All They Want For Christmas: The Ultimate Fantasy Wish List

The musicians and industry professionals on this list have have made a living of being both Naughty and Nice, but come Christmas day we wanted to know what their ULTIMATE present(s) would be…fantasy or reality.  This is quite an eclectic mix of goodies compiled by consummate musicians and masters in the music industry, who really know their gear!

Rick Richards, Lead Guitar

The Georgia Satellites, knows what he wants and wrote back to TST saying “My absolute fantasy Christmas present would have to be a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard Burst.  That is the “Holy Grail” of guitars to me.”  It is one of the most sought after guitars in the world, and was the first solid body electric guitar that Gibson ever produced.  The design base stems from the legendary Les Paul and originally sold for $250.  There were only about 1000 made from 1958-1960.

The Burst might have faded away forever, had it not become the guitar of choice for such iconic players such as Eric Clapton, Keith Richards (Rolling Stones), and blues great Mike Bloomfield.  If you can find one, which is about as likely as winning the lottery, they range in price from $200,000 to $300,000.

Wow Rick, you would have to be a REALLY GOOD BOY for Santa to bring you this beauty.   But, if he does, we can’t wait to hear you play it!

Matt Heafy, Trivium Frontman

Matt Heafy, the insanely talented Trivium frontman has been busy this year. The band has been touring non-stop, touring as part of this year’s Rockstar Tour Festival and then headlining their own tour. And now that the year is winding down Matt has a few things he’d like Santa to drop off.

“A ’57 Gold Top Les Paul Custom (all original parts). We actually were able to use our producer, Nick R.’s all original Gold Top for rhythm guitar over-dubs on our latest record, Shogun. I heard the appraisal value on that beast… you could buy a house basically. I’ve always played Les Pauls… but always newer ones and VOS (vintage original spec ones)- i’ve always wanted my own story like Springsteen on Born to Run (how he walked into a pawn shop and bought that Tele hybrid he still tours with to this day).”

“Either Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition or CODMW2 Xbox360 Pack. I’m currently still on tour, so I haven’t been able to play my copy of MW2; but, either one of the above would be pretty killer… on one hand- I already have a 360 (but want another with a bigger HDD), and the other hand… do i really need night vision goggles? probably…”

And lastly Matt added something to his list for the inner geek in all of us. “A graphic novel series better than Preacher…(fictional… doesn’t exist… and for the geeks- xoxo).”

Steve Stone, Lead Guitar

Atlanta Rythym Section, has a historic heart when it comes to his ultimate Christmas gift wish.  “If I could have anything, it would have to be “Mother Maybelle” Carter’s guitar.  What a dream…man, if that guitar could talk!   All of the people that have touched and played that instrument is just amazing,” Stone wrote.

Julien Jorgensen, Rev Theory Rhythm Guitarist

Julien’s had a busy 2009. Rev Theory has been on tour in support of their latest release, ‘Light It Up’ as well as touring as part of this year’s Crue Fest 2. And we figure that Julien had to be good sometime during the year and wanted to give Santa a few ideas of what to bring the rocker.

“The line 6 FM4 Stompbox Modeler, it’s just an awesome piece of gear that you can experiment with all day. The filter and synth sounds can help push you to be more creative with your playing. The Diezel VH4 head , big sound, heavy distortion with great clarity and tone, it’s a 4 channel amp that can take you from super clean to ultra gain. I would mix this with another secret weapon that i already have in my rig to truly create a unique sound and the Dunlop Rotovibe. I love this effect, its a rotating speaker simulator, i used it on our first album and need to get it added into my rig again.

I hope Santa can come through this year in a big way! I want to thank everyone who has supported us, have a great holidays and be sure to check us out at myspace.com/revtheory , revtheory.com facebook.com/revtheory and pick up a copy of “Light it Up” our album on Interscope records, thanks.”

Mike Froedge, doubleDrive/Speed X Drummer

Mike Froedge is not only a drummer, he also co-owns Open Sky Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, so we knew that he would have a lot of “toys” on his wishlist.

