#86 JAYBIRD BYRNE

Audio only version of my YouTube Livestream Podcast with Young up and coming shredder Jaybird Byrne

Full video version can be viewed over on my YouTube channel youtube.com/c/rickhollis where you can subscribe and hit the notification bell to catch the show live and ask my guests questions via the live chat room.

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
[Music]
w
[Music]

(00:52):
so I've been wanting to talk to you for
a little for a little while now I've
been seeing you online since you're
about 12
playing the crossroads Jewel and Van
Halen and stuff like that very
impressive spend way too much time with
the guitar in my hand so how old were
you when you started
playing uh about eight um started just s

(01:16):
of the story is that my dad was he was
away for an extended period of time MH
um and he had guitars around and I
started picking the guitars up and
playing them and my he tried to teach me
over FaceTime but my mom got really
annoyed at that so she just said I'll
just get a teacher and I got a teacher

(01:36):
and I started to play and I just sort of
my playing grew a lot quicker back then
than it does now now it sort of feels
like it grows in the songwriting but the
playing not so much so you you said you
started getting lessons quite young as
well was that with Simon Simon Gardner
um no not with Simon yet um Simon I
started lessons with when I was about

(01:57):
nine so what did you start playing when
you first like what type of songs were
you playing at first the first song I
Learned was an ACDC one um and then the
first solo I Learned was bini and Rap
City wow and yeah after a bit of time I
it just sort of all fell into place for
me to learn those two solos that I saw

(02:19):
the queen movie and I a video of ACDC
playing Thunder stru went viral around
the same time as I started playing Y and
then after that the after I saw the
queen movie I thought I really want to
learn that solo so I took my guitar and
I spent a couple of hours just trying to
get the first few notes yeah and you
just worked it at yourself by ear um the

(02:41):
I found a few YouTube tutorials here and
there but some of them uh they don't
explain it in a way that um makes sense
the one that I used like if I need to
learn a song really quickly guitar
lessons 365 on YouTube I just look up a
tutorial for any song and he practically
has a tutorial for every song cool cool

(03:03):
and what was your first guitar what did
you start playing on I started playing
on a Yamaha Pacifica um that was my
dad's and my first real guitar was
after my my mom my dad thought my mom
went crazy at one point because she took
me into a guitar store and we were like
I need a different guitar and I've been

(03:26):
I've been researching Les Paul's um and
there was this Les PA that was half
priced because of the
color and it plays great I still love
that guitar I've got it here yeah it
just it sounds really really good um and
after I got that guitar my playing just
went cuz I was practicing more because

(03:48):
it felt so good to play isn't it amazing
the difference good good sounding
feeling guitar makes I know I'm always
buying new guitars and people like what
do you need another one for it's like
well I'm Bor these ones and this makes
me want to sit around and play right
yeah cool so you said it was half price
because of the

(04:08):
color what color was it do you want me
to grab it if you want
yeah oh okay yeah that's not that bad
yeah but it was half priced because
there was cracks all over the Finish
because there was cracks in it yeah well
custom shops charge you more for that I

(04:29):
don't know why I did didn't sell for
twice the price yeah all over it so I
imagine uh Les Paul would have been
better uh for your small little hands
then huh yeah definitely was and the I
really liked the really big neck cuz on
mine it's sort of it's a studio so it's
sort of it's sort of big but it's sort

(04:51):
of kind of skinny at the same time MH
it's a little bit thicker um
than I'd say your normal Strat neck but
it feels really good to play and the
Fret work um I needed it fret dressed
after 6 months of playing it oh really
did you wear it out
that yeah so for you was guitar like

(05:12):
your obsession once you discovered it
you just went this is all I want to do
yeah that was the sort of thing was like
I'm autistic and I have different
special interests y the only special
interest that has been consistent and
one I think will never go away is music
ever since I was really really young I
loved music um went to school got violin

(05:33):
lessons that made me hate music for a
few
years I can understand PR much yeah I
they tried to get me to read music but I
can't read music I'm not dyslexic but it
just I find the notes sort of move
around on the page when I try to read
them sure sure I'm trying to learn as

(05:54):
well I go to university that was a big
part was having to learn to read music
and all the people around me like yeah
I'm like yeah I'm not real good at this
and I've got to every line so of go
Every Good Boy just oh it's a d and
everyone else seems to be able to go
yeah there just goes up a third or
whatever but not me I'm a bit
silly but um so you said you got other

(06:15):
special interest as well what that come
and go what have been some of those over
the years um so I used to do like I used
to do a lot of dance um but I didn't
enjoy the strictness of it like you had
to wear this dress you had to wear this
tre2 all all of that sort of stuff it
just drove me out of that so I then went
to like a circus group for a while and I

(06:38):
went around there and it was sort of
like dance but recently my special
interests have been um 3D printing and
3D modeling yep and cubing so solving
Rubik's Cubes really
fast I have no idea how to solve one I
looked it up and I haven't touched it
since

(06:59):
is there like when you're doing
cubing what's what's the secret do you
just see it differently to other people
or do you want me to show you yeah
please so what I see is I just see
different things that need to be moved
different places and I see like I have

(07:20):
to make a cross I have to make these
edges and then
not very fast at it um anymore I'm just
amazed that you can do

(07:41):
it just like that huh yeah it I at one
point I was able to do blindfold solving
but if you don't do that for a while
your memory because you have to remember
in each sequence of each like letter cuz
they sign a letter to all the P all the
pieces on the cube you have to remember

(08:02):
each sequence and that is really taxing
on your brain like after doing it you'll
feel really really tired and I've only
ever done one successful blind solve
yeah but yeah it's very taxing so I
stopped doing it because it just wasn't
really for me I couldn't imagine doing

