Caevan O'Shite

Remove that restless strap-button, screw and all; trim a toothpick to be the same as the depth of the screw-hole, then lightly dab just a little wood glue on the toothpick, insert it into that screw-hole, and replace the strap-button, snugging-up the screw "finger tight" with a screwdriver. Leave it alone overnight, then put your strap back on along with your new Strap Blocks. That should keep it from coming loose as often.

I largely agree with you. If I was even able and planning to spend that kind of money on an amp, I'd have other heads and cabs in mind- some of which even include IR's for speaker/cab and power-amp sims for DI connection. It looks to be a pretty cool amp, but I think that there are others that would suit me better.

PSA: By the way, I should have pointed out above that one drawback of the rubber-washer style strap-holders, and perhaps the ONLY real drawback, is that they can and do loosen the strap-buttons and screws after repeated movement turning them from friction. I've had it happen, myself. I just keep an eye on that and snug the screws up now and then; and I'd replace them with Dunlop StrapLoks on any guitars that I was particularly attached to and used a lot.

There's a shallow outer flange; the typical installation would have that resting atop the surface of the guitar. However, if you're handy and do a more involved job counter-sinking that flange as well, you can get them very flush with the surface. Some of these examples I found look a little rough; I'd recommend using Brad Point drill-bits to avoid chipping and walking off-center. Someone mounted one on the neck-heel area of this guitar:

I absolutely love my Dunlop StrapLoks. They can be had in a number of plating finishes, including nickel, gold, brass, and black. They've kept my fairly heavy Les Paul safe for about 27 years now without any trouble whatsoever. The components that fasten to the strap-ends reliably stay put extremely well with spring-steel retainer clips. They're very streamlined, 'low-profile', and there are even Flush Mount models where the part that mounts on the body can be counter-sunk to be flush with the surface of the body (this requires additional drilling for the counter-sink, and a deeper hole drilled for the wood-screw). I do recommend applying just a tiny dab of lube like Tri-Flow with Teflon or Vaseline or the like on the Locking Pin and its ball-bearings, to prevent little squeaks and squeals as you move about that can ring through the pickups and your signal-output... I actually got one Flush Mount set and one Original set, so that I could mix 'em and counter-sink and flush-mount the tail-end StrapLok on two guitars, and have the Original style StrapLok 'button' standing tall from the surface of their bodies near the neck. This makes a small but actual difference in the center-of-gravity balance of the guitar as it hangs on the strap, and could help with some 'neck-heavy' guitars. OCD perfectionism, huh? Another great, simple, easy and cost-effective alternative for strap-retaining: rubber-washer types like Strap Stoppers, Strap Blocks, even the rubber gaskets from resealable bottles such as Grolsch Lager. I do recommend those actually marketed as guitar strap retainers by the likes of Fender, Ernie Ball, Levy's, etc. I once bought a large bag of brewer's gasket washers for beer bottles; they seemed like a very cost-effective solution, but when they arrived, they just did NOT stay on the strap buttons- they sprang off at the slightest move! I have some Jumbo Strap Stoppers on a couple of guitars and they're great. A long time ago, I had some Schaller Strap Locks on one guitar and its strap, and the parts on the strap-end fell apart and caused my guitar to take a dive. I understand that since then, Schaller may have corrected the design flaw that caused that to happen... I'd recommend that one use a tiny amount of Blue Loctite Threadlocker on the threads of ANY strap-retaining devices that use threaded fasteners. Those Schallers also had a tall "toggle" sticking out that was easy to catch on things, which I didn't care for.

I'll tell ya what, whichever such palm 'r pocket sized modeler/mfx device you choose, I would HIGHLY recommend a pair of AKG K92 headphones, despite their being full-sized. These and other previous, similar models from AKG over the years have long been a favorite of mine for enjoying guitar. They're light and very comfy, too. Currently (as I type) on sale at Sweetwater Sound.

