[unbridled]

I've been getting booked for more emcee and DJ gigs than anything else. Kinda fun, and I get to throw in some of my solo stuff to get exposure. Getting a couple small auctions, too. Still workin on getting more backing tracks built up.

I've noticed I get more money by telling folks to just make an offer or telling them we'll just work it out than if I quote them a price.

[J i m m y]

Things have been insanely busy on my end and it feels like I never have the time to bounce into GearGoggle. Not that I'm missing much. This place seems to have died an ignominious death. So let's bring 'er back in style.

In the World of J i m m y...
I've been contracted to build a simple dreadnought acoustic, a project that is set to begin in the next couple of weeks. (Sucks having to buy pre-bent sides for an acoustic. Maybe it's time to invest in the iron.) Another individual has inquired about having a jumbo acoustic built (à la Gibson) but it's premature to assume anything with that.

In other news, I've been wracked with vehicular woes. Both my SUVs have been afflicted with various troubles. Wheel bearing needed for the gas guzzler, and just yesterday the idle tension pulley assembly exploded in my Blazer causing the serpentine belt to shred and get wrapped around various engine components. Fun, fun.

But on the brighter side, I went and got set up with a compressor and paint gun. To hell with rattle can finishes. And I concocted my own signature paint (a Gatcomb Co. exclusive )...Galactic Cherry Sparkle, which looks a little something like this (as seen on a Gatcomb Cosmonaut Prototype):

Sparkle1.jpg

Ooh, cosmic.

I don't know if I mentioned the "baritone" I built earlier. 26.5" scale? Pfft. That's for wimps. I went with 28.6".

It really feels like playing a bass, particularly after riffing on the 24" scale JT-2 Prototype.

And I was asked by the Editor of a magazine to do a piece for their website for a very modest paycheck. Sure, I thought. I could bang out a 300 word piece for that kind of cash. But then he dropped the bomb by asking for a 1,200-word article...which I found insulting (and rightfully told him so in a drunken email, effectively burning at least three bridges).

Other than that, all is well.

So what's new with everyone else?

[jeffed]

Drunken keyboard here. Waiting on sober one.

[jeffed]

J i m m y , you're doing a sterling job there! I hope you're being paid handsomely commensurate with the ever-increasing quality and quantity of your workmanship, sir!

[jeffed]

(1) Place any beverage in close proximity to your computer keyboard.

(2) While seated at computer when it is on, fumble blindly for your drink.

(3) Spill entire contents of glass/cup over kbd. (Natural clumsiness helps.)

(4) After pouring liquid out of kbd, apply hair dryer hot air, melting keys.

(5) Find that computer no longer responds to keys or does so erratically.

(6) Congrats! Your kbd is now a doorstop and computer possibly dead also.

(7) When loud and continuous cursing (optional) subsides, order new kbd.

(8) Execute (7) and all communications using only your mouse, copy & paste.

(9) Wait, while telling self you've been warning others of this for years.

(10) Drown sorrows in cheap wine then swear off alcohol and coffee for life.

[J i m m y]

Good God, man. Talk about a real pisser. And adding insult to injury is the pain in the ass that comes with copy/paste'ing everything.

Fingers crossed for an intelligent, responsive (and sober) keyboard.

[jeffed]

It arrived yesterday. That's how I was able to type the post above. Before that, I had to copy words and even single characters from here and there - like the word "drunken" that I got from your post above. To make matters worse, I had to track this particular keyboard down as it's no longer available at Apple due to major upgrades in the operating system. Anyway, all's well that ends well.

[unbridled]

The GreTsch is making its church debut. I played it at rehearsal because my hands are giving me problems and it plays so smoothly. She has a sweet sound running straight through the board with just a hint of reverb. I'll just tell folks the "G" brand on it stands for God.

[jeffed]

What's going on RIGHT NOW?

Apparently nothing.

[jeffed]

What's going on RIGHT NOW?

Still nothing.