Mar 19 2006
I got a custom case made for my new custom guitar, and decided to have a matching one made for my lap steel. The company that made them, Morris & Holmberg Cases in Santa Ana, did a pretty nice job. They used material I provided them, and painted it with a custom color. Sweet!
Mar 19 2006
The signal chain for my performance was:
The Gretsch BST-1500 and/or the Industrial Guitar Indy Rail > Ernie Ball VP Jr Volume Pedal > HBE UFO (fuzz/octave) > Analog Man Sun Face (NKT275 with Sun Dial mod) (fuzz) > HBE Psilocybe (phaser) > Marshall Vibrotrem > DOD DFX94 Digital Delay/Sampler > Line6 Delay Modeler > Fender Blues Jr. Amplifier.
I also used a cheap digital voice recorder, purchased in Little India, that I played by holding it against the pickup of the lapsteel. You can hear this about 5 minutes in. Later, I also use an Ebow to create long sustained notes. You can hear this toward the end, around 9 minutes or so.
The set of guitar effects I use is designed to provide me with a wide sonic pallet. Each one adds to or changes the sound in a distinctive way. I sometimes use them by themselves, or in combination with other pedals. With the 7 pedals, there are countless variations possible.
Mar 19 2006
I was privledged to be invited to perform at the 3rd anniversary of Dung Mummy, a performance event for experimental music, poetry, and other ecclectic creative energy. The event is hosted and organized by the Hop-Frog Kollectiv, a group of adventurous and creative artists from all over the Southland.
Mar 19 2006
Sierra is a lovely young lady who goes to Lauren’s old school. She and Lauren are friends, and we all enjoy her company when she visits. She’s a wonderful human being, with lots of wonderful qualities such as intelligence, humor, sweetness, cuteness, and our dogs love her.
She asked me to post a pic of her here, so I’m going to:
And here are some more!
We had a wee birthday celebration for Sierra at our house:
Make a wish!
I hope it comes true!
Feb 17 2006
Here’s another pic of the guitar body. It has received several coats of boiled linseed oil, tung oil, and lacquer. Pretty!
Feb 09 2006
Create(!), a local instrumental electric free improv christian group, has been pushing the envelope for ages, both in performance and on record. Just when you think they can’t go anywhere, they reinvent themselves in some new and wonderful way. I received an email from them that announced a remix contest. They posted the individual tracks that, together, make Six Dreams Divided from their upcoming album, A Prospect of Freedom. Listen to the album version of
Feb 01 2006
Well, after some patient prodding I finally reconnected with Randy, who did the last few bits of shaping. He rounded off the neck heel, and a few transitions on the curves leading into and away from it. This, of course, required me to completely disassemble the guitar. After he finished that last bit of shaping, I was able to start on the finishing process. The finishing process is one that requires patience. The first step is sanding, followed by sanding, then more sanding. After that, I applied several thinned coats of boiled linseed oil.
Here are some pix taken after the oil was applied.
Jan 28 2006
A while back we got to see California’s arch nemesis Ken Lay being led off in handcuffs after being arrested by Federal Agents. There was an AP wire picture of him and I became captivated by his face in that picture. I began playing with it, manipulating it, and wound up with this:
Jan 13 2006
I’ve been working on my 2nd painting for a while and finished it last weekend. I actually started it once but, due to some unfortunate events, that first version turned out badly. So, I started it again on a fresh canvas and am, overall, pleased with the result. I had a fairly clear idea of what elements I wanted, but creating them was a real process of discovery for me.