My Five Strats

Well, something happened that kind of surprised me.  I ended up with another Stratocaster.  Here's the full story here:

http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2014/02/awesome-guitar-weekend.html

And because of that, I am now up to five Stratocasters.  Which is funny because I always thought I was more of a Les Paul type of guy.  But I am into modding, and Fender's are easy and awesome to mod.  I will say this.  I've gotten some pretty darn good deals on all of them.

Here's the pictures.

From left to right:

1.  The sonic blue Partscaster.  It's made of a lot of parts from my overseas distributor, and a Squier neck.  It just so happens to be the best playing one that I've ever encountered.  I consider myself really lucky to have come across this.  Even though this is considered my "cheapest" guitar, it's probably the nicest playing. 

2.  The newest one I've picked up, a 1999 MIM Strat.  I usually don't like sunburst Strats, but this one has some mojo going on.  I have some pickups on order for it.  I just re-fretted it, and it plays nicely.  Oh, I didn't re-fret just for the heck of it.  I fret-dressed it first, and there wasn't enough frets left to be playable.  So I yanked them out, and re-fretted it.

3.  This is the one I like to call Smokey.  It started out life as a 1993 Olympic White MIM Strat, but whoever owned it smoked like a chimney, and gave it a tobacco patina.  When I got it I knew I was going to have to do something with the frets as they were chewed up.  So I re-fretted it as well.  I also have a new tremolo on order as the old one is rusted up and can't be adjusted. 

4.  I bought this one at a pawn shop after much haggling.  I bought it in 2009, and it's a 2008 MIM Strat.  I didn't know it at the time, but there's a reason why a new Strat would be hanging in a pawn shop.  It's due to it's the screwed up warping of it's neck.  But I took care of it with a fret-dress, and adjusting the strings up higher. 

5.  My oldest, and most costly.  I spent 9 months getting the money and parts together for this one.  I thought up every awesome thing I could put on a guitar, and made it a reality.  I still love the custom paint job on it. 

So as I close this out, I think to myself, "Man, I've got to slow down."  I'm going to end up with another five Strats.  I'm running out of room.

Repairing Josh's Guitar.... Yet Again

So my buddy Josh has a bad habit of breaking the neck on his Dean Acoustic.  Here's the original posts from last year.

Part 1:  http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2013/05/repairing-joshs-guitar-part-1.html

Part 2:  http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2013/05/repairing-joshs-guitar-part-2.html

So he was leaning his guitar against the wall instead of leaving it in it's case.  And you know what happened.  It fell forward, and busted the neck again. 

Of course he doesn't tell me about this.  It's too embarrassing to him, as he's sure I will take pictures and write a blog about it.  Okay, I am doing the blog thing right now.  But I get it from him, and give it a look over.  A broken neck will never break where the previous glue joint was, in that, the glue is stronger than the wood.  So it busted in a different place, but not a bad place.

Normally I would show the picture of the break right here, but I forgot to take one.  I will say this was one of the easier breaks I dealt with.  It didn't break all the way though.  So I stuffed the break full of glue, thinned it out, and forced it down all the way down the break.  Then I clamped it and let it set for three days just to make sure.  Since the break didn't take out any chips of wood, I decided to buff it out instead of sanding it, and it came out smooth.

Now I took this picture with my close up lens, and a HECK of a lot of flash.  Namely, I wanted the crack to show.  But remember, under normal light you don't really see the break(s.)  And the fact that it's on the back of the guitar doesn't hurt. 

Again, under the light it looks rough, but after putting it on the buffer, it's very smooth.  I've had it strung up for a few days now, and it hasn't come apart yet, so that's a good sign. 

So I have worked my magic again.  It will be able to be played once more.  And if Josh breaks it again, once more I will repair it. 

Awesome Guitar Weekend

I am going to try to keep this in a straight timeline as this might get confusing.  It first started with an awesome craigslist ad.  It seems this guy was selling one of the new Hagstrom Ultra Swede guitars (in trans black) for $195 with a Hagstrom tweed hardshell case.  I thought this was too good to be true, but he had a phone number.  So I gave him a call and got to talking to him.

It turns out this was the same guy I bought my Laney amp from.  If you read my blog then you will know I posted four blogs about it.  Namely about buying it and then cleaning it up, to finally getting it repaired. 

So the good news was I knew the guy.  The reason he was selling the guitar so cheap was that he lives in Winter Haven.  It's too far for people from Orlando to come there, and it's 50 miles from Tampa to boot.  But if you have someone dedicated like me, driving is no problem.  So I drove over there.

We got to talking and I really liked the guitar.  It actually reminded me more of a Gibson Nighthawk than it did a Les Paul.  Due to the basswood body, it's actually pretty lightweight.  It also has a neck that any shredder would enjoy.  Here the picture of it.

