Back AGAIN

My God ! It was winter when I came back!
I was fairly underdressed to fit my “ new” surroundings! For the first 2 months I stayed over at My Parents house , before looking for a place of my own. And I needed a Job! I was very realistic about the whole thing though: 3-4 Months ago, I was a Farang “ Thai” superstar but now I had to take whatever job I could find!
Also , I didn’t have any School Diplomas …

After a few weeks I found something that Payed ( well enough) , and I kinda Liked too!
Working with Mentally / Physically Disabled People!

I did that for about 3 years, and In my “ spare” Time , I took on some guitar students . Teaching Guitar again Felt great!

One of those students introduced me to something completely new! The Mighty Vikings :

FREAK KITCHEN

With guitar guru Mattias Eklundh ! He also sings Pretty well.

To Me His sound was something like “ Steve Vai, But not quite the same ” , And the sort of Humorous “Bert & Ernie” Sesamestreet Approach “ Paul Gilbert” would give to the whole thing while Playing on a Frank Zappa Space Mission…

So I had a new way/direction to focus all my playing on! Polyrhytms, Odd Time signatures, And a incredible cool way to use Natural Harmonics……
And he Turned out to be Very nice Human Being! I started Transcribing some of his stuff, and had some questions about it . I Emailed him and he replied explaining all the weird/cool stuff he did and still does!

Needless to say, We had a blast over there! Thanks to Ruby and her “ Melting Pot”
We were there for only a week! But It was Great!

In July 2011 another amazing thing happened to me!
The Guys at HOSHINO BENELUX decided that I’d done a lot for them by Selling Loads and Loads of Ibanez guitars and my Youtube Channel is doing pretty good and I just love My Ibanez guitars. So they Gave me an Endorsement! Thank you HOSHINO!
Well that’s about it! If I remember other stuff, I put it up too!
Things didn’t really work out at my work as I thought it would, and a Call from my old employer came at the right time …
If I wanted my “ old” job back at the Music store. So I did!
It all felt really comfortable doing that salesthing again! Mostly because it involved stuff that I really Dig and know a lot about! I forget to tell you guys that while working for this Boss, I met a Real Good , Gifted and expierenced Guitar Luthier Named “ Peer Dellen” and he thaught me thing or two about Guitars , Trem set- up, And Woods…

So Basically I never have to bring my guitars anywhere when it comes to setting up a Tremolo bridge or adjusting the Truss Rod.

So, December 2005 I bought my ENGL Powerball! After having played one of the first Line 6 Spiders 150 for 2 years. I must say: the whole modeling thing sounded good to me back then, but the truth was: It was a piece of Crap!

I Still use the ENGL Everyday!
Nothing Beats the sound of a
Good Tube amp with 6L6 Tubes
In the poweramp Section!

Then I read about the yearly held
“ Freakguitar Camp” That’s the place where one can get a good spanking on the old Six String from Mattias Eklundh and Co.

I decided I wanted to go to the Swedish woods and see what that was all about! Also they had a special for the “ Campers” , that if you wanted to Buy a CAPARISON Guitar, they would give you a special price! So I contacted Mattias and told him I was really Interested in his Applehorn Model, but I couldn’t try it anywhere!

That’s OK !he replied , “I’ll be in Amstelveen next week and then you can Check mine! So I’m met him a week later at P60 , in the restaurant and he just walked up to me , handed me his guitar and left for other “backstage” business….

After Playing it, I knew I had to get me one of Those! I had to wait a few months though, Because I wanted the “ orange” one, and it was completely sold out…
It would arrive the exact same week I would be at the camp in Sweden. So Mattias Suggested that the Distributor would send it to His House instead! And it all turned out great ! 3rd day at the camp, Mattias handed me his own Signature Caparison “ Applehorn Orange”!
I had a blast that week there! I was there with 2 Dutch friends of mine for a full week of Guitar Madness! I even got to Jam “ Porno Daddy” with them!
After the “ FreakGuitar Camp” , I went home with my new guitar and played the Bejuses Out of it…
And I kept intouch with Mattias.

In 2007 I saw a Ibanez PGM 301 for sale on the internet. I wanted it ! Paul would be playing a concert a month later , so I thought it would be nice to have it , bring it to the concert for him to sign! I emailed Paul , asking him if we could meet so he could sign it for me. No reply….

But! I have friends in “ Higher “ places , and they took me with them to the concert, we were on the guestlist and after the show we got backstage and I got to meet Paul Again ! The last time was in Thailand 2000! Of Course he didn’t remember me But He did Remember my Friend Pop The sun, I wasn’t surprised by that, Because Pop IS THAT AMAZING! So Paul Signed the guitar to me and I was happy!

In 2008 I got a Phone call from a friend who works for Ibanez , telling me about this one shop where they still had a PGM 900 New in stock! For 10 years! I got it for an insanely good price! And better : it was Brand New!
That same year Paul was on tour again for his “Silence followed by a deafening Roar” album, And this time there was a VIP Lesson Option! It would Include a 60 Min “ Lesson with Paul and 5 others, some tour stuff and more Blah Blah…
Of Course I bought myself a VIP Ticket!

We did the VIP thing and Paul was actually pretty amazed with the way I played/ Transcribed some of his stuff! Blush….
“ How did you Figure that out?”, “Because Nobody gets it right!” Wow those words were in my head for quite a while! And he signed my PGM 900 To Me.

The year 2009 was nice as well! The Rumour was spread that Ibanez Would Release Paul’s Latest Guitar: The Fireman! Little I knew it would be a very, very Limited Release and for an Insane amount of money! But I talked things over at home and with my Friends in “Higher places” , and the chance was actually there that I could get it! In April that year I went to the Musicmesse To Talk things over again about that Beautiful Guitar , and It would be the first time that I could actually see it!

Paul Was there too, It was his 20th year with Ibanez! So he couldn’t miss out on his party I guess! He came to the Ibanez stand and there were a lot of people there waiting for him To sign their stuff etc. I got in line too just to shake hands again!
When he saw me, The first thing he said was:” I remember you”, You played Extremely well!” …. He even remembered my name! That was just Insane! Did he say that?? But my Brother was there too, and confirmed those sweet words! After that I closed the Deal On the Fireman and went home!
At home I thought: He knows who I am now! Let’s give the Email thing another try….
The next day I saw a reply from Paul! He remembered the whole thing and the last VIP lesson. Since that Email , he kinda replies to me now and then. When not too busy I reckon.

Next , he would be in Utrecht for the MR BIG Reunion tour, And I asked him if he Could sign my Fireman as well He put me and my Girlfriend on The List with a Pass and things worked out Great! Thank You Pablo!

In 2010 Paul came back to Holland again for his “ Fuzz Universe” album, and I didn’t want to miss out on the VIP Thing to ask him some more stuff about how he played/ Fingered stuff! That time I only Had the “ Majik Box Fuzz Universe “ Pedal to sign. Don’t ask me why! But I just think it’s cool to have his stuff signed by him to me.

Then In November 2010 I was invited by my good and longtime friend Alex van Voorst to Join Him for a series of clinics/ workshops in Shanghai.
His Guitar playing is totally different from what I do, but we worked out some pieces where both Acoustic and Electric guitar would Compliment the other!
One piece I like in Particular: It’s Claudia Cardinale’s song from the movie “ Once upon a time in the west” by Ennio Morricone. So we did this thing! Man it was great arriving there, and having to play that same night , for 3 hours….