FIRST SOLO CD BY CHARLIE X
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The Xman
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2004 CharlieX |
When surfing the net, please visit some friends who have supported this project at these links! Also, see my new section on Guitar Repair below! Check out a GREAT Philly band "Blue Train" These guys COOK and I jam with them every chance I can! See their site for upcoming gigs! They are also some of my best friends, so check out Perry, Malcolm, Gene, Pat and the rest of BLUE TRAIN at their website. Check out Diane Hubka at: http://dianehubka.com/ You can now download my entire CD OR individual tracks for .99 cents each from Kimberlee
Traub Got Music? Here is a link that showcases all of us indie people. Can't get too much exposure! ----------------------------------------
GUITAR REPAIR IN PHILLY! Ok, I have tried the folks below..some good, some not so good. Here are my experiences. Please email me if you think someone should be added here, or if you think I left out someone good. I will bring them some work to them and post my experience. Remember, this is only what happened to ME with these guys..your mileage may vary.
IUPDATE on S. Jersey Guitar Repair. (The following was posted in 2007..see additional comments below) I just tried a new guy. His name is Pete Brown at South Jersey Guitar Repair near Haddonfield. He did some electronic mods for me that everyone else seemed to 'shy away' from . I have a Raines 7 String and wanted a new wiring harness. Beyond that, I wanted to add a single coil pickup between the 2 buckers a la the Gibson Alvin Lee model. I routed the cavity myself and then took it to Pete where he did the harness, new pots switches etc and installed the pickup. He configured the electronics so that I could get the sounds of position 4 of a strat. It was not sure I could get the sound of a strat from this config. Well, IT WORKED PERFECT!! I can nail the sound with this guitar and this Korean guitar has become my main axe for the moment. I am now considering having a guitar built by possibly Koll or Moll, and having them deliver it with NO electronics. I will then take it to Pete and get the same config for the new guitar. I am now totally Gibson and Fender FREE!! Its like going to a Mac and never having to feed Bill Gates again...feels GREAT. Check out Pete, he does a great job. His turnaround time was among the best here. He did this job in 2 weeks, which is STELLAR. The only other guy that fast is Mark below, but he passed on this job. I will be using Pete again to refret my DAngelico. The Korean DAs come with low frets and need replacement right away. Check out S Jersey Guitar Repair. The price for this extensive electronic mod was 1/4 of the price others estimated. His fret jobs are around $300, but for the quick turnaround, I would pay it. Ok..here is the update: I brought an Ibanez Af 207 7 string to Pete on 6/7/08. I bought it from Daddy's Junky Music (those guys at Daddy's are the BEST!). The neck showed up with a bow in it and the guitar was strung with 10s. This was a tip off to me that the neck had a problem. I stopped by Mark Burkett and he suggested I return the guitar (which is cool with Daddy's). I then called Pete and over the phone he diagnosed the problem and assured me that he could make it work fine. He did not think anything of it. I brought the guitar over to him and he said if i like the guitar, I should keep it as the neck is fine. I really liked this guitar except for the pup, which was way too dark and low output. So...he put on a new jazz 7 SD pup (which I like even less), he wired a 5 position rotary switch where the tone knob was (who uses a tone control on these?) which splits the pup in every direction (which I will be removing after all). He did a redress of the frets and turned it around in LESS THAN A WEEK!! I had the guitar back the following Friday. When you ask Pete a question you get a VERY detailed answer, which I like. Pete is not guessing when he talks about guitars. He KNOWS what he is doing every inch of the way and I TOTALLY trust him especially on the stuff most guys wont touch such as certain neck work and experimental electronics. I also learned he does finishing. His fret work was great however the frets on this Ibanez are pretty low and will soon have to be replaced anyway, so I'm sorry I did the extra work as Pete will be pulling them out soon. If u get one of these guitars you will want new frets right off the bat. I Don't want to do ratings of guitar repair guys here...the purpose was only to tell you MY personal experience in Philly. Your mileage may vary. But if anyone asks me where to take their guitar, I tell them South Jersey Guitar Repair if they really need some great expertise beyond set up and the basics. His work,talent and extensive knowledge is an easy 10. Not that I'm rating anybody :) The latest repair person I used was Mark Burkert in Manyunk, Pa (215-280-3903 be sure to tell him Charlie X sent u!) He did a refret on a Korean 7 string that I am trying out. He did an excellent job and kept in touch. But most of all he was FAST. I had my guitar back in 1 week. Mark is not the lowest price in town, but he is very meticulous and he also plays, so he knows how it is supposed to feel when he is done. Mark also does custom electronics work, but I have not used him for this. He's a good guy, but keep in mind, he works on a CASH only basis (or Paypal) so save up before u bring him jobs. UPDATE ON MARK 6/15/08- I cannot say enough good things about working with Mark Burkett. In 2 instances since I met him, I brought a guitar over to his shop. Once for a set up on