March 17th, 2025

Homeskoolin’ Volume 408, Tom Bukovac, “Velvet Hammers”

Chapters
00:00 - Fishing out those sounds
04:36 - Hey, friends! / Cleveland trip and neighborhood
07:40 - '52 Gibson Les Paul P90 Goldtop
08:25 - "Velvet hammers" (soft notes)
08:57 - Roland JC-120 - chorus off
10:06 - Les Paul pickups, out-of-phase sound
11:15 - "Let me play for a minute"
11:40 - Lesson: Blues in key of B and pre-bends
14:22 - Guitar Riot store / Son bought a MIM Stratocaster / Whatever you like
15:50 - Out-of-phase sound / Replacement bridge
16:45 - Lesson: Expressive pre-bends
17:27 - Gilmour and pre-bends
18:00 - "Fuck off" / "Grown-ass man making videos..."


Notes
anyone that has given their life to the fretboard instantly knows and feels it when a certain guitar is giving you velvet hammers….and what a precious gift it is

today’s amplified signal is coming from my beloved old Roland jazz chorus 120…if you have never owned or tried one of these legendary amps you are making a serious mistake

they are, in a word, magic

March 16th, 2025

Homeskoolin’ Bonus “The Birth Of Sports Bar Blues”

Chapters
00:00 - Driving by childhood neighborhood


Notes
well friends, we made it back home late last night after a fantastic trip to the homeland of Cleveland

so great to see all of our sweetheart relatives and dear friends…three of the four Bukovac brothers were onstage together and one sister was in attendance at a fun gig we played Friday night…the place was fucking PACKED with a zillion faces, most I haven’t seen since high school...

this little video is evidence of that...of course i played a whole set of songs with my brother's band that i never played before with no rehearsal whatsoever....typical Cleveland gig

this particular clip shows me cutting heads with local Cleveland guitar slanger Timmy Facemeyer, while my dearest oldest brother Dougie (to my left) looks on....Timmy Drensky on bass, he was the bass player in my band when i played the Eastlake Battle Of The Bands circa 1983 .....

• One Way Out - Tom Bukovac and Tim Fa...

but let me tell ya' friends….the drive home…sweet jesus it was fucking BRUTAL….i literally had the windshield wipers on the highest setting for five straight hours in the blinding rain with almost zero visibility as semi trucks driven by bots who completely ignored the fact that they were in the middle of a monsoon blazed by us at 85 MPH

March 12th, 2025

Homeskoolin’ Bonus , “Have You Ever Wondered What Was In A Typical Nashville Pawn Shop?”

Chapters
00:00 - Looking in a typical Nashville pawn shop


Notes
When Uncle Larry was a younger man, pre kids, ANY TIME he had a day off he would scour the Nashville pawn shops and shitty music stores in the worst areas he could find…

Sadly now all those music stores of yesterday were replaced by vape shops…there’s a still a fair amount of pawn shops but they are all pretty much exactly like this, except that one in Elysian Fields area of Nolensville that has more music gear than most music stores.


But here ya go friends, now ya know

March 10th, 2025

Homeskoolin’ Special Edition “Guest Garage Sale”

Chapters
00:00 - '64 Gibson ES-335 for sale / Uncle Larry's Guest Garage Sale $16,000


Notes
Starring dear Seth Cook and his delightfully chopped 64 335

March 7th, 2025

Homeskoolin’ Bonus Jam "Stump Grinder"

Chapters
00:00 - Raunch of the best kind


Notes
Kalamazoo grind is the nastiest kind...

if you likin' what you seein' h'yeahhh....the tip jar is SOO close

paypal is tombukovac@gmail.com
venmo is @Tom-Bukovac-1

March 7th, 2025

Homeskoolin’ Bonus “Chops For Days”

Chapters
00:00 - Enjoying life


Notes
I loooooove this current weather here in the hood….a little cold and dreary but dry

Good day for some nice pork chops…

All of the Instagrammers out there already know about Uncle Larry’s deep love of all things pork and chop….


