The official start of summer is not until June 21st. However, around these parts (Texas that is), most people tend to celebrate summer's arrival, over Memorial Day weekend. We've always considered Sand Dollar Rodeo, a summer party band. Not that we won't do shows, throughout the whole year, because we do that, as well. If any of you know Roy, then you know he loves Christmas, just as much as summer. Summer seems to be our season, though. Outdoor shows, parties, festivals, you name it. That's what we thrive on. If you listen to our music, I think that you will agree. A cold drink, driving or taking a road trip, the beach, heck, even Fried Okra! It all goes hand in hand.
We will be kicking off our summer season in grand style, this weekend. We have a pair of shows scheduled for this Friday and Saturday. On Friday night, we will return to the Keller Tavern, located at 128 S. Main St., Keller, Texas. SDR will take the stage at 8pm. The weather should be perfect, well perfect for me, anyway. Temperatures should be in the mid to lower 80's. By the end of the evening, temperatures should be in the lower 70's. This continues a cooler then normal weather pattern for us. This has been the coolest spring, that I can remember, and I have lived in Texas, all of my life. We are usually well into the 90's, by this time of year. Nighttime lows are usually in the mid 70's, at the lowest. Hey, I'm not complaining though. I will take this normal then cooler weather, for as long as it wants to continue. So, come and kick off your Memorial Day weekend with us at the Keller Tavern.
Saturday will be a quick turnaround for us, as we will be playing a private party, out at my folks' house. We will be going on at 4pm, and playing a straight through set (no breaks). The weather should be great. A daytime high of 84, is in the forecast. If you are reading this, and coming to the party, we look forward to seeing you. It should be a great time!
On that note, Sand Dollar Rodeo is available for summer parties, get-togethers, or whatever! If you are interested in booking a private event, please email us at info@sanddollarrodeo.com You can also contact Roy, or I directly, if you prefer.
With all this talk about the weather, let's not forget the people of Granbury and Cleburne, Texas. They were hit hard by tornadoes, last week. I have been to both of these lovely towns, many times. SDR played in Granbury back in March, and we are scheduled to play in Cleburne, on September 28th. Also, please remember the people of Moore, Oklahoma. All of these people, need our thoughts, prayers, and help. Their are many ways you can help. There are too many sites, to list them all here, but if you run a Google search, or better yet, check your favorite social media site, then their should be plenty of information on where and how, we can all help. Whether it's a monetary donation, donating items, or traveling to the areas hit and helping with the clean up, we can all do our part, to help these folks get back on their feet again.
Ok gang, that's all I've got for this week. As always, thanks for reading, and I'll talk to ya soon!
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Thursday, May 16, 2013
A New Amp Part 2, And My Blogging Buddy
Back on March 18, 2013, I published a blog post chronicling some equipment changes. Among those, was the purchase of a new/used amp off of Craigslist. For complete details on this, you can check out this blog post, in the archives.
I'm sure you've guessed by now, that this blog post is about another new amp. Well, if you did guess this, then you would be correct! I replaced my Traynor Custom Valve 40, with a Fender Hot Rod Deville. That name sounds more like a car, then a guitar amp, doesn't it? I never was head over heels, about the Traynor. It's a solid amp, and a lot of players like them. Unfortunately, I was not one of them. I really did not like the way my guitars were sounding, through this amp. You may ask, "Well, why did you buy it in the first place?" That's a very good question, that I will try and address in this post.
As I has mentioned, in my prior blog referenced above, we were playing a gig at Lynn's Saloon, when my main amp went out. We had gigs lined up, for the next several weeks. I needed something fast! My time, during the week is limited. I didn't have time to go driving all over creation, searching for amps. Plus, I was on a tight budget. At this time, we were knee deep with the album, so I had expenses, related to that. I have a great music store, that I do a lot of business with, here in Fort Worth. They are called Zoo Music. I would give you a link to their website, but, they do not have a website! They have plenty of amps, but the main problem was, that I could not find anything that I liked, that was within my budget. So, I decided to go the Craigslist route. I found the Traynor, fairly quickly, it was within my price range, and it was a close drive. I played it, and it sounded good, but I knew it would never be a long term solution. Their were several other amps that I had looked at on Craigslist, but I just did not have the time to go try them all out. If nothing else, I thought that this would be a good backup amp. I could use it, until my main amp was repaired.
