Led Zeppelin Dragon Tele, Keeley pedals, cookies and laughs!

So one of my best buddies, Robert Keeley was at a guitar store called "Third Rock Music" in Cincy yesterday doing an in-store event. I apologize ahead of time for not mentioning it here on the forum for anyone that lives around there. I completely got sidetracked. The good news is that he wants to go back. He loves doing events in smaller stores and interacting with folks rather than these huge retailers where it is super loud, flooded with people (NAMM, etc.)

First off, the store was great and I always say there is nothing like a smaller Mom and Pop store. Stores like that have a smaller amount of stuff than a Guitar Center, etc. but they have selected stuff, and I'd rather have that scenario personally.

I didn't tell Robert I was coming down, so he was doing this demo of his pedals and then afterwards was talking to some guy. I just walked up and said "man, you were really out of tune" and he looked over like "WTF???, where did you come from?". Had a few laughs and reminisced and then I didn't want to hog up everyone else's time, so moved out of the way so he could meet folks. Everyone in there was super stoked to get to talk to him and talk about their pedals, etc. Anyone who meets him is always blown away at how hands on he is with discussing things and just a regular guy.

One of the best things from yesterday is there was some younger teenager that went and had his guitar and pedalboard there. He had a quick guitar lesson right in the middle of Robert's visit. At the end of the day, the kid and his Dad are there and he asked him what type of pedal on his board is he missing as far as tones go. Robert sat there with the kid (who was playing a Mexican Led Zeppelin Dragon Tele, which sounded awesome BTW) and asked him if he knew what phasers, flangers, etc. were. The kid had a bunch of distortion pedals and overdrives but not a lot of modulation stuff. He grabbed his Seafoam Chorus and stuck it in the kid's pedalboard and just had him play while he explained what it was doing, etc. The Dad bought the pedal on the spot and the kid got a memory to tell his friends down the road. It was just the coolest thing.

The Led Zeppelin "Dragon" tele was pretty cool. I had just read about that guitar in Guitar World the day before. It was the guitar that Jimmy Page used with the Yardbirds and the beginning of Zeppelin. Cool guitar and sounded great. I need to give that a whirl sometime. Really was a great day yesterday and had a blast!

Hey RR, you know I'm a bit of a Keeley fan, where are you and Robert located at? The wife loves going up to Lexington, KY, and Cinci is right around the corner from there, so maybe a trip sometime is in the works. That, and I have to sit down at Willcut guitars there in Lex and try a few of their Suhrs.

Oh yeah, sorry for the thread jack, but fun story too! RK sounds like a real down-to-earth dude.

grooveHT":1wbalqqi said:

Hey RR, you know I'm a bit of a Keeley fan, where are you and Robert located at? The wife loves going up to Lexington, KY, and Cinci is right around the corner from there, so maybe a trip sometime is in the works. That, and I have to sit down at Willcut guitars there in Lex and try a few of their Suhrs.

Oh yeah, sorry for the thread jack, but fun story too! RK sounds like a real down-to-earth dude.

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Hey man, no prob! Robert actually lives in Oklahoma and flew in to Cincy. I'm an hour from Cincy and drove to meet up. There was a guy there that drove from Louisville and another couple that drove down from Chicago! The crazy thing is that it wasn't that many people there. Probably about 10 employees from the store and then about another 15-20 people. Small store but great little Mom and Pop feel.

He did a Q&A session where folks could ask questions and he had a bunch of great stories. He told the crowd we went to high school together and I told everyone for $50 I'd tell some embarrassing stories about him. A lot of people came up to me afterwards and asked about us going to school, etc. and I told them that he is the reason I picked up a guitar. If I hadn't seen his band playing at a school talent show and seen him playing "Eruption", I probably would be a lame ass drummer or something. LOL

grooveHT":1ei42efp said:

Hey RR, you know I'm a bit of a Keeley fan, where are you and Robert located at? The wife loves going up to Lexington, KY, and Cinci is right around the corner from there, so maybe a trip sometime is in the works. That, and I have to sit down at Willcut guitars there in Lex and try a few of their Suhrs.