(08:23):
that
blindfolded yeah memorize where all the
pieces go and yeah yeah right fun
sometimes wow so you said when you were
playing violin that it almost put you
off music did you get did you get
anything out of playing the violin like
is there any positive to that the one
positive is that in one of my tracks I

(08:47):
had a part where I needed a a little bit
of a violin sound so I still had the
violin B so I used that on a guitar yeah
and I got like it was really really
faint in the background I can't remember
which track on but yeah that's the only
positive of it it was one tiny little
layer in one track yeah right so it
didn't really translate over to guitar

(09:08):
when you went over because it's tuned
differently isn't it and it's got no
threats so do do you have perfect
pitch I do or do you have a really good
sense of relative
pitch I'm not sure exactly which one it
is like I can hear a note and sometimes
be oh that's a c that's a d or but

(09:29):
sometimes
like my ADHD when my meds aren't working
I am really not that great at that sort
of stuff so I can't hear it Y and I
can't think of the note but when my meds
are working I can pretty much hear it
and then think of the note so yeah I I
asked you that because
um I have a pretty good sense of

(09:49):
relative pitch so if I work out what key
we're in I can hear oh yeah that that
that's the one coord oh we just went to
the six or down to the four oh we had a
flat seven there do do you hear like
that I hear sometimes the um like the
scale gree number and then sometimes I
can hear the note name but I'm really
bad at hearing multiple note names

(10:11):
within succession I can hear it's a name
arpeggio but I can't hear what each noce
usually yeah cool so did things really
start to sort of take off you when you
started seeing Simon for lessons was
that a big stepping stone yeah Simon has
been the most consistent
force of helping me play play guitar he

(10:34):
is just like he is a virtuoso and every
time I see him play I think I got to
practice more um and yeah he's really
helped guide me through songs um writing
songs and he did a few jazz tunes with
me and the other thing is when I first
went to him he was like so you your

(10:56):
fingers are moving really fast but
there's no music there he was like it's
just fingers moving really fast and
notes really fast and then he was like
so you need to have you need to be so
when I first went I was like this I was
playing playing with my finger pads yeah
and then he really drilled into me that
I need

(11:20):
to play more with the tips is that what
he's saying y yeah he drilled that into
me and that has helped me so much over
like it the years I've been playing
everything Simon's done has just added
to where I am so I'm very happy to have
to have him as a teacher yeah I think

(11:40):
he's one of the best rock players in
Queensland um and I first saw Simon
playing when I was probably about 18
years old 17 18 years old he just went
to git the guitar Institute of
Technology and he came back and he did a
guitar clinic and I that was the first
time I saw somebody up close playing a
lot of three note per string kind of

(12:01):
playing with just that that flow that
that gives you the Legato and yeah and
just think oh my God there's somebody
actually doing that right in front of me
it was amazing and um yeah I've sort of
kept up with what he's been up to over
the years but I was really impressed I
went and saw him
play at a a record release or something

(12:23):
jeez this could have been how long ago
almost 10 years ago he put out a solo
record and the thing that ressed me the
most was I knew that he could absolutely
shred but I'd watched him play through
about three or four songs before he even
let go of the Beast he was just playing
melodically as if to say yeah you know I
can do that fancy stuff but listen
listen to me play some beautiful stuff

(12:43):
and that really I just respect it was
like a lot of people go L look how fast
I can
play yeah and he has always another
thing has drilled into me is to try and
play melodically so when I first started
he'd take me back to basics and say just
play one note sure and then he said

(13:05):
adding he showed me how to add the notes
and how to then link them and yeah I'm
very grateful for him cool so what type
of things was were you learning first up
in terms of navigating the fretboard did
you learn like the Caged system or I
don't use caged I know the Caged system

(13:28):
and I know the pgos but after a while
the cage system sort of boxes you in
just like it so cage system sort of
claims to elevate you out of the
pentatonic scale but then the same thing
is it's just a bigger box and a
different shaped box like the pentatonic
is a little square box and and the cage
system is a little circular box Y and I

(13:50):
feel like what Simon did was he taught
me all of it he taught me three note per
string he taught me the um just standard
like
yep and yeah taught all of that and yeah
helped me put it all together and that
was really helpful um I think first he

(14:11):
taught me the cage system and yeah he
once said if you ever ask a piano player
can you play something in the cage
system they'll be
like uh where's the cage is it like a
dog crate or something yeah
yeah I absolutely agree having to learn
five different shapes that mean that

(14:33):
aren't related just doesn't make sense
to me instead I will learn it on two
strings slide up two Frets and move it
over to the next two strings you know
what I'm saying um yeah sort of in
smaller cells and that just made a lot
more sense to me than all these big big
shapes and things so sounds like um you
might be taking the same

(14:56):
approach yeah I sort of don't like
recently I tried to relearn the
pentatonic scale cuz I had learned it
but I had learned it really poorly so I
tried to relearn it but then when I
started playing I felt boxed into it so
then I had to unlearn that sort of and
then try to get back into the sort of
three Night P caged combination of all

(15:17):
of those things sure sure do you
remember what the first thing you
learned to play that was a bit of a
showstopper that made people go oh my
God that's a hard one
um when I was really um young I tried to
learn the Dragon Force thing um it my
hands were like half the size they are

(15:39):
now yeah it did not work um but the
first thing I actually sort of learned I
was able to um play coherently was the
um eruption tapping part yep and that I
learned tapping through that and then I
can't remember if I can't remember who
it was I think it was Stevie t one point
I when I was

