On the 28th March 2012 Dave Weiner (Guitar teacher and Steve Vai’s guitarist of 13 years) held a clinic at the Guitar Factory, Gladesville, Sydney 2 days before the G3 concert rolls into town with Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Steve Lukather. Many of you will know Dave Weiner from his popular YouTube channel where for years he has been doing something called “Riff Of The Week”, this title is actually an understatement however because Dave uses this to impart all kinds of knowledge from theory to technique. Dave teamed up with PRS Guitars and even brought along his custom ash body 7 string PRS and spent 2.5 hours talking and playing to a packed room.
Dave Weiner, despite obviously being a very competent guitar player and great musician (check my review of his solo album On Revolute – http://www.guitarnoize.com/review-dave-weiner-on-revolute/) is a very good teacher, if you have checked out his YouTube channel you will already know that his delivery is always very clear and concise both vocally and his guitar playing examples. Of course Dave has had plenty of practice because aside from his gig with Steve Vai he has worked at the Musician’s Institute (GIT) as an instructor. Tonight Dave performed a few tracks from his album including my favourite track ‘The Mojo Rhyme’ and in between talked about how to set up an effective practice regimen in order to maximise your potential and also answered questions about everything from gear to influences to how he came to be a PRS endorsee. On the G3 tour Dave is using PRS electric and acoustic guitars and also PRS Amps, I asked which amps in particular and it turns out Dave has been working closely with Paul Reed Smith and Doug Sewell on a new 100 Watt prototype of the H Amp and has shipped 2 of the 3 prototypes out to use on the tour. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to bring these amps along for the clinic I would have loved to have seen one close up, although I will be seeing and hearing the amp tomorrow at the Sydney G3 concert.
If you get the chance to get along to one of Dave’s clinics you won’t leave disappointed he has gained an incredible amount of knowledge over the years, remember Dave has played over 500 shows in 45 countries since 1999 and is happy to share his experiences and answer any questions that you can think of in a relaxed and humorous way. Dave is currently working on a new website which he will get onto once the G3 Tour is over based on his ‘Riff On The Week’ which I’m sure will be packed full of great guitar lessons. Also Dave is available for Skype lessons, head over to his website for more information and to contact him directly.
Thank you to Dave Weiner for an enjoyable and informative evening, thank you also to Guitar Factory and PRS Guitars for organising the event.
