(post started on july 17, 2021)

so, what am i doing about this classical guitar?

let me take a step back - i'm deciding to replace gear that was sold before i went to bc or stolen (mostly after i got evicted in 2011), as best i can. that's what i'm doing right now - trying to figure out how to best do this in a way that actually makes sense and gives me what i need. this is the right time to do it, as well, as i'm picking up in mid-2003, right after i sold most of the gear. i don't want to have to say to myself "i used to have a x but..." when i'm sitting down to finish these. 

so, it's a functional step to get back to period 3.

then,what is missing, what can i realistically replace and what can be upgraded or sidegraded to something better? keep in mind that most of this was sold due to defect, and i didn't get a whole lot for the bulk of it, either.

starting at the timeline (which is what set me off...) [https://jessicamurrayreleasestimeline.blogspot.com], and moving up from the bottom,

- i still have the 15 watt solid state cheri tube amp, which has three separate ins and separate eq knobs. it's not that this is a bad amp - i keep saying that - it's that it's rarely the tone i want. i mean, it was 1992. despite the popular lore, this was still very much the era of 80s metal. if i cared about shredding or metal guitar, i'd probably use it all of the time. but, i just don't, and it just doesn't tend to help. i refuse to part with it, though - and i expect i'll eventually use it for something. so, i don't need to replace this, and i don't want to trade it in, but i'm hoping to sidegrade it with a comparable 10-15 watt basic tube amp. i'm not having a lot of luck with that at this time, but maybe there might be more used tube amps out in pawn shops in detroit.

i'm also looking at something called "nutube" technology, and liking the idea of jumping to the frequency range of a keyboard amp, while keeping the warmth of a guitar tube amp:

https://voxamps.com/product/vx50kb/

those are still a little higher than i want to pay, but something i'll keep an eye out for. also, 50 watts is really overkill. like, can i have it in 20 instead? i want it loud enough to record, without being loud enough to get evicted....

i got a cryptic response from korg (which seems to basically own vox nowadays), and they did confirm that the headphone amp is not the same thing as the mini amp modeler, at least. but, it seems like the amplug2 has the same "flavours" as the mv50, and i wonder if it's the same circuit, without the power.:

https://voxamps.com/product/mv50-ac

so, i'm going to keep my little ac30, regardless. but, that kb-50 kind of sounds ideal, to get the most out of a tube amp in 2021. 

so, should i look at the collection of mini amps as side grades to this cheri, and kind of fixing the hole left by never upgrading it? or should i just leave it as it is? i dunno. i know i still have it and don't intend to discard it.

- the next thing in the list is the vaguely strat-like starter 80s ibanez that i sold, which had an unworkable knot in the neck. like, it was a factory defect - the neck had a clumpy knot in it. at the time, the arrogant ass faux guitarist (jon) couldn't believe i sold my ibanez (he was into korn, not vai), but it was an entirely justifiable choice given the knot. i mean, i was 12 when it was gifted to me, and it probably would have been outside my dad's price range had it not had that knot in it, so i absolutely got a better guitar than i should have - i lucked out on it. but, you can't fix a neck that's defective on arrival, like that. you can't sand it down - it's in the neck. you'd have to cut the knot out and fill it in with wood filler, and that's insane. or, you'd have to replace the neck, at the cost of a new guitar. so, it was just not played after i got the three epiphones for that reason, and really the only reason i didn't sell it sooner is that i hate selling gear - and if i miss it, it's emotional, not logical. i don't completely remember the pickup breakdown on it, but i think it was an hsh - that's what's in the picture. i'm sure it had a single coil, because that's the last single coil i had access to - after it was sold in 2003. i had some extremely cheap no-name guitars that i got essentially for free from garage sales that i kept for weird tunings, and some of them had single coils (one was a tele copy), but i don't remember doing any specific recordings with them (but meant to). they disappeared in 2011...i again presume that my hyper-capitalist sister assumed that because they were old, they must be valuable, and i doubt she got anything at all for them, but no doubt didn't really care. i should check kijiji and some local pawn shops for $30 guitars...and just kind of get back in the habit of grabbing them when i see them cheap.

so, the only thing i really want to replace with this guitar is the single coils and, as it would be, i bought a fat strat rx40 for $40 (including the case) a few years ago that worked until i got it home, when i realized it looked like somebody ripped something out of it when i went to buy a vacuum elsewhere. fuckers...

to me, that is a sufficient replacement for the lost ibanez, as it fills the hole of a lost fat strat. but, i need to fix it before i can play it.

