Toadroller

It's the neck. And the tone. And the fact that you somehow cannot get the thing out of tune. And, and, and... Oh, I picked up an import Slammer Series Daytona for my boy Henry for Christmas. He's happy and I'm impressed. It's a nice piece of ash, and well crafted. As far as the new year goes, I've still got hankering for a Phantom, a Blitz with a 3x3 headstock, and eventually I'll get a Standard. And, and, and... Until then, my import will have to do. I just put in some zebra GFS Alnico 2s and am pleasantly surprised for $35 each. They were a huge improvement of the dead Duncan Designed originals. The maple body brings them to life. Great Slash sounds.

I spent the year proving the maxim that you can't have just one Hamer USA. A lifelong fan of Hamer and Cheap Trick (I remember having a "contest" with my brother about which song was better- I Want You to Want Me or My Sharona), I entered 2011 on the HFC with an interesting collection of import Hamers- a Korean Standard, a Chinese goldtop P90, a sapphire blue Korean arch top and a Korean Stellar 1. Somewhere in Feb or March a silver sparkle Studio was on the 'Bay and I commented to my wife that I'd get it if it stayed in the 500-600 range. While out shopping with the kids to keep myself distracted, she bid for me and.... Sylvia for about $600. Just opening the case and strumming it was enough to make me realize the delta form imports to the real thing. So a couple of months later, I was hoping to snipe one of two Specials from the same seller ending at the same time. I got the first one at such a price, I went for the second a few minutes later and... welcome Cordelia and Puddy, both 93 Specials for about $500 each, no cases: Cordelia (a feisty redhead) Puddy (TV Yellow) Well, this is a problem, as what I've really wanted all along is an Artist. GC had one, I gave them a call and for $625 plus a major setup, my favorite guitar, Ruby: Well, this was getting ridiculous. Come September I walked into my local mom and pop for the first time in a long time and was feeling out the "real" Strats and Teles... found an American Tele that had it but, you know, $1,200? Walking past the used rack I saw Hamer on the headstock, looked down and saw a strat body, closed my eyes, said a prayer, looked up and saw Hamer USA on the logo- a Daytona. Hey Fender- this is how you do it. Loved to death (relicked), sweat stained, beat, tarnished, and a tag of $250. It didn't leave my hands. And really hasn't since then. I've always liked the Gibson scale and humbuckers, but this baby has opened the doors to single coil-ville for me. I give you Courtney: In 2011 I went from 0 to 5 Hamer USAs. It's anyone's guess as to which I'll grab next, but the Daytona gets the most attention.

Instant flashback to the basement of my childhood home in Dayton, Ohio, in the early 70s where my father had (and used) these exact cans of oil to keep his (leaky) British motorcycles running and the old Mercury Comet on the road. Thanks for the memory!

Woah! Caught me by surprise! We're certainly handling this better than HCEG did when they downed their version 2.0 a year or so back.

Beautiful. I do love the MFDs as well.

I'll need to dig into me old Uncle Jim's barn next time I'm out in Delaware Ohio. He had 40-50 bikes out there around the late 70s and I know that: * many were 60s British and Japanese bikes * They've gone nowhere * He was wise enough to rub bearing grease on the rims (to prevent rust) Uncle Jim is something, man.

Probably. The list is short... - MusicYo Electar 30 watt hybrid. It's on (permanent) loan to a friend. - Yamaha solid state 50 watter "GS" something or other. I got it for $20 off craigslist. It was pretty nifty, with a parametric EQ that would let you make incredible changes in sound... but the thing was moldy, and when you ran it more than five minutes you had to get out of the room. Threw it away. - Digitech GNX 3000 stompbox/modeler/midi controller/mixer... serving duty under the bed for the moment. Most often used as a tuner and drum machine (fancy metronome) - Peavey Valveking 100 head. It's exceedingly versatile and able to play at bedroom levels, which is where I play 99.9% of the time. - Jet City 18 watt head for Christmas this past year. It had good life an tones, but not at bedroom levels. Sent it back. That's it. I go back and forth between an open-backed Avatar 2x12 with a mixed pair of Celestions (Vintage 30 and G12M) and a closed cab 2x12 Jet City that came with the afore-mentioned Jet City amp. That's all folks!

Here I go, thinking I'm pretty hip because I'm listening to things like Propellerheads and Gwen Stefani and it turns out they're, like, so turn-of-the-millenium, you know? Sorry, the local rock station played "Valley Girl" yesterday. Good times, good times, those early 80s. It's strange to buy and album. I was in a store (Target?) and checked the prices of a new CD. Something like $18 bucks! I don't think I've purchased a new CD in the last decade. Anyway, the most recent albums I've acquired through downloads or swap-a-cd appear to be... (consults his Zune software... yes, I have a Zune. Its subscription service is worth the money. $15/month all you can eat from their catalog, plus 10 free tracks). Bob Dylan - Infidels Tab Benoit - Medicine J. Geils Band - Blow Your Face Out The Cat Empire - So Many Nights The Cult - Electric

I always felt that way. I love it when Words, Walking in L.A., and Destination Unknown pop up on my mp3 player.

That is not my dog.

It was either Toadroller or Squidhopper. Both are lovingly taken from an episode of "3-2-1 Penguins!" an animated (and very funny) kids show by the folks who brought us VeggieTales' Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber. Specifically, the game-pieces in the game squid-tack-toad, from "The Cheating Scales of Bullamanka" episode: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-2-1_Penguin...s_of_Bullamanka Like most, I was looking for a handle obscure enough to be used on many sites. Lo and behold, Toadroller has proven to be quite conveniently available.

I have the Peavey unit and use it with my ipod touch. It has a AA battery which must help boost and/or filter the signal. The Peavey lit claims it stops feedback and eliminates latency. I had a terrible squeal the first time i plugged it in, but it sorted itself out in less than a second, and has been noise free ever since (I do turn the volume on the ipod and guitar down when setting it up. The sample amp they provide is their Valveking 100 head, which happens to be my head. It does a good job of emulating it. The app itself has received updates with improved features/functions. The combination isn't as versatile as my korg pandora, but for $30 I'm not complaining. one less electronic device to carry around.