(15:59):
starting PL playing I watched his
tutorial on sweet picking yep and it was
actually really good content um just
with a lot of nonsense that he does in
it but it was it taught me the basics of
it but I wasn't sweet picking properly I
was sort of just playing the rpio I
wasn't muting the strings um but it

(16:19):
taught me sort of different ways around
all kinds of things so I think that is
probably the best answer to that
question cool okay you know I met Stevie
I went to n uh about 5 years ago and I
was waiting in line to meet somebody and
he was just sitting down at a table next
to me and I looked at him and um said oh

(16:41):
wow I've got a a student that's a big
fan of yours can I get a photo and he
was just really quiet kind of dude not
at all like his Persona on on the
channel and um it was just very quiet
mellow almost shy and then as soon as
the camera came out that's when he
immediately went you know pulled pulled
the face and became stev that we see on

(17:02):
on the screen so it's funny how um
people can be different when they're off
camera as opposed to when when the
cameras are on them yeah I've seen that
with a few different people yeah so
speaking of that have you you've played
with quite a few cool people in your
young years as well who's who's some of
the the players that that you've played

(17:23):
with do you mean on stage anywh yeah um
so on stage
Ash wal and Larry Mitchell at the gimpy
must that
was I felt really undersized for how big
and big players seem larger than life to
someone like me who's sort of just

(17:44):
starting the journey and it was a lot of
fun and really sort of it opened my eyes
to the different kinds of styles like
ash was like pull it back a little bit
and I was like oops I went too hard too
quick um um but yeah that was a really
fun and then I played um with John

(18:04):
Foreman at elevat the stage in Sydney
and he is an amazing keyboard player who
was some of the uh the players players
that you were getting into when you
first
started um Brian May was definitely one
of the first ones I saw him live at Sun
Corp yep um in 2020 and it was when Co

(18:27):
was just starting and we got Co from
being in Sun Corp and being a big line
um but the doctors wouldn't really
diagnose it then but yeah Brian May um
Randy rhods was definitely the biggest
one like about six months into my
playing I was absolutely idolizing Randy

(18:48):
rhods and trying to play just like him
and sound just like him and yeah he was
the hugest inspiration to me and I can
never feel like his given me nothing to
do because a lot of players go around
and say oh his double tracking isn't
that good but it for me it was the way
he wrote solos the way he sounded the

(19:09):
way every the way he worked it just
really intrigued me and he was the
biggest influence yeah I was just
thinking back to the start and then I
thought oh Randy yeah yeah yeah so
speaking of Brian May I used to play in
a a queen tribute band I was Brian May
and I used to put on the wig and man
he's got some really nice Mel stuff I I

(19:31):
um yeah I had to learn to play it all
note fornote I'd slow things down and
everything and get his touch and his
feel down
and what a sound he's very unique you
can tell it's him straight away and his
sound like him and Randy they were the
two biggest Inspirations for me and then

(19:51):
in about
2022 I got uh Franken Strat from evh um
refered it recently and just tweaking it
to be better um but yeah and I that was
my main guitar for two years pretty much
until the start of oh not two years
about a year until the start of 2023

(20:12):
I've got a I've got a black evh I don't
know if you can see it on the wall I can
see it yeah yeah uh I'm going to put a
pick guard on that and wire in neck and
middle pickup and everything but I love
the neck on that I've come to really
like it it's got that
nice Speedy kind of neck nice rounded
edges but not too thin some like ibanes

(20:37):
gam and all that wizard neck can be a
little bit too thin I prefer the ibanes
that I use I prefer the ivanz wizard
three neck or the one on the Jo Jo
Satriani models the neck on the Jo
Satriani models is really comfortable to
play and it just sort of melts into your
hand it feels like yeah I've seen you
playing that a lot and you got a
sustainiac in that right yeah it is like

(21:01):
ever since like someone lent me a JS and
I tried it and I played it at a gig I
think and yeah after that I was like I
wrote a song with it using the
sustainiac and I was like uh I think I
need one of these and I was very
fortunate that I was able to get one

(21:22):
I've got a guitar I'm very small in my
Monitor up there somewhere I think it's
that one hmer that's got a sustainiac in
it and I've had
that
since
1991 so I've had it for a long time and
that was my secret weapon I'd flick the

(21:43):
switch and nobody knew not many people
knew about them and everyone's like
how's your controller feedback and
everything I'm like yeah how's my
controller feedback not not telling him
I'm just flicking a
switch I used to try to do the Carlos an
feedback trick like what's that it's
where you walk around the room play a

(22:04):
specific note try turn your body in
multiple angles and then try and find
the one where it resonates the best and
then Mark that with tape I did that but
it was just it didn't sound as good as a
sustainiac and it didn't sustain
anywhere near as long as a sustainiac
like the sustainiac you just have to

(22:24):
wait till the battery dies and yeah um
but this it was like a 10sec sustain but
yeah I've tried all of those sort of
sustain tricks and I've used a couple
EOS um
and yeah the only thing that I found
really works for that is the sustainia
and then you've got the harmonic switch

(22:45):
which just sounds it just turns it into
a monster basically yeah it's nice to
hold a note have it down on the
fundamental first and then flip it to
one of the harmonics and then flip it to
a different harmonic and that's what I
said everyone was looking at me going
how's your control of feedback I'm like
yes Magic

(23:07):
switch and I I've seen Steve V when he
uses his Fernandez sustainer and he he
pretends to do stuff with his tongue but
but you're watching he's actually
flipping the switch on his sustainiac to
sustainer to get the different harmonics
and things and I saw him in Brisbane and
he blew on the guitar and flicked the
sustainiac switch and then yeah it was

