O.T. World's best Country? Guitar player

[Steve Nathan]

Stumbled across this today, which I'd never seen before.  There's no keyboards, 🙁 and you have to kind of ignore the vocal, but holy crap, listen to him play. I went to work almost daily for a couple of decades with this guy.  Talk about having a charmed life!

 

[Joe Muscara]

Interestingly, he's a Band-in-a-Box artist and there have been times I've pulled up a tune with his tracks in it and was like, "whoa…" It's pretty wild having a talent like that available at your fingertips.

[MathOfInsects]

I remember when his "first" album under his own name came out. I wore that CD out. That era was my first deep introduction to country where I specifically followed players by name (including you, @Steve Nathan, though the album I first heard you on had some funny credits on it and some of "you" was actually Matt Rollings. I figured it out eventually).

[TommyRude]

the ? is appropriate, seems this transcends genres.  That tiny little lick at 3:38 is saweet!

[Docbop]

He's one of the best and hear some Danny Gatton influence in his playing.   

 

That's one thing about Nashville session guitarists and musicians is they seem to have big background in lots of styles of music and excellent at mixing them together.    Plus a lot of the L.A.  non-TV film studio musicians as they get older migrate to Nashville and they bring a wide variety of styles with them. A lot going on in Nashville other than Country. 

[CEB]

The Grandmaster.  George Benson meets Jerry Reed meets James Burton.

 

[KuruPrionz]

Beautiful picking! 

 

Honorable Mentions I've seen in concert, different but excellent:

Albert Lee, he was touring his 70th birthday

Grady Martin, playing with Willie Nelson and the Family Band

Steve Morse with the Dixie Dregs and the Dregs

 

All fantastic musicians in their own right. 

Then there are the ones I only got to see on television (bearing in mind the video above is the only footage I've seen of Brent Mason

Chet Atkins

Jerry Reed

Roy Clark

Glen Campbell

 

[elif]

These videos are of Brent Mason playing with Guthrie Trapp at a Guitar Center.  The videos cannot be embedded so you'll have to click the link to see them on YT.  Both these guys tear it up pretty good but Brent seems a little more well rounded at this time (8 yrs ago), wrt comping, chord voicings.  

 

#1: https://youtu.be/jFMyLFgqbbw

#2: https://youtu.be/wElIqsZ4ZPk

[Doerfler]

On 12/28/2022 at 2:47 PM, Steve Nathan said:

Stumbled across this today, which I'd never seen before. 

so I was searching for this particular guitar, Fender Telecaster being my favorite, and not familiar with one having three tone knobs.

 

What did I discover ...  Fender Brent Mason Telecaster Electric Guitar - Primer Gray 

 

https://www.fender.com/en-US/electric-guitars/telecaster/brent-mason-telecaster/0115912793.html

 

   

[KuruPrionz]

Just now, Doerfler said:

so I was searching for this particular guitar, Fender Telecaster being my favorite, and not familiar with one having three tone knobs.

 

What did I discover ...  Fender Brent Mason Telecaster Electric Guitar - Primer Gray 

 

https://www.fender.com/en-US/electric-guitars/telecaster/brent-mason-telecaster/0115912793.html

 

   

LOTS of us "booger up" our screwdriver guitars (Strat, Tele, P-Bass) to suit our preferences. 

I was a guitar tech for decades, people buy Les Pauls or ES335s and mostly just play them as-is. They might get better tuners or a hotter bridge pickup but that's about it. 

I've modified lots of Fender style guitars. People don't hesitate to "refinish" them in all sorts of abominable ways. 

 

Not my own though, I built them all from parts so they were "modified" from the get-go. 

 

Brent Mason has enough "bling" to get a signature model with the mods he had on his personal Tele long ago. Take a look at Steve Morse's Tele that he played with the Dixie Dregs, it has 5 pickups on it. 

My "Strat" has a left-handed Warmoth 1 7/8" Fatback neck with scalloped fretboard (I scalloped it), a thinner sky blue Squier Strat body, Neck and Bridge pickups (EMG SA) with no Middle pu, a 3 way switch like a Tele, an EMG SPC in the middle knob position and a volume knob down near the edge. The hole for the volume right up by the bridge has a piece of white plastic glued under it, so does the hole for the middle pickup. 

That's how I like it!!! 😃