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Music Equipment & Gear…

When it comes to; gigs, recording sessions, and freelancing, I generally keep things pretty simple when it comes to gear. Below is an overview of the; guitars, amps, effects, and speaker monitors that I like to use.

ELECTRIC GUITARS:

One of the main guitars in my arsenal is my 1991 Fender USA Stratocaster. It was purchased new from Norman Harris himself over at Norman’s Rare Guitars, in Tarzana, California.

Norman was a friend of my Uncle’s. When I met Norm, he asked me what guitar’s I preferred, and I mentioned that I was definitely a sunburst Fender Strat guy – he said oh – wait a minute, running off to the back room.

He returned with this guitar and said, check this out! And, I purchased it right then and there for a fantastic price! Over the years I’ve made a few mods to this Strat like; Sperzel Tuners, a graphite nut, a Duncan CoolRail at the neck position, with HotRail at the bridge and a Roland GK20 synth controller.

Another important guitar in my collection is this 2007 Fender Telecaster. I purchased this gorgeous Telecaster second hand in 2019 from a guitar collector who had barely played it during the time he had owned it.

He acquired this ’07 Tele from its original owner and had kept the guitar in absolutely pristine condition while also adding two Seymour Duncan pick-ups at the guitar’s bridge and neck positions.

Not only was it a pleasure to play from the day I first picked it up, but the afternoon that I spent with the owner when I purchased it was also very memorable as well. He was an avid guitar enthusiast who was extremely happy to know that his much coveted Fender Telecaster was going to a good home with a serious guitarist who would take excellent care of this fine instrument for many years to come.

Another important electric guitar is my 1987 B.C. Rich ST-III USA. From the factory it came with a B.C. Rich licensed Floyd Rose tremolo system as well as a DiMarzio PAF-Pro in the bridge.

After hearing Tony MacAlpine play this BC Rich model on his album, Maximum Security, I became interested in the tone that MacAlpine generated from this line of BC Rich guitars.

A local music store had this guitar in-stock and from the very first time I played it – I was instantly sold on both its feel and on its tone.

Over the years I’ve replaced the middle and neck pick-up’s with Seymour Duncan’s and I had the body routed deeper for the tremolo to pull up two whole-steps. It’s a fantastic instrument with killer tone and a really fast neck.

ACOUSTIC GUITARS:

When it comes to solo guitar /finger-style performance, as well as, acoustic recordings that will require nylon string guitar, my main instrument is the 1997 Manuel Raimundo nylon string cutaway.

After reading several reviews about the tone and quality of Raimundo instruments, I purchased this guitar through the local Raimundo sales-rep sight unseen!

When I was in the market for a new nylon string guitar, the information I had read on the build quality of Raimundo completely sold me. After receiving the guitar, I installed two Fishman pickups, (an SBT-E Soundboard Transducer and an under-saddle AG Series). They’re both wired together and meet up at an XLR jack located at the base of the body.

For live performance, I run the XLR cable from the guitar out to a Mackie 402VLZ4 4-Channel Compact Mixer. From there everything goes to my acoustic rig. It makes for a beautiful live sound that’s thick and rich in a natural acoustics with none of the feedback issues that are often associated with using a mic mounted inside of the guitar sound-hole.

Guitarist – Educator Andrew Wasson started playing guitar at the age of eight years old. He studied with several local guitar teachers throughout his childhood and teenage years until eventually meeting Lenny Breau’s son, Chet Breau.

Like his father Lenny, Chet Breau is also a virtuoso of the guitar and a veteran of the Manitoba music scene. Chet encouraged Andrew to enroll at the same music school that Chet attended in Los Angeles; the Musicians Institute.

With a busy schedule of playing in bands and teaching, the idea of moving to California seemed like an overwhelming commitment at first.

However, Andrew eventually decided that there was both value and a great opportunity behind pursuing a formal music education.

Andrew decided to follow Chet’s advice of re-locating to Los Angeles and enrolling in the Professional Guitar Player Program at Hollywood California’s Guitar Institute of Technology, (G.I.T.)

