September 18th, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Bonus “The Birdman”

Chapters
00:00 - Funky little loop play through


Notes
Uncle Larry tries to make contact with all the dead satellites and other junk that travels through space.

September 18th, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Bonus “B Roll From Giants Show”

Chapters
00:00 - Footage of the rehearsal for "Giants"


Notes
Warning: this one here is ONLY for the real die hard Homeskoolers out there.

Damn near 30 minutes of rehearsal footage....i thought about chopping it up, but then decided to give it all to ya in one big long painful block, so you can feel the slog of a 10 hour rehearsal day just like we do haha.

disclaimer: i clearly realize that there are worse 10 hour work days.....

i'll tell ya' a job that would REALLY suck. top of my list of all-time nightmare jobs....to be the guy that cleans and maintains a busy airport restroom....there's something about "international shit" that's even more horrifying than "domestic shit".... the worst job i ever had in my younger days was doing carpet and flooring with my older brother doug...it was great to hang out with him all day, but the job itself SUCKED.

i also did asphalt with my other brother Mike....a VERY small company in Cleveland called "Perfection Paving"...the only dump truck the company could afford was from the 40's and it wouldn't go over 35 MPH on the highway....which was a problem when you are carrying a hot load of asphalt long distances.

anyhoo....back to today's video...b roll rehearsal footage from the recently aired CMT show called "Giants" honoring Vince Gill.

Starring
Uncle Larry
Jedd Hughes
Paulie Franklin
Chris Stapleton
Jimmie Lee Sloas
Becky Fluke

September 17th, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Saturday Night Bonus Jam “Point Of Contact”

Chapters
00:00 - Playing the chopper


Notes
Hello friends…a while back my dear dear friend sweet Greggy Voros gifted me a wonderful old 54 Esquire chopper that i have been slowly but surely trying to turn into the monster that i absolutely know it can be.

From the start this guitar had a hell of a lot going for it (super lightweight and the neck is to die for) but it had a long way to go. It started with refretting, then trying to find the right pickups…i ended up finding some great pickups, an original bridge pickup from a 1960 tele custom was a nice addition.

The original bridge saddles were driving me insane, so i just had my dear old friend Phil Crabtree install a set of Callaham compensated steel saddles. I picked it up from him today, Philly works alongside Tom Murphy at the Gibson custom shop. He is one of the sweetest kindest souls that has ever walked this earth. Thats him pictured at the end of this video.

Lord did these saddles help a lot…a MAJOR step in the right direction. The intonation is sooo good now, the string spacing is perfect, and the thing is just ringing beautifully acoustically, great sustain.

I swear the older i get i am focusing more and more on what i have always called the “point of contact” in guitars.

The purity and trueness of the way fretted and open notes pop out of a guitar, whether its electric or acoustic. The way the notes ring and sustain without an amp.

It’s the first thing i look at when i am checking out any guitar I haven’t seen before. It’s amazing how many guitars there are out there, even “high end” instruments, that just have terrible “point of contact”.

Strangled sounding dead notes all over the guitar, which could be caused by many things….a shitty bridge, bad fretwork, a fingerboard that is separating slightly from the neck, a pinched nut slot, and the worst offender, just plain dead wood.

September 17th, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Bonus “Larry, Jedd and Paul, featuring Sting”

Chapters
00:00 - Footage from Country Music Television's "Giants"


Notes
Hahaaa….just kiddin…i know the real billing order…it should be “Jedd, Paul and Tom, featuring Sting”

Heres an alternate take from the one that actually was on the show.

Hope you enjoy…i had a lonely princeton reverb backstage behind a wall, mic’ed up, and what you are hearing is through the wedge.

When you got your guitar sounding like this through a wedge, you KNOW its gonna be right out front.

September 16th, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Bonus “Target Shooting”

Chapters
00:00 - Session footage


Notes
An excerpt from a little session i did today at Castle studio here in nashville.

It can be tedious at times, but a big part of being a session man is straight up what i’ve always referred to as “target shooting”. You gotta be able to quickly and cleanly execute fairly repetitive parts take after take and be dead in the pocket….and trust me on this friends, if you CAN’T do it, they will find someone who can.

I borrowed this Baxendale Sovereign from my buddy Kris Donegan, absolutely GREAT guitar. This was a double of a 6 string “ganjo” part i had previously played, but ill spare you that carnage haha.

Thanks for watching guys

September 16th, 2022

Homeskoolin’ PSA, “TV Time”

Chapters
00:00 - Beautiful crunch playing
01:56 - Hello, class!
02:30 - Who carries Duesenberg model
03:55 - Vince Gill CMT Special "Giants"
04:20 - Rickenbacker 360 Bubbletop


Notes
Hi guys.....if you're bored tonite check out the show i played on called "Giants" honoring Vince Gill
on the CMT network
8pm central...y'all better hurry

Stores in the U.S. that carry the Duesenberg Session Man guitar:
The Guitar Sanctuary, TX
Palen Music Center, MO
Sound Pure, NC
N' Stuff Music, PA
Lark Guitars, TX
Huber & Breese Music, MI
Willcutt Guitar, KY
Boston Guitars, MA
Midwood Guitars, NC
Spicer Music, AL
Ye Olde Music, SC
Danville Music, CA
Music Villa. MT

Thank you to all of you guys for believing in the model!

