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BruceM

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Everything posted by BruceM

  1. Wow, thanks for this. I was at one of the shows on that tour, at Eastern Illinois University. I'll have to give that a listen. I've told this story a few times before, but here goes again. Part of Cheap Trick's stage setup at that show was a set of two short risers near the back of the stage. Rick had numerous guitars on stands in a row on each riser. He was heavy on the Strats at that point in time but there were other guitar styles used as well. He would sometimes wear 3 or 4 guitars at once, and shed them one by one through a song. Midway through the show, one of his guitar techs was crawling around back there, and a couple of the guitars fell forward off their stands. Rick was none too happy, but the song continued. As the guy tried to rectify the situation, he managed to domino all the guitars face first off their stands. Not missing a beat, Rick laid flat on his back on the stage and continued the song. I wish I remembered the dialogue that ensued, but I was pretty high at that show. I saw Kansas a couple of times in that timeframe, and they were stunning live. The Kinks were excellent as well., and I believe they were touring with the Low Budget songs on that tour.
  2. The plot thickens. Here's a message from the seller on the FB post: "I now live in cebu philippines. I am retired and broughr my babies here where I could finally have time to play them. Infortunitaly I was recently diagnosed with a rare (and very unlucky) form of skin cancer on my left thumb. I am waiting to see if I will be able to play like I used to. Sorry for too much info. I will send pics maybe tommorrow. I need someone to take and post them. Getting old is not fun. "
  3. That PRS is Freden's holy grail guitar, if I'm not mistaken. I'll have to notify him of its availability so close to home.
  4. If it helps, I own one of his castoff Hamers from 10 years or so ago. That will be seeing some action in the next few weeks. Jonathan, any pics of your Vox guitars? I'm intrigued, mostly because there's one available on my local FB marketplace that's tempting me, and it's listed at a decent price. It's a different model, the Bobcat, but tempting nonetheless.
  5. This song has been in regular rotation at the 4-3-2-1 for at least 5 years. It's a fun one.
  6. I never play one guitar exclusively. I may have one that I favor for a month or two. And I've been playing more bass than guitar over the last year, for sure. That said, I typically only change strings when one string breaks and they've been on the guitar > 1 year (I will replace an individual broken string if one gets broken at a party). Or, if a guitar hasn't made it out the case in > 2 years and I want it played at a party, I may restring it. I used to used Elixirs most of the time, but I've now also got a stash of D'Addario strings that I will be using. Stringing is more of a wintertime activity for me, since I tend to have more free time and more indoor time. I'll likely change some strings later this month, just to rotate a few guitars that haven't seen action recently.
  7. I bought two of these when hamerhead did. They're very useful. They're in the 4-3-2-1 Club now, and are used there for listening to songs that are being worked on. I've also used them outside for a full bluegrass band, and they sound great for that, with all the instruments miked. I'm glad I bought them.
  8. I just finished shoveling. We didn't get nearly the snowfall we could have, yay! The storm drifted south. The basement is always cool in the winter, but warms up with the amps and people. Can't wait to rock out tonight! And here's a final photo from years past. 2018, I think. There's a little of 4-3-2-1 magic fairy dust scattered around in this photo.
  9. Here’s a reminder of tomorrow’s festivities. Hope to see a few of you tomorrow. I’m working on green chicken chili today, and of course wieners and queso dip are mandated by the 4-3-2-1 Club by-laws. Any time after 4:00 is okay to arrive. I’m anticipating wieners to be pulled off the grill before 6:30. There are a few guests that need to leave early, so we’ll likely get the music started early, around 6ish. Another reminder: I don’t purchase alcohol any longer, but you’re more than willing to bring a beverage of choice. I’ll have sparkling water and lemon-lime juice and a small selection of NA beer. And right on schedule, we're supposed to get up to 6" of snow before tomorrow morning.
