Winston Psmith

Not certain how obscure it is, but 1,000 Clowns with Jason Robards has long been one of my favorite films. The opening sequence alone had a great influence on me, early in life, and Murray (Robards) is perhaps my most-loved tragic hero. Yes, tragic. Watch and decide for yourself. FWIW, in later years, I came to love how this film depicts the city I grew up in, at the time I was growing up. It's true, you can't go home again, but sometimes, you can see what it looked like.

@skipclone 1 - There's an antique, perhaps Medieval Stringed Instrument, the name of which I can't recall, that had an absurdly long Bass string, or course of strings?

Had not seen any of JK's video posts previously, but damn, he reminds me of the late Ed Roman, except Ed saved most of his venom for the industry. I would think some of those videos, even without commentary, would serve as a warning to anyone thinking of buying a Kiesel Instrument.

With my solid-body Electrics, I try to keep them so the Neck PU is more or less over my Solar Plexus, what Martial Arts practitioners would consider the center of Chi. FWIW, it feels like the shortest path for energy to travel, as if I were projecting my strength directly out of my body through the Guitar. Having your Guitar slung down below your belt buckle means wasting a LOT of energy just reaching for the thing. Unless you can scratch your kneecaps without having to bend down even a little - go ahead, try it - probably not the best position. Having it tucked up under your chin does much the same thing; you waste a lot of energy, and blood flow, holding your hands up above your heart. Fine if you play Arco Strings or Bluegrass Mandolin, not so good if you have a Les Paul, or a deep-body Acoustic.

@Scott Fraser- A few years back, we went to what was being billed as the "Meeting Of The Spirits" Tour, with John McLaughlin and Jimmy Herring. At the time, we were told it would also be McLaughlin's farewell tour, because, as he put it, he felt that his hands could no longer do what his head and his heart wanted. It seems that he's found some serious relief, if not restoration, because his fingers were on fire last night.

John McLaughlin & Shakti, live, last night, with Bela Fleck doing a solo opening set. Words fail, truly. Hearing Bela Fleck play Gershwin's entire "Rhapsody In Blue" on a 5-string Banjo was just one highlight of an extraordinary evening. McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain are no less amazing to hear, and watch, after all this time. In stark contrast to many recent concerts, I barely saw a smartphone in evidence anywhere. The audience seemed to understand, even expect, that we were there to witness something beyond mere entertainment. At risk of bringing religion, or something like it, into the Forum, I have to say that it was impossible to see and hear those five men performing together, and not feel that they were in touch with something MUCH greater than themselves, call it Music, call it God, call it whatever you like, IDK, and I don't really need to define it, I am just grateful to have been there to share in the experience. For gear heads, myself included, McLaughlin seems to have a new PRS Private Stock Guitar - it's one I hadn't seen on any of the previous tours - and it appears as though he's added a Synth PU of some kind(?), since he first got the Guitar. From where I sat, it looks a lot like the new Roland GK5, and it doesn't show up in early photos of the Guitar, nor in the limited-edition run of 200 John McLaughlin Private Stock PRS Guitars. Yes, you can order one of your very own, for just under $15,000. If I had the $$$, maybe, but somehow, I don't think I could make it sound quite like he does . . .

Back in the Spring, Laurie Anderson presented an exhibition of "Lou Reed's Guitars" at the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden in D.C., where she accompanied the controlled feedback sound with her Violin, and told stories. There was also a gentleman playing what appeared to be Taiko Drums, and a very tiny wooden flute, which he played as he moved through the audience. Extraordinary . . . I saw a number of EM friends I hadn't seen since 2019-early 2020, and it was, in many ways, a healing experience, being out in the daylight, soaking up sound. She stayed for hours, and then took time to greet everyone who wanted to stop and thank her. A great talent, and a generous spirit.

