Fuchs Audio will join us at the 2010 Southeastern Guitar and Amp Show!
Fuchs Audio Technology has established itself as a highly respected new voice in handcrafted tube boutique guitar amplification!
Be sure to check these guys out and see why the pros use fuchs!
Joining us from South Dakota, Lakota Leathers!!!
Each Lakota Leathers strap is made by a member of the Lakota Sioux tribe from their home on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. The purchase of a Lakota Leathers strap helps a Lakota person and helps fight poverty in the poorest county in the entire United States.
We’re pleased to announce Gadow Guitars will join us at this years SEGAS!!!!
” Gadow is taking music back to its roots. Great American music has always been a grass roots phenomenon. It’s about jam sessions held in garages, basements, smoky roadhouses and country churches. It’s raw, authentic, honest and real. At Gadow, that’s what we respect. And that’s why we do what we do. ”
Raleigh’s own Guru Guitars will join us at this years SEGAS!!!
“Guru Guitars is a small custom guitar shop dedicated to quality and honesty. We offer a wide range of products and services including guitar repair, guitar setups, and guitar lessons. Three in-house luthiers build guitars by hand in Raleigh, NC. There is a nice selection of our instruments for sale. We also sell guitars built by other local builders and U.S. builders. To top it off we have a number of used guitars and vintage guitars. We also have tube amplifiers along with a well rounded line of guitar accessories.”
http://www.guruguitarshop.com/
Our good friends at RS Custom Guitars put together a sweet video for everyone!! Check out the video and suggest it to your friends!
We are pleased to announce Guitar Mill will join us at the 2010 SEGAS!!!!
Guitar Mill offers everything from restorations to full OEM work!
Check them out here:
Rowyco Kustom Guitar Finishes offers some of the best, wildest, coolest guitar bodies, necks and finishes in the industry. You name the finish and most likely they can nail it!
They’ll join us at this years Southeastern Guitar and Amp Show in Booth #609
We recently teamed up with The Foodbank of Central and Eastern NC, hopefully you checked out our interview with Bill Leslie of channel 5 news. If you missed the interview, it’s viewable on the SEGAS home page. Details for efforts with The Foodbank of Central and Eastern North Carolina can be found on The Foodbank of Central and Eastern North Carolina’s website. Check it out:
http://www.foodbankcenc.org/site/PageServer?pagename=GuitarAndAmp
SEGAS – Tell us a little bit about how you got started down in Dallas working on guitars?
Rene’ – I began my apprenticeship under David Caron, violin maker, from Dallas, TX, at a store named Frets & Strings in 1971. I learned to repair all fiddles, from violins to double basses. I also learned to repair guitars. My teacher wanted me to follow his steps, but I couldn’t play the fiddle, and I had a hard time learning it. So I stuck to guitars, because I could play them. It was at that time I was playing flamenco and classical guitar. My dream was to be a concert classical guitarist.
SEGAS – What was it about Stevie Ray that made you go to work for the man ?
- I met Stevie around 1983-1984. He brought a guitar in for set-up and this where we began our relationship. He asked me one day to come join him on the road. I had to think about this. I first declined, but I agreed to it about a month later.
SEGAS – You’ve worked closely with several of the most influential guitarists of the past 40 years, so what common trait do they all share, in your estimation?
Rene’ – They were all great players and they needed good tuning and skills to enhance their guitars.
SEGAS -Do you collect instruments yourself?
Rene’ - I don’t play electric guitar. So the only guitars I have are classical and flamenco. And yes, they are all collectible. I own a 1959 Ramirez Flamenco, A 1968 Conde Hermanos Flamenco, 1969 Juan Pimentel flamenco, 2006 Juan Pimentel flamenco, 2002 Chris Savino flamenco, to name a few.
SEGAS – How has your job changed in basic terms, from the early ’80′s til now?
Rene’ – I started touring in 1985. From SRV four pedals to a JM Bradshaw rack with 10 pedals. From cables to wireless guitar transmitters. From floor monitors to in-ear monitors, and our wonderful cell phones, computers, ipods, etc! Just more stuff to keep up with.
SEGAS – Can you tell us the theory behind your revolutionary ‘Half gauge” strings?
Rene’ – My Big Core string design, was meant to insure that the plain strings remained true 9′s, 10′s, or 11′s. After you stretch a.009, it becomes less than a true .009. With a half size more, you can stretch it and it will remain still more than a .009. More mass means more tone! So the wound strings are of a bigger core. this will ensure more tone for the wound strings. I will elaborate more on these at the guitar show clinic.
