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BruceM

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Everything posted by BruceM

  1. Fast forward to 2006: Eric, Bruce and Robb - I've long said that white Cruisebass is the most played guitar in the history of the 4-3-2-1 Club. I miss that TV Yellow Phantom, even though it once again resides at the 4-3-2-1 Club, complete with a sparkly facelift and new pickups. Robb models the Cruisebass. Robb and Eric, who is modeling BadgerDave's latest acquisition. The V's never lasted long in this crowd.
  2. We'll do a traditional January Frozen Jam this year, on Saturday, January 13, 2024 at the 4-3-2-1 Club. These parties have a long tradition of posing, and modeling the latest Hamer acquisitions. What will be new this year? Who will be new this year? Here's a few photos from Frozen Jams in years long gone. 2004: BillW and yours truly, modeling a couple of the 4-3-2-1 house guitars. Sadly, that T-51 is long gone. BadgerDave modeling his green Cruisebass, which now resides in a different friend's home. 2004 was also declared Year of the Swirlygig, as Swirly products were new and there was no shortage of Swirly-models. Dan and Bill demonstrate one of the 4-3-2-1 Club Axioms: Always Know Where The Camera Is !!
  3. As a size queen, I must know. Gigantic? In the early 80s, I once saw Robin Zander naked in the showers at the Supreme Court Racquetball Club near Cherryvale Mall in Cherry Valley, IL. Around the same time, I saw Rick Nielsen, completely outfitted in RN drag, waiting for his boys to finish their tennis lessons at the Clock Tower Racquet Club near Rockford, IL. Of course he was watching MTV in the lobby.
  4. That is a stunning guitar, and oh so tempting. I like the color better than the red ones. GLWTS
  5. I have a favorite tribute band, of course, Cheap Chick. In the first photo, they're all playing my guitars. And the 2nd, just because Robin is such a rock star! I don't believe they're playing much anymore.
  6. I was that kid in the 70s, graduating high school in 1974. I remember seeing the cover of their first album and hearing their music on a stereo at a summer party before I went to college. I must admit that my first impression was not "Wow, who are these guys?" but more along the line of "Interesting, I think." Other albums in heavy rotation at that time were Alice Cooper, Uriah Heep, Nazareth, Aerosmith, ZZ Top, Blue Oyster Cult, Deep Purple, Black Oak Arkansas, Rolling Stones, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Budgie, Slade, J. Geils Band, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Santana, etc... I found these other groups more compelling, usually, but Kiss were relentless. I saw them a couple of times before 1977 and while the shows were good, the parties were better. There were also a couple of local bar bands, cover bands, that I used to see at that time that were very influential, to me. One of the guitarists sold me my first electric guitar in 1975, for example. These guys played the Kiss songs because the audiences wanted to hear them, but they were all more tongue in cheek about it. And, it gave them a chance to play with fire. It definitely fit into the mix of that heavy rock of the mid-70s. It grew on me, though, and I'm still fond of their first 2-3 albums and the first Kiss Alive album, but not a whole lot more. I've got one more fun Kiss story. In the later 80s after I had moved to Rockford, IL, they played the Metro Center in Rockford on their unmasked tour. I was ambivalent about going, but I tried to talk some friends into going with me after my racquetball league match night. No one wanted to, so I decided to go alone. I arrived after the opening act without a ticket and the doors were locked. After pounding on the door and telling the surprised ticket agent that I had driven for an hour after work to get there, she got her manager who proceeded to let me in without a ticket and seated me very close to the stage on the side. Score! The show was fun, but not earth-shattering or anything.
  7. Well, gosh. All this chatter means my red one needs to see the light of day again. It's almost time for the Frozen Jam, and when mine was shipped to me in 1998, it survived a week of arctic weather when I was vacationing in NZ. When I arrived home from that vacation, the guitar box with the guitar in it was sitting on the back porch and it was -13F. It thawed out none the worse for the wear, and still kicks all kinds of @ss. Buy this one. You don't see them for sale very often.
