BONUS RANT! Fairy Picks

Bonus RANT!!!

Now this is something that I do not want to say by name, but most of you can name a company or two that sells $3-$6+ picks. YES guys, $3-$6+ for ONE pick, NOT a pack of twelve or six, etc. And they only go higher!!!

I recently acquired a few. BUMMED. PERIOD. Thank god they were free.

Now let me elaborate. Out of the half dozen I got were any bad? No. I don't see anything wrong with them. Did they do the job? Yeah, they did... AT DAMN NEAR TEN FOLD the price of the typical Dunlop or whateveryawannacallit pick. The picks feel nice, I got a few nice different sizes. They had a little bit of grip on them, that was nice. The edges were sharp and smooth on the strings. They are not a bad product.

Want to know what I use and LOVE at a much lower price? Dunlop Carbon Fiber Jazz III's. There is so much grip they are hard to lose, even if you were to try. I have yet to have one of mine wear even visible. They are more expensive than the typical Dunlop pick but damn, I dig them and they are affordable.

I recently got a sample pack of Dunlop Jazz III's. There are a lot of varieties of materials. I really liked the yellow tinted one and the others are great too. The seven variety pack is $7 from major dealers. That is a good price to find what works for you. Some of the fairy pick places charge $20 to $30 for a variety pack not so cheap to get your toes wet.

That's where I stand.

The retort (for all of you political bitches):

I always say to use what fits you best in general. That has been since day one. I use what works for me. You should use what works for you. I try to gently, and if needed, coarsely guide you but I have a hard time justifying that amount of cash on a damn pick, especially since those picks don't even have any freaking fairy dust on them. Call them, maybe they can tack another $5 for ones with fairy dust. IDFK. I just don't see how it is practical. I think I may stretch it out to the term gimmick. $5 for a pick is a gimmick. DAMN! Did I actually say this? Gimmick, gimmick, gimmick.







I have a feeling that I am going to get some hate mail on this. Guess what? I DON'T CARE, bring it.

MOD it or KEEP it.

Sometimes in life comes the question: "should I shine up the old Camaro and sell it to fund the new Challanger Hellcat? Or, should I go with the Challanger SRT-8 AND keep the Camaro and rebuild the engine?"

That is a rough time. For us, it could be selling the Mexican Fender Strat funding the USA Deluxe, or just keeping the Mexican and buying a USA Standard and throwing some new pickups in the Mexi?

While there are options, some are far better than others, but ALL are PERSONAL decisions. 

Personally I would keep the Mexi and get the standard and do some work. Let's get out of the world of Strats. This can be anything.

My opinon begins here. MY opinion, thats why y'all read my blog, right??? haha.

If the existing cheap guitar IS decent enough to stay in tune and feels good for you, and you don't have a standing aresonal like I do, keep it.

The number ONE reason for keeping it is if you don't have a backup guitar. There are a few reasons that you would want to have a second/third etc, guitar. For example,  different tunings is primary reason. If you are gigging you NEED, NEED and I repeat NEED a backup.

If the guitar isn't worth keeping, YOU will know. If it is a hindrance or bad omen, for the sake of whatever, get rid or it. I am talking in this scenario as like a Walmart guitar, or too beat up, or flat-out nonfunctional. Nonfunctional guitars will NEVER make things easier for your. Trash is trash.


__________

Here is the bomb going off in here. I recently traded one of the pedals I just built and a twenty dollar bill for a... Squier, yes, a SQUIER strat. how is it? It does the job as shocked as I am. It is like a 2009 or something like that and hasn't been used much at all. Even the origional bullet end strings that he said he hadn't ever changed. At that point all I knew is it was functional, and the truss rod was functional and it made noise in is Frontman 15g (faceplam) combo.

So I take it home and take everything off and clean and polish and buff everything and touch up some frets, outfit it with a carbon fiber pickguard that I had laying around, and bang, I have a brand new beater. As far as mods go, it will see a preamp I will be building in the future, and a new nut and saddles. That is a whopping $30 and it will be great to throw around any shitty local dive bar, and not have anything to fuss over.

__________

Does this mean bullshit statement that everybody belts out, "my $2XX guitar is better than that $2XXX guitar in the store" has any authenticity? Nope. If you like your guitar, good, just don't get too eager to boast it's better than something that is so valuable. To a degree, you DO get what you pay for.

__________

Cheers from Trashed!

