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!
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
A Bike Ride, Some Album Updates, And A Birthday!
Hello there! Well, it's been a few weeks, since we last visited. We've been busy promoting the new album, and staying busy, with behind the scenes stuff. We did take this past weekend off, however. It was a much needed break, for both Roy and I. Roy, attended a Zac Brown Band tailgate party, and concert on Friday. On Saturday, he headed down to the Fort Worth Main Street Arts Festival. I love this festival, and really wanted to go, but it was not in the cards for me, this year.
As I have mentioned before, I enjoy long distance road cycling. No, not the kind that occurs on a Harley Davidson, but the kind that happens on a bicycle. I participated in a ride, this past Saturday, called the Moritz Ride for Heroes. This is an annual bike rally, held in my hometown, of Aledo. It benefits the area volunteer fire departments of East Parker County, as well as the Parker County Sheriff's department. This year seemed especially significant. As most of you probably know, a horrible explosion occurred, in the town of West, Texas, last week. It occurred at a fertilizer plant, that had caught on fire. West, has a volunteer fire department, as do a lot of these smaller Texas towns. As the fire fighters were fighting the blaze, the plant exploded. As of the publishing date, of this blog post, 14 people have lost their lives. Among those, were five West volunteer firefighters, one off duty Dallas firefighter, who went to help with the blaze, and four emergency responders. This really hit close to home, for me. West, is not that far from me. Maybe 80 miles, or so. I have been through the town, many times.
A heavy heart was also felt for the people of Boston, and the surrounding areas. As of press time, three people lost their lives in the initial bomb blast, at the Boston Marathon. Over one hundred people were injured, and a police officer also lost his life, as he was cowardly gunned down this past Friday, by the suspects.
Personally, I was riding for the heroes of West and Boston, in addition to our heroes in Parker County. I talked to many riders, who felt the same way. They are all heroes, in my book. Everyday, these men and women go to work each day, and put their lives on the line. Kudos to all of them.
The ride proved to be very difficult, due to the windy conditions. The winds were coming out of the south at 15-20 mph, with gusts up to 25-30 mph, or so I was told. It certainly felt, every bit of that. The last 10 miles of the ride, were pretty much, straight into that south wind. Lots of hills were included in this last 10 miles, as well. I honestly, did not think I was going to make it. Several times, I thought about stopping, and calling it a day. On these types of rides, there are ride support vehicles, monitoring the route. If a rider gets in trouble, or can't make it in, they can catch a ride to the finish line. These are called SAG wagons. As I said earlier, their were several times, I thought about sagging in. Thoughts about West and Boston, kept me going though. I was determined to finish this ride, no matter what. Thankfully, I was able to finish the ride. I rode 65.93 miles in 4 hours and 47 minutes. Last year, I did this same ride in 4 hours and 2 minutes, so the wind had a huge effect on my time. I was pretty disappointed in my time, but I was glad that I was able to finish it. I'm already looking forward to next year's Ride For Heroes.
Switching gears now. As many of you know, our debut album "GPS To Nowhere", was released on April 2, 2013. We would like to thank everyone, who has purchased the album, listened, and provided feedback. We have received a lot of positive feedback, on the album. If you are interested in checking it out, you can listen to the whole thing for free, on Spotify! If you are interested in purchasing it, it is available at all of the usual digital outlets, including iTunes and Amazon. If you prefer a CD, we will have them available at all of our live shows, or you can order one from our website http://sanddollarrodeo.com
What is really exciting for us is, everyone that has listened to it, seems to have a different favorite song. From a musicians standpoint, this is what you always hope for.
We are now on regular rotation, at a couple of internet radio stations. Beachfront Radio www.beachfrontradio.com is currently playing "GPS To Nowhere", "What Kind Of Life Is This", and "Carry Me Home". We are normally featured on the Amish Beach Party, which airs from 1-3pm, on weekdays. If you get a chance, you should check out this station, sometime. They play a lot of cool music, that you won't hear, anywhere else.
Palpa Mac, www.PalpaMacRadio.com, out of Pasadena, Texas, has added Sing Along to it's regular rotation, so log on and show em' some love! Oh, and while your at it, be sure and request Sing Along, lol.
Island Time Radio www.islandtime.freeservers.com out of Parma, Ohio, contacted us this week. They are putting us on their weekly radio show. I'm not sure which song they are going to feature, as of press time. Even the radio stations seem to have their favorites!
We have also submitted the album, to several radio stations in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. The status on these, are still pending. If they decide to add one of our songs to their rotation, we will let you know, so you can call in and request it!
I have one last note, on album promotions, that I would like to share. We have entered a contest, that Hertz Rental Cars is putting on. The Grand Prize winner will have their song featured on Hertz's You Tube channel, in a commercial. The entry requirement is, that artists must submit an original song that "embraces the spirit of travel, while capturing the essence of Hertz speed and highlighting our nation's love of cars." Well, guess what song we submitted? If you guessed "GPS To Nowhere", then you guessed right! We will see where this goes and keep you updated with any details, as they develop.
These week, we are playing a couple of live shows, that I'm really excited about. First up, this Friday, we will be playing at the Texas Food Truckin' Fest, at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. The festival starts at 4pm on Friday, and runs until 10pm. SDR will take the stage at 7pm. We are only playing for an hour, so be sure and get there on time, if you wanna catch us. This festival benefits the American Cancer Society, which is near and dear to my heart. I've had several close family members affected by this terrible disease. The festival, also runs all day on Saturday. So come on out and enjoy some great food, drinks, and live music. For information on this festival, check out their website located here http://texasfoodtruckinfest.com
On Saturday night, we will be celebrating Marti Ludwig's birthday. For those that don't know, Marti is our booking agent. The party will take place at Judge Beans. Judge Beans is located at 314 North Main Street, Keller, Texas. The party will start at 8pm. We are the host band, however, we believe that several of Marti's other bands, may be here as well. If any of you guys/gals, are reading this, feel free to come on down and play a song, or two, or three. We will have the ability to run acoustic guitars and vocals. Who knows, what surprises may await at this event. These types of gigs, are some of my favorites. So, don't be shy! C'mon down, wish Marti a Happy Birthday, have some food and drinks, and hang out with all of us. It should be a great time!
Well, I'm outta time for now. Thanks for reading, and your support! Talk to ya later!
