March 27th, 2013
Each year during spring break, my wife and I vacation in
Galena, IL. A bustling tourist town in the summer, it is largely asleep during
the early spring, which is absolutely perfect. We have a life that sometimes
resembles shoving a broom handle into a wasp’s nest, and this is our
opportunity to shut down and tune out for a few days.
We call our trips “beercations” since we love to hit
breweries and taste whatever craft beers happen to be around. Galena actually
has a great brewery of their own, which I highly recommend. They have a beer
float that’ll blow your frickin’ mind. Beer + ice cream= does it get any
better? It’s a kick ass place for a pub crawl too, as the street is lined with
bars, spaced out in nice intervals between the crap stores that my wife drags
me into. Seriously, there’s enough costume jewelry there to make everyone in
the Midwest look like a low-budget Zsa Zsa Gabor.
Once every trip, we venture across the river into Dubuque,
Iowa to hit either of their two casinos or one of their museums. On our second
day into this trip, I was semi-catatonic on the couch, thumbing through the
July, 2012 edition of Guitar Player magazine, just because it was still in my
car, and I forgot to bring any newer mags. In there was a column on the coolest
independent music stores in the country, which sparked my interest, since I
hate the big chains with a fiery passion. Lo and behold, one of these
mom-and-pops was right there in Dubuque. Now, a road trip was definitely in
order! One thing Galena is lacking in is a guitar store, and my wife and I
start getting the shakes after a while, even though we bring a couple of guitars
and practice amps with us. So off we went to get our gitfiddle fix.
Rondinelli Music is an unassuming small store in a pretty
basic little strip mall. It totally belies the walls of coolness inside. It’s
still run by George Rondinelli, who was busy behind the counter, setting up a
deal for a Fender Mustang amp controller. He took a moment out of the
transaction just to greet us, and invite us to play anything we liked in the
store, including the top-shelf items, not something a lot of stores will do.
His tiny dog, Susie, who I believe is in charge of security, had to greet us
too, wagging her tail as hard as I’ve ever seen a dog wag. I think she knew we
were legit.
My eyes scanned the wall, but froze at the Fender Eric Clapton signature
Stratocaster in white. As I reached up to lift it off the hanger, I could
already feel the weight and balance of this superior Strat. This guitar is
absolutely a case of you-get-what-you-pay-for. The alder body feels like a big
solid chunk of wood should. Fender calls it a V neck, but the V is so soft that
you barely notice it. I built up a Strat a few years ago that had a true V
neck, and it was totally different. I plugged into a PRS SE50 combo amp, and
immediately began some good ol’ Am pentatonic riffing. The action on this was
done in Rondinelli’s shop, and may have been the lowest action I’ve ever
played. Not a single fret buzzed, and the strings perfectly followed the maple
fretboard’s radius. Whoever set this guitar up clearly knew what he was doing.
This guitar was in there on consignment, but they are a Fender dealer, and I’m
sure would be more than happy to put a brand new one in your hands, playing
just as nicely.
So here my wife and I were, taking turns playing this Strat.
As she was playing, it gave me time to futz with the settings on the amp. And
yes, futz is a technical term. It requires squinting your eyes and sticking
your tongue out a little bit as you set to tinkering. This is serious stuff.
The PRS amp responds well to picking, and to the feel of
different guitars (which I got to later). The sound is, admittedly, not for everyone.
There is plenty of gain on tap, but it’s a bluesy, gritty, almost fuzzy, gain.
For those of you expecting a Marshall crunch, this isn’t it. I found it most
pleasing in the early stages of breakup, where those pick dynamics really
kicked in.
I was pretty anxious to try a couple of other guitars, but
my time was a little limited. I picked up a PRS SE Tremonti model off the wall,
and am I ever glad I did. Since this is an SE model, I went in with low
expectations. Wrong. This axe shocked me. First of all, the body is thick, at
least as thick as a true Les Paul. The neck is set, and the joint is tight. I
put it on, and it instantly felt comfortable, even more so than the Strat. The
humbuckers are made for serious damage. It brought out a whole different
character to the PRS amp, making the amp/guitar pairing sound huge, just a
little darker and fatter.
For fun, I decided to try the Tremonti with a couple more
amps. They had this cool Fender Hot Rod on the floor that was just begging to
be cranked up. I love a good Fender clean. Their overdrives are not my personal
cup of tea, but in the right hands, they’re awesome. They’re more for guys
playing cool double-stop licks than for me.
The last amp I played was an older Ampeg ReverbeRocket
reissue. It was everything I could do not to buy this amp right on the spot. My
very first amplifier was a ’66 Ampeg Jet, which this amp was patterned after.
Ampegs tend to have a sound all their own. They’re quiet, even when cranked up,
but hit a chord hard, and even the low wattage ones will pin your ears back.
They have a wonderfully glassy sound.. and… God, I wanted this amp bad! It was
priced right too.
Which brings me to my final point. I found every price in
their store and on their website to be competitive with the big box stores. Why
are you ordering from a huge conglomerate when, for the same price, you can buy
from a store like Rondinelli? And they’re not the only ones out there. Before
you buy that new guitar, amp, pedal, or even picks or strings, do a little research.
You’ll make this country a little better by supporting mom-and-pop shops like
Rondinelli. Check them out at http://www.rondinellimusicaudio.com/
This “on the road” thing might just have to be a regular
item for me. Have anywhere I should visit? Contact me at thecrimsonrabbit@msn.com.
