Bio
I’ve been playing professionally since the Jurassic period (that would be the 60’s for you younguns) My first paying gig was in the 6th grade so I started early. Born and raised in Oregon. Fast forward to 1975 Where the band I was in at the time hired a vocal jazz student from Mt. Hood college named Carla Wade. Great pipes and a natural performer. Two years later we were married and playing a full schedule. We still play together.
I’ve been into tubes and tube gear all my life and started Eurotubes after being introduced to The owners of JJ Electronic on a trip to Prague in 1998 where I finally ran onto tubes that could stand up to my favorite NOS tubes.
In the past my main duties here at Eurotubes were answering the phone and replying to email’s and answering the phone and replying to email’s and answering the phone… You will still get me on the phone occasionally but since the ET crew led by my son Eddie is so good I now spend more time working on the website, planning my obsolescence and thinking outside the box when it comes to tube applications. I love trying different tubes and tube combinations in amps. Tubes are just cool. I also work closely with the good folks at JJ Electronic in the development of new products.
My last commercial music project was ‘Myra Lease” which was an all original project as all past bands have been since the early 1980’s when I vowed to myself never to play covers again. Although the CD was released years ago it’s still on Spotify. I’m a keyboard player by trade with my main instrument being the Hammond B3, the most glorious of all keyboards!
It was back in the early 90’s when I first picked up a guitar and it instantly became my main writing tool. Although I am a keyboard player first, I write most all of my music on guitar. I continually have musical ideas and melodies running through my brain, and since the last band dissolved a few years ago I’ve always kept my eyes open for a good drummer, however finding one who wants to work creating original material rather than play clubs is near impossible. So in January of 2024 I decided to take up drums. I’ve owned a drum kit for 30 so I thought I should learn to play. It was going pretty well until I took a nine moth hiatus to populate the the new ET website…
Now it’s January of 2025 and I’m back at playing drums again! I’m finding new inspiration and wish I would have started drums decades ago. It’s influencing my song writing in a wonderful way and I’m starting to lay down tracks again. Music is the blood of life.
Influences
THE WHO, Deep Purple, The Divinyls, The Doors, Led Zep, Foo Fighters, Cold Blood, Yes,
Gear
Whoa, this cold be a really long list. I’m a pack rat when it comes to gear so I’ll list some of my favorites.
GUITARS:
Blond 1977 Gibson Les Paul Custom
Black 1978 Gibson Les Paul Custom
Black 1981 Gibson Fying V
G&L 1998 Limited Edition Custom Shop ASAT Jr with the chambered body
Takamine 80’s acoustic/electric 12 sting for doing the Townshend thing
A 2002 American Strat
A Chery Red G&L 2500 5 String Bass
My last addition is a custom made Flying V acoustic 12 string. Yup, you read right! A local luthier named Jim Loewenherz built this for me. The body was literally hogged out from a solid 4 1/2″ piece of African Black Limba. The striping in the wood you can see on the side flows right around to the back. The neck is also Limba and the top is a single piece of African Lace wood. The fret board is an old stock piece of Brazilian Rose Wood, as is the bridge piece. The sound hole as you can see in the second pic is on the top wing of the V. This worked better than expected and even though the V was designed to be played plugged in it’s quite nice played acoustically.
When plugged in it gets less feedback than my Tak does with a plug! The tuners are enclosed Grover’s and the electronics are B-Band with an internal mic and a bridge pickup that you can mix together. The project took several years to complete but as they say, “good things take time”. It is nothing short of spectacular to play and it looks pretty cool too! It plays easier than my old faithful Tak and the tone is really amazing! Soooo much wood! The mids are extremely rich and fat and really like no other acoustic I’ve played. The lows are tight and the high end has that 12 string “ching” but it’s sweet and not thin in any way, and this thing sustains like a solid body electric! The finish is a nitro cherry burst on the front running from amber to red (the photo does not do it justice at all), the back is a very deep red. The neck is slightly burst and body is bound and the inlay work is abalone.
Guitar AMPS:
An Anderson 20/45 two channel, cab loaded with an Alnico Silver Bell and an Alnico Blue Dog.
A moderate number of Blackface Fenders including Bassman’s, Tremolux, Bandmaster etc.
Old 60’s SUNN amps (I collect and have about twenty pieces).
A prized 1964 VOX AC50 and various VOX cabs.
An original Marshall 2555 Silver Jubilee and matching 4X12
Fender Prosonic.
A couple vintage Marshall 8X10 cabs.
An Orange AD30TC Head and Cab loaded with Alnico Blue Dogs.
A modded Peavey 5150
Mesa Dual Rec.
THD Univalve
Most of the SUNN collection. Me and Conrad Sundholm. Miss ya Conrad…
KEYBOARDS:
A lovely 1957 Hammond B3 running thru two tall H21 Leslie’s converted to two speeds. These are the very old 20 watt models running 6V6’s, they also have the original Field Coil Jensen F15LL woofers.
Roland Phantom.
Vintage Roland Jupiter 8.
Vintage Roland Juno 60.
Vintage Yamaha CP70 Electric Grand.
Vintage D6 Clavinet which I bought new in 1975
An 80’s vintage Korg CX3 which I run thru a 47 two speed Leslie which I power with a 60’s SUNN Solarus head. The Leslie has a JBL horn driver and K145 woofer.
STUDIO and RECORDING GEAR:
I’ll just show a shot of my recording corner.
Drums:
After owing a drum kit for 30 plus years I decided at the end of 2023 that I needed to learn to play it. I guess I owe my motivation to one of my old drummers Johnny Dryden, who flaked out on me and still owes me money. All I can say is I wish I would have taken up drums decades ago! I think every musician who loves music should learn drums. They are very creative and a great writing tool. My drums are nothing special, an old Tama set which is a combination of Imperialstar and Rockstar.
Hobbies besides music?
Motorcycles! I love to ride and mainly ride my 1985 VMAX. I bought it new and it still thrills me!
I do occasionally get to ride with my son Eddie who rides a Ducati Monster.
On occasion I also ride a 1936 Harley Knucklehead EL. The Knuckle has been in the family since 1941 when my Dad bought it. Thru the years he changed out parts on it including swapping the springer for an early Hydra-Glide so it’s far from stock. I did a resto on it so he could ride it again before he passed in 2008. The first photo below me and Dad on the 36. I do still have the sidecar but have not restored it yet.
After Resto:
I’m usually the only guy in the parking lot with a kick starter.
