koula901

It sounds like you handled the band situation well Mark. Good luck in dealing with that guitarist. Given the fact that he ends up sincerely apologizing afterwards, I wondered if he has bipolar disorder; if not perhaps he just needs to focus on anger management. On guitars, I'm here to suggest to look into Eastman guitars. Very good quality and very affordable. Good luck.

Great blog entry DB!

Less is more, to quote a cliche, and in this case it's working for you. It's always interesting to read your inner meditations. As for myself, I live in 2 rooms, each 12' X 15'. In a space that small, you don't keep anything you don't use. I've been getting rid of books and putting them on kindle. I am replacing CDs with MP3s. I have 5 guitars and that's almost too many. Mostly, if I don't use it, I lose it. In this space, it's a necessity. For about a year and a half, I've been working from home, so, since that started, I save 3 hrs a day in commuting time. Like you, I have a lot of time on my hands, in which I could be doing very productive things, instead I've been watching tv. My challenge now is to decrease tv watching and read/walk/play guitar more. It's a challenge to sit with so much space in time, watching yourself procrastinate and find excuses to not do what needs to be done. Life needs purpose, and we're the ones who have to come up with that.

I think you will find you're getting fatter tone with fatter strings. Billy Gibbons has a specialist that runs all these rack effects and processors backstage. He gets his telecaster to sound like a 150. They can make everyone of his guitars sound exactly the same with these electronics. Another point to consider: we're all getting older. With using super fat strings, do you really want to put that much strain on your fingers? Whatever you overuse, you usually get arthritis in when older. As a musician, we ought to protect our fingers. Plus, we've got things now called the TS9, equalizers, etc., rolling off your tone pot - all these things will fatten your sound. Just put a stomp on it, or switch to a mini bucker. In the end, nobody cares about your tone, but you. What matters are the lines you're producing. The Buddha said: Moderation in all things.

I'm with ya, Doug. Love the playing, not so much the practicing. It's a constant challenge but the rewards are great. Thanks for the reminder!