PG contributor Tom Butwin showcases Doubleday Guitars from Austin, Texas. Founded by Walker Doubleday, the company specializes in highly customizable, hand-built guitars with a strong emphasis on craftsmanship. From the J-style Thrasher to the custom Broadwing, each guitar is designed to your specifications. Learn about their unique finishes, neck and body integration, and the blend of vintage and modern elements.
Shop Doubleday Guitars: https://www.doubledayguitars.com.
Reader: Erik Sheppard
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Guitar: The Alumidoomer
Our featured reader designed this guitar with doom metal in mind, then farmed out the building of its components to various companies.
I had Warmoth make the body (rear-routed to avoid the need for a pickguard), and had them paint it as well. They did an amazing job. The neck was made by the Electrical Guitar Company. They were kind enough to put some Gotoh locking tuners on there for me as well. There are a few companies making these necks now, but I thought their headstock looked the coolest. It went in the neck pocket with minimal adjustment. Both took about three months from order to delivery.
When you only have one pickup, you kind of have to choose wisely. After a bit of agonizing, I finally decided on a Lace Matt Pike Signature āDragonautsā pickup. I figured if itās good enough for Matt, it should work for me. It sounds amazing and articulate enough through an ungodly amount of fuzz.
Since this is a Jazzmaster, it seemed natural to go with a Mastery bridge and tremolo. Iām not normally a big wiggle-stick guy, but itās fun to give things a bit of warbly flavor every now and then. Itās probably not the first choice for most metal players, and it initially felt a little strange palm-muting, but it works for me. It stays in tune, and itās way less fiddly than a Floyd. Mastery makes that awesome space-age-looking tremolo arm tip, too, which I think really sets this thing off.
Reader and guitar designer Erik Sheppard.
āI think the cool kids use even heavier strings, but these work fine, and I stopped being cool a long time ago anyway.ā
I added some standard pots and knobs and Schaller strap locks, and it was done. Iāve got Ernie Ball Not Even Slinky .012ā.056 strings on there (since the guitar lives in C standard), which are just fat enough to not be floppy, without feeling like telephone lines. I think the cool kids use even heavier strings, but these work fine, and I stopped being cool a long time ago anyway.
The whole thing cost about 2,300 bucks, including a few hundred for some help from the folks at Strait Music here in Austin, who are always amazing. I was a bit paranoid about drilling into the body and potentially screwing up the finish, so I enlisted the pros.
My only complaint is that this thing is an absolute beast, at about 11 pounds, which is a lot heavier than Iād prefer, but a wide Levyās strap makes it a bit easier to shoulder. It looks, sounds, and plays exactly as I wanted it to, so Iām quite happy with how it turned out.Watch the video for "More Than a Love Song" now. The Austin duo will release Chronicles of a Diamond out October 27.
Grammy-nominated duo Black Pumas unveil new single, āMore Than A Love Songā ā LISTEN HERE and watch the new music video HERE. āMore Than A Love Songā is the first track to be unveiled from the Austin duoās highly anticipated sophomore effort, Chronicles of a Diamond, set for release on October 27th on ATO Records. Pre-order the album HERE.
Co-written by Burton and Quesada, āMore Than A Love Song,ā was produced by Quesada and co-produced by Burton, with additional production by Grammy-winning John Congleton. Explaining the lyrical content, Burton comments, āāMore Than a Love Songā is a message I borrowed from my Uncle Steve. As a songwriter and caregiver, heād listen to me write songs from afar and if I were lucky heād have a pointer or two for me. āLife is more than a love song.āā
Black Pumas - More Than A Love Song (Official Video)
Shot on location in Los Angeles, the music video for āMore Than A Love Songā was directed by Juliana and Nicola Giraffe. The clip elicits feelings of joy, hope, and community ā themes also evident in the song -- zooming in closely on the beauty and abundance that surrounds us in our everyday life. As the video progresses, we see Black Pumas performing, intercut with a series of stylized photographic vignettes that present each characterās role in the larger portrait of the community, culminating in a jubilant celebration.
Chronicles of a Diamond brings the bandās singular vision to life with more power, passion, and daring originality than ever before. Produced by Quesada and primarily mixed by six-time Grammy Award winner Shawn Everett (Alabama Shakes, The War on Drugs), the ten-song LP finds Burton taking the role of co-producer and infusing his free-spirited musicality into every track. See below for the complete tracklisting.
Tracklisting
CHRONICLES OF A DIAMOND TRACKLISTING
MORE THAN A LOVE SONG
ICE CREAM (PAY PHONE)
MRS. POSTMAN
CHRONICLES OF A DIAMOND
ANGEL
HELLO
SAUVIGNON
TOMORROW
GEMINI SUN
ROCK AND ROLL
Photo by Jody Domingue
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