Kiesel FG

This was showcased at NAMM recently. Ironically, Frank Gambale started out with a Strat before moving on to Ibanez, Yamaha & currently, Kiesel. It's unclear if it would be a regular production model as it's not listed as such in the mean time. Any yellow Gambale guitar never fails to induce GAS.



Here's the sweep picking master himself showcasing the guitar in question. 

The grand passing- a year on.

April is a sad month for me. Some of the worst things took place in April & I wish for it to pass quickly. April also saw the passing of Allan Holdsworth, the grand master of guitar who had never strummed a chord to please pop culture- my kind of attitude.

My go-to Holdsworth reference is actually a collaborative effort seen above. TIS features Holdsworth & Gambale at their best. Everything you hear in this album is not about one guitar genius trying to outdo the other, it's a complementary effort considering the obvious technical difference between both masters. I can listen to this release on repeat mode for the entire day with no issues.

The sweep master's quote

PIC: FG instagram

Food for thought, really. There are people out there who take pride in keeping a guitar that ripens with age. We keep reading of how people feel accomplished having owned a '62 Strat or a '57 Les Paul. But these people are buying these gems for keeps. Oh, it's an investment, they said. Nothing wrong with that but it's a darn waste. These instruments were made to be played. I have more respect for you if you have been playing yours to death & duly retiring it thereafter; it's a deserving retirement. 

Corting Gambale

NAMM 2016- Frank Gambale gets a signature acoustic guitar & it's a Cort. Whoever plays Cort these days? That's besides the point. Cort makes good guitars & Cort is the OEM for some other bigger names in the industry without you knowing it- Yamaha & Ibanez among others. Specs are a little hazy at this time, looking forward to the NAMM coverage for more details.

Gambale's Ibanez

Frank Gambale recently sold off some of the guitars from his personal collection. The FGM400 here is one of them. Stunning.

But we know the specs for this guitar could have been more accurate. Here are the corrections:

• Bridge: Lo-Pro Edge
• Neck/ Middle pickups: IBZ SB2
• Bridge pickup: IBZ AH2

Coming to your senses

This is one of my favourite guitar albums & it's by none other than the Thunder from Down Under humself, Frank Gambale. If you are a Gambale fan like me & grew up listening to his music while he was still toting an Ibanez, you'd know he's a formidable player. This is the type of technicalities that would forgive the player at that time for not being on the rock front. At some point in time, you'd get sick of seeing guitar players in spandex glorifying his instrument & some other phallic outline.

Gambale's arpeggios are the other side of sweep-picking, so to speak. Prior to the Gambale exposure, I was only privy to the Malmsteen staple. So it was quite a revelation that an arpeggiated sweep need not be the obligatory ingredients of a neo-classical number. Coming to Your Senses was unbelievably the first Gambale release I own. His prior efforts were owned by the defunct JVC label & finding any one in the stores was like discovering oil. I recall seeing one in HMV for a cut-throat $44 which was very unreasonable considering the packets of D'Addario strings I could buy with that amount of money. So when Coming to Your Senses debuted in Borders for less than $30, it was a buy-first-think-later situation. Some of the tunes from Coming to Your Senses are still my listening companion. Thumbs up to this release.

Frankly Carvin

Finally, the revelation of Frank Gambale's new Carvin signature guitar based on Carvin's SH645 model. More details to come but hear it in action first:

CDVM

A glimpse of the Frank Gambale associates to come; his signature Carvin guitar & amplifier- DV Mark (a division of Mark Bass amplifiers).

Sweeping Yamaha away

This is official: Frank Gambale has parted ways with Yamaha. I was actually anticipating this occurrence, not that I have a major dissent for the brand name, as Mr. Gambale himself disclosed (over at his home page), further workings on his subsequent signature model had been stalled till late 2010. It's reflective of how things are between the endorser & the company, look at what entails...

The pic above had been generating active discussions as to which subsequent brand name Frank Gambale would embrace. If you were present at last night's show (Frank Gambale Electric Trio @ *SCAPE), you'd hear the official word that he's now with Carvin. In fact, last night's red semi-hollow Carvin guitar was his prototype.

I had the opportunity to ask him what effect units & amps are in his current favour, as his pedal line-up last night was evidently sparse, considering he has something going on with BOSS. Mr. Gambale duly replied, he still prefers his (TC Electronics) G-Major which was sitting on top of a Marshall half-stack. So is he getting along with Marshall as well? Negative. He is working with the guitar department of Mark Bass for a new guitar amp.

