I took the day off from work today to get my shit together for tomorrow night’s gig. The plan was to make a few changes to my pedal board, and then practice practice practice.
What did I actually do?
I watched a ton of Luke Cage on Netflix. Like, five or six episodes. I bought some new clothes for work (and maybe a black t-shirt for tomorrow night). I got my hair cut (finally!).
When I got home I fixed up the pedal board and played the guitar. I didn’t practice any of the songs that I needed to work on, but I did run through a bunch of exercises.
After that, I went out to dinner with my wife because she’s amazing and I am crazy in love with her.
It’s been a good day. Tomorrow’s going to be nuts. Sunday and Monday are going to be sent home with the love of my life. It’s going to be a good holiday weekend.
Two things happened to me at tonight’s band practice that haven’t happened in all the years I’ve been practicing with bands.
First, my trusty Dunlop Cry Baby Wah-Wah pedal actually broke. I pushed down on the pedal to turn it on for a screaming psychedelic guitar solo and then stepped on it to turn if off when I was done… except it didn’t turn off.
After the song ended I tried to click the button with my hand and that didn’t turn it off either. The switch seems to have died a heroes death. I’ve owned three of those pedals over the years and I’ve never had one die before. I had one stolen once, but that doesn’t count. If I can’t fix it I’ll have to use the back up that’s in my cellar right now. Kinda glad I put together that stay at home pedal board.
The second thing that happened tonight that has never happened to me before is another tragic failure. I wear ear plugs when we play. Practice, gigs, whatever. If there is full band volume, I’m wearing ear plugs.
Tonight we sounded kinda loud. I chalked it up to last-rehearsal-before-the-gig-over-exuberance. Then at about the 2 and a quarter hour mark it happened. The ear plug in my left ear… fell out. How’s that for odd. That’s never happened to me before. One minute it’s in there, the next, boop, it’s on the floor. Safe to say that the reason for the extra volume can now be explained as my ear plug wasn’t in right. It felt okay going in, but I guess not.
Now everything on my left sounds like it’s far away and surrounded by ocean waves. Damn it.
Just getting ready to go to band practice. We’re going to be short a singer tonight (he’s in Chicago… I still think we should try rehearsing over skype) so the focus is on tightening up the rest of us.
The downside for me right now is that I am exhausted to the point of distraction. I took a shower today at about 11:30 and ever since I sat down to tie my shoes following that shower I have been on the verge of sleep. I went out to run some errands and that was okay, but as soon as I got home I just wanted to sleep. I expect that this will carry over to practice tonight and I will suck something fierce.
13 days to our next gig. I am going to do a lot of practicing at home. Probably going to be noodling on the guitar while watching TV with the kids after work and stuff. I will be ready when the time comes. Hell, I’m almost ready right now. Just not tonight… Urgh. Is it bed time?
On a related note, my wife and I started binge watching The Man in the High Castle last night. After practice we expect to have enough time to watch two more episodes before we have to give up and go to bed…
It’s been a musical morning so far. I did some work on my 50/90 failure. I recorded lead guitars for five songs. I’ve got seven more to do but my finger tips are starting to sting pretty bad, and I have a band practice tonight. So I think I’ll take a break, then maybe practice for rehearsal tonight, then maybe sneak in one or two, and then be paralyzed from the top knuckle up for a day or two. Totally worth it.
50/90 ends in six days, and Lizardfish gig #2 is in 13 days. No problem!
I had this idea back in the late Spring or so. Rather than truck my guitar gear back and forth between home and rehearsal, I would set things up at the rehearsal space the way I want them for gigs, and then make a back up set up to keep at home for both practicing and recording.
Here is the rehearsal space pedal board as it was used at the last gig, and as it exists now…
The Band Pedal Board
The signal path is tuner->Wah->Uni-vibe->Phaser->Overdrive (used almost like a clean boost with just the tiniest bit of gain. I want my amp to sound a little broken up when I play clean, but not really too distorted)->Bass Big Muff (for fuzzy rhythm guitar)->Big Muff with Tone Wicker (for fuzzier leads)->Delay.
Before the next show I want to move the delay to between the Phaser and the Overdrive. I want all the dirt at the end of the chain, just before the amp. That’s contrary to most people’s preference but I don’t care.
Tonight I finally set up the home pedals. I’d been piecing them together a couple at a time while working on recordings and stuff. Tonight was the first time I ran them all together. Of course I took a picture…
The Home (significantly cheaper) Pedal Board
I tried to do the signal path from memory and got it wrong, and I also don’t have anything to sit it all on, but whatever. Tuner->Wah->Overdrive->Phaser->Uni-vibe->Delay->Nano Bass Big Muff->Nano Big Muff.
I will move the overdrive to after the delay and switch the phaser and the uni-vibe tomorrow… assuming I’m going to be doing some recording tomorrow.
I’m not really sold on the Nano Big Muffs. They sound… wimpy… I guess that’s the word… wimpy when compared to the band board versions. I have a NYC Big Muff reissue that is awesome. I might replace both of the nanos with it. I’ll give it some recording time and see how I feel later.
The tuner on each board is the same model, same with the cry baby wah. The Joyo Ultimate Drive at home is a clone of the Fulltone OCD at rehearsal. Same deal with the Joyo Vintage Phase, it’s a clone of the MXR Phase 90. I don’t know if the Moen Shaky Jimi Vibe I have at home is an exact clone of the MXR Uni-Vibe I have at the practice space, but it’s damn close. The only major difference between the two setups is the delay. The DoD at home is a digital delay while the Seymour Duncan Vapor Trail at rehearsal is analog and 500,000,000 times better.
I also have a Fuzz Face Mini and an old DoD Flanger that I haven’t decided if they will find a home or not. We’ll see.
I am such a gear glutton. If my 17 year old self could see me now… he’d probably look down at his crappy little DoD overdrive plus and puke with jealousy (although he’d be pleased to see I am still using the same cry baby wah), and that doesn’t even mention the amps or the three (3!) high end electric guitars I’ve snagged since then.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Gear Acquisition Syndrome is a real problem and I hope they never find a cure.
50/90 isn’t quite over yet though my chances of reaching 50 songs is long over.
When I woke up this morning I had seven songs finished. Four others were lead guitars and a mix away from being done.
This morning before work I wrote the lyrics and melodies, and recorded the vocals for five songs. Wow! At lunch I squeezed in another, and then after work I added two more. That’s eight vocal parts written and recorded today. That’s insane! I bet when I listen back all of the melodies will be identical. Heh heh, probably.
We had a band practice last night. Since it’s down to the last three weekends before the next gig we added an hour to rehearsal. We should have added more.
Boy, were we bad last night. Everyone was tired and hot and a little cranky and some of us were a little sick. We just did not play well at all…
…and that’s probably a good thing.
It’s been two months since the last gig. We took quite a bit of time off afterwards, and we’ve added a ton of new songs. Maybe we’ve been a little over confident. Sucking up the joint last night will probably have the beneficial effect of scaring us straight. The next practice will be much better. Bank on it.
I was trying to push through it and I gave myself a good blister on my left ring finger. That should be fun. I haven’t changed my strings since July 1st. If I pop a blister while playing I’ll probably need a tetanus shot. Totally worth it.
Inside the Red Head's Head 