“An API studio recording console.  Why?  For obvious reasons, of course….  Possibly the ultimate console for tracking in the studio, and DEFINITELY the best for drums! Vintage Slingerland Radio King drumset.  Possibly the most classic, biggest, most amazing sounding drums ever built.  Also highly collectable. Universal Audio 2610 stereo tube mic pre.  Actually, I’d like several of these.  Pre-amps based on those in the vintage Bill Putnam-designed modular consoles, used on sessions such as Frank Sinatra, Van Halen, etc…     Good enough for Van Halen, good enough for me! 

Also wanted to say a HUGE thanks and Happy Holidays to…  well, a TON of people!…   To the many clients who have recorded at our studio and who have sought out my services as a producer, engineer, and drummer. Also to the friends and fans of all of the bands I currently play with, and those of my old bands as well….  the people who always come out to shows and help us keep the rock alive…  It’s just not possible to thank you enough!!! And to the Silver Tongue folks who have done so much recently to support the Atlanta music scene!”

And for you Speed X fans, the band’s debut CD is available for pre-order by clicking HERE.

Mike Martin, Professional Guitarist

Mike Martin had a few things on his Ultimate Christmas list.  He wrote, “World Peace.  Can I say that?  Has it been taken already?  Ok then….

I probably don’t have a very sexy wish list this year. Always being so practical! I’ve been spending more time in my studio writing and getting into producing other artists so the short list would include some bass traps, new speaker stands and a cooler DAW desk layout. The crown jewel to go with that would be a new Macbook Pro. Music is live and I’m more and more interested in on site recording of live shows. Getting a portable recording rig up and happening will dramatically improve my ability to get new music out of my head, off the stage and into people’s preferred music listening apparatuses. The computer really is an essential tool in any music producer’s arsenal!

Another not-so sexy thing would be a set of four Celestion Alnico Gold loudspeakers. I’m a “Greenback” guy but if these things sound as good as people say they sound, I might just have a new favorite! I have many different cabinets loaded up with different speaker configurations. It’s a fun way to explore new guitar tones with some of my favorite amps!

Lastly, I’m on a hunt for THE guitar. I don’t know what it is yet so I’ll be spending a good amount of time in 2010 (and beyond…) playing everything I can get my hands on to see if “it” exists. If not, what would I design and have built for me? I have some sketches already based off of some of my favorite guitars but most of the fun will be in the joy of discovery of a new object of my desire. I guess for Christmas people could start sending me their favorite guitars to play! (Only to borrow!!! I’ll give ‘em back!!)

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Thanks to everyone that has helped make 2009 a great year for new music and new projects. You’ll be hearing a lot from me and my friends in 2010. I hope to see you out there very soon with lots of music and shows!”

Thanks Mike!  We hope you get everything on your list, especially the World Peace thing and find the ultimate guitar soon!http://www.mikemartin.net
www.myspace.com/mikemartinband
www.fozzyrock.com

Brit Turner, Blackberry Smoke Drummer

Brit Turner’s ULTIMATE Christmas list wasn’t long, but it was definitely creative.

“THE ultimate ears in ear system  – ue11′s very comfortable and sonically elite.  THE LUDWIG 1928 GOLD TRIUMPHAL REISSUE SNARE, when you want the warmest “THWACK, SCHWAPP, CRACK AND SHPAAHH”, at the same time. Oh, and they look cool. personalized guitar pics shaped like drum sticks.  No idea who would make such a ridiculous thing but i am throwing that out there.”

Amy Sciarretto, Director, Publicity, Roadrunner Records

Amy is a 15 year veteran of the music industry and works with some of the biggest bands on the planet, Nickelback and Slipknot just to name of few. After spending the majority of her life surrounded by music and musicians we knew her list would be pretty interesting.

“The three things I want most for Christmas 2009: I want things the way they were during Christmas 2008. I want that more than anything. B/c I was very happy then. I’d gladly trade #2 and #3 on my list for that. Break ups suck. I want more people to buy my book, ‘Do The Devil’s Work For Him.’ My good friends at Silver Tongue even interviewed me for it! You should def check it out at www.amazon.com. For anyone who wants a career in the music and/or entertainment industry. The black, knee-high Balenciaga boots that I’ve seen on Nicole Richie in photos!”

Click HERE to read our interview with Amy Sciarretto and Rick Florino.

Chris Green, Branded With Fear Frontman

It’s been a busy year for Chris Green and Branded With Fear. They’ve been performing non-stop up and down the east coast. Not to mention all the work Chris has been putting in with TST , interviewing bands such as Trivium and Rev Theory. So if 2009 is any indication, 2010 is going to be a great year for BWF, but what could Santa possibly bring Chris to make 2009 even better?

