Mike de Jager's Secret World of Guitars, Video & Metal

	MOSER Custom Guitars USA I am so proud to be endorsed by one of America's greatest luthiers, Neal Moser. To be associated with this great man and his fine lady, Earleen who runs the MOSER CUSTOM SHOP company, is a great honour and I thank them both for their fabulous support. In 2006, my good friend and partner in crime with Al Atkins Holy Rage, Chris Johnson convinced Neal and Ronz (Moser UK) that I was worth the investment and suprised me at our local pub in UK with a brand spanking new MCS MMiT!! What a night that was, thanks a mil guys, these are the finest imported guitars I have ever played & that is the honest truth! My playing has improved no end and I would recommend these guitars to anybody in fact, one of my students wanted my MMiT so bad, I gave to him for Christmas! So I'm gonna need a replacement Mr.Moser...a white STiT would look mighty fine on my rack sir.
	MARSHALL AMPLIFICATION What an absolute honour it is to blessed with an endorsment with the world's greatest and most famous amplifier manufacturer, Marshall Amps. This JVM is the hottest amplifier ever, the first time I used one was at JBS when my good buddy from DANTE FOX, Tim Manford, lent me his. My old Peavey 5150 blew a tube just before the gig and Tim saved my life and changed my life to some extent. Since that day I have wanted one to replace my aging Peavey rig. The guys at Marshall Amps in Milton Keynes were brilliant, within a week or so my new rig was ready and I have never looked back. My problems with not enough gain at solo volumes are history, the days of muffled solo's are gone...one button takes my solo's into orbit now, its brilliant!! It is almost as if they have built this JVM to my exact specifications, I get really worried when I have to use something else on stage now. I have been so spoilt with the JVM, thank you Sir Marshall and Lady Victoria.
	Al Atkins Holy Rage Al is from the old school, he was right in the thick of the great British heavy metal music evolution. He has worked with some amazing guitarists and I cannot believe that I have been lucky enough to be here right now, working with one of the metal legends of our time. Tens years ago if you had said to me, I would be gigging around England, touring the world and recording with the guy who formed Judas Priest I would never have believed it...not in a millions years! Well, our Lord works in strange ways and this is a funny old business, one day you could be gigging in a UK pub playing to nobody, the next you could be in another country playing to thousands. I love it, it is the best business in the world. Exciting, unpredictable, rough, unstable, mad and yet here I am, nearly 40 years later, still chipping away at the old block, great innit.
	The Vaseline Rats Pete MZ Emms is the original rat, he is the king of the vermin and ever since I met him in 2003, he has clung on to that long and windy road. I left the project for a while when I joined Dante Fox to help them out for a year or so, but finally in December 2007, all the material for his first ever Vaselne Rats CD has been recorded. Pete released an EP on iTunes in 2007 but what we really want now is for some brave A&R dude to walk through the door and give us that deal. The business is so upside down right now though, I can see us doing it all on our own. Paul May, one of the original V-Rats from way back when, has now joined the band and it has really made a great difference to the overall sound. Paul is a superb guitarist and I am really happy to working with him. To be honest, the band actually sounds better than anything I have ever been involved with! It is scary man. At the end of the the day it ain't all about how good you are musically, it's how good you are at everything else that surrounds the music that really counts!
	Dante Fox DANTE FOX was originally formed in September 1989 by vocalist and song writer Sue Willets. The band then included John Cooksey on drums, Bryn Jones on bass, Tim Manford on guitar and Sue fronting on vocals. In March 1996 the band signed to NOW AND THEN records and in May 1996 had their first major gig at the GODS festival. The band then completed a successful tour of the UK with ELO in the summer of 1996. In October 1996 their first album "UNDER SUSPICION" was released, THE FIRE WITHIN album released in Japan in 1999. The band took a break for various reasons but reformed in 2005 and that was when I joined as a 'stand-in' 2nd guitarist. I learnt the set and after a week of rehearsals we were on tour with Vixen and Girlschool. It was brilliant and after the tour I was asked to stay on permanently. We began writing and rehearsing material for the new ' Under The Seven Skies' album. I recorded 'Breakin Me Down' with the band but Tim wanted to go back to working as a 3-piece and I respected that and left the band to join Al Atkins Holy Rage. As much as I love the Fox, I needed to be playing more than just the rhythm guitar parts. Love you guys, thanks for the tour!
	Guitarist TV This has been my dream for many years and finally in June 2006, my good friend Joe Satriani agreed to help me launch the site on its maiden voyage. I asked my best pal in the whole world, Pete Caldwell if he would do the interview with Joe and he nervously accepted the challenge and in the end, he did a splendid job. The guy who I admire and respect since the day I met him is Mr.Mick Brigden. He is the man who looks after Joe's direction and has great influence over the direction of what I do on G-TV. Since Joe is our icon, everything I do revolves around Joe's spirit on the site and the level is set by his persona and his ability as a guitar player for which we are eternally greatful. Pete Caldwell is now the silent equal partner with me on G-TV, it costs a fair penny to run and maintain the site and without his valued contributions, frankly there would be no GuitaristTV. So hats off to Pete, he's not only the best friend any man could wish for, he is also an awesome guitarist and a highly educated Exceter graduate from Oxford who lives in Cambridge.
	Joe Satriani In the begining there was James, now James created rock guitar solos with feedback from fuzz boxes, distortion from amps built by a guy that owned a music shop in the UK, now he's a Sir and James died after one to many dive bombs! We all saw the black and white movies of James sacrificing his guitars on stage...what was that all about? Frustration? Who knows! But, when James left us, he handed the reigns to carry forth the flag to this guy from New York City! In fact, James even wrote a song about him before he died, You guessed it, another J man, 'Hey Joe'...you remember the tune? We still play it today. Joe 'satch' Satriani is the man I believe, who is the 21st Centuries Jimi Hendrix...I am not wrong, he has taught and inspired millions of guitarists around the world. Rock on Joe, may you always be numero uno dude!