SEGAS – What do you feel is your strongest trait, when it comes to handling an artist’s requirements?
Rene’ – Give them what they want, not what I think, unless they ask.
SEGAS – Biggest ‘goof up’ you’ll ever admit to while on tour?
Rene’ -Truly can’t think of any.
SEGAS – What do you want people to know about you, that they either think they know but don’t, or don’t know but should?
Rene’ – I am a guitar repairman, player, and entrepreneur. I also am a guitar technician. This is different from being a guitar repairman. In guitar repair, I can do all phases of repair on all fretted instruments, even on the road. I take with me all the necessary tools to refret, make bone nuts, and any other repair needed.
SEGAS: What got you started on the path to being a Guitar tech?
LEE: The fact that you weren’t required to get up too early, for one … And a love and fascination with the guitar that has truly never ended. That, and the fact that I wanted to tour and work in the music business and got to do a job that I truly loved!
SEGAS: What do you love about guitars?
LEE: The sound, the smell, the feel when you have the right one in your hand. The shapes, the passion… just like women, really… And, of course the great players and the music they make, which can truly change your life, and surely changed mine.
SEGAS: What do you feel makes for a good working relationship with an artist?
LEE: Personality, and being able to do a good job. Knowing their loves and hates, being able to make them feel secure with you, being able to make them laugh at will, knowing when to step forward and when to step back a bit, honesty and conscientiousness.
SEGAS: What is the hardest-earned advice you can give for someone wanting to be a Guitar Tech?
LEE: #1 Prepare to make sacrifices in your life that may reap no rewards at the end of the day
#2 Just do the very best you can each day, and always double check your tuning!
#3 Never steal the guitar player’s girlfriend!
#4 When you hand your artist his guitar, always make sure the strings are FACING the audience!
SEGAS: How do you handle touring? What is the best part of it for you, and the worst?
LEE: I always loved touring, and the whole “on the road” thing.The worst parts are when you have any kind of relationship, whether it’s wife/girlfriends, kids/pets, etc… these can suffer badly in most cases when you’re away year after year.
Oh yeah, and it really messes up the soccer season too! The best parts are the satisfaction of being part of something special that everyone is enjoying and meeting some of your musical heros.To have that great feeling when the band hits those special nights where it just seems to be off the planet, and if you’re lucky to travel to many different countries and see this great world we live in and experiencing different cultures, music, sights and sounds.
SEGAS: How has your job changed over the past 20 years with respect to technology?
LEE: Wireless stuff has improved drastically, and we have strobe tuners, electronics everywhere, etc… Nowadays everyone on the entire tour has a laptop, and it’s hard to imagine life without them. The world and all it’s knowledge at your fingertips, on the road! Most big tours now have a ‘boffin’ or someone who is there to do any kind of repairs that may arise.
SEGAS: What’s the worst screw up you will ever admit to onstage?
LEE: I once tripped over a main power cable, which caused the entire wireless system to cut out for a few seconds, during an ENCORE!
SEGAS: Does your work prevent you from enjoying the guitar in your time off, your personal life?
LEE: No, not at all. I love them wherever I am, or whatever I’m doing. I just wish I was a better player and had practiced more, instead of … having fun!
SEGAS: What person has left the strongest impression upon you, in all the people you’ve met over the years?
LEE: Two people actually, George Harrison and Ian Clews.
SEGAS: There’s an urban legend in the Guitar tech community, that you actually refretted one of Eric’s Strats DURING a break between sound check and a live show that same evening. Any truth?
LEE: It’s a very long story, with a reasonable fret job at the end … (laughs…)
Join Lee Dickson, Rene Martinez, and a host of other guitar centric celebrities, at the Southeast Guitar and Amp Show, in Raleigh,North Carolina on September 25th and 26th, at the New Raleigh Convention Center! Over 100 Vendors, including famous Amplifier, Guitar and accessory manufacturers as well as Vintage Guitar Dealers from all over the United States will be there! Live concerts by Michael Landau, Jonny Hiland and Unknown Hinson also will be held in conjunction with the show’s events. Free Clinics and Demos will be held throughout the weekend as well!
© Southeastern Guitar & Amp Show. Presented by Mojo Musical Supply.
Contact us or call 800-927-6656 for more information.