| Rate This Article |
|
Current rating: 4 stars by 1 user
|
|
|
|
The Country Jazzmaster: An Interview with Steve Trovato
by Josh Vittek
 |
Quietly, outside of Los Angeles, Steve Trovato has been leaving blazing guitar everywhere he goes.
Currently, he is a full time instructor in the Studio Jazz
Department at the University of Southern
California. In addition, Steve has found the
time to author over 20 instructional books
for Warner Brothers and Hal Leonard, produce
over 50 instructional videos for the
likes of Yngwie Malmsteen and Paul Gilbert,
and has even starred in five of them. His
students have achieved major success and
include Scott Henderson, Frank Gambale,
Paul Gilbert and Norman Brown. He has
performed with Chet Atkins, Albert Lee,
Robben Ford, Jeff Berlin, Jerry Donahue and
Scott Henderson, and contributes to five
international music publications, including
Guitar Player, Guitar One, Axe, Guitar Club,
Guitar World and Chittar, as well as recording
for too many studio and motion picture
projects to list. We caught up with Steve
as he completed his new release, Country
Jazzmaster.
|
|
 |
One of the things I have always wondered
about is who or what influenced
you to start playing guitar?
Well, I think you’ll hear this from a lot of
guys; it was the Beatles. I think I was
six years old, and I had been playing the
piano. I did my piano recital and played
“The Blue Danube Waltz.” Then I saw
the Beatles on Ed Sullivan and I thought,
“Wow, girls never screamed for me playing
piano.” So that was it and I started
playing the guitar. That was pretty much it,
and I have never looked back.
Did you come across a single moment
that it finally hit you? This is it, this is
what I want to do the rest of my life?
I’ve never been asked that before; that’s a
really good question. I would say that there
were three pivotal moments: one of them
was when I saw the Beatles, the second
was when I heard Chet Atkins for the first
time, and the third was when I was up
on stage and I got a chance to play with
Albert Lee – that was when I really knew
I wanted to do guitar. For some reason
those guys hit me hard – they played melodies
– and I always loved the way I could
track it even though it was guitar playing.
It was really very sophisticated. When I
heard Chet Atkins play, I could hear the
melody. Even with all the notes that Albert
Lee plays, I can still keep track of it – that’s
what attracted me. I think since I’ve been
playing, if I have anything, it’s the ability to
play a melody.
You’re originally from New Jersey. How
did you end up on the West coast attending
GIT (now the Musicians Institute)?
Like every guitar player on the East Coast,
we were always hungry for information
about the guitar. I used to get this magazine
and I saw an ad for this place called GIT in
California. I saw pictures of Larry Carlton,
Tommy Tedesco and other people that I
didn’t know, like Don Mock and Joe Diorio,
and they were starting this school. They
were sort of advertising it being for studio
musicians, and that was what I wanted to be.
Now that you already have one CD
under your belt, you’ve gone into the
studio a second time with some outside
input. How are you achieving your
tones with the studio?
When I did my first album, I just took my
rig into the studio with the thought that if
it sounds good live, it will sound good in
the studio. I’ve found that not to be true.
I also realized that amps that are made
specifically for recording don’t necessarily
sound all that good in the studio. It really
depends on the studio, the mics, and
everything else. I brought every amp that I
had down there – I even borrowed some
amps. I ended up with five or six different
amps and I had to just go through all of
them to find out which one sounded the
best in that studio – with that particular
set up of room and microphones. I wound
up actually using a boutique amp from
a company in Virginia called Talos. I love
those amps. It’s a 60-watt, one-twelve, and
it just has two knobs on it, drive and gain.
“Well, I think you’ll hear this from a lot of guys; it was the Beatles. I think I was six
years old, and I had been playing the piano. I did my piano recital and played ‘The
Blue Danube Waltz.’ Then I saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan and I thought, Wow,
girls never screamed for me playing piano. So that was it and I started playing the
guitar. That was pretty much it, and I have never looked back. ”
What about guitars? Did you find that’s
the same scenario to be true?
It’s something I suspected, but I never really
had the chance to put it to the test. I usually
use my G&L Legacy live, with the Kahler on
it because it sounds great. You’re playing loud
enough where if there’s a bass, drums and
everything cranking you lose the nuances
and the subtlety. But in the studio you retain
those nuances and subtleties because everything
is under a microscope. I found that
using different guitars expresses that better.
If I want to play a sensitive, sort of Chet
Atkins jazzy piece, the Legacy wouldn’t
work because it sounds too thin, but with
a loud phrase it will sound fine. For a quiet
passage, I decided to use a Gibson – a
Howard Roberts with two old humbuckers
that I had. Of course, for the Straty-sounding
things I used my red Legacy with a Kahler
on it, which I absolutely love. For the rest of
the stuff I used one of two Teles: a Fender
solid body Telecaster and a G&L semi-hollow.
None of them are stock. Seymour Duncan
custom built the pickups for both of them.
What amps do you prefer for live performances?
I play rock, I use my Dumble. That, of
course, is Alexander Dumble. It says “Built
to win” and it really does, it’s just really
something. I put a pedal in front of it to
make sure it’s got enough overdrive. In
the country bands I use a ‘65 Pro Reverb,
which Dumble rebuilt for me.
What do you use on the jazz side?
I use my Talos.
Throughout your time as a guitar
player, you’ve been labeled as the chameleon
of guitar. Do have a huge arsenal
of guitars at your disposal that you
have hiding in the back room to take
out whenever you need to?
