NGD...

 

Almost.  The tracking reads those 3 special words: "Out For Delivery."  Interestingly enough, it is still the same 3-hour window that it said it would be when UPS first picked up the box.  I would think as they get closer, they could narrow that window.

If it was winter and we lived somewhere in the frozen northland, you have to let a guitar sit in the case for 24 hours to come up to temperature so the finish won't check (get cracked).  Instead, we have blistering heat - high today is supposed to be 116º.  Seems about right - at 11:30 am, it is 110º.  My guitar is sitting in the back of that hot truck.  I feel sorry for it.  And the driver.  Maybe they have air conditioning in the UPS trucks here in the desert?  I just looked it up: no, the cargo area is not air conditioned; it further said "temperatures can reach 130º to 140º in that cargo area in the summer."  Cool.  Not.  Hopefully, the finish isn't melting. 

In the meantime, Joan is continuing work on the Fishman Loudbox amp.  My involvement on this project is limited to disassembly and reassembling.  A speaker needed to be removed to get to a retaining nut on the inside of the sealed speaker enclosure; yep, that's for me...

 The naked amp...

 Test fitting another piece of the new Tolex...

 Joan getting the glue spread...

 This is the detail finish work.  I am staying clear.

 --------

Just before 2:00, our Ring Cameras let us know someone was close to the front door.  No doorbell, no signature required - there was a small box for Joan and a bigger box for me...

 This is now officially New Guitar Day!  I sliced open the box...

 Paper padding and another box.  And inside that box...

 A gig bag...

 And, inside the gig bag...

 A guitar.  A Paul Reed Smith (PRS) SE Studio Standard, to be specific.  A hot guitar.  As in: quite warm to the touch.  I looked it over.  It was an "Open Box" so I looked it over very close.  The pick guard and pickups still have the plastic wrap on them.  The hang tags are all there.  It was listed as "Mint Condition" - I would say that is accurate.  The white finish on it is a pearl paint job - very nice.

I tuned it up.  The tuning machines/pegs seem decent.  Time to take it to my music room and plug it into an amp to see how it sounds... it is all I expected.  The action on it is perfect.  The intonation is spot on.  The frets are nicely finished (no rough edges) and the nut seems to be cut right.

I am impressed.  I bought this to be a "working guitar" - the three pickups offer a good variety of tones.  The guitar is comfortable to hold.  It plays great.  I played it for an hour or so, trying different settings and pickups.  This is the "honeymoon stage," but I have been doing this for a lot of years - I can tell within a few minutes how I am going to get along with a guitar.  This neck fits my hand.  The tones make my ears happy.  The action on this is going to be easy on my aging fingers/hand.

This is a very nice guitar.  Not just "for the money," but at any price.  The fact that everything is this good and the price was right, makes this a successful acquisition.  Yes, I have some other very nice guitars.  This solid body is a nice addition to my tonal options.

 If you said, "It kinda looks like a Stratocaster, except for the headstock," I agree; no bonus points, though.  I am not a fan of that all-6-tuners-on-one-side look of the Fenders.  This PRS headstock reminds me a bit of my Emeralds.  The guitar itself is nothing like my Emeralds - it is wood: a mahogany body, a maple neck, rosewood fretboard.  A 25" scale, 22 frets.  Weight is just under 8 pounds.

I spent more time with it this evening - comfortable to play sitting or standing.  The body is just a bit smaller than a Strat.  The pickups are 2 narrow field (NF) humbucking "deep dish" (nothing to do with pizza) that are beefier sounding than the single coils on a Strat.  The bridge pickup is a 58/15 humbucker.  The 5-way switch allows you combine or isolate the pickups for a good variety of tones.

It sounds great through that Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb Blonde amp.

 

It Takes Time...

 

Well, sure - everything takes time.

No monsoon storms predicted for a few days.  We were out early, before the heat of the day*, to get the patio put back together...

 The lower sitting furniture (on the left) is back in place and cushions put in place.  Umbrellas installed on their posts and set up.  The enclosure over the hot tub has been put back together.  For full disclosure, the only time you can stand to be out there is first thing in the morning right now.

That table in the lower center isn't usually there; that is Joan's sanding station for the morning.  She will be working on that Fishman Loudbox amp, sanding with a Dremel to get the surfaces smoothed to the actual recovering work can get underway. 

