BoogieMKIIA

I looked at this but ended up with a Superblock US. Which has saved me a couple of times and sounds good anyway. The 101 has plenty of power and the AC supply built in. Downside is no balanced line out.

We play that every gig. Picked up some pointers

If you are over (fill in the blank), don’t sweat changing string gauge or neck size. There only used to be Black Diamond strings at the drug store! There is a long list of great players with varied string preferences. My left hand started bothering me about 2 years ago. The following things seem to have helped me - Noticed how and how long I hold my iPad. Same could be said if you use the computer keyboard a lot. I think this helped me more than I would have guessed. Retire. Stress relief and providing time to take care of yourself. Exercise. Doesn’t have to be hand or wrist related. Resistance training builds strength and tone of the forearms and wrists. There are two older books that provide slow weight training methods. Only exercise once a week, maybe twice, and keep moving otherwise. “The Slow Burn Fitness Revolution” and “The Power of Ten”. Easy on the joints, not likely to injure yourself. I’m probably in as good shape as I was 20 years ago when I was doing it regularly. Restarted almost 2 years ago, I’ll be 69 in September. Eat a somewhat healthy diet. That and exercise allowed me lose weight since retirement. My A1C, etc is great. Eating stuff with lots of refined sugar makes me feel blah. Alcohol included, so I don’t drink so much. Play regularly. I can still feel some stiffness and soreness on occasion. From not playing regularly or from a flurry of playing a lot. But things improved as I started to play more. Monday night acoustic jam, Tuesday night band practice, Thursday Open Mic (acoustic) and weekend gigs more often than not. As far as meds, I rarely take a NSAID or Tylenol, usually for other body pain. Cannabis can help, side effects well known and often desirable. I have found I don’t play as well live using it - save an occasional one drink at the start of the night, I stay straight when I gig. Can wind down when I git home. My state has medical and I have a card. @gorch has a book on Reflexology on Amazon, there is a post. Didn’t try it, but almost got it. May get it anyway. Many of us are getting to an age where lots of physical things can happen. It is a bit of luck and genetics in play. I am doing what I can as long as it works.

I saw them before I could drive (my dad took me). I used to play sax in school, it was a big deal to have horns along with Terry's raw guitar. And real musicianship.

@topekatj, RS is not far from me. I volunteer to check it out during construction if you order one. Might even pick it up for you 😁

It's amazing the crowd response you get to "Sweet Caroline". Lucky for me I don't get an earworm when we play it He had a ton of pop hits.

Sammy Hagar doesn’t look 45 but is still tearing it up at 78. Also saw some reels where he talks about his childhood, just crazy.

If you keep on dancing you’ll never grow old. If he has been playing like that all these years (minus too much party), maybe it’s kept him in shape. It’s still uncanny.

No doubt, Blue Chip picks are very good. I had my initials put on the second one, didn't help me keep up with it. Not the pick's fault 😂

I had and lost two Blue Chip picks. One was lifted from and Open Mic music stand. Nothing so expensive for me any more.

Longest I recall was Chicago to Hong Kong, 16 hours. The normal route was first to Tokyo then Hong Kong. The layover was not long but still tough to deplane and go through security before boarding and another 4 hours. Business class, fortunately. Have also gone to Thailand and Singapore, another 7 or so hours from Narita or Seoul layover.

If you have lots of guitars, amps, etc and have the cash to upgrade, do it at least once. 20 or so years ago we got to take business class for Asia trips, but finally had to use coach. Really missed the extra room and pampering. The worst was a "domestic" connection from Honolulu to Atlanta on an Airbus. Probably the least room of any large jet with no food or drinks included

I have slightly tweaked Ultimates in my Studio Custom. RS Guitarworks recently did some work on the guitar and readjusted the height and screws, it really screams. Some use the Charlotte set, a bit hotter. I am too lazy to do more swapping (and I like what I currently have) but would like to check out other pickups. @Jeff R has interesting offerings. RS has their own pickups. Anyone have comparisons to share?

Great post. The main takeaway for me is to try lots of things and see what sounds good. And there is always something new. Our band has recorded the last several songs in the other guitar player's studio. He has been recording for years and has been adding lots of different EQ modules to a rack connected to his Midas board. While listening to him work, it's quite amazing what a difference it makes. Careful selection and adjustment for guitar, drums, vocals. And then the plugins on the board, compression, etc. For guitar, he typically uses and old tube PA head that has been tweaked for guitar into a 1x12 isolation can (think a Celestion of some type, not sure the mic). Also his New Vintage 18W and recently his Pro Reverb mic'd (asking for the exact mic). He is tube only, we will see. We use our own guitars and pedal boards but sometimes try a different pedal. The great thing is we still sound like ourselves and don't miss all the studio magic when we play live. I have been thinking about an amp-less live rig. Is it possible to get a good idea by going to a music store to demo? Smaller/lighter is appealing even if it involves a lower powers SS amp and 1x12 cab. We mostly use IEMs, curious how that works with a direct setup with respect to feel, sustain/feedback.

The add says sold. Good price for the buyer