A two page poem hand-written by Bobby Zimmerman (better known as the one and only Bob Dylan) has been discovered and is being auctioned at Christies.com, reports Rolling Stone.

The poem, titled "Little Buddy," was written by Dylan in the mid-1950s while he was just a teenager. The poem was originally submitted to The Herzl Herald, a newspaper for Wisconsin’s Herzl Camp, which Dylan attended as a youth. It tells the story of a boy’s beloved dog who is beaten to death by a drunken stranger.

Little Buddy

Broken hearted and so sad
Big blue eyes all covered with tears
Was a picture of sorrow to see

Kneeling close to the side
Of his pal and only pride
A little lad, these words he told me

He was such a lovely doggy
And to me he was such fun
But today as we played by the way

A drunken man got mad at him
Because he barked in joy
He beat him and he's dying here today

Will you call the doctor please
And tell him if he comes right now
He'll save my precious doggy here he lay

Then he left the fluffy head
But his little dog was dead
Just a shiver and he slowly passed away

He didn't know his dog had died
So I told him as he cried
Come with me son we'll get that doctor right away

But when I returned
He had his little pal upon his knee
And the teardrops, they were blinding his big blue eyes

Your too late sir my doggy's dead
And no one can save him now
But I'll meet my precious buddy up in the sky

By a tiny narrow grave
Where the willows sadly wave
Are the words so clear you're sure to find

Little Buddy Rest In Peace
God Will Watch You Thru The Years
Cause I Told You In My Dreams That You
Were Mine

Bobby Zimmerman

The poem is currently listed with an estimated price of $10,000 - $15,000 and anyone can bid on it. Proceeds from the sale will go to improving cabins and other camp facilities at Herzl Camp.

Report by David Lowe-Bianco.

www.ProGuitarShop.com

Russell Hall | 05.19.2009

Both Radiohead and R.E.M. are in the initial phases of recording new studio albums.

Speaking recently to London’s BBC, Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood said the band is working with producer Nigel Godrich on the follow-up to 2007’s In Rainbows.

“It’s at the stage where we’ve got the big Lego box out and we’ve tipped it out on the floor and we're just looking at all the bits and thinking what’s next?" Greenwood said. "I'm very impressed and grateful for Nigel our producer and his ability to make it all sound vaguely plausible.”

Greenwood offered an additional tidbit to NME.com, saying, “It's really cool and everything is sounding great. It’s early days and it is a bit like having a scrapbook at the moment because everything is up in the air, but it's good to be back in the studio."

The bassist gave no details regarding a target release date, nor did he say what business model the band would choose to make the album available. In Rainbows was initially offered to fans on a “pay-what-you-choose” basis.

As regards to R.E.M., Pitchfork.com reports that guitarist Peter Buck and bassist Mike Mills have been recording demos with producer Tucker Martine overseeing the tracks. Jacknife Lee, who produced the band’s Accelerate album, is slated to take over full production duties when the work gets ramped up.

“ … I'm not even sure you could say we've started the record,” Buck told Pitchfork. “But Mike [Mills] and I write all the time, and I had a bunch of songs we were going over during soundcheck on the last tour. I just didn't want to forget mine. Mike had some stuff he wanted to do. We never do demos; we just go in and record. And I was like ‘Well, I have a lot of equipment in Portland; we can do it there.’ And I've worked at Jackpot! Studio before. It just seemed like the thing to do.”

Buck went on to talk about R.E.M.’s work methods.

“You know, it's a process that is always kind of mysterious,” he said. “To a certain degree, when we are doing this stuff, we are doing this to excite Michael [Stipe] about getting inspired. For him, he really wants to hear something and be inspired to sing something. It's an amazing thing to have him do, but he doesn't finish every song and say, ‘Here, take your pick.’ It's really the things that really move him. So he'll listen to the stuff in a few months, and ideally there will be enough there to spark his interest.”

Buck also hinted that the new songs may be more varied, stylistically, than those on Accelerate.

