zigzag

Yes, Sgt. Pepper's vinyl collection looks very similar to mine. I have 10 and a half Peaches crates, probably 800-1000 records, all from the late '60s to around 1990. Many in the US might remember Peaches Record Store out of Atlanta who supplied peach crates specifically for storing records. All of my vinyl is stored at a friend's house in an AC controlled storage room about 90 miles away, and my hi-fi/turntable is stored with me in an upstairs attic. I just don't have room for it all. As bad as my hearing is, even hearing aids do not come close to providing me with normal hearing. Digital is adequate for me.

Nice post Sparky, As for Hendrix, toward the end he collaborated with Buddy Miles, and apparently, talk of a collaboration with Miles Davis. This should give you an idea of where their music was headed.

Back to the OP. There is no doubt Benson is extremely talented, and even though he had some great albums and some great tunes, he just never did it for me. Too slick, commercial and pretty? Maybe.

I believe, at one time not in the too distant past, the middle names of many serial killers were either Ray or Lee or Wayne. Maybe he's hiding something.

I was having hearing issues, so I went to a specialist for hearing aids. He told me I could get a set for $500 that would improve my hearing, but better yet was a set for $1000. They'd significantly improve my hearing but for $5000, I could get a set that would allow me to hear EVERYTHING. I said, man I need that $5000 set, but because they're so expensive, how about I just get one for my right ear? He was okay with that, and I paid him $2500 and left. Later, I was playing poker with my buds, and I was telling them about my new hearing aid... how it was just great and how I could hear everything. One buddy asked me how much did it cost, and I told him how much, but I could now hear EVERYTHING. He said, "Great, what kind is it?" And I said, "Oh, about 8:30." BTW, this describes perfectly my life with my wife and my expensive hearing aids.

I enjoyed that. Thanks for posting.

So intense!

I wish I had, but it was not offered on amazon.

I'm still in the process of rediscovering Rory. I got a few of his albums on vinyl when they first came out, but they've been in storage for over 25 years now. I just received his Irish Tour '74 and European Tour (took two months to arrive from England) CDs. His live playing was insane!

I've always been curious about Collings electrics, and my perception is that, while they are very fine instruments, I could do as well for less with another brand. I would imagine that their acoustics are very fine.

Sweet. That's less than two hours from where I live, and I've never heard of it. I need to check it out.

What kind of feedback would you have gotten if you'd used Jesus' likeness?

I don't have the sophisticated demands from an amp that you guys have, and my hearing is shot without digital aids, so my review of my new Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb will not be as detailed. The clean channel is everything you'd expect from a Fender amp- sparkly, bright, and pretty. I've only worked with a few pedals so I can't speak to how well it works with pedals. In one review I heard about this amp, the reviewer reported that a cranked distortion pedal seemed to make bass frequencies a little mushy typical of an SS amp, but I can't comment. The onboard reverb is typically beautiful, and the tremolo (vibrato) is beautiful, but neither are as deep or versatile as what you might get from good pedals. The only modeling this amp will do is for a Deluxe Reverb tube amp, and it seems to do that pretty well, though slightly brighter and punchier in cleans, and slightly warmer in reverb and vibrato uses based on reviews I've heard. As, rct emphasized, the amp is dead quiet... and light. I had no trouble getting it up the stairs, and I could have probably thrown it half way. The Tone Master has six power output settings, from 0.2 to 22 watts, that I expect could be very useful. I've only listened to the 5 and 12 watt settings so far, since these will likely be the only ones I'll ever use (my music room is a converted medium sized bedroom). Both settings are pretty loud and allow for plenty of headroom. There is also a Line Out option with a cab simulator that models mic placement, balance, and grounding (?). Let me say, at this point, that I bought this amp to replace a Roland Cube 80XL. The Roland has bunches of modeling imitations and effects, all good and useable, but none great. Plus, it has a layering, looping capacity of close to 80 seconds. Other than the JC Clean channel and the looping capability, there is nothing I will miss about this amp. The other possible issues I have with this amp are also inherent in the tubed DR target. As rct said, there is no midrange frequency control, and this is somewhat limiting. If you want to use the reverb and vibrato effects together, there is only one control for both, so each effect cannot be controlled separately. Plugging in to the vibrato jack allows you to control unmodified, reverb, and tremolo effects with the footswitch. There is no FX loop, so pedals must be direct. The only pedals I've used so far have been a Dunlop Wah and a delay pedal. I plan to use distortion and looping pedals, but I like the onboard reverb and tremolo effects, and that might be the extent of the pedals I'll need with this amp. The only other issue I have with this amp is the price. I'd wait for it to come down before I spent the money, as it no doubt will, or buy it used. Overall, I'm very pleased with this amp.

Love this stuff.

When I was 11 y/o back in 19 & 64, I asked my parents for a guitar after seeing the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. Their idea of good music was Percy Faith and Mitch Miller. They heard about a local luthier whose daughter, an 18 y/o hot hippie chick, was giving lessons to kids teaching Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and Peter, Paul and Mary tunes (whom they'd never heard of). They bought me one of his cheap, experimental flamenco guitars, and I was off and running. They bought me my first electric a couple of years later, a POS, single pickup, Strat body type, Kent from a pawn shop. Since it had no truss rod, the neck bowed to a point where it couldn't be played in just a couple of years. And since I had no amp, I had to rig up an adapter to the RCA console hi-fi. I think if I'd had some decent equipment back then, I might have continued playing through the 25 years that I put it down.