* Regarding that "heat of the day": the high today is predicted to be 115º - yes, another day of "Extreme Heat Warning."  For August so far, the average temperature has been 95º - that's figuring in all the daytime highs and overnight lows.  Another 36 days of monsoon season.  Meteorological autumn is in 6 days.  The actual Vernal Equinox is less than a month away.  Mother Nature laughs at those "seasonal changes."

I think about a short escape from the heat... flooding in Bryce Canyon National Park; a landslide closing roads in Zion National Park.  Flooding and wildfires in the high country forests north of us.  Fun.  Not.

 

 

Thar She Blows...

 

A whale sighting in the desert?  No, but thanks for asking.

Another monsoon storm overnight.  When you hear that these storms are "no big deal," that is coming from someone who is full of 💩.

We saw gusts to 60 mph locally.  We were ready for it and had taken down umbrellas, put away all the furniture cushions, and took down the cover over the hot tub.  Put away the flag and closed the windows in the shed.

The wind hit around 9:15 last night - we could hear stuff making noise in the yard.  That stuff was our patio furniture that is not the HDPE table and chairs.  This is the "low sitting" couch, two chairs, a coffee table, and end tables.  In the past, we have put a cover over that stuff, which kept it all gathered together.  That cover proved to no longer be waterproof after the last storm.  Here's the photos from this morning...

 

 

The top photo is directly out our patio door.  Normally, you wouldn't see any of that furniture with the light covers on the back and arms, because it sits about 12 to 15 feet east of where it is in that photo.  Yeah, the wind blew it piece by piece until the heavy tall HDPE furniture stopped it.  The lower photo is by the shed - plants that blew over, even with bricks in the planter - that light green thing by the gray bench cover is another planter; fortunately, the shed stopped it from blowing completely over.

 

Nothing damaged, other than some plants that will need some bracing.  Another chance for a storm overnight tonight, so we won't be putting any of the stashed stuff back out.

 

Joan is working on getting the old covering off the amplifier (mentioned in a previous post) today.  We knew this would be a multi-day project.  I volunteered to go get us lunch.  On my way out of our development, I saw a bunch of trees that were damaged in last night's storm.  Sorry to see that; happy that I have no entanglement with the HOA, so I don't have to deal with it.

 

Since I mentioned Joan working on the amp...

 

 Through careful manipulation, she has gotten good portions of the old Tolex to come off in one piece.  That means less sanding to get the wood surface smooth before the new Tolex can go on.  This is one of those "doesn't look like a big project" things, but we knew it was going to be a lot of prep and design work before the final covering can go on; and then be reassembled.

 

 Since we're talking about an amp, the latest update on the incoming guitar: "On the way."  That narrows it down.  Yes, we have gotten used to life in the big city and having Amazon provide "same day delivery."  In the meantime, I am studying YouTube videos.  ;-)

 

Working on a Set List...

 

As summer winds down (you'd never know that from the continued "Extreme Heat Warning" for every day this next week), the Hip Replacements are booking gigs again.  We everyone's traveling plans, we took the summer off.  Time to get back after it.

Mark let us know that he may have to miss some dates, so the other 3 of us are planning ahead in case that comes to pass.  Having done some solo playing again, I can whip up a 3 hour set with songs I've been playing for years.  Songs that Ron and Podge can quickly learn, combined with the tunes we already do.  Allowances will be made for shorter song length, since we may be without a lead guitarist.  That hasn't been an issue in doing solo stuff; Ron and Podge are both onboard with that, if it is necessary.  Of course, we'd rather do it with the 4 of us, but some dates are already set.

Podge asked for some headshots with sunglasses so he could work up some online advertising...

 

One In, One Out...

 

It hasn't always worked for me, but I try to follow this policy with guitars.  I have been considering another solid body electric with good pickup options.  I don't need a top of the line (read: $$$) guitar for this use - something that plays good and sounds good.

I have been researching and narrowed it down to a couple models.  The one out?  Thanks for asking - that will be the Traveler Speedster Deluxe...

 

 

I picked this one up to take along in the van; that didn't work out so well.  So, the last trip out, my venerable Emerald X7 came along with us.  With the cargo pod on the back of the van, that works much better; and the Emerald being carbon fiber means no concern about the heat or humidity.

So, a solid body electric would not be for use in the van.  I have been enjoying the new Fender amp and looking for another option to go with that.  The Paul Reed Smith (PRS) SE models are well-made and moderately priced; a good working guitar.  That's where I'm leaning...

