I visited with my music partner Mark last night. It's been several weeks since we've talked. We have each had things going on. Musically, I added some fun things to aid in recording, and Mark has been playing with a neighbor, and they played at a party... playing out! I remember playing out.
Mark said, "I wasn't 'cheating on you,' Jim, really."
I said, "Are you kidding? I think it's great that you were able to play in front of people again!" I don't think his feelings have been hurt because I've been doing more solo recording. It's fun when we do projects together, but we each have our own thing.
We had a great visit. He was telling me about a new effects pedal (Tech21 FlyRig) he got, and I told him about the Fender Mustang Micro and the Bose T4s mixer - all new things since we last talked. He asked me about a particular guitar, wondering if I'd seen it: the Fender Acoustasonic Jazzmaster. I haven't seen one in person, but the reviews on it are very favorable. But, to my eye, it is not a good-looking guitar.
It uses modeling technology, like the Fender Mustang Micro or the Yamaha THR 30ii I use. It can sound like an acoustic guitar, or it can get gritty like an electric guitar - without needing a specific electric or acoustic amp. With this, you can go direct into a PA or a computer if recording. I have been known to say, "This is a great time to be a guitar player - so much great equipment, and it doesn't have to be huge and back-breaking to carry!"
I had to chuckle when he said, "I just need one more guitar like this to complete my guitar selection." Spoken like an addict: "Just one more." When I related the conversation to Joan, she said, "Kettle. How many guitars do you have right now?"
A very valid point. I had to laugh when she pointed out: "When you were making a living playing, how many guitars did you have?"
"Um, two - one electric and one acoustic."
"And now that you aren't making money with it, how many guitars do you have?"
"A few more than two."
She started rattling off a list. I didn't add to it when she missed a couple. ;-) The sound reinforcement equipment I have is also much smaller than "back in the day." And, it sounds better. Well, as long as you aren't playing to huge crowds. I appreciate the fact that the heaviest piece of music gear I have is 27 pounds; most is even lighter than that. For recording (I'm calling that "a hobby" these days), I can create a full band sound, mostly by switching a few chords. "Back in the day," it was one big killer amp (my favorites were a Fender Twin Reverb and a Marshall stack); either could be carried by one person... well, one young person with a strong back, and making a couple trips. Now, my favorite amp is the size of an old clock radio, and another (PA type with 2 channels) fits into a backpack. Downsizing doesn't mean you have to compromise on great tone.
Yep, it's a great time to be a guitar player.
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I haven't hardly changed a bit, though...
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The Brain and the Brawn...
With it being a rainy day today, we figured it would be a good time to get the house batteries in the motorhome replaced. The old ones are no longer holding a charge. We shopped around and found what we wanted at Sam's Club. When we were there last week, the guy at the Tire & Battery department said they can't install batteries in a motorhome. That doesn't make sense, because it has better access than some cars... I'm guessing they don't want the liability if they install it wrong. Or, the guy who told us that was a lazy ass (more logical). It turned out to be a good thing we didn't get the batteries last week, because they went on sale right after that! Looking at Group 31 AGM batteries.
So, today, we went out to the storage unit and removed the old batteries...
Joan asked, "Are you OK doing the install?"
"Yeah, as long as you can give me a hand lifting and maneuvering these beasts." This size battery is on the far side of 70 pounds, and you're working in a snug space. I took that photo above to make sure I put the new ones in exactly the same way.
At Sam's, we put the old batteries on a low-boy cart and took them into the store. The young man at Tire & Battery was very friendly and helpful... apparently the lazy-ass guy from last week had the day off. We bought the new batteries, and he even put them in the back of the CR-V for us. My lower back really appreciated that.
Back to the storage unit, and it only took a few minutes to get the new batteries in place and wired up. Joan did the heavy lifting, I did the cable connecting. That's the "Brain and the Brawn" from above. Although I have always considered us to be: the smart one and the pretty one. What? No, I didn't mean Joan is both of those things. I have learned to be OK with being this pretty... people tend to under-estimate you. But, I digress. Today, we worked together to get this done. The new batteries in place...
It's about 40 miles to our storage unit (intentionally - it keeps our stuff in there away from the salt air). I had gassed up the Honda yesterday morning, in anticipation of rising gas prices. We saw plenty of that today, with prices up 10 to 20¢ per gallon since Monday. Even though we are nowhere near where the pipelines run (from the Houston area to the US Southeast). Any excuse to raise prices, though, and there isn't much we consumers can do about it. The only place we saw long lines for gas was at Sam's Club, where their price was about 15¢ per gallon less than other stations around them.
I am reading that there are plenty of gas stations in the Southeast that are out of gas... mostly because of people panic buying. I also saw on the news today that the pipelines are ramping up manually, but it will take a couple days to restore their normal capacity. You can be sure that gas prices will not come down as fast (or at all) as they went up.
I will have to make a run to the storage unit to pull the coach out and exercise the generator. I didn't want to do that today because of the rain... and I had washed the motorhome recently, and didn't want it to get all water spotted. Besides, it'll give me a good excuse to take the scoot: it gets a lot better mileage than the CR-V. ;-) See, I am more than just a pretty face. And Joan is more than just a tough chick.
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