So some updates on the guitar front: I think I've finally found "my" sound. I rewired the pedal board, mixer, computer, and amp. Before, if I played along with a song from Spotify or a backing track on my computer the effects would also affect the song for example, if I had reverb or echo working on the ME-50 it would do the same thing to the song I was playing along with. I sat down and did a little trial and error with the cables and hit upon a way to stop that from happening. The basic flow is now from the guitar to the pedal board, into the Big Muff, out to the Talk Box, out to the Boss and straight to my Fender 25R amp. From there the guitar, anything from the computer, and the mike's all meet at the mixer and then out to the headphone jack. That keeps the effects from the pedal board isolated to the guitar and not influencing everything else. Of course the Talk Box marches to it's own drummer but I have the tube for it zip tied to the mike stand which works OK. Very pleased with the new sound and it's easier to experiment with the Boss. 

The stringed instrument collection now includes my banjo and another acoustic my daughter gave me. It's a Squier and is a good sounding acoustic. Not as good as the Seagull but definitely adequate. Learning the Banjo has been an experience. I used to be able to finger pick pretty good but as the years went on and my stubby sausage fingers got stiffer it's getting more difficult. I haven't played in a bit but I do need to get back in to it.

Future projects include changing the pickups on the Telecaster and rewiring the Les Paul. I plan to do videos on how those go. The Tele seems to sound OK but I thought some Vintage Fender pickups might help it a bit. 

When I brought the Les Paul back from the Middle East I had it wrapped in cellophane in the case in Abha S.A. It made it all the way to San Francisco where the TSA cut the cellophane off to inspect it and put it back in the case upside down. On the flight from San Fran to Boise the toggle switch got bent. It's possible the inspector didn't know anything about guitars and accidently  put it back upside down or it was a dick move. I'm gonna go with dick move. I have a new harness with a new switch and potentiometers so I'm going to change them out too. I have officially retired my Cry Baby Wah Wah pedal after changing the foot switch on it. It worked good and still sounds great but I have a Wah Wah on the Boss so I'm going to put the Cry Baby out to pasture. The video of me changing switch is below.

Guitar

I as I said on my home page I've been playing guitar since I was about 10 years old.  It has ebbed and flowed over the years, when we were raising our family it seemed there was always something else that needed to be purchased besides guitars and equipment. Then a friend of my was separating from the Air Force and offered to sell me his guitar, gig bag, and tuner for $50.  I was back to playing guitar and it's has been a large part of my life since. Some of my early influences and idols were: Ritchie Blackmore from Deep Purple, Jimmy Page from the Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin, Jeff Beck and a host of others.  To paraphrase Sammy Hagar, I would listen to Ritchie Blackmore play on Deep Purple albums and say to myself "I want to do that!"  I play now just for the sheer enjoyment of it and to get away from the pressures of life.  I'll use this page updating what I'm doing with the guitar

Al Green

Technical Writer