Sneak peek of the ill advised guitar purchase. Of course the real musician in the house had to check it out immediately.
Sneak peek of the ill advised guitar purchase. Of course the real musician in the house had to check it out immediately.
New pedal in the mail... maybe... 
I missed a hell of a deal on a project guitar last night. It was a Lotus DC a lot like this, except black:
It had the same double humbucker setup and bridge, but with more toggle switches. Based on the design, it was probably a MIJ model, too. It was only $20!!!! Missed by minutes. Not that I need another project or anything, but I thought it was a cool guitar, and I'm always on the lookout for cheap, cool projects.
That said, I think I may purge some of my guitars soon. There are a few that I'm not entirely in love with, and/or they need work I don't want to do. I'd rather group them together and flip them on something I'll actually play.
More details have emerged about the project Beat with Belew/Vai/Levin/Carey performing tracks from the King Crimson albums Discipline/Beat/Three of a Perfect Pair, and I though this sign in the background was rather appropriate.
Here's the full interview:
In reply to BoxheadTim :
C'mon man, what is it?!? You're killing us!
Not guitar exactly, but new gear inbound. Sold my 16 channel USB mixer to fund a real and proper digital interface. Going with a Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 because it should offer enough simultaneous in/outs, AND there's currently a $100 discount. Package includes some plugins and what I'm assuming are temporary or demo versions of pro tools and ableton.
Reconkid1 got himself a Line 6 stompbox for bass effects. Pretty neat piece of gear, to be honest. That still doesn't stop me from making fun of him for buying a piece of music gear that cost more than the last 3 trucks I purchased, combined...
The fact that I find cheap trucks like a dog finds fleas is entirely beside the point.
In reply to Recon1342 :
I've probably spent more on music gear than I have on my existing fleet of cars, but it'd be close. I've been buying music gear for longer.
In reply to DasAuto :
Sorry, this "life" thing got in the way a bit.
First, here's a better picture of the guitar. That thing is so late 80s Sunset Strip my hair starts poodling up by just looking at it:
And a closer photo of the headstock:
It's a Lag Rockline, ca 1990. It was advertised as a 1990 and I think this is mostly correct, but I don't think there is any information floating around that maps serial numbers to years. I managed to find the ad for another one that was advertised as a 1993 and had a serial number approximately 300 higher than this one, so we're definitely in the ballpark. They didn't make that many of the French luthier-made ones and AFAIK they're simply numbered sequentially.
Lag was/is a French manufacturer, although I think these days they're pretty much only making acoustic guitars, and IIRC most of the late electrics were made in China. They started in the early 80s and while they offered a couple of model lines that were mostly based on Strats, you could customize most of their models. An acquaintance of mine who was living in France and tried to make it in the music business there around that time was friends with one of the guitarists that did demos for Lag back then, and when he saw the photos of this one on my FB feed, he mentioned that a large number of these guitars were custom builds based on their "base" models. As to quality (and price), think US-made Jackson or Charvel from back then, just with a French accent. I remember their base model S/S/S Strat being the same or even slightly more expensive than a US-made Strat back then in Germany. Actually, the only reason I even knew about this brand was because the local music store a friend of mine and I frequented often carried them.
They come up for sale on Reverb in France pretty regularly in even wilder colour schemes, but I've never had the guts to pull the trigger on one and have it shipped over here. Nonwithstanding CITES and all that, I'm too afraid that it'll show up as expensive kindling. This one is the second(!) French made one I've seen for sale in the US in the last six or seven years, which gives you an idea of how rare they are over here. The first one I found in a secondhand music store in the SF Bay Area and it was really trashed, and while it was cheap - about a third of what I paid for this one - just trying to find some of the replacement parts would've been a nightmare. It still played well, though, which is a testament to their quality.
The later, Chinese made ones are much easier to find over here, but obviously don't have the same aura and collectibility as the French made ones.
I've not plugged this one in yet or even really played it "dry", but feeling and handling wise, it's your typical late 80s/early 90s shredmeister guitar. Slim fast neck - although not quite Ibanez two-chopsticks-glued-together thin - with a fretboard that has only a very mild radius. Of course it's got a Floyd, but this one is missing the wammy bar. Not looking forward to restringing it. Based on the other one I played which was a bit newer but still French made and a H/H as opposed to an H/S/H, all it needs is to be plugged into a JCM 800 cranked to 11 and it'll sound glorious. If I could play for toffee, that is.
They were obviously pretty popular in the French rock scene, and IIRC Phil Collen from Def Leppard played them for a while.
Two words: Snakeskin Burst. 
In reply to BoxheadTim :
Dude that's raaaaaaadddd
I work at the University of Illinois for the Main Library. We also maintain a number of Archives. One of them is the Sousa (as in Joh Phillip Sousa) it is the arechive of American Music. We have a new exibit.
For anyone growing up in American between the 1970s and 90s, Dan Fogelberg's music would have been on your play list. Some of his most recognized hits include "Longer" (1979), "Same Old Lang Syne" and "Leader of the Band" (both in 1981), and "Rhythm of the Rain" (1990).
Fogelberg was born and raised in Peoria, Illinois to musician parents. After graduating from high school in 1969, he attended the University of Illinois, majoring in theater arts and painting. He began performing as a solo acoustic player at "The Red Herring" in 1971 and was discovered by Irving Azoff, who became his promoter. Fogelberg's first solo recordings were made at the Red Herring as part of the University's folk festival in 1971.
