Fender’s Guitar Clinic features Gary Hoey

By Rick Landers

Gary Hoey - Photo credit: Michael G. Stewart

We were invited to meet with writer, producer and guitar player, Gary Hoey at Chuck Levin’s Washington Music Center in Wheaton, Maryland, this past Wednesday night, April 7, 2010.

Guitarists know Gary as one of the most prolific guitarists around with five top 20 Billboard hits and over 16 albums under his belt.

Hoey’s worked with Brian May (Queen), Ted Nugent, Foreigner, Joe Satriani, The Doobie Bros, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Eric Johnson, Steve Vai, Peter Frampton, Rick Derringer, Deep Purple and will soon be on tour with the formidable Jeff Beck.

Hoey’s fretboard talents are nothing short of remarkable and he can ease into the blues, ride the crest of surf riffs, crank out some heavy metal thunder, roll out some cool jazz and manhandle his way around all sorts of rock. And he did just that at Chuck Levin’s shop.

Fender clinician, Gary Hoey, at Chuck Levin's Washington Music Center - Photo credit: Michael G. Stewart

Hoey’s guitar clinic was sponsored by Fender guitars as a way to highlight the new Fender American Special series of Stratocasters and Telecasters, as well as to inform Fender aficionados on the company’s new little monster amp, the G-Dec 3, the third generation version.

Fender says, “The G-Dec 3 series amp features onboard mp3 and wav file storage and playback; stereo line outputs; a multi-function SD card slot for unlimited storage of presets and audio content; Ableton Live Lite 8 Fender Edition studio-quality recording software for creating and editing additional backing track content; and AmpliTube Fender LE software for practicing, playing and recording with classic Fender tones on your computer.”

Before the clinic’s scheduled start time, Gary tuned up his Strat with the G-Dec 3, as he greeted those who walked through the front door. Friendly and enthusiastic, Hoey proved to be a superb ambassador for Fender and later would wow the crowd with his fingerboard talents.

Between his examples of fiery riffs, Gary handed out prizes to those who could answer questions he asked about the guitars and the G-Dec 3 Series. With each right answer, his nephews Ryan and Luke handed out an assortment of Fender stuff, including Fender desk calendars and writing pens.

Frank Ciavarro, Fender's District Sales Manager with American Special Stratocaster and the G-Dec 3 Series amp - Photo credit: Michael G. Stewart

Washington Music Center’s, Brian Meader, hosted the clinic and manned the sound board, while Fender’s District Sales Manager, Frank Ciavarro, helped Gary out with the computer monitor display of the G-Deck amp. Brian heads up guitar sales, Internet development and is the Director of Motorsports for the Washington Music Center.

As Gary laid down some guitar riffs on his own American Special Strat, he was backed up by some of the G-Dec’s jam tracks. The G-Deck’s tracks include contributions from top musicians including: Eric Johnson, Brad Paisley, James Burton, Jeff Beck and Keith Urban. Hoey also laid down some custom jam tracks for the amp’s 100 pre-sets.

“What’s the wattage of the G-Dec?” Hoey asked the crowd.

“15 and 30!” yelled out a guy, describing the two wattage versions of the amp.

Gary noted, “You can insert your own SD card. This amp is revolutionary! It also has a built-in tuner. This amp is like a giant iPod!”

During the clinic Gary grabbed a couple of the other Fender American Special series guitars, another Stratocaster and a blonde Telecaster and played some energized surf guitar from Endless Summer II, a surf movie that he scored. Showing his enthusiasm for his own new Stratocaster, he asked “How do you improve upon a cheeseburger?” while wondering what else Fender could do to improve the iconic model.

“Fender listened to the street. They listened to real players. They gave the guitars a ‘70s style big headstock, jumbo frets, Texas Special pickups and an Atomic Humbucker, “ Hoey added.

(Left to right) Brian Meader; Gary Hoey and Frank Ciavarro - Photo credit: Michael G. Stewart

After all the audience ran out of questions, Gary thanked them for stopping by and he met with everyone to talk about guitars, sign autographs and pose for photos. He didn’t bolt, he stuck around until everyone had been taken care of….a true gentleman…before he stashed his gear, packed up his guitar and headed to grab dinner with members of his family who had shown up for his visit to town.

Gary Hoey’s next CD, Utopia, is expected to be released during the summer 2010.

For those of you who haven’t heard Gary, here’s an older clip of him playing the classic “Pipeline” made famous by The Chantays and later the Ventures. For you trivia freaks out there, the tune was originally titled “Liberty’s Whip”.