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Vanilla Strange Gato

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Everything posted by Vanilla Strange Gato

  1. That pic is from right after I got it. The film is off.
  2. The satin finish on the back of the neck will be a must-have on any guitar I get going forward. And rolled edges. It’s incredible and you don’t feel like letting go of it. I want to thank whatever Indonesian kids they have making these in the Sire factory. It’s got to be labor costs that let them put out this quality at those prices.
  3. It’s hard to argue with that logic.
  4. Thank you. Been watching for a long time and am glad to have some people to ask “how do I get awesome really quickly” since I’m sure y’all have the answers.
  5. Vanilla Strange Gato

    Rush

    This seems like a good thread to visit. I’ll put that Tyler Warren YouTube up sometimes on one of my monitors while working and listen and glance over from time to time. It’s mindblowing. It’s not just that he tackled one of their more difficult albums (if that can be a thing). It’s not just that he can play and sing everything like it was on the album. He even nailed the production quality. The tones. The mix. So close on synth settings. All of it. Wnen I first found this video I shared it with some old friends from my teens. A couple of them still play in bands today. They just never stopped. Only one of my friends is a huge Rush fan. But the others have come back in recent years and commented again on this video. They revisit and now they suggest tunes for me to try and learn. They bend the knee to Tyler’s talent and commitment.
  6. Saw Styx, Kevin Cronin, and Don Felder a couple weeks back. Felder and band exceeded expectations by a long way. Very good set. Cronin and band were good. Played the entire REO Speedwagon “Hi Infidelity” album and some other hits. His voice had a few glitches here and there but overall he did well. Styx killed it. Tommy Shaw still has great pipes, and Lawrence Gowan, the guy that does the Dennis DeYoung vocals and keys, was incredible. The challenge of aging rock bands is always the vocals. Styx hasn’t lost a step. James Young sang lead a couple times as well, particularly on “Miss America”. That riff and song kick ass and I haven’t heard it in years! My best friend and my son had never heard it but liked it instantly. JY looked uncomfortable, like he didn’t want to move around much. Maybe a neck or back or shoulder problem or something. But he soloed well when it was his turn and he sang well. Why he was wearing sport coat and scarf and hat when it was 89 degrees and 70% humidity, I have no idea. They performed the entire “Grand Illusion” album in addition to other favorites. I would have traded one of their encore songs, “Mr. Roboto”, for “Crystal Ball” instead, especially since the band reportedly hated that whole album and it was a source of friction between DeYoung and the rest of the group, but it was a fan favorite so they played it.
  7. No. I sold it. I had started lessons again during the pandemic and was using it and it was fine. A couple months in my birthday came around and my wife surprised me with a Yamaha FG-830. She had gone into GC looking for an acoustic for me and asked the guys up front for help and gave them a budget number. They had gotten that Yamaha in a few days prior and were keeping it at the front to play behind the counter during lulls between customers. It played better, looked better, and sounded better than a $320 guitar should sound. I read reviews and watched videos on it after she gifted it to me. The reviewers said the same things. “It’s a starter guitar, but you won’t think that when you hear it and play it.” *this is where y’all come in again* I took the Yamaha to my next lesson. My instructor tried it out, was complimentary of it, but said “Can you have your wife take it back and exchange it for one with a cutaway? You’re going to need access to the upper frets where we’re headed.” I asked him if he was married and he said yes, he was. I asked him to consider the results of asking your wife to take back a gift. He saw the point but still said maybe I should go exchange it. At that point, I said I had read some advice in a forum that said if you need a guitar that allows you to do something your current guitar does not allow, you don’t get rid of that guitar, you just buy another guitar. That is when the search for Lifeson PRS started. And of course when it showed up my wife said “You don’t like the Yamaha I got you????” Yeah. Girls, man, I tell you what.
  8. One more note for you fellas and a word of thanks. I was a choir kid growing up. Had an older brother that was a well and was a monster bass player. He played a mean bass and was invited into some bands in high school and after. When I got into high school, some older guys got a band together for a school talent show. None of them sang or played bass. They asked me to front the band because they knew I could sing and “your brother plays bass and we figure you have learned from him.” Why yes. Yes I have. Followed by me telling my brother, “Dude, you have to teach me how to play bass right now And I need to borrow it and your giant ass Peavy amp. And I need a ride to practice.” That eventually led to me playing bass and some keys and singing in other bands, but all that went away in my early 20’s. I got a Takamine acoustic in my late 20’s and took lessons for six months but once being a husband and father entered the