Category: Guitar

Guitar Pain

I hid away in the cellar tonight playing the guitar. I came up with something new for the Record Every Month thing for January. I came up with something last night but tonight’s is probably a little better. I’ll probably finish them both. The thing I worked out tonight was really hurting my left hand. Lots of cramping (arthritis, maybe?) painful pain.

Next I worked on a re-recording. I hadn’t done anything accept setup the GarageBand file. It’s the same file I used when I wrote the song last February. I pulled apart the mix and left one rhythm guitar track and one vocal track as guides. Normally I replace the MIDI tracks, drums and bass, before I replace the guitars, but this time I started with guitar. Why? Because I just didn’t want to stop recording tonight, that’s all.

I probably should have picked something easier because this particular re-recording took my already hurting left hand and amplified the pain by a factor of 50. Damn, was I hurting. I got through everything, though I am not entirely sure I’m happy with it. I’ll have to live with it for a few days before I decide if I want to do it again.

My hand is still a little sore, but mostly I am feeling better. It was really hurting tonight. I don’t like when that happens. I don’t like it at all.

For the record, here is the already super messy desk I’ve been using, complete with the Bruins game (second intermission, leading 3-2 over New Jersey) on my iPad.

Watch an Artist Work

I post about the Youtube show That Pedal Show a lot. I’ve learned a lot from watching those two guys goof off, but their latest posts are something that is practically unbelievable.

A couple of years ago the two hosts took their #1 guitars to a Luthier who did various maintenance on them (mostly dealing with frets). One of the hosts mentioned that this particular Luthier makes his favorite acoustic guitar and he was going to bite the bullet and order one. The build takes a couple of months and the wait list is a couple of years. Yikes!

Over the last four days the show has posted one video per day (there will be a fifth tomorrow) that is just watching this Luthier build the host’s guitar from scratch. He starts with a couple of thin planks of wood and goes from there.

It is freakin’ FASCINATING. I mean, I knew it was an art, but the guy is shaping the guitar’s neck with a friggin’ chisel! A CHISEL! It’s just amazing to watch.

I’ll post the first video (number one of five) and links to the next three. When I get a chance to watch the fifth video (hopefully tomorrow) I’ll post that one too. The whole thing is going to be about five hours long, but it is just ridiculously satisfying to watch. Give it a try, a bit at a time. It’s so worth it.

Video number 2/5.
Video number 3/5.
Video number 4/5.

Everything Works

I have used the cellar music nook. I put rhythm tracks on two songs, leads on one, and started noodling some changes for one more.

The new wah and vibe pedals are awesome.

I only used the big Fender amp and only on the lower watt channel, but the only thing that wasn’t sounding sweet was the ugly paneling on the walls, babie.

Back to Work

Well… I knew I couldn’t fight it. I punched into work a little before 9:00am and stuck the final nail in this year’s holiday season’s coffin. It’s over, folks.

The kids are still here. I figured they would have left by now so I am pretty happy. They did both sleep really late though so that might be the reason. I don’t care. I love it when they are here. Even when I am working and can’t go hang out with them.

Today has been really quiet overall. Not much to write about. The Bruins played twice over the weekend, finally coming back from the long Covid-19 shut down. I watched a few minutes of Saturday’s game against Buffalo and the little that I saw looked pretty awful. They straightened it out and won in overtime. I didn’t see yesterday’s game against Detroit but they spanked them pretty thoroughly. Here’s hoping that’s a sign of good things to come.

Major League Baseball is still locked out. I keep seeing stories tweeted out from all sorts of sources talking about the things such and such a team needs to do to improve and yadda yadda blah. I haven’t been reading the articles but I am really hoping they all boil down to something along the lines of “don’t be locked out.” Everything else is sort of superfluous* until that happens.

What else, what else… did I mention that all of my workout time that my Apple Watch tracked last week was on the exercise bike? I’m pretty sure that was a first for me. Does it mean anything? No. No, it does not.