(23:28):
that was a great experience seeing
him yeah I I went to the one that was
the one at um fortitude music H yeah
yeah fantastic fantastic his guitar
sound was
amazing his
Showmanship he's CV what can you say
yeah yeah someone went to the V Academy

(23:51):
and took a cortex and captured the
entire his entire rig really yeah so
I've got that on the quad and I use that
sometimes it sounds massive like however
you think he sounds live it sounds 10
times better when you're playing it

(24:12):
alone it just yeah and it does sustain
for a long time even without sustainiac
yeah awesome so speaking of Steve I one
of the the main head Turners was seeing
you play the crossroads
Jewel how long did that take you to
learn that
um thing I first started learning it in

(24:34):
2020 when Simon recommended um I started
yep and then after many years of trying
to do it like I spent about a month of
like three-hour practice days in the
middle of Co trying to get that um the
high

(24:59):
yeah haven't played it for a while but I
remember spending a long time trying to
get that and I never got it and then I
Revisited it Revisited it after I got
the Franken strap and I was able to sort
of play it and then over time I was able
to actually play the crossroads line and

(25:20):
I was really happy after I got it
because I was just like I feel like God
yeah absolutely
so all people my age and and I'm I'm 50
what how old am I 51 but all the people
around my age that
was the Pinnacle if you could play that

(25:40):
because we were all teenagers when that
movie came out and every was like oh the
crossroads jeel and if you could play
any of it people's heads would turn but
to see you playing it when you were like
13 or something on on YouTube nailing it
um I had Andy Wood you know who Andy
Wood is the the country
Shredder have you seen him uh haven't

(26:01):
seen him no okay so Andy he's got his
own Sur signature model and everything
um so he's from Nashville he was World
Bluegrass mandolin Champion when he was
a teenager or something so he's really
good at the fast picking and all that
and then that translated to guitar so he
mainly plays country but he can play all
that kind of stuff and when I had him on

(26:23):
the show before we went live he was just
sitting there warming up and he was
playing Crossroads Jewel and that was
mindblowing to see my favorite part of
watching somebody play that is when
they're doing that octave jump thing and
watching their head yeah of going
looking preempting where they're about
to jump to

(26:44):
yeah would you say that's the hardest
part is getting that yeah after the um
the
little after that little part that is
the hardest part of it cool and I spent
such a long time trying to get it and I

(27:04):
tried to do that on a Les Po and it was
a nightmare cuz I couldn't reach up and
nowadays I've using next through
favorite ones next yep sorry about that
um but yeah the um it just feels so much
easier to access it and it sort of feels

(27:25):
like accessing the rest of the neck but
made it considerably easier to play it
than even on a strat so yeah I was very
happy once I learned that and I could
play it nice it's a bit of a bugger
isn't it when you hit your thumb hits
that heel especially on Strat style
guitars and yeah it's a bit awkward I
tend to sculpt it away on some of mine

(27:48):
uh I've hacked it away uh I know a lot
of the higher end stuff they come pre-
sculpted but yeah I'm really Keen to try
you know you know bet CGH n4s how
they've got that extended C I've always
wanted to strap with one of
those yeah I think that would make
getting up really high um

(28:09):
effortless yeah and really
easy they they also look really good
they do don't they yeah so um you're
using iban's guitars now what was the
attraction to iess so when I first
started um I obviously started on the G
ibson then I moved to the Franken Strat

(28:30):
and then at one point I decided to try
and play around with a Shel I played
around with that it it is a great guitar
um went on the ABC talking about how
good it is um but over time the Floyd
Rose 1000 system the because I was
playing it so much and doing so many
dive bombs the Floyd Rose 1000 was

(28:50):
buring and it was slotting out and then
going out a tune and that happened on
stage the first time it happened in the
middle of surf thing with the
alien always the way probably big crowd
too right not really it was at Norton's
Music
Factory and then I gave it to the guitar
tech took Frankie and played a song with

(29:10):
Frankie and then he gave it back and
said I think it's all good and then it
did it again oh so then I researched
what the problem was and then I learned
about the ianz edge Bridge system which
uses knife edges instead of the like
blunt instead of just sort of like that
it uses a knife edge which just sits in

(29:31):
a little Groove and that is much better
because you can
just and it's all in tune yeah and it
just stays like that and that's why I
moved to ibers and yeah they're a great
company and their guitars have such good
quality control like there was another
guitar of another brand I'm not going to

(29:52):
name the brand but it had um like it had
green paint on it and I went into the
guitar store and I tried it and I played
around with it and then I lifted it up
and the green paint had gone all over my
black pants wow and I was
like is this company's quality control
really this bad and it was really weird

(30:13):
the guitar store sent it back but it was
like leaking green paint I've never seen
that before it's like they didn't let it
drw properly or something huh just out
yeah it yeah it was really weird but
they sent it back I haven't heard what
happened to it um but yeah that was
another company I was considering
looking at but after seeing that I was

(30:35):
like I've played a few ibanez's now
apart from the like I'd played a few
modded ones really badly modded ibanez's
when I first started and I didn't like
iones because they were really bad they
were really badly set up they sounded
hideous and but then after I had a look
at an ibanes AZ I was like this Brand's

(30:55):
actually really good and yeah I
eventually found this one which has the
next through and yeah the next through
is also much more stable on planes yep
so what is that one is that a Prestige
or a I forget all the different ones
premium it's a premium but it's
basically sort of specs like a Prestige

(31:17):
I had to look at a Prestige but I didn't
think the specs was good as this one um
So eventually I chose this one and yeah
I don't know why I I as didn't make it
as a Prestige because it basically could
be yeah I always get them confused is
prestige the Japanese ones and premiums
Korean premiums