It didn't take long, to realize that this amp was not working for me. We were playing a show at the Venue, in Gun Barrel City. They recorded this performance, and I though my guitar tone sounded thin and hollow. Our very next gig, at Keller Tavern, was more of the same. This was a show, where we were running our own sound. Roy and I usually take turns, standing out in front of the stage, to get levels. When it was my turn, I was playing my guitar, along with all the other instruments, and I thought it sounded awful. I tried tweaking the settings on the amp, but nothing seemed to sound right. I made it through the gig, but decided on the way home, that it was time to get my main amp into the shop.
I called the amp tech, that Zoo had recommended. He is a one man operation. I have found that this is usually a great thing. These types of guys usually do great work, and really know their stuff. The only downside is, he is a one main operation. He said he had no way to quote me a time frame, or price, until he did an initial analysis. I understood this, and accepted that it might be awhile before he could look at it. I dropped the amp off to him on April 27. He still has it! We had two gigs scheduled the next weekend. I was somehow hoping that maybe he had at least looked at it. I was wrong though. I resigned myself to the fact, that it could be several weeks or more, before my amp would be ready.
On the way home, from dropping off the amp, I was passing right by a used music store, called Music Go Round. I decided to stop in, and see what they had. I looked at several amps, but nothing really caught my eye. A salesman was talking to me, as we walked around the store, when I spotted a Marshall half stack. I kind of laughed, and said, "That looks pretty cool, but I think it would be overkill, for what I need." The salesman said, "You should try it out, it's really not that bad." I decided, "What the heck, might as well." I found a Strat on the wall and plugged it up. I was amazed at the tone, coming out of this thing! It sounded great! The price seemed pretty good, as well. They had it marked for $799.99, but said that they could sell it for $750.00, without me even saying anything. I'm thinking, "Wow, $750 for a Marshall? That sounds like a great deal!" For those of you not familiar with guitar amps, Marshalls are some of the most revered amps, in music history. They are a British amp. They were/are the amp of choice for many guitar players, including greats like Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Angus Young, and Slash, among others. They have also made their way into country music, in recent years. In hindsight, I'm glad that I didn't have $750 on me, that day, or I probably would have brought it home.
I decided at this point, that I was going to go ahead and invest in a nice, higher end amp. While I love my main amp, that is currently in the shop, these amps are well known for their reliability issues. I've researched several forums, where players have had multiple issues with them. The amp is a Crate Vintage Club 50. Mark Knopfler, from Dire Straits, used to use this same amp, but quit, because of the reliability issues. It's a shame, because these amps, sound great. With Sand Dollar Rodeo gigging, as much as we are, I need to have reliable equipment. The Traynor was going bye-bye. My Vintage Club, and that Marshall, just slayed it, as far as tone goes.
I went home and started researching Marshall amps. I'm glad I did. I found out, that the amp I was looking at, was not very good quality. It was a MA 100. These amps are now discontinued, and manufactured in Vietnam. Most forums were stating, that you could get a lot nicer Marshall, for about the same price, as what Music Go Round was asking. This was on the used market, of course. As I completed more research, a lot of people were recommending another model of Marshall, called the DSL. It came in either a 50 or 100 watt head. I started pricing them on Craigslist, and they were coming in at about $800 for the head, and another $400-$500, for the speaker cabinet. Ouch! This was getting pretty steep!
I decided not to limit myself to Marshall. I went ahead and put the Traynor on Craigslist, just to see what would happen. I listed it for the same price, that I had bought it for, a month earlier. I started researching all kinds of makes and models of various amps, from companies such as Fender, Peavy, Orange, Blackstar, and Dr. Z. These companies make some phenomenal amps. While, I would love to own a top of the line model, from one of these companies, that was not in the cards. These companies offer high end amps, that can go up into the thousands of dollars. I didn't have that type of cash. The nice thing though, is that these companies also make some awesome amps, that run anywhere from $500-$1200.
In the meantime, I had received a response on my Craigslist ad. The email had actually gone to my spam folder, so I didn't see it for a few days. I called the guy and we talked about it. I told him that my other amp was in the shop, and that as soon as I received word that it was done, I would contact him. He was good with that , and said he was in no hurray.
We played our two gigs on May 3rd & 4th. That Sunday, May 5th, I decided to go to Guitar Center and check out several amps, that were on my list. I knew that I wanted at lease a 50 watt tube amp, with at least two speakers. This was not so much for the volume, but for fullness, and clean headroom. My Vintage Club is 50 watts, and has two twelve inch speakers. The Traynor was 40 watts, and had one ten inch speaker. I've tried several other amps that had single speakers, and I just do not like the way they sound, for me. Many players, use these types of amps however, and sound great through them. It's all about personal preference, and playing styles.
