Jeff R

PM sent. Let's tear this up like a snake in a bushhog.

TTL played at Daiquiris 'n' Cream in a little town on the Louisiana/Mississippi border last night. Got home as the sun rose. Parts of me ache I didn't know I had, but a fun show. Character of the night: They had this blonde cougar out there last night that was so buck-toothed, I swear she could eat corn on the cob through a keyhole.

Yep, that was the one. John was a really special person. I felt it on the board and in e-mails we exchanged over the years, but I knew it in my heart when I finally met him in person. I remember we'd finish a song at that jam and he'd look and me and Cajun Boy, heck, all of us on stage and in the audience, with the most genuine, happy smile. I miss him.

Jeff, BillW and Badger Dave in 2006 Jeff, BillW and Badger Dave in 2010 Some things never change, huh? LOL!! I'm back in the swamp. So much to say, so many to thank and a ton of photos to sort out. I'll start a new thread when I get these snaps a little organized over the next coupla days.

Gotta love the club names in Louisiana! That place we play at called Hard Racks ... it's a huge billiards and dance club. The bathrooms aren't labeled "women" and "men," or "ladies" and "gentlemen." They're labeled "Racks" and "Balls" LOL!!

Here's TTL's June and July slate Jun 5 and 6 Tin Lizzy's, Springfield Louisiana Jun 18, 10:00P Daquiris n Cream, Slidell LA Jun 25, 10:00P Cate Street Pub, Hammond, Louisiana Jul 2, 10:00P The Cadillac Cafe Baton Rouge, Louisiana Jul 3, 10:00P Hard Racks, Houma Louisiana Jul 9, 10:00P The Station, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Jul 17, 9:30P Oaces, Slidell, Louisiana Jul 24, 9:30P Daquiris n Cream Covington, Louisiana

Bouncer: I'm sorry, you can't come in here. Me to the Muse: I think it's because you're not wearing a collared shirt. Bouncer to me: No, it's because your friend's obviously smashed.

It just seems a waste to completely avoid all that the city of Chicago has to offer, especially since the plan is to have the reception with Paul downtown. I could see keeping everything in the 'burbs if this were happening in Detroit, because Detroit is a bombed-out wasteland. But Chicago? Sometimes you gotta live a little. Not to mention I don't wanna have to take a cab too far to get to that cougars and chocolate martinis bar north of downtown in the Gold Coast. Keep it in the city. AKA I'm making the trip.

Love that window between 2112 and Exit...Stage Left. Another fella that kinda got lost when the Rush synth age began, but I've heard some cool bright spots in the later window.

Washburn also made a 36-fret version ...

Someone pick me up off the floor. Now THAT'S an SG in my opinion. I'd love to get a white one but I'd run with any color of old skool wraptail SG Junior I could get my hands on.

I'm a RMC2 user too, just a great sounding and bulletproof wah. My pedalboard houses the Teese for wah and a Boss ME-70 for everything else.

That is truly incredible work, Greg. Definitely one of the best.

Oh yes I have that one That was the "coffee table" book during my tenure at The Treehouse™.

Happies out to both of you!

My local GC has a used RR1 on the wall. May go by and take a test drive on it today to make sure a Rhoads is still a good fit for me before I bite on one of the gold "first five" guitars 'cause it won't be cheap! My first "V" guitar was a Rhoads and the short treble-side wing spoiled me for playing comfort both sitting and standing. Sitting, you can wedge it in a classical position and it works unbelievably incredible as a player. Part of Randy's reconfig on a traditional V shape perhaps? Standing up, it's just sleeker on the body and more ergometric if that makes sense. For the record, if a "first five" doesn't pan out, I haven't ruled out picking up a non-booteek-y Rhoads and getting Stike to do some goldflake glitter magic on it. Or maybe "Dorothy There's-No-Place-Like-Home Ruby Ass Red Slippers" Big Flake Glitter Red magic

Don't forget about the one that was supposed to be part of the lot for Randy that was on display at NAMM and Grover's wife accidently sold to someone right out of the display.. that guitar resurfaced for sale maybe two years ago or so? The guy had even posted video of him playing the guitar and iirc there was a huge thread that ran on the JCF about that guitar.. can't remember if he actually sold it or knee jerked and pulled it/decided to keep it. You mean dissun? IIRC, the guy said it's been his personal favorite and wasn't for sale, but he wasn't ruling out sale in the future for mega bucks.

