I watched his biography a few nights ago. He is very respected in Japan. He went to Japan by himself at age 17 and became an aikido master, with 7th degree skill level. He trained and fought with fellow students that were ruthless and gave no quarter. His masters all say he is a prodigy, and have seen very few achieve the skill he has. The guy is the real deal.

The album he put out was requested by his mother, who was dying. He put it out for her.

He has given millions to charity and has his own orphanage in Thailand (Bangkok) where they rescue children from abusive parents and the slave trade.

Every Christmas he goes there and personally greets, hugs, and kisses every child in the orphanage.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

He guest hosted The Friday Night Project here in the U.K. last year and then played with his band.

Maybe it was that particular performance that night but I was a bit 'meh'. Wasn't very impressed. I'll check out more stuff, everyone deserves another chance.

Jealous of his collection though!

CC

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Fender Stratocaster (parts build)
Fender Telecaster 72 Custom RI
Fender Telecoustic Deluxe
Gretsch Electromatic Pro-Jet
Gibson Les Paul Standard Plus
Gibson ES-135
Zenith Type-17
Marshall 70's JMP Superbass 100w
Blackstar HT-5

I've seen a few of his performances and that's the way he plays. Not great, not bad. He just seems uninspired. He does have an outrageous guitar collection, It's not because he plays well, it's because he's willing to pay obscene amounts of cash for the guitars. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I'd rather see a player have them than a collector. He was interviewed in GP a while back and he kind of came across as arrogant to me. But they also interviewed Minnie Driver too. That's when I canceled my subscription for a while.

I do find his Eddie Munster haircut amusing though.

It's so Eddie Munster on Hermans head!

Yeah man, thats the way it came across, uninspired is the word.

CC

_________________
Fender Stratocaster (parts build)
Fender Telecaster 72 Custom RI
Fender Telecoustic Deluxe
Gretsch Electromatic Pro-Jet
Gibson Les Paul Standard Plus
Gibson ES-135
Zenith Type-17
Marshall 70's JMP Superbass 100w
Blackstar HT-5

gratz you know the Wolfman. Tell him thanks for all those licks and tabs as he was like a pioneer in doing that stuff. Man back in the early days he used to tab just about everything. I learned Becks Because weve Ended as Lovers from his tab. He also came up with my all time favorite guitar magazine-GUITAR ONE which blew everything away when it came out and changed the format of getting one or two tabs to 8 or 10 besides lessons on modes, harmony, scales and techniques that were not covered much.An excellent player

I had no idea he played guitar.

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"My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives." Blazing Saddles...

i remember flipping through that issue and seeing the blue Muddy caster!! killer Tele

he is one of the only if not the only American to ever open an Aikido school in Japan. That says a lot. Seems like an all around guy. An probably not bad to have on your side in a fight.

Still though, he can fight on my side any day of the week, but play in my band......Nah. JMHO

CC

_________________
Fender Stratocaster (parts build)
Fender Telecaster 72 Custom RI
Fender Telecoustic Deluxe
Gretsch Electromatic Pro-Jet
Gibson Les Paul Standard Plus
Gibson ES-135
Zenith Type-17
Marshall 70's JMP Superbass 100w
Blackstar HT-5

The jury's still out on that.