For the live work I pretty much grab whatever
is nearest to the front door on the way
out. I was never really one to take ten guitars
to a session because I figured that one
guitar would sound just as good as 10 guitars,
but when you really start to do this seriously,
there are subtle differences between
all guitars that may or may not sound better
for the tracks. You really have to have an
arsenal of quite a few to do the job right.
What would be an ideal arsenal?
I would have to say you have to have a
solid body, Strat-type of guitar with single
coil pickups, a single coil Tele-type, a Les
Paul-type solid body with humbuckers, a
thin semi-hollow body sound, like a 345,
and a jazz box, then, of course, steel string
acoustic and a nylon string.
You mentioned putting a pedal on the
floor in front of one of the amps.
Live I use a Boss GT-6. I use it for time
delay effects such as reverbs, delays and
chorusing. It sounds great for that and it’s
also great on the floor. For distortion I’ve
been using the AC Booster and the RC
Booster by Xotic Pedals.
The Xotic pedals are fairly new. Can
you tell us some more?
Oh, I love them. Those are the kind of the
boutique pedals that all the guys in town are
using. Scott Henderson told me about them.
Studio guys like Michael Thompson are using
them. Basically, the RC Booster is a pre-amp
boost that keeps it clear, but gives it a little
oomph. The AC Booster is an overdrive
– basically a really high-end Tube Screamer
with a bass control on it. Everybody loves
Tube Screamers, but it takes the bass away
from it; this is a Tube Screamer that sounds
a lot more transparent and smoother than
normal. You can also roll the bass back in
because it has bass and treble controls.
You mentioned the Kahler Tremolo on
one of your G&L’s. What do you like
about it?
The thing I love about the Kahler is its flush
and mounted solidly on the guitar body,
versus another one. I won’t mention any
names, but the initials are Floyd Rose. It is
not really mounted on the body of the guitar
as solidly and or as flush as a Kahler. With a
Kahler, the tone sounds pretty darned good.
I really like that about the Kahler. Since you
have that big plate to rest against the body,
you get more natural wood resonance, it
doesn’t sound thin and small. The other
thing that I like is the adjustable string spacing.
I don’t think other bridges can do that.
On the first CD, About Time, you cover
a whole spectrum of guitar playing.
You do a dedication to Danny Gatton,
you’re hitting a little Django, you’ve got
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from
Harold Arlen, and then you even do
Billy Joel’s “Root Beer Rag.” What can
we expect hear on the new CD?
When I spoke with Steve Vai, he was
saying the last CD was really good but I
needed a little bit better recording quality.
He said the problem with the first CD,
as far as marketing, is that I don’t know
where to market it stylistically; it’s all over
the map. I came up with this concept in
my mind called “Country Jazzmaster,” with
Jazzmaster being one word, like the guitar.
I kept that thread in my mind as I was
recording this album, and all of the songs
leaned into that concept. Everything that
you’re going to hear is country-jazz. Western
swing, country jazz – that sort of a thing.
There’s a thread of continuity running
through the whole album that you will hear.
I recorded everything from the old Jerry
Reed tune, “Guitar Man,” to “Back Home
Again in Indiana,” “That She Could Ever
Be,” “Panhandle Rag” and my ultimate version
of “Ghost Riders in the Sky.”
I still remember this vivdly: a NAMM
show where you, Steve Vai and I were
standing around talking, and Steve
hailed you as, “One of the greatest Tele
players of all time.” Will we hear evidence
of this on the new CD?
That was very nice of him. But, yeah, that’s
what I’m hoping for, and I think that it’s
really extremely well played, if I can say so
myself. We all worked really hard on it.
Trovato Gearbox
Here’s what Steve is plugging
in, when it’s time to shine.
Country Gigs
Guitars
G&L ASAT Tele stock
G&L ASAT semi hollow
body w/Seymour Duncan
P90’s
|
Amps
Groove Tubes Trio Pre amp
Groove Tubes 75-watt
power amp
Groove Tubes 2x12 cabinet
w/Celestions
|
Effects
Boss GT-6
Keeley Compressor
Xotic RC Booster
Xotic AC booster
|
Rock/Blues Gigs
Guitars
G&L Fullerton Red Legacy
with Kahler and custom
Seymour Duncans
‘69 Fender Strat (stock)
|
Amps
Early ‘80s Dumble
Overdrive Special
Two 1x12 Dumble cabinets
with Mojo Tone Speakers
‘65 Fender Pro Reverb with
Mercury Magnetic Bassman
replacement transformer
and 2x12 Mojo Tone
Speakers modified by
Dumble
|
Effects
Boss GT-6
Maxon Tube Screamer
Fulltone OCD pedal
Zendrive Pedal
|
|
Steve Trovato
It’s About Time and the new, Country Jazzmaster, are available at: cdbaby.com
myspace.com/stevetrovatomusic
» Click Here to view the Digital Edition Version of this Article
Comments, Rants and Raves
Steve Purcell on 11/16/2007 10:58:00 PM
i Have known Mr. Steve for a very long time & have to say he in one of the most underrated Guitar Pickers we have.....
he's a major MONSTER........
Bill T. on 11/21/2007 10:55:00 PM
Steve Is Fantastic! Get the Cd's!
Add Your Comments by using the form below. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us.
Link to this Article
Want to link to this article? Just copy and paste the text below into your website.
|