(31:38):
[Music]
Indonesian say um Indonesian prenium is
the Indonesian one um and then the
standard I think is the Korean and then
they make the J Customs up in Japan in a
different Factory to The Prestige okay
and you said you're a fan of the wizard
neck profile I like the wizard 3 neck

(32:01):
the most because it's not like crazy
slim but it feels it still feels like
it's it still feels fast to play but it
doesn't feel like it's a piece of paper
and it's about to snap sure sure and so
what are you using for amps these days
um so for long time I've used the gt1000

(32:23):
and I'm still going to use that live
because I that thing is just it is
perfect the way it works live and how
you can just like the sound guy comes up
and you sometimes you'll have the sound
guy bring two xlrs or one XLR yep and
with the GT it doesn't matter like it
sounds great mono or stereo and yeah I'm

(32:46):
forever grateful for that but recently
in the studio I've started using I
started using new oldp plugins yep and I
was I first got the Tim h some one for
the nylon
string and it sounded really good and
then I experimented with a couple other
plugins and then eventually I've gotten

(33:07):
a quad cortex which I'm going to use in
the studio yep you think to use that
live as
well not sure yet the GT is just
bulletproof live is it does it have
knobs on it instead of having go through
menus and things the quad cortex no the
the
gt1000 GT you have to go through menus

(33:29):
you do okay yeah CU I've had all the
different modelers you know ax effects
camper I've never had neural DSP though
and the neural
dsp1 in my opinion is the best monitor
um modeler for studio um work because it
just it works seamlessly with the laptop
it like with some other model as I've

(33:50):
tried um I've booted it up and then I've
needed to spend a minute trying to
connect the Bluetooth and the neural I
just open the app and it's connected
automatically and it like you have to
enter the Wi-Fi password on it so I
don't know what it's doing with my Wi-Fi
but yep nice yeah some of them um if you
just need to make small changes on the

(34:12):
Fly Like Your solo sound needs to be
turned up you the sound go say oh I just
need a half DB more or something I
remember having a camper and the way it
was laid out on a dark stage with the
lights I couldn't see where anything was
and I just went design fail I if I need
to make this change right now and I
can't see it because of the lighting you
guys didn't think this through in your

(34:33):
design so um have you found that the
neural DSP is a lot easier to adjust
things as you need it or or the the one
as well the GT and the nealp are very
easy to adjust the reason I'm I'm I'm
not sure about whether I use new oldp or
gt live I'll need to test them both but
the new old

(34:54):
DSP it's the foot switches a knob
that's right and then you it's got a
touch screen so all you have to do is
you have to go into the touch screen and
like instead of having to go into a
submenu the menu of your effects chain
is just on the screen by
default so you can just press and then

(35:14):
they've got scam modes and all kinds of
stuff I don't use but I probably should
be using um yeah it just amazes me how
quickly it is to navigate like when I
first got it I pulled up uh like a lot
of the time with some model is not the
GC the GT is definitely not like this
but you'll pull up the first preset and

(35:37):
you'll think they need someone better to
make their
presets the neural If you're sort of
like a rock blues player the first
presets all you need really it just
sounds great it's mapped out really
well it's it's true what you say I I've
encountered uh things over the years I I

(35:59):
my first good amplifier was the Ada mp1
do you remember do you know those that
they
were they were a tube preamp in a rack
I've got one back there somewhere um
that you could store presets in um and
it was like the the new you UB thing
back then but the preset sucked if you

(36:19):
went into you know preset one two three
it's like who's going to use that but
you if you took the time to program them
they sounded as good as a lot of the the
real amps getting around and all the big
players were using them in the late 80s
and um but yeah the presets
like who who thinks that's a good guitar
sound yeah sometimes I wonder who

(36:42):
actually makes sounds like is it the
developers trying to show off what the
unit can do or is it actual guitar
players trying to make a good
sound hey I saw that you're um you're
building a
guitar yeah I am I'm building a 62 Strat
um when my dad's on Long service leave

(37:02):
cuz he works too many hours um I'll
hopefully be able to convince him to
keep building it with me and we we've
just done the fretboard radiusing um of
the fretboard and yeah the body we got
it from this guy who just like he has
wood out the front of his house and you

(37:23):
just go up to him and you say oh I want
this wood apparently cuz we we got
American older apparently only two
people a year buy American older for him
oh really and
theya yeah that's my thought is that
yeah I think I know who those people
are do you um there's a lot of debate

(37:45):
about tonewood some people say oh yeah
the the wood makes all this difference
some people like it makes no difference
because it's just electromagnetic things
and all that what are your thoughts on
that
okay I'll try and summarize them um so
in like 2020 or 2021 there was a guy who

(38:08):
went on YouTube and I believe the videos
were fake um but what he did was he took
a guitar and then slowly stripped it of
the components and then at the end just
put like a across two tables stross two
tables yep and yeah as gther Goan said
the end of the tone would pretty quickly

(38:28):
when you realize
that you can hear that through the amp
so tone would must make a difference in
an acoustic guitar makes huge difference
some people can't hear it in an electric
guitar but I can hear the different
tones and the different sounds of
different
woods so yeah that that's sort of my

(38:50):
stance is that t tone Woods do make a
difference and I think a lot of people
who say that they don't really need to
invest more time into playing guitar
than sparking online
debates do you think that extends into
um fingerboard fingerboard wood as

(39:12):
well I haven't had like most of the
guitars I've had have been Rosewood or
ebony um or Maple um they're the sort of
three Woods that I really like the sound
of personally I prefer the sound of
ebony to all of them like this is an
ebony fretboard um
but sometimes it doesn't make a

