Friday, August 19, 2022

Rattling in my brain-pan...

Author stabbed! It's only been, what, 35 years? Why, this pup wasn't even alive. I gas on about what it was like selling The Satanic Verses when (I thought) all the furor was finished over here. Lessee: we also sold The Bell Curve, The Turner Diaries, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion ... all sorts of fun stuff. 

Superbad. It's only been, what, 20 years? 20 years -- McLovin!

I'm a sucker for this conversation. I acquired two Fender products and Blues You Can Use by John Ganapes. I can't even sign my own name but I want to hear the Vox MV50 Clean amp again. The Tele and Strat are no-brainers. But should the Boss ME-80 go in front?

I was using the Blues Cube Artist when the MV50 came out. I was showing off the amp (I wasn't doing Roland any favours, trust me) at Long and McQuade on Pembina Highway to my brother. A salesman moved from behind the counter to plug the MV50 Clean into an Orange cabinet. 

"Whoah," said my brother rather sagely, "Your ears won't ever un-hear that."

I traded in the Blues Cube Artist for an Orange 1x12 cab black (good for 60 watts) at Long and McQuade Whitby. I drove to LM Stouffeville for the MV50 Clean. And when I'm not using the THR10c I fiddle with the attenuator on the back of my MV50 Clean. I pigeon-toe the controls on the front, and using my Les Paul Studio (ebony, a LM Peterborough purchase, two Humbucker pickups, 490R and 498T -- like I say, I haven't so much as signed my name for the last year and a bit, nor would you want me to). The volume is what it is. With the Humbuckers the amp will start to break up between 10 and 11 o'clock. We'll see what it does with Fender's single and Lipstick coils. 

I practice, in other words. Sometimes, if you're the neighbor and you're lucky, I use the headphone jack. In the meantime I eavesdrop on conversations.  

3 comments:

Cowtown Pattie said...

I think a video might be in order. Although,my brain cannot comprehend most of your music jargon (I barely can read 5 musical notes), I expect you lay a mean jam.

On a sad note, I learned last week of the passing of Prairie Mary. I will miss her wisdom.

Whisky Prajer said...

Yeah, I miss "Prairie Mary" Scriver, too. I should've said something -- maybe I still will. This is the first I've heard anything definitive, to tell the truth -- thanks! (I mean that)

But I don't mean what follows: given my current status I can say anything. I used to be quite the guitarist (my brother is the real guitar player in the family), but now I can't even sign my name. So it goes. I'm lucky to have this, to be honest.

Trent Reimer said...

I always thought it was interesting (ok, I'm not too proud to admit I worried a little bit) that you immediately wanted to learn to play guitar solos. The boilerplate is for players to start with strumming the basic parts of the song and then move on to soloing after they become more advanced. But you made it work -- I have fond memories of you firing up a bluesy backing track and then making up solos to go with it. Your sister and I may have been sitting in the next room where the volume was more comfortable, but that wasn't a knock on your playing, ha ha. Good times.

While I, on the other hand, don't have the patience to practice soloing. Apparently neither of us can follow the boilerplate, but soloing is widely considered the apex, so by definition that makes you the real guitar player in the family!