My midnight snack tonight was a snifter of mezcal, followed by a snifter of tequila. Been a rough week in a rough month in a rough year, but it hasn't all been bad - Just stressful. Due to work and personal obligations I've not had as much time to practice guitar or think about music as much as I probably should (I've wound up canceling about half my lessons in the last month.) But I still measure what I consider serious progress with the instrument whenever I do get a chance to practice - I might have to reward myself with a new(ish) G&L at some point if it keeps up.
PickguardsYes or no? I used to be 'no' all the way, but lately my picking style seems to be getting more aggressive - and I'm leaning more 'Yes.' I'm wondering if I'll always freak out whenever I play my F100 now. I'm glad most G&L models at various points have been offered with/without.
First AmpLately I've been nostalgic for the early 2000s (around the time I was in high school,) which basically means I'm seeing a lot of things through rose-colored glasses. An example: I keep checking eBay for my first amp:
*This* was a piece of crap; the first iteration of the Line 6 Spider. I asked my dad for it as a birthday present in I think 2001 (probably after seeing an ad somewhere.) When he brought it home, Dad mentioned how many people at Guitar Center seemed envious. These people probably knew what sarcasm is, or modeling amp expectations were far lower. It didn't necessarily sound
bad when you just wanted to make a guitar-ish sort of sound; it was somewhat mushy, but not insurmountable. The big issue with the amp is it made everything sound the same - By which I mean, there was hardly a difference between the neck pickup and the bridge pickup when played through this amp; there was hardly a difference between any two guitars. The amp seemed to do something really similar to triggering a sample of guitar sound when it heard any input from your pickups.
Still, it felt quality with damped knobs and decent construction (although it did break once.) I almost never use an amp nowadays, and mostly play through modeling software so it's remarkable how far we've come - What was your first amp? Do you ever get nostalgic for it?
First CarAnother item my dad gave me in 2001 - A 1998 V6 Camaro, with a 5 speed. A few days ago I got somewhat steamed over seeing something like a three year old Camaro in a high school parking lot (spoiled brat,) until I realized that back in 2001 I was basically that guy. Except back in 2001 , V6 Camaro were ungodly slow (not that any faster would have been a good idea,) and felt like an *old* car in the age of The Fast and the Furious. Worse - My dad gave it to me because he got himself a new Corvette to replace it with. The Camaro obviously paled in comparison and I sold it a couple years later to buy something so embarrassing and so much of a disappointment that I will not mention it here.
Here's probably the only time I washed it:
...Anyway, I wasn't so delusional about this car as I was about the Line 6 - I knew there was good to be had in the Camaro that I missed seeing in 2001 , but in a nostalgic fit I elected to get a 2000 Z28 6 speed instead
I guess I'm somewhat early for a mid-life crisis, but after someone totaled my 2004 Corvette Z06 I wanted something of similar character I could worry about less. It's about everything I could want in a car, at 1/5th the cost of another Z06 . Though I do still somewhat miss the basketball-sized shift knob on the old green one (the Hurst short throw shifter in this car is actually better than the Corvette's.)
Do you get nostalgic for your first car? Would you buy another?
MusicThe other week we went to Doheny beach to see the Offspring, the Descendents and whatever Black Flag is nowadays. I'm not a huge punk fan, but it was actually an awesome show (perfect California beach weather, craft beer, luchadores and tacos.)
The Descendents put on a great show in particular - I only ever had passing familiarity, but I was really pretty impressed. Here's a song that stuck with me for a bit:
Last edited by Danley on Fri May 03, 2019 11:23 am, edited 1 time in total.