DC

If you had been buying guitar magazines in the 90s, this would have been a familiar ad. I had been GASing for that Carvin ever since I came across this image + I'm a Tafolla fan.

Along the way, Tafolla did a non-Floyd/ reverse headstock model for himself which raised my GAS levels but I know the Carvin brand name was hard to come by here. City Music had some higher tier models in their showrooms which were mostly single cut away designs not to my liking. Subsequently, Music Ark became the Carvin dealer before Kiesel took over- still no DC model of this spec.

Late last year, Kiesel had this in stock going for an unbelievable price & it's about the closest I could get to the Tafolla version without spending a bomb. So now you know the background of this acquisition. Anyway, gave this guitar a wee bit more set up tinkering & I believe it's now according to my preference details & it played better than before. Late night Sunday shredding- done. 👌

Joey Tafolla

One of the overlooked '80s shredders is Joey Tafolla. I really like his playing because of the abundant chromatics incorporated in both licks & solos. However, my impression of him in his debut, Out of the Sun, was that of discontent. Much of the tunes here are very Malmsteen-esque, which was what Vinnie Moore did at this point in time too. But listening to this release was about paying attention to the technicalities involved; I could hear Mr. Tafolla possessing that niche phrasing which really appealed to me.

Much reprieve came when I purchased Infra-Blue. The tunes in this one are more self-actualized & has that lesser emphasis to manifest a million-notes-per-bar just because one is technically competent. Wrecking Ball, Kraken-V Zip & A Place in the Sun are unforgettable tunes to me- the reason why I recently purchased the CD version of these albums. Also, John Onder was on bass to complement the guitars- outstanding. My cassette tapes for both releases were too mouldy & edge-crinkled to salvage.