equation, I put it away. Plus I worked at a job with a lot going on and hobby time was not a thing. *this is where y’all come in* I had read this site for a long time and used to post on one or both of the Shaggy sites way back when. Mostly I was into football but I got turned off by the decisions made for the program over the years and the delusional idiots on the football board. This board, and this thread in particular, were encouraging. During the pandemic I picked up guitar again and signed up for lessons. Y’all were a bigger part of that than you know. The sharing of tips and tricks and gear knowledge and more on this thread has been a huge help. And some of the other threads as well. You men have a lot of good info to share, and I’m sure there are other lurkers thankful for your posts here. Don’t be shy about speaking what’s on your mind about guitar stuff or music or practicing. You do good work here.
  9. Chad wants pics of the Sire, but they are going to look familiar! My family gets me Sweetwater gift cards for birthday and Christmas and I had a few stacked and had been trying out guitars, trying to see what neck profile I liked before I ordered something. I didn’t have an electric so I was trying them all, but good Lord is Guitar Center a beating for trying out anything. Electrics I almost bought while taking time to find the one that felt best: - used Ibanez Prestige in salmon color (not great but I’m not exactly playing in front of people yet). It was $1200. They had it marked too low. Reverb had similar models much higher. The Japanese do good things in their guitar factories - Fender Player Strat. Fret edges and fretboard edge felt rough compared to the Sire. That would have been $800 - Silver Sky SE. $899 or whatever they were. I wasn’t crazy about the colors, and they were not offering the maple fretboard yet. Plus, I knew I could never show my face here if I got one because Paul Reed Smith is an arrogant jackass, probably on the spectrum, is doing to Leo Fender what Edison is said to have done to Nikolai Tesla, and regularly fire bombs orphanages and no-kill animal shelters. (One of those might be true) - Schecter Nick Johnston, used, was maybe $950, and was pink. That guitar played nice! Eventually I saw a convincing video from that Canuck named Darrell Braun and he went on and on about the Sires. Then Lee and Pete at Anderton’s raved about them. Yeah, their job is to sell guitars. But then there were demos for amps and pedals, and Lee kept reaching for the Sire even with a room full of sweet ass guitars. I finally ordered an S7 vintage without seeing one in person. Sweetwater has a great return policy so no real risk, and there wasn’t a Sire in Texas for me to try anyway. It was $641 delivered. I bought a gig bag later. Great guitar, feels like the easiest neck to play, was even still in tune out of the box. And less expensive than everything else I tried. Lee Anderton changed the pickups on his but has no complaints otherwise. I’m not there yet with mine.
  10. Oh, and that PRS had 13’s on it when I got it. I must have sounded like SRV on the phone. I took it to a tech at Rockin’ Robin and got it set up, he leveled a couple of frets and put 11’s on it. I eventually put 10’s in it.
  11. Here is the acoustic, with the “birds in flight” pattern for the fret markers. Alex wanted his to look different. I only found out about this model after seeing a YouTube video of him and his wife visiting a guitar store in Tokyo and seeing one of his guitars in the Private Stock line, which were $15k then. Later I found they had made an SE line but it been out of production for several years. Reverb became a frequent visit and one came available in Florida for $800 or so, and I debated for a day or two and it sold. Another came up, listed from upstate New York. It was $725 and sold fast. Time passed and I saw this one while checking Reverb during lunch. It was at the Tone Shop in Addison. I called them, they said “we just listed it two hours ago! It’s very playable and sounds great!” They said if I bought it from them instead of from Reverb they would charge me no tax and ship it free and next-day. I did that and it was $520. Good deal! Reverb probably wouldn’t like this story.
  12. Good evening, gentlemen and Surly members. I’ve been following this thread and the amp thread for a long time but until now didn’t have a reason to post since I don’t own: - a Tele with the appropriate amount of pick guard screws - an exact replica of Billy Gibbons’ Pearly Gates, signed in his blood on the truss rod cover - the reborn and perfectly restored Eric Johnson Virginia Strat Now that the Sire has been brought on board, it’s safe for me to comment. I have that guitar. S7 Vintage. You got it at a great price! I’ve got all the same comments. Great features at a low price and that neck is so comfortable. My only complaint after a couple years is that the G string goes a little sharp when I’m playing some chords. I had the nut slot filled and re-slotted and it helped but I have to watch myself and be delicate with how much pressure I use, especially on the ring finger. Now for an amp. I use a Spark Mini but would like something that will take pedals for real. Hard to argue against the latest Katana for features and price. My acoustic is a PRS Alex Lifeson model. Shocking, I know. Go ahead a neg rep me for not having a $5000 Martin or Taylor or Gibson but I like this acoustic and it plays and sounds great.
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