 --------

A few hours later... 

I like it when a plan comes together.  The Traveler Speedster Deluxe has been moved on.  A good price on an "open box" (mint condition) PRS presented itself.  No one in the Phoenix area had the model I am interested in in stock.  Ship it, Danno.  (If you said, "A take-off from the Hawaii 5-0 TV series from 1968 to 1980, where Steve McGarrett (Jack Lord) would say 'Book 'em, Danno' when they caught the bad guy," you get 15 bonus points.

More on the guitar when it arrives, sometime next week.  Probably.

 

Another Passing...

 

This is a juvenile post, so if that isn't your thing, move on to the next blog.

We had a monsoon storm last night.  We watched it on radar and it looked like it was going to come right over us.  Then, not.  In the end, it was just an hour or so late.  And then came in like a freight train.  Strong, gusty winds, full of dirt.  Followed by pounding rain.

We had put away furniture cushions and took down the cover over the hot tub.  Closed the windows in the shed.  We did not put down patio umbrellas.  Mother Nature did that for us on one of the umbrellas - we got out there and put down the others.  It was moderately ugly.

Joan went out this morning while I was feeding cats and getting our morning pills put out.  The cover over the patio furniture is apparently no longer waterproof; we won't replace that, since we'll be due for some new furniture within the next year.

And, sadly, the cover over the griddle gave up the ghost.  The sun had done a real job on that, so we knew it wasn't long for the world.  It was a Vine "purchase" - a Chinese-made cover with a brand name that made me laugh: Lick Wang.  I may be in the body of an old guy, but I still have the sensibility and humor of an adolescent.  Who doesn't want some Lick Wang in their daily life?

And now, the Lick Wang is a goner.  I carried it out to the garbage can.  Joan already had a replacement cover, but it isn't sporting a brand name that provides a daily chuckle.

 

The Fast-Paced, High-Paying World of...

 

... amplifier recovering.

"Oh, no, Jim - what is your amp recovering from?"

No, the amp in question isn't feeling ill, but it is looking scrufty.  Not my new amp - that is gorgeous.  This is the Fishman Loudbox Mini that I've had for over a decade.  It is an acoustic amp, designed to faithfully reproduce the sound of an acoustic guitar with an electric pickup.  And, it does a great job of that...

 It doesn't look bad in that photo above, because you can't see the detail in it: the Tolex covering on the outside of the amp is disintegrating.  To the point where I am embarrassed to take it anywhere because it will leave flaking debris everywhere along the way.  Like Pigpen from the Peanuts cartoons.

Joan volunteered to recover the amp.  She ordered Tolex (the heavy vinyl material that covers the outside of the amp) and was waiting for "a good time."  There is never a good time.  But, she determined that today is the "starting day."  I expect that this will be several days in the process - there is going to be a LOT of detail cutting and fitting.  I know she will do a fine job with this, but I did tell her "Don't make yourself crazy trying to make it perfect.  Anything will be better than it is."

The first part of the process is taking the powerhead apart from the amp, disconnecting wires, and putting that aside...

 That was not as straight-forward as I remembered...

 I took the powerhead out 5 or 6 years ago to send it in for repair (one channel completely quit working).  Fishman had a policy at that time: any repair is $50, the customer gets to pay the shipping both ways.  It wound up costing me about $130 for that "$50 repair."

I read (on the internet, so it must be true) that Fishman will replace the Tolex for $100 plus shipping both ways.  The problem with that: they are going to use that same flimsy Tolex.  I don't want to have to mess with this again.  It is a good amp for acoustic sounds.  I do use it and will play out with it... once it doesn't leave a mess behind.

There is a wood trim piece on the powerhead - I took that out and Joan used it as a pattern...

 

Yes, we are working on this on that pretty kitchen counter.  It is way too hot to do this outside or even in the garage.  So, there will be plenty of clean-up throughout the project.  Joan said to give her a week to get through it.

No rush on my part.  Also, no pressure.  I have another acoustic amp.  Plus, I am playing electric more these days.

This amp is Fishman's best selling small amp.  There are thousands of them out there.  And any amp like this that I've seen that is more than 4 or 5 years old has the same disintegrating covering.  Maybe they've improved the Tolex on later builds?  But, the Tolex we picked for this recovering seems to be a lot sturdier. 

Here's a look at one edge - this isn't the worst of it...

 I could live with it looking shabby - I can't live with the mess it leaves behind.