(post from july 21st inserted here:

i can't find an exact model of the ibanez, which is annoying to me because i'm trying to determine if the rx40 is really a replacement for it or not.

in terms of guitar hierarchy (that is, marketing bullshit), it isn't - the model i had was entry, but it wasn't bottom of the line.

it looked very similar to this:

...but, the annoying locking bridge was more like this one:

you'll note that the allan keys in the second picture are triangular, and the ibanez' was triangular. the thumbscrews in the second picture are very close to the ones i had.

but, it had a three way selector like the first one, and, yes, it had a whammy that i used twice. it was also hsh, like the first one, i think - not just a fat strat. but, see, the first guitar is basically a strat copy; the second is more like a prs (and more like my weird black epiphone, which thankfully doesn't have the awful locking mechanism). i had a strat copy, with the hardware more like the prs copy. maybe it was an upgrade, even - which is ironic, given that it was defective.

i mentioned that the ibanez had a warp in the neck - a nasty knot. it was a factory defect, and wasn't playable at places. you couldn't bend around the 8th fret. i would have never ended up with it, otherwise. and, i probably wouldn't have sold it otherwise, either. but, i got to the point where i understood it was a bad guitar and traded it in...

so, is the rx40 a replacement for this?

again - i know the roadstar is a more expensive guitar, but the one i had was defective, so keep that in mind. i'm trying to replace what i actually had, not what i might have had, in theory.

the big differences are:

1) the roadstar had far more expensive hardware, but i'd rather not have the locking mechanism, so i'd prefer the rx40 because it doesn't have that feature. i actually just left it perpetually unlocked! i don't use whammy bars, which is the reason you have these locking mechanisms, and not to stay in tune for normal use. and, i needed weird tunings for, like, soundgarden songs...

2) the roadstar was hsh and had a three way selector switch. the rx40 is hss and has a five way selector switch, which is standard for strats. so, the last two selector switches are a little different - the roadstar had a humbucker in the neck position (which gave it a beefier, gibsonier sound for solos), whereas the rx40 will have a thinner, stratier sound for solos. but, what makes more sense, if you think about it?

i remember my guitar teacher (his name was terry, and he worked at an actual music school. he was mostly a progressive rock and jazz fusion guitarist, running the gamut from hackett to santana to di meola) looking at the guitar and not understanding it. he was a japanese fellow, but a jew ought to ask this question:

"why would you put a single coil in between two humbuckers on a three way selector?  if you want to play chords, you do one humbucker; if you want to do leads, you do the other. what do you do with the middle coil?"

if you think about it, what you get with the three way roadstar is:

- the second position combined as a bridge humbucker. sort of.

- the middle position, which nobody uses.

- the fourth position, combined as a neck humbucker. sort of.

so, you're cutting off the first and last positions, really....which means you're eliminating a lot of the point of owning a strat. 

what that means is that the roadstar was really just another prs style guitar, just another sg copy, and the middle pickup is just for show - and just to suck your tone by creating noise on the circuit.

in a useable sense, you can create a humbucker in the fourth position on the rx, without losing the fifth position. and, you still get the humbucker at the bridge, which is where you want it on a strat-style guitar. if you want to play a gibson-style guitar, then get one.

so, the roadstar is maybe an example of a design trying too hard to be comprehensive, and instead just coming off as half-assed. they seem to be expensive nowadays, though - although mostly as hhes or as hsses.

i'd rather have the five-way fat strat than the three way selector.

regarding the neck, the rx is plenty fast - which was part of the logic in getting it. and, the neck on the roadstar was broken...

so, yes - i'd consider this a replacement, and a sidegrade, if not an upgrade due to the fact that the roadstar was a defect. i'd rather do away with the locking mechanism, and i'd rather have a five way hss than a three-way hsh. out of all of the combinations, hsh seems to make the least sense to me. as it is, both of my epis have independent humbuckers (and the sg has independent controls), so i don't have any reason to want a strat-like guitar with a humbucker at the neck. that said, i'll take one with a humbucker at the bridge, and one with out it - and that's enough.

that is the next entry in the mega post, and i need to finally figure that out tonight. )

i'm also considering a mini S-S-S squier, but that would be to finish the thought regarding pickup access, and extra to the lost ibanez, from all those years ago. i've never had an sss...but think it's long overdue, and something i may really need to really get through period 3.

