NighthawkChris

We have had awful choices for the president for as long as I can remember. The last few elections have been particularly awful. It all comes down to the “elites” who will allow the corporate powers conserve their well, power and influence of the laws that govern this land for the sake of making someone else more money. In this country if you have enough money, you can make anything happen, even break the law everyone else abides by and gets shot for disobeying. It’s a fact that the rich and powerful don’t go to jail, serve time like the “poors” do so why should someone respect this legal system that is blatantly corrupt? Won’t catch my backing the blue… nope… It's like supporting a corrupt system and putting signs on our lawns, stickers on our car, waving flags outside our houses on flagpoles for the distant to see... I call BS. People support their "vision" of the law, now what it really is. That's the sad reality of it all. Not saying I'm a cop hater or going on a "riot", but respecting the law... Nah, I just comply - different than belief - basically obeying it to avoid negative consequences. And I do care about my neighbor. WTF does anyone else want from someone?

Yes turn off the news!!! +1000000 I don’t pay attention to anything that isn’t 10’ in front of me these days. Ain’t a damn thing I can do about todays issues anyhow.

Form the seller's perspective, it should help maximize all you can get from a sale. Same thing goes for houses... I have heard that staging a home can get someone that extra few grand out of the sale - and even possibly sell something faster. Going with guitars, staging nice pictures for the gear might illustrate that it was well taken care of - making it easier for someone to get on board with purchasing it. I believe it is about "selling the dream" - the way I like to put it. When I'm selling something - home, guitar, car - you have to help the buyer envision themselves with that "thing". Something well presented makes buying easier for someone in the market for that "thing". It is a good lure. Also, as a seller, one may want to maximize their profit on something on say, a Les Paul. I want to get rid of it quick as possible as a seller to make the money I can. The buyer is looking for the best deal of course, so in order to get the most our of the buyer, pleading your case is done so by having the goods. The better the condition, the better the profit the way I see it. It shows some sense of professionalism or at least genuine care of sorts when pictures can convey how excellent of condition it is in. Overall, staging matters. It helps build the expectations of the buyer up easier and it can help the seller maximize their return on the sale. There's a reason many companies who sell cars, boats, whatever spend a lot of time and money to work on explicitly presentation. That's because it works. Again, selling the dream... But if you don't really care about selling something, it shows when you say are selling a keyboard stand that has been outside for an eternity and the picture shows trash strewn about behind it. Basically, if you get a hit on it as a seller, you're gonna take what you're gonna get. And how much effort is it to take the damn thing inside, wipe off the crap on it, take a picture to post it online, then patiently wait for someone to be interested? It's like the poster of that keyboard stand missed a very simple step or two here... Very little work to a) help assist build buyer confidence up first of all, and b) possibly get another $5-$10 out of the deal. But as-is, if it was say listed for $15... I'd offer the guy ~half IF I was in the market for something like that. But I wouldn't even be interested in some POS like that to begin with lol! I bet going to that person's house, you're walking into some smelly a-hole's domicile to pick that crap up. I'd want to take a shower after visiting - get the bugs off of me. I'd be worried that I bring a cockroach home with me or something, then you got that problem. That's what the keyboard ad's pictures say to me speaking about staging.

No JBJ for me... I do not care for his music - never have and never will. Didn't even watch the video in the first post to say this. I don't think I will watch it either. I did watch the Paint it Black video... Yeah, it looks like age is catching up with some of those guys on stage, lol! Not knocking the band whatsoever, but all good things must come to an end one day. Let us remember you in good form - please...

lol yeah I wondered about that... What's the point of walking in the restaurant with one on I ask myself...

No one should spend Gibson money to get a great playing guitar. Good pickups can rescue any functional guitar. All a guitar is really is wires and wood with various pieces of hardware. It’s like a Ford escort vs a Cadillac. Both drive 70 on the highway, but there’s a luxury in the Cadillac. Applies to Gibson vs other guitar maker.

Even practices/rehearsals are good to capture. Sometimes there’s that time that someone does something really creative then and you’re glad you caught it in a recording. It sort of evolves something you do musically speaking I have found. But recording isn’t for the faint of heart. A lot of equipment, cables, software… My bud has a lot of this set up nicely in his basement. It’s like a really nice recording studio. We can practice and record everything without amps - really cool stuff. It’s sort of complicated to explain what it’s like but every player has their own mixer that can bring in volumes of others at desired volumes and such. Of course there’s a master out mix that goes to the audio file stuff, but as a player, really enjoyable experience. Of course, if you had to use an amp, go for it but generally can make good recordings with cab sims and such using only IEMs to hear the playback of the mix in real time. Not like the old fashioned put your amp against the wall with everyone else’s at practice haha!

The guy I play with likes to record everything and does a good job at it. It helps to have recordings to listen to something again you did and all those cringe notes go away magically next time you play whatever it was you were listening to lol! I remember cassette tape recording and making that work! It’s a different game today. How about YouTube guitarists. It’s a thing I guess. It’s cool though… some super people out there.