How to EQ dat bitch. and a HUGE rant. About Mr. Bastard

So, you have got a rig setup. You love most of it, nice guitar and amp [and hopefully you ended up with an Ibanez Prestige and an Orange or Mesa] that makes Trashed nice and happy, but there is a twinkle missing to what you thought. Just that little thing that you want to just fine tune. A little fizz here, fuzz there, or a really small spike somewhere that makes you want to vomit. Don't Worry I am going to make this a little less painful for you. You need an EQ. It's the EQ or Equalizer. They are friends. They are not food... but try one, and it may just give you a sweet kiss in the ass. Here 'Ya Go! 1. DON'T SCOOP YOUR MIDS. That is the worst offense by far. Don't jack up your bass. Big mistake. Watch your presence and resonance controls too while you are at it..
2. As a general rule across the board: nothing should be pushed past lets say 2 and 8 (if we are talking out of 10). BUT as any rule, some exclusions apply.
3. There is no rule saying that something isn't dialed in right if all controls are under half or over half.
4. Sometimes if you have a really trebley amp, you can turn the treble extremely low and compensate with a little more presence (I figured this out on my Splawn KT-88 Pro-Mod).
5. Vintage amps can be a little funny sometimes. One of my old Musicman amps I use all the time, all the EQ is dimed. It sounds better that way than any other way. Just don't doubt it until you try it. Although, I have tried it on a dozen other amps I own with less success.
6. Boosting an amp with an OD. EVEN the HIGHEST gain of amps CAN still benefit with a boost in front. Give it a shot.
7. EQ pedals. They are great, and sometimes you may even use two on one rig. I only get them that have a volume and gain slider for the OD effect, and the EQ part sculpts it in to where you want it. So you could use it with or without a boost in volume or gain. They can be placed in the FX loop where it makes momre of a difference, or out front to EQ your guitar tone. That is just EQ'ing for the guitar and the amps. The mixing and mastering is a totally different level. Which at this point is beyond my understanding to teach it all to you confidently at the moment.
Lets go for a rant:
Dear Bastard whom owns the shop near me,
I come in to check what you have once in a while. You are right up in my ass, mistake number one. Then I ask if you have an Ibanez Prestige.
Mr. Bastard said "I can order one for you."
I come back with a "No thanks, but if you ever have one in give me a call."
"Well... we don't stock them." that idiot says.
I kindly reply, "Well if you DO happen to get one in, can you call me?"
Mr. Bastard says, "We don't. but I will order one for you"
I didn't care for the tone. I said that if i wanted to order one i would myself through other resources. He gets pissy and I get crabby.
I say "I can order whatever I want right now I can order online, get a 15% off, 8% in rewards (i heart musiciansfriend dot com) and NOT pay taxes.
I didn't expect him to take that overly well... and he didn't. He gets all angry. I give him a sarcastic smile and walk out the door.
NOW... If he had a guitar I WANTED and if he would have been willing to take 15% off, I would have bought it IF HE WASN'T A JACKASS. Yes I would pay more to a local store. Part of that is that I would get to play it and know everything is good, and its less of a hassle.
Soooooo... what did he lose? a customer. He lost somebody who would run in there if they needed something. I am his best [maybe only] tremolo spring purchaser. Them bitches are $2 a pop.
I like heavy strings, and have a lot of guitars with tremolos so I have bought a lot of springs.
I dropped in for a slide emergency after my glass slide met concrete and broke.
I lost a bridge pin on an acoustic, so i bought some fancyass brass ones from him.
Those items are much more profitable for him over time then him getting pissy with me over the guitar.
Mr. Bastard, shove it.
_____
There ya go!
Trashed.

Happy NEW YEAR! I Am Still Here and Still Trashed.

Its a new year and i am still Trashed. Hopefully you are too.

Most of you bastards are probably still hung over. I have had MORE than a few years with a fuzzy night, or maybe day? or two. However I choose not too any more, but that's my choice, I am not damning any of you for your decisions. Bottoms up!

WELL lets get down to 'da bidnazz.

• You will get WEEKLY posts, I have more time and will commit.

• Pics of my gear will regularly pop up now.

• One of these days I will figure out how to change the page layout [yawn].

the FUN SHIZZZ! 

Pedlulz are still being built, more to come, I will be clearing out some stuff from the shop. I need to sell some gear too, I will post on here.

If you want a fuzz, shoot me an email [or reply here] I promise it will cost you less than a $20 bill to your door.