This one is for you YouTubers

Thank you for the continued support of our little pentatonic channel.

in this life, you can search all you want for TRUE satisfaction....but in the end, no matter how much money/time you spend, a couple of nice fuggin' pork chops on the grill and the proper amount of time needed to really enjoy them are as good as anything this life has to offer my friends.

March 7th, 2025

Homeskoolin’ Volume 407, Tom Bukovac, “Bad Decision Soup”

Chapters
00:00 - Just playing away
10:56 - Alright, how's it going friends / Vision
12:08 - Gibson ES-335 love
12:32 - Drew and Homeskoolin' merch / New t-shirts in mind / Motortrend Magazine
14:00 - DVD movies that will cure you / Brick, Intacto, Delicatessen, Sunshine
14:46 - Muscle Shoal / Things that were great in the past
16:23 - "The cage you built is all you" / Good decision soup, or bad decision soup
17:19 - Cheesy, weak, awesome rhythm playing
18:15 - Muscle Shoals vibe
19:21 - Ty Myers mom and cut off video / Steven Tyler
21:19 - Brett Papa and video subscription project / "Never going to get this done"
23:23 - John McBride and Gruhn Baritone guitar
25:40 - 'Merican Patriot
26:32 - Lesson: Hard pull off


Notes
Uncle Larry plays some straight sports bar blooze and reflects about the recent experience of recording in one of the most soulful places in ‘Merica….

March 6th, 2025

Homeskoolin’ Bonus “The Haunted Switch”

Chapters
00:00 - '62 Gibson stereo output with varitone
04:17 - Varitone shades of unusable tones.
06:00 - Pull the cord out a bit to get mono neck pickup / Popping switch



Notes
I have been asked MANY MANY times about my thoughts regarding the stereo Gibson models of the late 50’s/early 60’s…the ES-345 and ES-355…people always wonder how they sound next to a typical golden era mono ES-335 that we all love, because the stereo guitars are usually a bit more affordable.

My dear friend Drew from Guitar House of Tulsa came by for a visit last night and brought along a couple of really nice ES-355’s, including this EXTREMELY tidy 62 with a LOVELY neck in fantastic condition…which also has a haunted switch.

So of course I used this opportunity to show you Homeskoolers a very handy demonstration of the extremely vast chasm of sound difference between an old stereo Gibson and an old mono Gibson.

Yeah, that’s right…I’m always thinking of you guys….

Anyway, hope you don’t mind the phone falling over a few times, but this video should tell ya everything you need to know about the differences in the sounds between mono and stereo old Gibsons.

editor's note..at :32 i meant to say "mono 335", not "mono 355"

March 4th, 2025

Homeskoolin’ Bonus “The Real Inside Shit”

Chapters
00:00 - Pro Tools transfer from mixer


Notes
Don’t feel bad if you don’t understand any of the shit these guys are doing…neither do I.

My genuine love and respect for great recording engineers is well documented…you guys have heard me say many times that the most important guy in the band in the engineer….you have also heard me say that when I walk into a session, the very first question I ask is “who’s engineering?”

you have also heard me say that even if Christ Himself put The Perfecf Band together for The Ultimate Comeback Record…even That Band could not overcome a terrible engineer…..

Simply put, no matter who you are, you GOTTA have a fella around that knows how to “run the PA”

with all that being said, I will admit that I am damned glad that I figured early on what side of the glass I personally belong on

I may not get this stuff…but I’m just glad there are folks that do…

Thanks to dear Seth Morton and dear Lance ….

and thanks to Ty’s mom for the validation at the end ….

March 3rd, 2025

Homeskoolin’ Bonus “Fame…Is It Any Wonder?”

Chapters
00:00 - Fame Studios / Muscle Shoals tour


Notes
The legendary Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals…can you even imagine how many people have posed for a photo in front of this place??

This particular Homeskoolin progrum stars:
Gordon Mote
Brandon Hood
Mark Hill
Bruce Bouton
Stix Mchugh
Seth Morton
Wes Sheffield
Lance