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[Tony Scharf]

Wow. thats all I can say.

And congratulations are in order!  Nothing beats doing something you
love, and being appreciated for it!

Tony

On Mon, Jan 25, 2010 at 9:51 PM, Matt Picone <matman at mysticworks.com> wrote:
> Hey all,
>
> Wanted to say hi as I have come out of digest mode.
>
> Had a trip to Florida this month to visit my Uncle. From there I picked
> up on a nice string of events that I thought the bar would want to hear
> about. When I read it back, it seems pretty unbelievable, but one thing
> kind of leads to another in the small circles I found myself in.
>
> You probably know I've been working (nights/weekends/some road dates) as
> a "Virtual Guitar Tech" for Dweezil Zappa. He and I met up in there in
> Florida for some hands-on sound design during a rehearsal/gig. Our
> friendship has basically sprung around growing shared
> expertise/creativity with guitar tones on the Fractal Axe-FX Ultra, a
> virtual guitar amp/cab/effect system. Well, as it happens, I have been
> able to frogger from that gig to the mothership: the partners of Fractal
> Atomic have taken me in as a friend and consultant, and I've gotten in
> on product design, marketing, etc., plus I am redesigning the GUI and
> workflows for their editor software, doing artist relations, and more.
>
> Fractal invited me to represent them at Winter NAMM in California.
> There, for once, I did not have to work a booth, but got to just invite
> artists to my suite at the Hilton for hands-on demos. Doing these, I
> met/hung out with/tweaked for/jammed with some great musicians.
> Highlights included Andy Wood, Billy Howerdel, Ben Lacy, Paul Jackson
> Jr., Lincoln Brewster, Devin Townsend, and one Thomas Nordegg, perhaps
> the best known guitar tech of the last 30 years.
>
> Thomas took a real liking to me, and through him, I was invited to Steve
> Vai's home studio, where I spent a long rainy afternoon dialing in amps
> and pedals and talking gear. I'm told Vai is "still there in the same
> spot, composing" for a new record. His endorsees are now sending guitar
> and amp to Mysticworks so I can "begin and end from the same place".
>
> After dinner in the Hollywood Hills, I ended up (full circle)
> reconnecting with Dweezil back at the Zappa family studios (Utility
> Muffin Research Kitchen) which was really a great place.
>
> Next... Adrian Belew was in queue, but schedules got crunched, so
> instead, he and I are going to work together at his place in Nashville
> for a week in Feb. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, I will share the Axe-FX with
> Allan Holdsworth, and then John Petrucci shortly thereafter. It's a bit
> mind boggling (-numbing?), really.
>
> So music is being a really big part of my life right now and I'm feeling
> happy, appreciated and enthusiastic about taking it even farther.
>
> But EVERYWHERE I go, I think of you 'barians--your knowledge,
> friendship, and character, from on hand or afar, and the role these have
> played in shaping me as a person and a gear geek. Despite my standing
> among stars, nothing outshimmers your collective psyche!
>
> -m@
>
>
>
>
>
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