It's been a while

[xtremehardy388]

Sorry I've been MIA. I've been busy with college (graduated a month ago) and working with Public Safety. However, I finally brought out the acoustic to mess around with and found an old passion. I have to admit...I love the Elixers that my girlfriend got me. Add the fast fret and and I'm a happy camper. However, my problem(s) is(are) finding time to play, getting the "spark", and figuring out what to play. I jammed with some friends over on some songs I would always play (about 6 years ago) and they all got chills because it took them back to where they were. How do you all get the "spark" and find time to play? By the way, are there any members here that remember me? Hope all is well with everyone

[gimmesometruth27]

hey x! of course we remember you. i was just the other day wondering where you had been. i remember that you had most of your gear stolen that time and that you got a lot of it back, right? hope everything is going well with you! sorry to hear that you have not been playing as much. is your band still together?

playing guitar is one of my releases. i have so much energy and so much shit built up inside of me that i have to get out, and when i am not pushing weights around at the gym i am releasing that stuff by playing guitar. it is just something that i make time for. even if it is for only 5 minutes a day, playing guitar is just something that i feel like i have to do every day. i try to figure out something new every time i pick up a guitar. maybe i heard something on the radio or on the tv that i had not heard in a long time. i challenge myself to improve my ear by trying to figure something out by ear. i also have the rocksmith game for my xbox, which keeps playing guitar fresh. i am still in my band and had been in a second one for a short time, so looking forward to those rehearsals kept me motivated to keep playing. i had been doing a lot of writing and recording for awhile when i was going through some rough times, but since i have gotten past all of that i have been feeling particularly uninspired with regard to writing.... but just playing is enough for me these days, ya know?

[All Those Yesterdays]

Even though I'm involved with recording at least once a week, it doesn't mean I play that's for sure. The most action I see is while watching TV I'll have the acoustic in my lap, or the uke, or now even a beater bass that is always at home.

The true test of knowing if you play enough is when you pick a guitar up to show someone something, and your hands hurt after two minutes!

In the end you can never force that spark. It will hurt the situation and not help it. At least that's how it goes with me.

[xtremehardy388]

Glad people remember me

I eventually found my gear a week later (I think I had posted about it). It was ditched in some bushes and rain got into it. Thankfully nothing was destroyed. The only thing lost was a digital camera (with some irreplaceable photos :/) but at least I have my gear

The band is still technically together but our drummer sold his gear and we haven't seen him in over a year. The bassist and I still jam...when there's time. He works 60+ hours a week (gotta love growing up, right?)

I still play for friends every so often (and yes, my stamina is not like it used to be!) But like it's been said, ya can't force that spark. I miss it, though...I miss the rush of setting up my gear (and if any of you remember my board, it would take a good thirty minutes), the excitement of practice....but most of all, the innocence of playing. Back then, my biggest worry was about the girl I was getting rejected by...that fueled my playing. Now there are much bigger obstacles in life. I can't seem to clear my mind or find enough time to really play. Sure, if I hear something on the radio, I'll fiddle around with it (when I find time) but otherwise, I just don't have that burning desire. By the way---my latest songs I've learned were "Boyfriend" by Justin Bieber, "What You Know" by the Two Door Cinema Club, "Tell Me How am I Supposed to Live" by Michael Bolton, and "Dirt Road Anthem" by Jason Aldean....my tastes have since changed...as I've been told, I'm a 13 year-old girl fighting the country music singing mid 20s guy....but then obeying the 50 year old woman....

I'm hoping I'll find that spark soon...I miss talking gear but it seems like everyone is in the digital age where stompboxes are becoming obsolete...

[All Those Yesterdays]

Glad people remember me

I eventually found my gear a week later (I think I had posted about it). It was ditched in some bushes and rain got into it. Thankfully nothing was destroyed. The only thing lost was a digital camera (with some irreplaceable photos :/) but at least I have my gear

The band is still technically together but our drummer sold his gear and we haven't seen him in over a year. The bassist and I still jam...when there's time. He works 60+ hours a week (gotta love growing up, right?)