(post from july 19th inserted here:

- i also got a fender mini squire for $200 cdn total (including tax):

(mine is red and doesn't say hello kitty)

now, why would i buy myself a guitar for a child? because i needed some single coils, and i know that a guitar with single coils is never going to become my main guitar. i have two epiphones with humbuckers, and that's my usual sound and i'm actually totally happy with it. but, i'm looking for variation, here - that's what i'm doing this month, filling in tonal options in preparation for a recording stage.

i don't have hundreds or thousands of dollars for something more pro, so the question becomes why you'd spend 2-3x as much on a full range squire, or some other fake strat, and then play it twice a year.

i also have exceedingly small hands, so the things this guy is complaining about aren't relevant to me....

i'm also not intending to play much like he is. as i bought it for the thinner pickups, and i'm more of a blues guitarist than a metal guitarist, it's intended use is more for a jimi hendrix, mark knopfler, srv or early corgan type sound. i'm looking for that "sweet strat tone" - or, at least, for the physical characteristics underlying it, to warp mbv-style. 

remember: jazzmasters had single coils, too.

i bought the guitar used, but the frets make it clear it's never really been played. minus the cosmetic scratch on the backplate, it's really a brand new guitar, for about $80 (cdn) less than retail. so, i didn't just get a cheap guitar, i got a good deal on a cheap guitar.

i've plugged it in and it works...

this item does not replace a previous one, because i've actually never had an s-s-s strat. the ibanez rx40, once fixed, will replace the defective ibanez hss (or hsh? i don't remember|) that i sold in 2003.

now, let me eat...)

so, i have the ibanez fully replaced in theory, as soon as i solder the rx40 back together. and, i have a new guitar on top of it, as well. great. moving on...

- the next thing in the list is an electronic piano that belonged to my sister, which i can get relevant sounds from various midi patches. if there was something replaceable about this item, it would be the feel of a full-sized digital piano, but that's of little concern to me, and had nothing to do with what i used the device for, which was mostly organ tones through a zoom 1010. that said, i have recently purchased a behringer control surface to replace the keys taken out of the jx and that, together with modern vst technology, is enough to recreate the wavetable synthesis in the item, entirely, without a second thought.

- next is a "green bass". this is opposed to a blue bass, of course. one dare not speak of a purple bass. listen - i don't know what it was, i just know it was green.

i play a lot of bass, but i'm not a bassist in any technical sense. the reason i got stuck playing bass is actually that i was the better musician. no, really. nobody else could do it, so i could have been a whiny snob and demand to play guitar or i could have been pragmatic and played bass. i didn't give a fuck about the image.

so, i need a bass around. just one. and, i need an amp. just one...

the green bass became a black bass, until i bought myself a red washburn with a warped neck, and had to trade it in. then, i borrowed various basses until 2007 when i bought a coffeburst ibanez roadstar II, which has been my bass ever since.

i could not find picture of this on the internet, so here we are. this is a real bass, kids. i think it's a 1986 or 1987 model. active pickups - which are good for bass, if bad for guitar.

this is not a small bass, but the neck is quite skinny, which is good for my itty bitty hands - a problem when i was being altruistic in playing bass for the team, kind of thing. you can get a variety of different tones from the pickups, but i compress it so much that i really just want the drive from the pups.

the sticker was there when i bought it, and was no doubt intended to glow in the dark. i like saturn. sure.

it's pretty much the best bass for me, as a person, so i'm glad i found it. 

take that "green" bass. pfft. 

- i still have the zoom 1010 & the 440-IIs.

- i do not have a small bass amp to replace the peavey 40 or 50 any more, although i still have a far-too-big-to-play 160 watt fender m-80, which i may use as a cab for the mini amps when there's nobody home. this amp was used for keyboards and guitar effects during the very early recording period, and i still had it for years after, although it mostly got put aside as i was lining everything in instead. you gotta remember that my dad bought most of this stuff, and he was still in the 70s aor mindset where everything needed an amp - keyboards need an amp, drum machine needs an amp, gotta mic the flute through an amp, etc. i just put headphones on and preferred it. that said, it's a definite hole, but one i've left open because i want a combo amp - like a jazz chorus. i like the idea of those mini voxes. if i can find one....but, for now, i'll put the idea aside and rely on the big fender. and, there's good chance  i could use it, yeah.

- the initial replacement for the drum kit was the ry30, but the kit was the one thing that was also understood as belonging to him, and that i actually had to ask to use, on occasion - even if it ended up banished to my room, on several occasions. his third wife just couldn't deal with it, and he couldn't get the space from her, until he stopped caring. so, there were various kits of various quality around, bought and sold. sarah had a kit, which is what i used for the recording phase in 2004. i ended up getting a dm5 and still have it, although i've always only used played drums sporadically and for specific sounds.