“If there was one item I wish Santa would bring me I would have to say a Marshall JVM410H Amplifier Head! This is one the best amps out on the market and the sound is just outrageous along with the price of $2,200 which is more money than I have to spend on any one piece of equipment but if I had I would be at the store picking this bad boy up today! I’m also crossing my fingers and putting out my milk and cookies for Santa in hope of a collection of Flight Cases, a musicians MUST HAVE road equipment. Again, priced at a ridiculous fee of anywhere from $1,200 – $2,500 per case they are unfortunately a much needed item.

To all Branded with Fear fans, we wish you all Happy Holidays and if your going to drink and drive, be sure not to get caught but if you do, claim your not drunk, your just over joyed with the season and it’s made you delirious.”

Bevan Davies, Professional Drummer

Bevan Davies is one of the most talented drummers around. He’s recorded and toured with everyone from Danzig, Static-X, Jerry Cantrell, and Bloodsimple and when asked what he’d like to find under his tree on Christmas morning Bevan knew exactly what he wanted.

“I would sell my soul to find Peter Criss’ Pearl drumkit from the Love Gun tour under there Christmas morning. Impossible? Probably. Peter probably doesn’t even know where that kit is. Maybe at Gene’s house! Ha!  So I know it will never be mine, and speaking of things that will never be mine…  my second choice would be Eric Carr’s monster kit from the Crazy Nights tour. I would truly have everything then.”

Allen Ross Thomas, Professional Photographer

Allen Ross Thomas is one of the best live concert photographers around. His pictures are a work of art and he takes his job seriously. So what does the ultimate professional want from Santa this year?

“Nikon D3s, while the camera does not dictate ones ability to make great photos, I appreciate gear that gets out of my way and lets me do my thing. The D3S features a completely re-designed 12.1 effective megapixel image sensor. The large pixel pitch, with a completely modified inner structure, means that the D3S can capture images under light conditions which were previously believed to be impossible. The seven stop ISO range of 200 – 12,800 enables image and movie capture in extremely low ambient light conditions which is essential for today’s news and sports photographers.
 Further proof of the D3S’s incredible capacity for low light photography is the fact that it is the first camera to offer no less than three additional ISO boost levels, up to Hi-3, (ISO equivalent of an astounding 102,400).

Alien Bee Einstein 640, I find myself naturally doing more and more promo lighting. While speedlights are generally acceptable, studio quality monoblocks are in the future for when the big guns are needed. Paul C. Buff’s new (and unrealsed) line of Einstein’s would fit the bill nicely and provide the foundation for a formal studio. 640 WS, and runs on 95-260VAC, autoswitching, Power goes down to 2.5 watt-seconds, Modes for both CONSTANT COLOR (minimizes shift to +/-50K) and ACTION (very short pulse durations), 250W quartz modeling light, and SO MUCH MORE.

Reliable, Talented, and Lovely assistant, 2009 was a banner year for my photography and I expect 2010 to be even GRANDER. The year is coming together nicely and I expect business to continue to boom. A talented and reliable assistant to grow the business with is becoming more critical to our success. The lovely part is just cause I’m shallow ”.

You can check out Allen’s work at www.ArtistXposure.com or right here on TST.

Jamie Gumbrecht, Access Atlanta

Jamie Gumbrecht, a writer for AJC/Access Atlanta fills Atlanta in on all the cool things to do on a daily basis in her blog, ‘Inside Access’ but took time out of her busy day to tell TST what she’d like under her Christmas tree.

“The Miles Davis Complete Columbia Collection, it’s 70 CDs. I don’t even know how long it would take me to get through this collection, but I feel like it’s all I’d ever need…if I could find a place in the house to store it. (Alas, Santa shouldn’t bring this to anybody. He’s not a young man, and this is surely pretty heavy.
Marantz PMD 661, for multimedia storytelling geeks, live show bootleggers and musicians who want to make an awesome audio tour diary, this looks to me like the coolest gadget around. I bet Santa loves a good story. Innate ability to play the banjo: Or piano, or harmonica, or my own vocal cords, but really, I love the banjo. (I’m not even from the South!) How amazing would it be to wake up on Christmas morning with a skill that helped you to make others happy in the way only music can?”

