How is your health these days?
All in all, I’d say I’m doing better than I was a year ago. I’ve given up dairy, which is making my digestive system much happier. I seem to have more energy, and the doc was real happy with my last checkup. The fun factoid is—I’ve lost almost fifty pounds since the first of the year. I’m still WAY too heavy—morbidly obese is the medical term, but I’m slowly getting it down. I’m somewhat limited for exercise still, but I am doing more walking. When I get down a bit further, I can start into some resistance training, and hopefully that will help kick start my metabolism even more.
It’s actually been pretty easy, too! We’re just using a calorie counting app called “My Fitness Pal” on our smart phones. Miss Leslie has been doing it too, and I am so proud of her for sticking with it. She’s actually lost more than I have.
So who knows? Maybe by the end of next year, I can get a job as the new poster boy for Calvin Klein underwear! (Don’t hold your breath, though! LOL!!!)
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It was a bit of a struggle getting through the open mic last night with the sore back. Being a beautiful sunny day and a perfect, warm evening in the Pacific Northwest, turnout was light for the show, and only five performers on the bill. Some were decent—the one woman there had a lovely voice. But the guy who followed her played HORRIBLY out of tune—it was painful!
There was one young guy playing, still in his teens, that was very good, doing a killer version of McCartney’s “Blackbird”. A real talent.
I closed the show with four songs, leading off with “Hotel California” on my Takamine 12-string, and had everybody singing along. I switched over to my Martin DC Aura, played a couple of original tunes, and then closed with a Fleetwood Mac song from Christine McVie called “Over My Head”. I got a lot of nice compliments, and felt good about my performance. And…I won a very nice 20 Foot tweed wrapped Fender guitar cable as a door prize. Thank you Portland Music Company!
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Okay, here is a test…
How many guitar picks do you have on your person at this very moment?
Picks are a great way to experiment with your tone. I have been using the Dunlop gauged picks for years, and prefer 1,14 mm Gators, Tortex or Ultex in the standard Fender-style 351 shape. I try to use the same picks one my acoustics as my electrics.
But at the moment, I have….20 picks in my pocket and…8 Tortex in one of those little Dean Markley pick pocket thingies on my key ring.
I have: Gator (1), Delrin 500 (2), Clayton Ultrem 1.26mm (2), Dunlop Big Stubby 2.0 mm (1), V-Pick Switchblade (1), Ultex (3), Ultex Sharps (2), Tortex (5) and 2 of Jason Lollar’s promo picks made from pickup bobbin fiberboard. And lastly, I’m trying out one of Graph-Tech’s new picks made from their Tusq material.
The Tortex is my standard. I love the Gators ‘cause I don’t drop them, but lately they feel a little small to me. The Delrins are brighter, but don’t last as long—the Ultex are darker than the Tortex but wear like iron. The Lollar and the V-Pick are too thick for me but they are nice and bright. Big Stubbys are cool because of the slick surface, but I have trouble hanging on to them.
The Tusq and the Ultex Sharps are pretty interesting. Both are good sounding; the Tusq is nice and bright, and the Ultex Sharp has a brighter tone than the regular one. Perhaps these new challengers can knock off the Tortex as my favorite—we shall see.
Twenty picks in my pocket is a lot, even for me. But I should confess…I cheated. Yep, I cleaned out the sofa cushions this morning and rounded up the strays and put them in my pocket before I wrote the report. I guess I’ll take my inspiration for the Lunch Report wherever I can find it. LOL!
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And after enduring the off-key singer with the out-of-tune guitar last nite...
I’m using a Boss TU-3 on my pedal board these days. How about you? I have several tuners around. I know Will Ray collects them too. I’ve got a Strobo Stomp I use for setups, a Boss TU-12H that I take to jams, several of the little Korg CA-30s in some of my acoustic guitar cases, a Planet Waves near the sofa. I’ve got a TU-2 on my acoustic pedal board. There’s a new Planet Waves clip-on that I won in a contest that will go in my banjo case. I’ve still got my old circa 1975 Peterson Guitar Tuner, an AC-powered, LED strobe that is very, very accurate—but it is a big box. And I have a couple of those little PW strobe-tuner picks—handy as heck when I’m out guitar shopping. Amazing technology! And I’m sure I still have a couple of my old guitar pitch pipes, and a couple of tuning forks, too.
The Takamine and the DC Aura have built in tuners, a very nice feature--ESPECIALLY on the 12-string.
How are you getting in tune these days?
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One of my G&L Legacys has an Earvana nut installed. If you’re not familiar with these, they are a compensated nut, similar to the Buzz Feiten system. It seems to work fine, though it is a little odd for me to see the bridge saddles all lined up in a row. While they have a narrow version of the nut for Fender-style necks, the person who installed this one routed out the nut channel and used a wider version that is almost twice the width of the factory nut. Restoration would involve filling the groove with a strip of rosewood and then cutting a new groove and installing a new nut.
Do any of your guitars use the Earvana nut, the Buzz Feiten system or other brand of compensated nut? What do you think of these systems? Are they worthwhile--or a solution to a non-existent problem?
What do you think I should do with this guitar—leave it as it is, or restore it to a normal nut?
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That’s all I got for today, kids. Hope to see you tamale!
Bill
I'm working my way through a pack of the fat, green Dunlops. They give me indigestion. I should try some different ones to expand my horizons.
. I also have a chromatic tuner app on my phone called G-strings that does a good job in a pinch.
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