  10. Here's a more recent photo, from 2019's Frozen Jam. Must have been a cold one. I put on some hair/
  11. I don't see a lot of shows these days, although I do go out occasionally to watch friends play in nightclubs The only two notable ones that spring to mind are: Louden Wainwright III - solo acoustic Greta Van Fleet The Louden show was when belgian was visiting in April, and was very entertaining, even though he's not exactly in my wheelhouse. I was offered a ticket to the Greta Van Fleet show by a friend, and jumped at the chance, even though arena shows aren't my favorite. They delivered, but when we left, we both thought the 2 hour plus show was a "little boring." It was basically kind of plodding mid-tempo rockers with the same stage formula featuring vocal histrionics (excellent vocal histrionics, btw) along with endless guitar solos. Both are definitely adequate at the job, but 2+ hours of sameness = boring, in our book. They didn't play many of their older, more well known songs, which tend to be more up-tempo. They could have used more up-tempo songs. Think I'll put on one of their albums.
  12. I've got some shells I could let go. Not sure there's enough for full set of crowns, though. 😉
  13. I took this photo last night when I returned home around midnight. The White Bunny has taken up residence under the hallowed 4-3-2-1 back porch, which itself was rebuilt a year ago, which is why the White Bunny showed up. He protects party goers from evil spirits which lurk in the neighborhood. If you use your indoor voice when you're smoking on the back porch, you just might be able to summon the White Bunny from his hideaway for a consultation.
  14. It was a very good deal, which is why I bought it. That and I seem to like owning things that were owned by friends. It remains to be seen whether I will actually learn to play. I'm in negotiations now to move it to another bandmate's practice space so that Jimmy, our steel player, won't have to set up and tear down his guitar every time we play. That will limit my availability to the guitar. It's been set up in my house for almost 6 months and so far I've shown no inclination to want to learn. I can be kinda lazy that way with new instruments, and I'm still playing plenty of guitar and bass with various groups. I will probably have someone work on it at some point to refurbish it, as it is a 50 year old guitar and it could use a little TLC. I don't think it's the oldest guitar I've got, though. I've got an early 70s tele, which is my first guitar, and I've also got my 1980 Sunburst, which is my first Hamer.
  15. I almost forgot these two. I traded my Gretsch champagne sparkle jet back to BadgerDave for these two custom builds: a 9-string and a baritone. These two are fun!
  16. Lightning does strike, occasionally. This is my most startling acquisition. The daughter of a friend I worked with from 1978-1988 listed this on her Facebook page this summer. It belonged to her late husband, and she was asking $500 to start a music scholarship in his name. She selected me as the recipient, much to my delight. My friend Don passed away a few years ago, but I did get to hang out again with his wife Cheryl and daughter Laura. Cheryl used to cut my hair in the 80s. Yes, I had hair in the 80s! I present a 1974 Sho~Bud Professional. They're already ogling this on one of the Sho~Bud FB pages. I'm trying to talk my bandmate Jimmy into playing it at the Frozen Jam next week. I hope he does. I get to sit next to him at practice, and he's very, very good!
  17. Like this, you mean? 😉. I don't have a great pic, but the guitar on the right is the one from the photos above, as modified.
  18. No, that's not the same guitar. I've got the one in this pic in my house. I sold it to Bubs, who modified it with a new paint job, pickups and hardware and sold it back to me. I also had a tobacco burst one that I'd like to get back. I sold that one to Joe, who is local here but stopped coming around about 10 years ago.
  19. Dibs on the Phantom. I don't have many regrets, but one of mine is selling my TV Phantom.
  20. Jumping ahead a few years, to 2012: Dan, Bill and Chris, who made one of many road trips to the 4-3-2-1 over the years. Some of these guys LOVE driving through snowstorms! Here, Chris demonstrates an advanced pose. Too much fun!
  21. Here's a couple more from 2006: Z tries out the TV Phantom, in one of his earliest appearances at the 4-3-2-1 Club. Eric mugs and Robb basks in the afterglow. Z plays the orange Phantom Custom. At one point, I owned 4 Phantoms simultaneously. I'd REALLY like to get one of them back. I'll be working on that this year.
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