Jeff I've read that the guitar Vinnie had was actually slated to be for Randy Rhoads, hence the stuff like the real early, handwritten logo, but they didn't have it finished before he passed away, and Vinnie was able to buy it when they completed it. Yep, heard that story, never confirmed on the record by Grover to my knowledge but I'm inclined to believe it by comparing the timelines of Randy's tenure with Jackson guitars, his death and Vinnie's appearance with a Rhoads. Another 2010 NAMM "first five" guitar is a black Rhoads with a non-locking strat trem that was built for Randy but wasn't delivered before his death. The original one had a neck tilt alignment issue in regard to the bridge, and Grover shipped it off the "blank" to a case company to use as a template for case production. When he got the blank back, it sat in storage for years and years unfinished. A big Jackson collector who knew Grover eventually got the blank, got the alignment issue fixed or overcome, and had the guitar finished by the factory. Another Jackson enthusiast has it now. Here's the reissue ...

Had my share of Jacksons (and San Dimas-made Charvels) over the years. Coupla Soloists, a Rhoads and a slew of bolt-on stuff. Love them and will probably add another to the stable very soon ... Here's why -- The 30-piece 30th Anniversary "First Five" Rhoads guitar run unveiled at NAMM recently. One is a repro of Vinnie Vincent's gold sparkle Rhoads he played with Kiss ... this has been my dream Jackson guitar for as long as I can remember. The original's oddball features -- Inverted sharks on ROSEWOOD fingerboard, handwritten gold logo, non-fine-tuning Floyd, three-plank maple neck-through construction, unusual control layout and strap pin placement, among other things. Here's a reissue at NAMM -- the only difference I see is a fine-tuning Floyd (which I would have done to the actual original if I somehow found it LOL Tell me THAT won't kick absolute ass with a baby blue tuxedo jacket LOL

Our own Willie G. asked me to post this photo of his from 1974 ... he'll chime in with some cool details soon ...

Buddy, if I wasn't buying Christmas for six children, you'd have a buyer already, promise!

Those amps kick absolute ass. Put vol, bass and treble on "6" and you're in the sweetest breakup heaven, fully controllable with the guitar's vol knob. Somebody has to keep it in the HFC family.

Thundernotes Brian nailed everything I could have contributed to this post, and everyone else is making very valid points. In TTL, our priorities are to have a lively set list that keeps people on the dance floor, we want to stand out visually in a cool/hip way, and be as tight as possible. We just re-tooled a somewhat-standardized set list so to speak to tighten the performance up even more, to kill dead air between songs, to foster more of a "no surprises" approach as far as our intros/outros as bandmates and eliminate/reduce the chances for slop starts or ends. This speaks volumes on how pro and subsequently "good" you are perceived by both patrons and clubs' decision-makers. We're poised to be fluid and change on the set -- we have a garage song list in the second and third sets we pull from based on the club's patrons and atmosphere, but we aren't going to get into the garage until the crowd is drinking and partying and we've already knocked them on the ropes the first set. Something worth noting that I never noticed until I started typing this. We NEVER get requests during the TTL set, I can't recall one request in the almost-a-year we've been doing this. I think it's mainly because we have a set list with bouncy, familiar songs that are already hitting the right good-time party buttons with the clientele. We've flushed plenty of songs in our set list that just didn't hit that objective. I couldn't cater to musicians/guitar players in our set list even if I tried. The set for the clubs we play has pretty much no solo/virtuoso stuff, and if and when that occurs I can't be six-string wankboy because I'm typically dancing around so much stun gun chops couldn't happen. My job is to nurture the party environment as I hit the song like it is, whether I'm singing or playing guitar. I've casually laughed here before that the most imporant piece of gear in my rig is the baby blue tux jacket but it's really no joke. My main guitar was made in Korea and my amp is solid-state. If anyone in the crowd has noticed, they haven't asked me about it. But I've been asked where I got that blue jacket and where I got my Buddy Holly-esque platform shoes. Go figure.

It was a sustainer model. Compare the rout pattern of the neck pickup to the bridge one. I had a Chap Sustainer with the same neck p/u rout. Back panel conceals cavity for two 9V batteries.

Version 1 http://www.tech21nyc.com/support/manuals/s...sDriver-OM1.pdf Version 2 http://www.tech21nyc.com/support/manuals/s...sDriver-OM2.pdf