As I have mentioned before, I enjoy long distance road cycling. No, not the kind that occurs on a Harley Davidson, but the kind that happens on a bicycle. I participated in a ride, this past Saturday, called the Moritz Ride for Heroes. This is an annual bike rally, held in my hometown, of Aledo. It benefits the area volunteer fire departments of East Parker County, as well as the Parker County Sheriff's department. This year seemed especially significant. As most of you probably know, a horrible explosion occurred, in the town of West, Texas, last week. It occurred at a fertilizer plant, that had caught on fire. West, has a volunteer fire department, as do a lot of these smaller Texas towns. As the fire fighters were fighting the blaze, the plant exploded. As of the publishing date, of this blog post, 14 people have lost their lives. Among those, were five West volunteer firefighters, one off duty Dallas firefighter, who went to help with the blaze, and four emergency responders. This really hit close to home, for me. West, is not that far from me. Maybe 80 miles, or so. I have been through the town, many times.
A heavy heart was also felt for the people of Boston, and the surrounding areas. As of press time, three people lost their lives in the initial bomb blast, at the Boston Marathon. Over one hundred people were injured, and a police officer also lost his life, as he was cowardly gunned down this past Friday, by the suspects.
Personally, I was riding for the heroes of West and Boston, in addition to our heroes in Parker County. I talked to many riders, who felt the same way. They are all heroes, in my book. Everyday, these men and women go to work each day, and put their lives on the line. Kudos to all of them.
The ride proved to be very difficult, due to the windy conditions. The winds were coming out of the south at 15-20 mph, with gusts up to 25-30 mph, or so I was told. It certainly felt, every bit of that. The last 10 miles of the ride, were pretty much, straight into that south wind. Lots of hills were included in this last 10 miles, as well. I honestly, did not think I was going to make it. Several times, I thought about stopping, and calling it a day. On these types of rides, there are ride support vehicles, monitoring the route. If a rider gets in trouble, or can't make it in, they can catch a ride to the finish line. These are called SAG wagons. As I said earlier, their were several times, I thought about sagging in. Thoughts about West and Boston, kept me going though. I was determined to finish this ride, no matter what. Thankfully, I was able to finish the ride. I rode 65.93 miles in 4 hours and 47 minutes. Last year, I did this same ride in 4 hours and 2 minutes, so the wind had a huge effect on my time. I was pretty disappointed in my time, but I was glad that I was able to finish it. I'm already looking forward to next year's Ride For Heroes.
Switching gears now. As many of you know, our debut album "GPS To Nowhere", was released on April 2, 2013. We would like to thank everyone, who has purchased the album, listened, and provided feedback. We have received a lot of positive feedback, on the album. If you are interested in checking it out, you can listen to the whole thing for free, on Spotify! If you are interested in purchasing it, it is available at all of the usual digital outlets, including iTunes and Amazon. If you prefer a CD, we will have them available at all of our live shows, or you can order one from our website http://sanddollarrodeo.com
What is really exciting for us is, everyone that has listened to it, seems to have a different favorite song. From a musicians standpoint, this is what you always hope for.
We are now on regular rotation, at a couple of internet radio stations. Beachfront Radio www.beachfrontradio.com is currently playing "GPS To Nowhere", "What Kind Of Life Is This", and "Carry Me Home". We are normally featured on the Amish Beach Party, which airs from 1-3pm, on weekdays. If you get a chance, you should check out this station, sometime. They play a lot of cool music, that you won't hear, anywhere else.
Palpa Mac, www.PalpaMacRadio.com, out of Pasadena, Texas, has added Sing Along to it's regular rotation, so log on and show em' some love! Oh, and while your at it, be sure and request Sing Along, lol.
Island Time Radio www.islandtime.freeservers.com out of Parma, Ohio, contacted us this week. They are putting us on their weekly radio show. I'm not sure which song they are going to feature, as of press time. Even the radio stations seem to have their favorites!
We have also submitted the album, to several radio stations in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. The status on these, are still pending. If they decide to add one of our songs to their rotation, we will let you know, so you can call in and request it!
I have one last note, on album promotions, that I would like to share. We have entered a contest, that Hertz Rental Cars is putting on. The Grand Prize winner will have their song featured on Hertz's You Tube channel, in a commercial. The entry requirement is, that artists must submit an original song that "embraces the spirit of travel, while capturing the essence of Hertz speed and highlighting our nation's love of cars." Well, guess what song we submitted? If you guessed "GPS To Nowhere", then you guessed right! We will see where this goes and keep you updated with any details, as they develop.
These week, we are playing a couple of live shows, that I'm really excited about. First up, this Friday, we will be playing at the Texas Food Truckin' Fest, at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. The festival starts at 4pm on Friday, and runs until 10pm. SDR will take the stage at 7pm. We are only playing for an hour, so be sure and get there on time, if you wanna catch us. This festival benefits the American Cancer Society, which is near and dear to my heart. I've had several close family members affected by this terrible disease. The festival, also runs all day on Saturday. So come on out and enjoy some great food, drinks, and live music. For information on this festival, check out their website located here http://texasfoodtruckinfest.com
On Saturday night, we will be celebrating Marti Ludwig's birthday. For those that don't know, Marti is our booking agent. The party will take place at Judge Beans. Judge Beans is located at 314 North Main Street, Keller, Texas. The party will start at 8pm. We are the host band, however, we believe that several of Marti's other bands, may be here as well. If any of you guys/gals, are reading this, feel free to come on down and play a song, or two, or three. We will have the ability to run acoustic guitars and vocals. Who knows, what surprises may await at this event. These types of gigs, are some of my favorites. So, don't be shy! C'mon down, wish Marti a Happy Birthday, have some food and drinks, and hang out with all of us. It should be a great time!
Well, I'm outta time for now. Thanks for reading, and your support! Talk to ya later!
Thursday, April 4, 2013
The New Album And A Roadtrip
Well, after months of talking about it, the new album is finally here! To say we are excited about it, would be an understatement. The album was released this past Tuesday, April 2nd. It should be available at all digital outlets, by this weekend. If you are not seeing it at your favorite digital site, and cannot wait (lol), then you can order it directly from our website located here. http://www.sanddollarrodeo.com Just go to the merch section, and you should find it there. It's available, either as a digital download, or a CD. We will also have CD's available, at all future live shows.
For me, anyway, it's kind of a strange feeling to be done with it. I've been anticipating this day for months. I keep thinking, "Well, what do we do now/" I actually know what we do now, but still. What's funny is, right after it went live, I picked up the local newspaper and read my horoscope. I saved it, to share here. I am a Sagittarius, by the way. Here it is verbatim:
Take a victory lap. You've worked your tail off to get the job done, so take time to reap the spoils of your achievement. Take a much needed breather now; save new project starts for later.
I usually take these things, with a grain of salt, but I thought this was pretty wild.
I think, Roy was feeling a sense of relief. I'm not 100% sure, that's how he was feeling, but that's the jest, I got from him. I received an email from him around 8:00pm, on Tuesday. He stated that, everything he could do, was done, and that he was going to bed. Heck, I didn't blame him. We had spent a lot of late nights over the past month, or so, going over everything, listening to mixes, and trying to get it, "just right", so to speak.