After playing through several amps, I narrowed it down to two, that I liked. One was a Marshall DSL 100, and the other was a Fender Hot Rod Deville. The Deville was a 60 watt amp with two twelve inch speakers. The Marshall was a 100 watt head, that would need a speaker cabinet. I really liked the Marshall's clean setting, but the drive channel was basically un -useable, for me. I could not get a good overdrive tone out of it, at all. The Fender had a really good clean tone, and a decent overdrive channel. Fender amps also work really well with overdrive pedals. The salesman let me try the amp with an Ibanez Tube Screamer, and a Boss Blues Driver pedal. I use a BBB Green Screamer, with my rig. It's sort of a tube screamer clone, but I really like it a lot better then an actual tube screamer. It's a great pedal that my lovely wife bought me for Christmas, this past year. I was really wishing that I had this pedal with me. Later on, my wife came into Guitar Center, after she had finished her shopping. I asked her to listen to the two amps. She loved the clean channel on the Marshall, but hated the overdrive channel, as did I. She went so far as to say, "I don't think, I could come hear you play, if your guitar sounded like that." She liked the overdrive on the Fender amp, much better, as did I. This was actually strange to me, as Fenders are known for their cleans, and Marshalls are known for their overdrive.
The Fender was priced at $949, and the Marshall was $899, but that was just for the head. I would still need a speaker cabinet, so in the long run, I would be looking at about $1200 for the Marshall. My wife was encouraging me to purchase something new, so that I could get a warranty. I was seriously considering this, but just couldn't justify these prices. Amps are kind of like cars in that, the moment you take them out of the store, they tend to lose about 40% of their value. I had seen used Hot Rod Deville's on Craigslist, from $400-$600, depending on the condition that they were in. I also found a used Marshall DSL for $500. The DSL was now out, however. I told the salesman that I needed to think about the Fender amp.
When we left Guitar Center, I asked my wife if she would mind stopping my Music Go Round, to listen to the Marshall, that they had. I knew that the DSL was supposed to be a much better amp, but I liked the way the MA sounded, better. We went into the music store, and I couldn't find the Marshall. The salesman told me that it had sold. That was ok, I realized that amp, wasn't meant to be.
I researched some more amps over the weekend, including an Orange Dual Terror, and a Peavy Classic 50. I had played a Classic 50 at another music store, awhile back, and thought it sounded pretty good. The Dual Terror, had some nice sounding sound clips on YouTube. My dream rig is an Orange Rockerverb 50 or 100, but these amps are way out of my price range, right now.
My music store, Zoo, sometimes advertises on Craigslist, oddly enough. They had a Peavy Classic 50 come in on a trade, and had it listed. They are also an Orange dealer, and I knew that they had the Dual Terror. I went in on the following Monday, May 6. I decided I would try these two amps. I was not impressed, with either one. I then spotted a Fender Hot Rod Deville. It was bigger, and different from the one I had demoed, at Guitar Center. I started asking about it. For one, it had four 10 inch speakers in it, as opposed to two 12 inch speakers. I hooked my guitar up and knew immediately that this was the one. It had a great clean sound and a very serviceable drive channel. I wasn't as concerned about the drive channel, as I was about the clean channel. I knew that my Green Screamer, could get plenty of overdrive. I really did like the tone, much better then the one I had played at Guitar Center. I think the four ten inch speakers made the difference.
This amp was also USA made, where the one at Guitar Center, was made in Mexico. Their is nothing wrong with the Mexican made Fender products, but I prefer the American made stuff. It tends to hold its value better, and the build quality is generally better. The price was right too. The only negative was, that this amp was used. That meant, no warranty. I was ok with this though, as I've never had any issues with any gear, that I have purchased from Zoo.
I put the amp on layaway, mainly to protect against it being sold. I had some gig money coming in, and I knew that if I could sell the Traynor, then I would be good to go.
I contacted the gentleman, later that evening, about the Traynor. We decided to meet up at Zoo, the following Saturday, so he could try it out. We met this past Saturday, May 11th. He demoed the amp for about 30 minutes, and then said he would take it. I was really giddy at this point, as I could now get mine out of layaway.
So far, I am really happy with the amp. I can't wait to try it out at our next gig. Roy also has some new toys, as he purchased some new PA speakers. He sent pictures, and man! I can't wait to hear what they sound like! Cisco, also bought some new toys. Not sure, what he bought, but I'm sure I'll see it at the next gig.
