Welcome to our first installment of “Guitar Star of the Month.” Each month, I will present to you a truly great Guitarist and ask them questions pertaining to the things that matter the most- guitars, gigs and gear.

This month our featured guitarist is Dave Constantino. Dave is based out of Buffalo NY and has played professionally for over four decades. He played in the legendary Buffalo, NY band- Talas with Billy Sheehan and Paul Varga during the 70’s and early 80’s. Talas was an amazing band and dominated the Buffalo music scene. They started off as a cover band and slowly worked in their own material until they had an album full of originals. Their first record was released in 1979 and featured the big regional hit “See Saw.” In 1982, Talas released their second album “Sink Your Teeth.” Dave not only played guitar with Talas, but was responsible for writing and singing many of their songs. Dave left the band in 1983 and Talas wasn’t the same. However, Dave, Billy and Paul have reunited several times during the past decade to play one off shows. Talas also released a brilliant live CD in 1998 called “If I Only Knew Then What I Know  Now.” This CD was a live recording of their 1997 sold-out reunion show in Buffalo.

 Presently, Dave has a new band called the Dave Constantino Band, which also consists of two other legendary Buffalo musicians-Ted and Tom Reinhardt. The band recently released their critically acclaimed CD- “Bump in the Road” last December. This release is an incredible nine track guitar masterpiece, which showcases Dave’s incredible no-frills, full of feeling, blues influenced rock style. After just one listen, it is obvious that Dave is a true star of the guitar, and it is an honor to kick off this feature with him.

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How many guitars do you own?
I own three guitars. A 1973 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe, a 1979 strat, and a Gibson J-200 acoustic

What was your very first guitar? 
My very first guitar was an acoustic that my parents bought for me. I do not remember the brand name. Maybe a Harmony, I am not sure. Then I graduated to a Gretch Clipper and after that a Gretch Country Gentleman.

What is your most favorite guitar that you have ever owned and what makes it so great?
Of all the guitars I have ever owned, my Les Paul is my favorite. I have had many cool guitars through the years. I regret selling some of them. But I never planned at any time to sell my Les Paul. What makes it so great is the way it feels in my hands and the tones I get out of it. I can lower the pickup volumes in a way to make the guitar sound like it has single coil pickups. But I love the fatness of the sound when I want it, and the way the rhythm pickup sings and the way the lead pickup rips. It sat on a shelf for many years. Mostly the late 80’s, when I favored my strat and its whammy bar. But when I picked the Les Paul up again it was like a night with a long lost love. It just felt perfect. And since I have a Gibson Guitar endorsement as of November of 2006, I doubt you will be hearing my strat any time soon.

What kind of Petals and effects do you use when playing live?
I use a Crybaby wah and a Boss chorus. They are both off most of the time

What kind of amp do you use? 
I use my 1974 or my 1975 Marshall 50 watt head and a 1973 four twelve Marshall Speaker Cabinet. I also put a Tom Shultz Power Soak between the head and the speakers

At what age did you start playing guitar?
I started at six or seven

What inspired you to start?
I got a Mickey Mouse guitar for Christmas one year. It had a crank on it. When you turned the crank, it played tunes. It also had strings on it. My parents have told me that much to their surprise, I started playing songs on this little plastic guitar. And even though I was only five or six, I remember that.

How long did you use to practice when you first started?
I just played and played. I would hear something I liked and I wanted to know how to play it. I would just go for hours at a time playing and trying and learning new things.

And what did you practice? (Songs, scales, etc…)
Mostly songs. I did take lessons when I was very young, and I did practice, but mostly I learned songs and licks.

Do you still practice often, if so how often and what do you play when practicing?
I play the guitar every day. If I am not playing out, I am teaching guitar or even when I’m hanging out on a day off, there is always an acoustic or electric hanging out for me to play. I always have the desire to grab one and pick away. I love figuring out how to play things that are challenging to me.

Who were some of your favorite guitarist?
I started at a very young age. Many different players inspired me. The ones I remember the most were Lonnie Mack. Duane Eddy, Chet Atkins, and Chuck Berry. I was a huge Elvis (young Elvis) fan and was very inspired by his guitarist Scotty Moore. I also loved James Burton with Ricky Nelson. As the years went on the players that were my favorites were Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Jimi Hendrix, Ritchie Blackmore, Pete Townsend, Robin Trower, BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughan and others.

What gave you the greatest degree of difficultly when learning the guitar?
I was always a pretty quick learner. I think I worked the hardest on developing a good picking technique and learning proper scale patterns.