I, on the other hand, was wired. Sleep was not an option, so I kept the computer close by, and played some XBOX360. I finally started getting sleepy, around midnight, and called it a night.
We sincerely hope you enjoy the new album. We are very proud of it. We have several new song ideas brewing between us, including a couple, that didn't make it on to this album. When we have enough material, we will cut another album, but we are in no hurray to do so. It will get done, when it's done. For now, we plan on promoting the GPS To Nowhere album. We will work on our new material, as time permits, and work them into the live shows, as they are completed.
In other news, we will be taking a little road trip to Gun Barrel City, Texas, this weekend. Gun Barrel City is located southeast of the DFW metroplex, near Cedar Creek Lake. It's about a 2 hour drive, for us. We will be playing at a brand new concert venue, simply titled "The Venue". The Venue was founded by Dino Perelli. This will be the first ever concert, here. We will be playing, with our good friends, August & J, who are promoting their latest album, entitled "40". The Venue, will also be filming, and webcasting the performance. You should be able to catch the show here http://tvtxus.wix.com/the-venue so be sure and tune in! SDR, will start at 8pm on Saturday, April 6. August & J will be on, shortly after our performance. We have been looking forward to this show, for a long time, and can't wait to come down there!
Ok, that's all for now. I think I'm gonna try, and get some rest. I have a busy weekend ahead. Thank you for reading, and for your support. Talk to ya soon!
For me, anyway, it's kind of a strange feeling to be done with it. I've been anticipating this day for months. I keep thinking, "Well, what do we do now/" I actually know what we do now, but still. What's funny is, right after it went live, I picked up the local newspaper and read my horoscope. I saved it, to share here. I am a Sagittarius, by the way. Here it is verbatim:
Take a victory lap. You've worked your tail off to get the job done, so take time to reap the spoils of your achievement. Take a much needed breather now; save new project starts for later.
I usually take these things, with a grain of salt, but I thought this was pretty wild.
I think, Roy was feeling a sense of relief. I'm not 100% sure, that's how he was feeling, but that's the jest, I got from him. I received an email from him around 8:00pm, on Tuesday. He stated that, everything he could do, was done, and that he was going to bed. Heck, I didn't blame him. We had spent a lot of late nights over the past month, or so, going over everything, listening to mixes, and trying to get it, "just right", so to speak.
I, on the other hand, was wired. Sleep was not an option, so I kept the computer close by, and played some XBOX360. I finally started getting sleepy, around midnight, and called it a night.
We sincerely hope you enjoy the new album. We are very proud of it. We have several new song ideas brewing between us, including a couple, that didn't make it on to this album. When we have enough material, we will cut another album, but we are in no hurray to do so. It will get done, when it's done. For now, we plan on promoting the GPS To Nowhere album. We will work on our new material, as time permits, and work them into the live shows, as they are completed.
In other news, we will be taking a little road trip to Gun Barrel City, Texas, this weekend. Gun Barrel City is located southeast of the DFW metroplex, near Cedar Creek Lake. It's about a 2 hour drive, for us. We will be playing at a brand new concert venue, simply titled "The Venue". The Venue was founded by Dino Perelli. This will be the first ever concert, here. We will be playing, with our good friends, August & J, who are promoting their latest album, entitled "40". The Venue, will also be filming, and webcasting the performance. You should be able to catch the show here http://tvtxus.wix.com/the-venue so be sure and tune in! SDR, will start at 8pm on Saturday, April 6. August & J will be on, shortly after our performance. We have been looking forward to this show, for a long time, and can't wait to come down there!
Ok, that's all for now. I think I'm gonna try, and get some rest. I have a busy weekend ahead. Thank you for reading, and for your support. Talk to ya soon!
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Candy!
Here she is in all her glory!
Ain't she pretty!
Candy only appears at select SDR shows. The reasons are varied. Most of the time, it's because we don't have room for her. Like most gals, she has to carry a lot of stuff, and sometimes space is very limited. Other times, her social calendar is just too full, to be bothered.
To date, she has appeared at four shows, with us. The first one was at Okra Fest, last September, which also happened to be the very first SDR show. I vividly remember, her complaining about the heat that day. It was hot though, as the temparature hovered near 100 degrees. To calm her down, Roy covered her up with a tarp, to keep her from melting. She was not happy about this at all!
The next time, she was scheduled to appear with us, she did not even make it. We were playing a Christmas party in McKinney. She had started drinking early, the day of the show. For some reason, she tends to fall apart during car rides. I'm not sure why. Anyway, she ended up leaving her head at Roy's house. She was really not happy about this, but hey, this one was on her.
Her next appearance, with us, occured at the Oui Lounge. She was late, however, and didn't make it until the 2nd set. She started drinking again, and passed out in Roy's car, while we were setting up. Roy was trying to wake her up, but she had pulled herself apart, again! It was time for us to go on, so he said he would deal with her, during the first break.
During the first set, she sobered up, and Roy was able to get her back together again, and on stage. From there, she stole the show! Everyone was into her. Marti (our booking agent), and her, really hit it off. This was the first time, that they had met. She partied with the crowd, during the second break, as evidenced by this photo.
I interviewed Roy for this article, as well. I wanted to get his take, since he is the one that she lives with. Before Sand Dollar Rodeo came to be, Roy was living in New England, and was working with a band called The Island Castaways. He then moved to Texas. His plan was to continue working with the Castaways, but also do solo shows down here. He was planning on sequencing the keyboards, as we do now. He didn't want to be standing on stage, alone, so he picked her up, to have a stage partner so to speak. He's kind of got a sick sense of humor, in his own words. He picked her up off E-Bay and the rest, as they say, is history.
Candy also appeared with us at the Across the Street Bar, in Dallas, and out at Diamond D's, in Granbury. The first picture above, is her at Diamond D's. We were playing, their St. Patrick's Day party. Well, wouldn't you know it? She mouthed off to some girl, during a break, and a big ol' fight broke out, at the end of the night. She has been grounded, ever since.
I'm not sure, when Candy will be appearing with us again. I guess it will just depend on her disposition, and how her and Roy are getting along, on that particular day. My advice, if you want to see Candy, then come to all the shows! You never know when or where, she will show up!
SDR, is off this weekend. Well, sort of. Mixing and mastering for the new album, is what we will be working on. I would also like to wish everyone, a very happy Easter weekend!
Well, that's the story of Candy. I hope you enjoyed it. Hopefully, this will keep her happy for awhile, but I doubt it!
Monday, March 18, 2013
Equipment Failure, Craigslist, And A New Guitar!
Last week, I mentioned that I was working on a very special feature for the blog. Well, it's not quite ready yet. In addition, this past week was so a crazy, that I had to shift gears and go in a different direction. I thought it might be interesting to share, so hear goes it!