I recently ordered some supplies from Sweetwater, and was tracking my package via UPS. Estimated delivery date was 8/10, all good. On the morning of the 10th, I looked to see where my package was, and the site showed a delivery date of 8/9(?!?), saying that my package had been delayed. It took a bit of digging on my part to find that there was now a USPS tracking number for my package, which showed up on the 11th. For whatever reason, UPS had transferred my package to the Postal Service. This has happened more than once, and while the package is being transferred between services, it usually drops off of ALL the tracking sites. which is nerve-wracking, and annoying. Ghosts in the machine . . .

I've played out in the D.C. Summer heat, and never had the adhesive on the Velcro give out like that. I have to wonder how the circuits and solder joints in your pedals are liking that heat treatment?

@skipclone 1- Probably around 2001-2002. A better way to find out would be to look at the serial #, and check it against the Epiphone Guitar Dater It's sometimes called the "Aviator" logo. Epiphone was using that logo/label on some of their entry-level models. Here's someone selling a neck(?) off of a bolt-on Epi LP. Epiphone neck w/Aviator logo

A little intro. Back in the mid-80's, I worked in a nightclub, getting off work at 2 AM, and going to bed sometime before the Sun came up. Despite being largely nocturnal, I was planted in front of the television in the morning, to watch "Pee-wee's Playhouse." It wasn't just a fun, wacky show, it was truly subversive. Kids were getting up in the morning and being exposed to the Music of people like Todd Rundgren, Mark Mothersbaugh, and even The Residents!?! There was a picture of J.R. "BOB" Dobbs on the wall, another clue that this wasn't just a kiddie show. The world that Pee-wee inhabited wasn't just imaginary, it was hallucinatory. Almost everything in the Playhouse was alive, and when all else fail, he had a Genie in a box who could make everything right again. Of course he was strange. Comedians are generally complex personalities, to put it kindly, and to stay "in character" for pretty much all of their public life has to be exhausting, if it's not exhilarating. Rest in peace, Paul and Pee-wee, and thanks for helping me laugh through the 80's.

That signed Mini is a treasure unto itself! +1 on using Delay with MonoSynths! I've used a Boss GT-1 MFX with my MonoLogue, BSII, and Neutron, and I much prefer it for Synth over Guitar. It allows you to stack/chain up to 4 Delay effects. The Tera Echo effect adds some very cool Filter-like textures to the Echo effect, and the Chorus makes for a very useful Stereoizer effect, even with the Rate and Depth dials way back.

I subscribed to EM from the early 90's until I got a notice informing me that I was holding the last physical copy of EM that I was going to get, because they were switching to an all-digital format. I'm a bit of an anachronism, in that I like having hard copies of my reference materials, books, gear manuals, magazines, etc.. Somehow, it seemed as though I was supposed to be grateful that I'd be getting a monthly email installment, instead of the physical magazine I'd subscribed to and paid for. The phrase "Bait-&-Switch" comes to mind, and I cancelled as soon as I got that notice. When they screwed up my long-time subscription to Guitar Player, and then had a manager give me grief over the phone for requesting a missing copy, I was done.

Glad they found it, @surfergirl, let us know when it gets there! I've had the experience where a package disappeared from one tracking site because it had been transferred to another shipper. It was some arrangement between USPS and FedEx, IIRC, but it meant that I had no tracking info for several days.

Taking a minute now that I have my gear in order for tonight. Not exactly a day off, even if I'm not working. In no particular order . . . I find that I'm dialing back the Intensity control, which allows for a lot more flexibility in how I apply the sustained tones. Once I've had time to really set up the Guitar, I expect I'll find a setting that responds the way I want. Much the same thought regarding the Tone control. I suspect it was designed that way with good reason, and once I've had some more time with this Guitar, I'll have good use for it. Otherwise, my week has been crazy enough that I've barely had time to experiment with it, or do much of anything. Early arrival and set-up time today, which means the rest of my day is running a little tight. Tomorrow starts a whole new session of circling round to various clients' houses, tending and watering their gardens while they're away for the hottest part of our Summer. No rest for the wicked . . . Still have things to do here, so Happy Saturn's Day, all!

