Category: Guitar

Random Stuff

Some random thoughts on a Friday night shortly before bed when I am so tired I can’t think straight.

16 days until our next Rush concert. It will be my 28th dating back to December 1987. It is the last show we currently have tickets for. Will it be my last Rush show ever? I thought my last Rush show ever was in 2015 but I’ve seen them three times since June and that is a seemingly miraculous gift. I’m very thankful.

I watched the new TV version of Carrie. It was so fucking good. I read the book years ago and while it was fine it is not my favorite Stephen King novel. King might be my favorite author. If he’s not my favorite he’s probably top three… or top two… I’m a huge fan. Carrie though, that one is good but it seems somehow… lesser than most classic King stories. There’s something missing. I don’t have the vocabulary skills needed to describe what is missing.

The show though… Mike Flanagan made the show. I’ve never seen any of his movies, but I’ve seen all of his Netflix TV series and they are all fantastic. This show slots in perfectly. It’s so good. He’s supposed to be working on an adaptation of The Dark Tower and I can’t wait. I can’t wait. Did you hear me say that I can’t wait?

Now that I am through with Carrie it’s time to start watching Vision Quest. I’m also watching Dark Matter. That one is really good too.

I need to take the camera out this weekend and shoot a roll of film. I’m trying to shoot a 120 roll of both Kodak Gold 200 and Kentmere 100 each month. I already have a roll of Gold done for October but I still need to shoot the Kentmere. I just don’t know what to shoot. I won’t have time tomorrow (Saturday) so I hope to get it done on Sunday.

I want to write a couple of songs before October ends too. Think of it like releasing a single. I had an idea pop into my head yesterday but I didn’t have a chance to put it down somewhere and now its gone. I hate when that happens. I also want to replace an overdrive pedal. I don’t like Boss pedals as a rule but I bought a mod of a Boss overdrive pedal made by a boutique company a few years ago and I recently found out that the boutique company donated money to trump. Nope. Done with those fuckers. Now I want to find anyother boutique mod/clone of that Boss pedal that is better than the shitty standard Boss pedal. I hate how snobby I get sometimes but there’s no way I am using a pedal made by a fascist collaborator on the off chance that someone might someday see me playing it and want to pick one up for themselves and give money to a fucking fascist. Nope. Not happening.

What was I talking about?

I started rambling and started pissing myself off about the state of our shit country. I’ll change the subject.

Yesterday I wrote about our leaky tub getting fixed. At least I hope it was fix. We gave it all day today to let the fix set and dry and settle and do whatever it needs to do. I’m looking forward to running the shower tomorrow to see if we get any water in the cellar. Please no. Pretty please no.

Okay, I am really tired. I’m going to fall asleep. Correction, I am going to try and watch an episode of Vision Quest (episode two, to be precise) and then I am going to fall asleep. Hopefully in that order. Wish me luck.

Another Pedal Company Down

I haven’t been as out of control buying guitar gear over the last year or two as I was prior, but I have gone through stretches where I get hyper obsessed with making tiny tweaks to my guitar sound that require me to buy amps and pedals and accessories. I own a bunch of amps and a lot of pedals. I mean, a lot of pedals. Every now and then one of them bites me in my conscious’ ass. That seems to have happened today.

The first time it happened was when I found out the owner/operator of a boutique pedal company that made a really cool fuzz pedal that I really wanted had donated money to a church that sponsored pray away the gay conversion bullshit. When called on it he got defensive and just made a mess out of it. He also apparently ripped off a circuit from a woman and then got really ugly with his verbal attacks when he was called out. The woman was actually trans and he went after her and it was just bad. I never bought that fuzz pedal. I never will. I won’t do business with a putz like that.

Fast forward to 2020 and I put a second pedal company on the no-fly list when one schmuck in California went after people who were protesting the murder of George Floyd. He first implied that his neighbors store windows were more important than a human being’s life, and then when he was called on it he verbally attacked his own customers. He said if we supported the George Floyd protests we were unworthy of using his gear. Can you believe that? What kind of utter narcissist would say something like that? I owned three of his pedals. Two of them were on my main board at the time and one of them is still the best pedal of its kind I’ve ever heard. Those three pedals are now rotting in a box in my cellar where they will spend the rest of eternity. I don’t do business with assholes like that and I won’t let other people see me using his stuff on the off chance it might lead to a sale. Fortunately this asshole’s company went out of business not long after. Unfortunately, he has had some luck restarting it. 