I had to leave immediately after the encore (missed the autograph session)- nose bled...

Sweeping Singapore

Sweep picking sage Frank Gambale will be here!

• 2 May 2010 (Sunday)
• 8.00pm
• *SCAPE’s The WAREHOUSE Auditorium

Favourite album (Part 1): Truth in Shredding

I do not have a particular favourite release, but Truth in Shredding is definitely one I keep listening to. I didn't know this existed, borrowed the original pressing from an ex-colleague when I was still working in a hydrographic office at World Trade Centre in the early 1990s- yes, it's still known as 'World Trade Centre' back then.

This album featured 2 very distinguished guitarists. One was this 'Thunder From Down Under' but we know him as Frank Gambale, the sweep picking sage.

The other fretboard deity was Allan Holdsworth, whose command of the instrument would leave you feeling extremely unaccomplished if you think you are proud of your attainments in the mean time.

I wouldn't have thought two people, both masters of their respective trades, would have done superbly in the same recording. There was no competition, both players were there to complement each other & the listener would be thoroughly impressed whenever one of them stepped up to showcase their ideas. The most prominent highlight of this release was its lack of memorable flash; there wasn't any one moment which outshone the rest. I thoroughly enjoyed this release & it serves as a reality check; every time I feel I am on top of the world with my playing, then I would listen to this & it would keep my reservations in check.

My fav Ibanez player

My favourite Ibanez player is... I like both Paul Gilbert & Frank Gambale, really. However, my all time favourite Ibanez wielder has to be Frank Gambale for his astronomical technique & tone. I am also intrigued by his use of the S-series for the music while all the shred dweebs in the 1980s were satiating themselves with RGs, the proverbial 1,000-notes-per-second tool. Among other things, Mr. Thunder from Down Under also taught me the taming down of all things trebly. I watched Mr. Gambale live & he has his top end turned way down which gave the guitar a signature rumble without turning mushy & why is that so? Because the midrange is pumped up.

However, the eye-opener for me when it comes to Frank Gambale, is his sweep picking technique which is beyond reach to the majority of us. I thought Yngwie Malmsteen was the ultimate reference of this arpeggiated technicality but I was wrong of course. Unlike Malmsteen, Mr. Thunder's philosophy is incorporation not mere convenience.

Today, Frank Gambale plays Yamaha guitars & Mr Thunder is awaiting his subsequent Yamaha signature which had been, em, infinitely delayed, it seems. *Sigh*

No Yammy for Gambale

I kinda get pissed after reading this from Frank Gambale's (pictured with bassist Victor Wooten, above) homepage:

"Yamaha has recently told me that they will not be making ANY artist models for the forseeable future. That means my guitar will never see the light of day. That's a pity since we already spent over a year designing and building prototypes. Not sure what's next. This economic depression we're in is becoming very boring indeed."

I've been keeping watch because FG's newer model (based on the protos, one seen in the pic above) is based on the fantastic SG make. When he was in S'pore for a clinic some time back, he expressed enthusiasm working with the people at Yamaha but the recent development implied the absence of a contractual product development. Either that or Yamaha simply can't keep up with the instrument arm of their production; they make better motorbikes & speed boats which keep the coffers afloat. Bummer.

Frank Gambale: BOSS

Frank Gambale is the recent endorser of BOSS products as evident above but that's the least of my interest, really (no offence BOSS fans, I own BOSS pedals too...). I'm actually keen to know the availability of the new Frank Gambale signature (the prototype of which is seen in this picture as well) which is a resurgence of the forgotten MSG series. We'll have to wait till NAMM 2010 for futher news, that's how soon the release would be...

Frank Gambale: Food for thought...

One of the best advices from the sweep-picking wizard:

People spend a lot of time practicing technique & not enough practicing musical things- a sad state of affairs. Like the old adage "You are what you eat" musically speaking "You are what you practise". If you spend too much time practicing scales, when you get on a bandstand, you'll probably play a bunch of scales, which is not music.

Yamaha: New Gambale guitar

We've all seen the superb Ibanez FGM model...
Then came the Gambale Yamaha AES...

The latest Frank Gambale model will be based on Yamaha's SG model. Seen above, Mr. Gambale himself with the proto. Apparently, this new signature was scheduled to debut in this year's 2008 Winter NAMM event but things got delayed somewhat & the new guitar will be unveiled in 2009's Winter NAMM.