I still play for friends every so often (and yes, my stamina is not like it used to be!) But like it's been said, ya can't force that spark. I miss it, though...I miss the rush of setting up my gear (and if any of you remember my board, it would take a good thirty minutes), the excitement of practice....but most of all, the innocence of playing. Back then, my biggest worry was about the girl I was getting rejected by...that fueled my playing. Now there are much bigger obstacles in life. I can't seem to clear my mind or find enough time to really play. Sure, if I hear something on the radio, I'll fiddle around with it (when I find time) but otherwise, I just don't have that burning desire. By the way---my latest songs I've learned were "Boyfriend" by Justin Bieber, "What You Know" by the Two Door Cinema Club, "Tell Me How am I Supposed to Live" by Michael Bolton, and "Dirt Road Anthem" by Jason Aldean....my tastes have since changed...as I've been told, I'm a 13 year-old girl fighting the country music singing mid 20s guy....but then obeying the 50 year old woman....

I'm hoping I'll find that spark soon...I miss talking gear but it seems like everyone is in the digital age where stompboxes are becoming obsolete...

Pedals will NEVER become obsolete. Just like tube amps, you can't replace them.

[xtremehardy388]

I keep hearing people using online interfaces to add their effects...it's "cleaner" but, for some reason, I find it cheating.

[All Those Yesterdays]

Just like all other digital items trying to mimic the original, it will never be quite right....

[exhausted]

I keep hearing people using online interfaces to add their effects...it's "cleaner" but, for some reason, I find it cheating.

Nope. It's all just sound. Just another colour of paint.

[xtremehardy388]

I feel so out of the loop

I played today (with one of the guitar back tracking sites) and felt pretty good. I only used a few pedals (which is out of the ordinary for me). I'm hoping that this summer will reinvigorate my drive and passion. Has anyone made any major changes to their rigs in the past year or so?

[gimmesometruth27]

no buddy, stomp boxes will never become obsolete. not as long as i am still alive haha...
i started out with digital effects processors and such, but that was too complicated for me. give me a good guitar, a very good vintage amp, and a couple of boxes just to color the amp tone some and i am a happy dude and i will be good with that set up for a long time.

unfortunately, i hate to be the one to break it to ya, but if your drummer sold his gear and has fucked off for over a year, i can say with a fair degree of certainty that they are not coming back. if i were in your shoes, i would fire that guy and audition new drummers. having to replace someone would be enough of a motivating factor to get the rest of your band together and everyone would have to be there for auditions and to jam with any people auditioning. and in my humble opinion that would create that spark you are looking for. there is a certain spark that occurs when you are faced with the choice of disbanding or the necessity of finding a new drummer. we had that same issue in january when we fired out longtime bass player. the band was about dead and 4 of the 5 of us decided we wanted to continue with a different bassist and we had to audition a few and now the band is as productive as we have ever been, just without all of the drama and crap and fighting that we dealt with for so long. sometimes when i am in a funk musically or just kind of burnt out or disinterested in music when we have a few months between gigs, the spark comes when i get the band together just to practice and work on things. i would try that if i were you. it is like putting on old shoes, and just see how good it feels.

i never realized there was an innocence about gigging. mostly because i would get shitface drunk at shows and i never really took it all in and appreciated how lucky my band was and how we were able to write our own ticket on any stage in the metro area. for me it was all about getting drunk for free, showing off, and hopefully but rarely getting laid i have grown up a lot in the last few years and i recently did a year and a half of shows stone sober and really got to appreciate what gigging was all about. the rush, the adrenaline. the anxiety. i used to drink to avoid feeling those things. not i relish those things. i will have a beer or a shot or two at a show nowadays, but nothing like i used to. i don't know how much longer i am going to have the opportunity to do this, so i am enjoying it while i can.

i would audition drummers if i were in your situation. that will certainly spark SOMETHING...

