April 2nd, 2023

Homeskoolin' Volume 206, Tom Bukovac, "Disclaimers Are A Sign Of Weakness"

Chapters
00:00 - Tinkering around / Loop
03:09 - Hello, friends! / Beer cans / Old stuff and born out of time
04:11 - Old neck, new body Telecaster with Ron Ellis pickup / Thanks
06:30 - VCB (Viewer Comment Bin)
07:10 - Original 10" speaker in Princeton (Jensen)
07:50 - Nobels pedals and no disclaimers / Mini
10:00 - The Klon thing
10:34 - Use your ears not your eyes and blindfold test
11:40 - Klon value
12:47 - Pedal video
14:00 - Randy Rhoads tone
16:20 - Billy Sims (NFL)
16:45 - Todd Sharp - Vacuum Tube Loop Driver


Notes

Uncle Larry gets busy on a Ron Ellis tele bridge pickup through a device that Todd Sharp made into a device that Leo Fender made.

and...just try to get through this whole video without bawling like a baby.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43Sa7Yfb7Lo

March 31st, 2023

Homeskoolin’ Special Episode, “Uncle Larry's Hearing Test”

Chapters
00:00 - Pedals, pedals, and more pedals (Duelist, Memory Man, etc.)
04:30 - XTS pedal tester
07:18 - Test setup
10:32 - Test starts / Klon
12:18 - Ibanez - Mostortion
13:22 - Nobels - ODR-1
14:30 - Ibanez - Tube Screamer
14:39 - Klon
16:15 - Analog Man - King of Tone
16:48 - Nobels - ODR-1
18:07 - Redo / Ibanez - Tube Screamer
18:29 - Klon
18:39 - Stand outs / Nobels - ODR-1
18:50 - Ibanez - Tube Screamer
19:07 - Analog Man - King of Tone
19:25 - Results of old pedal test
20:40 - More modern pedals / Test setup
22:35 - MXR - Timmy / Brighter hands (Ford Thurston)
23:49 - KingTone - HeavyHand
25:05 - Pedaltrain - Nightlight Distortion
25:25 - Comparison: HeavyHand vs. Nightlight / Cars - Dangerous Type
27:50 - Strymon - Sunset / Randy Rhoads - Crazy Train
30:36 - Browne Amplification - Atom / Atom vs. Nightlight
32:15 - Results of new pedal test
33:45 - Nobels vs. Nobels / Differences
38:10 - Clean sound
38:40 - Marshall - Bluesbreaker
39:17 - Roger Mayer - Voodoo-1 / Michael Landau
40:32 - Nobels vs. Nobels test setup
41:11 - Nobels mini (4)
41:43 - Nobels (2) / Mini (4) vs. (2)
42:45 - Nobels (1)
43:08 - Nobels (2)
43:26 - Nobels (3)
44:11 - Swapped pots
44:30 - (3) vs. (1)
45:00 - Mini (4) vs. (1)
46:00 - Roger Mayer - Voodoo-1 (palate cleanser) / Runthrough test
47:15 - Pedal runthrough
50:28 - Results of the Nobels / Runthrough again with matched volume


Notes

Uncle Larry doing a blind pedal shootout where it is absolutely impossible to “listen with your eyes” like people sometimes do....special thank you to all the sweet friends who helped put this video together....credit list below.

Starring
Ryan Nixon and Brett Moore from guitareffectspedals.com
https://www.guitareffectspedals.com

And:
Barry O Neal and Greg Walton from XTS pedalboards
https://xacttone.com/info/

March 29th, 2023

Homeskoolin' Volume 205, "The Notes Between The Notes"

Chapters
00:00 - Little swanky Beatles guitar
01:51 - Hello all / Kenny Wayne swipe / Wednesdays
03:20 - Gibson SG / Nylon saddles
04:00 - Nashville shooting aftermath / Thank for kind words
05:05 - Beatles - Hey Bulldog / More than 12 notes scale / John Lennon sing in between notes
06:06 - Nashville guitar show total fail
07:20 - Comments on originality in music
08:45 - Owning a legendary guitar? / Billy Gibbons Pearly Gates and story
09:49 - Showing a video with good guitar playing? Doesn't exist
10:05 - Best comment?  Joe Namath DJ your party
11:04 - Talking about some pedals / Pete Cornish pedal
11:55 - Son Marshall getting into guitar playing / Buying prebuilt pedalboard


Notes

Uncle Larry gettin' all microtonal and shit.....

