sparquelito

I looked up quite a few 1976 Gibson Explorers while researching this question. It seems that Gibson manufactured somewhere in then neighborhood of 1,800 or more Explorers that year. In Black, Natural, and White finishes. About half of those were Limited Edition Explorers. The Limited Edition ones had thick, baseball bat necks, but otherwise nothing special about them. And I cannot find a single one that had numbers pressed into the fingerboard above the 22nd fret. Which leads me to another possibility; Did Gibson allow factory 'seconds' to go out, with sales strictly to trusted vendors, employees and families? If so, maybe those guitars that failed QC might have been numbered like that. I don't know. Maybe I'm just blowing smoke rings here. 🤔

Darned termites. 😔

Q Branch just called. They want their bloody guitar back. 😔

A fantastic and lovely acquisition! Congratulations, good sir. 😀

I just wire orange Skittles in there. Pure, sweet tone. 🙂

Interesting how the two of us could be at polar opposites when it comes to those two songs from the Anthology albums. Me personally, I am quite fond of them. A lot of reasons for that; They include John's actual voice, singing the songs he wrote himself. (Or was nearly finished writing.) The other 3 Beatles played and sang on them to help finish the songs. Were there ELO tinges to the songs? Of course. But it's Jeff Lynne, man. And he admittedly put a lot of work into producing those two songs. We're talking about the days before Pro Tools. Jeff was cutting tape, slowing down and speeding up tape machines, and using old school EQ and sliders to filter out the cassette tape hiss, while preserving the clarity of John's voice. So, on one hand I am adamantly against AI-created 'music'. But I respect the work that goes into producing, playing, and singing actual human music, even if it uses voices recorded many years prior. Here's a question; How did you like (or dislike) Natalie Cole's duet with her father on Unforgettable? 🫠

Great looking tele-shaped strat!! I love the dark natural wood finish too. 🙂

I have a policy of never clicking on a link to anything related to AI. Especially links to AI-created music. I agree with IanHenry that 'creating' new music by computer-simulating John Lennon's voice is an abomination. A heresy. 🙁

Hmmm... It appears that Mr. Bond approves. 🙂

It depends upon your intentions regarding playing and performing live, in front of an audience. I have owned two really nice acoustic amplifiers. The Crate Teluride, and my current one, a 2010 Peavey Ecoustic E110. The Teluride saw a lot of action over the years. Band gigs, and solo gigs at the old folk's home. The Peavey is a 100W amp, featuring a 1-10 in. speaker with 1-3 in. high-freq. horn, acoustic guitar combo. Microphone XLR input with mic EQ controls. A great busking platform! And I plan to use it at a gig coming up soon on 22 September. If you have no intentions of performing live in front of an audience, then the Spark is more than enough. It offers tones that will please even the most discerning living room or bedroom player. 🙂

Here's a fresh thought. And it dove-tails with tx-ogre's cervical spine issues. Sometimes arm and wrist or hand pain has less to do with what's going on structurally in the arm, wrist, and hand, but more to do with the nerve bundles feeding the signals to and from the brain. I myself had all kinds of pain symptoms in my upper back, left arm, and even left side of my chest. (And yes, I ended up having some cardiac tests and scans to eliminate heart problems.) It turns out that all my symptoms resulted from some discs in my neck settling and bulging, and pinching on some nerve bundles. (I flew helicopters for decades, and wore helmets with night vision goggles and counter-weight velcro bags, go figure.) But this situation, age-related degenerative disc disease, is common with many people from all walks of life. So, KSDaddy, my recommendation is this: Visit the doc. Get some x-rays or scans of your cervical spine (neck). If there is some evidence of settling and degeneration, ask for the doc to prescribe you a Saunders Cervical Decompression device. (or just buy one for $300 bucks) I used mine a few times a month. It gently stretches your neck over a 20 minute session, and makes the discs comparatively fat and tall again. Temporarily, obviously. And it therefore takes the pressure off of pinched nerve bundles. But I get up off the mat, and all my aches and pains are gone. It's worth a try, good sir. 🙂 https://www.djoglobal.com/products/saunders/saunders-cervical-home-traction-device

Rest in peace, Mr Robertson. 😑

Praying for you, ksdaddy. I have similar problems with my feet, of all things. But luckily, I don't play guitar with my feet, so I'm sort of okay for now. 🙁

The next-generation Gibson Les Paul BFG. But back to the roots, instead of the anemic version that they issued a few seasons ago. Maybe with the headstock already broken off, and poorly repaired. I'm ready. 🙂

Yeah, man. Split Enz sort of epitomized the 'new wave' music of the early 1980's, for me anyway, and Tim Finn certainly infused a lot of quirky, weird fashion and stage antics. They matured into a fine band though. I loved the Time And Tide album especially. Over the years, everything that Neil Finn and Tim Finn had my attention. Saw Crowded House a number of times, and loved them thoroughly. I'm pretty sure I own every CD or album that Crowded House and the Finn Brothers ever put out. 😐