Really, I got this a week ago, but I've been too busy to really sit down with it, much less post about it. It's a Schecter Blackjack SLS C-1 S "Hell's Gate" Guitar - I know, it sounds more like a product code than a name for a Guitar Model, but that seems to be a tendency among some builders. It's a double-cutaway Solid-body, Mahogany body, carved Mahogany cap, 3-piece Maple neck, Ebony fretboard, 3-on-a-side Schecter locking tuners, Tonepros T.O.M.-style bridge, string-thru-body design (no accursed FR!!!!), a Duncan Full Shred in the Bridge position and a Duncan Sustainiac in the Neck position!!! It also came with a fitted Schecter HSC. I didn't need another 6-string, at least, not another conventional 6-string, but I have been looking for a Sustainer-equipped Guitar for a lo-o-ong time. They don't turn up often, and even then, they've generally been more than I could afford at the time. Of course, there's a story that goes with it, but let me continue with the Guitar, itself. If someone had given me a blank sheet of paper, to write down what I'd want in a solid-body Guitar, it wouldn't have been much different from this Schecter. It's matte Black, Black being my favorite color for solid-body Electrics, just as Mahogany is my favorite tone wood. Given a choice of fretboard materials, Ebony would be my first choice, with Rosewood my second, and I've always loved the sound of Duncan PU's. I might have preferred a Fine-tuning tailpiece to the string-thru-body design, but I'll gladly take string-thru-body over a Floyd, or any Trem system, any time! Lest I forget, it has a 24-fret neck with a 25.5-inch scale. It has one Volume and one Tone control, plus an "Intensity" control for the Sustainiac. I'm not at all certain just what the "Intensity' control is attenuating, but it can be dialed back to "Zero", with no Sustain coming through. There's an On/Off mini-toggle switch for the Sustainiac, plus a 3-way mini-toggle that switches from the Fundamental to 2 slightly different Harmonic modes. I've read that the Sustainiac is also supposed to be an Active PU, but I didn't notice any issues playing it without a battery installed? The Tone control is interesting, in that it goes all the way down to the muddiest, wooliest "mud-bucker" tone I have ever heard. Presumably, this is intended to tame some of the highs from the Sustainiac? In any case, it makes for a very wide range of tones from this Guitar. I terms of feel, it's . . . I'm not sure how to describe this? It doesn't feel like a Guitar that will allow for, nor forgive, sloppy, careless playing. Maple+Ebony makes for a very stable neck, but they're also hard woods. It makes me want to pull out my Mahavishnu transcriptions, and see what I can do with it. The neck joint is very nicely done, and feels almost like a neck-thru-body design. The "Hell's Gate" refers to a very nicely done Skull inlay at the 12th fret, the only ornamentation anywhere on the fretboard. I think it has a sort of Art Deco feel to it, really, there's nothing particularly infernal about it, but one has to consider the target market, I suppose, which is clearly the Metal realm. Ah, yes, the Sustainiac; it's well named, in every regard. Have you ever seen a newbie sitting astride a motorcycle, when they grab the throttle for the first time, and the bike almost takes off without them? That's what this thing feels like. Flip that little switch, and ALL the strings start vibrating, all at once. Unlike the E-Bow technique, where you're trying to position the E-Bow in order to trigger the string you want to drive, with the Sustainiac, it's a matter of figuring out how to control, or even mute, anything but the notes you're trying to sustain. That "Intensity" control will quickly become a good friend, I can already tell. I still have to tweak some things on it, adjusting the string height, balancing the PU's, but mainly, I need to work on a Sustainer technique. This is the closest thing to having a Guitar come alive in my hands., something with a mind of its own, and its own voice, besides. I have found that it lends itself very nicely to a two-handed technique, where the placement of my hands also serves to help mute some of the open strings. This is going to be very interesting. As I said at the outset, there's a story that goes with it, but I'll leave it for later. I figured most of us would be more interested in the Guitar. In the meantime, we have a Novparolo show tomorrow evening, so I'm pulling gear together for that. Until later . . .

