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Jim Santos
Guitars Keyboards Percussion Vocals Songwriter
The Story
Playing guitar since age 10, Jim is a self-taught musician. In addition to
guitar, he taught himself bass, drums and keyboards. Jim writes or
co-writes all of the bands songs and is the bands engineer and producer. Jim's
main axes are a custom shop Fender Fat-Strat, a Gibson Les Paul,
''84"CAT" Strat and a Fender Telecaster. Other gear includes Taylor, Washburn
and Takamine acoustics, Gretsch and Rickenbacker hollow-body's. Keyboards
are Roland and Korg.
A product of the busy New Jersey club scene,
performing 5 nights a week with a number of groups, Jim has also worked
professionally as a FOH mixer, and is a self-admitted tech head that enjoys
computers. His eclectic musical influences run from Jimi Hendrix, Beatles,
Stones, Todd Rundgren and Eric Clapton to Pink Floyd, Yes, Led Zep, Deep Purple,
Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, Uriah Heep, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and
and 180 degrees from that to the Allman Bros. He can often be heard
muttering "I just wanna play the blues"!
April
16th, 2008
The long awaited AOR project FROZEN RAIN has been released, and early
reviews are calling it a classic, must have AOR Masterpeice. The album
features contributions from many well known AOR artists such as Tommy
Denander (Radioactive), Steve Newman (Newman),
Daniel Flores (Minds Eye) &Jim Santos (Norway)
.
I added a solo at the end of "Never Be A Fool Again", and a
bit of rhythm guitar in" Say That You Love Me",as well as did
the mixes for those two songs and a 3rd, "Your Love". If you
love melodic rock, then do yourself a favor (and Kurt), and head over to
his site and pick one up now !
April
7, 2008 -Added some new gear pic's, I've recorded tracks for two AdryA
songs, and have been writing some new material. Really trying to
decide to undertake another NORWAY album, or just let it fade away
and do something new. It's hard to spend a year writing and
recording to get screwed by the label. This is the first Im talking
about it, but MTM never even paid us the advance and then folded. It
appears they did not even make the necessary GEMA payments for the
songwriting royalties, so it looks like we wont get that either.
So we'll have to see.
Also my pal
Kurt Vereecke's FROZEN RAIN album
is getting released April 18th,so check it out!
I added some rhythm guitars,one solo, and mixed 2 or 3
songs.
March
26, 2007
Wow! It's sure been busy with promotion for "Rising Up From The
Ashes"! Thanks to you all, for the fantastic support and warm
welcome back. I've also been busy mixing a few tracks for Kurt
and Frozen Rain, and I'm about to start recording some guitar tracks
for a wonderful new artist, AdryA
. She has a totally unique soulful style that is melodic and full
of beautiful melodies and a moment later she seems to transform the
sound into something progressive & pulsing that at first catches you
unaware.....then transports you to another place, and back again.
I'm thrilled to be working with her! So check her out here: AdryA
at her homepage, and at her myspace
page.
I also have an all acoustic mix of "SAVE ME"-Just Dave
Baldwin & I with a acoustic guitar and a piano, a full band
acoustic/pop version of the ballad "ONLY ONE I NEED" and a
completely re-mastered version of our favorite track from our debut CD
Night Dreams, "HEARTBEAT" .
December
28, 2006
I'm mixing several tracks for the next FROZEN
RAIN record.
December 7, 2006
Norway is donating royalties to Music Rising.
Jim
hanging with legendary producer, songwriter, guitarist Todd Rundgren
I went to a show doing a tribute to Abbey Road featuring Alan
Parsons, John Entwhistle(RIP), Ann Wilson (Heart), Dave Pack (Ambrosia)
and the great Todd Rundgren. We were invited to go backstage for the
after show party, and it was a big thrill to meet meet all those great
players and especially Todd. We had a few moments to chat and snap a few
pics. My wife and
I were so glad to meet Todd that we forgot(?) to take pics
of everyone else!
I've added some guitar to tracks for the
new CD from singer/songwriter Laura
Diamond. I love her stuff, and feel lucky to have been able to play
on a few tracks. She has a very cool modern alt/folk thing happening.
