Legendary: Hunterburst and day 55

The Mighty Hunter-burst Les Paul

Before playing his Appetite for Destruction Les Paul, Slash had a Les Paul that the whole band remembers as a turning moment in their careers.  It was a sign that they were "making it" in the world of music.  It inspired them to work harder, player better, and get stuff done.  But this Les Paul did not make it with them to their debut album.  What was with this Les Paul?

To start talking about the Hunterburst, we have to go back to the time.  Today Les Pauls of all periods are coming out in droves, there are Les Pauls at every notch in a wallet.  In the late 70's and early 80's, the only way to get a Gibson made "like they used to" was to find a Gibson made back then.  I've said here before, for years Les Pauls were mistreated and thought of as lesser guitars.  They went through periods where they were hated, periods where they cost dirt money, and periods where they sat on pawn shop walls for years.

Steve Hunter of Alice Cooper was tired of looking for "that perfect 50's Les Paul".  He was not the only one.  Los Angeles' music scene was a hub of custom guitars.  Cheap customs were a way for a luthier to get skill for when that big dog comes knocking after hearing one of your guitars in a hip, new band.  Steve was one of these big dogs.  He got a Les Paul 50's copy made in the shop of Max Baranet.  Max rented luthier space in his shop, and there were several working there at the time.  Roman Rist, Max's apprentice, claims he spots several hallmarks that Max put into guitars, and that Max himself made it.  Max did well over 150 instruments a year at the era, so its easy to see how he could not remember it.  In pictures of the era, you can tell the Hunterburst from the AFD by the fact that the Hunterburst is a wider "quilt" maple top, while the AFD is more pinstripe flame.

Like many great Legendary instruments, the story of them starts with someone else not keeping it.  Steve Hunter got into the Super Stratocaster scene that Eddie Van Halen fostered, and decided to be rid of his custom Les Paul copy.  It went to the store of a guy named Howie Hubberman.  Howie was notorious for giving struggling bands deals on credit and trade ins.  Slash traded in a few of his guitars and was able to get The Hunterburst on credit.  Howie says that Slash was always good for the money, but probably payed it off well after getting rid of the guitar.

Now why is this guitar legendary if Slash got rid of it?  Well, Guns N Roses was not popular over night.  The image that Slash created and still performs under today was not yet established.  When he got the Hunterburst, that's when the band blew up.  Everyone that was a part of the LA scene in the mid 80's saw Slash playing this guitar.  Guns N Roses got their record deal on the back of the skill used with this guitar.  The AFD guitar gets the glory, but when GNR was struggling, hungry and playing their hearts out as a means to make a living, it was the Hunterburst in Slash's hands.

The Hunterburst currently resides in a museum.  Sadly it goes unplayed.


Day 55

If you are a musician well versed in theory, you're going to be bored by today's post.  If you are not a musician, you'll probably be bored by today's post too.

I am redoing and fleshing out my rough pages before putting them in my notebook and today I did a diagram of all the parts of the Minor and Major Pentatonic scale.  It hit me today that they overlap because they both use the same shapes.  Maybe I'm under representing this somehow...  I realized that a Major C Pentatonic in the first shape, is the same as a shifted Minor A.  Now, the chord tones are different, but the shape and place, and notes are exact.  This opens up my improving soooooooo much.  Also, this means I can find any key in minor or major using the same shape.

Its kind of like finally seeing the forest for the trees.

I used the session mode to map this out.  Again, it is so good for visualizing concepts that can be told to me, but sometimes I need a visual way of seeing it, which is why I have a habit of diagramming things on paper and in notebooks.

I am seeing the relationship not just the math of the theory.  This is like the next step for me to be able to hear something, know what is being played, and being able to solo or rhythm over or under it and be "correct" and not just "noodling around till something sounds right".  I could do it on paper, not just in practice, and other people will be able to look at it and say "yea I see what you're doing".  It makes me feel like I'm becoming a musician, not just a guy that can "play some bass and guitar".