My Four Strats

I have way too many guitars.  I know there are a lot of hungry kids in China who don't have any guitars, and I have too many.  In fact, I have four Stratocasters.  However, they are quite different.  Many people wonder why I have so many guitars, so I'm writing this blog to explain why.

Here's the rundown.

Up first is my Squire Strat, made in China, and it cost me a whole $79.  Here's the funny thing.  It's probably my best playing Strat.

The fun part about this guitar is that, I didn't mind messing around with the electronics and such since it is a Squire.  I put in a push/pull overdrive pot so I can get an overdrive without a pedal.  It will engage at the touch of my finger. 

I also switched out the pickups to some pretty cool pickups.  I like trying some of the new guys on the block, so I put in a blade pickup in the neck, and a Belcat bladed humbucker in bridge.  I added my favorite Dimarzio Blue Velvet in the middle.  It's a very versatile guitar.

Next up is my 1993 Fender Mexican Strat named Smokey.  I call him that since whoever owned him before me smoked like a chimney.  It put this strange smokey patina on the body.  You know how cigarette smoke will put a tarnished yellow color on things?  Well this has that tarnish all over the body, but it's really heavy in the curves of the cutaway.

I traded out the original pickguard for a black one.  This has a Fender Alnico 3 neck pickup, a Dimarzio Blue Velvet middle pickup, and an old Dimario PAF pickup in the neck.  It has a really neat vibe to it.  I got this guitar in a trade from a good friend.  It needed some cleaning up when I got it, but once I got it up and running, my friend questioned whether he should have traded it to begin with.

Next up is my 2006 Fender Mexican Strat. 

I got this at a pawn shop in 2007.  Since this was a 2006 Strat, that should have tipped me off.  Unfortunately, the neck on this one is kinda wacky, and I have to set the action up a little higher to make all notes playable.  I would have sold or traded it, but it's hard to sell or trade a Strat that doesn't play so well.

However, I went ahead and replaced the pickguard to a tortoiseshell colored one.  I changed the pickups to all Dimarzio pickups.  True Velvet neck/ FS-1 middle RW/RP/ Heavy Blues 2 bridge.  It's not as versatile as some Strats, but it sounds great in all positions.

Next up is the Strat I put together years ago.  In fact, it was back in 2000 when I started putting this guitar together.  It took me 9 months to get the parts.  Actually, I slowly got them as I got the money to do so.  I also got some good deals that way.

I guess you can see from the awesome paint job that this is no ordinary guitar.  In fact, back in 2000 it run me $1080 to put it all together.  That includes $300 for the wicked paint job.  But it has everything on it I could want. 

However, I ran into one problem that I did not expect.  The guitar is made of all maple.  That makes it insanely bright sounding.  Then, on top of that it has a Floyd Rose tremolo, and that makes it even brighter.  I have had trouble finding the right pickup combination to put in this guitar.  I actually like a bright sounding pickup, but everything I put in this guitar was just too bright. 

I have just changed the pickups in it.  Right now it has an Artec bladed pickup in the neck/ a custom wound Texas Special in the middle/ a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates in the bridge.  The Artec is the first neck pickup that I really like in this guitar.  It is bold, not overly bright, and actually has the bass come through.  Along with the strong single coil and Pearly Gates, that makes this guitar an extremely versatile guitar. 

Generally, only the bridge pickup was worth playing.  Despite me putting all this money into this guitar, I never really played it.  So now with a change in pickups, I think I will be playing it more. 

So that's my story of the Strats I own at this moment.  They are like children.  I love them all, and don't really have a favorite.  They are all a little different, but fun to play.  I also suspect that more will find their way to me.  I know I shouldn't.  There are children in China with no gutiars after all.

Amazing Blog Post #300

That's right.  This is my 300th post.  It all started with a suggestion and then a dream.  First it was my sister who said that with all the crazy ideas I had, I should really have a blog to express those ideas.  I then had a dream to write a blog about destruction, hence the name of my blog, "Destruction for Fun and Profit." 

It all started when Myspace was the big social network to be on.  Myspace was kind of an all in one website, that's why I liked having my blog on it.  But Myspace decided to change their format multiple times, and made it more and more user unfriendly.

So I decided to move my blog over to blogger, and I couldn't be happier.  Their format allows me to easily post photos and videos, and make my blogs even more entertaining.  It was one of the best decisions for my writing and blogging. 

