As you might guess, from reading about the variety of guitars I have, I also have more than one amplifier. I primarily use an Orange amp that I picked up not long after I moved to Charlotte. It has a few bells and whistles like, a built in tuner and over-drive that can be engaged by a foot switch. It also has some built in reverb effects which is nice. And then it has the standard knobs for adjusting the low, mid, and high tones to color the sound how you like as well as the gain and master volumes. It is also the amp that has a half a dozen pedals connected to it, at least two of which are engaged most of the time.
In addition to the Orange, I have a smaller practice amp that its only effect is the over-drive or boost as it’s called. It has the gain and the master volume and the controls for low, mid, and high and that’s it. It doesn’t have any pedals hooked up to it so there is nothing extra to color the sound and it’s really easy to neutralize it. Make the sound neutral by setting all the knobs at noon. I recently found this to be a blessing.
Much like I love my Squire Bullet for its simplicity, I just found a new appreciation for my practice amp for much the same reason. The Bullet has one humbucker pickup and a volume knob. It makes it great for testing amps and pedals and it’s great for learning how new pedals sound and how they sound with other pedals. It’s also great for just playing and not worrying about do I have the right pickup selected or do I need to adjust the tone. Nope. There’s nothing to do with it, you have the sound that you have until you add all the other things.
It turns out that the practice amp has the same beauty in simplicity. And I found it really helpful in beginning to identify what it is about my Gretsch that has been bothering me. Sometime last year or earlier, I started fiddling with a couple of things on my Gretsch to try to get more volume out of it. A problem, I have finally concluded, will best be fixed by either, or a combination of much heavier gauge strings, or new pickups. In the midst of all the fiddling, something strange seemed to happen to the sound of the strings and they started sounding really harsh and scrapey. And I thought I was having other trouble with the pickup selector or a pickup.
I happened to plug the Gretsch into the practice amp. I turned off the boost, I lowered the gain and increased the master volume and then set all the other knobs at attention. And you know what, I was able to tell that the switch has the same problem it does on the Gibson. It gets something in it, probably from humidity or dust, that can cause it not to make contact when you first use it. That’s an easy fix. Before I start playing if I just flip the switch back and forth a few times and that cleans it out. That solved me thinking there was a pickup problem. I have some buzzing around the fifth fret on the low E and A strings, and that might require a tune up to get fixed. But with no extra effects it was easier to hear and identify. That just leaves finding strings that go with it. Or getting used to the sound.
Had it not been for being able to narrow down the sound and get with the most simple of setups, I might still be somewhat frustrated with a guitar that I really loved when I got it and then got exasperated with. Now, I know what’s what with it and I can get back to enjoying it and the sound of it and playing it more.
I am full steam ahead now on the test prep and study. I am taking practice tests frequently and I’m starting to get passing scores. I want to get to where I consistently get a high passing score before I register for the test. I did look up when I can take the test at my preferred testing facility and I have set a target date for myself. I’m really staying focused on that right now so that I can get that test passed.
Unfortunately that means I don’t take a lot of time for other things that might suck me in or take too long to really get into to make some head way. So I can spend some time practicing guitar because I can set a timer and do that for 10 or 15 minutes. I’m not as inclined to try to get into a Blender project because sometimes in can take me 10 minutes just to figure out where I am and what I want to do next. I have an idea or two of how I might be able to make it work, I’ll have to try it at the weekend, in between testing sessions, and patching at the day job, to see if I can make it work.
A few weeks ago, I had the realization that I needed to get an under desk keyboard tray for my workstation for the day job and for my personal workstation. As I am currently setup, I use a single surface ‘L’ shaped desk. I have my personal workstation setup on the long side and my day job workstation setup on the short side, and a total of four monitors on the desk top. If I work at my personal workstation, one arm is sitting on top of the short side of the desk and if I work at my day job workstation that same arm is hanging off the keyboard and desk at an odd angle. And, you guessed it, this is the same arm I have had trouble with off and on all year.
I looked at adding one keyboard tray to the desk as it is and that just doesn’t make sense. So the conclusion I came to involves getting two desks, each with a keyboard tray that I can mount under the desk top. Not so bad right? There is one catch. The desks have to be short. I’m not talking a little short, I’m talking really short. The desk I am currently using has adjustable legs that I can get as short as about 24 inches. Yes. Short. I identified a solution and was going to order it except I couldn’t get all the pieces delivered at that time. I took it as a sign that I should just skip the whole idea and stick with what I have.
However, I was doing some work at my personal workstation this weekend that caused me to revisit the idea. So I looked at my solution again and found that now, I can get everything delivered. So, I went ahead and ordered everything. It is all expected to be here within a week. It will all probably sit in my dining room for several weeks. This is not a minor project, changing out my desk for two separate desks. Given the layout of the office/art room, and the size of the various desks and other things in the room, it will pretty much involve a complete reorganization of the space. I’m not expecting to get started on in until after I pass my test. In the mean time, I’ll have the stuff sitting here taunting me, and motivating me to get the material mastered, even more, and to keep up with my practice tests and get it passed.
I did do some things this week that weren’t studying or chores. I got the soil I needed to pot and re-pot some of the plants I’ve been growing. Of course, that also involved starting a new batch in the Aerogarden. I also watched more of the rhythm guitar course I’ve been working on. I need to go back and re-watch a couple of the last videos I watched so I can practice the particular rhythms with it. I thought I would remember them better than I did. By the time I sat down to try them and practice them, I forgot how they went. Ugh.
I’ve got plenty of test prep to do this week. And as I mentioned we have server patching at the day job. I’ll be working on those rhythms that I forgot from the lesson and I will either give the short session with Blender a try or I’ll be doing short sessions to start gutting my office in preparation for the new desks. It should be an interesting week and weekend coming up.