ksdaddy

When I was working full time and had honey-do stuff to do or projects, I had windows of time to do them in. A funny thing happens over the years though. When I was in my 20s, I would think nothing of dropping a transmission out of a car after supper and working on it until midnight. That was the norm. As I got older, that window got smaller. I didn't feel like doing much after supper an I planned to be in bed before 10. Which made me look forward to retirement all the more. I figured I'd have the time to do what I want during the day. All true! But as Merciful-Evans pointed out, once you get into the chair, it's hard to get out. I found myself doing that. The couch felt great, as did the numerous cat naps in between snacks. It has gotten to the point where I look back on each day and try to justify my oxygen use by having done SOMETHING. Yes, I have hobbies. But my days are too 'open ended' to make them work. If I have a job to go to, even one or two days a week (which sounds pretty good to me), then I might have a tendency to use my free time to get things done on the hobbies.... if that makes sense. Long winded way of saying a part time job will give me some level of structure that I clearly am not willing to give myself at this time. I can compare it to being on summer vacation from school. The first week or two, the days were crammed with activity, but after a while I took the free time for granted and became lazy. I think that's where I am now. I need to find a balance. As to my job, the good thing is, I can pretty much pick and choose what I do. I'm known as a historian and have a good command of the archives at work. Tracts of land get split, joined, split again, and change hands over and over. Sometimes I have to step in when someone insists a piece of land doesn't have a certain determination or there's no record of it and it needs to be done! I am the one to sorta do a title search and provide copies of the Magna Carta (or whatever) to the people involved. A can of touch up paint for the Sistine Chapel perhaps. It was in a box under the stairs and I'm the only one who knows where to look, apparently. In addition, they always need someone to go out and do GPS and photo documentation of structural practices such as waterways, diversions, irrigation systems and pipelines. Easy stuff, gets me outside, makes me walk. What I will NOT be doing is all the computer work that went with my old job, all the red tape.... all.... the... red... tape... I will have none of it. I'm basically going back and eating the dessert of every meal I've ever eaten without having to eat the liver. And to further drive it home, I've sat here typing for 20 minutes when I should be out washing the Impala. I think it's black.

I retired last August but in January I went back to my old work as a volunteer, researching old land information for outside customers and organizing many many farm files. I only go in a half a day a week, just enough so I can say I'm getting something done but not going crazy with the volunteer thing. I have mixed feelings about retirement. I screamed and cried or it for 8 years, and once I got it... it's fine, it's nice to call the shots every day... but I fear it's not what I need if I intend to be around a long time. If I sit on the couch, then all I want to DO is sit on the couch. I'm sleepy all the time and I feel pretty useless. i have some projects and honey-do stuff, which helps. My old boss has pushed for me to come back as a part time employee, either one or two days a week, at a rate close to what I was making as a full time employee. It's finally getting into place, but today I found out I have to submit a resume. Ugh. I have my old resume from 2002 or 2003 and I'm trying to update it. I'm agonizing over what to put for my last position, which was 20 years. I did a lot of things! The job roles changed with the times and also with my supervisors. I'm tempted to just go on the national website and steal the job duties list for this position and paraphrase heck out of it. I don't "need" the money but I've threatened to buy a new truck for a long time. I have the cash but won't spend it. This job would allow me to make double payments on one. My S-10 Blazer is a 1988 and my Impala is 12 years old..... What do I do with this stupid resume... And TRAINING.... cripes, in my 20-21 years there, they sent me away for training on a regular basis, and I was required to do annual updates on many things (computer security, defensive driving, crap like that). I could fill a couple pages with that stuff and the resume wouldn't look a bit better. I want a cigarette about three feet long.

JEEP - “Just Empty Every Pocket”

I couldn’t write a limerick if you gave me a list of words that ended in “uck”.

Sorry, I’m not good at fixing computers.

Fixed. 1/8" steel rod from Lowes and a 6-32 die.

No, just normal 12 string stuff. I typically kept it tuned either to D or D#. The bail, oddly enough, is BRASS. Kinda a weak choice….

It's broken off twice before, right at the retainer nuts. I cut the bail off shorter and threaded them anew. This time it exploded at the 90. A proper 1960s replacement is $247 on Reverb. Aftermarket (with all caveats) is $25 or so. I'm tempted to just bend some round stock and make a new bail, using the old nuts. Which might open up a discussion on how long the bail should be, i.e. what effect it may have on string tension and tone.

Notice how the headstock is thinner at the top? Gibson stopped doing this in 1952, based on what I’ve read. I’ve not heard this applied specifically to the ES models so there’s a bit of assumption there. Another way would be to look at any numbers stamped on the volume and tone potentiometers. Pots made in 1947 and later have a code on them. Having said that, those pots could be older than 1947 (old stock) or they could have been replaced. I definitely won’t suggest you take them out just to look for a number, as they’re not particularly fun to put back in. Looking at the control knobs in your pic, they look like the taller (5/8”) style as opposed to the 1/2” tall ones. They went from 5/8” to 1/2” in 1953. This is assuming they’re original.

It's definitely 1955 or older, as that's when they went from 19 frets to 20 (not sure of the exact date). I would look inside the guitar, as that's where a number can often be found. If you're lucky, you will see a number with a letter prefix. possibly a w,x,y or z. if not, there are other ways to narrow it down.

Yes it is possible. More likely prior to 1952. If we see pics, we might be able to narrow it down.

The 900000 series of serial numbers were used around 1970-72. The reddish brown sunburst is typical of that era, as is the small pickguard, belly down bridge, “made in USA” on the back of the headstock, and the neck volute. It was made in Kalamazoo, MI.

I sold everything. I'm fickle like that. Projects that are truncated for any reason are typically sold off. Seldom do they go on the shelf for later revival. I'm happy with how the neck turned out though.