But I can't believe it.  300 posts.  This is a perfect time to make a 300 joke.

Back when I started my blog, I made myself a promise that I would try to post once a week.  I thought that would be a fair amount.  But once I decided that I would post about more than just destruction, I found out I had a lot more to say.  So instead of posting just once a week, I have averaged about 80 posts a year.

Today just happens to be exactly one year since I moved my blog over to Blogger.  I switched over on Saturday February 26th, 2011.  I remember it well.  It was right around the time I got really sick with my gall bladder.  After surgery, I found that I had plenty of time to blog since I was going to be out of work for a while.

Once April 4th comes around, it will be exactly four years that I have been blogging.  I am glad I expanded beyond just talking about destruction.  I have posted true life stories, odd thoughts, pranks, tall tales, picture posts, and some general mayhem. 

I am very proud of quite a number of these blogs I have written.  I always try to outdo myself, and hope that somewhere in my next 300 blogs I will be able to do that.  I always try to entertain and hope that I will continue to do so. 

The Ongoing Baritone/ Tele/ Cello Project, Part 5

The original post, http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2011/03/baritone-cello-guitar.html

Part 1, http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2011/05/ongoing-baritone-cello-tele-project.html

Part 2, http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2011/05/ongoing-baritone-tele-cello-project.html

Part 3, http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2011/05/ongoing-baritone-tele-cello-project_29.html
Part 4, http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2012/02/ongoing-baritone-tele-cello-project.html



It's always nice to have a little help from your friends, or in this case, your Dad.  Basically, I had a very small place to route out on the guitar body, and it had to be accurate.  I knew it was going to take ten times longer to set up the equipment than it would be to actually make the cut.  So I was thankful to have an extra set of hands (my Dad) to help me with this.

Here's where I was at last time:

I needed to route out the neck pocket, and finish shaping the body.

After a bit of work, this is how it turned out.

Not bad right?

Yeah, I can definately live this that.  But then, I needed to check the fit of the neck pocket.

Ok, things are looking up.  I did have to do a little work on the neck pocket to get a perfect fit, but I did that just fine.  I think it needs a little more sanding, but after that, it's off to get stained and finished.  Stay tuned for that blog post.  I don't know how long it will take, but I am going to send it out to someone who actually has a spray booth.  I want someone who can actually make it look professional, as I am terrible with guitar finishing. 

The Ongoing Baritone/ Tele/ Cello Project, Part 4, Not So Baritone

The original post, http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2011/03/baritone-cello-guitar.html

Part 1, http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2011/05/ongoing-baritone-cello-tele-project.html

Part 2, http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2011/05/ongoing-baritone-tele-cello-project.html

Part 3, http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2011/05/ongoing-baritone-tele-cello-project_29.html

So I've had a little change of heart/ design when it comes to the Tele project.  Frankly, I can't get a good baritone neck at a decent price, so I got a regular Tele neck.  I got it from the same place that Fender gets their higher end Squier series, from Hong Kong. 

I've found a nice little place where I can order things straight from the Hong Kong factories.

http://www.eyguitarmusic.com/

I have been really happy with what I have ordered.  I am getting the same stuff I would normally get from other places, I'm just cutting out two middlemen, and two trips of shipping.

Here's the pictures of the neck.

I also got the last pieces to complete the build.

You wouldn't believe how hard it has been to find an output jack.  I've been to just about every store in the bay area, and can't find one.  It's bordering on ridulousness.  But, this place has all the output jacks I want to buy.

And one other thing...

A double bladed hot rodded bridge pickup.  I have a thing for double bladed pickups, and this one is right up my alley.  And if I hate it, I have another Kent Armstrong pickup that I can replace it with.

My next step is to route out the neck.  Here's a picture for clarity.

The body is basically complete except for routing out the neck pocket.  So, I am going to do that in the near future, and post another blog when my wood work is hopefully complete.

Getting My Goat, and Loving It, Part 2

So I went to the Florida State Fair yesterday.  Mainly to see the crafts that were entered by my Father and Sister.  Here's the pictures of the two pieces that my Dad entered.

And here is the piece that my Sister entered.

Good for her, she got 2nd place. 

Next, I went to see something that I really had been wanting to see.  The goats.

