Musicians Random Thought Thread.. Music Gear, Home Studios, Gigs, Etc..

[NoSwitch]

Finally dragged my drums out of storage, added a 2nd bass drum and a few other accessories.





Other stuff I try to play but totally suck at..



Hoping to get some chops back and maybe find some other geezers to jam with this summer.

[kk360]

My studio looks more like my bedroom and a zoom h2n mic haha. It works really well for what I do though. The recording quality is insane for what it is.

Here are some recent recordings! I'll take some pictures of all my guitars in another post.





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcGLBgZwHso (Can't post more than one video apparently)

[Rev J]

Dude Keith Moon called and he wants his drums back.

Lately I've been practicing about 4 hours a day when I'm not hanging out at my girlfriends house. I'm also becoming a total fanboy of tc electronics toneprint pedals.

[NoSwitch]

Dude Keith Moon called and he wants his drums back.

Lately I've been practicing about 4 hours a day when I'm not hanging out at my girlfriends house. I'm also becoming a total fanboy of tc electronics toneprint pedals.

Keith Moon played Primiere. Neal Peart played Slingerland Chrome over Wood before the Tama kit..

[Rev J]

Now he's playing DW. I know a recording engineer who worked with Zigaboo Modelsete who said he went to DW headquarters where they have a whole museum type of hall with a bunch of famous drummers kits. He said that Neil Pert and Terry Bozzios kits each had their own rooms due to the sheer size of them:

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The scary part of that is that it is set up to be a melodic instrument and each of the 54 pieces is tuned to an actual pitch. Steve Vai said that there is a passage on "Sex and Religion" where he gave Bozzio the guitar transcription and he played it as a complete unison with the guitar.

[NoSwitch]

Big FAT ginormous 22" Zildjian 1970s Earth Ride Cymbal arrived today (bottom right of photo under China). Drummers call these things manhole covers, thickest, heaviest cymbal ever made.
Since bringing the drums out of storage in February and adding a matching 2nd bass drum and 12" tom to my 1970s 5 piece Slingerland kit I've added a 3rd cowbell, 2nd China cymbal, fat wood matching snare (would run the Gretsch as a side snare if I had room), Ice Bell, HH Drop Clutch (needed for double bass), and now the bigger, fatter bad ass ride... and a bunch of Star Wars toys/memorabilia for random decorations since it is in the living room/home theater/studio/main room of the house.

[Rev J]

Damn! My 2 latest music related purchases were a new set of bass strings and Berklee College of Musics Jazz composition book. I'm grateful for my previous formal music education since now I can work through these books without a teacher.

[rockst*r]

Random thoughts?

I always get a kick out of the low-end gear that national touring acts use. At a show yesterday, I saw a Yamaha acoustic guitar, a Fender acoustic guitar, a couple odd Partscasters, and a Silvertone Telecaster.

[NoSwitch]

Random thoughts?

I always get a kick out of the low-end gear that national touring acts use. At a show yesterday, I saw a Yamaha acoustic guitar, a Fender acoustic guitar, a couple odd Partscasters, and a Silvertone Telecaster.

Working musicians who aren't loaded with endorsements get tired of tearing up their good gear gigging with it. Leave the vintage, irreplaceable good stuff in the studio and take a semi decent but expendable rig on the road if the costs to maintain that gear are coming out of your own pocket.

Another big problem with touring with your good gear is every other year or so the truck/trailer gets stolen or broken in to with your gear in it. That sweet 65 ax is GONE!

[Rev J]

Nice gear is a double edged sword though. I have a Fender that is worth about $5000 now that's pretty much irreplaceable. It plays great and is home now. I've tried cheaper instruments that don't feel nearly as good. Taking the Fender out makes me kinda paranoid. I've been looking at a Carvin/Keisal online and am kind of up in the air though.

[NoSwitch]

Scored a Sambora edition Fender Stratocaster last week. Not even in my top 10 favorite guitarists, but a big step up from my cheap ass Squier electrics. Son's been playing in the high school guitar program 4 years now and is now too cool to be seen with a Squier. He has other stuff his teacher lets him use but thought it would be worth it to upgrade the options at home for both of us.

Got a Fender Frontman amp on the way as well. Also moved the piano my daughter no longer plays out to the living room. Got a proper stand and stool available as needed.



Nothing much new on the drum side of the room. Played some today.. Jammed to Synchronicity.

[rockst*r]

I've been trying to add a distorted edge to some of the old country songs, like Ernest Tubb, Hank Williams, the Louvin Bros., and Buck Owens. It's incredibly hacky, but really fun.