As I mentioned before, back when we played the Across the Street Bar on March 2nd, we had a lot of issues. One of the issues was, that my guitar amp was acting up. It was cutting in and out, and having all sorts of problems.
The next day, I was determined to get to the bottom of the issue. I hooked up the amp, and my pedalboard, to see if I could find the problem. A pedalboard, is just what it states. Most guitarists use effects pedals, to some degree. Some, more then others. A pedalboard allows you to connect all the effects to one another, and leave them that way. It has a 9 volt adapter, that plugs into any power source. This alleviates the need to have a 9 volt adapter for each pedal, or worse, having to use a 9 volt battery in each one. That can become very costly, as these things eat batteries for breakfast. Anyway, I checked all the cables and one of them was loose. I plugged it in, good, and voila! Problem solved, or so I thought. I played the amp for awhile longer, and had no more issues.
Fast forward to Thursday, March 7th. We had a couple of new songs, that we were looking to add to our set. I went in to practice. All things seemed well, until the last part of practice, as the amp started cutting in and out again. I did not have the pedalboard hooked up, so now I knew their was an issue with the amp. It was Thursday night. Their was nothing I could do at this point, except pray for the best. We had a show on on Saturday, and I had to work all day Friday. Their was no way an amp tech could look at, in time.
Luckily, I had another amp around the house. It's actually my son's. He took up the guitar, for a little while, so I had bought him this practice amp, one year for Christmas. He is grown, and sort of on his own now. He no longer lives with us. I've noticed that it seems to be a trend, that when kids leave the nest, they seem to leave a lot of their crap behind. I know this happened with me, as years later, my mom gave me all of my baseball and football trophies, that I had left behind. I think she probably gave me some other stuff too, but I can't remember it all, off-hand.
Ok, back on track. This amp is a little 15 watt, solid state practice amp. It was never designed, to play a gig with. I normally gig with a 50 watt tube amp. Big difference! I decided that the best course of action, was to bring both amps to the gig. I was really worried about my main amp. I cranked it up again on Saturday afternoon. It worked fine, but I still did not trust it. I figured that if it went out, or was giving me problems, I could use the little practice amp, to get me through. Hey, that's better then no amp at all, and having to cancel the gig, right?
I arrived at Lynn's Saloon, with both amps, and set up my main amp, as I always do. I warned Roy, that the amp was acting up, and that I might have to use the backup. He said, "No problem, we'll do what we have to do." Roy is always so cool, under pressure. He never seems to let anything rattle him. Or, if he does, he never shows it. I wish I could be more like that. I'm pretty high strung, as many of you, who know me personally, can attest to.
Everything went as normal, and the amp seemed to be working fine. I tuned the guitars, balanced levels, and we were pretty much ready to go. During this time, Cisco had misplaced his diamond wedding ring. We all helped him look for it, but were unable to locate it. Regardless, it was time for us to go on. We told Cisco we would continue to keep an eye out for the ring, and would help him look for it again, during the break. I would like to give kudos to Cisco. I know he was really upset about this, but he gutted it up and played like the pro, that he is.
I went up on stage, to make a final check of things. I was strumming the guitar, and that's when it died! I'm talking completely dead! No sound, no hiss, no nothing! What was weird though, is that all of the power lights were still on, their was just no sound. Roy said, "Well, I guess you better get the backup, hooked up." I was trying desperatly and hopelessly , to get it to work, but it wasn't happening. I ran over to the manager of the bar, to let her know about the issue, and that their would be a delay in our start. She was really nice about it, and said, "No problem." Cisco and Roy took this opportunity, to search some more for his wedding ring. Unfortunately, they were unable to locate it.
I got the other amp set up, told the guys I was ready, and we began. The little amp did alright, although I would not want to use it on a regular basis. I had to turn it all the way up, to get it to keep up with everything. It had a hard time. But again, it was never made to be used like that. Prolonged use like this will ruin it. Other then that, the gig went really well. I thought we sounded surprisingly good. The crowd seemed to really enjoy it, as well. So that's always a good thing, right?
I packed up and headed home. My thoughts immediately shifted to dealing with the amp issue. As I do after every gig, I prayed for safe travel, for all of us. I also prayed about the amp issue. Yes, I am a Christian, and yes, I play in a band that writes music about beer drinking and having a good time. I'm not going to get on a soapbox about religion or faith, here, but in my eyes they are two very different things. Religion is man made, in my opinion. I think their are a lot of issues with today's churches. A lot of judgement being passed, and I don't like that. I'm not saying that all churches are that way either, but I've seem plenty of it. Ok, enough of that. If you ever want to talk to me about my faith, my views on it, or want to know more, feel free to contact me. Man! I feel like I'm veering all over the road today. Ha ha!
As I was saying, I was already in deep thought, trying to figure out what to do about the amp situation, when I received a text. I didn't dare look at the phone. It was late at night and raining. I needed to concentrate on my driving, and the amp situation. Although, I was dying to find out what it was about.
I pulled into the driveway, killed the car, and checked my phone. The message was from Cisco! He had found his missing ring! I was ectatic! This made my night. I was so happy for him.
I proceeded to unload the car, and put the gear up. I then hit the shower. This is a post show ritual for me. Especially, if it's a smoky room, as Lynn's was. After my shower, I sat down with the computer, and started looking for an amp.on Craigslist! I love Craigslist! I dedicated a previous blog post to it. You can find it in the blog archive, if you care to read it. I stayed up for quite awhile, researching and comparing amps, within my budget. Keep in mind, this was an unexpected expense. You may be thinking, "Why not repair the amp, you already have?" Here is why. Most amp techs are like TV repairmen.They are usually individuals, that work out of their homes, or they may have a small shop somewhere. It's usually first come, first serve, so if their are five people ahead of you, your going to have to wait. We had shows scheduled for this weekend, and I knew that their was no way they could guarantee me, that my amp would be repaired by the 15th. Plus, I had no idea if it would even be worth repairing. If the repair cost was going to be more then the cost of the amp, then there would be no sense in repairing it. I did a little more research, and headed to bed.
I woke up the next morning, and discussed the issue with my wife. She agreed with me, and said I needed to locate an amp. She also suggested that I go ahead and contact the repairman, just to see what he would say. I left a message for him, ate breakfast, and then started my amp quest. I actually found one, that I thought would meet my needs, fairly quickly. It was a little more, then I was looking to spend, but the guy had it priced about $25 cheaper, then what the going used rate was. It was a good deal. I listened to a lot of sound clips of it on YouTube, decided it was worth checking out, and called the guy. I had to leave a message. He returned my call about 30 minutes later, and we discussed it. As I said, he had a very fair price on it, but I thought I would see if he had any wiggle room. He said he was firm on the price. I said, "Ok, let me check with the wife, and see what she says." Note, this was a negotiating tactic. Sometimes, if you tell them that, they will offer a price break right there. If not, sometimes they will offer you one, when you call back. I actually did discuss it with her, since it was a little more then I had planned to spend. She gave me her blessing, and I called the guy back. He wasn't offering to take anything off, so I told him that I wanted to come look at it. He was close to me, so I agreed to meet him, over at his house.
