George Pepper

An interview with Peg Van Norman of VN Media:
Peg: So, why electric nylon string guitar?
George: "Long story, but in a nutshell, I played electric steel string guitars until I was thirty years old. When I switched to nylon string acoustic guitars, I missed having my amps and effects to play with - They were instruments to me as well. Plus, acoustic nylon string guitars are almost impossible to amplify well for live gigs where the environment will be noisy. At really high SPL's, like when I do outdoor gigs between rock acts, forget it. Acoustic nylon string guitars are just about impossible in venues like that. Besides, acoustic guitars don't have enough bass. ;^)"
Peg: How did you evolve to this point?
George: "REALLY long story! I was always interested in a wide variety of music. For instance, one summer when I was a teenager I worked really hard to learn two pieces before school was back in session: Stairway to Heaven, and the Bach Bouree in E Minor. After high school, I enrolled at the Guitar Institute of the Southwest (later Southwest Guitar Conservatory) where I was fortunate to study with guys like Jackie King, Herb Ellis and Pat Martino. It was like total jazz immersion, but I was still jamming with my friends on Hendrix and Zeppelin tunes on the side.
Then came the Berklee years. I loved the straight ahead jazz stuff - and I composed quite a bit of it - but I was in a series of "Police-ish" bands by night. After graduating from Berklee in 1983, I became a Synclavier guitarist and wound up in a very bizarre band called B-Rock with Drum Suit inventor Brock Seiler. A lot of interesting people came to see us: Gene Simmons, Julian Lennon - we even ended up on MTV's "The Week in Rock" a couple of times - my 15 minutes of rock fame.
While I was still with B-Rock, I became addicted to counterpoint. I bought dozens of books on the subject and started writing tons of solo classical guitar pieces. I enjoyed solo playing so much more than the damned band nonsense that I quit B-Rock and went back to school for a Master of Music degree and took some classical guitar lessons sort of as a minor.
I've never played in an ensemble setting since.
Eventually I thought about teaching at the collegiate level, so I enrolled in a Doctor of Musical Arts program at UNT (University of North Texas) - yes, I almost became Dr. Pepper - but let it suffice to say I don't have much in common with college professor types.
After that experience I took a few years off from doing music for a living - during which time I sorted out my sound system and finished composing my first CD's worth of originals - and so here we are."
Peg: What next?
George: Well, I'm re-recording my Y2K CD "Fossils" because my sound and technique have improved so much since then. After that, I can concentrate on getting all of the "Heavy Nylon" arrangements dialed in. And there's a second CD of all originals in the pipeline as well: "Artifacts."
Also, now that I have my stereo sound really sorted out for live performance and recording, I want to put together a hexaphonic system. The Godin has the hexaphonic pickup, so all I need is the Breakout Box. With a hexaphonic system, I could even use distortion again, because complex harmonies and counterpoint don't turn to mush with the separation of one pickup per string: It sounds kinda like six guitars playing distortion in harmony when you strum a chord, which is cool as hell. I've been a fan of "Hex Fuzz" since I first heard it in action in the late 70's, but have never had a hex fuzz system of my own. It won't be a Synclavier, but it will be fun."
*****
In addition to over forty original pieces, Mr. Pepper's repertoire includes such classics as Bach's Bouree in E Minor, Minuet in G, an arrangement of Beethoven's Ode to Joy, and many others. But, what he has become most known for is his collection of more contemporary crowd pleasers: Joe Satriani's Tears in the Rain and A Day at the Beach, Eric Johnson's Desert Song, Eddie Van Halen's Spanish Fly, Eu So Quero Um Xodo by Dominguinhos, Chet Atkins' Yankee Doodle Dixie, Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven, and Classical Gas by Mason Williams. He's also written more contemporary pieces himself, such as Heavy Nylon and Fighter Pilots.
*****
Eu So Quero Um Xodo is my arrangement of the Dominguinhos classic. I first heard this piece at the site of guitarist Don Witter Jr. - HERE - and I emailed him asking if I could get a copy of the music. Don informed me it was an arrangement by Tim Sparks - HERE - and Tim graciously sent me a copy of his arrangement. I modified it for my five-finger right hand technique and changed the form and content a bit. This has become one of the crowd's favorites in my repertoire.
Spanish Fly is my take on the Eddie Van Halen piece. I basically re-composed it to work with my legatto technique on the linear passages (Eddie uses a pick and taps with his middle finger, while I don't use a pick and tap with my index), but kept the signature tap technique licks. Even added a couple of my own. I've only been working on this one for about a year, so it's not quite perfectly focused yet, but it's coming along. It sure is a fun piece to play.
What can you say about Classical Gas that hasn't been said before? I was a kid when this tune was on the radio in the late 60's, and hearing it inspired me to ask my parents to get me my first guitar. So, my arrangement of the Mason Williams chestnut is kind of a tribute.
Stairway to Heaven was one of the first things I learned to play "all the way through" when I started playing the guitar more seriously in the 70's. I've been working on this particular arrangement for about three years, so it's pretty much in focus.
All of these pieces I recorded myself at home using a Godin Multiac Grand Concert Synth Access guitar - with the wonderful RMC Polydrive hexaphonic pickup system - running into a Lexicon MPX-G2 Guitar Effects Processor, a Lexicon Signature 284 All Tube Class "A" Stereo Recording Amplifier, a Digidesign M-Box, and a Mac running v7.1 of ProTools LE.
Each piece is a first take with no edits or processing at all outside of the MPX-G2: I used ProTools LE as a stereo digital recorder only. I use the same stereo sound system when I perform, so this is almost exactly what you'd hear at one of my shows.
Since I was a steel string electric guitar player for so long, what I go for is a sound about half way between a nylon string and a steel string in terms of brightness: It doesn't sound like an acoustic nylon string guitar because I don't want it to sound like an acoustic nylon string guitar