- how did i replace the tape deck? i used it as an instrument for years. i think the answer is that i moved to digital sampling and digital pitch shifting, did i lose anything from that? some people will talk about certain characteristics of tape, but it's not enough to convince me to go out and emulate it. if i wanted that sound nowadays, i could use the portastudio, but i'd probably just use a time stretch effect in cool edit or cubase.

- i still have one of the two dixon mics i had back then. the other was replaced with the altec 683b. i've added a marantz condenser mic, which is an option i never had. i'm still considering adding a sennheiser 609, but i'm going to old off on it for now.

- the acoustic guitar left down there was replaced with the epiphone electric/acoustic, which was a sidegrade. i think the guitar left there had better specs, but it didn't have a pickup in it.

- i still have larry's mxr phase 90 (original script).

- larry's more advanced tascam portastudio was replaced with a portastudio 414 and eventually an alesis multimix 16:

- i don't have a specific replacement for the boss oc-2 that i bought in early 1997 and sold in 2003, and am not particularly keen on replacing it. i bought it during a period where the bass disappeared, naively thinking i could use it to record bass parts with my guitar, and i found the box to be underwhelming, to say the least. i used it as a novelty item - a kind of cheeseball effect, almost as a joke. there's an octave/2-octave down multiplier called "double bass" in the pod that works better, and i'll stick with that. it also has an octavia and a pitch shifter...but it's "double bass" that emulates the oc-2. if you insist...

i'm going to stop there for now, with the sum being that i still need to replace the smaller bass amp as a combo guitar/bass/keyboard amp (which is what i used the peavey for, and sort of can't use the fender for) and i'm still looking at the sennheiser 609 as a mic upgrade.

i should also point out that i spent a little bit of time this morning filling the cracks in on my electro-acoustic with wood filler left over from the book shelf.

i'm not going to sand it down or paint it or anything, i'm not intending to sell it and it just can't be played outside, but i'm hoping it strengthens the problems in the neck a bit.

i've been over this before, but the item came back from storage at my dad's with a snap in the headstock, and an apparent glue job, although i don't think it actually separated. i'm going to guess it was broken on purpose by my retarded stepmother, because that's how she behaved over and over the whole time that i knew her. it's just consistent, and not even really surprising. like, i expected something to end up damaged, and i guess that was what got broken.

i had earlier changed the nut on it, too.

it plays fine and stays in tune fine as well, but it's a worthless guitar due to the damage. so, i'm just trying to save it's lifespan as a recording instrument.

it seems to have set well without expanding too much. but, i have to be extra careful with this instrument.

see, here's where we are with this, now:

main guitars:

- custom built prs style guitar with coronet batwing neck, epiphone branding and two open coil independent humbuckers  <----lead/jazz guitar with heavy strings

- slightly small epiphone sg with two humbuckers  <---rhythm/punk guitar with slightly less heavy strings

side guitars:

- ibanez rx40 fat strat copy. ibanez has been around a long time, and they've built lots of guitars, but i've always seen them as primarily a manufacturer of strat copies - almost all of their guitars are built like strats (and the ones that aren't are built like prses). i have yet to fix the wiring. <-----was intended to be a lead/blues guitar with skinny strings. now, it will probably be used more for rhythm/blues parts.

- mini squier sss strat.  <----- this will become the lead/blues guitar

- mini hohner classical  <--- i've recorded classically stuff on this

- full size epiphone electro-acoustic <------this is my one acoustic

- hannah montana washburn mini telecaster copy <---lead/electro-classical guitar. i will largely use this for finger picking, although you heard the classic blues tone that guy got out of it.

- audio to midi converter to plug into hardware synths + software for polyphonic synth work

what's missing?

guitars to find:

- i'm looking for a basic paul shape, to put p90s in it. must be a super cheap pawn shop purchase. <----amplified rhythm parts

- a jazzmaster or jaguar shaped guitar with jazzmaster pickups. idea probably put aside for now. <---effects work

- a couple of cheap electrics for weird tunings, etc.

- still waiting on an answer for the nylon electro-acoustic, but they've just about run out of time, and i'm just about to order something from china, instead. like, they have to at least respond. simply ignoring me tells me it's a bad seller.

- if i can find a cheap 12-strong acoustic, i'll grab it, too.

