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First off, I would like to clarify that Warren DeMartini IS a SUPER and GENUINE guy. Ive seen on another Jackson site, some guy trashing Warren by calling him a complete **** because he wouldnt admit to owning a Performance model guitar this guy came across. I dont know the whole story, But Warren IS not like that at all. Just wanted to clear that up.
Last year, I went to a RATT gig here in Pittsburgh. and for those of you not familiar w/ Pittsburgh, it is by no means a "metal" town. So when bands like this show up, no one really cares if ya know what i mean. I show up at the venue at 11 am coz I figure I could actually meet DeMartini/MY HERO for the first time. These guys travel w/ a skeleton crew these days, after all they are just playing clubs anymore. When they show up, its the band , the manager and 2 techs. So while Im standing outside with my 1986 charvel neck(to be signed by the great1) theyre road manager asked me If Id like to help them out with unloading the gear and whatnot. Of course I said SURE. So while Im unloading stuff from the uhaul, I notice Warren isnt there. I later found out they dropped him off at a Holiday Inn before coming to the gig.
So here I am setting up My heroes rig, of course his tech Roy watched as I did it all of course, but It was a dream come true. When i opened open his guitar rack and seen the snakeskin charvel, I almost shit. There it was, a guitar I dreamed about nightly as a kid. Hell, i got to restring all of his guitars, but now he pretty much plays his Demartini model Performance guitar, and a Blonde Performance Tele. So no abundance of his infamous Charvel collection. But hey, atleast I got to play 1 of em and get pics w/ it.
So after a while, the manager asks me how well I know Pittsburgh, and I tell him Ive lived here all my life, So I get the task of picking up Warren at his hotel in my Jeep. Now I know I cant freak out and act like a starcrazed freako fan, SO I just chainsmoked the whole way there and I went in to the desk to call for him. When he got off the elavator, he walked over with this big shitty grin on his face, and I said as cooly as possible..Hey, Warren...and after a nice pat on the shoulder from him...I knew it was all good...I opened his door for him and off we went. I couldnt help myself but to tell him he was my hero, and he was as smiling and gigglin as grascoius as could be. I could honestly tell he was flattered. That man NEVER got the respect he deserved as a guitarist and thats a fact. I carefully chose my ?s for him and he answered all with a smile and complete grasciousness. He talked to me like I was his friend. He asked me just as many ?s about what I liked as I asked him and that was beyond cool to me.
So besides him catching a nap when we got to the venue, I got to hang w/ him all day. Now it was the ride back to the hotel after the gig, when i got to feel comfortable about askin some real gearhead ?s. He told me that It was a trip to the Charvel workshop w/ Eddie, that turned him on to Charvels. To have your hero sittin in your passenger seat, talking 1 on 1 is like no other feeling. He reminised about how great those times were, working with Wayne creating guitars and stuff.
He told me that YES he still has ALL of his old charvels(almost). they all sit on stands in his basement. He told me although he was endorsed by Laney, he never really used them except for a few solos and rythyms on the Invasion record. He told me that a trip to Frank Zappa`s house with Ed is what turned him onto Performance guitars.
I could go on and on with this, but when we spoke about home recording, he seemed really interested in learning the art. He thought about a Protools rig, but decided against it and I tod him about the KORG d-1600 and he fell in love with what i told him about the machine and its STELLAR capabilities, so I gave him my email address and weve corresponded from time to time with him emailing me first, coz id just feel wrong about emailin him...wouldnt wanna seem like a bothersome fan, yknow. But every couple months he drops a line and we shoot the shit about music shit and whatnot. Now as I usually do, I JOKINGLY ask him when he is gonna sell a Charvel to me, and 2 weeks ago he told me he DONATED...YES DONATED the infamous James Dean( french writing graphic) Charvel...my holy grail by the way...to the Hard Rock Cafe in Hawaii, California....think I got the town name right. I was crushed, but not for selfish reasons. Those people at the hard rock will NEVER appreciate that guitar like it SHOULD be appreciated. Most people wont even begin 2 know what that guitar stands for, as far as Charvel/ Lengedary guitars and us the Charvel fans goes and It makes me sad as hell. Its like a Picasso sitting at a Flea Market in the deep woods of Kentucky or somethin.(no offense takin hopefully)But hey, I guess its all worth it, if some DIEHARD like any of us , or a BRAND NEW 12 year old future Charvel fan,happens to stroll in there and see that mighty axe hangin in all its glory, and say to themselves..." It was because of Warren and this VERY Charvel right here on the wall that made me buy or going buy my first Charvel.
