Option Anxiety

Choices...

They actually haunt me ..

But it is nice to be in a position where I can consider my options.
The truth is  that I am not sure what I want with my quest for the ultimate tone...but I am close...

Originally the two amps that were on my radar were the Carr Rambler...and the Swart SST 30.

The Rambler being the Pinnacle of clean sounds unrivaled and the Swart being much more versatile with the ability to get a bit nasty.
It is less compact as well.

 I am not sure if that is a bonus or a drawback...but really... I seldom play anywhere but my house..even though I have another gig coming up on Valentines day.

The Armstrong has a very sweet sound..no doubt...and the sound still haunts me..but,

If I go that route, and for whatever reason, decide to make a different choice later on, will I be able to sell it?

The Swart Amps are sought after and are very well known as are the Carr amps.

They seldom come up for sale used...and when the do they sell almost immediately. I think I'd be foolish not to keep this in mind...

I have time... I am about halfway there $$-wise and my existing amp is still up for sale.

In the meantime Jackson Ampworks has recently come onto my radar. They have a funky look that has started to grow on me. They are a big name with gearheads and are also an option.

I am thinking that as the time grows near I need to take the gee-tar and make a tone pilgrimage to some of the big music stores in Chicago to test drive some of these icons...and maybe grab some deepdish pizza...

On a side note...most of the snow is gone and it rained all last night. It is like a spring day out...meanwhile the East coast is being buried under snow in a series of Biblical storms...

What have we done to this planet?...

Wind turbine company Nextera & MNR destroy Bald Eagle Nest & Habitat in ...

Out there...

Here is a picture of the Sarnia area that Sarnia  ON native Chris Hatfield recently took from outer space.

Very Cool.

He is currently running shit up in the space station...and I am currently down here fighting yet another chest cold...
Jesus this is frustrating!!!

On a good note...I have sold both of my guitars and I have some mad money burning a hole in my pocket.

Once my amp sells I will be able to go shopping tone silly style...and I am looking forward to it.

The owner of KW cabs has suggested this beautiful 4 x 10 cab at a very good price... that could be overkill...but I am chewing on it.

I used to have a Fender Super when I was a young punk playing in the rock bands ' back in the day'..lol..
It had 4 x 10's in it and I loved it!!



Hmmm....  




The guitar sales weren't without the obligatory cold feet and drama that can sometimes threaten to choke the fun out of my ridiculous existence...but ...as per my New Years resolution ..lol...I fought through it..got er done ...and in a way it all has been very liberating.

Some cool guitars ...that I never play...have found new...Appreciative Owners..
That is important.
Now I am going shopping.
That is very cool...very cool indeed!!!

Genius...

Rush - Beyond The Lighted Stage (Full Movie)

Options...

Well...One of my guitars is now spoken for.

I feel very good about this. There is 'some' residual anxiety but not enough to keep me from moving forward with the sale.
This is normal I guess...I am a corny dude and not without sentiment.

It was the archtop that sold, and that guitar has been with me for about 14 yrs...as long as I've known my wife. It has been a big part of my life and now it is leaving.
If I wasn't effected to at least some degree I wouldn't be human...( wait a minute??...lol..)

The good news is it is going to a good home. A friend of mine stepped up and claimed it. A very good friend.

Mark is a guy that I have known since I was a kid. He was one of my first real 'music' teachers.He found his way into my life when I was a teenager at a time when I was looking hard for a direction that I couldn't find...
I was playing professionally in a 'rock' band...making good money..and more importantly getting the attention of the chicks!!...lol...
The music I was playing was absolutely mindless...just mindless...but it was easy and a part of me needed the adoration...mostly my penis.

Musically I knew there had to be more...but ...there was no internet...no decent radio...no good record stores...no way to find anything that wasn't already readily apparent.

Lunch-bucket town..closed minds...zero options...

Then I met Mark.  He was the first real musician that I'd ever met. He wasn't a Jazz player...or even an improvising musician per se...but what he was and still is , is one of the most eclectic Cats I have ever run across.
He digs everything..everything that  is quality and has artistic value.
I had one guitar lesson with him and after he invited me over to his house to see his record collection...all vinyl...lol....

...It literally covered his entire living room wall!!!

The first recording he played for me was Mike Sterns Upside downside....Well...that was it ...



I knew..right then and there that I was done with 'the cliche'...

Well...to be fair ...my legitimate study was clandestine...on the weekends I still was playing REM, Doors,U2..
..Money and Ass....

Anyway Mark opened my eyes...for better or for worse..'Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then..'

I will always owe him for this.

He now owns my Archtop. It is part of his Potvin collection of god knows how many guitars. His house is like a museum.



I stopped by there the other night.
I had explained to him that I was hoping for a boutique hand wired amp when all was said and done with the guitar liquidation.
He was all over this!!
Once again he opened my eyes...

I spent the better part of 2 hrs playing through thousands and thousand of dollars worth of boutique , modern and vintage amplification...

He has mountains of really cool shit...like I mean drool cool if you are a guitar head...

At the end of the day the nicest tone I had been exposed to was a Custom made tube amp built by some dude from Windsor ON!!!!
..this feels like fate...
What a sound...I am ruined....lol...

This has given me a new direction...and I actually have some mad money in hand...very exciting..

Armstrong amps. ..made by Bill Compeau.

Bill is also involved with ARK Amps in Farmington Hills MI....

They are on my radar  now...courtesy of Mark...lol....and they are works of art...

In truth, Bills amp is a bit ugly looking...but the sound is like the voice of god...

Paired up with one of the ultra sexy KW cabinets and I believe I will be more than happy.



So ...New Pickups in the Eastman, pray for the sale of my other guitar, unload my Fender deluxe RI, and wring my hands for the Tax return dough...Cool times...

I also picked up an Overdrive unit from Mark called of all things...The Blue Note...It sounds incredible..

So far..the New Year is fun...

On the other hand...there has been a girl murdered in town. The daughter of a co worker that had only recently retired. A super great guy.
She also used to be a student employee...
WTF....

WHY??

The world is so shitty sometimes that it is important to remember to actively seek out happiness..through heroic measures if necessary...
..even if it is only the search for good guitar tones...
Whatever your thing is...go get it..

Don't wait...cause god only knows...

New Year....or is it?

So ... I am a hopeless Neurotic ..


...and the sky is blue and water is kind of damp...

I made a relatively big decision today.

I listed two of my guitars on Kijiji. This is a big deal for me ..but I wish it wasn't.

These guitars were built for me by a local luthier who at the time was a very good friend of mine. I still consider him a friend but the reality is we never see each other or make any attempt to contact each other.
I am his friend ...but probably not a very good friend by definition.

...all my fault. Acknowledged.

These two guitars are wonderful instruments but I just have moved away from what they are in terms of what I need from an instrument.
That is an uptight way of saying that I never want to play them.

 Both have sat around in their respective cases for years just collecting dust..
...meanwhile I am jonesin for a nice handwired amplifier...and have no cash for it....



Should be a no brainer...except for the guilt....guilt sucks...and in truth I have had enough of it.

If selling these guitars makes me a bad person than so be it.

If I get even close to what I am asking for these guitars I will have my new amp in no time and last time I checked I wasn't getting any younger.

I am not waiting for anything anymore if it isn't necessarily. This isn't so much philosophical stance as much as simple life tactics..

So I accept that I am a disloyal insensitive douchebag and list the guitars.

I then walk upstairs and try to finish doing the dishes....at which time my faucet that I just installed in November cracks and sprays water all over the fucking place.

Just coincidence I am sure..right....??

My New years resolution is FUCK IT!!!!!