- i was looking at an electric mandolin, but it's probably dropped for now.

and, what's the total update?

this is what i've got already:

- one person coffee maker

- backup fan

- big bookcase

- new broom

- new computer keyboard

- 4 gb backup ram for 32-bit pc, 1 gb backup ram for 16-bit pc, 2 gb of ram for 90s laptop

- micro orange crush 3w amp

- vox ac30 headphone plug

- all four tanktops (one blue, two pink, one purple)

- behringer umx61midi controller

- fender squire mini strat

- micro cassette recorder 

- wood flute

- sennheiser replacement headphones

- marantz microphone

- 1 of 3 gig bags

and this is what is coming:

- the bottom of the vox combo + pignose (not now though, later) + soldering iron for strat

- 2 of 3 gig bags

- hannah montana guitar

- audio to midi converter (with extra cord)

- ancestry dna test

i was hoping to get something done today, but i spent much of it on the phone with paypal. goofs.

so, i think i'm a little out of date regarding how i'm imagining guitar to midi conversion.

i tried working with an evaluation copy of midi guitar a few years ago and couldn't get it to work right, but there are now several pieces of software that purport to perform this task, and i'm really better off approaching it from that angle. the idea is you convert the note to midi in real time, and it's fine so long as your computer can keep up. reaper seems to do it natively.

that approach should work for bass, too - meaning i won't need a dedicated plugin.

but, i've always wanted to plug directly into the jx, and may consider converting the dx100 into a guitar processor. the best way to do that is not to get a midi guitar but to get a hardware audio to midi interface.

the downside is that it's monophonic, but i can deal with that if i can get the polyphonic version working in software. 

careful - most of the versions have usb outs instead of midi outs, meaning you'd need a separate converter.

i'm going to get a cheap midi to usb instead for maximum flexibility. and, now i can finally plug right into my synths....

i'm going to go looking through the local pawn shops for a paul copy that doesn't work and buy p90s for it. i don't want to pay shipping for an empty body - i can find something cheap here.

that means i'm getting a soldering iron.

i don't have a good idea for the jazzmaster style at this point, other than to keep an eye out for broken squires to swap the pickups out in.

i have a lead on a 21 fret classical.

and, i have a lead on a midi guitar, but it might have to wait.

so, i just bought one of these.

as mentioned previously, my hands are very small. the 3/4 size is not a big deal for me; i may even prefer it.

this is a washburn telecaster for $200. it wasn't at the top of my list of stuff to get, but it's the best offer on option, that i can find.

this would be a nice idea, as a base for the p90s, but they seem to have cut the guitar in a way that's just barely too small for p90s.

https://www.amazon.ca/Epiphone-ELPSLPACH-Electric-Guitar-Pacific/dp/B075BSVFR2/ref=sr_1_99

i've found a video of somebody that made the mod, and it's pretty small.

shame.

but it can be done. i'm going to look for another idea...

this little mini hohner i have appears to be a fairly rare mid 70s model.

the only information i can find is that the sticker in the soundhole looks like this:

...except the serial number is something like sk67??, it doesn't say "made in japan" and there's no number below it. the number is very, very faded - so faded i can't entirely make it out.

that picture is from a 1978 model, and that label is 70s era, roughly.

i like having weird guitars like this, on top of normal guitars like the gibson/epiphone and the fender/squier. the black epiphone is weird, i'm going to make the rx40 weird and i want my 21 fret classical to be weird, too. i want my p90 and jazzmasters to be weird. weird weird weird...

i found the guitar i want, and paypal won't let me log in to buy it.

fuck.

so, i spent yesterday sorting through kijiji listings and i spent today sleeping. i wonder if i'm reacting to the smoke in the new fridge :\.

that said, the fridge is much, much better...

tonight, i need to sort through ebay and do essentially the same thing i did with kijiji. the idea is to understand what's out there, first - and then go looking for specifics.

the p90s themselves seem relatively affordable...

so, this seems more about finding some kind of paul type affair at a reasonable price and putting them in there.

i can't find an exact model of the ibanez, which is annoying to me because i'm trying to determine if the rx40 is really a replacement for it or not.

in terms of guitar hierarchy (that is, marketing bullshit), it isn't - the model i had was entry, but it wasn't bottom of the line.

it looked very similar to this:

...but, the annoying locking bridge was more like this one:

you'll note that the allan keys in the second picture are triangular, and the ibanez' was triangular. the thumbscrews in the second picture are very close to the ones i had.