Here’s my semi-incoherent rant I had to blurt out. Going to Angryville again haha! @Nifty it always has come down to money. When in all of humanity has there been action that has not benefited the rich and powerful? Media is driven by this. Think back about say, 2009-ish... People were JUST getting their "smartphones". I being a huge nerd saw the implications of this. I spend my life setting up computer networks and setting up tech. I even know low-level programming - again SW/Electrical engineer. I remember the first smartphone I had - Samsung Moment with a v.1.6 Android. I was happy that I got the GPS thing because I was tired of printing up all the MapQuest garbage - which was better than highlighter and gas station maps, haha! But the GPS was AWESOME - literally my favorite thing about the "smartphone". It had a browser which was actually usable compared to the other crap that was around then. So these phones made or world A LOT smaller. We had leaps and bounds of advancement on just tracking the population and now this data collection mess comes into play. I mean, the world today is going at light-speed compared to pre-2000s. But like everything, take the good with the bad. Social media, ease of accessing sensitive data that corporations/establishments now need a counter-cyber program of sorts (IT support and such)... This stuff never existed then like it is NEEDED today. We have spy devices littered in our homes - Alexa, Google Home... - and our phone, the biggest spy device that eliminates the need for microchipping each one of us, and we all are putting in the data faster than the corporate powers can handle. I mean, data collection as there before, but it's scaled up - WAYYY UP - today. Our privacy and such online is nonexistent. You can VPN all you want or TOR browse, you're done for if you bought a phone with some identifiable payment source. Overall, the division was exploited by this tech-network that communications have brought to our world. We can seek ANYTHING at our fingertips in a moment's notice. We can even seek information we like to see to affirm some of our beliefs - which being objectively true or not is not relevant. All I do today (try to) is not contribute to anything corporate controlled, I run Linux, I have a password manager that makes passwords I cannot even explain what they are... Just improve your OPSEC and quit being a sheep when you go online. And by sheep, I mean there are wolves out there looking to eat the sheep - i.e. people who don't know jack s*** about computers and understand nothing about what the internet actually IS - lol! So I don't buy into the garbage that's out there in corporate structures. They care about profits, not letting me know what's there. They want to put out stuff that makes money and if inciting division is that profiteering-tool, then so be it they say. They want to be INCLUSIVE because why shut out people of color that have the same money that spends the same... Does anyone think that the corporate powers CARE about inclusiveness? Well, yes, if it makes them money. It's basically the same as it always was but the tools to reach you and invade your privacy is abundant - and even installed in your home WILLFULLY! You wouldn't catch a flipping Alexa device in my house... No my house is a great DUMB house. No WiFi refrigerators, washing machines, Ring doorbells, nothing... If I have a security system in my house, it's running on a Linux system that I control. I pay for the hardware, I don't want sneaky, spooky Alexa 900MHz radios inside it without my knowledge creating mesh networks with my neighbors' Alexa. I value privacy more than convenience. But again, I have a phone, so how much am I actually protecting myself I wonder... Rhetorical question for myself... Hence, people have a great way of making stuff suck. Rant over. I learned this a few years back and continue to learn of the corporate assault on us as my ISP plans change and what I have to sign up for with identifiable information, etc. They want to own you to sell YOU. Literally FB's model. Have fun liking all those racist uncle comments that call Obama some pretty unkind things (not defending Obama, he's an "elite" who bailed out the banks back in 2009, but the racist crap was uncalled for). Fueling the engine...

I find I am much happier when I don’t tune into the “news”. It makes peoples’ blood boil when they watch certain issues and that can’t be good, right? And I’m mostly pertaining to current world event or political garbage.

Buckethead plays a baritone guitar I believe.

I get it that things like this are complained about. Yes, when I spend $3k for a guitar, it better have damn near everything right. You shouldn't expect quick BS when you spend that kind of money. Either they need to think about how to better serve their customers when they spend $3k for something instead of trying to throw as much crap out the door and deal with the complaints later. Gibson is going downhill. I would never conceive of buying anything new Gibson today, because the quality isn't worth the money you spend. It's a greedy cash grab game this company is playing, and it's sad that they are now f-ing their loyal customers. Again, $3k, and can't even look at what the f they are putting in a faulty case. If the tolex on my new Gibson case was tearing off like that, I'd be complaining too. Well, I'd turn the thing in for a refund or exchange until it was done right.

I didn’t care for the music, weird looking thing Vai is playing… I’m just gonna pass on this one. I know it’s not easy to do what Vai does but oddly enough I’m just not impressed. It’s not hard to find guitar virtuosos today online it seems - and better than Vai. But of course this stuff about who’s better is entirely subjective.

