A view through my lens…
July 25, 2007 Leave a Comment
Here is an over distorted progression I put together over vacation. It is your basic blues progression in the key of E. The mix down is a bit rough, still trying to figure out the art of computer recording and amp simulation. Have a listen and let me know what you think.
December 16, 2006 Leave a Comment
Wrote my first piece of music in several years and although the mix is reaaly rough, I think this may be the first digital recording thar I am actually Ok with. It by no means great but after playing on and off with Garageband for the past year, I at least fee like I at least figured somethin out! Anyhow… the track is called The Morning Sun – music only, lyrics are forth coming in a new mix once I get there!
Enjoy!
July 15, 2006 Leave a Comment
Looking back, it has come to my attention that I have spent a vast majority of my time in various basements. Growing up, the basement was more or less my sanctuary – very simliar to that 70′s show… only no Fez. When I got married and bought a house, I was spoiled with the spare bedroom office that doubled as a server room and music room. When we had baby number 2 (Christian), i was once again evicted and bannished to the basement. I have come to realize, the basement is not all bad and as far as rooms go, I can live with it. Most of the room is a play room for the kids who are still too little not to have one… my 9×9 area though has shaped up a bit, I am making the most of it! Not so bad eh?
July 12, 2006 Leave a Comment
With the help from my cousin Sean Ray, I have plunged int othe world of Banjo playing and re-kindled my Bluegrass roots. I have been on the Banjo wagon for about 5 days now and with the help of the Banjo Hangout, I have picked up several chords, some strumming patterns and some new direction to take my mediocre playing.
I am currently armed with the Old & In the Way tab book and will soon be armed with the Earl Scruggs banjo book… Look out Jerry… I will be tearing up the fret board soon… I think I may have been born to banjo!
June 27, 2006 Leave a Comment
2 years in the making but the project guitar lives on. With some help from eBay and my father (thanks for the soldering job) I have completed the body of the Telecaster style guitar complete with a fresh paint job. The body is Ash. The bridge is a 1950′s resissue modified sa this is not a “through the body” strung guitar. The wiring kit is also 1950′s reissue from Fender. The volume and control knobs are vintage Fender dome top. For the pickups, I popped on eBay and picked up a set of Seymour Duncan’s. The neck pickup is a Little 59 and the bridge pickup is an STR-1.
The neck still needs some work but it is a maple with a rosewood fret board. I left the neck unfinshed as I like the feel. The end result: terrible intonation (I have some work to do with setting the guitar up) but plays like a vintage Tele. The sound is vintage Fender twang and the action is good. Pictures below!
June 19, 2006 Leave a Comment
Ok – so it turns out that in all, I am not exactly a heap of motivation and I am not exactly burning up the corporate ladder. I do however, have anew project going. Sure, I should be rewriting applications, learning about dimensional data modeling and fixing bugs for clients in applications I have built but instead, I have finally decided to follow through on at least one thing and rebuild my Telecaster kit guitar.
I took the whole mess apart yesterday and I have applied the first coat of TV Yellow to the previously unfinished guitar body. In addition to getting the first coat of paint on it, I also ordered some parts to get it sounding just as I want. I started with Seymour Duncan ST-1 and Little 59 pickups along with a Fender 52 reissue wiring kit. I also ordered a new reissue tail piece and ’52 reissue nobs. I will also eventually replace the control plate and the neck plate to Fender stock items as well as the tuning heads but for now, I will leave those alone.
I have also decided to keep the neck unfinished as I like the feel of the neck and the way it plays. My future plans would include a Fender Tele neck, perhaps a reissue of a 50′s style neck. The guitar sounds good and plays nice for not being an actual Fender. The body is solid swamp ash with a maple neck/rosewood fret board. I still have to cut the head stock on the neck to give it shape.
The problem with the guitar is that I have never been able to correct the intonation as I am not a guitar mechanic by any means. I do however like to tinker and hope that with a good bridge that I will be able to get the tuning corrected. I will try and get some pictures of the project up so you can see the progression. Thus far I am optimistic that when I get done I will have a Fender worthy Tele for a fraction of the price…. now if I could just get the artistic juices flowing!!!!