I changed out the pickups and added straplocks to it.  The only issue is that it needs a backplate.  I went to both Sam Ash and Guitar Center, and neither one of them had one.  Note:  It takes the wider SG type of backplate. 

Oh, when I pointed out a pretty good ding on the guitar, the guy knocked five dollars off the price.  He didn't have to, but he felt he should.  He really is a nice guy.

So now that I bought one guitar, it was time to sell another one.  I had an Ibanez Artcore that I never really bonded with.  So I decided to put it up on craigslist.  I was mainly looking for cash, but I did say if the right trade came along, I might be interested. 

Here's the Ibanez.

It's in dang good condition.  I can't find a ding on it, so if I was going to trade for something then I would want something pretty good.  Well something pretty good came up.  Namely this:

It's a 1999 Fender MIM Stratocaster WITH!!! a hardshell Fender case.  That's a win for me.  Except for one thing.......  I was supposed to be getting rid of a guitar since I bought one.  Now I have two new guitars.  I can't say I'm really mad at myself, since it's a problem some people would love to have. 

Now comes the fun part.  Deciding what pickups to put in the Strat.  I will say this, the stock ones aren't too bad.  They are usually just the most awful pieces of crap, but I actually played out with this guitar last night.  I had a lot of fun with it. 

So hopefully I'll get another blog out of working on the pickups for this guitar.  I'll make sure to take lots of pictures.

Just What Is That Ciroc Vodka Commercial Trying To Say To Me?

So I faithfully watch Pardon the Interruption and Around the Horn every day on ESPN.  Lately they have been showing this Ciroc Vodka commercial four times an hour every single day during the shows.  It stars this fellow who you might know...

And then.... well, I'll just let you watch the commercial. 

Every day I watch this commercial four times, and until today I have been unsure of what they are trying to sell.  After really examining it today, I have come to this conclusion. 

If you are a young black man, drink this vodka and you will get to hang out with old white men.

 

Now that I think about it, if you really wanted to hang out with old white men, you could just go down to the local retirement home.  You don't need to shell out money for overpriced boiled potatoes. 

Satanic Dancing and the Illuminati

It started as a normal day.  It really did.  I was reading my facebook page when I noticed an article put up by a friend of mine.  It seems that Natalie Grant, the winner of the Best Christian Song Grammy, walked out of the Grammies over what she considered Un-Christian-like behavior.

I thought, "Well, that looks interesting," and clicked the link.  Unfortunately, the link did not work.  I thought, "Well, that's okay.  I'll just go to Yahoo."  I put in, "Natalie Grant walks out of the Grammies," into yahoo, and that's where our story gets interesting. 

Maybe I shouldn't have clicked a website called, "Endtimeheadlines."  But let's see what they had to say about Natalie Grant.

Christian Singer Natalie Grant Walks Out on Grammys After ‘Satanic’ Performances

Popular Christian gospel singer Natalie Grant walked out of the Grammys after witnessing a series of performances that even the mainstream entertainment media admitted were occult in nature.  Grant, who was nominated for two Grammys last night, tweeted her excitement upon arriving at the event but soon made it clear that she left early because what she witnessed conflicted with her Christian beliefs, stating, “We left the Grammy’s early. I’ve many thoughts, most of which are probably better left inside my head. But I’ll say this: I’ve never been more honored to sing about Jesus and for Jesus. And I’ve never been more sure of the path I’ve chosen.” Although she remained coy on the exact circumstances, Grant was probably referring to Katy Perry, who was surrounded by demons as she danced around an upside down broomstick before being encircled by fire during a performance of her song “Dark Horse”. Perry wore clothing bearing an illuminated Knights Templar cross. Even E! Online tweeted that Perry’s performance resembled “actual witchcraft”. Christian music website BreatheCast complained that Perry’s performance was “filled with satanic imagery and witchcraft.”

Viewers also expressed their shock at the occult overtones of the show.  However, Grant could also have been offended by the mass gay wedding ceremony which took place during a performance by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. Not to be outdone, Beyonce and Jay-Z attempted to up the ante by performing a risqué duet which provoked fury from parents who complained that the spectacle was too explicit for children. Jay-Z’s acceptance speech, during which he said, “I would like to thank God… a little,” also prompted claims that the rapper was invoking the Illuminati. The International Business Times reacted by claiming that Perry, Beyonce and Jay-Z’s antics were merely an example of the Grammys, “trolling Illuminati conspiracy theorists.” Watch analysis of how the Grammys were yet another ceremony to the entertainment industry’s occult leanings below via Mark Dice. Katy Perry’s best efforts at summoning Beelzebub appear at the end.

