light and relatively full tone considering its 3/4 size. It is particularly good sounding with a Capo on the second fret , tuned to DADGAD or even (wince...) DADAAD to replicate the tuning of a tenor style guitar. Martin recommend their medium range of strings which tends towards raising the action a tad but this allows for a fuller sounding tone without compromising the playability of the instrument. It comes supplied with a Martin-branded soft gig-bag which enhances the joy of ownership too.

This is the second "plastic" Martin I've purchased- the D12X1 also reviewed elsewhere on this site and I'm not disappointed either. Bear in mind these are still entry-level Martins and not cheap either but in terms of "bang for buck" or "pound for pound" they pass muster. I've recorded with it and with some EQ combing in Logic Pro it produced a highly satisfactory sound- it's no D45 or even a D15/16 but that's not what you've got here. If you are in the market for a £300 pound "traveller" that carries a great name and need a guitar that packs a low luggage footprint then this could be just the (train/plane) ticket to ride. There is also an electro acoustic version of same guitar available called the LXE- this might also be worth checking out.

Anyway, I like it...

This music is expected to be released in material form by early summer 2010. Though you will also be able to listen to tracks here and on MySpace (www.myspace.com/lewisdave).

dave Lewis