Something different with Murphy? No; I call him my "big boy," but other than a new cat toy yesterday (catnip is involved), Murphy has a routine... and he is very content with that.
I'm talking about my "little" guitar - the Emerald X7. I have had Nashville Tuning strings on it for several months. And while I like that jangly tone with those strings, I miss having that size guitar with the real guitar sound. So, time to change those strings...
I have an emotional attachment to this guitar. It was my second carbon fiber guitar, the first Emerald. It is small in size, but doesn't sound small. 24" scale, so it is less of a reach for my aging fingers; a thinner body depth than my other acoustics, so it fits nicely against my body. It has traveled more than any of my other current acoustic guitars... from Maine to California, Tropical Tip of Texas to the San Juan Islands (between the US and Canada in the Pacific Northwest).
String change time is also a good time for a thorough neck and fret cleaning. Guitars do gunk up on the neck: sweat and skin from your fingertips... um, TMI again?
Over the years, I have accumulated gear that makes this process quicker: a small pair of wire cutters that also are good for lifting out bridge pins...
And, an electric string winder - which is really just a slow adjustable speed battery-powered screw driver with a bit that fits over the tuning keys. It makes that winding task faster and easier.
And when done, I spent some time playing with my little friend - it sounds big again. :-) If I talk about each of my guitars like they have a personality, it's because they do. Each of them has a different tone and fills a niche.
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This afternoon, it was the once-every-two-weeks jam with my local guys. Yes, we're loud; but we play songs that are appropriate for loud. No video today, but I did grab a couple quick photos with my phone...
Left to right (above) - that's Tony, Allan, and Roland. And below, Allan, Roland, and Joe...
Bob, on keyboards below...
Yours truly, with a pick in my mouth, trying to get myself in a photo, too...
Allan and Roland...
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Another update for the HoverAir X1 Pro: this latest update allows Voice Command for flying the X1 Pro. There are heavy thunderstorms all around the area (yes, I got rained on coming back from Allan's this afternoon), so I couldn't try out the X1 Pro outside, but here's a screen capture from a video taken with the drone flying on Voice Command. In the house. Without whacking into anything.
Is it really raining that hard? Yes, currently coming down pretty heavy...
Last I saw on the local news update (some areas around Phoenix are experiencing flash flooding), there was over 1" of rain so far today; that's more than we've had for this monsoon season to date (June 15 through September 30).
One of the guys (Roland) at music today got hail damage on his car on the way to Allan's house. I was concerned about hail when the rain was pounding at different times today. Reports of it around the area. Roland gave us first hand reporting.
An inch of rain in the Tropical Tip wasn't a big deal. Here in the desert, the ground can only absorb so much, so flash flooding is a concern. More rain forecast for the next two days.
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A rain tally for the day: just over 2" here in Laveen. That is a bunch of rain in one day for the desert. The local news was full of flooded streets videos. Some showing cars being towed because they stalled out in the water that was half way (or more) up their car doors. The saying they promote here: Don't Drown - Turn Around.
Seems like common sense to me.
2 comments:
We have encountered those gully-washer rains while visiting Sun City. It is impressive to see city streets running like rivers with a foot or more of water because it cannot run off fast enough. Less impressive to see idiots trying to drive though it with water above the axles of their wheels.
You remind me that some of my guitars probably need new strings. Not my X20 though. The D'Addario XS PB's have been on there since July 2024 and are still going strong. I start teaching my first student through the Guitars for Vets program next week. It is a ten-week program and when they complete it the G4V program gives them a new guitar and starter kit to keep.
That Guitars for Vets sounds like a great program. I do try to keep up on keeping fresh strings on the guitars; fortunately, the Elixirs I use stay good sounding for a long time on guitars I don't play as often.
The local weather weasels like to make comparisons - they were calling this rain both "the heaviest we've seen in 7 years," and "the record for most rain in 24 hours in September." Coming back to our house, there is one main street that has only one storm drain in a 3 block stretch - water certainly gets backed up there. Crazy how fast the streets can flood here.
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