New Guitar Day: Dean Gran Sport

I know what everyone in my family is saying/thinking.  "Not another guitar!"  Well, this one was too good to pass up.  I was looking at the musical instruments listed on Craigslist, when in-between cursing the way too high priced crap, I noticed something unusual.  Someone from a pawn shop had posted a, "Dean guitar" for $89.  When I looked at it, I thought, "that looks like a Dean Gran Sport.  There's no way that listing is correct if all they want is $89.  That's a $600 guitar new."

Usually pawn shops are the worst offenders for things being way overpriced.  Most of the time I can buy "brand new" what they are offering "used" for the same price from one of the big shops.  Sometimes they are actually trying to sell them for more used than I can buy new.  So why on earth do they have one marked that low?

I noticed that the add had only been up for three hours, so since it was Saturday I dressed quickly, and got down there.  I looked down the line of guitars, and didn't see it.  But since there were no missing guitar hangers I didn't think it had been sold.  Then I looked behind the counter, and there it was.  I asked the salesman if I could look at it. 

I looked it over, and it didn't have a scratch on it.  In fact, it had never been set up.  The strings were way too high on it.  I looked at the tag on it, and noticed something weird.  It said "Cort."  As in, Cort Guitars.  This was a Dean, and not a Cort.  However, the serial number on the tag matched up to the number on the back of the headstock.  I wondered if they got it mixed up with a Cort guitar, and thus were selling it way too cheap?

Usually pawn shops buy at 25% of the new price, and sell at 75% of the used price.  Since this was a $600 guitar they would have bought it at $150, and sold for $450.  Then they would have "worked" with a customer, and sold it for 66% of the original price and settled for $400. 

But if they thought it was a Cort, they might have bought it for $40 - $50, and sold at $89.  I wonder why anyone would sell a guitar that had never been played or had a mark on it that low.  I really had to question myself, and ask if I thought it had been stolen.  But they did have the serial number correct, and they run those through the police database. 

So with tax, I walked out of there with a final price of $95.  I brought it home, and did a quick set-up on it.  This is the Stealth model of the Gran Sport that comes standard with EMG pickups.  It is quite the metal monster.  I'm not crazy about active pickups, but they work well in this guitar.  I actually would have liked it to have the DMT Dean pickups that come in other versions of the Gran Sport.  But, I'm not going to knock my good luck.

The only thing that I can complain about it the battery cover.  The little pieces that hold it in, broke off.  But to be honest, I have seen that happen on so many battery covers.  Every active battery holder I have ever seen on a "stage" guitar, has tape over the battery cover.  So I did the same.  I put some electric tape over it to match. 

Now, onto the pics!

Purge

For the past six days I have been cleaning and purging the house.  Frankly, it has been too long.  Our house has too much stuff in it, and a lot of it is out of date, broken, or hasn't been used in decades.  This has lead to what is now being referred to as, "The Purge."

Well, it's not exactly the movie, in that, it's more like the TV show, "Hoarders."  My cleaning and purging has lead to a few things.  Namely, that I'm a no good scumbag, and how dare I throw out other people's stuff.  I have been insulted, yelled at, passively aggressively ignored, talked over, and generally just treated badly. 

Why?  Because a certain member of the household is a die-hard hoarder, and won't let anything go.  After I tried to purge a few things that hadn't been used in a decade and didn't work, I was yelled at/asked why I didn't throw out my own stuff.  So I did just that.

I cleaned out and donated my old X-Box (along with games, controllers, and connecters.)  Also, clothing, books, VHS tapes, and my old trucking stuff.  I also shredded some old paperwork that needed destroyed. 

But back to the certain family member who won't throw out anything.  Her walk in closet (huge) was so stuffed full of old clothes she could not physically put anything else in there.  So she donated 5 black bags full of clothing that was old, out of style, and/or wrong size.  This lead to a partial mental breakdown and lots of tears. 

Frankly, this is when it was started to feel like I was dealing with someone on the TV show, "Hoarders."  Except, unlike the show, this person doesn't want help, and will not admit she has a problem.

Okay, that's a file image off the internet, but this is how it feels.

I clean the house, and they call me a good son.
I ask why don't we get rid of some of the stuff we have, and I'm no son of theirs.

I convinced my Father to sell off his old stereo equipment.  It hadn't been hooked up in over two decades.  When the buyer checked it out, almost all of it was in such disrepair that it could only be used for parts. 

