Members WWW Posted July 8, 2015 Members Share Posted July 8, 2015 Woke up Got outta bed Dragged a comb across my ... Wait, I don't have much hair so no comb required. Please don't read this if you have something productive to do. (I'm serious) I've been away for a while (sneaking in for posts now and again). Been playing my acoustic mostly. I've been lazy too. Really lazy. I decided to break out of my acoustic slumber today and restring my strat (my number 1. My baby). I polished her up in between the de/re string. Properly stretched the new shiny bringers of tone, then I fired up the big amp and plugged in. I was ready for fireworks. My very cool neighbors are on vacation so I have no reservations breaking the quarter mark on the volume. What I got was just a fizzle. A dud. I didn't feel electrified like I expected after a long break from fuzz, feedback and the mixture of clean timbre and displacement that my strat and big amp normally provide when I let my tiny hairs down. Hell, I can remember being unable to stop the grin even when this beautiful Mexican agave blue sweetheart was plugged into my little 30 watt combo. Now I'm plugged into a beast and can't even muster a smile. To make it worse, I have some of the best effects that I know of, which cost me years of time and $$$ researching until I found what works and sounds best for me. All a big waste as it seems... Maybe I'll just go back to my acoustic. It's been heavily played, but neglected too. There's grime on the edges of the frets and the nut and saddle-nut-bridge (whatever you call that thing) are yellowing. The strings are turning green from oxidation, but my recent hibernation has resulted in a string drought. Even though I can't restore the crisp to my wooden box it still makes me happy. On a very short stroll between my now forsaken strat and my abused but comfortable acoustic, I saw a vision. It was my peripheral vision sillies, not one of those "out of body" or haunting visions like you see on tv. So out of my peripheral (I had to google it the first time, and obviously learned, because I spelled it the second time without the help of technology) vision, I noticed my (also neglected) Burny LP (the MIC cheap version, not the Japanese ones that cost $$$) sitting there on it's hanger. Might as well... [short story time {I made a NGD post on it a while back}] This guitar was found during an impulse pawn shop stop around my wife's birthday. You see, she adores the handmade Japanese clay dishes that are abundant in the area. The best ones are like old records that you can't find in any normal stores. You really have to dig for these things to find the treasures. I actually found a nice set of plates for her during the stop, but I also saw this old, cheap, beat up crappy Burny sitting in the corner with a bunch of other old gutted Fernandes shredders from the 80's. $80 dollars later and the beaten down refugee from a broken home was now in comfort, cleaned up and resting with her brothers and sisters. [back to present time {well, not present as I type, or as you read it, but present as my memory recalls}] So I plug this thing in and damn. It's like Independence day actually happened on July 8th. Just so full of everything happy in the universe. In contrast, I'm very sad to know that my sweetheart will be replaced by another. It truly is a long and winding road. For those who made it this far and are preparing to petition my for life minutes wasted, just remember that it could be worse. You know a moose once bit my sister. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bee3 Posted July 8, 2015 Members Share Posted July 8, 2015 Now I don't feel so bad about giving all my love to my Squier Classic Vibe 50s Strat and leaving my Fender MIM Strat hanging on the wall. A bird pooped on my head when I was four. I thought I was kicked by a moose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members goodhonk Posted July 8, 2015 Members Share Posted July 8, 2015 try lighter gauge strings on the strat. ditch the pedals for a bit, learn some surf songs, crank the reverb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Danhedonia Posted July 8, 2015 Members Share Posted July 8, 2015 Don't give up on the sweetheart - I tend to blow super hot and cold with certain guitars, and for 6 months hated a Les Paul that has, apart from those 6 months, never failed to delight. Did the guitar's soul abscond for a half year? Nah - it was me. Somehow. As I have way, way too many guitars, "the next one" is always within reach, and I've found that I just cycle through them. Once I got ok with that, it turns out to be pretty awesome: this particular summer has featured intense dating of my SG Special Faded, Squier VM Jazzmaster; '12 MIA Strat; Reverend Manta Ray. This spring I couldn't stop playing my Jag and the Les Paul, and my '94 MIM Tele (a great year, and if you can believe it the body is a book-matched two piece - no idea how that happened). Date around. Variety is the spice of life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted July 8, 2015 Members Share Posted July 8, 2015 ^ +1. Sometimes a particular guitar/amp/pedal feels and sounds right, other times not so much. I have one halfway decent electric and a small number of acoustics of varying quality but the guitar I play regularly is a plywood Jay Turser cheapie that lies on the couch, waiting for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chuck Manson Posted July 19, 2015 Members Share Posted July 19, 2015 I tend to cycle through several acoustic and electrics. Funny how sometimes one can feel so right and other times meh. I go through various amp set-ups too. Some times the little Vox headphone amp and a set of headphones and my recliner are hard to beat. Other times it's digging into the computer to find the lost chord on the modeling rig. I also get OCD over my OCD and sun face as well. I'm still finding new sounds and inspiration when I sit down to play. I've really been working on improving my speed and lead playing. The fretboard has opened up to me through a lot of work I was always too lazy/busy to do. My fingers are starting to sprout new sounds and tones. The guitar is a very deep place to explore. No matter how long I dig, I still realize that I have barely scratched the surface of what has already been done. And waiting in the either is a new style/sound that has yet to be discovered. Surfing that tubular sound wave all the way to shore is rare pleasure most people never experience. Enjoy the music in your soul my friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Trick Fall Posted July 20, 2015 Members Share Posted July 20, 2015 Aside from gigs and rehearsals I've barely played guitar for the last year. Now all of a sudden I've been playing a few nights a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Player99 Posted July 20, 2015 Members Share Posted July 20, 2015 I picked up my sg after having it on the rack, and it was all crackly. I sprayed Deoxit in the jack and plugged and unplugged a cable in and out about 20 times. Now it works perfectly... Or do you mean your whole rig just sucks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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