On the way over there, my phone rang. It was the amp repairman. He pretty much told me, what I already knew. He couldn't quote me a price or a time frame, until I took it to him, and he had a chance to go through it. I told him my situation, that I had his card, and would call him back when I was ready to bring it in.
I arrived at the guy's house, and he had the amp sitting in his living room. It was quite a bit smaller then my other amp, but still packed a powerful punch. The amp is a Traynor Custom Valve 40. It is a 40 watt, all tube, amp. My two guitars at the time, were a Fender American Standard Stratocaster, and a Gibson Les Paul Classic. The strat sounded incredible through the amp. The Les Paul, not so much. The guy, even remarked about how much better the Strat sounded, vs the Les Paul.
I bought the Strat last summer, when I was still working with the Talking Heads band. I was giving some guitar lessons, at the time, and used my earnings from that, and some overtime from my regular job, to purchase the guitar. My girls also put money towards it, for my Father's Day gift. Very good choice, by the way! As I said, the reason I picked it up, was #1, to gig, you really need to carry two guitars. That way, if you break a string, or something else happens to the guitar, you have another one ready to go, and you don't have to stop your show. #2, the Talking Heads, used Strats. Their is a huge tonal difference between a Les Paul and a Strat. To get that sound, I really needed a Strat. And #3, when I picked up that guitar, it was the best sounding, and easiest playing guitar, that I had ever played. Why the heck, didn't I pick one of these up 20 years ago?
As time went on, I found myself reaching for the Strat, more and more. When I joined up with Roy, and we started working together, I played every song, but two, on the Strat. I would try the Les Paul on stuff, but almost everything sounded better on the Strat. The Les Paul is great for hard driving rock, but not much else, in my hands. Plus, the Strat was more comfortable for me to play, and I think I sound much better on it. The only drawback on the Strat is, that your not going to get those crunchy, crunchy tones out of it, because of the pickup configuation. The other thing was, that when I switched guitars, I usually had to adjust the volume of my amp, because the Les Paul was so much louder. It really became a pain. When I would practice at home, for our shows, I would alway just grab the Strat, and practice all my parts on it. What I discovered, was that I could actually play the Les Paul parts better on the Strat. The problem though, was that they didn't really sound all that great on the Strat. The Les Paul is equipped with humbucker pickups and the Strat is equipped with single coil pickups, so again, totally different sound.
I started thinking about replacing the Les Paul, with another Strat, but with one change. Fender also makes a Strat, with a brige humbucker in it. These are commonly called, Fat Strats. Fender came out with a new model, last year, called the Fender Select. It's basically a blinged out Fender Fat Strat. My local music store had one in stock, so I decided to go and test it out. I was hoping to maybe work out a trade on the Les Paul. Well, I went and played it, and of course, I fell in love with it. The only problem was, that I was going to have to come up with $600, out of pocket, to make the deal work. It was a fair deal, I just didn't have that kind of money laying around.
I then decided to list the guitar on Craigslist. I was very specific, in what I wanted on a trade. Apparently, people do not read, because I received offers on just about everything out there, with the exception of what I was asking for. I had no offers, to buy the guitar outright. I took it off Craigslist, as SDR, was getting pretty busy with gigs, as well as recording.
Over the last couple of weeks, I started looking at guitars again. I came across a guitar that piqued my interest. The guitar was a G&L Bluesboy. G&L is a company that Leo Fender founded, along with George Fullerton, after he sold Fender. The Bluesboy is basically a hot-rodded version of a Fender Telecaster. They are very similar in looks and appearance. The ad said that the guy was looking to trade it, for another guitar. He went on to say, that he was not sure what he wanted, but to try him. I did some research on the Bluesboy. For starters, it was a little more expensive guitar, then mine was. The guitar had a humbucker pickup in the neck and a single coil in the bridge. I thought that this might serve my needs perfectly. I hit up YouTube, to listen to some soundclips, and thought it sounded nice.
When I was toying with the idea of getting another Strat, Roy suggested, "Why don't you try and find something a little different, for some variety?" I knew I wanted another Fender "style" guitar, if not another Fender, itself. Roy made a lot of sense, on this one, though.
I decided to contact the guy, on Friday, March 8th. I doubted he would be interested, for some reason. He emailed back, the next morning though, said he was interested, and wanted to know if we could meet over in Grapevine, later that day. Their was no way, I could do this. #1, we had a gig that night, and their was no way I was going to go play a gig, with a guitar that I was not familar with, and #2, my wife had some honey do's, for me to perform. I emailed him back, and told him that I could meet him on Sunday. Keep in mind, this was before the amp went out on Saturday night.
I never did hear back from him on Sunday, which was ok, as I was dealing with the amp issue. I did end up getting the amp. It had a really nice tone with the Strat, and I feel that it may actually serve our needs better, then the old amp did.
The guy emailed me back, this past Monday, March 11th. He suggested we meet on Tuesday, in Fort Worth, around lunchtime. He had a meeting, and was going to be in the area. This was not going to work for me, as I work about 30 minutes, west of Fort Worth, and only have a 30 minute lunch break. I emailed him back, explained the situation, and advised that I could meet him on Monday or Tuesday night. I went on to explain, that this upcoming weekend would not work for me. We had gigs on Friday and Saturday night, and I would need time, to get familar with the guitar. I waited on his response.
In the meantime, I continued researching this guitar. I started comparing it with an actual Fender Telecaster. The responses that I read, said that it was actually a little hotter then a Fender Telecaster, due to the pickups. They also advised that the neck was a little chunkier. I began to think, that maybe this was not the guitar, for me. My primary reasons for wanting a different guitar, was the neck profile, and something that didn't sound as "hot", as a Les Paul. This guitar was starting to seem more like a Les Paul clone, on a Telecaster body.
I started, really researching the Telecaster. I found out that it's pretty common for them to have a humbucker in the neck, and a single coil in the bridge. I began listening to sound clips, and was really impressed. The neck comes in the same standard size, as the one on my Fender Strat. A lot of people like to mod Fenders. The necks are bolt ons, which means you can switch them out. A Les Paul is a set neck guitar, which means the guitar is all one piece. If the guitar takes a fall, and the neck snaps, your guitar is pretty much ruined. This was another reason, for wanting to make a switch. With all the gigs that we are playing, this could actually happen. With a Fender, if the neck snaps, you can just find another one, bolt it on, and you are good to go! You can order them, directly from Fender.