Frankly, this has kind of split the family.  I was asked, "Why do I have to do this now?  Why I am doing it behind people's backs?"  Well, there is an easy answer for that.  Every time I have ever tried to clean the house, it is always a bad time.  This goes back decades.  Every yard sale I've had has been my stuff.  The person in question won't get rid of their stuff.  If I try to move anything, even my things, it has to be looked through, and inspected before it can go out the door. 

I have to ask,

1.  Why is there such a collection of Reader's Digest books that will never be read?  Not just them, but books that have been read once, and will never be read again in this house. 
2.  Why are there 8 track tapes in the house.  Do we even have an 8 track player?  And if we do, why listen to tapes through that thing?  The quality was terrible then, and it's even worse now.  With the internet any of those songs are available at the drop of a hat.
3.  What do we need a box of Sears VHS training tapes (from the 80's )for?
4.  Speaking of VHS tapes, there is a collection of over a hundred that have never been watched, never will be watched, and just take up space.  It's not like they are even regular movies. 
5.  Also, the box of old travel guides just needs thrown out.
6.  What's with all the cassette tapes slathered in dust?  I can see keeping a few of the select ones, but I don't see the need to keep all of them.
7.  What of all the office stuff?  Since she is retired, is all that stuff really necessary?

I ask these questions, and everyone gets mad.  She makes a stink, and then my father pussies out.  It's just, "not a good time."  And it never is.  It never is.  There is never a good time to clean up the house.  That's what's been going on the last few decades in this house. 

It's high time someone stood up, and said, "This is the time!  The time is right now!  The Purge begins right now!" 

But for now I'm told to back off.  Since I was asked to "clean my own stuff out," when the rain stops I will start on the garage.  When the garage has enough room to maneuver about, I will work on the upstairs garage. 

However, after that I will ask the question, "Why can't we work on cleaning the inside of the house?  I'll see what the answer is then.

I Found A Turtle

A long time ago when I was all about jogging, I found a turtle.  I had watched Forrest Gump one too many times.  In the late 70's he was part of the jogging phase that America was going through.  So I thought, "Hey, he just feel like running, well, so can I."  So I started jogging up and down the street. 

Since I was in school all day, and worked the evening shift I would run at night sometime between 9 and 11 PM.  I would usually have to avoid stepping on bugs and such when I was jogging, but one night I encountered something different.  It was a turtle.

Okay, it was a toy stuffed turtle.  I picked him up and brought him home.  I then proceeded to give him a bath via the clothes washer.  I think he liked taking a swim in it.

Since then, he has hung around the house.  I know he likes watching the fishtank.

I'm not sure if he likes watching the fish, or wants to eat the fish.  Either way, he can't get enough of the fishtank.

Sometimes, he borrows my computer, and gets on Youtube.  He likes listening to, "The Turtles."

Some would call it irresponsible to have marine life just wandering around the house, but he's quiet, doesn't eat much, and generally stays to himself.  So I'm glad to have him around the house.

Enter... The Matrix!!!

So as I have been cleaning the house, I noticed something really weird.  We have a copy of, "The Matrix" on VHS tape.

I have to be honest.  I don't think this tape has ever been played.  You can see from the picture that it is covered in dust.  Yep, that's my thumbprint on the left hand side there. 

I wonder where it came from?  How long has it been there?  Where was it purchased from?  Who in the household liked, "The Matrix" that much that they wanted to buy it?  I guess I'll never know the answers to these questions.  The only thing I can now ask is, "Does anyone want a copy of, "The Matrix" on VHS? 

The Razor's Edge

Let's be honest.  I'm kind of a hairy guy.  Which is kind of funny in that, most of the men in my Father's family are bald and generally hairless.  But not me.  I take after my Mother's Brothers.  I am dark haired and have plenty of hair.

So when it comes to shaving I am particular about what I use.  For the last 25 years or so I have used the Gillette Sensor.  It has two blades, and works well in cutting around my beard.

Yesterday I was looking for a new Gillette Sensor handle as my had worn out, and I couldn't find one.  I asked one of the workers there, and he said they were phasing it out.  Namely, they had a bunch of new models they were concentrating on pushing.  They still had the razor blades for sale, but they weren't going to produce the handles anymore.  You know what they have in it's place?  This.

You know what the "big" selling point for this razor is?  It has five blades.  FIVE BLADES?  Really guys?  That's three more than needed.  For those of us with beards we need precision to cut our beards.  I need to be able to cut a straight line with my razor.  I don't need five blades.  That just makes it harder to keep my beard looking normal, and not like a five year old decided to cut it.

