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Post by grampalerxst on Jul 23, 2023 14:12:25 GMT -6
Hey guys,
Sorry I missed the last couple. All has been well mostly. I did have an incident back in 4th of July week where I got caught in a squall in my fishing kayak and got flipped. The financial setback was a little painful but I was uninjured and my life was never really in danger. Just some fishing gear and related is now sleeping with the fishes and it'll take about the cost of a fairly nice guitar to get back fully operational. I'm back home in Illinois for a week or so getting all that squared away and checking in on my dad, etc.
Speaking of guitars, I've been in contact with the guy who is refretting my AT100. He's had it for about 15 months now, but it is finally done. Says it turned out really well. We were talking about trying to get it shipped last week so I'd be here to receive it, but I won't be here long before I go back, and it would be a challenge (sometimes things go temporarily AWOL in transit). He said if I wanted to wait and have him ship it in October when I'm back home for the year, there was a chance he could get something else neat done to it in the mean time, which ended my vacillating about it. So I'll get it back after I return in the fall. Hope to have an update on that in the coming months.
As far as playing, the last couple weeks has been slow. The kayak mishap had me out of sorts for a week or so, then had a couple weeks of being fairly busy with projects around the cabin--fun stuff like digging up and moving big rocks and filling the craters with sand to give me a relatively smooth patch of ground on which to pull the yak out of the water. Through the time I played more days than not, still mostly working on the old classic rock songs I'd made my summer project. All are coming along but it's now clear I probably won't have any of them completely nailed by the end of September. They're all teaching me new finger tricks and it's kinda nostalgic to be messing with songs that were on the radio when I was 12 years old or younger. So I just have fun and keep at it.
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Post by jack1982 on Jul 23, 2023 16:16:43 GMT -6
Glad to hear you survived your boat mishap Grampa, I think you need a bigger boat  I had an okay week, working on "Unchained." Eddie's guitar sound is pretty much impossible to duplicate - he's got this rich, thick bottom end and crystal clear highs. Lots of distortion but very smooth; not a trace of harshness to it. I wasted all weekend trying to get somewhere in the ballpark lol. I suppose I've got an adequate take of the rhythm part, and I've recorded the solo but I'm not at all happy with it. The outro lead part still needs to be done. Having fun with my new Kramer guitar, though it needs a new volume pot. When you turn the knob from 10 down to 2, the volume drops to about 80%. From 2 to 1, it drops to maybe 50%. From 1 to 0.99 it turns off completely. So I've got a couple new pots arriving tomorrow (might a well replace both while I'm at it.) Well hope you guys are all doing well |
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Post by Phil on Jul 23, 2023 17:53:35 GMT -6
Grampa: Good to have you back with us. Happy to hear you didn't get hurt in the kayak mishap. A couple of weeks ago we had a short discussion about working out. I mentioned that I started exercising again after 10 years of not doing any formal exercise. I was hoping for some input from you since you are an ex-crossfitter if I remember correctly. Are you currently doing any type of regular exercise?
Jack: I'm sure you'll end up doing a good job on your latest project.
I've been playing at a bare minimum. Like I mentioned before, whenever I get serious about exercise the guitar gets neglected. I guess it's because I get obsessed with watching kettlebell and mobilty videos and reading about technique, etc., etc. Hopefully, once I get into a regular routine I'll get back to focusing on guitar.
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Post by grampalerxst on Jul 24, 2023 5:21:07 GMT -6
Thanks, Jack. Good luck on the pot swapping project. I think I missed the Kramer story. Did you get the guitar new, or pick it up used?
Phil, thanks. The short answer to your question is yes. The longer answer is that being up at my summer hideout kind of disrupts the routine, so if you mean right now during say the month of July, then it's been somewhat irregular and blends with general outdoor activity more so than being a, "Oh, it's 800AM on Monday, time for X, Y, and Z." I did do Crossfit for a couple years a number of years back. The routine I picked up at the start of 2023 is much gentler on an older dude's body than Crossfit was but was informed by Crossfit experience. It's a subject I'm always happy to talk about so if you have a specific topic fire away.
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Post by jack1982 on Jul 24, 2023 7:36:32 GMT -6
Grampa, yeah got a new geetar  Kramer SM-1 with neck-thru-body and a nice ebony fretboard. Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge and "cool rails" (humbuckers) in the neck and middle. I figured that since I'm playing some Van Halen tunes, well Eddie played a Kramer (at one time) so I needed to get one lol. And I've got a birthday coming up next moth and I haven't bought a new guitar in a long time and and and  |
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Post by grampalerxst on Jul 24, 2023 10:27:13 GMT -6
Sweet, Jack. Yeah, I associate the Kramer head stock with EVH more than anyone. Just kind of a shame you got a cruddy pot on a new guitar. The AT100 I mentioned also has the rail-style neck and middle, the DiMarzio "bridge cruiser" iirc, although in the bridge it's got a traditional style humbucker. Not familiar with the cool rails, but I like the DiMarzio for a change of pace from SCs and I imagine yours are generally similar.
Reminds me I haven't bought a new guitar in quite some time ...
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Post by bluesbruce on Jul 24, 2023 11:22:40 GMT -6
Sorry to be late to the show (again!). I got back from Colorado late Saturday, and had to drive to our lake place, and back again, yesterday (as well as drive the boat around some, as it's been in the shop all summer). So I've been on guitar hiatus all week. Phil, I've noted the same phenomenon before, as well: when I get more serious about exercise, I seem to lay off guitar playing. It's never made much sense to me, either, especially now that I am retired (so I can't complain that there is only so much time available due to work). I did record some video from the top of Hoosier Pass Loop on the continental divide - absolutely beautiful, but a camera just does not do it justice. It's not the same as playing some guitar, though, LOL!
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Post by Phil on Jul 24, 2023 21:06:18 GMT -6
... Phil, thanks. The short answer to your question is yes. The longer answer is that being up at my summer hideout kind of disrupts the routine, so if you mean right now during say the month of July, then it's been somewhat irregular and blends with general outdoor activity more so than being a, "Oh, it's 800AM on Monday, time for X, Y, and Z." I did do Crossfit for a couple years a number of years back. The routine I picked up at the start of 2023 is much gentler on an older dude's body than Crossfit was but was informed by Crossfit experience. It's a subject I'm always happy to talk about so if you have a specific topic fire away. I'm taking the fitness discussion to a separate thread since it's so far off topic. bluesyoucanuse.freeforums.net/post/18881/thread |
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Post by joachim on Jul 24, 2023 23:21:51 GMT -6
Jack, that's a beautiful guitar. Looking forward to a demo!
My practice was the same as usual, dabbing around some easy Jazz standards, playing with arpeggios, chord voicings, etc. Not much tangible progress, but I got some good practice time.
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