Thanks for the review, rct. There is no one I know I'd trust more for an honest review. Though I ordered it last Thursday, I requested it ship Saturday so I'd be home when it arrived prolly around Wednesday. I did not have a chance to listen to it in person since I live hours from anywhere that I could, but listened to side by side comparisons with the tubed Deluxe Reverb on youtube, and I know that you can't really hear well through that media, but side by side comparisons can reveal a lot. And I'm pretty familiar with Fender amps, having owned a few in the past. Anyway, I also read literally hundreds of reviews, most by very experienced players without any reason for bias, and there are practically no bad ones for that amp. So I'm looking forward to getting it and playing with it. "Some time today with my Thundering Gains of Doom. heh. It clanks well! I use a Strymon Sunset and a JHS Haunting Mids for grind and man was I surprise at how happy I am with it. I'll end up with that Mids pedal on all the time, it sparkles up cleans just as well as it fattens up the gains." -rct This is the most relevant part of your review for me. In some reviews I read, there were comments that there should be a midrange control. The reliability and toughness of solid state is also important, and the nice clean tones characteristic of Fenders.

I've never had a bad experience with Sweetwater (knock on wood). Yesterday, I ordered a Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb amp from them, and called a sales engineer before placing the order. He was very helpful, tried to answer my questions as honestly as he could, and didn't try to sell me anything. The only problem I have with them is they do tend to go a little overboard after the sale to make sure you are satisfied with your purchase. I'd call that a good problem.

RIP, Lucky. Saw him at a Blues festival in Greensboro, NC around ten year ago.

I saw them twice in the '70s. The first time was at Cameron indoor stadium on the d00k university campus in the early '70s. The second was in the old Charlotte (NC) Coliseum in the late '70s where the acoustics were horrible. One thing about the Dead is that their sound people were the best. It didn't matter how bad the acoustics were in a venue, their sound people worked it out. Hey, I was smelly, too, and the smelly women were also bow-legged.

blue

Forgive my inexperience as an acoustic player. I've played a nice Taylor and a less expensive Martin, but that is the extent of my experience with decent acoustics. Back in 1983, I compared acoustics in the $300-$500 and the one I bought for tone and playability was a Takamine F-341. It's been a good guitar for me for a long time, but I'm thinking about upgrading. I've been playing electric guitars for over 50 years, and I've never played an acoustic guitar that plays as easily as an electric. It could be that the action for an acoustic needs to be a tad higher or because the string gauge is a little higher (I normally use 12s on my Takamine). Or it could be the strings I use are a little stiffer. Without spending $2000, what would be your recommendation for the best playing (and hopefully good sounding) acoustic guitar? I like a shallower, "modern C" type neck, and I could probably go $750.

Hard to say what was the first band I saw live, because my first experiences with live music happened all at once around 1972. Could have been the Allman Bros., Leon Russell, or Taj Mahal. Up until then, it was probably classical orchestras. Saw the Preservation Hall Jazz Band around '68. Weirdest was around 1978 when I was on around the third row, right in front of the Doobie Brothers, when Patrick Simmons shouted "throw us your doobies." Immediately, it rained joints. Saw an Earth, Wind, and Fire concert around that time that was choreographed by Doug Henning. Lots of mind blowing things happened during that concert. First song I nailed on guitar was likely Dylan's The Times They are a Changin', or Woody Guthrie's This Land is Your Land, or Peter, Paul, and Mary's version of Constant Sorrow. I was probably around 12, and my guitar instructor was the the hot 18 y/o hippy daughter of a local luthier, around 1965. This all happened a long time ago through many mind altering experiences.

There is a Tyson meat processing plant in Iowa (IOWA!) where 58% of its employees tested positive... over 700 workers. I'll bet that's a rocking work force... Almost 900 in one Tyson plant in Indiana.

I get your point, but the actual number of people who have died from complications of Covid-19 is relevant and high (doesn't really matter if it's 6% of 2 million or 1% of 12 million). My points are that it is highly contagious, there needs to be more testing to know who has it, and we should expect to see many more sicknesses and deaths once businesses reopen. I agree the reporting has been over the top, and I'm sick of it, too. That doesn't change the fact that this is a dangerous and devastating virus for slews of people. At the very least, if you have symptoms, you should elect to stay home if you don't elect to be tested. The fact that many have the virus but show no symptoms is even more disturbing for those who are vulnerable.

Here's what we do know. -Covid 19 is very contagious. How contagious? Nobody really knows until more testing can be done. There is a very good chance that many people have a built-in immunity so that many who have the virus never show symptoms... good for those who have it, not so good for many who are exposed to those people. -Among those who test positive, there appears to be around a 6% mortality rate. For whatever reasons, Blacks, Native Americans, old people, and those with a particular vulnerability, like respiratory issues and diabetes, tend to have a higher mortality rate. -Social distancing seems to be fairly effective in reducing the number of cases. Therefore, it would make sense that with increased exposure there will be increased numbers of those who get it and of those who die from it. There is little doubt that if social distancing is relaxed it will result in an upswing of new cases. -Until there is a treatment or vaccine, there is no way that the virus will not remain a threat to the health of the general population.