madjack

All possible midi connections and equipment would take a large book to outline. Decide what you want to do, then research what gear will do that for you, then find out how to hook it up. Best bet might be to make a relationship with a reputable salesperson. I have always had good service from Sweetwater Sound.

I like my swell, sustain, and Leslie switch pedals too much to enjoy standing while playing these days, and the X-style stands have those two legs sticking out in the way. I have one at home as a practice stand, but for onstage I have an Ultimate Support JS-MPS1 that I've used for more than 20 years. I have an upper tier that bolts on. It's plenty stable, and leaves lots of room for pedals. I see the stand is still made, but I don't find the upper tier arms anymore. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PlatformStdJS--ultimate-support-js-mps1-jamstans-multi-purpose-mixer-keyboard-stand?mrkgadid=3281233240&mrkgcl=28&mrkgen=gpla&mrkgbflag=0&mrkgcat=keyboards&synthesizers=&acctid=21700000001645388&dskeywordid=92700046937741301&lid=92700046937741301&ds_s_kwgid=58700005287622121&ds_s_inventory_feed_id=97700000007215323&dsproductgroupid=491432491837&product_id=PlatformStdJS&prodctry=US&prodlang=en&channel=online&storeid=&device=c&network=g&matchtype=&adpos=largenumber&locationid=9033391&creative=217452498629&targetid=aud-382734789492%3Apla-491432491837&campaignid=916403487&awsearchcpc=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwY-LBhD6ARIsACvT72N85KAIybeveP8OSMXgBVXZva7Car8BciCzXD1fVPx0LUVajshoAf4aAo9vEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

This article deals with teles, not strats, but the differences should be similar. https://www.guitarvguitar.com/squier-standard-vs-affinity-telecaster.html

No pics currently but I have a black Squire Affinity Anniversary Telecaster. Bought at Sam Ash for $99, had a Fralin bridge pup I wasn't using so dropped that in. A very nice playing and sounding guitar for little money.

I've had to get rid of several over the years; a '67 gold top with P90s, a '65 SG special, an early '60s melody maker. The one I would most like to have now is an old black and white Silvertone hollow body with a bigsby tail piece, similar to the Chris Isaak type. It was a very nice instrument with an interesting sound. I've only seen one exactly the same; in a fake storefront in Dollywood. I sold it when I was a kid and didn't really know what I had.

I'm 50, a high-school teacher by day, and have been a player for 36 years. For the last 18 years it's been just weekend warrior stuff, but I play most weekends. My current basic system is: Mixing - FOH Allen/Heath GL2. When I need more channels I use a JBL MusicMix 16 as a submix, but I recently bought a second GL2 which I'll use once I finish installing the sys-link kit. I bought the GL2 new 10-12 years ago for about $1000. I've had no problems with it in that time and am quite happy with the sound. The only thing I don't like is that the channels are very unforgiving in that any real clipping adds an almost digital clipping noise. One must make sure the gains are high enough for good punch but not high enough to clip. Processing - Driverack PA, Lexicon MPX100 I have the calibrated mic for the driverack, and use the wizard to get a flat system starting point the first time into a new club, then save the setting. The driverack, while cumbersome, has all the processing I've needed so far. The Lexicon, while quite basic, has a decent unobtrusive reverb which I use combined with a basic echo. I have a foot switch set to bypass between songs, and let me tap in the tempo for the echo for each song. I don't need anything fancier. Amps - 1xSoundtech PS1300 for FOH, 2xRMX1450 for monitors IIRC the soundtech is rated at 350 watts into 8 ohms and 600 into 4 ohms, which makes it a good match for the SX200 tops. The only problem I've had with it in 12 years is the binding posts on one channel took a hit and broke the insulator. I've had a difficult time finding the correct heavy duty posts and insulator to replace it. Each channel of the 1450s drives one monitor. The monitors are clean and smooth enough with enough GBF that I've had no need to put eqs on them. FOH - 4x EV SX200 tops; 2x Yorkville PS210P (the pulse series predecessor to the LS700) active subs. I bought the first pair of EVs shortly after they first came on the market. I think I paid somewhere around $550 each. I bought the 12" subs that matched them, and while I used the subs for several years, I never really liked them. They didn't have nearly enough punch. I bought the Yorkies from a friend for $750 for the pair, and am quite happy with them. They are strong enough that they caused me to pick up the second pair of SX200s, which I bought on ebay for $600/pair. The subs weigh about 70lbs each, and the tops weigh 39lbs each. The sound is smooth and even, with plenty of bottom end. They cover venues of up to 250 seating quite well, and I've used them in outdoor beer tent setups with reasonable success. If I were going to go any larger venues I would at least want another pair of subs, and maybe a third pair of tops. Monitors - 4x Kustom 12" loaded with EV 12L and EV horn. The monitors I purchased sometime in the late '70s, for I think $250 each. They came loaded with SRO12s (predecessor to the EV12L) and very small Renkus/Heinz horns. The horns died after several years, but the cabinets are good plywood construction, and the EV speakers have always sounded good. Thanks to a faulty amp the speakers were reconed about 10 years ago, and 4 years ago I got a deal on some 25 watt EV horns and drivers which I installed in the cabs with replacement crossovers. The crossover point is 3.5K. The monitors sound very good, and as mentioned earlier, I have had no need for eqs or other processing on them. Mics - various. I use an EV757 for vocals, a Sen 609 for my guitar, a pair of SM57s for the leslie. Other mics are provided by the various musicians. Cabling - Most of the cabling is homemade, including the stagebox, snake, multipins, most of the speaker cables, etc. The rig is set up for onstage mixing. With the GL2 I can submix the various instument/vocal groups and still have 4 separate monitor mixes. The GL2 is mounted in a plywood mixer rack with the processing below it and the amps in a 10 space anvil rack below that. The mixer rack connects to the amp rack via a multipin cable. The stage box for inputs is on a 15' snake which connects to the mixing rack via multipin. The system can fit in the back of a pickup with topper, be completely unloaded by me, and set up ready to go in about 20 minutes. I have been quite happy with this system for a number of years now.

