MUSIC

All the music on the radio nowadays seems to blend together into one dull mess of clones, knock-offs, and just plan unoriginal music pieces. Musicians even seem to be cloning cloners! There seems to be only a handful of mainstream artists out there who trying to write their own style, but only a select few of them have music that sounds good in my over analyzing ears. So what have I done? I've  done away with the boring FM radio and have started listening to unsigned bands on the internet. What have I found? Some amazing stuff! I was truly shocked to find that artists like Misha Mansoor, Clown, and Str8Jackit were overlooked by the so called "music biz". The point I'm trying to make is just because a musician isn't making millions of  dollars doesn't mean they don't know how to write great original music! So in this section I will give you some of what I call original music composed by me. If you're one of those ignorant people who think the music has to be on MTV to sound good then you're on the wrong  webpage! For those of you who don't think this way c'mon in and enjoy the music!

Recordings

Equipment  and Instruments (dial up users beware, enlarged photos are enormous!)

B.C. Rich Warlock Standard 7-String USA ‘99 Specifications: Rosewood fretboard Maple neck and body Neck Trough construction Lundgren M7 bridge pickup Matte black finish D’Addario Jazz/Blues .011-.064 strings Description: My first seven! I recently swapped the pickup for an M7.

Ibanez BTB 6-String Bass Specifications: Rosewood fretboard Maple/Walnut 5pc neck Basswood body Bolt-on construction Bortalini Pickups Elixir strings Description:

 

B.C. Rich Evil Edge Mockingbird Specifications: Rosewood fretboard Maple neck Agathis body Bolt-on construction Stock BDSM pickups Ernie Ball Slingy Power Purple .011-.048 strings Modifications: Do replaced electronic parts count? Description:

Yamaha ERG 121 Specifications: Rosewood fretboard Hard Rock Maple neck? Basswood body? D'Addario XL .011-.049 strings Modifications: None Description: Sorry I don't have a whole lot of specs on this guitar. It was my first electric and I lost the manual and I can't find it online. The tone is ok for a $120 guitar. Neck humbucker and the single coil are too muddy for use, the bridge humbucker sounds decent though. The tremolo had to be blocked off because I totally abused it and it knocks the strings out of tune when used even subtly. It has a good fretboard radius for chording but the strings are still very easy to bend (despite the high string gauge). I put those thick D'Addario's on because I like the fat tone of thicker strings. Despite the fact that it's pretty much a boring strat body I still like the look of it. It has tons of scraps and dents that give it a battle hardened look and the sticker is just plain cool on stage! However, having grown use to my superior B.C. Rich I don’t really like the feel of this guitar and I realize how cheap the frets are, it’s still usable though. If anybody has any info on this guitar or a manual please let me know!

 

Peavey Millennium BXP Specifications: Rosewood fretboard Hard Rock Maple neck 34" neck scale Basswood body with quilted top Two J-style hum-canceling singlecoils Weight: 9 pounds D'Addario EXL165 (reg light top/med bottom) Modifications: None Description: This is the most playable 4-string base ever! This  thing was quite a steal too! The string-thru bridge and set neck give this bass nice sustain for the price. The pickups are on the dark/warm side so I put pretty bright strings on. The only problem I have with it is that you need a freaking spotlight (or a camera  flash) to notice the transparent quilted top. This thing has some dings on the back but no scratches thanks to the almost  indestructible finish. I'd recommend this to any bassist of any skill level.

 Line 6 POD xt Live
 

 If you're like me, you like the idea of having your own tone, or should I say tones. The people at Line 6 are masters of amp emulation. I've been using various amp emulators for a while but the PODs are the only ones that actually feel and react like real amplifiers. This is far more than just an amp emulator. It's completely loaded with various effects and built in recording equipment. This is absolutely all I need to record guitar, and bass if I wish. The tone possibilities are endless. The wah/volume pedal is extremely useful for tweaking effects like delay in the middle of the song and for using one of the seven wah models (unfortunately the wahs have no tone controls, yet).You can completely control and program your tones into the POD with your computer via USB or MIDI cable but I prefer to adjust the setting with the controls right on the POD. This is a truly amazing tone creating machine. The screen and the LEDs seem dim due to the flash, but they are actually quite bright. It’s still not quite a replacement for a real amp, but it makes things so much easier.

 Yamaha MW12 USB Mixing Studio
 

 Sorry for the dim picture, flash made it too bright. I'll take another one at daytime. This is what I use to record directly to the computer. I organize everything in Cubase LE. This thing only has six low noise mic preamps but that's all I need right now. There are some problems with it but it's pretty good quality. Beats Buhringer. The best part about it is that every channel is stereo and can be panned left and right. When I record guitar through this I can pan the guitar with the tweak pedal which is pretty cool.