On another note, I must confess that as I sit her typing this, I don't feel quite right. You see, I had a blogging buddy, that would help me out with these posts. I type these up on a laptop , in my recliner. My blogging/late night buddy, was our Siamese cat, named Sarah. Sarah passed away this past Monday at the age of 18. Sarah was always interested in my late night activities. Whether it was blogging, playing a video game, or just watching a TV show. Whenever the girls went to bed, and I grabbed the laptop, Sarah knew it was time to help. She would come in, and be meowing up a storm, until I picked her up and put her in the recliner, beside me. She would then proceed to "help" me, keep my notes straight. If I was playing a video game, Sarah would rub and push on the controller, to help me along. She also enjoyed the acoustic guitar. The electrics were too loud for her, but anytime I brought out the acoustic, late at night, she was there, rubbing up against the guitar and meowing along.
Over the past few weeks, Sarah became really ill. We are not sure why, or how it happened. She lost her trademark meow, and was really having a difficult time with everything. The last time we sat together was on May 4th, after our Mayfest show. She was really weak, and her voice was just about gone, but she managed to creep up to my chair. I was actually planning on going to bed, at the time, but she wanted to sit for awhile. We just kind of sat there for a bit. I put on some music, and we just chilled for an hour or so. When she was ready to go to bed, she let me know, and I picked her up, and put her in her bed.
She weakened considerably, over the next week or so. This past Sunday, I could hear her faint meow. It was about 11:30pm. She was in the hallway that leads to our bedroom. I got up to check on her. This was usually prime time for us. I'm not sure, what she was wanting, so I just sat in the hall with her, and petted her for a little while. The hallway was about midway from her bed, to the litter box. I'm not sure if she was trying to make it to the litter box, or not. I didn't really know what to do. She was having a hard time, walking, by this point. I didn't want to carry her to bed, and have her make that walk again, if she was trying to get to the litter box. I also didn't want to take her to the litter box, and have her have to make the long walk, back to her bed.
I think now, that she telling me goodbye. We had put a soft spot to lay, in between her bed, and the litter box. Sometimes, she would also climb into bed, with our lab mixed dog. I felt that she would be ok, so I went to bed.
The next morning, I went and checked on her, when I was getting ready to leave for work. She was in her bed, and very weak. I softly petted her head, and told her I would see her after work. She passed away, later that morning, in my wife's arms.
It's been a tough week for my family. I've been doing ok, up until now. The last part of this blog post has been extremely difficult to write. I know though, that her spirit is still with all of us. It's hard to explain, but we have all felt her presence. It's comforting in a way. Sarah, will never be forgotten. The same way, as our other pets, who passed before her, are not. Our pets really are a part of our family. Even the snake! Thanks as always, for reading, and I'll talk to ya later,
I'm sure you've guessed by now, that this blog post is about another new amp. Well, if you did guess this, then you would be correct! I replaced my Traynor Custom Valve 40, with a Fender Hot Rod Deville. That name sounds more like a car, then a guitar amp, doesn't it? I never was head over heels, about the Traynor. It's a solid amp, and a lot of players like them. Unfortunately, I was not one of them. I really did not like the way my guitars were sounding, through this amp. You may ask, "Well, why did you buy it in the first place?" That's a very good question, that I will try and address in this post.
As I has mentioned, in my prior blog referenced above, we were playing a gig at Lynn's Saloon, when my main amp went out. We had gigs lined up, for the next several weeks. I needed something fast! My time, during the week is limited. I didn't have time to go driving all over creation, searching for amps. Plus, I was on a tight budget. At this time, we were knee deep with the album, so I had expenses, related to that. I have a great music store, that I do a lot of business with, here in Fort Worth. They are called Zoo Music. I would give you a link to their website, but, they do not have a website! They have plenty of amps, but the main problem was, that I could not find anything that I liked, that was within my budget. So, I decided to go the Craigslist route. I found the Traynor, fairly quickly, it was within my price range, and it was a close drive. I played it, and it sounded good, but I knew it would never be a long term solution. Their were several other amps that I had looked at on Craigslist, but I just did not have the time to go try them all out. If nothing else, I thought that this would be a good backup amp. I could use it, until my main amp was repaired.
It didn't take long, to realize that this amp was not working for me. We were playing a show at the Venue, in Gun Barrel City. They recorded this performance, and I though my guitar tone sounded thin and hollow. Our very next gig, at Keller Tavern, was more of the same. This was a show, where we were running our own sound. Roy and I usually take turns, standing out in front of the stage, to get levels. When it was my turn, I was playing my guitar, along with all the other instruments, and I thought it sounded awful. I tried tweaking the settings on the amp, but nothing seemed to sound right. I made it through the gig, but decided on the way home, that it was time to get my main amp into the shop.