Oh yeah, sorry for the thread jack, but fun story too! RK sounds like a real down-to-earth dude.

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Damn. I'm in LEX. Didn't hear about this event in Cincy.

I was there! Third Rock is an awesome store. It was really cool meeting Robert and watching his demos. I grabbed a Red Dirt OD and a Memphis Sun and he signed them for me.

Findthetone1":33onpekt said:

I was there! Third Rock is an awesome store. It was really cool meeting Robert and watching his demos. I grabbed a Red Dirt OD and a Memphis Sun and he signed them for me.

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Awesome! Were you there when he talked at the end? He was looking for someone who had bought a Memphis Sun that day and was talking about how it captures that old tone, etc.

He is such a down to earth guy. Years ago a mutual high school friend of ours, Robert, and I met up at Sweetwater's Gearfest. He took a break to go to lunch with us and he looked at me all exhausted and said "Dude, I don't want to talk about pedals, tone, electronics, cords, etc...". It was hilarious. That's why those small guitar store things are great. You get people there that either dig his pedals or have some interest. Those big places you get "tire kickers". LOL

romanianreaper":18kalut1 said:

Findthetone1":18kalut1 said:

I was there! Third Rock is an awesome store. It was really cool meeting Robert and watching his demos. I grabbed a Red Dirt OD and a Memphis Sun and he signed them for me.

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Awesome! Were you there when he talked at the end? He was looking for someone who had bought a Memphis Sun that day and was talking about how it captures that old tone, etc.

He is such a down to earth guy. Years ago a mutual high school friend of ours, Robert, and I met up at Sweetwater's Gearfest. He took a break to go to lunch with us and he looked at me all exhausted and said "Dude, I don't want to talk about pedals, tone, electronics, cords, etc...". It was hilarious. That's why those small guitar store things are great. You get people there that either dig his pedals or have some interest. Those big places you get "tire kickers". LOL

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No, unfortunately I had to take off around 2. I agree he is super down to earth and is clearly passionate about his pedals. I can’t wait to get the Memphis Sun on my board!

I grew up in Cincy and still get down there twice a month. Need to look up this store. Never heard of it before.

GOHOINC":ln5w8bwt said:

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Findthetone1":bvo92c2v said:

No, unfortunately I had to take off around 2. I agree he is super down to earth and is clearly passionate about his pedals. I can’t wait to get the Memphis Sun on my board!

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Are you in a band by any chance? He mentioned someone that picked up a Memphis Sun and was talking about using it in a live situation, etc. Too bad you couldn't stay man, it was great hearing all of the questions people had.

fek":3ajkl8jp said:

I grew up in Cincy and still get down there twice a month. Need to look up this store. Never heard of it before.

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Yeah dude, it is over on the east side of Cincy coming around 275. I forget what road exactly but around Blue Ash area, etc. A small shop like I remember in the good ol' days. They don't have a ton of stuff but like I said, I'd rather go in somewhere like there where it is more focused on certain things. They have PRS, Fender, and I saw a Hamer. I can't remember a lot of the guitars. Then as far as effects, they had Keeley obviously, Earthquaker, TECH 21, and others. One of those shops to swing by if you are in the area like you said, especially if you go down twice a month still.

romanianreaper":203zqnup said:

Findthetone1":203zqnup said:

No, unfortunately I had to take off around 2. I agree he is super down to earth and is clearly passionate about his pedals. I can’t wait to get the Memphis Sun on my board!

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Are you in a band by any chance? He mentioned someone that picked up a Memphis Sun and was talking about using it in a live situation, etc. Too bad you couldn't stay man, it was great hearing all of the questions people had.