I still had not heard back from the guy, about the Bluesboy. It was Monday night, and I thought I would check Craigslist. I logged on to the musical instruments section, and couldn't believe my eyes! Right there at the top, was a Fender Telecaster listed. The guy was wanting to trade it for a Les Paul! It was perfect! It had a maple neck, which I've really grown fond of. My Strat has one, and I love the way it feels. It also had a neck humbucker. It was a 2004 model. My Les Paul was a 2005. I started doing research, on this model Tele. It was very comparable in price, to my Les Paul. I checked some guitar forums, and everyone that owned one of these guitarrs, loved them. I read a post, where one guy sold his, and regretted it.
Still, I thought the best course of action was to sleep and pray on it, so I did. The next day during my lunchbreak, I looked at the guitar again. I really felt, that this guitar was the one, and was meant to be. I contacted the guy, through Craigslist, and received a very fast response. We exchanged several responses during my lunchbreak. He was interested in looking at my guitar. We exchanged numbers and planned to meet that evening, after work.
He called me on my way home. He lived in Dallas, and suggested that we meet over at his band's rehearsal space, in Arlington. This worked for me, as it was about halfway, for both of us. I went on home, had dinner, grabbed my amp and the Les Paul and headed to Arlington. He was a really nice and laid back guy. Of course, anytime I go on a Craigslist hunt, I am required by law (aka my wife) to text her when I get there, and text or call when I leave. I'm also required to leave her the address and phone number, of the person I am going to meet. I know I kind of joke about my wife's policy, but it is actually very smart, and I would suggest that anyone doing a Craigslist deal, do something similar to this, or travel with a buddy.
So, we went into the jam room. I set up my new amp, and he brought out the Tele. I brought out my Les Paul and gave it to him. I hooked up the Tele and knew immediately that I wanted it. It was exactly what I was looking for. It had that great Fender neck, and had a a great growl to it. Heavier then the Strat, but not over the top, like the Les Paul. He played my Les Paul for awhile. I couldn't really tell whether he liked it or not. After awhile though, he said, "I'll do the deal if you want to." I said, "Sure." After the business was done, we visited for a few minutes. He told me about his band, and I told him about Sand Dollar Rodeo. He said he would like to come out to one of our shows sometime, and said he would check out our website for dates.
From there, I went ahead and packed up my amp and headed home. I was so happy about this, and couldn't wait for Friday night! Later on, that evening, I received a text from the guy. It stated "U still happy with trade?" I went ahead and texted him back and said, "Yeah, I love it, You?" He responded within the next minute, as follows, "Yeah, just got home and stretched strings out and cranked it up and it is bad ass!" I thought this was a very nice gesture, on his part.
I've had the guitar for almost a week now, and couldn't be happier. I'm firmly convinced that I made the right decision. I used the guitar for the first time, live, this past Friday at Tammy's Hideaway, and again on Saturday at Diamond D's. It sounded fantastic. Both Roy, and Cisco, commented on how nice it sounded. Roy said it had a much warmer tone, then the Les Paul. I believe that is a perfect comparision.
You can see the new guitar and amp, this Saturday, as we will be making a return trip to Hollywood & Vine, down in Glen Rose. Hopefully the weather will be nice, and we will be outside on the big stage. If not, then we will be inside. Hope to see ya down there. Until next time, take it easy!
As I mentioned before, back when we played the Across the Street Bar on March 2nd, we had a lot of issues. One of the issues was, that my guitar amp was acting up. It was cutting in and out, and having all sorts of problems.
The next day, I was determined to get to the bottom of the issue. I hooked up the amp, and my pedalboard, to see if I could find the problem. A pedalboard, is just what it states. Most guitarists use effects pedals, to some degree. Some, more then others. A pedalboard allows you to connect all the effects to one another, and leave them that way. It has a 9 volt adapter, that plugs into any power source. This alleviates the need to have a 9 volt adapter for each pedal, or worse, having to use a 9 volt battery in each one. That can become very costly, as these things eat batteries for breakfast. Anyway, I checked all the cables and one of them was loose. I plugged it in, good, and voila! Problem solved, or so I thought. I played the amp for awhile longer, and had no more issues.
Fast forward to Thursday, March 7th. We had a couple of new songs, that we were looking to add to our set. I went in to practice. All things seemed well, until the last part of practice, as the amp started cutting in and out again. I did not have the pedalboard hooked up, so now I knew their was an issue with the amp. It was Thursday night. Their was nothing I could do at this point, except pray for the best. We had a show on on Saturday, and I had to work all day Friday. Their was no way an amp tech could look at, in time.
Luckily, I had another amp around the house. It's actually my son's. He took up the guitar, for a little while, so I had bought him this practice amp, one year for Christmas. He is grown, and sort of on his own now. He no longer lives with us. I've noticed that it seems to be a trend, that when kids leave the nest, they seem to leave a lot of their crap behind. I know this happened with me, as years later, my mom gave me all of my baseball and football trophies, that I had left behind. I think she probably gave me some other stuff too, but I can't remember it all, off-hand.
Ok, back on track. This amp is a little 15 watt, solid state practice amp. It was never designed, to play a gig with. I normally gig with a 50 watt tube amp. Big difference! I decided that the best course of action, was to bring both amps to the gig. I was really worried about my main amp. I cranked it up again on Saturday afternoon. It worked fine, but I still did not trust it. I figured that if it went out, or was giving me problems, I could use the little practice amp, to get me through. Hey, that's better then no amp at all, and having to cancel the gig, right?
I arrived at Lynn's Saloon, with both amps, and set up my main amp, as I always do. I warned Roy, that the amp was acting up, and that I might have to use the backup. He said, "No problem, we'll do what we have to do." Roy is always so cool, under pressure. He never seems to let anything rattle him. Or, if he does, he never shows it. I wish I could be more like that. I'm pretty high strung, as many of you, who know me personally, can attest to.
Everything went as normal, and the amp seemed to be working fine. I tuned the guitars, balanced levels, and we were pretty much ready to go. During this time, Cisco had misplaced his diamond wedding ring. We all helped him look for it, but were unable to locate it. Regardless, it was time for us to go on. We told Cisco we would continue to keep an eye out for the ring, and would help him look for it again, during the break. I would like to give kudos to Cisco. I know he was really upset about this, but he gutted it up and played like the pro, that he is.
I went up on stage, to make a final check of things. I was strumming the guitar, and that's when it died! I'm talking completely dead! No sound, no hiss, no nothing! What was weird though, is that all of the power lights were still on, their was just no sound. Roy said, "Well, I guess you better get the backup, hooked up." I was trying desperatly and hopelessly , to get it to work, but it wasn't happening. I ran over to the manager of the bar, to let her know about the issue, and that their would be a delay in our start. She was really nice about it, and said, "No problem." Cisco and Roy took this opportunity, to search some more for his wedding ring. Unfortunately, they were unable to locate it.
