tomteriffic

Now, that's just sick right there.

Boy, my fave seems to vary almost daily and is subject to whether I'm at a gig or not. But the one that is getting the most play time these days is the Martin 000-16 rosewood cutaway I just got from Bobbymack. It's 5 years old but had spent almost the entire time in its case. I've been playing it daily since i got it and it's starting to open up and come alive. So I'm getting more delighted with it every day. It did its first show last weekend and did quite admirably despite my not quite grokking the electronics. As far as electrics, the guitar du jour will be a Hamer 8 times out of 10. Other regular contenders are a Deluxe Player's Strat with a full-house David Gilmour electronics setup, an exceedingly rare and much better than its reputation solidbody Martin E-28 and a $100 Washburn blowout that surprised me so much that I covered it with stickers so I wouldn't be able to sell it.

90% of the Dean Markley/Spectra stuff was gawdawful. BUT the original Dean Markley RM/SR Tube and hybrid stuff was top-flight. I still keep one 80-watt hybrid around because it sounds great and because the brand was sullied so badly by what came after. Same with the original white Crate Vintage Club stuff, particularly the 20 and 30 watt ones. The trick on those, though, was to wind up the clean channel someplace north of 8. Worst sounding amp for me was a Mesa Nomad. Maybe it was my expectations, but I just couldn't get a consistently good sound out of it after weeks and weeks of fiddling. It was the exact opposite of a Subway Rocket, which may have been the best sounding amp I've ever owned.

Sorry I missed it. Dave runs a cool show, people. He's put me on to some stuff I didn't even know existed. Check it out before he goes big-time on us.

Good show, Dave.

You know it's a cool piece when Steve reacts this way. /\ This right here.

Mitch be da man. He gave me a Japanese lesson one time. Free. For nothin'!

Noyce and well done! It was pleasant to hear Serial's voice in a normal tone. The last time we talked it was really more of a yelling match with BCR Greg's band (Grumpy Old Men) blazing away in the room.

Profoundly cool!

Dammit, Serial! Mine just came through the door. The subject matter, is (obviously) great. The writing in the bit that I've read so far seems to be on par with the subject matter. The production and presentation are top-notch and even the physical book itself has the hallmarks of a very high quality piece. And I've still got some gotta-so work to get done before I can bail and get into the book. Dammit! Big kudos to Steve, Joe and Schiffer for coming up with a book of the quality worthy of the Hamer name.

Listening!

WhooHoo! Mine shipped yesterday, should be here tomorrow!

This, but since I pre-ordered in, like, February or March, I'd like to see a signature. It's OK, I'll wait.

I'm not a "fast" player, never have been. And, at 61, I'm not likely to be. That said, I've been playing in my dippy little folk 'n' roll duo/trio for 17 years. And since getting a talented and reliable bassist, it has freed me up to tackle some new stuff or revisit some old stuff informed by the different genres and styles that we've dabbled with in the past. Is it "better"? Hell, I don't know, but it's more interesting and challenging to play. So within my (considerable) limitations, I think I'm improving. Oh, I'm playing more and more fingerstyle these days. For years I'd do little fingerpicked things with the "tucked pick" thing going on. The challenge these days is giving my first finger something to do besides getting in the effing way.

Briefly had my mitts on what was purported to be the prototype Cadillac in the winter of '77/'78, I think. The guitarist in a band I was doing sound for had it and would take it out to gigs in between layers of clear coat. Cherry sunburst, all the bling and binding and a big-ass neck. Oh, and it had a snap-on/off belt buckle pad on the back, a-la Gretsch/Chet Atkins. Wish I remembered more, but those were different times. Besides, I didn't know there was going to be a quiz. Man! There's a lot of lore/versions/stuff to know about Deans! Back then he was just a new builder who had a shop up the street from me!

The Duo-Tone Custom is my go-to guitar for this gig. I usually take 5 guitars (including 3 Hamers and an Ovation USA), but I could do the whole show with the Duo and the Eclipse 12. I doubt that the audience would notice, but I'm happier with more Hamer family members around.

These just in. Restaurant gig last weekend featuring Bubs'-42's blue Studio that had just arrived in my grubby mitts: And my much-loved Duo-Tone Custom The boss usually plays a bigger drum rig, but space was VERY tight.

No fancy lighting, or any of that stuff, just us playing a fantastic "Listening Room" in a restored mansion in Richmond IN on St. Paddy's Day. Eclipse 12 Vangaurd P-90 Goldtop All mine, but thrown at various friends during the course of the show.

I've got a QS 7.0 and QS 8.1. As noted before, if you're using something strictly for studio work, it seems that the controller/virtual instrument setup is the way to go. That said, the QS'es are pretty user-friendly have decent sounds (the default stereo piano patch can fool ya with a good pair of speakers) and, while they take some practice to edit patches, some time with the manual is well-spent and it gets pretty easy pretty quick, at least for the more common stuff. I bought the 8.1 as a dual-use live and studio unit. It has the weighted piano action. The 7.0 is the same with a 76 key springy synth action. It's also a lot lighter. The primary difference I've found is that there's no dedicated Transpose button on the 7.0. You have to dig down a couple of menu levels. Everything else is pretty much the same. Hit me up if you want to talk about some horse-trading. PS, there are a metric ton of organ sounds on this thing, some of which have a fader or two that double as fake drawbars. I'm still trying to come up with a "string swell behind a piano" sound as good as the E-mu Proteus keyboard had, though. On their own, the strings have a wide variety available and I've used them on a couple of recordings.

My Standard and half of David B's ying-yang pair, getting ready for the stork.

Seems that way to me too. I waited for quite some time for the right Vanguard to come along, and now there has been a spate of them (and several variants) lately. Did you pick one up? What do you think of it? I'd met one when they first came out and loved it, but it took a while for me, the money and the guitar to all wind up in the same place at the same time. I finally snagged one maybe 9 months ago. To me, the Vanguard is the muscle car of the line. Light, fast, loud and rude. It's not made for smooth chords with numbers behind 'em (as my old country pickin' buddies would say), although I imagine it could do it in a pinch. Rather every note seems to pop right off the guitar with an unusual immediacy.

Seems that way to me too. I waited for quite some time for the right Vanguard to come along, and now there has been a spate of them (and several variants) lately.

Wholly shiite!

^^^This^^^ "Most people know the price of everything and the value of nothing" ~ Oscar Wilde

It occurs to me that, if the "soundhole" P pickup is an EMG and the bridge pickup is an X2N, you've got an active/passive mix in there with each pickup requiring a different pot impedance. That could explain a lot of the extra switching, preamp, etc. etc., just in an effort to get the thing usable.