And I'll admit, I'm not the first to talk about this problem.  They were making fun of this years ago.  But my main problem is that, they've stopped producing the Sensor, thus forcing me to buy a razor blade with three, four, or five blades.  I would even consider going to a straight razor if I didn't think I would cut my throat wide open and die in my own bathroom. 

You would have thought some of the folks at Gillette would have seen these "commercials" about razors with a lot of blades.

Play Guitar

I don't really talk about my band/music/playing out here on my blog page.  I try to keep them separate.  I think if I started to talk about my music on here, I would just do it constantly, and that would turn a lot of readers off. 

But I still start at the beginning.  I have a band (of which it seems that I am the only member) called Possum Apple.  I put out a self produced album called, "This Divided Highway."  You can hear the entire album up on Reverbnation.

https://www.reverbnation.com/possumapple

My bandmate/producer/friend Josh was the one who did all the percussion.  Unfortunately, he left to pursue other projects.  This happened just before the album was released.  So I played one album release party, and haven't really played much since.  I did play a few open mics here and there, but it wasn't anything consistent.

The fault lies with me.  I really didn't want to get outside of my comfort zone.  I would play the open mic at Sacred Grounds Coffee House, but nothing else.  But in the last few weeks, I've had a friend Nick, who has helped me get out of the house, and go to a few other open mics.

It seems that the local Sam Ash music store has different open mics.  The singer-songwriter night is on Wednesday.  The cool thing is that they give you a $10 store gift certificate for playing.  And if you do this week after week, those gift certificates start to add up.  I've been wanting a new guitar strap and some tubes.  So after playing a few weeks, I will be able to nab a few of those while spreading my music to a new audience.

A friend of mine, Phil, hosts a blues jam at Gaspar's Grotto in Ybor City.  The thing I like about blues jams is the crowd.  They tend to be older, and my Americana style music goes over really well with them.  The other fun thing is that, since we play outside at Gaspar's, we can turn the amps up, and the sound won't be overpowering like it would be inside.

I've played there twice, and my music has gone over really well.  And I have to admit I was worried.  I know my music is a touch out there, and may not be liked at all.  However, I had people in the audience laughing.  Even the other musicians (in the band, "Eyes Above Me") were holding up their hands doing "the wave" while I was playing my song "Buffalo."  I think it also really helped that I had other musicians playing with me, so I had a full band playing my songs. 

Thing went really well.  It went so well, it occurred to me that I forgot to bring hard copies of my album to sell.  I think I could have sold a few of them.  Oh well, next time I'll make sure to bring them.

A new friend I met, Robert, told me he hosted an open mic at the newer, hipper coffee shop near USF called "The Boba House."  Again, it's tough to play in front of younger, hipper college students, in that, you never know what they will think of your music.  A lot of them have no idea what Americana is.  Most think I'm playing country music.

When Florida Ave. Ales hosted their first open mic, I was the first one to play.  So I've been proud of that.  However, the open mic only seemed to last two weeks, and then it was gone.  I found out it was still being hosted, and was able to play it the other day. 

It's weird, in that, I feel like I am touring for my album that I released a while ago.  I have the second album pretty much ready to go.  I just need to get the money together to get the ball rolling. 

When it comes down to it, I think John Mellencamp said it best when he said, "Forget about all that macho shit, and learn how to play guitar!"  And that's what I'm doing.  I'm just going out there, and playing guitar.

Not Another Project! Combo Amp Time!

Not another project!  It's time I finished my other projects before I start another one right?  Well, this has a good purpose.  Since I am playing small venues I really need a small amp.  I've been carrying around an 80 pound SUNN amp from the 70's.  It sounds so awesome, but I just can't carry that thing around anymore.

So I decided to perform a bit of building, modding, and customizing.  Let me start at the beginning.  For my birthday I received an Epiphone Valve Junior amp head.

These are some of the most customizable amps on the market.  I plan on buying a Bitmo kit that will add sound options for this head.  Next I will build a combo amp cabinet out of some of the nice wood I have lying around. 

I am still deciding on what speaker I will be using, but that is still a ways off.  I would like to use a alnico speaker, but those are so expensive.  And even though alnico speakers have a certain bluesy sound that can't be beat, there are some ceramic speakers that overdrive faster that I am seriously considering.  Either way, I plan on using a 10 inch speaker for a tighter sound. 

So I plan on updating my blog with new pictures once I get some work accomplished.  I have a good feeling that this project will come out pretty nice.