I called the amp tech, that Zoo had recommended. He is a one man operation. I have found that this is usually a great thing. These types of guys usually do great work, and really know their stuff. The only downside is, he is a one main operation. He said he had no way to quote me a time frame, or price, until he did an initial analysis. I understood this, and accepted that it might be awhile before he could look at it. I dropped the amp off to him on April 27. He still has it! We had two gigs scheduled the next weekend. I was somehow hoping that maybe he had at least looked at it. I was wrong though. I resigned myself to the fact, that it could be several weeks or more, before my amp would be ready.
On the way home, from dropping off the amp, I was passing right by a used music store, called Music Go Round. I decided to stop in, and see what they had. I looked at several amps, but nothing really caught my eye. A salesman was talking to me, as we walked around the store, when I spotted a Marshall half stack. I kind of laughed, and said, "That looks pretty cool, but I think it would be overkill, for what I need." The salesman said, "You should try it out, it's really not that bad." I decided, "What the heck, might as well." I found a Strat on the wall and plugged it up. I was amazed at the tone, coming out of this thing! It sounded great! The price seemed pretty good, as well. They had it marked for $799.99, but said that they could sell it for $750.00, without me even saying anything. I'm thinking, "Wow, $750 for a Marshall? That sounds like a great deal!" For those of you not familiar with guitar amps, Marshalls are some of the most revered amps, in music history. They are a British amp. They were/are the amp of choice for many guitar players, including greats like Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Angus Young, and Slash, among others. They have also made their way into country music, in recent years. In hindsight, I'm glad that I didn't have $750 on me, that day, or I probably would have brought it home.
I decided at this point, that I was going to go ahead and invest in a nice, higher end amp. While I love my main amp, that is currently in the shop, these amps are well known for their reliability issues. I've researched several forums, where players have had multiple issues with them. The amp is a Crate Vintage Club 50. Mark Knopfler, from Dire Straits, used to use this same amp, but quit, because of the reliability issues. It's a shame, because these amps, sound great. With Sand Dollar Rodeo gigging, as much as we are, I need to have reliable equipment. The Traynor was going bye-bye. My Vintage Club, and that Marshall, just slayed it, as far as tone goes.
I went home and started researching Marshall amps. I'm glad I did. I found out, that the amp I was looking at, was not very good quality. It was a MA 100. These amps are now discontinued, and manufactured in Vietnam. Most forums were stating, that you could get a lot nicer Marshall, for about the same price, as what Music Go Round was asking. This was on the used market, of course. As I completed more research, a lot of people were recommending another model of Marshall, called the DSL. It came in either a 50 or 100 watt head. I started pricing them on Craigslist, and they were coming in at about $800 for the head, and another $400-$500, for the speaker cabinet. Ouch! This was getting pretty steep!
I decided not to limit myself to Marshall. I went ahead and put the Traynor on Craigslist, just to see what would happen. I listed it for the same price, that I had bought it for, a month earlier. I started researching all kinds of makes and models of various amps, from companies such as Fender, Peavy, Orange, Blackstar, and Dr. Z. These companies make some phenomenal amps. While, I would love to own a top of the line model, from one of these companies, that was not in the cards. These companies offer high end amps, that can go up into the thousands of dollars. I didn't have that type of cash. The nice thing though, is that these companies also make some awesome amps, that run anywhere from $500-$1200.
In the meantime, I had received a response on my Craigslist ad. The email had actually gone to my spam folder, so I didn't see it for a few days. I called the guy and we talked about it. I told him that my other amp was in the shop, and that as soon as I received word that it was done, I would contact him. He was good with that , and said he was in no hurray.
We played our two gigs on May 3rd & 4th. That Sunday, May 5th, I decided to go to Guitar Center and check out several amps, that were on my list. I knew that I wanted at lease a 50 watt tube amp, with at least two speakers. This was not so much for the volume, but for fullness, and clean headroom. My Vintage Club is 50 watts, and has two twelve inch speakers. The Traynor was 40 watts, and had one ten inch speaker. I've tried several other amps that had single speakers, and I just do not like the way they sound, for me. Many players, use these types of amps however, and sound great through them. It's all about personal preference, and playing styles.
