Fulltone presents Doug Aldrich Clinic &
Signing Session
|
|
|
 The last guitar clinic of Doug in Japan was
in 1994. I couldn't see his guitar
play close at the Whitesnake shows,
so this
was the good chance for me. I
had got
a ticket with #1, so I could have a
seat
in the middle of the first row. The
studio was small, so Doug was very
close
to me. He had seemed to rehearse
enough.
When I entered into the studio,
there
were already many effectors on the
stage.
He seemed to bring his amplifier,
and
he brought his Gibson Les Paul and
Fender
Telecaster to Japan. He always
seemed
to carry his Les Paul at each Whitesnake
show. He said he hadn't changed
the
pickups on Les Paul, but he used the
pickups
of Allan Holdsworth and Seymour Dunkan
on
Telecaster. (I'm sorry if there is
a mistake....) Doug came in and said "Genki desuka? (How are you?)". It was like David at the Whitesnake show. At first, he showed us the demonstration. The first song was aggressive which suit for his second solo album, I think. Doug's guitar sound was really great. And the second song was bluesy. Blues is always on the base of his guitar play. Then he did demo play with Fulltone's effectors. He compared the sound with each effector, Overdrive, Distortion, Fuzz, Flanger, Wah, etc. I don't know so much about professional things, so I feel sorry I can't explain enough. I used to play the guitar a long time ago, but I have never used Wah.  Then Q&A time ... some fans asked him
a question. On the Whitesnake's
UK
tour, Jimmy Page visited David Coverdale,
and he carved his name "JP"
on
Doug's Les Paul. I had already
read
about that on the internet. Doug
showed
us that letters on the back of his
Les Paul.
I could see it. Doug is
going
to write songs and work for Whitesnake,
Burning
Rain, and his solo after Japan. Doug's
first band was called "Purple
Haze",
and he told us about the episodes about
it.
I was glad to hear that, because
I
didn't know about it at all. At
last
he played the new songs which might
record
on an album in the future. It
was soft
and heavy ... it reminded me of Steelheart's
song "We All Die Young".
He
also played the phrase of "Slow
&
Easy" with the bottle neck. He
said he tuned down to G on the fifth
string
and to D on the first string. (I'm
sorry
I'm wrong...) I love his slide
guitar,
and it's cool. He als o played something like "Purple Haze",
and some from ZZ Top, Jimi Hendrix,
etc.
Maybe he played some from Burning
Rain's
"Judgement Day" ... ?At the end of the clinic, he did a signing session. The fan who bought a Fulltone effector could have a photo with Doug. I was the last person to get his autograph. I got it on my Masanori Sera's new album and also got his guitar pick. 3 hours passed already! Doug talked with each fan warmly. That instruments shop had already been closed. It was funny that Doug took a break suddenly, but he did a great job! Thank you so much for giving us a great experience!! It was the precious time for me. |