ADMIN EDIT: great story....but dude...hit that enter key, mmmkay? [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
Last year, I went to a RATT gig here in Pittsburgh. and for those of you not familiar w/ Pittsburgh, it is by no means a "metal" town. So when bands like this show up, no one really cares if ya know what i mean. I show up at the venue at 11 am coz I figure I could actually meet DeMartini/MY HERO for the first time. These guys travel w/ a skeleton crew these days, after all they are just playing clubs anymore. When they show up, its the band , the manager and 2 techs. So while Im standing outside with my 1986 charvel neck(to be signed by the great1) theyre road manager asked me If Id like to help them out with unloading the gear and whatnot. Of course I said SURE. So while Im unloading stuff from the uhaul, I notice Warren isnt there. I later found out they dropped him off at a Holiday Inn before coming to the gig.
So here I am setting up My heroes rig, of course his tech Roy watched as I did it all of course, but It was a dream come true. When i opened open his guitar rack and seen the snakeskin charvel, I almost shit. There it was, a guitar I dreamed about nightly as a kid. Hell, i got to restring all of his guitars, but now he pretty much plays his Demartini model Performance guitar, and a Blonde Performance Tele. So no abundance of his infamous Charvel collection. But hey, atleast I got to play 1 of em and get pics w/ it.
So after a while, the manager asks me how well I know Pittsburgh, and I tell him Ive lived here all my life, So I get the task of picking up Warren at his hotel in my Jeep. Now I know I cant freak out and act like a starcrazed freako fan, SO I just chainsmoked the whole way there and I went in to the desk to call for him. When he got off the elavator, he walked over with this big shitty grin on his face, and I said as cooly as possible..Hey, Warren...and after a nice pat on the shoulder from him...I knew it was all good...I opened his door for him and off we went. I couldnt help myself but to tell him he was my hero, and he was as smiling and gigglin as grascoius as could be. I could honestly tell he was flattered. That man NEVER got the respect he deserved as a guitarist and thats a fact. I carefully chose my ?s for him and he answered all with a smile and complete grasciousness. He talked to me like I was his friend. He asked me just as many ?s about what I liked as I asked him and that was beyond cool to me.
So besides him catching a nap when we got to the venue, I got to hang w/ him all day. Now it was the ride back to the hotel after the gig, when i got to feel comfortable about askin some real gearhead ?s. He told me that It was a trip to the Charvel workshop w/ Eddie, that turned him on to Charvels. To have your hero sittin in your passenger seat, talking 1 on 1 is like no other feeling. He reminised about how great those times were, working with Wayne creating guitars and stuff.
He told me that YES he still has ALL of his old charvels(almost). they all sit on stands in his basement. He told me although he was endorsed by Laney, he never really used them except for a few solos and rythyms on the Invasion record. He told me that a trip to Frank Zappa`s house with Ed is what turned him onto Performance guitars.
I could go on and on with this, but when we spoke about home recording, he seemed really interested in learning the art. He thought about a Protools rig, but decided against it and I tod him about the KORG d-1600 and he fell in love with what i told him about the machine and its STELLAR capabilities, so I gave him my email address and weve corresponded from time to time with him emailing me first, coz id just feel wrong about emailin him...wouldnt wanna seem like a bothersome fan, yknow. But every couple months he drops a line and we shoot the shit about music shit and whatnot. Now as I usually do, I JOKINGLY ask him when he is gonna sell a Charvel to me, and 2 weeks ago he told me he DONATED...YES DONATED the infamous James Dean( french writing graphic) Charvel...my holy grail by the way...to the Hard Rock Cafe in Hawaii, California....think I got the town name right. I was crushed, but not for selfish reasons. Those people at the hard rock will NEVER appreciate that guitar like it SHOULD be appreciated. Most people wont even begin 2 know what that guitar stands for, as far as Charvel/ Lengedary guitars and us the Charvel fans goes and It makes me sad as hell. Its like a Picasso sitting at a Flea Market in the deep woods of Kentucky or somethin.(no offense takin hopefully)But hey, I guess its all worth it, if some DIEHARD like any of us , or a BRAND NEW 12 year old future Charvel fan,happens to stroll in there and see that mighty axe hangin in all its glory, and say to themselves..." It was because of Warren and this VERY Charvel right here on the wall that made me buy or going buy my first Charvel.
ADMIN EDIT: great story....but dude...hit that enter key, mmmkay? [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
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