After playing through several amps, I narrowed it down to two, that I liked. One was a Marshall DSL 100, and the other was a Fender Hot Rod Deville. The Deville was a 60 watt amp with two twelve inch speakers. The Marshall was a 100 watt head, that would need a speaker cabinet. I really liked the Marshall's clean setting, but the drive channel was basically un -useable, for me. I could not get a good overdrive tone out of it, at all. The Fender had a really good clean tone, and a decent overdrive channel. Fender amps also work really well with overdrive pedals. The salesman let me try the amp with an Ibanez Tube Screamer, and a Boss Blues Driver pedal. I use a BBB Green Screamer, with my rig. It's sort of a tube screamer clone, but I really like it a lot better then an actual tube screamer. It's a great pedal that my lovely wife bought me for Christmas, this past year. I was really wishing that I had this pedal with me. Later on, my wife came into Guitar Center, after she had finished her shopping. I asked her to listen to the two amps. She loved the clean channel on the Marshall, but hated the overdrive channel, as did I. She went so far as to say, "I don't think, I could come hear you play, if your guitar sounded like that." She liked the overdrive on the Fender amp, much better, as did I. This was actually strange to me, as Fenders are known for their cleans, and Marshalls are known for their overdrive.
The Fender was priced at $949, and the Marshall was $899, but that was just for the head. I would still need a speaker cabinet, so in the long run, I would be looking at about $1200 for the Marshall. My wife was encouraging me to purchase something new, so that I could get a warranty. I was seriously considering this, but just couldn't justify these prices. Amps are kind of like cars in that, the moment you take them out of the store, they tend to lose about 40% of their value. I had seen used Hot Rod Deville's on Craigslist, from $400-$600, depending on the condition that they were in. I also found a used Marshall DSL for $500. The DSL was now out, however. I told the salesman that I needed to think about the Fender amp.
When we left Guitar Center, I asked my wife if she would mind stopping my Music Go Round, to listen to the Marshall, that they had. I knew that the DSL was supposed to be a much better amp, but I liked the way the MA sounded, better. We went into the music store, and I couldn't find the Marshall. The salesman told me that it had sold. That was ok, I realized that amp, wasn't meant to be.
I researched some more amps over the weekend, including an Orange Dual Terror, and a Peavy Classic 50. I had played a Classic 50 at another music store, awhile back, and thought it sounded pretty good. The Dual Terror, had some nice sounding sound clips on YouTube. My dream rig is an Orange Rockerverb 50 or 100, but these amps are way out of my price range, right now.
My music store, Zoo, sometimes advertises on Craigslist, oddly enough. They had a Peavy Classic 50 come in on a trade, and had it listed. They are also an Orange dealer, and I knew that they had the Dual Terror. I went in on the following Monday, May 6. I decided I would try these two amps. I was not impressed, with either one. I then spotted a Fender Hot Rod Deville. It was bigger, and different from the one I had demoed, at Guitar Center. I started asking about it. For one, it had four 10 inch speakers in it, as opposed to two 12 inch speakers. I hooked my guitar up and knew immediately that this was the one. It had a great clean sound and a very serviceable drive channel. I wasn't as concerned about the drive channel, as I was about the clean channel. I knew that my Green Screamer, could get plenty of overdrive. I really did like the tone, much better then the one I had played at Guitar Center. I think the four ten inch speakers made the difference.
This amp was also USA made, where the one at Guitar Center, was made in Mexico. Their is nothing wrong with the Mexican made Fender products, but I prefer the American made stuff. It tends to hold its value better, and the build quality is generally better. The price was right too. The only negative was, that this amp was used. That meant, no warranty. I was ok with this though, as I've never had any issues with any gear, that I have purchased from Zoo.
I put the amp on layaway, mainly to protect against it being sold. I had some gig money coming in, and I knew that if I could sell the Traynor, then I would be good to go.
I contacted the gentleman, later that evening, about the Traynor. We decided to meet up at Zoo, the following Saturday, so he could try it out. We met this past Saturday, May 11th. He demoed the amp for about 30 minutes, and then said he would take it. I was really giddy at this point, as I could now get mine out of layaway.
So far, I am really happy with the amp. I can't wait to try it out at our next gig. Roy also has some new toys, as he purchased some new PA speakers. He sent pictures, and man! I can't wait to hear what they sound like! Cisco, also bought some new toys. Not sure, what he bought, but I'm sure I'll see it at the next gig.