MUSICIANS INSTITUTE:

While at G.I.T., Andrew became immersed within the cutting edge courses, learning everything he could about music and playing the guitar professionally. Other interests peaked as well, including composing and arranging music.

After a chance meeting at a G.I.T. guitar workshop with guitar legend Howard Roberts, (one of the founders of the Musician Institute), Andrew became fascinated by the Howard Roberts approach toward practicing.

These cutting edge techniques allowed for learning the guitar at a much faster rate & pace when using the, “Howard Roberts – Accelerator Method.”

THE ACCELERATOR METHOD:

The Accelerator method is an organized way to learn the common language of music at a “nuts and bolts” level.

It works by filling in the gaps when it comes to a musicians understanding of music creation and does it all at a greatly accelerated pace with respect for the musicians own personal learning curve.

The Howard Roberts, “Learning how to learn” techniques, (along with many of the Howard Roberts instructional concepts, such as, “lifemanship”), became a new found interest that had Wasson embark onto an entirely new path in his musical life – one that involved guitar and music education.

After graduating from the Professional Guitar Program at Musicians Institute, Wasson returned to Canada and started his own guitar school.

CREATIVE GUITAR STUDIO:

Throughout the 1990’s Andrew earned his living as a professional musician working in dozens of different bands and running his guitar education business.

The day to day operation of Creative Guitar Studio gave Andrew the unique opportunity to spend countless hours as a guitar instructor – educating over one thousand aspiring guitar students from 1992 to 2020.

Over the last 30 years, Andrew has perfected a large-scale guitar /music education program. The curriculum consists of three “core curriculum” courses, (Introductory, Intermediate and Advanced), along with several “guitar elective” courses such as; Acoustic Guitar, Guitar Soloing and Guitar Technique.

The Creative Guitar Studio curriculum was first introduced to an international audience when Andrew launched his YouTube channel in the year 2008.

In 2015 Andrew launched his popular online music instruction website bearing the same name as his guitar school, Creative Guitar Studio

INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION:

In 2008, Andrew’s YouTube video titled, “Did Coldplay copy Joe Satriani? Let’s Do the Music Theory,” went viral with over one million views.

Since then, Andrew Wasson has become well known (and well respected internationally), for his music education videos on YouTube.

Thousands of his viewers tune in each week to enjoy his guitar lessons which provide fans with an excellent lesson plan combined with solid delivery.

Many subscribers call Andrew the, “best guitar teacher on YouTube.”

Over the years, Andrew has firmly established his company; Creative Guitar Studio, the YouTube channel (and the courses he has authored), as a solid educational program for aspiring guitar players world-wide.

CreativeGuitarStudio.com teaches a comprehensive guitar training program which focuses on the guitar as an instrument for improvisation.

All levels of technique and theory are covered, (both in his guitar courses, as well as, in his weekly YouTube videos).

Many former students (and a majority of the graduates of his Professional Guitar course), now work in various areas of the music business.

Andrew Wasson is the author of all of the core curriculum at Creative Guitar.

GUITAR COMPOSITION:

Andrew is well recognized as one of the top guitar instructors in the world. He is constantly writing, performing and recording. His lesson videos and guitar compositions cover all styles of guitar on electric, classical and acoustic steel-string instruments.

After releasing his self-titled CD, his compositions have appeared on CBC Radio, Corus Entertainment, satellite radio, as well as, television, radio networks, and internet streaming sites around the world.

A Personal Message…

When I was eight years old, I had a couple of friends that played guitar. It seemed so interesting to me that for some reason I was compelled to want to learn to play guitar more than anything else in the world.

One day I convinced my parents to let me meet with a guitar teacher. After my first lesson I talked my parents into buying a $35.00 acoustic… and I played that guitar until it broke!

One more acoustic and two electric guitars later, (plus 9 years of lessons), and I finally had enough knowledge to attend a professional music college and get the real training I needed to play professionally.

My interest in the guitar has never stopped. I guess nothing has changed since my old friends had first inspired me!