(39:32):
difference but sometimes it makes a
really big difference like the fretboard
is where the Frets are so it's where the
notes sit and that's got to make a
difference but it's sort of the degree
of the difference that it makes and a
lot of people debate it makes little
difference and then some people say it
makes a huge difference I believe that

(39:54):
depending on the wood it's going to make
a different amount of difference than it
would yeah it's more of a a feel thing
for me um but I do prefer Maple for for
some reason it sounds better than
Rosewood to my ears it's got more of a
snap about the the note just bit more um
transient that Bo kind of at the start

(40:15):
of the note um and I like the feel of
Ebony and I think that sounds good as
well but there's other people that think
it makes no difference I have seen some
videos where people compare different
necks and and I'm can hear in that what
my personal experience has
been yeah and the thing about like

(40:36):
Rosewood is that there's different types
of Rosewood like there's Indian Rosewood
and some of that Rosewood like some of
the Indian Rosewood is really dry like
it almost looks like the color of your W
your wall where the guitars are it
almost looks like that and I just
think where did you get this wood that
it's this unhealthy y um like was it

(40:59):
growing in a lab or something but then
like some really nice ones like
Brazilian rosewood which I've played on
a 62 Strat and I not sure but I think
this one is Brazilian rosewood um but it
sounds really really good and it feels
pretty much as smooth as ebony it just
has sort of like slightly different

(41:20):
tonal sound yeah so the guitar that
you're building um you said it's a 62
Strat is that through like a Guitar
Building course somewhere did you no um
my dad and I have done
like do you do you mind if I grab
another guitar his built quickly yeah my

(41:41):
dad and I have done some workshops of
Guitar Building and not Guitar Building
guitar maintenance and setup and repairs
and after those workshops he gained a
lot of knowled my dad gained a lot of
knowledge about how to build a guitar
from watching YouTube videos and all of
that and eventually he he did he ended
up with in a shoulder operation cuz he

(42:03):
tore his um shoulder ligament and he saw
someone on YouTube building a guitar
with one
arm so he thought while I've got my sh
while I've got the thing he was a stupid
idea but he thought while I've got my
shoulder in the sling I'll make a guitar
with the other hand and he's 80hd and
completely impulsive all the time um he

(42:25):
does a lot of things very impulsively
but this is the guitar he didn't finish
it while he had one hand he finished it
a little while ago but the top is um
can't remember red cedar I think and
then the back is

(42:46):
um
can't yeah I can't remember um but it's
a very nice wood it's the one that
smells like lime
like lime I don't know what that is
can't I can't remember exactly which W
it was but yeah and he made it and I at
first thought this isn't going to work

(43:08):
um but then when he actually made it
when I played it for the first time I
thought this is actually really good and
it's got P90s in it and they're $20 P90s
off
Amazon they sound they sound better than
a like I've tried a couple lesport
juniors in stores and I've compared
their P90s to the $20 Amazon ones the

(43:30):
$20 Amazon one sounds Superior and I
don't know how they make them but it
just it just really works the way that
they've done it Y and it sounds really
big and yeah it's just a really good
guitar and it's hollow body as well do
you use that guitar often um not often

(43:51):
um might have used it in one of the
tracks I did a little while ago I think
can't which
one um yeah I used all sorts of
different guitars and all sorts of
different tracks but I might have used
this one in a track um I think I used it
as like an acoustic layer and marked it
up so is the 62 Strat that you're

(44:13):
building um y 62 is that a particular
reason you went for that that
model well my dream vintage guitar is a
59 less po but we don't have the skills
to make less
and we don't have the money if we get
sued
um so think of the promotion think of

(44:35):
the promotion if Gibson sued you that
would be everywhere and instant Fame
yeah that would be so good that that
would I'd be very happy if that happened
apart from I wouldn't be able to pay the
legal fees that yeah um but yeah we
decided on a 62 strip because it it's
easier to build and strats are made to

(44:57):
be built on assembly line sort of um so
that's why we chose it as we thought it
would be easiest to build after he built
the Telecaster and yeah I was thinking
of putting a Vega trim do you know the
Vega trms I do the I was thinking of
putting a Vega tram in it um but I had a

(45:18):
look at them and I thought it doesn't
really fit the 62 Strat and yeah he's
going to paint his the blue color and
mine's going to be an Olympic White but
like a vintage creamed version of it
like a Mary K Strat do you know what a
Mary K Strat acaster is no no look that

(45:40):
up that's like a transparent white burst
and you can just make out the ash
underneath I've always wanted one of
those they just look so
cool yeah what what's the hardest thing
about building a guitar so far the
hardest thing about building a guitar
so far
um there's a lot of different things um

(46:02):
when we first cut the fretboards we cut
them wrong um so we wasted a bit of
Ebony and we had to fix that up and
we're still fixing that up at the moment
um but
yeah the hardest thing that I think is
going to be the hardest thing in the
entire guitar build process is going to
be the Nitro laquer because that is just

(46:23):
it cracks at like the slightest tap
pretty much like and I'm just a bit
worried about that because it also says
that it will take six weeks to finish
and I'm like so we're going to have
fumes in our garage for six
weeks or it might turn out like that

(46:44):
green guitar that you said uh at the
music store ended up all over your black
pants
yeah hey you you uh you're releasing new
music and you've been as far as I'm
aware writing and recording your own
stuff for a while yeah how did you get
into that um it first started when I got

(47:05):
the
gt1000 as I got it and I started
recording with it on um my parents'
computer um and there was a lot of
arguments because I wanted to be
recording while they wanted to be doing
using the computer for monitoring my
socials and stuff and I was like but I
really want to finish this recording and