I haven’t given much thought to the RPM Challenge this year. The only thing that’s come to me for something different to do is to use two guitars. I always double track my rhythm guitar parts. What if, instead of just tracking everything twice, I use a different guitar for each take? My Les Paul Standard would be playing in one ear, and my SG would be playing in the other. What about that for goofy nerdness? Maybe even use a different amplifier with each guitar. I’m thinking about it.

Okay, 2:00pm approaches. Time to wrap up this lunch break post.

*I had to pay $0.10 to use that word.

Guitar Nook II Yet Again

I should add a poll asking if readers care about any of this stuff but I won’t so neener neener and stuff.

I haven’t really dug into the Lizardfish gig bag since I packed up after the last gig. When I set up the original recording nook in the bedroom I bought new mics and cables thinking the gig bag would soon go back to Mike the Bass Players house. Here we are 23 months later and I really don’t remember what I have available.

Well, lots. Three guitar cables came out of the bag (one to go from guitar to the board, another to go from board to amp, and one more for luck). Also two mic cables (one for each amp, assuming I go back to a two amp set up) and three microphones. Two Shure SM57’s (one pictured) and one Shure SM58. I think the 58 is dead though. I need to run a test.

In other words, more than enough stuff to have a permanent working space in the cellar without stealing anything from the permanent working space in the bedroom.

Why do I need two working spaces? I have no idea at all. I just feel the need for two right now.

I still haven’t set anything up yet. Tomorrow… maybe.

The Big Board

The new pedals are hooked into the big band pedal board. I haven’t Velcro’d them down yet. I want to play through them first. That might not happen until tomorrow though.

I am itching to take them for a spin. Soon, Robert. Soon.

Pre New Years Eve thoughts

We are less than 90 minutes away from December 31, 2021. While I am strongly looking forward to telling 2021 to fuck off and die, I’ve also started thinking about how to celebrate the end of this dirtbag year and the start of the next year.

I’ve started thinking, but I got nuttin’.

We are going to have the first ever full family Covid test tomorrow. Nana and Papa are coming over for the delayed Christmas Eve and we need to ensure everyone is safe. Rapid tests for all and for all a negative rapid test!

I am going to set up the alternate music nook in the cellar tomorrow. I want to use my new pedals with my 18 watt amp and my KTR overdrive pedal and the rest of the band pedal board, and I also don’t want to mess with the cool setup I have in the bedroom. So two nooks it is! I’ve got a couple of tunes ready to record so I’ll use them to test drive the set up. I’m not sure I’ll actually get to play tomorrow but it is a long weekend so fingers crossed.

As for traditional stuff like New Years resolutions, I don’t have anything yet. I might not at all, but if I do I’ll share it soon enough.

Until then, happy New Years Eve Eve! What’s left of it.

The Last Lunch Break of the Year

December 30th. Tomorrow is a holiday from work. That makes today’s telecommuting lunch break the last lunch break of the year. I am so ready to put 2021 behind me. 2020 was a nightmare. 2021 was worse. 2022 (2020 too) is the great unknown, but for once I am thinking the devil I don’t know is preferable to the devil I know… or something like that. What was I saying? Oh yeah, this is the last lunch break blog post of 2021 and that pleases me.

The United Parcel Service paid me a visit. They brought a box with my name on it. Inside the box was two more, smaller boxes. In one box was a Real McCoy Custom RMC10 Wah pedal. In the other was an EarthQuaker Devices The Depths pedal. A new wah pedal and a new uni-vibe pedal. I don’t know when I am going to have a chance to play them. Maybe tonight? Maybe not. I’m looking forward to it. New boutique guitar pedals for this boutique guitar pedal snob.

We missed out on our Christmas Eve festivities this year because of a Covid scare but we are going to give it another try tomorrow for New Years Eve. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am seriously ready for this. New Year, Christmas Eve, both at the same time. Yes. Gimme gimme gimme.

Three hours and one minute left in the work day. I don’t know if I can make it through. I needs me some long weekend and I needs me some long weekend right now.