Now there’s a new one to get pissed off about. Early this morning I saw a post on social media saying that the owner and operator of this very successful boutique pedal company that has been around since the birth of the boutique pedal market is a trump donor. The post included screen shots of receipts. I own two of this guy’s pedals. One of them is at my bass player’s house waiting for me to go over and pick it up. It’s possibly the best overdrive pedal I’ve ever played that isn’t made by Klon. The other is a mod of a well known overdrive that I put on my board about a month ago while looking to change up my sound for the demos I was making for the 50 songs in 90 days challenge. One great pedal, one very good pedal. I was also thinking about buying another overdrive that this guy sells. I had actually put it into my shopping cart on musiciansfriend.com but had not yet pulled the trigger. Thankfully. I will not do business with a fascist or even a fascist collaborator. Not in this lifetime at least. To hell with this clown. I’ll have to pull his pedal off of my board. I’ll probably replace it with a King of Tone because Analogman is on the record as being very anti-trump and… well… selfishly and musically… its one of the best overdrive pedals on Earth. So… win win, I guess.

I hate it when fascism and racism and sexism and religious bullshit make me feel bad about myself musically. Fuck all of those assholes.

I wasn’t going to name names, but screw that. The gay conversion donation came from JHS, the George Floyd asshole was Fulltone, and the trump donor is Keeley Electronics.

2026 50/90 Challenge Days 88 and 89/90

And just like that…

Stick a fork in it, it is done.

Finished. Fin. Complete. Wrapped Up.

Done and done. The 50 songs in 90 days challenge for 2026 worked out to 61 songs in 89 days.

I started yesterday (day 88) with four songs left to mix. I finished two of them before work and then later, while watching the Red Sox lose game one of the Wild Card series to the Fucking Yankees, I started work on the other two. I did not finish them though. At least not until this morning (day 89) before work. I finished mixing those last two songs and got them all uploaded to alonetone and stuck ’em all on the 2026 50/90 playlist and officially declared this year’s project complete. There is a smidge more than 227 minutes worth of music that did not exist prior to July 4, 2026. Of the 61 songs I think maybe one of them is good. That tracks. That’s about normal for me. I never said I was good at any of this songwriting stuff. I just don’t let not being good stop me, you know?

Now that the project is done I am left with the same question I am always left with: Now what?

I haven’t a clue. I’m just happy I survived.

2026 50/90 Challenge Day 87/90

I am so close to being finished with this whole thing that I can almost taste it. If I don’t have it all wrapped up on day 88 then I will definitely have it done on day 89. Did I just jinx myself? I really hope not.

That’s not what this post is supposed to be about though. This post looks back to yesterday (day 87) not forward to tomorrow (day 89). What did I do yesterday?

When the day began I had six songs left to finish and all of the tracking and writing of parts was complete and all that was left to do was a quick and dirty mix so I could upload the finished songs to alonetone.com/robertjames1971. That’s it.

In the hour or so before I started my work day I mixed one of those six songs. 56 songs down and five left to go. After dinner last night while I was sitting in front of the tube with the love of my life watching Dancing with the Stars on Hulu, I mixed another. 57 songs down and four to go.

That was it. I always considered two mixes to be a good day’s haul. I was happy with the progress. I might be able to do better today though. We’ll see.

2026 50/90 Challenge Day 86/90

I mentioned yesterday that I hit a milestone in the project when I recorded the last vocal track. On day 86 I hit another milestone when I recorded the last note, period. I had five songs needing lead guitar parts and I recorded them all. That leaves me with just six unfinished songs, all of which are ready to mix.

Four days left, six songs need to be mixed. The revised end goal is 61 songs. I think I am going to make it. I think.

2026 50/90 Challenge Day 85/90

Day 85 included an important milestone. I started the day with only seven as yet unfinished songs. Two were ready to mix but the other five all needed vocals and lead guitars before they would be ready to mix. When I do these kinds of projects, recording the vocals is always the sticking point for me. I’m shy about most things but SUPER shy about singing so I can’t do it when other people are around. I have to drive somewhere where I know I will be all alone and then record the tracks there.

The milestone I reached yesterday was recording the vocals on all five songs. Why is that different than the previous 56 songs that already received vocal tracks? Because I have declared that these five songs will be the last five songs of the project. Realistically I could probably sneak one or two more in over the final five days, but I have decided not to. I will finish these suckers and end with a total of 61. Assuming I don’t hit any snags in the final days.

I also managed to mix one song last night. That brings the total up to 55 finished songs with one more ready to mix and five ready for lead guitars. Guess what’s on the agenda for day 86.

