Monday, May 30, 2016

Ibanez guitar clinic: Paul Waggoner

PIC: SWEE LEE Co.

At a single glance, you wouldn't recognize this guy. He's none other than Paul Waggoner from the band Between The Buried & Me. That's a mouthful & it sort of demerits your interest in wanting to know him further but that's besides the point. Mr. Waggoner is one heck of a guitar player & he was there to deliver substance last Friday (27th May 2016).

As with other guitar clinics, the itinerary was simple & to the point; play, talk guitar, Q&A throughout the show. It's educational & might have induced some anxiety on those of us who's there for full entertainment & wanted nothing to do with cognition. I love guitar clinics.

Paul Waggoner shared how he's guitar inclined from the start. There's nothing to be ashamed of in the admittance that one was a guitar geek once upon a time & this helped Paul Waggoner to become who he is today. Excessive practice was the case but these days, it's about making meaning to what he's doing with the instrument in a song context. That's right, this wasn't a shred guitar hero episode to begin with but this man- he can shred, no doubt about it. 

The clinic time showcased his guitar prowess & it tastefully segued into guitar talk. Paul Waggoner is one of those Ibanez devotees who believes in putting a non-DiMarzio pickup set into his Ibanez (like yours truly here who isn't obliged to have DiMarzios in Ibanez guitars). There was adequate mention of how preferred his Mojo Tone humbuckers are & how complementary they sound in context. There was in fact lesser time spent talking about the Ibanez per se because it is in fact a standard S-Series with a thicker body depth. I also respect Paul Waggoner's decision to use the lesser model; the PWM10 throughout the presentation, instead of the more revered PWM100. It proved that a more affordable guitar does not equal a lesser performance delivery. On this note, Mr. Waggoner reminded everyone that once a manufacturer's model reaches its upper tier/ custom handling, everything is good, regardless of the brand name. 

I didn't stay for the photo session (personal reasons) but I could see that the session was beneficial to everyone who attended. I urge everyone to attend instrument clinics at least once in their life time to get a more educational perspective of instrument inclinations (especially the ones with free admissions). Yes, a full show will manifest in pure entertainment & that's what everyone's after but it allows very little interaction with the musician. To know the musician better, we need to know what makes him tick.

Thanks to Swee Lee Co. for making this happen. Looking forward to more instrument clinics in time to come.

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