polara

Or a pair of Pro Juniors. Brutally loud and with two you can keep 'em clean.

Big congratulations! Now it's time to go out there and stimulate the economy. My surprisingly decent-paying and steady (knock on wood) employment for the last four years has definitely gotten me into buying guitars and stuff again.

This is also what's going through my head as well. How? and Why? But I guess that's part of the point: something is wired differently in pedophiles, at the brain level most likely. This is why they cannot be cured. There is however a difference between a pedophile and a child molester/rapist etc. A pedophile is someone who has a sexual attraction to children, and strictly speaking, it's pre-pubescent children. However that is not a crime, acting on those impulses is, which makes one a child rapist or child molester, etc. It's someone who cannot control their urges, which is what separates a normal person, from a serial killer, rapist, etc. The question then becomes whether it is really inborn, or learned. Psychologists/Psychiatrists who have worked with victims and abusers have known for years that many abusers have their own history of abuse. The assistant basketball coach at Syracuse who was outed as a child molester was outed by one of his victims, who had become a child abuser himself. Other therapists dealing with victims have watched victims turn into aggressors as they grow older. Yeah, my first reaction is WHAT? Next is ICK! Then comes "Hand me the knife, and look away." I mean I'm a dad to a wonderful little girl. But part of me thinks... can this be cured or at least prevented? I mean yeah some people are just BAD. But I suppose there must be people who have horrible urges: sexual desire for children or horses, or constant visions of violence, or hell, there was that 2 Girls 1 Cup thing. I wonder if someday we can control/medicate/surgically snip/SOMETHING those bits of the brain into something better. I dunno how I'd deal with having some sort of gross sick compulsion I had to fight down every day in order to pass as normal. Shit, I'd line up for castration or a lobotomy or something if I was dealing with an attraction to kids. I'll bet every one of us has some compulsion we can't rein in: sex or drink or buying guitars... and I'll bet some of us have secret desires we will never tell a soul and will carry to our graves, thankful we were never found out. Just gross and depressing and... so many awful things.

Those seem like great guitars. Never tried one but seems to have great features. My PRS is still my number one

Funny thing is, I'd be in for a Final Run, even though it makes no sense financially. At the same time the Koa Studio with the the Seths is so good, and so pretty... I dunno if it can be topped. It is lovely to see the pics. Thanks, guys.

Getting off the PURE topic - but this is the HFC after all - there are/were some players who can/could so an awful lot with a few notes though brevity, phrasig, taste. BB King as notedMiles Davis. I don't think he had the pure CHOPS of, say, Gillespie but man just listen to how he solos. His first solo in "So What" off Kind of Blue is famous for the clam about 14 bars in but it's a great example of how to say a lot by saying littleAhmad Jamal. The man can play the piano but is a fierce minimalist. "Poinciana" live off But Not For Me he has a couple choruses with just a note or two, and the beauty is in making you WANT that next oneNot a lot of minimalist rockers.

The Scheithauer Custom Bo Diddley Charlie Christian is without doubt one of the odder but cooler instruments I've seen.

For shows: the PRS CE24. It gets a lot of sounds, won't break if I drop it, and stays in tune for a whole set. Around the house? Been playing the Koa Studio a lot. "New toy" buzz.

+1. I kinda thought GnR was an Aerosmith tribute band when they got big, except I couldn't stand Axl's thin, nasal, caterwauling falsetto whine. Like Ethel Merman in a helium tank. Dug Slash's playing right away. He has a great sense of phrasing and melody, musicality.

Man, a pretty Studio with wrap tail, belly cut and SD Antiquities... add in the Koa and the weird provenance... I had to save you from buying it. Also my wife thought it looked good.

PMd ya, hectorp

That HACL speaks to me. What is that top made outta? Nice color. Standard medium-ish 90s neck I'd guess? JB and 59 or something special under the hood?

+1 on getting it fixed. But when I bought an '81 Special with NO pickups in it I got Dimarzio 36th in both positions and was very happy. The bridge in particular kills: really clear but aggressive, just how I hear a "rawk" tone in my head. The neck is quite nice too, though I'm not the biggest fan of neck humbuckers this one isn't too bassy.

I liked Rick Springfield doing "Oh Well" best. A very talented dude.

Interesting stories. Me: hacked at it a little at age 9. Took a few after school lessons at age 11, then studied alto sax for two years. After that it was just learning from other guys in bands I was in, asking questions. My brother was a huge help. He also studied alto sax, but "legit" in music school at Florida State, which had a pretty tough woodwind program. He helped me a lot with theory and phrasing and listening to a wide range of music. I still mostly learn from peers, though that "Accelerate your Guitar Playing" DVD was useful. Trouble with playing originals is no one in the bands typically reads or even knows jack shit about theory so I can't sight read at all now.

Yes. I do owe it to myself to try one or a few. I like the made-in-USA angle, the fact that they kind of do their own thing. But the website is hideous. 3D type, explosions, hype like the "rapid play neck assures the best possible string action..." all add up to an "as seen on TV, act now, not sold in stores" vibe that scares me away. I know this is about the guitars not their marketing but their image isn't very appealing to me. Compare to the Hamer site or the Suhr site, which come across as quietly high quality. But I'm old fashioned.

I had a guitar with an EMG 60 and I liked it.

I'm pretty prolific (not gonna say it's the highest QUALITY) in writing. Have a couple hundred songs recorded and probably a couple hundred riffs and ideas and half-finished demos recorded too. When I was single several years back I'd write and demo a song every weekday night. I think it's like a lot of authors or the Nashville pros: you sit down with a set time block to write and you work it out. You can't count on inspiration. You basically decide you're gonna a do a (choose one: party, breakup, love, political, drinkin') song in the vein of (AC/DC, Sugarland, The xxx, Sigur Ros) and the hook or chorus will be (a punny one-liner, a mysterious phrase, the thing you overheard at the grocery store that day) and you... just. do. it.

It has what - IMHO (In My Hack Opinion) - makes him special. Chops sure, out the wazoo. But his playing sounds FUN, at least when he's having fun. It swings and bounces and jumps and dances.

Bump for an old Fer Sale

Here in Atlanta at our HRC there's a Sunburst that is labeled as having belonged to Eddie Van Halen. Highly dubious... Ha. When I think of "She's Tight," I think of a very attractive friend who became very good pals with Jon Brandt after CT played here... Ha.

Yes. Every city has a small brewery or two making good stuff. The beer from the big guys - Coors, Bud, Miller, etc - is unremarkable. It's like Swedish beer, like Falcon. Hop water. Great Lakes Brewing Company makes good beer in that part of the country. Here in Atlanta we must have a dozen little breweries, with Sweetwater the most prominent. Rogue is huge in the northwest, and yeah Dead Guy Ale is great. Try to seek out Highland Brewing Company. Their Gaelic Ale is fantastic, and I designed their logo, packaging, poster, and did their slogan "Just a Wee Bit Different"

Say no more. The master of the "wow" brief solo. I'd say the one from "Shake it Up" says more in eight bars than most players do in 32.

I love it! Wow, you are one lucky and determined SOB. Bet it plays great, too. Enjoy.