sparquelito

Shimming a pickup to bring it up closer to the strings is one thing, but choosing the right shimming material the key to success in this endeavor! 😃

I must confess, I have never had this problem. Ever. Anywhere, at any time. Funny too, because my last name is Sparkman, and my nickname is Sparky. 🤔

It's what we call Minimalist Mathematics. There are two 3's, right? And two times 3 equals 6, correct? In a way, it makes perfect sense, and it's highly logical. 😬

Whatever brings Nancy Wilson some well-deserved attention (and money) is alright with me!! 🙂

Hi, hello Ger. Welcome, it's great to have you aboard. Many of us here suffer from guitar acquisition syndrome. Photos are always welcome, by the way. 😉

I'll be a peace-maker and diplomat here, and say a quiet prayer for Jim Steinman's family. May he rest in peace, and may they find solace in the notion that he made an impact on the music world for a great number of years. It's not for me to offer a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down to somebody else's favorite band, album, or genre of music. God knows that my cup of tea isn't necessarily going to be your pitcher of martinis. But the man produced some really good records for Michael Lee Aday, Bonnie Tyler, Celine Dion, Air Supply, and Barry Manilow. Okay, I know that that didn't exactly strengthen my case for mercy and diplomacy in the death of Jim Steinman. Air Supply might have been that line in the sand for most of you. Barry Manilow perhaps. Whatever. Show some respect, okay? 😗

"Hey Jim, that girl you were buying drinks for at the bar last Friday night...." "Yeah?" "How did things go?" "Good, I guess. Yeah, I took her home." "Ah. You are trending toward the big girls lately, I notice." "Big?" (looks around) "She was more than big. She was obeast!" 😬

Welcome aboard, Jason. And thank you for Neil Young, Dan Ackroyd, and Leonard Cohen. Justin Bieber, eh..... not so much. 😘

(singing) Happy Birthday to you Happy Birthday to you Happy Birthday dear Retired Butch Haaappy Biiirthdaaay tooo yooouuu!! (Thank you, thank yew vrmuch) 😃

Happy Birthday, Butch. Good on ya. 😛

That Platinum Studio in the middle there? It intrigues me. Wonder how I never sawr one of those before? A quick scan around the interwebs reveals that people are right proud of those guitar$.! 🤔

Lee James, According to Fjestad's Blue Book, your 1993 Gibson Les Paul Studio, in Mint Condition, is worth $1,050 in US Dollars. Values vary by market, city to city. But that price would be the beginning of any reasonable negotiation with a potential buyer. Where do you reside, and what color is the finish on your awesome guitar? 🙂

Great song, crowded stage, fun crowd, and the sax player is playing two horns at once. One thing though; Does Albert have a Tone Sweater on that Tele??? 😛

Jeffrey, A few things; What's the context? Where did you find that photo? It's an awfully small image, and the details are scarce. 😗

Now we're talking!! 😍

I'm more like the Gibson Forum Poet Reprobate, if you ask my ex-wife. 😛

Hmmm........ Time for a limerick then. An Epiphone versus Gibson Flying V a perplexing and vexing quandary One was made in China The other 200 miles west of North Carolina You keep the Epiphone and give the Gibson to me! Okay, I'm gonna shut up now. 😑

I played a demo for my wife a few years ago, and began telling her the back-story of the characters, and a certain heart-break that was central to the story and the lyrics. I got a little misty and teary-eyed. My wife said, "These are fictional characters that you wrote. Why are you getting tears in your eyes? They aren't real." I blew my nose and wiped my eyes. "They are real to me." "I get it, I guess," she replied. I said, "We write what we know, and things we have lived and experienced in our own lives. In the end, we usually assign those painful memories and joyful moments to some other fictional characters. To tell the story better within a three minute song. But it's all still there, and it's real, right?" "Yeah." 🤔

Okay, I was not expecting that!! 😗

I got up at 4:45 and had my coffee with a sweet creamers and a bit of German brandy. Stir-fried some turkey burger for my breakfast this morning, with portabella mushrooms, Vidalia onion, egg, and cheddar. By ten thirty a.m. I'll be out mowing the property, and then after a nice hot bath, my wife and I will be off to a late lunch at my in-laws. Somewhere between or after, I'll be playing my Firebird Zero. It just seems like a Pelham Blue sort of day. 🙂 Sophie the Boxer is having none of it.

Here's a thought for you to ponder; What one thing is manufactured by the thousands each day, all over the world, with certain knowledge that most consumers will acquire it, barely learn to play it, allow it to collect dust, and then later sell it or give it away? The electric guitar, naturally. A mind-boggling notion, truly. But for us guitar lovers and guitar collectors, it's a comforting thought. 🙂

That was fabulous, Guy. Thank you for sharing that! Interesting to me, considering the style of your playing, and the almost Steve Vai-like-groove of that composition, is your choice of guitar. If I were to leave the video playing as I walked around the house, my mind's eye would picture a pointy Ibanez at play. Watching that beautifully-filmed and edited video, with you rocking the old-school Gibson, my brain kept trying to re-boot on me!! It was like it didn't compute, the juxtaposition of the axe and the sounds/tones. 😚

That really is a stunning guitar. I guess they call that the Transparent Black finish. Goes great with the black, naked pickups and black speed knobs, my favorite. Grover kidney-bean tuning keys, just perfect. 🥰

Inspired by Marilyn-Monroe. 😬