I got the other amp set up, told the guys I was ready, and we began. The little amp did alright, although I would not want to use it on a regular basis. I had to turn it all the way up, to get it to keep up with everything. It had a hard time. But again, it was never made to be used like that. Prolonged use like this will ruin it. Other then that, the gig went really well. I thought we sounded surprisingly good. The crowd seemed to really enjoy it, as well. So that's always a good thing, right?
I packed up and headed home. My thoughts immediately shifted to dealing with the amp issue. As I do after every gig, I prayed for safe travel, for all of us. I also prayed about the amp issue. Yes, I am a Christian, and yes, I play in a band that writes music about beer drinking and having a good time. I'm not going to get on a soapbox about religion or faith, here, but in my eyes they are two very different things. Religion is man made, in my opinion. I think their are a lot of issues with today's churches. A lot of judgement being passed, and I don't like that. I'm not saying that all churches are that way either, but I've seem plenty of it. Ok, enough of that. If you ever want to talk to me about my faith, my views on it, or want to know more, feel free to contact me. Man! I feel like I'm veering all over the road today. Ha ha!
As I was saying, I was already in deep thought, trying to figure out what to do about the amp situation, when I received a text. I didn't dare look at the phone. It was late at night and raining. I needed to concentrate on my driving, and the amp situation. Although, I was dying to find out what it was about.
I pulled into the driveway, killed the car, and checked my phone. The message was from Cisco! He had found his missing ring! I was ectatic! This made my night. I was so happy for him.
I proceeded to unload the car, and put the gear up. I then hit the shower. This is a post show ritual for me. Especially, if it's a smoky room, as Lynn's was. After my shower, I sat down with the computer, and started looking for an amp.on Craigslist! I love Craigslist! I dedicated a previous blog post to it. You can find it in the blog archive, if you care to read it. I stayed up for quite awhile, researching and comparing amps, within my budget. Keep in mind, this was an unexpected expense. You may be thinking, "Why not repair the amp, you already have?" Here is why. Most amp techs are like TV repairmen.They are usually individuals, that work out of their homes, or they may have a small shop somewhere. It's usually first come, first serve, so if their are five people ahead of you, your going to have to wait. We had shows scheduled for this weekend, and I knew that their was no way they could guarantee me, that my amp would be repaired by the 15th. Plus, I had no idea if it would even be worth repairing. If the repair cost was going to be more then the cost of the amp, then there would be no sense in repairing it. I did a little more research, and headed to bed.
I woke up the next morning, and discussed the issue with my wife. She agreed with me, and said I needed to locate an amp. She also suggested that I go ahead and contact the repairman, just to see what he would say. I left a message for him, ate breakfast, and then started my amp quest. I actually found one, that I thought would meet my needs, fairly quickly. It was a little more, then I was looking to spend, but the guy had it priced about $25 cheaper, then what the going used rate was. It was a good deal. I listened to a lot of sound clips of it on YouTube, decided it was worth checking out, and called the guy. I had to leave a message. He returned my call about 30 minutes later, and we discussed it. As I said, he had a very fair price on it, but I thought I would see if he had any wiggle room. He said he was firm on the price. I said, "Ok, let me check with the wife, and see what she says." Note, this was a negotiating tactic. Sometimes, if you tell them that, they will offer a price break right there. If not, sometimes they will offer you one, when you call back. I actually did discuss it with her, since it was a little more then I had planned to spend. She gave me her blessing, and I called the guy back. He wasn't offering to take anything off, so I told him that I wanted to come look at it. He was close to me, so I agreed to meet him, over at his house.
On the way over there, my phone rang. It was the amp repairman. He pretty much told me, what I already knew. He couldn't quote me a price or a time frame, until I took it to him, and he had a chance to go through it. I told him my situation, that I had his card, and would call him back when I was ready to bring it in.
I arrived at the guy's house, and he had the amp sitting in his living room. It was quite a bit smaller then my other amp, but still packed a powerful punch. The amp is a Traynor Custom Valve 40. It is a 40 watt, all tube, amp. My two guitars at the time, were a Fender American Standard Stratocaster, and a Gibson Les Paul Classic. The strat sounded incredible through the amp. The Les Paul, not so much. The guy, even remarked about how much better the Strat sounded, vs the Les Paul.
I bought the Strat last summer, when I was still working with the Talking Heads band. I was giving some guitar lessons, at the time, and used my earnings from that, and some overtime from my regular job, to purchase the guitar. My girls also put money towards it, for my Father's Day gift. Very good choice, by the way! As I said, the reason I picked it up, was #1, to gig, you really need to carry two guitars. That way, if you break a string, or something else happens to the guitar, you have another one ready to go, and you don't have to stop your show. #2, the Talking Heads, used Strats. Their is a huge tonal difference between a Les Paul and a Strat. To get that sound, I really needed a Strat. And #3, when I picked up that guitar, it was the best sounding, and easiest playing guitar, that I had ever played. Why the heck, didn't I pick one of these up 20 years ago?
As time went on, I found myself reaching for the Strat, more and more. When I joined up with Roy, and we started working together, I played every song, but two, on the Strat. I would try the Les Paul on stuff, but almost everything sounded better on the Strat. The Les Paul is great for hard driving rock, but not much else, in my hands. Plus, the Strat was more comfortable for me to play, and I think I sound much better on it. The only drawback on the Strat is, that your not going to get those crunchy, crunchy tones out of it, because of the pickup configuation. The other thing was, that when I switched guitars, I usually had to adjust the volume of my amp, because the Les Paul was so much louder. It really became a pain. When I would practice at home, for our shows, I would alway just grab the Strat, and practice all my parts on it. What I discovered, was that I could actually play the Les Paul parts better on the Strat. The problem though, was that they didn't really sound all that great on the Strat. The Les Paul is equipped with humbucker pickups and the Strat is equipped with single coil pickups, so again, totally different sound.
I started thinking about replacing the Les Paul, with another Strat, but with one change. Fender also makes a Strat, with a brige humbucker in it. These are commonly called, Fat Strats. Fender came out with a new model, last year, called the Fender Select. It's basically a blinged out Fender Fat Strat. My local music store had one in stock, so I decided to go and test it out. I was hoping to maybe work out a trade on the Les Paul. Well, I went and played it, and of course, I fell in love with it. The only problem was, that I was going to have to come up with $600, out of pocket, to make the deal work. It was a fair deal, I just didn't have that kind of money laying around.