Fogelberg’s favorite guitar, named "Buck" and temporarily loaned to the Sousa Archives for its Spaces Speak exhibition, was used almost exclusively for composing and recording purposes. Fogelberg likely played this “Dreadnought” guitar during his 1976 performance at the Virginia Theater and his 1981 and 1993 performances at the Assembly Hall. The guitar’s top is made of cedar, its sides and back are Indian rosewood, and its neck is mahogany with an ebony fingerboard and abalone inlays.
In the glass behind the Guitar is the Sal-Mar https://distributedmuseum.illinois.edu/exhibit/sal-mar_construction_/
We got a buch of neat E36 M3 here.
In reply to EricM :
That's awesome!
A couple of my band mates in 97-98 managed The Red Herring, so that was pretty much our home base. It was a cool place with a lot of history.
New music space is taking shape:
*3yo Olde English Bulldog for scale.
Carpet was a $30 "rubber backed" special from Amazon and not specifically a drum rug; it's very sparingly rubber-backed, but it seems to stay put when walking on it. If the drums dance around on it, I'll use it on the other side of the attic in the storage area to try and soak up some noise. That carpet is now $89 on there, so glad I caught a deal.
Speaking of noise, our contractor advised against using any sort of panels/wall coverings, as the soffit vents need to do their thing, so this will be a wide-open space. I have some ideas about what I can do to cut down on noise.
Hoping to be able to spend some time in the coming weeks cleaning everything and setting up all the drum stuff. It's been a year since I've been able to play them and I'm itching to get back at it.
Follow-up on my last post:
Got the drums mostly set up over the weekend. Still need to tune them a bit and clean some things here and there, but I'm mostly pleased with the setup. I may tweak things here and there, but I am loving having the extra space compared to what I had before. I did try playing, and acoustically, it's weird. Everything sounds a lot more dead than I would've figured; there's no echo or anything. The feel is way different than anticipated as a result. I may look into one of those acoustic walls to place in front of the kit to get better "imaging" from what I'm playing. All that said, I am really digging the vibe of the space. Going to spruce it up a bit with some stuff in the coming months.
The biggest thing other than finding a home for the guitars is HVAC. In the summer, it's going to get HOT up there. I plan on picking up a portable A/C unit and a big box fan to move air around, which should help out a lot. The soffit vents actually do a lot for airflow already, which is a surprise.
Practicing with other people is high on the list once we move back in full-time. I may have my nephews down to jam once I figure out where I can put the guitars.
Feels good to be back!
For comparison, here's the same kit in my old space:
Without a doubt, I much prefer the new space. Going from a skinny "bedroom" that's smaller than some closets to what I have now is night and day. So, so much better.
In reply to Tony Sestito :
Much improved! Our place is being built and I'm super stoked for that extra bedroom for exactly same reason. Any concern about drum tuning and shell care with the attic heat to contend with?
In reply to barefootcyborg5000 :
Yeah, there are concerns, of course. With the vents, things will get hot, but the humidity is more what makes bad things happen. The soffit vents do help with that and keep things regulated, but if it gets real hot up there, I can crank the A/C if needed. I don't have any other place to put them or the guitars in the house, so I'll take what I can get.
They were all in my leaky, gross, falling-apart garage for a year and are no worse for the wear from what I've seen, so I think I'll be OK.
I finally got most of the rack gear I have mounted. Nothing wired up, as it will all probably get rearranged and I want a single 30 space rack to replace the two larger units.
But at least everything is no longer haphazardly stacked...
I just want to thank the denizens of this thread for helping me over the hump to ordering the reverb pedal I've had in my cart at Sweetwater for the last month*, and the dam having burst, the TV Jones Power'Tron for the neck of my Pro Jet to match the Power'Tron Plus I put in the bridge a decade ago.
*TC Electronics Sky Surfer
Honestly, I really wanted to find a still from the Trainspotting scene where an up-to-now cleaned-up Renton samples the score of heroin the team has obtained... Because my reaction to the new reverb is...
It's good. It's really good.
It immediately did the things you hope new gear will do. It sounded really cool. It inspired me to try some new stuff as I played. Looking forward to more of this.
Bar the Jaguar off to the right and the audio interface to the left, this is currently everything. I'm hoping that during the upcoming bachelor weeks while my wife's got some business travel I can install the previously mentioned new pickup in the Pro Jet, and maybe even finally build the BYOC Orange Distortion I picked up years ago.
Okay, last one 'til I do some soldering. Just excited 'cause the pickup and installation gubbins arrived.
Everybody's pedals lately have got me thinking how clean y'all's stuff is and how my board hasn't changed much (except the Dark Matter) or been cleaned in 20 years. There is a 1/4 in of bar grime, spilled beer, candle wax and nicotine caked on these.
In reply to crankwalk (Forum Supporter) :
Seems to me your pedals are living properly.
crankwalk (Forum Supporter) said:Everybody's pedals lately have got me thinking how clean y'all's stuff is and how my board hasn't changed much (except the Dark Matter) or been cleaned in 20 years. There is a 1/4 in of bar grime, spilled beer, candle wax and nicotine caked on these.
If it was a 1980s les Paul with that much grease, grime and scuzz, folks would pay top dollar. I see nothing wrong here.
You'll need to log in to post.