“This record, I want it to be broader; I think Michael is into that,” the guitarist said. “So there are some really pretty acoustic things, some really total noisy rock, and some kind of poppy stuff. It runs the gamut. Ideally, if it were me making all the decisions, I'd say the record would be a lot broader than the last one.”

www.ProGuitarShop.com

Russell Hall | 05.14.2009

Given the love they feel for their most cherished instruments, it’s hardly surprising that six-stringers often endow their favorite guitars with affectionate nicknames. Below are six famous musicians whose guitars bear monikers that give them a near-life-like persona. Check them out, and be sure to share the names you’ve bestowed upon your own favorite guitars in our comments section below.

Neil Young — “Old Black”

Neil Young obtained “Old Black” — his repainted ’53 Les Paul Goldtop — in 1969 through a trade with fellow musician Jim Messina. Through the years the instrument has been the go-to guitar for the dazzling, feedback-drenched playing that’s characterized Young’s most aggressive material. Old Black has undergone considerable modifications during its lifetime, the more notable being the addition of a Firebird mini-humbucker in the bridge position, the installation of a Tune-O-Matic bridge (not available when the guitar was originally produced), and an aluminum pickguard that accentuates feedback. Old Black invariably is accompanied by Young’s famous “peace symbol and dove” guitar strap. To fully experience the guitar’s incomparable feedback capabilities, check out Young’s ferocious 1991 album, Arc.

Eric Clapton — “Blackie”

Eric Clapton built Blackie himself, assembling the guitar from three different Stratocasters purchased for $100 each from the Sho-Bud guitar shop in Nashville. He first played the guitar live in January 1973 at the famous Rainbow Concert. For the next twelve years, Clapton played the guitar both on-and off-stage, before at last retiring the instrument in 1985 due to issues with the neck. He brought Blackie out of retirement for a final public appearance — for one song — during the 1991 Royal Albert Hall shows. In 2004 Blackie was sold at auction for $959,000, a figure that set a record, at the time, as the highest price ever paid for a guitar. The proceeds went to the Crossroads Center, a rehab facility founded by Clapton himself.

Willie Nelson — “Trigger”

It’s a measure of its worth that Willie Nelson’s beloved Trigger enjoys round-the-clock protection from a bodyguard. A 1969 Martin N-20 Classic, Trigger has been Nelson’s constant companion for nearly four decades. Millions of pick-strums have worn a gaping opening near the sound-hole, but the tone remains rich and like none other. On the advice of fellow songwriter Leon Russell — who said it made for a “good insurance policy” — Nelson has had hundreds of friends, celebrities, and sports figures autograph the guitar. So cherished is Trigger that during Nelson’s notorious tangles with the IRS, he had the instrument hidden away at his manager’s house in order to prevent the government from seizing it. “I don’t know what I’d do without Trigger,” Nelson told People magazine in 1984. “I think it will live as long as I will.”

Stevie Ray Vaughan — “Number One” (also known as “First Wife”)

Stevie Ray Vaughan obtained Number One — his 1961 chocolate sunburst Stratocaster — from Ray Hennig, owner of the Heart of Texas music shop in Austin. Vaughan had borrowed the guitar for a gig and liked it so much he offered a nearly-new Stratocaster in exchange. From 1973 onward, Number One was his main performing instrument and companion. Purported to be a “mongrel” with a ’62 neck and a ’63 body, the instrument underwent many changes — both cosmetically and functionally — through the years. An early tremolo modification resulted in a hole in the body, which Vaughan covered with a “CUSTOM” sticker. Similarly, the “SRV” stickers Vaughan applied to the body gave the guitar a flashy presence.

Vaughan was hard on Number One, often breaking the whammy bar and putting the instrument through countless re-frettings. In 1990 the neck was broken when some stage scenery fell on the instrument. Nonetheless, Number One ended up missing just one show before undergoing repair. Rumors have circulated that the guitar was buried with Vaughan, but reliable sources say the guitar is in the possession of Stevie’s brother, Jimmie.