but, it had a three way selector like the first one, and, yes, it had a whammy that i used twice. it was also hsh, like the first one, i think - not just a fat strat. but, see, the first guitar is basically a strat copy; the second is more like a prs (and more like my weird black epiphone, which thankfully doesn't have the awful locking mechanism). i had a strat copy, with the hardware more like the prs copy. maybe it was an upgrade, even - which is ironic, given that it was defective.

i mentioned that the ibanez had a warp in the neck - a nasty knot. it was a factory defect, and wasn't playable at places. you couldn't bend around the 8th fret. i would have never ended up with it, otherwise. and, i probably wouldn't have sold it otherwise, either. but, i got to the point where i understood it was a bad guitar and traded it in...

so, is the rx40 a replacement for this?

again - i know the roadstar is a more expensive guitar, but the one i had was defective, so keep that in mind. i'm trying to replace what i actually had, not what i might have had, in theory.

the big differences are:

1) the roadstar had far more expensive hardware, but i'd rather not have the locking mechanism, so i'd prefer the rx40 because it doesn't have that feature. i actually just left it perpetually unlocked! i don't use whammy bars, which is the reason you have these locking mechanisms, and not to stay in tune for normal use. and, i needed weird tunings for, like, soundgarden songs...

2) the roadstar was hsh and had a three way selector switch. the rx40 is hss and has a five way selector switch, which is standard for strats. so, the last two selector switches are a little different - the roadstar had a humbucker in the neck position (which gave it a beefier, gibsonier sound for solos), whereas the rx40 will have a thinner, stratier sound for solos. but, what makes more sense, if you think about it?

i remember my guitar teacher (his name was terry, and he worked at an actual music school. he was mostly a progressive rock and jazz fusion guitarist, running the gamut from hackett to santana to di meola) looking at the guitar and not understanding it. he was a japanese fellow, but a jew ought to ask this question:

"why would you put a single coil in between two humbuckers on a three way selector?  if you want to play chords, you do one humbucker; if you want to do leads, you do the other. what do you do with the middle coil?"

if you think about it, what you get with the three way roadstar is:

- the second position combined as a bridge humbucker. sort of.

- the middle position, which nobody uses.

- the fourth position, combined as a neck humbucker. sort of.

so, you're cutting off the first and last positions, really....which means you're eliminating a lot of the point of owning a strat. 

what that means is that the roadstar was really just another prs style guitar, just another sg copy, and the middle pickup is just for show - and just to suck your tone by creating noise on the circuit.

in a useable sense, you can create a humbucker in the fourth position on the rx, without losing the fifth position. and, you still get the humbucker at the bridge, which is where you want it on a strat-style guitar. if you want to play a gibson-style guitar, then get one.

so, the roadstar is maybe an example of a design trying too hard to be comprehensive, and instead just coming off as half-assed. they seem to be expensive nowadays, though - although mostly as hhes or as hsses.

i'd rather have the five-way fat strat than the three way selector.

regarding the neck, the rx is plenty fast - which was part of the logic in getting it. and, the neck on the roadstar was broken...

so, yes - i'd consider this a replacement, and a sidegrade, if not an upgrade due to the fact that the roadstar was a defect. i'd rather do away with the locking mechanism, and i'd rather have a five way hss than a three-way hsh. out of all of the combinations, hsh seems to make the least sense to me. as it is, both of my epis have independent humbuckers (and the sg has independent controls), so i don't have any reason to want a strat-like guitar with a humbucker at the neck. that said, i'll take one with a humbucker at the bridge, and one with out it - and that's enough.

that is the next entry in the mega post, and i need to finally figure that out tonight.

so, i guess the epiphone is really a prs-style guitar, isn't it? it just clicked. i mean, i'd seen a prs before, but i never made the connection. it's the same pickup placement, even. i guess ibanez also did that kind of thing, but it's the shape prs is most known for - ibanez is more known for their weird locking systems and other odd innovations. it might be an ibanez body, but if it is then it's a fairly old one. that's probably what the person that built it was going for.....

so, i've got

main guitars:

- custom built prs style guitar with coronet batwing neck, epiphone branding and two open coil independent humbuckers  <----lead/jazz guitar with heavy strings

- slightly small epiphone sg with two humbuckers  <---rhythm/punk guitar with slightly less heavy strings

side guitars:

- ibanez rx40 fat strat copy. ibanez has been around a long time, and they've built lots of guitars, but i've always seen them as primarily a manufacturer of strat copies - almost all of their guitars are built like strats (and the ones that aren't are built like prses). i have yet to fix the wiring. <-----was intended to be a lead/blues guitar with skinny strings. now, it will probably be used more for rhythm/blues parts.