my Ranes and once to check out the neck on my Ibanez. In both cases Mark did not even charge me! Can you beat that?? He took a look and gave some free advice on the AF 207, and on the Raines, since he installed the frets and I was getting a buzz, he adjusted it FREE! Mark is awesome to work with and is in the Manyunk, Ridge ave area, near Roxy Guitars. Also...both times I did NOT have to leave the guitar. He did it right there while I waited. The guy is awesome. Superior Guitar Works in Manyunk. I am not recommending them so I will not provide a link. Horrible wait time...im talking more than 6 months for my last guitar job. I had Tim set up my L5, do extensive work on my '64 SG, and many set ups on various archtops including building a new bridge for my Johnny Smith (which I later learned was unnecessary) and a refret on my 175. He may be the most expensive guy in town. He charged me by the hour, which included time he spends on the phone with other customers while my guitars are on the bench. This can get expensive as his phone rings off the hook all day long. I was ok though, since I thought he did a good job, however, my last experience with him was some work on my SG. He put in a pickup, cleaned up some wiring issues and installed tuners. My bill was $750 and it took 8 months. I'm not kidding here. These are not jokes. On my bill was a $75 dollar charge for lacquering the back of my guitar neck, which was a part of the job that I had cancelled. There was no lacquer on my neck. I didn't notice this until I looked at the bill at home. I also noticed when I got home, that he made a new nut (which I asked for) but that the string spacing was atrocious. The 3rd and 4th string are right next to each other and the others are at random widths apart. I could have done this better blindfolded and ended up having to reinstall the nut that I wanted replaced. $125 for the nut job, by the nutjob. He never returned my calls when I later complained. I asked for a quote for a refret on my JS. This guitar has the 'nibs' and elaborate binding on the fingerboard. He quoted me $850 to refret and keep the nibs. This is a difficult job to do cleanly and he probably has the talent to do it, but I got it done by Ron Ruggerio MUCH cheaper and Ron is guy I trust (see below). I will NEVER go back to Superior now that I have met some good solid and reputable guys who do GREAT work. RON RUGGERIO, look him up as he has no website. Google Ron and you will see a long list of satisfied customers. He can be temperamental, but did a GREAT job my my Johnny Smith (kept all the nibs). This is the only job I have used him for so far, but I would recommend him for most repair. I waited about 5 weeks for the fret job, which is probably reasonable (but eternity compared to Mark). Bluebond Guitar. They have a website, but they never answer any emails. No voicemail either, but you can usually get Rich on the phone to answer questions. Rich at Bluebond (4th and South st) is a really nice guy, but takes forever to finish a job. I still use him for simple jobs and refrets but I only take guitars to him that I don't need back for a few months. He has been averaging about 3 months to turn my fret jobs around. He does a good job on frets and his set ups are as good as anyone. He may be one of the least expensive guys in town. But...you will have to WAIT a LOOOOOONG time to get your guitar back. If you call, he will always promise you 'next week'. Next week never comes. I tried an elaborate pickup system on an acoustic guitar once. I waited almost 9 months to get it back, and the idea didn't work after all. I keep it simple with Rich and I don't expect my guitar back for 3 or so months. I am currently waiting for him to finish another 7 string of mine, and if his price for refretting is not at least 70 or 80 bucks cheaper than Mark, I will take Rich off my list and just use Mark Burkert for future work. TOP TEN MUSIC in Glenolden. For a reasonably fast job (couple weeks) for easy stuff (putting in a new pickup or set ups) no one is cheaper than Top 10. They also sell a lot of used gear and you can REALLY find some deals, especially on amps. I used him to rewire one of my Strats and the wiring was not right, but he offered to check it out free if I brought it back. I just did it myself. They also changed the bias on one of my Marshall combo amps to accept EL-34s. They wired the speakers out of phase so when I got it back there was no low end (on a Marshall this is crazy talk!). I found the problem myself and rewired it, but the rest of the bias job was ok and looked pretty clean. TOP 10 is good for easy stuff and VERY VERY low cost. They are friendly there too, which is important to me.
AMP REPAIR As far as AMP REPAIR goes in Philly, there is only one name you need to know. Jim Walton. Don't even look anywhere else. He is in NE philly. I brought a Marshall 100w super lead (1971) to him expecting to need a cap job. It did not need it but he replaced tubes and resistors that were blown. He also explained a lot about what he found in my amp and takes a lot of time with his customers explaining every thing which I like a lot. I also brought my 68 Dual Showman reverb to him to be blackfaced and learned that most of the mods had already been done. His prices are excellent and turn around is only a few weeks. He keeps in touch and will do whatever you want and nothing more or less. I would not consider taking my amps anywhere else in the Philly area after working with Jim Walton. Google him and see how many others are saying the same thing about Jim. PLEASE EMAIL ME WITH YOUR FAVORITES! I am always looking for those who are good. EMAIL ME!! |