September 15th, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Bonus…”The Drum Kit Of The Future?”

Chapters
00:00 - Introduction to a good cause


Notes
So, i played this crazy gig tonight for my dear old friend Chris Donahoe (you may remember him from the “Community Of Tenderness” video i did a while back) at the Gibson Garage in Nashville…the local Gibson show room.

All i was told is that it was a charity gig for a foundation that used to be “Little Kids Rock” that has been renamed “Music Will”.

We rehearsed all morning, five songs, and then went to soundcheck... while we were all waiting around and hanging out after the soundcheck, our drummer, my dear old friend and legendary session drummer Chris “Stix” Mchugh (fellow Genesis fan who also happened to be the producer of my “Plexi Soul” record) started talking about this super cool prototype drum kit that he saw backstage…a great sounding little portable kit that you can pick up and carry around with one hand...and it all fits inside the plastic trash bucket that also doubles as the kick drum.

we were all totally blown away by it…especially Stix…. and we were all like “ok, so where can we buy one of these right now?”

but they are only in prototype stages at this point...apparently only 30 in existence at this point, according to the inventor Dave.

All i know is this... it’s a VERY rare moment when a bunch of jaded session players are totally blown away by ANY piece of gear enough to pull out their wallets...it does not happen very often, trust me.

My first thought was “damn, whoever invented this little drum kit is about to make a fucking BOAT LOAD of cash".... But it turns out it’s much different than that....

The guy who invented it, Dave Wish, is somehow amazingly NOT trying to get rich off of this invention, he is actually ONLY interested in furnishing schools with thousands of these kits…and he needs help.

I’m not sure what this all means or how it could all play out, but maybe some of YOU guys will have some ideas

check it out...this is very cool my friends...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhcAj...

September 15th, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Bonus “Pulled Into Nazareth”

Chapters
00:00 - Playing a good one


Notes
Ain’t NO damn acoustic guitar is worth 100K right?….until you hear the sound of that open G string…

I literally just pulled this thing outta the case, didn’t even tune it, and this is what it gives up…

Every single time i pick this guitar up i am amazed by it….i am so eternally thankful i found old 70253 in this life.

September 14th, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Volume 165, Tom Bukovac, “Flutter And Wow”

Chapters
00:00 - Hello, class! / Video intro about loop building lesson / '62 Strat
01:17 - Loop: Starting the loop
02:04 - Loop: Changing loops
04:02 - Get the bass / Tuning
05:38 - Lesson: Chords and progression
07:30 - Harmony H22 hollowbody bass
07:56 - Loop: Bass recording and play along
10:49 - Getting ready to solo / Looper
11:40 - Loop: Practice soloing
13:00 - Marshall 50-watt Combo Amp / Cleaning it up
13:45 - Loop: Restarting the loop for solo
16:35 - Tone (pickup, pedals)
17:34 - Loop: Take 1 soloing
20:33 - Summarizing


Notes
Uncle Larry takes the class along on a leisurely stroll to looptown….with a cameo appearance by his son’s old Harmony H-22 hollowbody bass.

Ampluhmicatiun provided by a ‘78 Marshall JMP 50 watt 2x12” combo with master volume.

If you guys are indeed learning and enjoying these meager low cost tutorials…the tip jar is just a click away…and it’s TOTALLY on the honor system.

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

if you wanna buy some Homeskoolin merch go here...
https://dvg-inc.shoplightspeed.com/me...

if you wanna buy my album "Plexi Soul" go here...
https://tombukovac.bandcamp.com/album...

if you wanna buy the album i made with Dean Deleo go here...
https://tripthewitch.bandcamp.com/alb...

I GREATLY appreciate all the past donations my good people….a couple bucks here and there makes this all make sense, and it keeps the old fridge stocked.

Thank you for watching friends, i mean it

September 13th, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Volume 164, Tom Bukovac, “With Synchronized Tremolo”

Chapters
00:00 - Boogeying some old school guitar
04:28 - Rollin' Rock slide / Hello, class!
05:18 - Duggie Brown's Jazzmaster
05:43 - Vince Gill backup / Sting / Guitar journey meeting people
07:40 - Chris Stapleton / Earthquaker Dispatch Master
08:40 - Jaco Pastorius
09:20 - Lesson: Appropriate fingering
12:04 - Lesson: Silly, hard lick to use all 4 fingers
14:07 - Lesson: "Tempest Fugit" lick
16:00 - Lesson: Taking apart chords for different voicings
16:50 - Kentucky Thunder Bluegrass bad asses / Bluegrass solos vs Rock
19:23 - Brian Sutton lessons / Holding your body correctly
20:15 - Banjo, tempo, and effortless playing
21:50 - Guitar video jam


Notes
Little Tommy discusses proper fretboard fingering after a nice fall haircut….the little clip at the end is from the rehearsal yesterday when we were learning Sting’s tune that he was singing on the show.

Thanks for watching my little stream of consciousness rants people.