Friday, April 7, 2017 3Brooklin Town Crier A Special BTC Feature What's A Bud Lite Lime Resonator Guitar? One day at a yard sale, Patrick Pidek happened across an old beat up guitar. "The woman was adamant she wanted to haggle for it," Pidek recalls. "I offered to take it off her hands but she said I had to pay for it. So I gave her a dime, which she accepted." He took it home and, though having never rebuilt or constructed a guitar, created what he calls the first ever (and last) Bud Lite Lime Resonator. It took him six months of steady work to create this unique instrument, one he will never part with. "They'll bury me with it," he says. As for the name, take a closer look at the photo. On the bottom left are two Bud Lite bottle caps, which are real and functional volume controls. The bottle can tops with the lime colured tabs on the right serve as sound holes. In the centre of the guitar is the lid from an aluminium plate. The autograph on the top left is that of Johnny Winter, the renowned blues/rock artist who died in 2014. Not visible is the top which features the autographs of his band members. Winter, Pidek's idol, performed at Oshawa's Regent Theatre a few years ago. Pidek wangled a visit backstage to show him the unique guitar. Winter was so impressed he began to play it - yes, it does play and beautifully - which Pidek has on video, a prized possession. Later, Pidek built a second similar instrument. Both hang proudly in his Brooklin studio. Though he now also repairs guitars, he once found a nearly completely destroyed Epiphone instrument at curbside. He took it back to the studio and fixed it to make it play again, all except a gigantic hole in the back, a reminder of its phoenix. Hooked On The Music By Richard Bercuson A little boy in North York once spent a Sunday evening transfixed by what was on TV. It was Feb 9, 1964, and The Beatles were performing on the Ed Sullivan Show. From that point on, he knew what he wanted. "I wanted to be a Beatle," says Patrick Pidek today, still excited by the memory. "I mean, who didn't? All you had to do was look at them and hear the screaming kids. And the sound and look of the guitars...I was hooked." That "hook" has been his life's calling to the point where now he also teaches music from his cozy Brooklin studio where's he's established roots for nearly 15 years. But like most musicians, Pidek began early. At age 9, he convinced his parents to allow him to get a paper route. With the $36 he'd earned, he bought an electric guitar from a Towers department store. Later, at 15, he acquired an acoustic guitar. Lugging it in a pillowcase his mother provided, with the guitar neck sticking out, he walked to lessons at a local music shop. But learning from a book did nothing for him, he recalls, as he'd much rather learn on his own and get in a band. "Back then, it seemed everyone had a guitar," he says. "I was always motivated and very single- minded. No one had to tell me to pick up the guitar." Detour and epiphany Along the road to becoming a rock and roll artist, Pidek took a couple of detours. In high school, he played viola in the school orchestra, an experience that gave him an appreciation for the range of instruments and music possibilities available. Then came an epiphany of sorts. He suffered a serious injury doing a trampoline stunt in phys. ed. class and spent a week in traction plus many more in a cast. He remembers it as a horrible and torturous experience, yet one that spoke loudly to him: When this is done, I'm going to become a guitarist. He briefly attended Sheridan College with his brother Mike because his school guidance counsellor suggested it. The two formed a band called Rex Chainbelt which stayed together for about four years. They played just about every club in Toronto as well as many more across southern Ontario. It's here that he stops playing for a moment and breaks into a wide grin. "It was so much fun," Pidek says. "It kind of really was the life of a rock and roller. I couldn't understand why girls just wanted to be around us, but it was fine with me. "On stage, you have to be bigger than life. You need to be an extravert and rise to the occasion. When I was up there, I wanted to be better." A record deal The band actually signed a record deal with Quantum Records in Kensington Market and produced one LP. They practiced "all day every day for a year," writing about 50 songs. A highlight was opening for the heavy metal group Judas Priest. Pidek claims his real education came when he attended Humber College's music program. "It gave me a better understanding of theory and filled in many missing gaps in my knowledge. I discovered there's no set way to learn and play. Thanks to that program, I learned to listen to a song and be able to play it." These days, playing in a band again would present different challenges. Aside from not having the time, the chemistry and trust band members have to have with each other is difficult to find, let alone the talent. Instead, as a teacher, Pidek occasionally forms little bands with his students, leading them on the drums. One group, Rat Poison, features him on drums and vocals with two teens, Natalie Mulcahy on bass and Sarah Closs on guitar. They play hits from bands like AC/DC and Green Day. It's not the first time he's done it though. Back in 2006, in a competition called Band Warz and filmed by Rogers TV, he formed a group called Robin DeKadrel with a couple of 13 year olds who'd never before performed in front of an audience. They played a song called "Just My Size" which he'd written especially for the event. Aside from him, they were the youngest band there and won the competition. You can type the band name into Google and see the performance. Importance of drums Pidek takes pride in his patient approach with students of every age, a virtue one adult student claimed was that "of a saint." For one thing, he doesn't just teach guitar; he long ago added drums to his repertoire. When someone sits with a drum set, he espouses, the perspective of how to keep a beat and rhythm changes. He strongly encourages guitar students to learn drums at the same time. Still, he says there's no secret to becoming a better player. "Music is for the joy. You have to want to do it because there's no replacement for practice." During his time in Brooklin, he estimates he's taught perhaps 1,000 people, about 30-40% of whom are adults, a number which seems to have been growing in recent years. The studio walls are festooned with photos of many of his students as well as souvenir shots of him performing, including and early one of him with Johnny Winter. A favourite piece of advice, aside from the mantra about practice, has to do with the guitar itself. "Students need good instruments," Pidek states. "I recommend new students begin on electric guitars because it's easier to play. Anyway, you need a guitar that you want to play, that won't hurt your fingers. It has to be something you just don't want to put down." Patrick Pidek hasn't - and it began with The Beatles and a $36 guitar in a pillowcase.