- mini squier sss strat.  <----- this will become the lead/blues guitar

- mini hohner classical  <--- i've recorded classically stuff on this

- full size epiphone electro-acoustic <------this is my one acoustic

if you look at the discography, you'll note there weren't any tracks recorded in the blues style over period 2, except the ones i used my old ibanez (i now think it was an hsh roadstar II, as they have the thumbscrews i couldn't find elsewhere) for before i sold it before i left. all lead parts since 2003 were recorded with humbuckers, and just eqed if i want it to be sparklier. but, there are points where i struggled, and i hope that fixes it. there will definitely be parts in period 3 that need single coils.

what's missing?

guitars to find:

- if i could find an absolutely bottom of the line telecaster copy, i'd grab it. i had one for years, and i don't think i ever used it (it wasn't wired right). <---lead/electro-classical guitar (i play with my fingers, but i don't play redneck music. this is where a tele is theoretically useful to me.)

- i'm looking for a basic paul shape, to put p90s in it. pre-installed is even better. i picked an sg over a paul because i liked the less chunky sound of the sg, and humbuckers were the right choice. but, a paul works better with p90s (and vice versa) because it cuts out some of the low end. i've never had p90s, and it's not a sound i wrote around much in the past, but i realize it's the sound i want for much of period 3. <----amplified rhythm parts

- a jazzmaster or jaguar shaped guitar with jazzmaster pickups. <---effects work

- can i find an affordable midi guitar?

- a couple of cheap electrics for weird tunings, etc.

and, i'm still trying to find a way to get a 21 fret classical guitar, preferably one with a cutoff and a pickup in it.

so, that's comprehensive. i think. that's what i need to find. and, no, i can't afford all of it - until i get a settlement from sobey's, which may be relatively soon.

today has been frustrating, as i've been unable to differentiate between the smoking coming upstairs and the smoke coming from the fridge, which has allowed them to smoke with impunity. and, i may have to actually reclean this space from top to bottom. we'll see.

but, i'm now familiar with everything up in the region on kijiji, and have put aside things i may want to pursue.

the marantz came in quick. i think the flute cleared customs, too.

as mentioned, i'm going to be mostly focused on cleaning that fridge for the next several days. but, let's see how much of that post i can finish...

so, what's the update for today?

i was up earliesh, actually, and got to finishing the meal that i barely started last night. by the time i finished it, i had to call my doctor - and i got him to do essentially everything i asked for.

- virtual scope

- standing order (we'll start for aug 1st)

- all requests for blood work

so, that's about ideal.

my landlord knocked on the door minutes before the scheduled call and asked to replace the fridge, so i had to ask him to come back, and then ended up waiting until after 17:00 - which largely blew the day. then, when he got it down here, i realized it completely reeked of second-hand smoke.

it's easy to get conspiratorial about this, but i think it's more consistent with the guy's lack of general competence. i mean, i've been bitching about this for months - it could be a real dick move. that is, if i thought he was able to really think it through. more likely is that he just bought a cheap fridge and didn't ask. now i'm stuck cleaning the fridge.

that's fine - i'll do it. but, it's going to take some time, and prevent me from setting things back up. fuck...

it's just another thing to take note of, if this ends up in a court room. in the end, it's a large amount of labour and time wasted. but, asking for compensation is difficult, until it becomes necessary - then it becomes overwhelming.

the one other thing i got done today was the purchase of some gig bags. i went looking for a 38" bag for the new mini, expecting to spend around $20. in the process, i found a deal on a fancy out-of-the-house bag ($18) and a decided to get a back-up back ($11), before finally finding a decent 38" bag (for $14). this was all through walmart marketplace, which i'm using instead of amazon because they take paypal and amazon won't.

i'm going to need to stop soon, but let me try another run on the scrubdown for the fridge. it's probably going to take at least a week...

here's where i am with the shipping and stuff:

this is what i've purchased already:

- one person coffee maker

- backup fan

- big bookcase

- new broom

- new computer keyboard

- 4 gb backup ram for 32-bit pc, 1 gb backup ram for 16-bit pc, 2 gb of ram for 90s laptop

- micro orange crush 3w amp

- vox ac30 headphone plug

- all four tanktops (one blue, two pink, one purple)

- behringer umx61midi controller

- fender squire mini strat

and this is what is coming:

- micro cassette recorder <---shipped

- the bottom of the vox combo + pignose + circuit for strat?

