Yup, you have to get in an established act to get that money. My childhood friend and first teacher Mark Abrahamian, r.i.p., was in Starship. They do very well playing the casino and county fair circuit. Monster player https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-wkwVHZCM8
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DUDE!!! I know who that is. Me and my brother went through a modifying amps stage. I’ve looked through some of Mark’s schematics. Kick ass amp builder/modder dude.
Here’s us with his little brother when we were kids 
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I watch a lot of the videos on YouTube to learn. I do play in both an original and a classic Rock Cover band. Here’s the thing…where I live, original bands not only don’t get paid but it being a Melodic Metal type band based on 80s styles, people don’t go out to the clubs to see most of these types of bands anymore. Think about it! Most people who were enjoying the 80s music are now grandparents. And metal sort of being in my blood, so to speak, I don’t care to write anything else. Now as far as my cover band goes, I do it mostly for fun and I actually make $150-200 per night. It helps me keep my chops up and pay homage to my roots as a guitar player.
I did write songs and recorded them back in 2008. Ten songs to be exact. All of them IMO turned out pretty good. I was just learning to home record so the quality didn’t turn out as well as I wanted. But the songs themselves I love. If I could find a local singer to come work with me and go into a pro studio, these songs would be great IMO. You can take a listen here: https://soundcloud.com/joseph-zechariah-dunegan/tracks
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Damn, you got some really good songs there JZ. Hold the Fire has a great Dokken/Lynch Mob feel to it.
That’s Mark from Rockstah amps right? I almost had him do his “Mod5” on our JCM800. Ended up keeping it stock. Only ever heard great things about him.
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Yes that’s him. Rockstah. lol. His mod 5 was the best “Jose” mod I’ve ever heard. I liked his amps better than David Bray’s.
Troy Listen, the best amp guy EVER is right there in New York if you can find him. His name is Frank Levi. He’s the guy that modified the 2 Marshalls that were used on the Guns N Roses albums 87-94.
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Thank you, Ian, for the kind words. That was my first experience ever at recording my own songs. My good friend and phenomenal singer, Phil Leite of Empyria in British Columbia, flew down to Dallas, TX and we worked 10 days and produced 10 songs and recorded them in my little home studio. In the morning, we would piece the music together (drums, guitars, bass) and then at night he would write the lyrics before he went to sleep. The next morning, we would record the vocals and move on to the next song. It was the most inspiring time in my life. I’ve since, recorded songs in a pro studio for two different bands.
I’m putting myself in position financially to write and record more songs, as well as, set up a YouTube channel pertaining to everything guitar!
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Life’s good for these YT stars, imagine getting to play the theme to Super Mario Bros with John Petrucci and then John gives you a guitar.
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It’s nice work if you can get it.
when you think about it, these Youtube guys may not be writing songs, but they have to come up with fresh material for each video. Each video would take planning, scripting, and a certain amount of planning, They they have to edit it. They are performers of another kind really.
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Empyria! I played a gig with those guys and saw them a few times at shows around BC. Dude could really sing and their guitarist played in THOR a couple times when I saw them as well. I remember seeing Empyria alongside a bunch of hooped-up deathcore bands with the snoopy haircuts. After their first song I heard someone yell “finally the REAL metal showed up” and the place just erupted.
“I dunno, if you can get hundreds of thousands of people to see your music one way, and no one to see your music the other way, I can see why you might pick the one over the other.”
“Your music”? You missed my point entirely. They aren’t playing their music; they’re playing someone’s else’s guitar part in a song someone else wrote. The rest of the parts aren’t even being played; they’re being heard - not played. They’re being heard on a backing track.
I think I made this point fairly clear in my opening paragraph - “Today, when I watch young players on YouTube I see an overabundance of players not only playing a cover song rather than something that came from their own mind, but the even have “backing tracks” they play along with instead of playing the song with a band. Why don’t these guys have bands and why aren’t they playing original songs with their bands…”
I’ve read the story of SIR #39 (or #37?) I forget which. Funny story. The mod wasn’t really that sophisticated from what I recall, it was basically another preamp tube thrown into the mix. But back in the pre-SLO / Rectifier days, “high gain” just wasn’t a thing without a pedal, so I can understand the fuss.
I dropped it off at Main Drag music in Brooklyn yesterday. Popular spot, they should be fine with whatever basic thing my amp needs. Probably a cap or something. I hope anyway.
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Maybe it’s because that a lot of the popular YouTube guitarists strive to be performers and not songwriters. There are plenty of guitarists and bands on YouTube with original content but they don’t have big channels.
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That’s him. Mark had the “brown” sound down.
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You sound jealous of their proficiency, or just an old man screaming “get out of my yard!” Horses for courses. Be thankful not everyone is another you.
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You are so absolutely right, which is why I have ZERO INTENTION of ever dealing with that again.
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“You sound jealous of their proficiency, or just an old man screaming “get out of my yard!” Horses for courses.”
What proficiency? Learn to read. My criticism concerns the fact that their playing doesn’t come from their own minds. They’re just repeating songs that in some cases were written over 30 years ago… You sound like a fan of karaoke since that’s basically what it is - guitar karaoke. But then, it’s not surprising you’d like them since karaoke is popular with plenty of people who wouldn’t be able to write a decent song to save their lives.
“Be thankful not everyone is another you.”
Be thankful the internet made it possible for a generation of cowards who never had to learn the principle of being accountable for their words to type anything they want about someone they don’t even know just as long, of course, as they’re more than an arm’s distance away from his fist.
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Guys @Acecrusher @Donny we’re all here comrades in axes here so let’s try to keep it civil. Lord knows I have expressed my fair share of “old man yells at clouds” sentiments at various times. I’m getting older and crankier by the nanosecond. It’s a daily struggle. That, and shaving before I film anything so I don’t look homeless.
Thanks for supporting us with your subscriptions and more importantly, your time.
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