If anyone wants to call James Burkett and order one of his re-everythinged old Harmony Sovereigns here is his number...(334) 797-6388.

keep in mind he does these by hand one at a time, so you ain't gonna be getting one tomorrow....or this week....or....

and totally unrelated, but fucking MORE terrible news, check this out....one of the ONLY places in Nashville that i actually go to....or used to....
heartbreaking.....Johnny is a sweet sweet guy and this was the ONLY cool card store in this town.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/cardsrfun-fire-rebuild

March 23rd, 2023

Homeskoolin’ Session Update “The Crested Wave”

Chapters
00:00 - Session peak into gear of "The Struts"
01:56 - Bukovac rig
02:53 - Bass rig
03:08 - Drum kit
03:35 - Keys room
04:13 - Amp room / Smell
07:06 - Rehearsal with The Struts


Notes

March 22, 2023…east iris studio in Nashville

Starring
Julian “Mr. Raymond” Raymond
Eric “Ebo” Borash
The Struts

March 8th, 2023

Homeskoolin' Volume 197, Tom Bukovac, "Disraeli Beers"

Chapters
00:00 - Vocal leading song
00:00 - Harmony H1260 Sovereign converted by James Burkett comparison
01:10 - Original Harmony Sovereign
02:22 - VCB (Viewer Comment Bin) / L6-S (not pissing anyone off)
02:52 - James Burkett Harmony / Amazing picking
04:20 - Comment Bin / Ned Steinberger and planet waves capo / Phenomenon movie
05:30 - Manic Mechanic and Irsay gig / Billy Gibbons story
06:30 - Steve Farrone drummer / Session hire
07:00 - 1958 Flying Vs and Explorers
08:26 - Neil Peart / Stewart Copeland
09:53 - Ovation Breadwinner
10:42 - Ginger Baker and pissing people off / Cream
12:25 - Later school start time
12:54 - Stephen Stills rips into Billy Branch
13:25 - Show demographic
14:10 - Toast and vacuums (V15)
15:35 - IQ and voice leading / Smart people
16:43 - Richie Hayward and Little Feat
17:00 - Fender Mustang ugly?
17:25 - Lesson: Hard picking scale
18:30 - Gear doesn't matter?


Notes
I tried to post this this morning before work, but the upload failed...but here we go, 8 hours later...

February 10th, 2023

Homeskoolin’ Bonus “Raunch Dressing”

Chapters
00:00 - Rockin finger pickin / Full-blown rock
03:22 - '60 Fender Tweed Princeton
04:00 - Pedalboard look
04:27 - 80's Super Champ
04:50 - '63 Gibson SG


Notes
Hello friends….contact me at tombukovac@gmail.com if you want the 63 SG (11.5k) or the Super Champ (1400.00)

Gonna be a week or so until the Super Champ is ready to go (unless you fix amps yourself)…it has a noisy tube that i would like to have fixed before i sell it.

Larry don’t sell no bullshit.

Buyer must pick up in person. Cash deals only. No shipping….unless of course there wa$ $ome kind of con$iderable incentive to do $o.....

February 9th, 2023

Homeskoolin’ “EXTREMELY Rare and Unexpected Gear Related Bonus Video”

Chapters
00:00 - Hello, friends! / Mini-humbuckers vs. Firebird pickups
01:25 - Mini-humbucker, bridge, tone on 10 demo (Les Paul)
02:36 - Firebird pickup, bridge, tone on 10 demo (Firebird)
03:30 - What do we notice? / Differences
04:06 - Nobels & Firebird pickup
05:00 - Nobels & Mini-humbucker


Notes
Your dear uncle shines some light on the age old comparison between “firebird pickups” and “regular mini humbuckers” as they are known on the street.

so...what do YOU hear dear Homeskoolers??

Test notes:
a) both guitars tuned down a half step and outfitted with only the finest roundwound strings.

b) a 1954 fender tweed deluxe vacuum tube amplifier and a no-balls odr-1 overdrive pedal were used as a control.

December 22nd, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Bonus, “Session Man At Work Again”

Chapters
00:00 - Rig sneakpeak (pedalboard, guitars, amps)
01:02 - In the studio


Notes
This is a two part thing…the first bit was shot at the gig by dearest Josh….
The second is Uncle Larry at a standard Nashville demo session this afternoon….which by the way, was his last session of 2022….praise Him

December 6th, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Bonus “Noise??…What Noise???”

Chapters
00:00 - Electro-Harmonix - Frequency Analyzer and idea
03:20 - Electro-Harmonix - Electric Mistress
05:13 - Ibanez FL-305 Flanger


Notes
Uncle Larry takes you on a trip to Analog City….a long forgotten place where tape hiss and noise were just part of the scenery.

There is a big difference between modern high definition video and a slightly blurry Super 8 film from the 70's....kinda the same thing with guitar pedals....

