Category: Uncategorized

My Guitar is Home

Finally, after almost five whole weeks, my guitar has come home. More importantly, it’s in one piece!


It has a new bridge pickup. I can’t wait to plug in and play it. Gibson Dirty Fingers pickups are really high output. It’s going to make that tube amp I bought last March scream!


Check this out. For the first time since I bought the guitar back in 1990, the pickup switch actually sticks in the neck pickup position! It’s a Christmas miracle!


As for that huge hole in the finish that was all the way down to bare wood? The tech told me he’d make it so it wouldn’t get worse, but it wasn’t going to look good. He was right about both things. It’s so weird to run my finger across that spot and feel nothing but the glossy finish. It’s amazing!


It’s not a good time to actually plug her in and test drive the changes, but at some point tomorrow I will. My Marshall amp is just itching to make some noise with it’s old friend. Then there is a band practice Sunday when this sucker is going to get some tube amp and fuzz box time! Bring it on!

My Les Paul Custom is home!

The President Elect Has Never Read the Constitution

I’m trying to calm my ass down, really. I’m trying to focus on other things and not be as 24/7 furious as I was in the months leading up to, and the days following, the election. It’s not working though.

He actually said that American citizens who carry out an act that the supreme court has ruled is protected by the constitution should have their citizenship stripped away from them. He actually said that. The president elect of the United States of America has clearly never read the constitution of the United States of America. It’s just too absurd to even fathom.

I guess the reason he was so upset by that Gold Star father who offered to loan him a copy was because he literally had never read it. Is it even a stretch at this point to imagine that he can’t read? I mean, listen to the things he’s said. Look at the people he’s appointing to his staff. Is there anything left that’s out of the realm of possibility at this point?

I really thought that the firing squads wouldn’t happen until after he was defeated in the 2020 election and refused to step down. The level of stupidity I see now makes me think that he probably won’t wait that long. Damn the constitution, full fascism ahead. Right Donald?

Gig is Getting Close

The band’s next gig is December 30th. With Christmas and everything happening between now and then, the date is actually much closer than it looks on the calendar. Our drummer sent out a rough draft of a setlist today. Let then arguing begin! Personally, I like to wait until we’ve actually played through a set before I suggest changes. I just like to know how it all feels, you know?

I am going to be using my Fender Deluxe Reverb for this show instead of my Marshall. I really love it except that when I use my two Big Muff pedals together it sounds like an over compressed mess. I’m going to see about swapping out the second muff for an overdrive pedal and try to use it as a clean boost. I already have one setup that way in front of the first Muff pedal in order to give the signal a little extra push. Now I want to add one after the first Muff to try and get a volume boost for leads. I’ll let you all know how it goes.

It’s Done, It’s Done!

I came out of a meeting today and there was a voicemail on my cell phone. It was Guitar Center. My Les Paul is ready to be picked up! WOOOHOOO!

Of course I can’t get up to the store until Friday… Booooo. But it’s all finished so again, WOOHOO!

Come Sunday’s rehearsal I will have a Les Paul with a high output bridge pickup and the ability to use the neck pickup by itself. Next up is bringing the ES-335 into the shop for some routine maintenance. I just need to get the pots cleaned and some of the connections re-soldered. After that… a Floyd Rose tremolo bar on the Stratocaster? Maybe.

Quiz

Few things in life make me feel as pathetic as getting a question wrong on The Talking Dead’s weekly quiz. Three weeks in a row saw me missing one of the three questions. Last night’s quiz though?

Three for three.

Oh yeah, the kid* is back!

*and by “kid” I mean “insufferable nerd”.

Driver

My wife just took my 15 year old step daughter out for a drive. In New Hampshire (where the kids go to school and live on dad days) you don’t need a learner’s permit like you do in Massachusetts (where the kids live on mom days), all you need is to be 15.5 years old and have a licensed driver in the passenger seat.

Last weekend (a dad weekend) my 15.5 year old step daughter drove around a parking lot for the first time. Today, my wife is taking her over the state line for some more driving time. She seemed a little nervous so I reminded her that the dumbest person in America can drive a car. She felt better after that.

I’ve no doubt that she’s crushing it. Not literally, of course, but figuratively.

Board Games

My step son loves board games. We never play enough of them to make him happy, but with the long holiday weekend we promised him a few games.

He, my wife, and I have played one game of Small World, which resulted in me getting my butt kicked. After that it was a game of Risk which resulted in me being slaughtered in the most insane of ass kicking fashion.

I suck.