Bo Diddley — “Big B”

Bo Diddley created the prototype for Big B — the world’s first rectangular guitar — by installing the neck and electronics from a Gretsch guitar onto a body Diddley made himself. Not entirely satisfied with the results, Diddley then asked the Gretsch factory to build him a custom rectangular guitar from scratch. The year that request was made was either 1958 or 1959. From that point forward, for the next two decades, Big B was a staple of Diddley’s live shows. Big B saw only limited use on Diddley’s studio recordings, however, and near the end of the ‘70s Diddley decided to retire the innovative instrument. For its replacement, he commissioned Australian luthier Chris Kinman to build another rectangular guitar – one fitted with a Les Paul-style neck and Gibson humbuckers. Diddley endowed the new guitar with a new name: "The Mean Machine."

B.B. King — “Lucille”

No article about guitars endowed with names would be complete without mention of B.B. King’s beloved Lucille. The story of the original Lucille — how the guitar was named for a woman whose charms nearly led to the guitar’s destruction — has been told many times. The first version of Lucille dates back to 1949, but through the years she’s appeared in many incarnations. For many years she was an ES-335. For the past several decades, however, she’s been an ES-355. King spoke lovingly of Lucille in the liner notes for his 1968 album that bears the guitar’s name. ”I'm very crazy about Lucille," he said. “I've had many guitars ... and I always call them Lucille. She's taken me a long way, even brought me some fame ... most of all, she's kept me alive, being able to eat ... Lucille practically saved my life two or three times.”

www.ProGuitarShop.com

Russell Hall | 05.14.2009

In a pseudo-preemptive move, Wilco has made its new album available for free on its website. Due to a purported leak of the self-titled disc, which is scheduled for release on June 30, the band has set up both high and low quality streams of the entire album.

As reported by Rollingstone.com, Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche spoke recently with Rock Daily about a couple of tracks from the disc. Asked about “Wilco (the song),” Kotche described the composition as “a great, upbeat song professing our love for our fans.”

Of the guitar-centric “Bull Black Nova,” Kotche said, “That one’s a really intense, powerful song. It’s got a static groove that’s really insistent. There’re lots of great guitar moments on that song.”

The band is undertaking an extensive tour this summer, highlighted by festival performances at Bonnaroo and the 10,000 Lakes Festival. Kotche said the set lists will be varied, with the group digging deep into its back catalog.

www.ProGuitarShop.com

Aidin Vaziri | 05.13.2009

Wayne Coyne says the Flaming Lips are ready to release their first ever double-album later this year. Speaking to Billboard, the Oklahoma psychedelic-rock band’s frontman said that their latest collection of songs, tentatively titled Embryonic, needed the extra space to fully stretch out.

“Somewhere along the way it occurred to me that we should do a double album,” Coyne said. “Just this idea that you can kind of weave a couple of themes into there and you can sort of sprawl a little bit. Our past couple of records we've always had this little dilemma, like how many songs do you put on? How many instruments do you put on? What's the focus?”

He added, “And some of my favorite records – thinking Beatles White Album, Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti and even some of the longer things that the Clash have done – part of the reason I like them is that they're not focused. They're kind of like a free-for-all and go everywhere.”

The group still has serious work to do on the follow-up to 2006’s At War with the Mystics if it plans on wrapping up recording for the new set before launching its tour of Europe, Australia and the states in June. Only 13 tracks have been written so far, according to Billboard, and Coyne wants to add at least eight or nine more.

Maybe he should spend less time running around in giant plastic balls and more hunkering down in the studio.

www.ProGuitarShop.com

Aidin Vaziri | 05.13.2009

Just days after talking up the possibilities of the return of the White Stripes, we get word that Jack White will be spending the summer on the road playing drums with one his other, other side-projects, The Dead Weather. 

The group, which features the Kills’ Allison Mosshart on vocals, will play a couple of one-off shows in Louisville, London and Paris ahead of the release of its debut album, Horehound, on July 14. Then it will be on the road through the end of August. Full dates below.