It’s probably covid. Everything is because of covid these days

Silverbursts are cool looking, but the whole AJ thing sort of killed it for me. His signature LP CUSTOM (not Standard) went for CRAZY money... Either way, I agree with @kidblast - creepy stuff there. Are these Standards going to be more expensive than Slash's Standards? Didn't check price before submitting this thread reply - and not going to haha!

Glad to be back in action on the Gibson Brands Forum!

Congratulations on the new LP! Very nice looking one too at that... Enjoy for many years!

Sorry to give the vanilla answer, but the best thing to do here is to just call Gibson. it is really the only way to get something you're looking for. There exists no website that outlines everything Custom Shop. You call them up0, tell them what you have and give them the serial number. You should hopefully get the information you're after. Worked for me well in the past going this route.

Clearly off-centered. I am looking (at my guitars first-hand) right now at 3 Gibson LPs from the Custom Shop and a 1994 LP Standard (same inlay shapes as yours) and they are all pretty centered. I have to say that it is NOT normal.

The LP Custom is made in the Custom Shop. You get a COA from the Custom Shop when you get one TODAY (or more recent). It is not made like the reissues because it is not a reissue. Some specs are different - neck tenon, electronics, plastics, etc. The LP Custom of today is cheaper because the more "historic" it is, the more you will pay. That's what the demand would be for if you go for a Historic. I know USA has its issues, but the Custom Shop "usually" does it right. Not trying to scare you here, but I personally feel that the better looked over guitars are coming out of the Custom Shop. Of course, there are mistakes at times... Of course, always comes down to dollars and cents, you pay for CS Gibsons. Are they worth it is only a question you can answer.

For sure, no one that’s trying to reach out is going to have any luck doing so by being insulting of the other. At that point using petty names means what I wonder? To me it takes down the intelligence level of a conversation. But that might be the point sometimes… don’t know. Every situation is different. But whatever I may have been guilty of before is on me - full responsibility for what comes out my mouth or text.

Yeah 50W tube amps are usually plenty! I'm not sure why the 5150 was 120W, but in all actuality, the extra 20W compared to 100W isn't that much gain in volume comparatively. It's like when someone buys a 50W amp they are only getting 3dB less volume than the 100W. I believe the wattage generally gives you more "clean" room. So to get to the "dirty" part of the 100W, you're cranking it a bit more. Going down another rabbit hole, I started to look into attenuators to actually use my 5150 in my music room. Neither here nor there, but generally speaking, that's my take on tube amp wattage. Same thing goes for car audio - when we could actually do something about our car's sound system... Now a days, our infotainment system is absolutely necessary for important controls, so I say it is inadvisable to put in your new sound system into your car. But it came down to 400W and 800W systems or something like that... Getting into amps in cars not to blast that rap garbage, but listening to hard rock with subs is AWESOME! Nothing made me feel happier than blasting some Pantera and looking at the car next to me while the people looked over in horror, haha! I liked the parts where Phil was blasting out some serious F bombs on top of some brutal guitar crunch!

Another thing I learned is it is near impossible to try to convince others to agree with your politics. It is futile. People need to see s*** for themselves to change their views. Say what you have to if you must then leave it at that. Discussion is welcome, but pi$$ing matches are stupid.

I get where you're coming from, but the person who vandalizes is the one in the wrong. I don't see this as taking away your free speech necessarily, I see this as a stupid person reacting like a child because they aren't getting exactly what they want. Case in point, there are a lot of people out my way who still have a ton of Trump stuff on their lawns. Stuff has stayed there since he was in office and has remained intact to this very day. If this bothers someone where they feel they need to tear it all down, then they need to rethink about when this should happen to them on the other side of things. I DID see people with Joe stuff on their lawns get vandalized though... My next-door neighbor had his signs stolen several times. He ended up putting up a billboard type sign to say FU to those individuals who decided taking down Biden signs was necessary. I have learned that violence begets more violence. Let the good beget the good. That's what I have believe in. Violence defeats your purpose IMHO. Why do we need to hate each other because we disagree on someone that isn't "their" guy? I don't hate Trump supporters. Why hate on me because I don't like Trump - someone who everyone most likely has NEVER MET? I have interacted with all of you more than any politician... I probably have more in common with everyone else here than some person in our political space.

@kidblast at my drummer's place, he has a basement set up like a studio. He works as a sound engineer at a casino over here. We play through cab emulators essentially with headphones for everything - except the analog drums. He has electronic kit, but we try to avoid this even though it's a nice one. All of us have IEMs we invested in as well. He basically forbids amps to come over, haha! FYI, I used to lug my full now full-stack around to the gig in the half-stack form. Still PLENTY loud. It is a Peavey 5150 II EVH sig. Super high gain. I did say I was into a metal band before... This thing melts faces. I cannot be in the same room when I crank this thing. It shakes the foundation of my house. 120W I think it's rated... I personally like the 5150 II better the the original 5150 EVH. But saving it again, for something or other. It's in awesome condition too. I take care of all my stuff - something my parents taught me to do. I remember washing cars and saving my nickels and dimes for this back in the day.