Adam Mcintyre, The Pinx , Vocalist

Vocalist for The Pinx, Adam Mcintyre, put a lot thought into his list so we hope that Santa is good to him this year.

“I will do my best to string together a few coherent sentences here at the bloodshot hour of 9am on a rainy day – I’ve broken up my wish list into three categories: practical, mythical and nonsensical. Practical means it’s something I can actually get my hands on right now, if only I had enough money. Mythical means that because of the vastness of our universe, this thing might actually exist even though none of us may ever see it, like unicorns with large exposed breasts, dragons with large exposed breasts, and the Japanese Tanooki with large exposed nuts. Nonsensical means that Lewis Carroll called and he said to send James Joyce back home for his midnoon spalderwash in the noshday swimsun.

Practical – I want stuff to stop breaking. Being on the road during the recent flooding had the following effect on The Pinx van: electrical stuff like tail lights, interior lights, headlights and dashboard lights stopped working. That led to being pulled over by the cops. Jim broke a kick drum head the other night in Macon, I break strings pretty much constantly, Joe breaks hearts. My cables go bad, and I usually have the good stuff, and a lifetime warranty doesn’t mean much in the here and now if the stores are all closed. In short, I want one replacement thing for everything that can go wrong on the road. This includes the blue dot in the van’s GPS, which has erroneously put me in the parking lot of an apartment complex more than once.

Mythical – I’ve heard that some bands don’t have to do all their own booking, and that a “Booking Agent” (known in Scandinavia as a “Gnome”) visits some of these bands at night and updates their calendars with useful things like national shows and in-store appearances at indie record stores. I was once visited by a gnome in 1997, but he was an evil gnome and erased my entire calendar for the summer and only wrote in three shows which were all cancelled due to lack of confirmation. Gnomes can be fired with a kick to the genitals. I have heard that not all gnomes are evil. I have curiously also heard that they are all evil; some of them may be bribed to do their evil for you with either a sacrifice of an albino fawn in the spring, or a small offering of food. Gnomes like barbecue. I need a gnome, and I will supply the BBQ.

Nonsensical – I want a magical van that travels by winking out of existence at its point of origin and suddenly winks into existence at the next destination. No more taping my eyelids open, no more wondering what that sound is, no more preggo teenage whores trying to snag a ride from us at the waffle house. The magical van (the “Wizard Van”, if you will) would also be able to dispense any kind of beveridge and would have the best sound system created by The Great iTunes Genius, and would automatically create the ultimate playlist for any given moment. The Wizard Van would have plenty of room for sleeping. The Wizard Van will never know fear. It would be impossible to be grumpy in the Wizard Van because holy shit, you’re in the Wizard Van! The Wizard Van will also have a 72″ plasma screen TV for whatever. How is that going to fit in the Wizard Van? C’mon. THE WIZARD VAN IS BIGGER ON THE INSIDE. In case you were wondering, I’m probably going to make the Wizard Van blue and there might have to be a robot dog for changing strings and carrying very heavy equipment. ALSO A ROBOT PONY.”

Frank French, Musician/Writer/Producer

Frank French didn’t have a long list for Santa, but the items on his list would make any musician happy.

“My Christmas dreams (or maybe after Christmas when everyone’s reducing inventory):  A Tascam 24 track digital stand-alone recorder/editor, a couple of new heavy-duty notebooks (laptops), a new matched pair of large diaphragm tube condensor mics (not Chinese).

Mac Carter – Drivin N’ Cryin Guitarist

Mac Carter and the rest of DNC have been going full speed since the release of their new album, ‘The Great American Bubble Factory’ in 2009, thus ending their 12 year hiatus. So other than after a successful album, what more could Mac want for Christmas?

“Tolerance Sound P26 Rovolver Cabinet. These cabinets are designed for mid frequency instruments (such as guitar), delivering a liquid, doppler, phasy effect…(it’s like a Leslie cabinet) but much cooler!”

This has been a delightful article for us at TST.  Many thanks go out to the musician’s and professionals who shared their wishes, fantasies and realistic gifts with TST for Christmas 2009!  And we’d like to wish all of the TST readers a Happy Holidays.

SiN, Editor/Senior Contributor
Val King, Asst Editor/Senior Contributor

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