"Servyve thae Manticores an we'll spaek o' thys agaen... " - From The Worm Ouroboros, by E. R. Eddison The book is delightfully archaic, idiosyncratic and distinctive, particularly in passages that are letters between characters in the story, one of which that "Manticores" line is from. Here's an excerpt from the beginning of the book: "That night Lessingham lay alone in the Lotus Room. Its casements opened eastward on the sleeping woods and the sleeping bare slopes of Illgill Head. He slept soft and deep; for that was the House of Postmeridian, and the House of Peace. In the deep and dead time of the night, when the waning moon peered over the mountain shoulder, he woke suddenly. The silver beams shone through the open window on a form perched at the foot of the bed: a little bird, black, round-headed, short-beaked, with long sharp wings, and eyes like two stars shining. It spoke and said, "Time is." So Lessingham got up and muffled himself in a great cloak that lay on a chair beside the bed. He said, "I am ready, my little martlet." For that was the House of Heart's Desire. Surely the martlet's eyes filled all the room with starlight. It was an old room with lotuses carved on the panels and on the bed and chairs and roof-beams; and in the glamour the carved flowers swayed like water-lilies in a lazy stream. He went to the window, and the little martlet sat on his shoulder. A chariot coloured like the halo about the moon waited by the window, poised in air, harnessed to a strange steed. A horse it seemed, but winged like an eagle, and its fore-legs feathered and armed with eagle's claws instead of hooves. He entered the chariot, and that little martlet sat on his knee. With a whirr of wings the wild courser sprang skyward. The night about them was like the tumult of bubbles about a diver's ears diving in a deep pool under a smooth steep rock in a mountain cataract. Time was swallowed up in speed; the world reeled; and it was but as the space between two deep breaths till that strange courser spread wide his rainbow wings and slanted down the night over a great island that slumbered on a slumbering sea, with lesser isles about it: a country of rock mountains and hill pastures and many waters, all a-glimmer in the moonshine. They landed within a gate crowned with golden lions. Lessingham came down from the chariot, and the little black martlet circled about his head, showing him a yew avenue leading from the gates. As in a dream, he followed her." - E. R. Eddison, from 'The Induction', The Worm Ouroboros

Oh, it's definitely NOT something that I would use frequently; quite rarely, at that. But there are times when I would very much like some weird late-night-in-a-moving-car AM radio weirdness, and this seems poised to deliver. I just might get one, albeit not right away. While I did know that- and quite possibly due to your having pointed that out before- I do appreciate the PSA!

That's really great. I'm glad for you! I've seen Derek Trucks with the DTB years ago, and Derek and Susan with the TTB, so I know you all caught a GREAT concert. And there's nothing like seeing your favorites! Haahh! What went around, came around... Good.