- a wood flute to replace the one my aunt bought me in 1998, and since just broke due to being old. that flute was used on several recordings, actually.  <----shipped

- sennheiser replacement headphones  <---stuck in customs

- marantz microphone

- 3 gig bags

wait. no...it shouldn't be that hard to rewire the mini jazzmaster after all...

i'm not going to do this tomorrow, but it's an idea.

i suppose, i could get another cheap strat and put alnicos in it. right?

i used to have a very, very cheap tele copy but it disappeared. it's not a priority.

but, if i could ever find a jazzmaster copy with alnicos...that's the last type of guitar i'd be seriously interested in, but it's not feasible, and i know it.

unfortunately, fender put humbuckers in the jazzmaster minis, which makes it hard to rewire them.

so, i spent the day running around (technically, walking and biking around) and now have the following in my possession:

- the two purple and pink tanktops came in the mail

- i picked up the behringer umx61 this morning. mine is grey, with some mild yellow staining, presumably from being near to an ashtray for an extended period. i had to play through some pops (indicating it hadn't been used in a while), but the keys all work, and, if anything, they're a little hyper-sensitive. that's fine.

it cost me $95 cdn, used.

this device has two major purposes for me:

- it replaces the keys on the jx-8p, which were stuck. it's a common problem with 80s rolands, and i just never fixed it. but, my 49 key dx100 is just a little lacking. i guess i never counted it - i though the jx had 88 keys. it turns out it has 61, too. so, if anything, i'm getting two extra octaves with the behringer...

- it will finally give me access to a control surface, if a minor one. i'm probably not going to go all knob-twiddly, but it is useful for tactical use to be able to physically turn a sweep, and i've really never been able to do that. the jx has a control surface, but i didn't get it in the package, second hand. it's just something i've never had in front of me...and something i've long intended to rectify..

i'll go over this in more detail later in the megapost, but i consider this to be a replacement purchase and a sidegrade.

i'm going to need to spend tonight finding a way to get it to hover over the jx. many years ago, i used to have a sideways bookcase that had the jx on the bottom and the dx100 up top. nowadays, i have them lined up on two tables that adjoin at right angles. the behringer is about 5 kg, which isn't much more than the dx (3  kg), but is roughly twice the length, which distributes the weight differently. i fear a flimsy option may be disastrous. so, the obvious thing to do is get a keyboard rack, but what does that actually cost?

- i also got a fender mini squire for $200 cdn total (including tax):

(mine is red and doesn't say hello kitty)

now, why would i buy myself a guitar for a child? because i needed some single coils, and i know that a guitar with single coils is never going to become my main guitar. i have two epiphones with humbuckers, and that's my usual sound and i'm actually totally happy with it. but, i'm looking for variation, here - that's what i'm doing this month, filling in tonal options in preparation for a recording stage.

i don't have hundreds or thousands of dollars for something more pro, so the question becomes why you'd spend 2-3x as much on a full range squire, or some other fake strat, and then play it twice a year.

i also have exceedingly small hands, so the things this guy is complaining about aren't relevant to me....

i'm also not intending to play much like he is. as i bought it for the thinner pickups, and i'm more of a blues guitarist than a metal guitarist, it's intended use is more for a jimi hendrix, mark knopfler, srv or early corgan type sound. i'm looking for that "sweet strat tone" - or, at least, for the physical characteristics underlying it, to warp mbv-style. 

remember: jazzmasters had single coils, too.

i bought the guitar used, but the frets make it clear it's never really been played. minus the cosmetic scratch on the backplate, it's really a brand new guitar, for about $80 (cdn) less than retail. so, i didn't just get a cheap guitar, i got a good deal on a cheap guitar.

i've plugged it in and it works...

this item does not replace a previous one, because i've actually never had an s-s-s strat. the ibanez rx40, once fixed, will replace the defective ibanez hss (or hsh? i don't remember|) that i sold in 2003.

now, let me eat...

the other thing i have to point out is...

my guitar tone never gets cheesy or cliched. i'm very conscious of this. i just don't do it.

so, this recording combination - an antique altec 683b + a flat marantz condenser mic + tertiary line-ins when possible, all while using mini-amps as a source - should both give me the tones i'm imagining and give me a unique quality, just a je ne sais quoi that i try to integrate into most of what i do.

that is really the reason why i'm more interested in sticking with the altec, at least to start.

i mean, i've been using it for years, and i have no real complaints about it. i'm just trying to make sure i have all of the option, right this minute - these are decisions that will be binding for the next 10 years.