On another note, I must confess that as I sit her typing this, I don't feel quite right. You see, I had a blogging buddy, that would help me out with these posts. I type these up on a laptop , in my recliner. My blogging/late night buddy, was our Siamese cat, named Sarah. Sarah passed away this past Monday at the age of 18. Sarah was always interested in my late night activities. Whether it was blogging, playing a video game, or just watching a TV show. Whenever the girls went to bed, and I grabbed the laptop, Sarah knew it was time to help. She would come in, and be meowing up a storm, until I picked her up and put her in the recliner, beside me. She would then proceed to "help" me, keep my notes straight. If I was playing a video game, Sarah would rub and push on the controller, to help me along. She also enjoyed the acoustic guitar. The electrics were too loud for her, but anytime I brought out the acoustic, late at night, she was there, rubbing up against the guitar and meowing along.
Over the past few weeks, Sarah became really ill. We are not sure why, or how it happened. She lost her trademark meow, and was really having a difficult time with everything. The last time we sat together was on May 4th, after our Mayfest show. She was really weak, and her voice was just about gone, but she managed to creep up to my chair. I was actually planning on going to bed, at the time, but she wanted to sit for awhile. We just kind of sat there for a bit. I put on some music, and we just chilled for an hour or so. When she was ready to go to bed, she let me know, and I picked her up, and put her in her bed.
She weakened considerably, over the next week or so. This past Sunday, I could hear her faint meow. It was about 11:30pm. She was in the hallway that leads to our bedroom. I got up to check on her. This was usually prime time for us. I'm not sure, what she was wanting, so I just sat in the hall with her, and petted her for a little while. The hallway was about midway from her bed, to the litter box. I'm not sure if she was trying to make it to the litter box, or not. I didn't really know what to do. She was having a hard time, walking, by this point. I didn't want to carry her to bed, and have her make that walk again, if she was trying to get to the litter box. I also didn't want to take her to the litter box, and have her have to make the long walk, back to her bed.
I think now, that she telling me goodbye. We had put a soft spot to lay, in between her bed, and the litter box. Sometimes, she would also climb into bed, with our lab mixed dog. I felt that she would be ok, so I went to bed.
The next morning, I went and checked on her, when I was getting ready to leave for work. She was in her bed, and very weak. I softly petted her head, and told her I would see her after work. She passed away, later that morning, in my wife's arms.
It's been a tough week for my family. I've been doing ok, up until now. The last part of this blog post has been extremely difficult to write. I know though, that her spirit is still with all of us. It's hard to explain, but we have all felt her presence. It's comforting in a way. Sarah, will never be forgotten. The same way, as our other pets, who passed before her, are not. Our pets really are a part of our family. Even the snake! Thanks as always, for reading, and I'll talk to ya later,
Thursday, May 2, 2013
An Album Review, More Radio, And More Gigs
Hello there! Before I start with the new stuff, I just want to mention that we had a fun week, this past week. We had two great shows, this past weekend. On Friday, we played at the Texas Food Truckin' Fest. This was an awesome time, although, I did end up with a pretty bad case of indigestion. On Saturday, we celebrated Marti's birthday at Judge Bean's. This was a very unique show, and we were in rare form. With the exception of the first two songs, we worked without a setlist. We had Marti call out the songs, and we played them. We also had a few impromptu moments along the way, including an acapella sing along, of the old David Allen Coe song, You Never Even Called Me By My Name. For more details on these shows, be sure and check out Roy's blog, found here http://royholliday.blogspot.com Roy does a blog post, after every show that we play. He includes, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Thankfully, most of it has been good!
Ok, enough of that, ha ha! Let's get down to new business. Our first album review, is on the books. The Star-Telegram reviewed our album, this past Friday. They have a weekend section, called DFW.com. If you are interested in reading the review, you can click on this link http://dfw.com/2013/04/24/783630/country-music-whiskey-folk-ramblers.html
On the radio front, we have had two more stations, pick up our album. The first one is called Permanent Vacation Radio, out of St. Augustine, Florida. You can check them out here, www.pvradio.com The second station, is Clay's Country Radio, out of Ireland! They are currently playing the title track, off of the album, "GPS To Nowhere". You can visit Clay's here www.clayscountryradio.com so log on and request GPS!
We have also submitted "GPS To Nowhere" to 95.9 The Ranch. They are a big station, in the DFW Metroplex, that specializes in artist's from Texas. Their request line phone number is 817-787-1959. So, if you would like to hear us on this station, please call and request "GPS To Nowhere" by Sand Dollar Rodeo. We really appreciate your support. You guys and gals, are the ones that make this thing happen! Their website is located here http://www.959theranch.com You can also request the song, from their website.