Hope you enjoy friends you guys can donate to Homeskoolin’ anytime you want…a good portion of the proceeds go to the fine people at Annheuser Busch LLC

Paypal is tombukovac@gmail.com

Venmo is @Tom-Bukovac-1

...and did you guys know Larry made a solo album a while back?

it's called “Plexi Soul” and you can can find it right here:
https://tombukovac.bandcamp.com/album/plexi-soul

...and did you know that Larry made an instrumental record with Dean Deleo from Stone Temple Pilots called "Trip The Witch"?
https://tripthewitch.bandcamp.com/album/trip-the-witch

...and did you know that Trip The Witch merch is also available??
https://shop.bandwear.com/collections/trip-the-witch-shop

November 13th, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Bonus “The First Night We Fell In Love”

Chapters
00:00 - Empress ParaEQ Deluxe pedal showcase


Notes
Here’s a long form video strictly for the true tone freak weirdos out there.

Don’t even bother watching this if you are one of those guys that plays through a modeling amp instead of a real tube amp because it’s “good enough” and “no one can tell the difference anyway”

Taking you back to October 11 2022 here….the first time i ever heard the magical new Empress Para EQ pedal.

Picture me sitting in my kitchen late one night with a pretty stout buzz on, trying out a bunch of weird bass pedals with my buddy Renn (who has perfect hearing) tweaking the controls and Ford on the camera, when i said “hey dudes, we should check out this new empress pedal the guy sent me”

As you can see here we were all immediately taken by it’s expensive sound.

Through an iphone mic, you might need headphones to really hear the subtle differences this thing gives you, but trust me, in the room it is hardly subtle.

Thank you for all the kind words about the recent videos.
You guys are awesome

November 11th, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Volume 173, Tom Bukovac, “Set Lists And Spinning Pickups”

Chapters
00:00 - Joe Walsh Gear run through
09:48 - The man himself and some playing


Notes
11/11/22 Cool date right? See…cuz 11 plus 11 equals 22??…

Anyway, today’s video features Uncle Larry plundering and pillaging Columbus Ohio, as he rehearses with Joe Walsh for the big Vet’s Aid gig on Sunday.

Joe’s long time guitar tech Mark Reis walks us through all the gear….Mark is SUCH a sweet sweet soul…God i love that boy….fellow Clevelander too.

What a blast seeing all these sweethearts again….haven’t played with Joe or hung with any of this crew since the infamous last Tom Petty tour of 2017.

Today was also the first time I have ever played with dearest Nathan East…what a sweet cat.

The guy who made this crazy guitar with the spinning pickups is called Kyle Stanton.

November 3rd, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Bonus “New Pedal Alert”

Chapters
00:00 - Amazing sounding, tranquil playing
02:56 - Hello, kids!
03:00 - Mysterious pedal / Empress ParaEQ MKII Deluxe
04:50 - Demonstration


Notes
If you record guitars, go buy this

October 21st, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Volume 169, Tom Bukovac, “The Recycler”

Chapters
00:00 - Slow melodic playing
04:00 - Hello, class! / '67 Dick Butkus card
04:45 - Amazing Dawgs band
06:30 - ToneQuest
07:38 - Mysterious prototype pedal / Gamechanger gear
12:10 - VCB / "What goes through your head?" (Melodies)
15:36 - Just music
16:30 - "Time for another CD" / Trip The Witch
17:31 - Duesenberg guitar / Lesson: B-Bender


Notes
Uncle Larry evokes some haunting memories of distant Homeskoolin’ melodies that flitter about in the chilly October wind like laughing ghosts.

…and answers some VCB

you guys can donate to Homeskoolin’ anytime you want…a good portion of the proceeds go to the fine people at Annheuser Busch LLC

Paypal is tombukovac@gmail.com
Venmo is @Tom-Bukovac-1

...and did you guys know Larry made a solo album a while back?

it's called “Plexi Soul” and you can can find it right here: https://tombukovac.bandcamp.com/album...

...and did you know that Larry made an instrumental record with Dean Deleo from Stone Temple Pilots called "Trip The Witch"?

you can find that here: https://tripthewitch.bandcamp.com/alb...

...and did you know that comfy Homeskoolin' merch of all types is available?

just go here to see it....https://dvg-inc.shoplightspeed.com/me...

September 21st, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Bonus “A Small Miracle”

Chapters
00:00 - Session gear and Marshalls


Notes
When something virtually impossible happens to you, you just HAVE to share it with your friends right?

August 22nd, 2022

Homekoolin’ Bonus “Stuff Larry Used To Own”

Chapters
00:00 - Montage of gear


Notes
When you’re bored out of your mind in a hotel room in the middle of nowhere, you have time to do things like this.

I wish you guys could REALLY understand the extent of my lifelong addiction to old guitars, amps, synthesizers, drums, cars….it would be hard for me to explain it.