CHEERS!

More content coming soon! Apologies for my absence. Thank you all so much for continuing to read.

I am going to write up a few more and I will be putting them up regularly/weekly-ish and stay ahead.

I have been playing with some budget guitars and intend to pass some info on to you all.

ALSO! I have my final pedal on my board at this moment. i love it, it kicked my zvex mastotron and my zvex fuzzfactory right of the board! I am excited. I have less time because I am still in college in the engineering program and sometimes it takes a lot out on me. But i will be around.

Cheers to you all!
See you soon!

Trashed.

HERE YOU GUYS GO, A 1 OFF MODDED BAZZ FUSS $25 SHIPPED FIRST ONE GETS IT

HERE YOU GUYS GO, A 1 OFF MODDED BAZZ FUSS $25 SHIPPED FIRST ONE GETS IT

I changed some things from the other prototype and really dig it. clips will be up in the next 48 hours.

Great standalone fuzz in the Rivera Knucklehead. Add it in front of the Rockerverb it thickens it into another whole depth of hell with the OD.

This is similar to my other bazz fusses, just more cojones. i tweaked it a bit, put it into a proper enclosure and ADDED A SWITCH!!!

paypal $25 to xblsx1919@gmail.com. shipping is INCLUDED in that price for the continental US.

maybe more will be coming maybe more of the same, maybe different.

any questions, ask!

Cheers!  Trashed.

its gone! cheers! more coming!!!

2017-07-07 Update and a Chat On Noise Constraints

Sup' Gearwhores!

I apologize that I haven't been around for a little bit. I got married, so there is now a Mrs. Trashed, and I caught a keeper. I have realllly busy

This is going to be more of just an update with a few thoughts. I will start typing and see where it goes (which is something I never actually do).

I am going to start off with noise constraints. This is that first time I have ever had that even as a consideration.

I have been playing the Rivera Knucklehead a lot recently, and it is one of the best pedal platforms I have worked with for a long time. Its sitting on a Randall cab with a pair of T75's and a 15" Eminence legend  all in one box. Overall it is a nice setup. its odd miking it though I would love to get both a 15" on one track and a 12"on as well. haven't done it yet. will get around to it. May be weird to mix them together but I will get to it one of these days.

Right now I am running a pedalbaord to it that is quite odd (I will get some pics of the rig up) regarding the amp it is. but I am using a CMATMODS Brownie, with everything around 3 o'clock, into a Fulltone Fulldrive MOSFET. The trick for this scenario is to run some gain on the Fulldrive, and turn the volume way down, that lowers the volume of the Brownie a lot and it can go into the rest of the rig and be quiet. took a bit to figure out, but here is what i have.

When the Fulldrive is on the volume gets cut for night playing, kick it off, i get the 'Marshall in the box' or 'brown sound' in the front end at a nice day volume. (note that this is all on the clean channel).

***I am considering building some very simple that would have a pot and some other passive (or maybe 9v) components that would just turn the volume. small box, just to change the volume that you can step on to solve things like this. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ANYTHING LIKE THIS LET ME KNOW! If there is interest i will get it going faster  AND IF THERE IS SOME ACTION ON IT I WILL GET A BUNCH OUT CHEAP like i did the bazz fusses.***

The OD channel on the Rivera is sweet too, but it does need to go too loud for midnight playing to be enjoyable. but daytime has seen use.

Alright guys, time to get back with noise constraints. you can also put something in the FX loop (if you have one) to lower the level of the out-put of the box or even something like a MXR 10 band and drop the volume slider.

*I must say MXR has disapointed me yet again. I have owned two 10 band EQ's and the second one broke just like the first. Screw MXR for me, especially because i couldn't figure out how to get them working and my father also made no headway with them. MXR wants something stupid like $60 and me to send it to them. Sorry MXR, no thanks on that. I can get a used one for that. I may have to go with Boss, but i am NOT a Boss fan in general. However i dont' think that is any secret to most of you.*

Also regarding noise restraints, often times you need less gain on your amp than you think if you throw an overdrive out front. and DON'T SCOOP YOUR MIDS. That will make the whole scenario worse.

I am thinking about building an isocab for recording, but that will be a bit.

Well... this is a kind of a fill in thread for the last few weeks , as you imagine i haven't had as much time lately. Everything will start back normal next week.

Cheers and thanks for the support!

Trashed.