I was aware of Punk, and managed to hear a bit of it during Punk's short time in the popular consciousness. I understood the fashion, and the attraction, for some, the unpolished, raw, 3-chord rock and roll. I got it. It just never grabbed me at any point, nor did it very really do anything for me. A couple of reasons that punk never really lit me on fire: * Though I did have plenty of reasons (or excuses) to be angry at the world at that time, I really wasn't an angry, unhappy young man. I was too cheerful for Punk. * I was then, and still am now, a fan of music with a hook. Music with quirky melody and pleasing harmony. Rock music written with an interesting story to tell. Living in Germany in the early 1980's (post-Punk) I did find myself attracted to two acts that were considered, at the time, to be New Wave, though not necessarily Punk. Elvis Costello and the Attractions out of the UK, and Split Enz (out of New Zealand). Over the years, I have indeed kept up with, and listened to a lot of music by Declan MacManus (EC) and the Finn Brothers. 🙂

Yeah, that's been my experience with it. I had a 1996 Gibson Les Paul Studio in Ebony, with all the gold bits. The gold didn't age well, and a few years of living on the North Shore of Oahu certainly didn't help. Funny, when I sold it locally back in 2012, the fellow who bought it off of me LOVED the aged patina of the gold parts. "Makes it look like a real veteran of bars and clubs," he said happily. "Yeah, it's been in one or two bars and clubs," I admitted. 😐

Brilliant!! 😃

I'M A GIBSON GUY (a poem) I'm a Gibson guy, to the bone. I'm a Fender guy also, have been all along. I love me some Ibanez, and some Yamaha too. Can you be a Christian, and also a Jew? So what's the point of all this? Are we supposed to pledge allegiance? And pray to the Gods of brand caprice? What if I put my Les Paul down for some other company's emergence? You know, I think I am just a guitar player. A musician with no specific devotion. I record track after track, layer upon layer And great music is great music, and I feel emotion About the notion that I have been a Gibson guy ever since KISS albums declared it And I love Fenders too as much as Buddy Guy But please know that we compared it For any man to declare that this is IT and I'll never play another company's guitar Is folly for sure, isn't it? And an Explorer is just as sexy as a Jaguar So, thank you for your understanding And your very kind indulgence I'm off to bed now, and that is most outstanding 'Till tomorrow's post-slumber emergence Maybe in the morning I'll want to sell off all my Fenders I think it's only fair warning that I'm in the middle of a bourbon bender So anything can happen And no guarantees on my reply But come tomorrow morning when the milk man comes a rappin' I'll still be a Gibson guy fin 🤔

They lost me at 'gold hardware'. I do not like gold hardware. 😐

So, the earlier two simple lines took off today, and the first draft of song lyrics came out of me. I sussed out a melody and chords, but only for the Chorus. I can't make magic with the verses and the rest of the song, but it's going to happen this week. I changed the 'disco' reference, even though it was the notion I woke up with. It's dance hall now. And I'll be damned if I didn't somehow write a Christian Rock song, of all things. But I'm loving how it's developing. DON’T NEED NO CHURCH Verse 1 You don’t need no church if you wanna pray You don’t need a dance hall if you want to get down I used to pray at work, any time of the day And with a living room record player you could really go to town Verse 2 I ain’t no baby daddy, but I can be a father That young man’s dad left him, and split from his mom Dude’s out there running, and can’t be bothered To spend some time with his child at an after school program Bridge I’m glad to be there for this boy, and his mommy too and to say grace at the supper table Help with the dishes when the meal is through I’ll step up as long as I am able Chorus A To be the man this young one might just grow up to be G#m To show him love and some stability A To be the man his mom can count on when the going is rough G#m D A And to demonstrate my love, and that love is enough Verse 3 You don’t need no ring if you wanna get married Can’t afford a proper one anyway My job, it’s a workload, one that I have always carried I’m setting money aside, and I can get her one someday Verse 4 She said you fool you don’t need no church if you wanna pray Don’t need no dance hall if you want to get down I’ll marry you, if you ask me today I don’t need a ring, because I’m wearing your crown Bridge You make me feel like a queen, and my son is a prince When you say grace at our little supper table You’re my King, and have been ever since I have known that you will always be able Chorus To be the man my young son might just grow up to be To show him love and some stability To be the man I can count on when the going is rough And to demonstrate your love, and that love is enough The Lord brought me your love, and that love is enough Refrain Spent my whole life looking for that storybook ending Thinking life was like what we saw on TV I missed the blessings that the Lord was steadily sending I got caught up in expectations, and too blind to see And here it’s all come down an unexpected turn two people I love at this dinner table Damn near forty, and I’ve finally learned that I know I’ll always be able Chorus To be the man this young man might just grow up to be To show him love and some stability To be the man his mom can count on when the going is rough And to demonstrate my love, and that love is enough Demonstrating my love, and that love is enough God blessed us with love, and that love is enough 😗 Okay, I'm gonna shut up now.

I love this, m-e. 🙂

I'm sensing a basic 4/4 rock drum beat, provided that the second line of verse follows the first quickly, there is a pause in the singing after the word, "take", and then the forth line of verse follows the third again quickly. 4/4. 🙂

I have written songs that started with a guitar or keyboard riff. Also wrote songs that began with a turn of a phrase, or a certain combination of words that turned into a stream-of-consciousness explosion of song lyrics. I have a song brewing in my head that will include the following lines that I woke up with over my morning coffee yesterday; YOU DON'T NEED NO CHURCH IF YOU WANT TO PRAY DON'T NEED A DISCO IF YOU WANT TO DISCO DOWN The lines sound absurd, but sometimes absurd is what it takes to craft a good and interesting song. 🤔

I'm just guessing, the cable company would be liable. But if it were me, that cable company would be paying thru the nose for that repair! (If I even watched TV, but just for the sake of conversation...) 😃