At that price, I might have to order one . . .

Seems to me that completely rewiring a Guitar of that quality should be the last step, but that's just me . . . Have to agree with @Caevan O’Shite regarding balanced cables. At best, you're not likely to get any improvement, at worst, you'll have spent money on cables that will be of no use at all. Also have to agree that certain amount of noise is normal, even with HB's, and that having the noise level drop when you touch the jack or the strings, is also common. Try touching the bridge or tailpiece, you'll likely hear much the same result. Failing everything else, I'd run the Guitar through a Parametric EQ, either into your Amp, or direct to the Mac, and see if I could identify and notch out the frequency band causing the noise. That's more of a diagnostic approach than a cure-all, but it's a start. Best of luck!

Sorry to bring down the tone of the discussion but there is no one-size-fits-all-best-beginner-Guitar. I say that as someone who used to sell Guitars, and selecting the right Guitar for anyone is, well, a highly personal matter. OTOH, you will get a lot of useful recommendations in here, as far as different Guitars to try out, and why different players like them Some questions about hats. No, sorry, that's a song title . . . Some things to think about - Does the person have small hands, or short fingers? They may find a Fender scale a little uncomfortable, for example. They should also probably look for a narrow nut width, maybe a narrow neck radius. What kind of Music do they want to play? Sure, you can play the Blues, or even Metal, on a Nylon-string A/E Guitar, but really . . . What feels comfortable to play, even if it's not the Guitar they may have had in mind. Les Pauls are a lot lighter than they used to be, more like Teles, but a 9-pound Guitar slung over your neck is still 9 pounds. A semi-hollow may give you some weight relief, but the bodies tend to be wider than most planks. You could easily fit an SG body inside my DOT. How easy is it to maintain? A Guitar with a Floyd and active PU's s very different from a Tele-inspired design, or a semi-hollow, and so on. I remember a couple of students who thought they'd seriously broken their Guitars the first time they took all of the strings of off a Guitar with a T.O.M. bridge & stop-bar tailpiece, and ALL of the hardware fell off! In short, Try-It-Before-You-Buy-It applies here. If there really were One True Universal Guitar, we'd all have it (except for a few dedicated contrarians) and there'd be no need to wonder which make, and what model. I'm in the used camp, as far as bang-for-the-buck, but maybe a beginning player will want to start out with a brand-new Guitar, one that's completely their own. There's nothing wrong with that, and honestly, it's not a bad idea. You're not inheriting someone else's problems, or odd choices. ("Why did they put a strap button there?") New or used, I would suggest getting the best Guitar they can reasonably afford. You can pour a lot of money into a "cheap" Guitar, trying to make it into something it isn't. Better to have a Guitar they'll grow into and keep, rather than one they'll quickly outgrow, and need to replace.

I just wanted to hear this one this morning . . . Fall From Grace

@surfergirl- My bandmate recently picked up a Jackery brand battery box for outdoor sets, and it worked very well for a show early in June. I'll check with her later today, see what model it was.

I'll keep this one short . . . Not long ago, my bandmate ordered a little battery-powered Amp as a present for me. Nothing fancy, an entry-level mass-market product, under $100US. The Amp was DOA, due to leaking batteries, so I wrote the company, to let them know. I was put in touch with a real person, who made certain that I got a working Amp, though it took more than one replacement. All this, like I said, for a product that sells for under $100US on the retail market. Some companies want to keep us happy, I guess. That line about, "Oh, you got the White Guitar?" is really the key. More than one responsible person knew they'd shipped the wrong Guitar, and instead of getting in touch to make things right, they made it your problem to deal with. I have to wonder who's been waiting for that White Guitar, and if they've gotten a full refund, too? Hell of a way to run a custom-build shop.