I then decided to list the guitar on Craigslist. I was very specific, in what I wanted on a trade. Apparently, people do not read, because I received offers on just about everything out there, with the exception of what I was asking for. I had no offers, to buy the guitar outright. I took it off Craigslist, as SDR, was getting pretty busy with gigs, as well as recording.
Over the last couple of weeks, I started looking at guitars again. I came across a guitar that piqued my interest. The guitar was a G&L Bluesboy. G&L is a company that Leo Fender founded, along with George Fullerton, after he sold Fender. The Bluesboy is basically a hot-rodded version of a Fender Telecaster. They are very similar in looks and appearance. The ad said that the guy was looking to trade it, for another guitar. He went on to say, that he was not sure what he wanted, but to try him. I did some research on the Bluesboy. For starters, it was a little more expensive guitar, then mine was. The guitar had a humbucker pickup in the neck and a single coil in the bridge. I thought that this might serve my needs perfectly. I hit up YouTube, to listen to some soundclips, and thought it sounded nice.
When I was toying with the idea of getting another Strat, Roy suggested, "Why don't you try and find something a little different, for some variety?" I knew I wanted another Fender "style" guitar, if not another Fender, itself. Roy made a lot of sense, on this one, though.
I decided to contact the guy, on Friday, March 8th. I doubted he would be interested, for some reason. He emailed back, the next morning though, said he was interested, and wanted to know if we could meet over in Grapevine, later that day. Their was no way, I could do this. #1, we had a gig that night, and their was no way I was going to go play a gig, with a guitar that I was not familar with, and #2, my wife had some honey do's, for me to perform. I emailed him back, and told him that I could meet him on Sunday. Keep in mind, this was before the amp went out on Saturday night.
I never did hear back from him on Sunday, which was ok, as I was dealing with the amp issue. I did end up getting the amp. It had a really nice tone with the Strat, and I feel that it may actually serve our needs better, then the old amp did.
The guy emailed me back, this past Monday, March 11th. He suggested we meet on Tuesday, in Fort Worth, around lunchtime. He had a meeting, and was going to be in the area. This was not going to work for me, as I work about 30 minutes, west of Fort Worth, and only have a 30 minute lunch break. I emailed him back, explained the situation, and advised that I could meet him on Monday or Tuesday night. I went on to explain, that this upcoming weekend would not work for me. We had gigs on Friday and Saturday night, and I would need time, to get familar with the guitar. I waited on his response.
In the meantime, I continued researching this guitar. I started comparing it with an actual Fender Telecaster. The responses that I read, said that it was actually a little hotter then a Fender Telecaster, due to the pickups. They also advised that the neck was a little chunkier. I began to think, that maybe this was not the guitar, for me. My primary reasons for wanting a different guitar, was the neck profile, and something that didn't sound as "hot", as a Les Paul. This guitar was starting to seem more like a Les Paul clone, on a Telecaster body.
I started, really researching the Telecaster. I found out that it's pretty common for them to have a humbucker in the neck, and a single coil in the bridge. I began listening to sound clips, and was really impressed. The neck comes in the same standard size, as the one on my Fender Strat. A lot of people like to mod Fenders. The necks are bolt ons, which means you can switch them out. A Les Paul is a set neck guitar, which means the guitar is all one piece. If the guitar takes a fall, and the neck snaps, your guitar is pretty much ruined. This was another reason, for wanting to make a switch. With all the gigs that we are playing, this could actually happen. With a Fender, if the neck snaps, you can just find another one, bolt it on, and you are good to go! You can order them, directly from Fender.
I still had not heard back from the guy, about the Bluesboy. It was Monday night, and I thought I would check Craigslist. I logged on to the musical instruments section, and couldn't believe my eyes! Right there at the top, was a Fender Telecaster listed. The guy was wanting to trade it for a Les Paul! It was perfect! It had a maple neck, which I've really grown fond of. My Strat has one, and I love the way it feels. It also had a neck humbucker. It was a 2004 model. My Les Paul was a 2005. I started doing research, on this model Tele. It was very comparable in price, to my Les Paul. I checked some guitar forums, and everyone that owned one of these guitarrs, loved them. I read a post, where one guy sold his, and regretted it.
Still, I thought the best course of action was to sleep and pray on it, so I did. The next day during my lunchbreak, I looked at the guitar again. I really felt, that this guitar was the one, and was meant to be. I contacted the guy, through Craigslist, and received a very fast response. We exchanged several responses during my lunchbreak. He was interested in looking at my guitar. We exchanged numbers and planned to meet that evening, after work.
He called me on my way home. He lived in Dallas, and suggested that we meet over at his band's rehearsal space, in Arlington. This worked for me, as it was about halfway, for both of us. I went on home, had dinner, grabbed my amp and the Les Paul and headed to Arlington. He was a really nice and laid back guy. Of course, anytime I go on a Craigslist hunt, I am required by law (aka my wife) to text her when I get there, and text or call when I leave. I'm also required to leave her the address and phone number, of the person I am going to meet. I know I kind of joke about my wife's policy, but it is actually very smart, and I would suggest that anyone doing a Craigslist deal, do something similar to this, or travel with a buddy.
So, we went into the jam room. I set up my new amp, and he brought out the Tele. I brought out my Les Paul and gave it to him. I hooked up the Tele and knew immediately that I wanted it. It was exactly what I was looking for. It had that great Fender neck, and had a a great growl to it. Heavier then the Strat, but not over the top, like the Les Paul. He played my Les Paul for awhile. I couldn't really tell whether he liked it or not. After awhile though, he said, "I'll do the deal if you want to." I said, "Sure." After the business was done, we visited for a few minutes. He told me about his band, and I told him about Sand Dollar Rodeo. He said he would like to come out to one of our shows sometime, and said he would check out our website for dates.
From there, I went ahead and packed up my amp and headed home. I was so happy about this, and couldn't wait for Friday night! Later on, that evening, I received a text from the guy. It stated "U still happy with trade?" I went ahead and texted him back and said, "Yeah, I love it, You?" He responded within the next minute, as follows, "Yeah, just got home and stretched strings out and cranked it up and it is bad ass!" I thought this was a very nice gesture, on his part.
I've had the guitar for almost a week now, and couldn't be happier. I'm firmly convinced that I made the right decision. I used the guitar for the first time, live, this past Friday at Tammy's Hideaway, and again on Saturday at Diamond D's. It sounded fantastic. Both Roy, and Cisco, commented on how nice it sounded. Roy said it had a much warmer tone, then the Les Paul. I believe that is a perfect comparision.
You can see the new guitar and amp, this Saturday, as we will be making a return trip to Hollywood & Vine, down in Glen Rose. Hopefully the weather will be nice, and we will be outside on the big stage. If not, then we will be inside. Hope to see ya down there. Until next time, take it easy!
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