Laura's
new CD "FLOWER GARDEN" IS NOW OUT - BUY A COPY!!!
WIZ
- (aka Peter Knight ) is a friend of mine from Australia
Check out his new CD "Trouble & Strife at his website.
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Legend
Picks
Jim uses Legend GuitarPicks. |
Current Gear
ELECTRIC GUITARS
Gibson Les Paul Studio Lite
Gibson Les Paul
Hagstrom Ultra Swede
Fender
Cat Strat
Fender
Fat Strat
Gretsch
Country Classic
Fender Duo-Sonic with Strat Neck
Rickenbacker 360-12 string
Fender "Butterscotch
Blonde" Telecaster
Epiphone Casino
Harmony H15 (vintage)
Charvel Bass
Wilson Bros.-Ventures Model
ACOUSTIC GUITARS
Taylor 210ce
Takamine GS330S
Washburn 12 string
Gretsch Americana
AMPLIFIERS
Marshall 2 x 12 cabinet (circa 1970)
Hughes & Kettner Switchblade
VOX AC30
Vox Valvetronix
Vintage 1976 Fender "silverface"Pro-Reverb
Miscellaneous & effects
Dunlop Wah
Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face
Radial Engineering Tri-Mode pedal
Steve Vai Bad Horsie Wah
Johnson J-Station
Korg A-3 preamp/processor
Roland Tuner
Korg 05w/r Module
Emu Studio X Sampler
Roland XP-10 Keyboard
Roland JV880 Synth Module
Besides
the AOR & MHR for Norway, I write and play in many
different genres and styles. Here on this page I'll post my favorite
riffs and solos from music I've written.
COMING SOON
2005 CUSTOM FENDER FAT STRAT
I finally found the perfect STRAT.
After buying and selling maybe 1/2 dozen Strats in the past year, I've
found "the one". Plays like a dream, looks great, and sounds
fantastic.
Olympic White, with gold hardware, mapleneck,
Dimarzio Virtual Vintage pickups, locking tuners and a aged pearl
pickguard.
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1984 Fender Stratocaster
Outrageous '84 Strat. Made in Japan, it was hand painted in leopard
print and then nitro clear coated. With a locking Floyd Rose and
DiMarzio Virtual Vintage Solo Pro's.
'96 GIBSON LES PAUL STUDIO
I got this Les Paul Studio in '96. It's the guitar I used most
often on our "ARRIVAL" CD, and is probably my favorite
recording guitar.
A Seymour Duncan Distortion in the neck position, and a DiMarzio
Tone-Zone in the bridge. I've also given it a bit of a new look this
year, with "cream pearl" pickguard, toggle switch and all
new gold hardware.
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GRETSCH COUNTRY CLASSIC II
(1962 reissue)
I wanted one of these for a long, long time.
Another "Beatle" guitar, plus Chet Atkins was an idol of
mine. Without a doubt the best rhythm guitar I have ever owned.
2004 FENDER BUTTERSCOTCH BLONDE TELECASTER
My 2nd "real" guitar was a blonde Telecaster. When I
saw this beauty I just had to have it.
I sanded the neck and filed the frets until they were perfect. One of
the best Tele's I've ever owned, hot rodded with Dimarzio Virtual
Vintage Hot pickups.
2007 Hagstrom Ultra Swede
After the Harmony H15, my next "real" guitar was a
Hagstrom. I had a 2 pickup Hagstrom II, and I used to dream of having
the Swede.
Dreams do come true! This is a great blues rocker, sound is a little
on the dark side, and it's extremely playable.
Wilson Bros-Ventures Model
No doubt every aspiring young guitarist in the 60's admired the
Ventures ! (and later Johnny Ramone!)
Taylor 210ce
I'm mostly a electric player, but the time comes when you have to
have a good acoustic. It's a slice of heaven.
TAKAMINE GS330S
2005 Washburn 12 string
I finally replaced my old Yamaha 12 string. It sounded fantastic, but
the years took it's toll.
This new Washburn has made me a fan !
1976 Fender Pro-Reverb
This baby was in someones closet for 25 years, and is mint! Enuff
said.
