590 posts 1/11/2016 12:56 pm
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Another new amp
Ground Control to Major Tom
Ground Control to Major Tom
Take your protein pills
And put your helmet on
Ground Control to Major Tom
Commencing countdown,
Engines on
Check ignition
And may God's love be with you
This is Ground Control
To Major Tom
You've really made the grade
And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear
Now it's time to leave the capsule
If you dare
This is Major Tom to Ground Control
I'm stepping through the door
And I'm floating
In a most peculiar way
And the stars look very different today
For here
Am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the world
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do
Though I'm past
One hundred thousand miles
I'm feeling very still
And I think my spaceship knows which way to go
Tell my wife I love her very much
She knows
Ground Control to Major Tom
Your circuit's dead,
Is there something wrong?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you....
Here am I floating
Round my tin can
Far above the Moon
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do.
Well, this should be interesting? First, RIP David Bowie. Another one of my childhood icons is gone. It's always strange when someone like that dies, it's like you've known them you're entire life, and you never thought they would die, or die before you. When they do, it's like a hole in your life isn't it? The fact that humans mourn and lament a death or someone passing is proof that we're more then just mere smarter animals, like the atheist try to imply. Hey, it's not just that, what about ghosts? Humans have always had myths about ghosts! Have I ever seen one, or can I conjure one? No! But that doesn't meant they don't exist or that other people haven't seen them. If were just animals, that die and then there is nothing else, or no after life, we wouldn't see or be aware of the concept of ghosts. That's a fact!
Anyway, I bought another amp. A bigger more powerful version of the previous one I bought before. I also bought a magazine on guitar playing and equipment. Ironically, the two are related and before you go out and spend another dime, trying to keep up with me, listen to what I have to relate to you here about this subject.
Why did I buy this amp? That's a good question, and I'll give you an answer, but it will be long and complicated. To answer it simply, this amp is state of the art. It has a hundred presets, that can be modified and saved, and also, you can go online and download even more settings. In other words, you can make it sound like any amp in the world. It has a hundred watts, and is solid state meaning there are no tubes. Which in this case, that's actually an advantage. It used to be, that the only way you could get a good tone is with a tube amp. That's not true any longer. Also, it has the capability of being turned into a recording console. So I can actually record songs on it. Now, why did I buy it or think I need it? Well, I used to have a peavey thirty watt tube amp. It was used primarily for playing<b> blues </font></b>guitar. There was nothing wrong with it, except that it was limited. It only had one tone or sound to it. I tried using my effects processor with it, but it didn't sound very good running outside of the amp, you need to have the sound built in, or originating from the amp itself to get a good sound. The difference with this new type of amp, is that I can get that sound or tone of the peavey tube<b> blues </font></b>amp, plus an infinite amount of other sounds and amp tones as well. Ironically, they both cost about the same, but this new thing is far better as you can see. But, now here is the thing about this. I didn't have to buy this amp, and neither do you. About that magazine, it's called " Guitar for Beginners " it's made in England and I got it, because it gives you a lot of information for acquiring online tools for playing and recording. I had alluded to some of the information this magazine provides in previous posts. I didn't know precisely some of the stuff they refer to there. I only knew generally from my knowledge of this subject. When I was reading it, all they did was re-affirm what I had already been saying. Which just showed me, that I knew what I was talking about with this subject. Like for instance, I said, you don't need to buy amps or equipment, you can download everything online onto your computer. The only thing you need is an interface device, to translate and boost your sound. They tell you to get an Irig plug in device to interface with your computer, and a preamp to boost your signal or sound. Then you just need some monitors or speakers to hear it. That's it! But here is the kicker, you don't even need a computer anymore, you can do all this with your goddamn phone, or coffee maker, anything that has a processor and controls to it. So, in other words, you can sound like Jimi Hendrix or Eddie Van Halen with your coffee maker if you want to! Now if you're reading this, and you say, " so what, no big deal "! I'll tell you what the big fucking deal is, this wasn't always the case, in fact, it was a long hard road just to get a decent sound. Back in the dark ages, before there were computer chips and processors, you had to rig up a whole bunch of equipment, in the correct sequence, to get even a mildly decent sound. Or, spend a lot of money and get a Les Paul, a Marshall amp and a few stomp boxes like a cry baby wah, a chorus, delay and maybe a flange. But, that was prohibiting, because that stuff was expensive! It was expensive then, and it's still expensive now. I also just finished reading my Van Halen Biography " Van Halen Rising '. In that book, it discusses the trials and tribulations Eddie dealt with, during that era, trying to get a good sound. As I was reading it, I kept remembering all the times I dealt with the same issues, and with the same stuff. I still can't believe that someone on his level had to actually deal with that bullshit, but he did. In his case, his parents broke down and finally bought him a Les Paul and he worked for the summer in a music store to earn enough money to buy a real Marshall Amplifier! But that's how it was, that's only one example, but I could give you ten million more stories just like that, about how people had to rob peter to pay paul just to get a decent sounding rig and set up. And now, all you have to do, is press a few clicks, and you have first rate gear and sound! You spoiled have no idea how good you have it compared to what our generation went through, I'll tell you what.