The Dead Weather Tour Dates:

6/11: Louisville, Ky - City Block
6/24: London, England - The Forum
6/29: Paris, France - La Cigale
7/13-14: Washington, D.C. - 9:30 Club
7/16: New York, N.Y. - Terminal 5
7/18: Boston, Mass. - House of Blues
7/19: Ottawa, Ontario - Ottawa Blues Festival
7/21: Montreal, Quebec - Olympia De Montreal
7/22: Toronto, Ontario - Kool Haus
7/24: Detroit, Mich. - The Fillmore
7/25: Columbus, Ohio - The LC Pavilion
7/27: Minneapolis, Minn. - First Avenue
7/28-29: Chicago, Ill. - Vic Theatre
7/30: Nashville, Tenn. - War Memorial Auditorium
8/17: Denver, Colo. - Ogden Theatre
8/18: Salt Lake City, Utah - The Depot
8/20: Seattle, Wash. - Paramount Theatre
8/21: Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
8/22: Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
8/23: Portland, Ore. - Roseland Theater
8/25: Los Angeles, Calif. - Wiltern Theatre
8/27: Pomona, Calif. – Glasshouse
8/29: San Diego, Calif. - San Diego Street Scene
8/30: San Francisco, Calif. - Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival
10/04: Austin, Texas - Austin City Limits Festival

www.ProGuitarShop.com

Ted Drozdowski | 05.11.2009

Warren Haynes’ simultaneous membership in the Allman Brothers, Gov’t Mule and the Dead makes him rock’s MVP guitarist: a sonic adventurer and die-hard Gibson player who’s been honored with a signature Les Paul Standard made by the Gibson Custom Shop.

In the early ’80s Haynes kick-started his career in the group of country outlaw David Allan Coe before joining the Dickey Betts’ Band, his springboard to the Allman Brothers. This summer he’ll be living up to his reputation for aggressive versatility by performing with all three of his high-profile bands. And the Mule, which he formed with drummer Matt Abts and bassist Allen Woody in 1994, will also release a new album.

The Allman Brothers’ are touring to celebrate their 40th anniversary, and Haynes is marking his 20th year with the band.

“It’s hard to believe I joined that long ago,” Haynes says when we catch up to him by phone in New York City. “I don’t know if I can describe it in words, but having an institution like that help mold your own playing is pretty amazing.”

What are both the challenges you felt as a newcomer in the Allman Brothers, and the ones you feel now as a longtime member?

When I joined the band it obviously gave me a reason to emphasize more of that side of my playing, tonally and as an improviser. Right from day one it was left up to me how much of Duane’s influence I incorporated. It was always a moment-by-moment decision, and still is, because in respecting the band’s legacy that’s the obvious thing to do.

I play differently in the Allman Brothers than I do in Gov’t Mule and the Dead. The key in all three bands is to learn each other’s musical personalities and vocabularies, and that shapes your playing. In the Allman Brothers we have to get up there night after night and reinvent ourselves, because we thrive on improvisation. So there are times when we’re visiting territory the band has covered in the past and times when we’re trying to go where the band has never gone. The important thing is that everyone in the band has open license to do whatever he wants as long as it respects the music. In recent years we’ve been able to take the band to places it’s never gone before musically, but the fact we’re doing it all together makes it gradual and makes it part of the journey.

Gov’t Mule has also evolved a lot, from a psychedelic rock band grounded in the ’60s and early ’70s to a free ranging beast that’s as likely to play a Sly Stone song as an original epic.

Gov’t Mule is our laboratory to do whatever we feel, and the parameters change all the time. In some ways we’re moving into new territory and in some ways getting back to where the band was when it began. Our new bass player Jorgen Carlsson has more in common with Allen Woody, our original bass player, than any of the other bass players we’ve worked with, so the music finds itself going back to our roots, which is really nice.

Now is a very important pivotal point for Gov’t Mule. We’re hoping the new album will be out in July, and we’ll absolutely be touring. I’ll be bouncing back and forth from band to band with the Allman Brothers, the Dead and Gov’t Mule all on the road.

Gov’t Mule has been a quartet for a long time now, and Danny Louis, our keyboard player, also plays guitar and did that on four tracks of the new album. So there are less keys and more twin guitar. It’s very much a rock and roll record, but it goes in different directions. Some tunes are groove oriented; some have odd time signatures. Almost every song is different, but the common threads are psychedelic influences and certain eras of rock that remain a sonic influence with us.

Do you use the same guitars, effects and amps with all three bands?

No. I use different guitars and amps with each band. In the Allman Brothers, virtually no effects. In Gov’t Mule I tend to use more. Some of the amps and guitars overlap, but there’s a lot of differences as well. And in the Dead I tend to use completely different gear, because I’m paying homage to someone completely different, Jerry Garcia, and my sounds have to blend in with what’s going on around me. If I walked on-stage with the Dead with the same sound I use with the Allman Brothers, it’d be inappropriate.