HUGHES & KETTNER SWITCHBLADE 100
These amps are fantastic! 4 channels-all tube-from
crystaline clean to the heaviest metal, it's all there.
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'91 GIBSON LES PAUL STUDIO "Lite"
I just picked up this extraordinary transparent blue Les Paul Studio.
It had all black hardware on it, which i immediatly changed to chrome
!
It now looks as great as it plays. It has a Dimarzio Tone Zone in the
bridge and a Gibson 500T in the neck. It rival my wine red Les Paul
and White fat strat as my favorites.
2000 EPIPHONE CASINO
It's no secret I've always been inspired by all things Beatle,
so after getting my Rickenbacker, this Epiphone Casino was next. I had
considered the natural John Lennon or the Noel Gallager Supernova, but
when I saw this beauty in turquoise I just had to have it! The
"clean" tones are just breathtaking. You'll hear this on new
songs "Only One I Need", "Haunted" and
"Coming Down".
2003 RICKENBACKER 360-12
Ahhh. Rick 12 string in Midnight Blue! I've wanted one of these
for a long time. You'll hear it on "Haunted" and "Won't
Let You Down" from our next record.
1993 FENDER DUO-SONIC
Ever since I was a kid and a friend of mine had a '66
Duo-Sonic that I would play, I've wanted one of these. I picked this
one up on E-bay a while back all beat up so I refinished it in Daphne
Blue, and now it's a Fender to die for! I love it and you'll probably
hear way too much of it on the next record!
Gretsch Americana Series
(Way Out West)
I picked this up dirt cheap for the novelty of it,
and keep picking it up to play because it's actually a damn fine
guitar. Very loud for it's 3/4 size it has great projection and that
"parlor" guitar sound.
HARMONY H15 (circa-1965-66)
My buddy Joe used the word "memory guitar" to describe a
couple of axes in his collection. That got me thinking. This Harmony
is the same as my very first guitar, except mine was sunburst!! I
picked up this "memory" on E-bay, and I wasn't disappointed.
This 3/4 scale axe (think Fender Mustang or Duo-Sonic) was every bit
the "player" I remembered it to be. And the DeArmond
pick-ups are smoooooth. It was very beat up, so I refinished it
in a fender Vintage Cream color.
No doubt you're gonna hear this baby on the next record.
'86 Charvel Bass.
I used this for most of the bass on Night Dreams, and whenever I need
a bass for a demo.
Active pickups, & great tone.
In my ongoing
"all things Beatle" quest I've added a VOX AC-30 to my
arsenal
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OAK RIDGE
STUDIOS
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specs:
80 moving faders/ automated mix-down, 40 tracks on hard disk plus
unlimited tracks on PC
Gear includes:2- Yamaha AW4416A w/ADAT I/O, , MOTU
Midi Timepiece, Audio Technica/Rode/ Sennheiser and Shure mics,
PC running Cubase SX & Nuendo, Waves
Diamond Bundle plug-ins, Antares Mic Modeler,
Antares Tube, Auto-Tune,Wavlab,Korg-A3,
Behringer Virtualizer, Yamaha SPX50D,
Alesis D-4, PSP PCM42 & 84 plugins,
Korg 05R/W, Roland JV880,Roland XP 10,
JVC Cassette, CD burner. Event 20/20
Monitors, AKG & Audio Technica headphones,
Sampson S-Phone headphone Amp. Hafler Monitor
Amp , AP
Audio Patchbays, Hughes &
Kettner Switchblade, vintage Marshall cab with
original greenbacks circa 1972, Johnson
J-Station, Line
6 Mod Pro,Vox AC30, Event TR5 Monitors,
Lexicon MP110, Emu Studio X sampler, Amplitube,
Presonus VXP MIC PRE, Native Instruments FM7,Absynth,Moog soft synths,
Vox Valvetronix ADT30, Fender
Pro Reverb, MOTU2408MkII,
Universal Audio LA-610 Tube Pre/compressor.
Services: Producing, recording,
arranging, engineering, musician -guitar, bass, drum programming,
keyboard sequencing. Music production for film, TV and projects.
Songwriting.
 
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