Welcome back, guitar freaks! My head's been stuck in GTA Online for the past month or so, therefore musical inspiration has been limited. Or purposefully rolled back, in favour of virtual video game vehicle consumption. Fear not, though, as like most of my hobbies, my guitar lust will swing back into my consciousness and become a daily distraction again soon. I do keep practicing daily, and always keep an eye on my local music shop for bargains, just not as obsessively as I sometimes do. It's nice to have a change, I must say. Bit cheaper, too. So, my fine fellows, here's a rundown of my recent musical adventures (when I'm not in Los Santos)...
WRITING BUNDLE
Without trying, I seem to have accrued a handful of punk-pop song fragments, which I think I might try recording. I don't think they're complete verse - chorus - verse - chorus - middle eight - chorus deals, but they might at least work as demos. Demos for what, you ask? No idea, but it'll be interesting to get back into music recording again. I haven't properly done any in about seven years or so. The last time was in a professional analogue recording studio at college, and before that was at home with ProTools. This time it'll be Audacity. I'll still be using my old Shure mic and M-Box input, though. We shall see.
ROCKING ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT
Must say, the one good thing to come out of my horrible, medication-triggered adrenaline floods in the middle of the night, are some inspiring music sessions. Usually, the seizures come during the hypnagogia period, where I'm slipping into sleep. For some reason, my antidepressants fire a burst of what feels like adrenaline into my brain, and I need to get up and do something tasking. Or stare at a bright light. Just something to occupy my brain, basically, and the doing-stuff thing seems a little safer. When I tried (and failed) to come off my medication a couple of years ago, I noticed the floods stopped, and now I'm back on them and taking two tablets a day, I seem to get two floods each night. Coincidence? I dunno, but going into my guitar nook and rocking out for ten minutes with my headphones on is the best cure I've found thus far. During that frenzied state of hyper-activity, I tend to be a little more experimental and try out different chord combinations. It's getting to the point where I almost look forward to the floods now, although they are still rather unpleasant. Fun, fun, fun!
P.S. Yes, I have mentioned them to my doctor(s), but they never seem interested. Oh well.
ONE OUT, ONE IN
So although - boy! - does Eastwood's Norma EG 521-4 look cool as funk, unfortunately, in person, it has about as much personality as a brick. And a really boring brick, at that. The type of brick that doesn't get invited out to parties by all the other bricks. In fact, I'd describe it as a machine trying to sound like a musical instrument, but getting it slightly wrong. Which sorta doesn't make sense, as an electric guitar is a machine, really, but the Norma lacks its own musical signature. Perhaps it's like a replicant in the Blade Runner universe - they're 95% convincing, but that remaining 5% gives them away to the Voight-Kampff machine. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I traded it in today (Tuesday 04 September 2018) for a Squier Classic 50s Vibe Stratocaster, which I've been eyeing for years now. They're quite prized amongst players, and are shooting up in price. Luckily, this one was 2nd hand. Anyway, this leads me onto...
THE MYSTERY SWITCH
So I've cross-referenced the Vibe's serial number on the Fender database, and it is what it says it is. However, the model I am now in possession of has a mysterious 3-way toggle switch fitted between the 5-way pickup selector and volume/tone dials. I've browsed a few online music shops for the same model, but they're all missing that third control function. So, what's it for? Well, after playing around with it for a bit, it does seem to change the tone slightly. The closer to the bridge it gets, the wetter the tone. So if it's in the neck position, the tone is thin and dry. Maybe it's a "presence" switch, a musical tone that probably divides players and sends them arguing about what it really means. Regardless, is it a stock function that's now been discontinued, or a custom job by a previous owner?
If you know or have any ideas... HELP!
Well, folks, that's all for this transmission from the bunker. Do get in touch and tell me all your six-stringed secrets!
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