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Not playing out or even in a band right now. It's been 20+ years since I have. My former career was not conducive to gigging so I've lost touch with a lot of people. I'd love to get something together around here but it's really different and tough to make connections. Especially if you're not on social media, which I'm not. Oh well.....

romanianreaper":axqr06yq said:

fek":axqr06yq said:

I grew up in Cincy and still get down there twice a month. Need to look up this store. Never heard of it before.

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Yeah dude, it is over on the east side of Cincy coming around 275. I forget what road exactly but around Blue Ash area, etc. A small shop like I remember in the good ol' days. They don't have a ton of stuff but like I said, I'd rather go in somewhere like there where it is more focused on certain things. They have PRS, Fender, and I saw a Hamer. I can't remember a lot of the guitars. Then as far as effects, they had Keeley obviously, Earthquaker, TECH 21, and others. One of those shops to swing by if you are in the area like you said, especially if you go down twice a month still.

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Third Rock was started by two former and long time employees of Buddy Rogers Music. They took their years of experience and really turned it into a music store of years passed where you can walk in and hang out and get great customer service and advice on gear. Though small(ish), they carry quality gear and are always open to getting things. They seem to be doing exceptionally well in an era where brick and mortar stores struggle and I hope they're around for a long time. This city needed a store like it.

Findthetone1":396g40nn said:

Third Rock was started by two former and long time employees of Buddy Rogers Music. They took their years of experience and really turned it into a music store of years passed where you can walk in and hang out and get great customer service and advice on gear. Though small(ish), they carry quality gear and are always open to getting things. They seem to be doing exceptionally well in an era where brick and mortar stores struggle and I hope they're around for a long time. This city needed a store like it.

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That's awesome! Yeah you could tell by the way the employees interacted with everyone that they had a great sense of humor and it felt like guitar stores in the 80s and 90s, where you got to know the guys in there and would talk gear.

When I was in Hawaii I would go to Hot Licks Guitars, where Zachman worked with a friend of mine, and we would talk about tone, strings, picks, our heroes, etc. and it was an absolute blast!

At the expense of sounding like an old man, that is why I get frustrated with online purchases, quick buys, etc., etc. Whether it was Tower Records, video games stores, or guitar stores, I miss going in somewhere and talking to someone in depth about a piece of gear, a music, CD, whatever.

People need to slow down and acknowledge people and interact. I feel like people are really missing out on connecting with another person and is probably why there are so many people struggling with depression and anxiety these days. I try to talk to someone at a guitar store, even if it is for 30 seconds, about something when I'm in there. Sometimes you find out something you didn't know about just by reaching out and you probably made that person's day.

romanianreaper":3i67wu6x said:

Findthetone1":3i67wu6x said:

Third Rock was started by two former and long time employees of Buddy Rogers Music. They took their years of experience and really turned it into a music store of years passed where you can walk in and hang out and get great customer service and advice on gear. Though small(ish), they carry quality gear and are always open to getting things. They seem to be doing exceptionally well in an era where brick and mortar stores struggle and I hope they're around for a long time. This city needed a store like it.

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That's awesome! Yeah you could tell by the way the employees interacted with everyone that they had a great sense of humor and it felt like guitar stores in the 80s and 90s, where you got to know the guys in there and would talk gear.

When I was in Hawaii I would go to Hot Licks Guitars, where Zachman worked with a friend of mine, and we would talk about tone, strings, picks, our heroes, etc. and it was an absolute blast!

At the expense of sounding like an old man, that is why I get frustrated with online purchases, quick buys, etc., etc. Whether it was Tower Records, video games stores, or guitar stores, I miss going in somewhere and talking to someone in depth about a piece of gear, a music, CD, whatever.

People need to slow down and acknowledge people and interact. I feel like people are really missing out on connecting with another person and is probably why there are so many people struggling with depression and anxiety these days. I try to talk to someone at a guitar store, even if it is for 30 seconds, about something when I'm in there. Sometimes you find out something you didn't know about just by reaching out and you probably made that person's day.

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I couldn’t have said it any better brother. It seems the art of conversation is dying more everyday in modern society so I really try my best to talk to people that I see at music stores.