[NoSwitch]

I've been trying to add a distorted edge to some of the old country songs, like Ernest Tubb, Hank Williams, the Louvin Bros., and Buck Owens. It's incredibly hacky, but really fun.

Almost every older country, true country song can be re done as reggae.

[rockst*r]

Almost every older country, true country song can be re done as reggae.

I could never get the proper syncopated rhythm of reggae, honestly. But, it's a ton of fun chugga-chugging through power chords in an old Ernest Tubb song, or converting Hank Williams to an Irish waltz.

[Rev J]

Almost every older country, true country song can be re done as reggae.

A lot of old reggae started out as older country. In the 50s and early 60s a lot of the music coming into Jamaica on the radio was from the mainland. Generally the signal was so weak that they could only make out the vocals so they came up with their own backing music.

Another tune that works really well as reggae is " Sweet Leaf" by Black Sabbath.

It's time for me to try and scrounge about $250 for a beginning recording bundle. I saw one online that has the interface, headphones, condenser Mic, stand, pop screen, Protools, and Ableton for $250. My girlfriend is also giving me her 2013 MacBook pro. I've been watching a lot of beat making videos lately and have an idea about combining that production with jazz composition, and a little bit of neuroscience.

[NoSwitch]

First Epiphone/Gibson product I've ever owned. Feels nice..


Also sold the Pyle and snagged a Line 6 Spider III 15 watt and a Fender Frontman 38 watt..

[NoSwitch]

OK so I have been looking at older, cheaper amp heads for guitar and bass on the guise that it might be nice to have something that puts out over 50 watts on rare occasions. I almost bought a crate 120 watt guitar head for 90 bucks yesterday but it was fried.. glad I insisted on plugging it in at the pawn shop before closing the deal.

So, today I come across this at a thrift store for $25. Everything works, pedal and power supply included. I plugged it in to my PA and blasted it out through the stage monitor speakers.. Cool little workaround and huge space saver. It even has a 4X10 bass cabinet setting in addition to the dozens of guitar cabinet settings along with 125 different popular amp model settings. Does exactly what I was looking for something to do.

I do have a set of a few real pedals and power supply for actual gigs, but for home studio use when more kick is needed, maybe an outdoor porch jam, this will work. No longer looking for amp heads and cabinets I have zero room to store much less set up and play.

Vamp 2 Modeling Virtual Amp

[rockst*r]

Have any of you guys ever inlaid stuff into your guitar? I've got a set of brass knuckles that angsty teenage me needed to have, but they're just sitting in my drawer unused. So, I was wondering about carving out a spot to inlay them into my bass somewhere...

[NoSwitch]

Brass knucks would make a cool belt buckle..

I had a Cort Slammer about 10 years ago.. Loaned it to a friend whose kid had it stolen from him. Came across this at Goodwill.com. It's totally the Cort Slammer body and headstock but even SHORTER, like 25" scale. Made in Korea. Nice action although the bottom is pretty floppy. I've seen folks flip a lefty short scale for a tighter low E string. Others like the fatter floppy sound if they can keep it in tune..



The back of the neck is also white factory paint so it isn't a Frankenbass someone just threw a guitar neck on..

Here's it next to a full size..



Probably a Junior Slammer but never seen another one like this..

[rockst*r]

Brass knucks would make a cool belt buckle..

I had a Cort Slammer about 10 years ago.. Loaned it to a friend whose kid had it stolen from him. Came across this at Goodwill.com. It's totally the Cort Slammer body and headstock but even SHORTER, like 25" scale. Made in Korea. Nice action although the bottom is pretty floppy. I've seen folks flip a lefty short scale for a tighter low E string. Others like the fatter floppy sound if they can keep it in tune..



The back of the neck is also white factory paint so it isn't a Frankenbass someone just threw a guitar neck on..

Here's it next to a full size..



Probably a Junior Slammer but never seen another one like this..

That's a bitchin' bass!

Yeah, I bought the knucks as a belt buckle, but never took to learning brazing or anything to add the proper hardware to actually fasten them to a belt. My bass is a simple, single-pickup Ibanez...punk as fuck, just dime both the pots and go nuts. So, being a middle-class suburban kid, I need to establish more punk cred...so, we used to have a bistro sign at work, and I knicked the letters "RIOT" from the dustbin and want to add the knuckledusters in the place of a neck pickup, so I'll have "RIOT" spelled across my bass, and hope to incite violence maybe if I play in church or something.