Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame

Set it to music, and you've got a hit song.

Losing my GAS feels pretty much what I imagine losing my sex drive would feel like.

With the direction of guitars set by PRS and expanded/extended by Carvin (now Kiesel), how soon are we going to start seeing guitarists killed by OB (overbling)?

I can't sing when playing bass with fingers. I can when playing with a pick.

Yeah, I've got the book. Had it for a few years. I've picked it up before and gotten some good progress on it, but never *learned* the songs. Definitely doable. It either sounds harder than it is, or his style of riffing fits my abilities better? Dunno, but I will have the songs learned well enough to play rhythm within about 6 months or so. The solos, tho... No promises.

A man's gotta know his limitations. And then break through them if he can, but he's gotta know them first.

I might have a chance to get most of the rhythms and fills down. But I'm not much of a soloist, so...

I want to learn the entire Pornagraffiti album note-for-note. I'll fail, of course, but I think trying will be fun.

Strats are *like* nuts. Every guy needs at least one. But more than two, and there is probably something seriously wrong with you.

" Fat, drunk, and bidding on guitars on eBay on Friday nights is no way to go through life, son."

Anyone who ever said (or thought) that Jessica Black's "Friday" was the worst song/video ever obviously never heard "Batdance".

Good thing we don't do that here.

One of my favorite feelings in the world: Fixing a host of problems on a guitar with a few turns of a screwdriver and/or an allen wrench.

To clarify, I seem to have topped out as a guitarist far below where I want to be. In contrast, I was a much better than average bassist for the 3-4 years I played bass. I was even able to grasp jazz comping on the bass, which I still haven't been able to do on guitar. And I am always tapping out beats with feet and hands, so maybe I could have fun as a drummer, too. The inspiration for this thought was listening to this little jazz jam in a song, and thinking that although I could never learn to play any of those chops: guitar, drums, piano, or bass, that I thought I could come closer on drums or bass than guitar. And that if I switched to drums or back to bass, I would at least have the enjoyment of a steep learning curve, rather than the frustration of diminishing returns on guitar playing. I could reduce myself down to a single guitar for old times' sake and invest into a decent bass, drums, or both. One additional advantage of doing that is I would be freed from my obsession of trying to achieve several different mutually exclusive tones. And I could focus on learning styles rather than trying to maximize my chops. So to put it another way: maybe I would actually be happier being a mediocre bassist or drummer than a mediocre guitarist. To be sure, I'd have many more gigging opportunities as a mediocre bassist/drummer than a mediocre guitarist. Not that I actually have time in my life right now to gig...but maybe someday soon.

Sometimes I wonder if I'd be happier as a failed drummer or bassist than as a failed guitarist.

I had thougt it's just the other way round. Clean sounds perfect through tubes and distortion totally is a solid state thingy. Or please explain how it comes that almost all distortion pedals fuel transistors rather than tubes, starting from the very first trebble boosters.Because the solid state sound best modifying an analog tube signal, I guess.When you hear of the advantage tube amps have over solid state, everyone talks about the creamy distortion tones, and how you can find the point where it breaks up so your tone sounds mostly clean, but breaks up nicely when you pick with a little extra vigor...the implication that this doesn't happen with solid state. And, don't forget, the Roland Jazz Chorus is considered by many to have the best clean tone, ever.

I'm developing the theory that tubes are really better for crunch, overdrive, and some distortion sounds, but that cleans are actually better on a solid state amp. And maybe better for some of the edgier distortion styles due to the square shape of the wave from solid state amps.

I got my answer on the other thread. Don't fully agree. There might be some corksniffing/Emperor's New Clothes Effect going on.

I don't really understand why vinyl is currently considered higher audio fidelity than CDs. I remember when CDs came out. Prior to that, I was buying albums and recording them onto metal-tape cassettes for playback in the car, etc. That was widely considered the best audio fidelity possible short of reel-to-reel master tapes. But when I listened to CDs of albums I already owned, the CDs were hands-down better: more clear, better dynamic response, etc. With CDs, it sounded like the band was in the same room. With vinyl, you always had the needle hiss and track bump.

No disrespect to Paul Rodgers and the Rodgers-era Bad Company (which produced a few of my top favorite songs), but my favorite album from Bad Company is Dangerous Age. It's a Top 10 Desert Island album for me. Aside #1: It always sucks when the main members of the band disown your favorite album by them Aside #2: I met Brian Howe when he did a show in Iraq. Props to him for doing half the concert before a chest cold made it impossible for him to continue. He's got one of my favorite rock voices. At the time he struck me as a rather arrogant jerk...but I guess you can't/shouldn't judge someone from an hour of stage patter and <5 minutes in the band flyer-signing queue.

The off-beat portion of Black Dog always throws me off. I don't think I would ever be able to learn to play it.

I had been playing guitar a few years when I encountered the basic open D9 chord (a D chord with the high e string open). It sounded dissonent and cool to me. Not sure when it happened, but ssomewhere along the line, it became consonant for me.

Kix is probably my least favorite Hair Metal band named after a breakfast cereal.

Sometimes I think Corey Glover decided, at times, to sing a different song than Vernon Reid was playing. If so, Muzz Skillings apparently decided it wasn't worth it to take sides.

Every time I see a European model in an advertisement, I think, "What's so attractive about heroin addiction?" I think I'll right a song including a lyrical version of that line.