About the picture, The guitar and amp on the left, are my original fender amp and Stratocaster guitar. The other two amps and guitar are the new stuff. The older guitar was the second strat I bought after my original " blackie " strat that was my first real left handed guitar. Unfortunately, and despite the fact that I paid a small fortune for it, it was a piece of junk. The neck was warped, and it was more like a toy then a real guitar. So, I traded it for this guitar which was at least a real Stratocaster, not like the first one. It was in the days before the internet. The music stores had a lock on all the equipment, and if you were severely handicapped by being left handed, they really had you by the balls. Like I said before, finding a left handed guitar back in those days, was like looking for hens teeth! They didn't fucking exist! Here were my options, buy a right handed model and play it upside down. I tried that, and it never fucking worked for me. Or learn to play right handed. Once again, not feasible for me. Or pay a fortune to some music store that offered you an expensive piece of shit, and laughed at you as you left the store because they knew you had no alternatives! I even had to put that bitch on lay away and spent months paying it off. I'm still mad about that fact, by the way! Well, a few years ago, I had it modified, or hot rodded it up to speed, by changing the neck and adding a Floyd rose tremolo and a demarzio humbucker pick up in the bridge. It looks like the newer one, but the one on the right, is what it looked like before I had it modified. The thing of it is, I play both of them, and there really isn't that much difference. Yeah, I can push the modified one much farther with some stuff, but I can still do the same thing with the original strat. It's just a matter of preference. I would use the modified version for live gigs, and the other one for playing privately.
Now, if you're astute enough, and you viewed some of my videos, you'll notice, I have a decent sound and recreated the original tones for the songs I was playing. Yeah, right, because I paid a fortune for guitars and gear and rigged it all up to sound right. You also, have never seen what I have to do to prepare the equipment for one of those videos. I should make a video for just that so you can see how difficult it is. I have to set the amp, the guitar, and the effects just right. It takes a lot of time fiddle fucking with everything to get it just right. Then while I'm filming the video, the vibrations from the sound make the books fall off the shelves behind me, spoiling the take and making me wild with anger! 
Now of course, with my new state of the art amp, all I have to do, is download the exact presets for a certain song onto the amp, and dial it up and start playing. No more crawling around on the floor, under the amp looking for a wire that came unplugged because I yanked on the chord too hard because it wasn't reaching far enough and getting electrocuted when I plug it into the wrong outlet! Ah, I'm going to miss those days, not!
In addition to this stuff, I also bought the new issue of guitar magazine, and in there, it shows how Eddie had his rig set up on the last tour. As I was looking it over, I smiled to myself. Don't you want to know why? First of all, they don't show you everything. I know for a fact, from other interviews and articles, that there is way more to his set up then they will ever tell you. Secondly, most of the stuff he uses, you would never use yourself. Even if you were playing stadiums like he does. A lot of his stuff is unique to him and his style. If you were to configure your own rig, you probably wouldn't even consider some of the stuff he uses. Third, if your sharp enough, you'll notice when he's playing, the guitar changes tone and effects while he's playing, without him stepping on a button or even adjusting a knob on the guitar. The reason for that, is it's done somewhere else. In the past, I would have said a tech is switching things on and off for him. But, now days, there is probably a program that's doing it automatically. And you won't find him mentioning that in any interviews. I know that, because I deal with this stuff and I know what goes into it. You don't know it, because you read the articles and they lie to you, and you believe it. Just so you know.
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