2026 50/90 Challenge Day 84/90

So I was thinking…

The 50 Songs in 90 Days Challenge ends on October 1st, less than a week away. I’ve already hit the 50 song goal so there isn’t any last minute stress about “winning” this time around. I’m just down to cleaning up the final few song ideas in the hopes of having everything I started finished before the deadline. It’s all gravy now.

The question though is this: What do I do on October 2nd? What do I do next? I haven’t a clue.

Before I figure that out though I should probably recap day 84. I mixed two songs. That’s all. The completed song count is now at 54. There are still seven songs outstanding. Two are ready to mix and five are ready for vocals.

And that’s the state of the project through day 84. What will today (day 85) bring? Tune in tomorrow to find out.

2026 50/90 Challenge Day 83/90

I had a lot going on yesterday between work and a slightly torturous dentist appointment and wrapping up this month’s roll of film for the Frugal Film Project and watching the new Neil Peart documentary (I’m not crying, you’re crying!) so I didn’t expect to have a lot of time for 50/90 stuff. I was hoping I’d at least be able to mix a song.

My progress for day 83? I mixed one song. The completed song count is now up to 52 which makes the project 104% complete which according to maga math means I’m something like 6000% complete? Something like that? I’m not a moron or a cult member so I’m not sure how to make that math work. Whatever.

Today (day 84) is looking like it will be much the same. I’m hoping for a big push this weekend and maybe… who knows… I might put an end to the whole shebang a few days early. We’ll see.

2026 50/90 Challenge Day 82/90

Yesterday was day 82 and it was a pretty successful day as far as the 50 songs in 90 days challenged is concerned. It was amazing as it was a day after I got a Covid booster shot and I was SICK AS SICK CAN BE. I’m about 95% better today but my immune system is ready should Covid come by for a visit.

Anyway, when the sun rose on day 82 I had 51 songs finished, five songs ready to mix (meaning everything has been written and recorded, I just need to much it all together into a stereo file), and five songs still needing work. Three of those five were waiting for lyrics and two were waiting for rhythm guitars.

Note I used passed tense for all of them.

Prior to the start of the work day I recorded the rhythm guitars for both of the songs. After work, while sitting in the living room watching Dancing with the Stars with my bride, the love of my life, Jen, I wrote lyrics and a melody for all five songs. Well… four of them got melodies because one already had one, but that’s not important. The main point here is that I now have five songs ready to mix and five songs ready to record vocals.

Today is day 83 and I ahven’t done anything yet. Maybe I’ll be able to pick off a mix before I fall asleep tonight. We’ll see.

2026 50/90 Challenge Day 81/90

Yesterday was the first day of Autumn so of course here in New England I am sitting in my home office freezing my rotund ass off. Winter is here, kids. Last week I was dipping in the Pacific Ocean on an 80 degree San Diego, CA day and today I’m sitting here shivering with the heat cranked up. Life is so unfair sometimes.

That’s not what I came here to write about though. I came here to write about the 50 Songs in 90 Days Challenge that has just over a week left. The end is almost in site and I am not stressing out at all because I’ve already finished 50 songs. Everything is gravy now. Can I get to 60 songs?

What did I accomplish on day 81, yesterday? I started the morning with 51 songs complete, five ready to mix, one waiting for me to write lyrics, and two waiting for me to record rhythm guitars. That adds up to 59 songs. The first thing I did was crank out the two songs worth of rhythm guitars. I did that before work. Later, just before bed, I added two more songs. My unofficial goal was to get to 60. I was up to 50 songs in progress on July 31st so I figured 10 songs in August would give me an album-in-a-month by RPM Challenge rules so that would be a nice round 60 songs for this challenge. Adding two more songs last night brings the total number of songs in progress up to 61… I am such a dork. Seriously.

Both songs are a little gimmicky. I figured why not, I’m already over the 50 song goal so there’s no reason not to be a little goofy. One of the newbies is in 7/8 time and the verse and the chorus are the same riff just in different keys. I think I’ll keep the rhythm guitars clean(ish) on the verses and nice and fuzzy on the choruses too. The other song is a 12-bar blues riff in 5/8 time because why not?

So the current to-do list includes five songs ready to mix, three ready for lyrics, and two ready for rhythm guitars. One of those last two has a melody already.

Nine days to go. I am feeling pretty good. I just wish more of the songs were good. I think of the 61 I have, one is good. The rest are somewhere between meh and god awful. That’s a pretty common percentage for me though.