How different is you guitar selection with the Dead?

I’m not playing any Les Pauls. I play an SG, a ’61 ES-335 and recently had Gibson build me a Firebird with two of the mini-humbuckers in it that I’ve been using a lot in the Dead. It fits in very nicely. We’ve done 11 shows with the Dead so far this year and I’ve yet to pick up a Les Paul.

What are the common elements of your Allman Brothers and Gov’t Mule rigs?

The one common element amp-wise is my Ceasar Diaz CD-100 prototype amp. In the Allman Brothers my other amp is a Soldano SLO-100 that’s been modified or a 100-watt Marshall Plexi or my 50-watt Marshall sometimes. In Gov’t Mule the Soldano and the Diaz are my two main heads. In the Dead I’ve been using this Paul Reed Smith amp I got recently, a Dallas. I’m exploring trying to find different sounds that work in each band.

I’m using a Tone Tubby cabinet and a Marshall cabinet in the Allman Brothers and Gov’t Mule. In the Dead, it’s a PRS cabinet. When it comes to speakers I’m usually a Vintage 30 guy, but — although none of my cabinets are equipped with them right now — I do also like 25s. Every time I play through a Marshall cabinet with 25-watt Celestions I really enjoy it, but I always find myself going back to the 30s.

www.ProGuitarShop.com

Dave Hunter | 05.14.2009

Countless electric and acoustic guitars become legendary simply by being the instrument of choice of one guitar hero or another. Others, in addition to being played, are elevated to a higher level by virtue of their appearances on classic album covers. One of the most deserving of Legendary Guitar status of any electric on the planet, Bruce Springsteen’s ’50s Fender Esquire is both a cover star and a lifelong “No. 1” pick for this rock and roller. Springsteen has played other guitars, and naturally takes plenty of spares on the road with him, but the image of The Boss will forever be linked with that blackguard maple-neck Esquire, a guitar that he has consistently stated is the best he has ever played. Its initial appearance on 1975’s Born to Run arguably turned on more budding rockers to the simple pleasures of the Esquire and Telecaster than any other influence, and it has subsequently made a showing on the albums Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Live 1975-85, Human Touch and Greatest Hits.

Plenty of authorities have been quoted on the vintage and specs of Springsteen’s instrument, but the “Erector Set” nature of Fender electrics makes it virtually impossible to determine the precise year this guitar was made, and whether its main ingredients even came off the assembly line together. Springsteen has stated in live concert footage from the mid ’70s that he purchased the guitar in the early ’70s from New Jersey-based luthier Phil Petillo, who also cared for the instrument in the early days. Other reports indicate that Petillo purchased the Esquire from a liquidation sale at a New York recording studio, and that the guitar was already somewhat modified when he acquired it, most notably having a considerable amount of wood routed from beneath the pickguard to accommodate extra pickups, in addition to the factory route for the neck pickup.

Past interviews with Springsteen and his guitar techs indicate that the Esquire was a 1953 or ’54 model (note that the post-factory addition of a neck pickup makes this normally single-pickup Esquire look like a two-pickup Telecaster), and its — heavily worn — transparent butterscotch blonde finish and black pickguard would seem to uphold that notion. The neck, however, wears the “butterfly” string guide for the B and E strings positioned roughly in line with the A-string tuner post, which replaced the round guide that was more distant from the nut in mid-’56, along with the logo decal at the far side of this guide, a change made at the same time. Myriad interviews also indicate that the neck has the soft-V profile that came back into fashion at Fender in late ’55 and remained largely through ’57 (early ’50-’51 necks were also V’d, or “boat necks,” but were thicker overall). All of this points at a neck made later than ’53 or ’54, and although an earlier neck could have been modified to these specs, the correct answer is usually the simplest: a later neck was added to an earlier body (just guessing here folks, but logic dictates that there might be something in this speculation).