I can hear him saying, "Hey man, do you have some taffy?"

I love this picture.  Look at the expression on that Mommy goat's face.  It's like, "Oh yes!  Yes, yes, yes!"

Something that is better than big goats are little goats.  And baby goats are just awesome.

Don't cha just want to give em a hug?

Next up, turkey, turkey, turkey.

I should have taken a video of this rabbit because he would not hold still.  Out of 7 photos I took, this was the best one.

Look, it's a Silke chicken, just like in Farmville.

I just wanted to give this duck a hug.  I bet it laid magic eggs.

This rooster was more than loud.  It was insanely loud.

This picture is just hilarious.

Moo.

Next up brings the question of the rides.  Well, it seems that the Fair is not so fair.  They only sell all you can ride wristbands on certain days.  Otherwise, everything was way overpriced.  I felt like I was in a Carnie type atmosphere.  Everything was a gimmick.  So I went ahead and left.  At least the animals/ plants/ agricultural stuff/ crafts were really nice. 

A Horse is More Than Just a Horse

It all started years ago.  It started with a picture.  To be specific, it started with this picture.

I knew then that the horse mask was the answer to all my problems in life.  Living out in Lutz, I usually don't get too many door to door salesmen, religious zealots, or kids with candy at the door.  But when I do, I know that whatever their pitch, it will be reduced to nothing while I am wearing my horse mask.

How do I know this?  Well I came across this on the Internet.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B003G4IM4S/metafilter-20/ref=nosim/

That's right.  It's my horse mask for sale on Amazon.  This is the universe's way of telling me that I am right, and it's my job to confuse and/or anger people while wearing this mask.

Just think of the possibilities.  I can get quirky girls at the local coffee shop to think I am interesting.  I may not get much further than that, but I can at least get my foot in the door.  I can also annoy family members.  I also plan on scaring small children with it.  If I would have had this horse mask when I was an Assistant Scoutmaster I could have had all sorts of fun.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.  There is so much more that my horse mask will do for me.  Perhaps I will post another blog about what it has done for me.

Talk'in Baseball... Cards

When I was a kid I always looked forward to Spring Training.  Living in Tampa, it meant that my favorite team, the Cincinnati Reds, would be headed to Plant City for Spring Training.  It also meant that the new season's baseball cards would be coming out.  Let's be clear, I loved my baseball cards.  I started collecting during the 1988 season.  I was purely a Topps man.  Later on, I started collecting Donruss, Score, Fleer, and Upper Deck.  But when it came to completing the entire collection, I bought Topps. 

Now in these later years, the card sets come out earlier.  One good thing about that, is that, you can get your new card signed at Spring Training.  I was curious how the new Topps set was going to look.  When I first saw it, I was impressed.  It's very classy looking.

I got into baseball cards right as the sports card market was exploding.  They were fun, cheap, and plentiful.  As long as you had money, you could buy a ton of them.  That is, until Upper Deck ruined the whole thing. 

Upper Deck kind of had a good idea.  They wanted a higher quality baseball card.  But for the cost of 12 Upper Deck cards you could buy a 100 pack of Topps.  This lead to the sports card market almost becoming like the stock market.  No one was interested in putting together complete sets anymore.  They just wanted the stars.  Then Upper Deck went and made it worse by making ultra rare cards.  Not many of these "limited cards" were printed, and so it made their prices go up.  Buying sports cards became more or less like buying lottery tickets. 

Let me explain.  People started buying packs of cards to get the rare cards.  They then threw away the cards of players who weren't stars.  Hence, why it became like buying lottery tickets.  And then, to throw gasoline on the fire, every card company started following in Upper Deck's stategy.  This lead to a huge price increase in all the sports cards.

They ended up getting way too expensive for me to even think about collecting.  So, I went ahead and got out of the baseball card collecting game.  I got out in time.  The 1994 baseball strike really soured me and a lot of other fans on baseball.  After that, the sports card market got overpriced and saturated at the same time.  Even Major League Baseball didn't like what was going on.  Once 1998 came around, they only gave contracts to Topps and Upper Deck to produce official Major League Baseball Cards.  And that extends to this day.

Even though I'm no longer a huge baseball fan.  I still look forward to seeing the new packs of baseball cards on the shelves.

I will say one thing.  If I ever wanted to get back into it.  It is a buyer's market right now.