Show, shows, did someone mention shows? Oh yeah, that was me! This weekend, we will be back at it again. I am very excited, about this weekend's shows. On Friday night, we will be playing at the Wild Rooster, in Fort Worth, along with the Whiskey Confessions Band, out of Quitman, Texas. SDR will go on at 9:30, and Whiskey Confessions will be on about 30 minutes, after our set is concluded. For more information on Whiskey Confessions, you can check out their website here, www.WhiskeyConfessionsBand.com The Wild Rooster is located at 3204 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth, TX. You can check out their website here, www.wildroosterbar.com This should be a fun night, so come on down!
Saturday, will be a quick turnaround for us, as we will be playing at Mayfest. Mayfest, ironically enough, is being held just down the road from the Wild Rooster, at Trinity Park. I may just spend the night on a park bench! We will be playing on the Riverbank Stage from 6:30 to 7:30pm. Our good friends, August & J, will also be appearing at Mayfest. They will be on the Shale Exploration Art Stage, from 8:30 to 10pm, on Saturday. For more information on Mayfest, be sure and check out their website located here, www.mayfest.org The weather for Saturday will be unseasonably cool, with a daytime high of 66 degrees and wind gusts between 12 and 20 mph. So, if you are coming out, grab a light jacket, or a heavy one, if you need it. This has been the coolest spring, I can ever remember. As I sit here typing this, it is 45 degrees, on May 2, in Texas!. We are under a freeze warning, as lows will be near, or below freezing in my area. When I arrived home this evening, my wife was covering up our garden, with bed sheets! We are normally in the mid 80's to low 90's, by this time of year. Oh well, nothing you can do about it, right?
Well, that's all I have for this week. Short and sweet, but a lot of information. Stay tuned for more, soon! See ya!
Ok, enough of that, ha ha! Let's get down to new business. Our first album review, is on the books. The Star-Telegram reviewed our album, this past Friday. They have a weekend section, called DFW.com. If you are interested in reading the review, you can click on this link http://dfw.com/2013/04/24/783630/country-music-whiskey-folk-ramblers.html
On the radio front, we have had two more stations, pick up our album. The first one is called Permanent Vacation Radio, out of St. Augustine, Florida. You can check them out here, www.pvradio.com The second station, is Clay's Country Radio, out of Ireland! They are currently playing the title track, off of the album, "GPS To Nowhere". You can visit Clay's here www.clayscountryradio.com so log on and request GPS!
We have also submitted "GPS To Nowhere" to 95.9 The Ranch. They are a big station, in the DFW Metroplex, that specializes in artist's from Texas. Their request line phone number is 817-787-1959. So, if you would like to hear us on this station, please call and request "GPS To Nowhere" by Sand Dollar Rodeo. We really appreciate your support. You guys and gals, are the ones that make this thing happen! Their website is located here http://www.959theranch.com You can also request the song, from their website.
Show, shows, did someone mention shows? Oh yeah, that was me! This weekend, we will be back at it again. I am very excited, about this weekend's shows. On Friday night, we will be playing at the Wild Rooster, in Fort Worth, along with the Whiskey Confessions Band, out of Quitman, Texas. SDR will go on at 9:30, and Whiskey Confessions will be on about 30 minutes, after our set is concluded. For more information on Whiskey Confessions, you can check out their website here, www.WhiskeyConfessionsBand.com The Wild Rooster is located at 3204 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth, TX. You can check out their website here, www.wildroosterbar.com This should be a fun night, so come on down!
Saturday, will be a quick turnaround for us, as we will be playing at Mayfest. Mayfest, ironically enough, is being held just down the road from the Wild Rooster, at Trinity Park. I may just spend the night on a park bench! We will be playing on the Riverbank Stage from 6:30 to 7:30pm. Our good friends, August & J, will also be appearing at Mayfest. They will be on the Shale Exploration Art Stage, from 8:30 to 10pm, on Saturday. For more information on Mayfest, be sure and check out their website located here, www.mayfest.org The weather for Saturday will be unseasonably cool, with a daytime high of 66 degrees and wind gusts between 12 and 20 mph. So, if you are coming out, grab a light jacket, or a heavy one, if you need it. This has been the coolest spring, I can ever remember. As I sit here typing this, it is 45 degrees, on May 2, in Texas!. We are under a freeze warning, as lows will be near, or below freezing in my area. When I arrived home this evening, my wife was covering up our garden, with bed sheets! We are normally in the mid 80's to low 90's, by this time of year. Oh well, nothing you can do about it, right?
Well, that's all I have for this week. Short and sweet, but a lot of information. Stay tuned for more, soon! See ya!
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