(47:26):
actually um I got sort of um I got a
cheap Ikea desk and put some stuff um in
put some wires together and made a sort
of home studio which is just krk studio
monitors um a Macbook and the GT and

(47:47):
what door are you using to record
in I've tried all the main three um I
originally started using Ableton
um and then I tried using Garage Band
and I absolutely hated it and then I
tried using protols and I'm not about to
say I loved it I'm about to say it was

(48:08):
the worst experience that I've ever had
it made my computer crash so many times
I just absolutely hated using it because
it was so slow like I'd move my mouse
and then two seconds later it would do
this yep so then I eventually tried
logic pro and I and I regret not

(48:32):
starting on logic pro sooner because I
didn't start because I didn't like the
garage band but logic is completely
different to Garage Band It's like a
more complicated version of Garage Band
and it just is much better and I use
that for everything cool uh I've been
using
Protools

(48:53):
since the late 90s and it's been a
LoveHate thing just anything you got to
subscribe to it's like how many times do
you want me to buy this I've bought that
program so many times and then they're
like no now you have to give us 20 bucks
a month or whatever and there was a
metronome app I Simon got me on to and I
used it for a couple years but now I

(49:16):
went into the app a couple weeks ago and
it said you have to get
subscription and you have to subscribe
to it and I was like I already bought
the app for $10 it was more than a
couple weeks ago was probably started
last year but I bought the app for $10
and it it was really good but then oh
now I've got to pay $5 a month for it

(49:37):
and I was like I'm not paying $5 a month
for a metronome that I paid $10 for yep
yeah I've started slowly eliminating all
the plugins that have gone to
subscription as well in in my Pro Tools
trying to use logic more so because I've
bought it and I own it and they're not
going to hit me up for more money

(49:58):
yeah I don't I don't believe in this
whole subscription model thing just let
me buy it yeah and it's sort of like if
you went to a guitar store and you said
oh can I buy that guitar they'd say no
you have to pay us $2,000 a year for
it yeah I know it'd be stupid huh yeah
but it's okay for the people um in

(50:19):
Silicon Valley to do it
online yeah hey who are some of the
players around now that you aspire to be
able to play like
Steve I um definitely is a big
inspiration to me um after seeing him
live I've just been like how can I play
like him but sound like me um but as
well as that um Tim Hansen of Pia yep

(50:42):
like every time he remembers his YouTube
password and uploads a video if it's at

1 (50:46):
a.m. I wake up to watch it because
I've Got a notification thing set for
his channel but yeah he is an amazing
guitar player um and it sort of comes
into an interesting thing Simon was
talking about where he said some people
sound like they practice all day and
then other people sound like they play
all day and like I'm trying to Aspire to

(51:08):
sound like someone who plays all day
who's got all the technical stuff but I
can still play music melodically and
have soul instead of just sounding like
a metronome that's got different
pictures that's very good now one thing
I do love about Tim's playing is he gets
inspiration
not from guitar players but froming and

(51:31):
Sy lines how can I create that on on
guitar and that's something I went down
a few years back where I was into
synthesizers before I was into guitars
as a kid and I used to just love the
sound of um arpeggiators on synth and
for ages I was trying to recreate that
with sweet picking and it just wasn't

(51:52):
right it was only one octave and I
wanted to do bigger jumps and then I
discovered Paul Gilbert's string
skipping style rpos and it's like that's
it that's the sound of a synthesizer but
played on a guitar that I've been trying
to chase and that's what I really like
about Tim's playing is he programs stuff
and then tries to work that out on
guitar and then that that way he doesn't

(52:13):
sound like everybody else that's still
trying to sound like David Gilmore or
Steve rayon which thousands of people
can can
do any other players out there that
you're really digging
um John patrcia I really like his guitar
tone I've got his plugin and I that's my

(52:33):
daily driver on logic pro um I just like
every time I load up a logic pro session
to start working on a new song the first
thing I do is I add patri archetype and
like the default sound it just it's I
use the default sound on um the track I
sent you I use the default sound for the

(52:53):
Rhythm on that track and I was really
impressed at like when I first booted it
up how good the default sound sounded
like we were talking with the quad
cortex and the different and like the
camper and how sometimes the presets
aren't that good but yeah it just really
impressed me so he inspires me as well

(53:16):
um Larry Mitchell is a big inspiration I
always try to play with the Same Soul he
does cuz he he just every note of his
playing is just it just has the right
amount of emotion and yeah it really
interests me and it makes me very it
makes me strive to want to play like him

(53:37):
that's awesome um so have have you are
you working on an album that's coming
out or are you just releasing
singles uh I'm working on an album
called my eyes about the way I view the
world from my eyes um and something I
really don't like about the way music
operates nowadays and the way Spotify

(53:59):
cannibalizes all the money um from
streams is that it encourages people to
release an album every 5 years and like
for 5 years it's radio silence you hear
nothing from them but what I'm trying to
do is I'm trying to write an album and
I'm trying to get the album finished by
the end of 2025 hopefully um it might be

(54:20):
the middle of 2026 by the time I get it
or the end of 2027 for all I know um but
I'm trying to release each song as a
single while I'm compiling them all in
the album and then when I release the
final song it will be the album cool so
when on the album um are you programming
all the backing yourself or do you get

(54:42):
live musicians how are you doing all
that I mean you're obviously playing
guitar on on it but I know when I'm
doing production work I I program my
drums and I use Easy Drummer to start
off with as just a base like I s helps
me a lot with the writing um he like the
thing is when I write I sort of get
narrow ear and I go get stuck on this