Source: http://endtimeheadlines.wordpress.com/2014/01/27/christian-singer-natalie-grant-walks-out-on-grammys-after-satanic-performances/

Okay, there are so many things going on there, I almost don't know where to start.  First Natalie Grant said that she had a lot of thoughts going on in her head, but did not want to say them.  That's fair.  However, the website did something I thought unfair.  (Well, a number of them, but one at a time.)  It then said, "This is what Grant was probably referring to."  It then referred to this:

1.  Demons.  (Okay.)
2.  Illuminati.  (What?)
3.  "Actual" Witchcraft.  (Actual huh?)
4.  Satanic Imagery and Witchcraft.  (Well now.)
5.  Occult Overtones.  (Same as #4 right?)
6.  Mass Gay Wedding.  (Well, it was pretty gay.)
7.  Risqué Duet.  (It was still better than Lada Gaga dry humping R. Kelly.)
8.  Invoking the Illuminati.  (I thought the Jews ran Hollywood?)
9.  Katy Perry really trying to get Satan to appear on stage.

Again, it's hard to know where to start.  Frankly, I've said it for years, and I'll say it again, if people know what's going to make you jump, they are going to be like Bart Simpson pushing that button again and again for hours.  Hardcore Christians make it too easy. 

Tell people dancing is a sin, you will get this:

You tell people, "Don't you do anything vaguely Satanic with dancing!"  You will get this:

You tell heavy metal/ rock n' roll guys not to do "that."  You are going to get this:

 

 

And really, you know why no one takes you (Hardline Christians) seriously?  It's now all about the Illuminati.  It used to be Jews controlled the world/Hollywood/etc., but now it's the Illuminati.  Frankly, who the fuck are the Illuminati?  I mean for a bunch that really doesn't have much marketing on their own, they sure do get a lot of press.

 



Again, this is how it worked for heavy metal bands in the 80's.  Do whatever torqued off the super, hardline Christians.  That would get you press coverage.  Remember the Filthy 15 from the PMRC?  It didn't make any of those albums sell less.  They sold a heck of a lot more, proving there's no such thing as bad press coverage. 

So this got me to thinking.  I have a side metal project called "Tsunami Death Toll.  I have been out of the metal scene for a while.  But after seeing what is making the hardline Christians mad these days, I am finding out that Satan is so 1987.  I need to update my gig.  Now-a-days it's satanic dancing and the Illuminati. 

Maybe this would be the great start for the cover of the next album?

I can see it now, "Tsunami Death Toll," with the title being "Satanic Dancing With The Illuminati.  That will get me back into the game. 

Cat Craziness Explained

Before I start, I have to admit that I did not discover the truth about cat craziness myself.  I learned it from Adam Corolla when he was on Loveline.  I just want to explain it to younger and further generations so they can understand it. 

When dealing with cat owners you have to come to the realization that they are a certain degree of crazy.  I mean, why would you deal with this?

So here's the math behind cat craziness.  Basically you have to get exponential on the craziness instead of adding it.  For instance:

1 Cat = 1.  So your level of crazy is 1.

2 Cats = 2X2=4.  So with two cats your level of crazy has gone to 4.

3 Cats =  3X3X3=27.  Once you hit three cats you can see the level of crazy is starting to really go up.  27 is a lot of craziness.

4 Cats = 4X4X4X4=256.  At this point it is impossible to have a normal conversation with someone who has reached that level of crazy.

Basically, if you have that many cats, you are kind of doing this:

But the other question I get is, "What about dogs?"

Well, basically it boils down to this.  Dogs are cool.  There's no level of dog craziness.  Yeah, dogs are cool.

Fishy Steak Sauce?

First off, I love to grill.  Like all grillmasters I have a few secret recipes.  A few of these involve Worcestershire sauce.  Namely steak and steak related items.

A friend was over, and I was wondering if he was going to be staying for dinner.  The problem with that is he is severely allergic to MSG.  He will get an immediate headache if any just touches his tongue.  Yes, he is that sensitive. 

So I took a look at my Lea and Perrin's bottle, and was surprised at what I saw.

No, not that side, but the other side of the bottle.  Look under ingredients. 

CONTAINS ANCHOVIES?

CONTAINS ANCHOVIES!!!!????!!!!!

WTF??????

My steak sauce is in reality, "fish sauce?"  What the?  How did this happen?  What do Phillip J. Fry (from Futurama) think about this? 

I am going to have to re-evaluate my taste buds and what I use in my cooking. 

On a side note, I wonder if Worcestershire sauce is extinct in the year 3000?  Futurama fans will know what I'm talking about. 

On a second side note it seems that I didn't find any MSG in the sauce.