Now... for my own Year-So-Far post here, it's been a year of fantastically good turnarounds from what began several times as terrible news! With some CRAZY luck, both good and bad, along the way... Among other things, I found out that I'd unknowingly had several heart attacks, at least one of which was described as "what is often referred to as a 'Widow Maker', but you survived it somehow... " Associated pain receptors weren't functioning, so while I damn well knew that something was very wrong, I misinterpreted it, and kept trying to drag myself to and through work for about a month before seeing someone at an Urgent Care Facility... where they rapidly became very serious and requested that I get to a hospital immediately. Trying to make a long story short, remember my mention of crazy luck? While at the first of two hospitals that I stayed at for a bit, certain specific surgeries were suggested, that they told me I would have to be transferred to another hospital for. I found out just before I left the one for the other that this first hospital had lost their certification to do those and other related surgeries and procedures, and that was why I was being transferred. The Head Surgeon at the second hospital was clearly angry as he informed me that "they had no business telling you that", that the proposed surgeries would certainly have had me dead on the operating table or very soon thereafter for very specific reasons, and then went over the still very serious but more viable surgical-procedures and aggressive medication plans that they recommended there. He informed me that a large muscle in my heart (forgive my forgetting its specific name!) WAS "95% DEAD"... ! He was also very serious and very plain and clear about the realistic chances of things going wrong in that scenario and his not liking the odds, but is was still a much, MUCH better plan of action! While there, I adopted the motto, "Moving FORWARD, NOT downward"... Crazy luck? I was informed that the three blood-supply arteries that I'd been born with for my heart were terribly puny and barely up to their tasks even at their freshest and youngest. People generally have three of those, but usually much better than mine. And... that at some point, my heart had grown a fourth, larger and healthier artery to supply my heart with blood. I had NO idea that such a thing was possible! All four were blocked with calcite deposits. The three OEM arteries were so puny and fragile that the Surgeons did not want to touch them at all; but they planned to drill through the calcite in the fourth bonus artery, and place stents in that and another artery. Crazy luck? Late at night before my surgical procedures, there was a crazy lightning storm with crazy sideways lightning and cracking thunder. This caused a fire in another part of the sprawling hospital. This in turn caused electrical fires and damages, a power outage for a while with backup-generators powering only the most essential systems while the lights, air conditioning and ventilation were down. That all came back online hours before my procedures... While on the table for the first of two procedures, the computer control interface for the massively enormous machine that was involved failed, just as that first procedure was being finished. There was another in a large adjoining room- but when they opened the door, even I felt the heat from there, and they immediately concluded that, due to whatever was going on as a result of the lightning-strikes and fires, that machine wasn't going to be of any use. Fortunately, there was at least one more third "room", that seemed normally cool and functional. I was carefully detached and lifted by a team of four Assistants/Techs and the two Surgeons, and whisked away to that one, where the second of my two procedures was successfully completed... !! As I type, as of the last follow-up appointment, my heart is doing FANTASTICALLY, all my stats are EXCELLENT, that large muscle in my heart that was "95% dead" is now "99% healthy"... I continue daily to take quite a number of pills, all of which seem to be working excellently with nearly zero bad side affects... Moving FORWARD, NOT downward... I get to continue being with my beloved Elizabeth. 💫💙💖💜✨ I had surgery on my Left eye last week, and will have the same on my Right eye on the 17th; so far, it's helped my vison TREMENDOUSLY. (Hehhehh... I just realized that I capitalized Left and Right due to my often enough referring to L and R I/O... ! ) I should be able to return to work and be able to do my job, which was in serious doubt before. I may even be able to drive again, after having my License suspended for a long time due to my failing vision. I'll also be able to do the remaining drilling, wiring and soldering for my long delayed Fiender Telebastard guitar project... ! What a year... Mostly good. REALLY good.

I'm very glad that you'll be sticking around, Skip! As am I. I hope that we don't lose any of the Regulars and Old Timers... I like 'seeing' EVERYONE here'bouts... ! As it is, I was already voluntarily paying- and this new plan costs less than half of what I had been shelling out! Oh, Skip. I'm so sorry for your losses. Wow! Twists and turns, and fortunately, some for the better! That's awesome! That's great! Mostly good, some very good, and I'm glad to hear it, my friend! May Nemo gracefully surprise you and everyone with happy longevity and more and more good memories in the making. You know I've 'been there', can really relate, know how it can be... So much love and goodness. The hard parts are so very hard. That's fantastic! Literally and figuratively. Congratulations! EXCELLENT! I'm very glad for you! And can relate to an extent. I'm so sorry for your loss! And I know all too well how that can be. I'm glad for the new addition to your family, glad for you and for your other dog friend and the new one. I haven't gigged in waaay too long, and really want to get back to some more of it... The advent of decent Digital Modeling and IR's for DI and FRFR cabs will certainly be taking some of the heavier lifting and lugging out of that equation from time to time!

I think this belongs here... The Freq and Fizz controls (especially Freq) elicit sounds reminiscent of AM radio drifting in and out of reception in a car moving through the night... "It uses a 567 Tone Decoder chip. They were used for old telephony stuff, detecting/deciphering the frequencies of dial tones and routing calls. It's being dreadfully misused here to create a ring modulator, and overdiven to produce gnarly glitchy mayhem/ robotic modem sounds. The filter knob ("Fizz") gives a very satisfying sweep, allowing for pinpoint tone control, while the "Dry" knob lets you dial it back to reality a bit with a clean blend, or go all out on the chaos Independent wet and dry volume knobs Variable 2-pole filter Adjustable ring modulator"

Safe travels!

Apparently an upgraded/enhanced version of the Keeley I Get Around...