(55:05):
one idea and I spend 2 hours 3 hours 4
hours on this one idea just trying to
get the synth part right and then I add
so many layers and then I've got that
part but I don't have a song I've just
got that part so Simon is always try to
make sure that I write the framework of
the song first so get all the chords
mapped out and everything

(55:27):
and he recommended Easy Drummer which I
use for the framework when I can get it
to work um and then I send it off to
I've got a producer in Italy um Alberto
regon um he is a very nice guy I played
on a track in one of his albums um and

(55:49):
yeah I send a track off to him with just
guitar um and then he sends it back and
like the track we're probably about to
hear I sent that to him as just the
guitars and then he sent it back with
the bass and then the syn and then he
sent it back with the drums and he mixes
and Masters it so then I suddenly got

(56:09):
the master and I was
like this has just made the song Feel
Alive like with the guitar the song sort
of feels like dead it sort of is a bit
like dead coral it sort of is there it
sort of has room to breathe and have has
room to sort of look good so after I
send this song to him he just makes it

(56:31):
feel he just puts all the color in it
and it just feels so alive what's the
favorite song of yours that you've
written the storm that's the one that I
haven't released yet um if you want I
can list the tracks that are going to be
on the album um but um this storm is my

(56:52):
favorite track of all of them because I
just like the way that it moves and and
it sounds like it just feels like I said
earlier it feels alive so it sort of
feels like it moves around and yeah I'm
really really happy with that
track nice hey you've done some pretty
cool gigs I saw you playing the uh Pub
choir at River

(57:12):
stage and that was amazing to have
thousands of people all jumping up and
down while you're playing the Bohemian
rap city and stuff what's the the is
that your favorite gig you've ever
played or have you got other ones that
one was that's that's my favorite gig
I've ever played
it that like as is such an amazing
person and like off stage she's such a

(57:33):
very kind person and very helpful person
and always tries to make sure that I'm
comfortable and yeah that is my favorite
gig I've ever done if I could relive one
moment of my life it would be that
moment nice well it's a good thing that
it was captured on video I would really
like to play in more pop choir gigs
because they are just like I feel it

(57:55):
just like I was saying earlier I keep
referencing this but it just feels like
with the audience singing and everything
it just feels so alive and it feels like
the music something Simon's always
drilled into me is that the music is
larger than anyone any all of the
musicians combined the music is larger
than all of us and we always try to
serve the music and we need to keep

(58:16):
going with that sort of track um and pop
choir it sort of feels like we're all
serving the music and it just is always
such a great time
wow that's awesome um smart guy that
Simon isn't he he knows he knows a thing
or
two yeah hey what are you using for PS
and strings and things um so for Strings

(58:40):
I use Elixir OPI webs um the way that
Elixir op webs feel they just feel like
the most natural string to me like I use
9 to 42s because I used to use 10 and at
one point I at one point I had a pack of
11s that was on one of my guitars and
that just hurt my hand that after

(59:01):
playing that it just really really hurt
my hand and I ended up with hand
injuries and I had to go to a physio to
get it sorted out but someone
recommended I try lighter strings and at
first I used an Ernie Ball um 9 to 46
super Slinky but they're great but I
found that they rusted and sounded
really dull so then I switched to the

(59:23):
Elixir and I've had them on guitars for
like 12 months and the guitars the
strings are not Rusty they're still
perfect and yeah that's just my favorite
string um cuz and the OPD webs they sort
of feel like a coded string but they
also feel like a normal
string and then for pics um now I'm
using these Grover alond

(59:46):
ones Focus please Focus they've got a
little bird on them yeah nice and are
they quite stiff or or do you use
something a bit um
flexer they're in the middle so they're
sort of in the middle of a jazz 3 and
sort of like a standard 1 mm blue pick

(01:00:08):
and the other picks I use are these ones
which are 88
mm these gr over Arman as well yeah and
they've got my logo on it as well I've
got a new batch of these with a new logo
um shipping soon um which I'm excited
about you've got the logo the bird on
there and you call yourself jird why why

(01:00:29):
the name
jbird JB Bird's my actual
name certificate yeah it's my real name
on my birth certificate it says jbird my
parents named me that because they're um
they in their middle names both start
with a j and they wanted me to be free
so they named me because they thought
they my mom she did organ at school and

(01:00:53):
she did it all the way up to the grade
eight and my grandma made her do that
and she absolutely hated it and hates
music now apart from listening to music
she hates playing music because of that
so her idea was when she wanted me to be
free so she thought the freest thing
that there is is a bird so that's why
they named me jbird that's awesome I

(01:01:14):
thought it was a
nickname yeah the thing I want to do
most in life is to express myself
instead of just expressing my
interpretation of what other people have
expressed so that's my goal in music in
my music is to be able to express myself
and explain the
world from where I am and try and put it

(01:01:36):
into music that other people can listen
to and hopefully enjoy because some of
the demos I've got pretty bad but the
music I put out I try to make sure that
it's good keep doing that because
anybody can copy other people but what's
going to make you stand out and get a
name for yourself is your music so good
on you for that yeah thank you very much

(01:01:57):
for having me on the show thank you when
I when I saw Simons um I saw that years
ago and I was really interested and I
was really happy when I saw that and to
be on one myself is just I just feel
really really yeah um euphoric about it

(01:02:17):
that's awesome and um I wish you all the
luck in the future like I said I'm so
impressed that somebody so young is
writing their own music as well as has
the chops to play all the things that
grown-ups like me wish they could play
but there's you doing
it so keep doing it keep doing it yeah

(01:02:38):
thank you
[Music]