Did you learn how to read music? 
I teach guitar and bass and I read treble and bass clef. I learned to read at around ages nine and ten, but I admit reading had nothing to do with what I played in the bands I have been with. I do believe though that it is a good idea to learn guitar by the gradient that is offered when learning from a teaching method. I learned from Mel Bay books to start with. I teach beginner students from Mel Bay’s method to this day. Its good to learn the notes, the music fundamentals, the chords, how to play along with other people, timing, and other things that help a person to develop into a good all around player.
At what point where you able to play by ear?
From the get go.

What advice would you give someone who is struggling playing by ear?
Unfortunately, a truly great musical ear is not easy to come by. I can tell right away when someone really has a good one. I have always leaned towards players that have great musical ears. Billy Sheehan, Paul Varga, Ted Reinhardt and Tom Reinhardt are perfect examples. I do teach a lesson to my students to help to develop a better ear than they seem to have. I play a note on the guitar without them seeing where I am on the neck and then I ask them to duplicate that note. It can be a real struggle for many, but as we go along it gets better for them. Then we advance to duplicating a lick. It has helped many of my students very much.

How do you go about composing a solo for a song? 
When I record, most times I play the solos last. That means I hear the song with the vocals and all the music and then I create a solo. The solo has to fit the song. Sometimes the solo for a song remains pretty much the same as it was when I wrote the tune or on the demo of a new tune. I have always liked melody in a solo, and “feel” is also very important to me. I usually rip off a couple solos at first and continue until one of them sounds right to me. Sometimes it happens in one take, other times it means playing it over and over till it’s right. Often I will write a solo that I expect to play pretty much the same every time that I perform the song. The guitar tone in a solo is always a major concern of mine.

Do you ever write in alternate tunings?
I have messed with alternate tuning, but dropped D is the one I have written with most and recorded. I like to write guitar parts that make you think that they are tuned different, but they are not.

What other styles of music are you competent in?
I can fake my way through many different styles but I am most competent or should I say confident with blues and rock.

What other instruments can you play?
I like to play drums, and I mess around with piano now and then, but mainly I play guitar and bass.

When playing live if you hit the wrong note, what do you do?
I look at the other guys as if it was their fault. Or I look back at my amp as if something is wrong with it. Other times if I hit a wrong note I slide to one ahead or behind it to make it seem intentional. Or I just take a sip of my beer and try to act cool like no one noticed. Truth is, I hate mistakes. I always have. I don’t like hearing them and I don’t like playing them. Just one mistake in a tune can take the wind out of the sails of any great performance. I try my hardest not to ever make them. Fortunately the guys in my band feel the same way.

Gigs
You’ve played so many amazing gigs over your career. Tell me your thoughts on the following:

Talas at Kleinhans Music Hall April 1980
The first Talas album put us in a position to sell out Kleinhans. We were on a local TV show called PM Magazine that was all about our album and the concert. The crowd was great. It was very exciting.

U-2 opening for Talas on Dec 8, 1980. 
My memories of this night are that our fans were not all that receptive to U2. I do remember the band members being really nice people. I have been told that John Lennon was shot that same Monday night. Though I vividly remember the night he was shot I am a bit unclear of it being the same night U2 opened for us. Bono has mentioned opening for Talas during U2 concerts in Buffalo over the years. I know that he said something about it when they played Ralph Wilson Stadium not too long ago.

The Van Halen tour 1981.
Just a great memory. We got encores every show. The guys in VH were great to us. And they were all really cool people.

The re-union sold-out Talas show in 1997.
I was scared to death walking out on stage, but after about two songs it got really good to me. We did not have all that many rehearsals, but it truly was like riding a bike. What an amazing night.

1998 tour of Japan with Talas 
The 1997 Talas reunion show made other really cool things happen. Number one we got signed to Warner Japan Records who released a live CD of the concert. Metal Blade released it in America. Then we went to Japan to play a few shows. It was wild to go over there and have people waiting to meet us. People were walking up to us with copies of our first album for us to sign. I had never been out of the US except for Canada. And the furthest away in Canada I ever played was Montreal. So flying 14 hours from LA was pretty amazing to me. It was a great life experience and the fans were amazing. I would love to go back some time.
                                                                                    

Talas at the Waterfront in 2001 in front of 30,000 people.
I always loved playing big outdoor shows with Talas. The weather was perfect, the crowd was huge. The mood was just right. The band was right on. It was a truly great event.

Your CD release party Dec 23, 2006.
I was blown away by the turnout. I couldn’t wait to get on stage with Ted and Tom Reinhardt. Ted, Tom and I knew from the very first note that we were locked in. It felt great. I was thrilled with the way the crowd responded to my new songs and the band. Johnny Angel was a great guest, as was Willie Haddath and of course Billy Sheehan topped it all off. It was a great way to celebrate the release of my new CD and made all the hard work that went into making it more than worth it. I can’t thank everyone that was there enough for showing up. It is at the top of my greatest gig list. Check out our show review here

For more info please go to www.daveconstantino.com                                   www.myspace.com/daveconstantino