Certainly there’s some funny business going on with the pickguard on Springsteen’s guitar, too. These early black guards were mounted with five screws rather than the seven that Springsteen’s Esquire appears with, as were the white pickguards that replaced them in late ’54. Two extra screws could have been added, perhaps to keep the guard from warping, but the original guard would have to have been changed anyway, if extra middle pickups had once been added, as indicated by the non-standard body routes. The Born to Run cover shot also shows an unidentifiable sticker of some sort on the pickguard between the bridge and neck pickups, a sticker absent from later photos, so either this was scraped off, or the entire guard was changed again. Another quirk arises with the photo on the Human Touch cover, which shows a white-edged pickguard, indicating one made from a typical three-ply black/white/black plastic. Examine the guitar itself circa 2009, however, which you can do by visiting the new Bruce Springsteen exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, and you’ll see that it once again wears the original single-ply guard, or one like it. Take all of the above into consideration, particularly the fact that the pickguard was undoubtedly replaced even before Springsteen purchased the Esquire from Petillo, and it’s even possible that this guitar was born as a white-guard model.

Other, later modifications are beyond speculation: the Esquire already has replacement tuners in the Born to Run photo, although it still wears a three-saddle ’50s or early ’60s bridge with stamped steel base plate. Some time later, it received a titanium six-saddle bridge from Petillo, along with a set of the luthier’s own patented Petillo Precision Frets, a fret wire with an inverted-V-shaped crown for precise intonation. Not so easy to detect is the fact that Petillo also added hot rewound single-coil pickups, which this Esquire retains to this day, despite Springsteen’s use of Joe Barden dual-rail single-coil-sized humbuckers in his other Telecasters.

Ultimately, who cares … whatever kind of mutt of an instrument the thing had become by the time it landed in Springsteen’s hands, it has been the driving force behind some of the most compelling rock anthems of the past 35 years. Just listen to the searing solos from “Prove It All Night” or “Candy’s Room,” and you don’t need to worry about the details — scorching hot-rodded Tele, four to the floor, and that’s all we need to worry about.

www.ProGuitarShop.com

5/11/09, 8:45 am EST

Photograph by Joshua Prezant for RollingStone.com

Everyone, check your copies of Ritual de lo Habitual: Somewhere, there’s a Dorian Gray-esque portrait of Jane’s Addiction that shows the band members losing their hair and growing paunches. Onstage Friday night in West Palm Beach at the first night of the NIN/JA tour — Jane’s reunion, Nine Inch Nails‘ swan song — the four band members looked a lot like their 1990 selves. Give or take a couple clumsy spills across the Cruzan Amphitheatre stage (maybe those knees don’t work quite like they used to, or maybe it was the bottle of wine he was swigging), singer Perry Farrell was a preening, prancing, silly satyr. And Dave Navarro — ah, muscled, goateed, chain-smoking, bare-chested, alt-rock guitar icon, thy physique is perfection, and your hammer of the tattooed love god riffs are pretty good too.

(Check out photos of Trent, Perry and Morello in action in our NIN/JA tour opener gallery.)

Including original drummer Stephen Perkins (rocking a kilt) and secret-weapon bassist Eric Avery (keeping Farrell’s and Navarro’s egos tethered to the bottom), Jane’s came onstage for their first tour in 17 years full of themselves. First there was a short movie that touted the importance of the band’s return to children who never got to see them live and that of course featured JA’s habitual muse: pert-breasted pinups. Then there was Perry doing his Fiddler on the Roof court-jester hip dance, Navarro performing long manic love to not one but two guitars, Perkins soloing with not one but two bass drums, Farrell waving that bottle around like a merry prankster — and that was just the first song, epic opener “Three Days.”

>Photograph by Joshua Prezant for RollingStone.com

The moon was full and Farrell was on home turf, with old high school chums in the audience. Before the encore, he dedicated the show to a friend who had passed. Then the band played a lovely, acoustic “Jane Says,” with Perkins on steel drums and the audience of course singing along. Interacting little during the previous 70 minutes, the players came together at the end, arms slung across shoulders, the demons that drove them apart at least temporarily quelled.