As you probably know, i have never been one to actually KEEP anything…i have always thought that constantly cycling through cool old stuff was way more fun than ever trying to “build a collection”. To me its always been a quest to LEARN what this stuff can really do, and i always thought that you can only REALLY learn what something can do is to actually own it and use it in the heat of battle.

It all started when i was about 18, in 1987 roughly. I purchased a chopped 65 sg special for 350 bucks and from that point it was ON.

At this point, there is no telling how many thousands of old guitars i have bought and sold….i usually tried to keep at least one photo of whatever it was somewhere in the archives.

This deep dive into my current phone photo stash probably represents less than 1 percent of the lunacy of my old guitar/amp/car addiction….but i thought it might be fun to stroll down memory lane for a minute on a sunday.

Yes, there are a few i should have never got rid of….but live and learn i say!

Hope you enjoy kids

August 12th, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Bonus “The Millenial Buzz”

Chapters
00:00 - Behind the scenes / Soundcheck
01:11 - "The offended language incident"
01:45 - Paul Moak pedalboard / Gear
02:48 - Tony's Bass
03:13 - AC30 / Gear cont.
07:45 - Drum insights


Notes
I thought you guys might appreciate this little illustration of exactly why most lifer musicians absolutely loathe soundchecks.

Soundchecks are always just a cacophonous labyrinth of disjointed rude sounds played by overtired people with bad attitudes and short tempers, whose only REAL concern is the catering.

But more importantly….please listen closely to what I’m about to say.

If there was ever any ONE LESSON that you all learn from any of these videos, let it be this my friends….

unless you are using Rockit Cargo or some other PROFESSIONAL gear transport company…do not EVER try to bring any of your own gear on an international trip….it is practically GUARANTEED to end in tears….and cost you a fortune while you’re at it.

We are just now getting Paul’s gear back from Germany…our poor manager Dave was stuck in Germany for 3-4 extra days trying to deal with the messy gear situation. They wouldn’t fly some of it back because the cases were oversized etc etc, which is strange considering they had no problem flying it INTO the country. As of tonight we are supposed to finally get most of it, but some of it is lost forever at this point.

The only real rule of flying gear international is that there are no rules….just rent whatever you can, and if you DO bring something make sure it’s something you don’t mind losing forever.

Special guest appearances in today’s vid by the crew guys
Steve (the drum tech)
Justin (Pauls keyboard and guitar tech)
Michael (our manager Dave’s son who runs the teleprompters
Matt (the amazing monitor guy)
Gary (the amazing front house guy)

Thank you for watching folks

August 8th, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Volume 157, Tom Bukovac, “Taken By Fierce Bliss”

Chapters
00:00 - Soaring intro playing
02:38 - Hello, everyone! / Home again and Germany
03:48 - Wacken, Germany show
07:23 - Uli Jon Roth
09:45 - Eleanor Jane thanks
10:51 - Change setlist?
11:38 - Lesson (song - Greed) / Power of music
13:30 - Transport gear? / Pedalboard


Notes
Back in the homeland after a long long journey, Larry recalls some of the highs and lows of the last few crazy days…the Session Man Abroad if you will….if you must….

Very sincere thank you to all of you for supporting the show…Uncle Larry’s small but mighty army is slowly approaching 70,000 members….and believe me, i know how hard it is to make the commitment of clicking on a video of an old guy teaching guitar when there are so many “shorts” on youtube of hot girls wearing yoga pants.

I appreciate all the kind words and all the kind donations…i truly hope that you all are learning things and that these videos help shine some light on the madness of the music business.

Mostly i hope they inspire all you people out there to accomplish the nearly impossible dream all musicians share….the dream where we ask the universe to provide us “a living” solely from playing an instrument.

Heres the tip jar links if you want to donate

Paypal is tombukovac@gmail.com

Venmo is @Tom-Bukovac-1

July 13th, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Bonus Studio Tour

Chapters
00:00 - Gear talk behind the scenes
02:47 - Studio control room equipment rundown
05:17 - Guitars


Notes
Heres a look at Addiction Studios in Nashville TN…inpromptu hosted by dearest Alberto Sewald….this studio is run by my dear old friend David Kalmusky, who’s father was Kenny Kalmusky, original bassist of Levon Helm and The Hawks…fuckin cool

July 8th, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Session Update “Everybody Loves Danny”

Chapters
00:00 - Back stage gear tour
04:00 - Danny Dugmore


Notes
Day two of a three day odyssey….special guests, our beloved Bryan Sutton and the legendary Dan Dugmore…check out his credits on allmusic.com kids…a true session man.

February 5th, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Bonus “Ceramic Animal”

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction to Ceramic Animal


Notes