  8. I had a certain belgian HFC member visit this year, and I'm seriously considering heading over there in the April/May timeframe. Last time I was there, which has been a few years, there was a BIG HFC party.
  9. I had them on my 1980 Sunburst for awhile in the 80s. I switched them out for Dunlops at some point. I'll have to see if I can locate them, as I rarely get rid of anything. heh.
  10. I'm sorry for the loss of your friend, Brooks. I too still listen to my copy of the Generic Hustle CD.
  11. That's my size, and I'm sorely tempted, but I'm afraid they wouldn't fit. I have very wide feet these days.
  12. Happy birthday, Johnny! I had the pleasure of meeting JB and a few of the other Seattle area crew in 2010 when I traveled out there. Good times, for sure! Let me see if I can find that pic of us posing with a bunch of cool Hamer guitars. I too always appreciated the gear recommendations. My stereo amplifier was bought after reading one of his reviews, and it's cranking now. Found the pic:
  13. There's some very cool stuff in that auction. Wow.
  14. I just returned from a 3 week road trip out east, where my Mom is from. It was mostly good stuff and good people, other than some minor car troubles. Once again, the HFC comes through for sheer entertainment while meeting one of my HFC heroes for the first time. I always marvel at how easy it is to fall into conversation with people I meet with for the first time after knowing them through interactions on the HFC. This time, I stopped in the mountains of NC to meet HHB, or HardHeartedBill. What a treat, and imagine my delight when the countdown of the first song of the evening started this way: "4-3-2-1 !!" Thanks Bill, and if you're ever in the Asheville area, go check out Imij of Soul, or one of Bill's other endeavors. The HFC rocks!
  15. I traded for a BadgerCaster baritone guitar earlier this year. It's lots of fun, but I certainly can't make mine sound like that! Good stuff.
  16. Yup, he's been scrubbed from the Dakota website. I looked earlier this week and tickets were from $55-65. I saw him back in the late 80s, and he was phenomenal, of course. I hope he recovers quickly. He's only 69.
  17. 20 years ago I had chronic shoulder tendonitis which lasted for a couple of years. I too was a frequent tennis player, as well as a volleyball player. My pain ended permanently when my biceps tendon broke while playing a competitive match. During consultation with a couple of doctors on whether to have reattachment surgery, I had an MRI which indicated a bone spur had slowly sawed through my tendon until it broke. I did not have reattachment surgery, and I never had the pain again. I was back on the court again within 3 weeks and I was playing tournaments again within 2 months. Turns out that's a common injury, and you typically will have 85-90% strength regardless of whether you reattach the tendon. One of the doctors told that Dan Elway won a super bowl after having the same injury. Edited to add that the tendon I broke was the one that attaches to the front of your shoulder....the Popeye muscle, if you will. I don't think your arm works properly if you break the other biceps tendon. Good luck with the treatment.
  18. Well, this looks like my day to say: If I didn't already own one of these, I'd be all over this. I played mine at practice on Sunday, and it's a keeper for sure. To think I was thinking of selling it a few years ago. All it took was getting it out of the case and playing it one more time to realize I needed to keep it. GLWTS.
  19. If I didn't already own one I'd be all over this. Definitely one of my favorite guitars, and it routinely gets played at the 4-3-2-1 parties. Plus, it looks fantastic under stage lighting. I'll check with my local guys and see if anyone is in the market.
  20. I saw these guys numerous times back in the day. Always entertaining!
  21. BruceM

    RIP Rockola

    I'm sorry to hear this news. I never had a chance to meet him, but I remember Rockola's presence here. Our online universe is smaller today. I'm glad there are stories of HFC members meeting him. That's the best part of this online community, the chance to hang out with our fellow guitar geeks. RIP.
  22. I put a set of Charlottes in my Silver Standard, and it woke that guitar right up. I was considering selling it prior to installing the Charlottes. It's a keeper now.
  23. He's a man of many talents. If you haven't already, you should check out his bass playing with Erik Koskinen's band. I had the pleasure of seeing them play last month, and they are always highly entertaining. Oh, and I've got his pickups in 5 of my guitars. Josh rocks!
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