Originally posted by redviper I really can't see how people bang random girls. I would never no matter how hot would ever band some random groupie. I guess there is alot less people out there that actually care about love and whatnot. I know I sound like a {censored} right. But I guess my mom just raised me right. Plus with a girlfriend that would murder me if I ever cheated on her I don't ever see myself getting laid because of my music. While I applaud your inner moral strength, I must remind you of two things. Many of us are not talking about cheating on a girlfriend/wife while responding to groupies, and the world was quite a bit different in the 70s than it is now. With the advent of the pill, and the lack of any deadly stds that couldn't be cured with a simple shot, society's mores had quickly changed, particularly among young people.

Yes. A bit of a cautionary tale. I was playing a club in Cedar Falls, Iowa, about 25 years ago. We had just finished a set, the house was full, the crowd jumping, the band smokin' hot, and I was feeling quite good about myself. A lovely lady, looking about late 20s and smokin' hot herself, slunk up to me at the front of the stage, wrapped her arms around me, said "You're great! I want you to meet some people," and tilted her head up, obviously for a kiss. Of course I obliged her. She led me over to a table of several couples and some singles and announced, "This is the guitar player. He's great!" and pulled my face down for another long, hot kiss. Through the heat and haze of the kiss I heard a masculine voice say, "You wanna take your hands off her? That's my wife!" and a woman say, "Maybe you'd better go." I pulled my lips away, looked at the table, and saw a large man, obviously in pain, looking daggers at the two of us, while the woman by whom I had just been so deeply kissed laughed at him. I quickly extricated my arm, said "Sorry, I didn't know," and split for the band room. I don't know what happened with the couple, as they were gone by the time I dared head up for the next set. I was just glad the guy was apparently unarmed.

Originally posted by Monster Joe My groupie story : After a quite successful gig I'm having a drink when this very cute girl walks up to me. She says "Hey, you're in the band, right?" I give her a big smile and say "Yeah..." She then asks :"Can you tell me where I can find your singer?" She must not have liked the look on my face because she didn't hang around for the answer The proper answer to that question is, "Oh, he's probably out in back screwing some groupie!"

Originally posted by J. Okay, some of us our going to road trip to Texas and pry the details out of MrKnobs any way we have to!!! Okay, just kidding. That sucks about Gail though... she was only in her early 40's. I'd still like a picture! Darn your wife for burning them! Now one question in general: Has the age of the groupie come and gone? I've gigged semi-regularly for the past 7-8 years (since I was 17) and have never, ever gotten any groupie action of any kind. I even played in a classic rock cover band that was reasonably successful. The thing is, I always hear these stories from people recalling the good ol' days of gigging back in the 70's and 80's, but nothing of the sort comes up recently, aside from one of your bandmates drinking too much and banging a fat girl. Have the glory days passed us by? As one of those who was gigging back in the "glory days" and has been gigging still, I would say that while the old days were not quite as golden as some seem to remember, the live music scene over much of the country has greatly diminished, which has led to, if not the end of the "age of the groupie," at least to a dearth of ladies interested enough in live music to become groupies. It is not only more and more difficult to find groupies, it has become more and more difficult to find venues and audiences in many areas. As well, the pay for playing at the local level has dropped considerably. When I started playing out in 1970, I was taking home around $35-50/gig. Now the best pay I can find is $50-75/gig, at least in my area (central Florida). Figure the inflation factor; the $35-50/gig was enough to live on. The $50-75 is not.

Originally posted by MrKnobs I don't have the imagination required for it. The stories I tell here on HC are things that really happened - I'm just recounting them. Making something interesting up is quite another skill. Terry D. P.S. Also I'm contemplating how to tell part 3 here. Part 3 contains information that is vital to the story but may be too off color for this forum. It reveals the secret hinted to in the first installment above. I'll think of something. Terry; Remember the words of the great Red Smith; "Writing is easy, I just open a vein and bleed." Looks like you already know that, at least subconsciously.