That unplugged moment was the rare instance when Jane’s Addiction hasn’t pursued the maxim more is more. Even before the dawn of the Nirvana era, they defined alt-rock as progressive music rather than punk. With a darker predilection for pomp, Nine Inch Nails was right there alongside them — literally, sharing the stage at the first, historic Lollapalooza tour in 1991. That festival broke Jane’s up. Unable to split with himself, Trent Reznor has stuck out the rise and fall of alternative — until now. “It’s been a good run,” the Nails head said, sounding pretty banal for the erstwhile dark sex god of industrial thrash. “Thank you for your support over the years.”

Taking the stage before Jane’s, while it was still light outside, NIN was at a distinct disadvantage — Reznor does not play summer feel-good hits. He and his three bandmates got straight to their business of calling the world a dark hole full of pathetic humans. Sorry to wax Nietzschean here, but NIN is Apollonian in its pursuit of order, compared to Jane’s Dionysian zest for excess. It’s always been a bit hard to take lyrics like “If there is a hell I’ll see you there” seriously, but it was even harder with a beach ball bouncing around the audience’s heads.

NIN sounded scary-great on “Head Like a Hole,” the first song on their first LP, and on a song that Reznor announced they had never played before, a cover of David Bowie’s “I’m Afraid of Americans.” But the material from in between wore thin. Looking more like a meathead Tom Cruise than Alan Rickman’s black-magic Severus Snape, Reznor has not sipped from Jane’s fountain of youth. But there’s no doubt that his raw power has long spoken to the disturbed souls of goth youth, and when NIN didn’t come back for even one encore, the booing audience clearly felt like something important had been lost. Reznor Tweeted that the PA got shut off, giving him a “temper tantrum.”

The NIN/JA tour — which also features Tom Morello’s Rage-esque new band, Street Sweeper Social Club, which debuted in New York a few days before the Florida show — doesn’t mean that alt rock has hit the oldies circuit. It’s more like catching Genesis and Yes in, say 1985, when their best days were behind them, but you just wanted to say one more farewell. “Wave Goodbye” Reznor has dubbed this tour. Friday night, it ended a little sooner than he wanted.

Side view of a standard guitar neck.

Ok, what is a truss rod?
Most guitarists cringe when the term "truss rod" is brought up in a conversation. Many would rather seek professional help when making guitar neck adjustments as opposed to doing it themselves. The truss rod is a threaded metal rod that runs through the neck of the guitar. The rod’s main function is for adjusting the height of the strings, more commonly referred to as the “action.” Many players prefer a low action because notes can be fretted with ease, but some players, such as the late Stevie Ray Vaughan, tend to prefer a higher action. Yes, you do have to take care when adjusting it and it can break, but if you approach the task with a little respect for the rod and some common sense, there's no reason why you can't do this job yourself.

How do I adjust the truss rod?
Relief simply refers to how much the guitar neck bows upward as it approaches its center, and back downward from the center to the tailpiece. You don't want a perfectly straight neck or you may experience horrible fretbuzz. Start by sighting down the length of the neck to see how straight it is. You should now decide if you are still happy with the string gauge and string height. Warm temperatures make strings seem more slinky and if you bang hard on them, excessive fret rattle will occur. Just by using the next heavier gauge string set, you can improve stability and tone, but you'll probably need to readjust the truss rod to maintain a straight neck. You need to locate the correct size allen key or hex wrench for the truss rod adjustment screw. If the neck is bowed upward, you should tighten the truss rod only 1/8 of a turn. If the neck is bowed downward, you should loosen the truss rod only 1/8 of a turn. Most guitars require a clockwise turn to tighten and a counterclockwise turn to loosen the rod, but not all guitars are the same so you may want to contact your manufacturer to be certain. Lighter gauge strings usually require a small adjustment while larger gauge strings may require another 1/8 of a turn. You should never force the rod. If the rod is difficult to turn, you should let an experienced luthier or guitar technician make the adjustment. There may be another problem involved. To properly set the action, press the low E string down on the 1st fret and the last fret of your guitar. There should be a gap of around 1/64" between the string at the 7th and 8th frets. A feeler gauge is the best tool to use when taking these measurements. If you don't have access to a feeler gauge, use a .4mm or .5mm guitar pick. Good luck with the adjustment of your guitar!!! Remember. Be very careful when performing this procedure.