No videos, but . . . My garden is changing, again. All the Spring blooms are long done, the Lilacs, Azaleas, and all the Spring bulbs, so the color palette is changing from Pinks, White and Purple, to cool Blues and soft Whites. The last of this season's Raspberries are done, but Goliath, our Fig Tree, is already setting fruit, so I have a short break between picking seasons. when the Berries, or the Figs, are coming, I pick twice a day, and often get enough off the Fig Tree to bring fresh Figs to a nearby restaurant. For now, it's time to clean up the Raspberry bed. I took some divisions from a favorite White Hydrangea back in the Spring of 2020, and now I have them blooming right behind a couple of Lavenders, and an odd native bush that another landscaper gave me, but which I haven't identified as yet. I was told it was a native Butterfly Bush, but? Small, pale blue flowers that look like little powderpuffs; all the pollinators love it, and so do the Hummingbirds. Every season, my big Hardy Hibiscus is the last to return, not even showing new growth until May or so. It gets to be 3-4 feet tall, with four or five stalks that put out dinner plate-sized blooms in mid-Summer, white with red centers. I tend to avoid bright red flowers, because IMHO, the strong reds just emphasize the often oppressive heat and humidity of a Washington area Summer. for the reason, I prefer cooler colors, blues, purples, pale pinks, or even white. The white Hydrangeas bring some light into an area where the sunniest parts of my backyard meet the shadiest parts, and form a kind of border between the two sections. I also have a simple stone pathway, dividing the two areas. To paraphrase an ancient teaching, one can never step into the same garden twice. Change is a constant, the only constant, as it were. Time to go dig in the dirt . . .

STRING WINDER!!! The guy who sold me my first String Winder, back in the 80's, told me, "This will save you hours of useful life!" He wasn't exaggerating. I have one in every Guitar case, another in my Guitar toolbox, and at least one spare in a drawer somewhere. One other thing I'd add to that list would be some kind of in-case Humidifier, maybe more than one per case, depending on what it's like where you live. For our live shows, I carry a small gear bag, with the following - Extra cables, in several lengths (3 foot, 6 foot, 10-15 foot braided cable) Power Strip & extension cord *Cable tester (FWIW, I test all of my cables the night before a show, but "One Never Knows, Do One?") Small tool kit (Wire Cutters, Pliers, Philips & Flat-head screwdrivers, Hex/Allen Wrenches as needed, Flashlight) Extra batteries, depending on what your gear may use. *I'm often surprised by how few of my Musician friends have any kind of Cable tester, considering how dependent we are on our various cable connections?!?

This one is pretty much for members in and around the mainland U.S., and parts of Canada. Not looking to exclude anyone, but you'll see . . . I've been having a pretty good season of landscape work, after a perfectly lousy Winter: "The Sound Of Things Falling Apart", as Devo's old motto went. At any rate, the last few days, going out to tend to my landscaping work, the air has been pretty nasty. Yesterday was right on the line between Code Red and Code Purple, for air quality; not a good thing, overall. I don't work with a mower/blower crew, so I'm not hauling my own personal pollution engine around with me during the day, but still . . . In every other regard, yesterday should have beeline of those rare, perfect early Summer days, mid to upper 70's, sunny, the kind of day where people should call in to work and say they're too well to waste the day indoors. Instead, we got Code Red warnings, and people wearing N95 masks to go outdoors. Today, it's even worse. I went to let my dogs out around 6 AM, well before morning rush hour begins, and the air smelled like burning tires. I could see low-lying smoke everywhere, and the Sun was a perfectly round, red-orange ball, dim enough that I could look straight at it without any discomfort. Even now, more like 8 AM, it's pretty hazy out, and while the Sun is somewhat brighter, it still looks more like late afternoon/early evening than morning. Several people interviewed in the morning paper compared it to Mars. I'll have to take their word for it. FWIW, D.C. doesn't really have much in the way of heavy industry. Throughout much of the Spring, the pollen count was high enough to rate a mention in the evening Weather report. I expect a lot of closures and cancellations today, and we're not in the worst of it. So, how's the air wherever you are right now?