I actually bailed on that project. I did restore the neck to a great degree, repairing the cracks in the fretboard and leveling / clearcoating the face of the headstock. My issue was the market price of a 60s or 70s body. They are asking (and getting) over $1000 for something with 5 coats of Minwax Polyshades slathered on it, or routed for three humbuckers. I’m still on the hunt for a Jazzmaster, with a Jaguar as a distant second choice. I’m tempted to build my own surf guitar using a newer US Strat with Jazzmaster pickups. I would do it piecemeal so I wouldn’t destroy an already intact guitar. A few months ago there was a 1983 (wide) Strat neck on a sunburst 1988 body with aftermarket pickups, would have been spot on perfect but I drug my feet.

I prefer to UNpunk a guitar when presented the opportunity. (This used to have Hell’s Bells for audio but it was removed by YT.)

I had occasion to see one in person the other day. It was a black Stratocaster that looked like it had been drug across a gravel parking lot for about a month. First of all, I think it's stupid. Always have. Always will. Second, it goes against common sense. Guitars don't "age" that way. Think about it. Brand new 1962 Stratocaster, gets the heck played out of it. By 1970 it has lots of wear, dings, dents... starting to look like one of Fender's Custom Shop relics. Except the frets are now worn out. Old guys like me, think about it: How many average people would have had their 8 year old Strat refretted in 1970? It's just not something the average person would have had done, at least not like today. It would have been cast aside and a new one bought. If the frets hadn't worn out, someone at some point would have sanded it down and painted it metallic blue to match their GTO. And then by 1972 it would have been stripped and slathered with walnut stain (aka "hippie s*** brown"). Then in 1975 it would have been routed for humbuckers. Or more likely chiseled. By 1980 all the metal parts would have been replaced with brass and coil taps added. Speed knobs too. 1985 would bring out the router again for the Floyd Rose. And sometime in the last 10 years, whatever "old refinish" it would have had would have been completely redone in Fiesta Red or Lake Placid Blue, something that would add $3000 to it's gbase price (notice they almost never get refinished Shoreline Gold or Sherwood Green?). The scenario I just laid out is a bit ludicrous, but a typical "old Strat" would typically have undergone at least ONE of the aforementioned changes. The idea that they are creating a believable "old" guitar is laughable. Fender was stupid to have come up with the idea and every company that follows suit is also stupid.

I'm very sorry to hear of your loss. Losing a pet is devastating. He was a beautiful cat and it's clear he was well loved, especially in the last days. Not everyone would go to the lengths you did to make his final days as close to normal as you did.

We're planning Nashville and Memphis in Oct. Sun is #1 priority. Top of the bucket list. Graceland, Ryman, Country Music Museum, Grand Ole Opry are all equally second. If I'm going to drop dead of a heart attack, let it be inside 706 Union Avenue.

I owned my late mother’s ZT for one season. My lot has 400 ft of road frontage. At the front edge of my lawn there is a drop to the road ditch, around 4 or 5 ft, 2:1 slope or so. I was mowing along the edge and one of the front caster wheels dropped off the edge. The ZT immediately took a 90 degree left and I went straight down to the bottom of the ditch. When I hit, I was thrown forward off the machine. No damage or injury except I was embarrassed. The UPS guy stopped, as did a couple other guys, and pulled me up to the road. I gave that machine to my oldest daughter, whose 2-1/2 acres are flat. She loves it. I mow 3 acres here and an acre across the road. If I’m in a hurry I use my 1946 Ford 2N tractor with a 6 ft finish mower. If I want it more prettier, I have a couple “normal” riding mowers.

I don't do a lot with amps. In my house, amps fall into two categories. One, they're worth more to someone else than they ever will be to me, so they get sold (which is why I no longer own a B-15 or a JC120) or they are good amps that aren't worth anything so they stick around and I actually USE them (which is why I have two Peavey Bandits and a Classic VTX). I will flip an amp if I see my chance, but I avoid it mostly because of shipping. Many times it's cleaning the pots on a POS Behringer and trying to sell it locally on Facebook Marketplace. In that sense, I've seen a lot of junk. Just plain cheap plastic crap, poor grade compressed beaver poop cabinets, screws that strip, etc. Recently I picked up a 1990-92 Fender Super 210. Made in USA, tube, something that I would have considered to be high grade stuff. I grew up with the notion that Fender amps were the Gold Standard and if you varied from Fender it was because you had a particular (and in my mind, peculiar) alliance to the tone of something "other". This attitude was borne from growing up in the 60s and having names like "Twin" and "Bandmaster" spoken at the supper table a lot. In my defense, I did preface this with the statement that I don't do much with amps. This amp is cheap crap. Cheap, tiny little pots that I'd expect to see in a Gorilla amp from the 80s, plastic jacks that break, just..... NOT what I would have expected from a USA Fender. It has some problems so I'm parting it out anyway. It's likely worth more dead than alive. I don't even want to think about what they've done since the 90s. I live in a bubble I guess. It was like going back to a favorite restaurant after many years and seeing they now use paper plates.

I can't say for sure but the serial numbers on Epiphones from the last 30-40 years are pretty easy to track down, and it will reveal which factory it came from.

I've had three Emperors I think. Beautiful workmanship but no personality at all. I preach against generalizing but I can't remember ever being impressed by a Korean guitar. Mine were all from the mid 90s. I've not played the newer Chinese ones.

Nah that went away. It never softened up. It always felt like it was going to explode.

RAR used up too much bandwidth lol

That was already in place when I got it. I so seldom use a strap…. I can’t remember the last time I drilled for one. Not sure where I’d put it if I had to choose. I always used to put it more on the treble side of the heel but nowadays it would be a “big deal” and I would overthink it.