Glad people remember me

I eventually found my gear a week later (I think I had posted about it). It was ditched in some bushes and rain got into it. Thankfully nothing was destroyed. The only thing lost was a digital camera (with some irreplaceable photos :/) but at least I have my gear

The band is still technically together but our drummer sold his gear and we haven't seen him in over a year. The bassist and I still jam...when there's time. He works 60+ hours a week (gotta love growing up, right?)

I still play for friends every so often (and yes, my stamina is not like it used to be!) But like it's been said, ya can't force that spark. I miss it, though...I miss the rush of setting up my gear (and if any of you remember my board, it would take a good thirty minutes), the excitement of practice....but most of all, the innocence of playing. Back then, my biggest worry was about the girl I was getting rejected by...that fueled my playing. Now there are much bigger obstacles in life. I can't seem to clear my mind or find enough time to really play. Sure, if I hear something on the radio, I'll fiddle around with it (when I find time) but otherwise, I just don't have that burning desire. By the way---my latest songs I've learned were "Boyfriend" by Justin Bieber, "What You Know" by the Two Door Cinema Club, "Tell Me How am I Supposed to Live" by Michael Bolton, and "Dirt Road Anthem" by Jason Aldean....my tastes have since changed...as I've been told, I'm a 13 year-old girl fighting the country music singing mid 20s guy....but then obeying the 50 year old woman....

I'm hoping I'll find that spark soon...I miss talking gear but it seems like everyone is in the digital age where stompboxes are becoming obsolete...

[gimmesometruth27]

I feel so out of the loop

I played today (with one of the guitar back tracking sites) and felt pretty good. I only used a few pedals (which is out of the ordinary for me). I'm hoping that this summer will reinvigorate my drive and passion. Has anyone made any major changes to their rigs in the past year or so?

no i have not changed anything. i did buy a new furman powered pedal board because my old one needed to be rewired and the one i got was on clearance for half off so i got that. i also threw a few old pedals back on there like my holy grail reverb. i need to get my rotosphere serviced though so i can get my old boss chorus ensemble off of there, but that is not going to be cheap. i also added a fulltone plim soul pedal. it took me absolutely forever to get it to sound good, but once i figured it out it sounds great now.

also, i have been using my strat a lot more lately i have always been a gibson guy, but i found the fourth position on the pickup selector on the strat and i absolutely LOVE the tone i get from it.

here are a few video clips from a show we did last month where i was playing the strat... they are a little sloppy because we had just learned those 2 songs 2 nights before that show and we just decided to grab our collective nuts and go for it

http://www.gloriousblue.com/av.html

[xtremehardy388]

I'm so glad I still have friends on here who remember me

I recently played (earlier tonight) with NO pedals, at all! It was crazy...I was forced to play and rely on my talent rather than pedals. I did okay.

I don't gig like I used to. Working plus doing the Fire/EMS gig forces one to be aware of their surroundings. I can't (and don't want to be) around a ton of drunks for various reasons.


I figured our drummer was gone. I'm proposing to my girlfriend in a month and her dad is a darn good player (check out "Bleedrail" or sound click. He's damn good) and he's got a studio. We mess around every so often. It's just a nice stress release, ya know? I am glad stomp boxes are going to be around for a while. I'm trying to get back into things. I seem to be stuck in the past, though. I'm learning so many 90s songs, I feel like I'm behind with the times. What (might be) is worse is that I have no desire to learn anything relatively new (other than learning "Boyfriend" by Justin Bieber....yes, I smacked myself in the face....) I'm just not into the new rock that I hear. Is that a bad thing? Also, have any of you tried switching your pedal placement, just for fun or experimenting?

[ScrapeMySky]

Hey, good to see you back here. Congrats on your graduation. Trying that right now.

Anyway, as long as guys like this are around pedals aren't going out of fashion anytime soon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UMzuJFNg38

And yes, that's a 30min rig rundown...

[Fifi_Ireland]

Damnit! that Staind song is going round my head now