EH Metal Muff, take 2…

So you may see below that I had purchased a Electro-Harmonix Metal Muff with Top Boost.

EH Metal Muff with Top Boost

I initially wrote it off as being not very useful to me. I was a bit wrong, perhaps.

Just on a whim, I brought it with me to band practice last night and hooked it up. After playing with the settings a bit, I actually got a really good “80’s Metal” sound out of it that I liked a lot. Perfect for that Van Halen, Stryper, Scorpions sort of sound. I still don’t like the top boost though…

Anyway, my main problem is that the pedal is so huge, it would take up a huge chunk of my pedal board, and I rarely play music that this pedal would be appropriate for, since I’m playing mostly worship stuff right now. I can think of several Out_of_the_Ash songs it would be perfect on, but we haven’t done any originals in a long time.

But, total score on getting a $90 (MSRP $119) pedal for $10. Turns out, Guitar Center was partially right about it being broken. The DC in jack doesn’t work. However, I have a 9v clip adaptor from my 1-Spot that I use to power my pedals. It’s not a permanent fix, but it works.

I don’t know who reads this, but if anyone has any thoughts on getting that DC jack fixed, let me know, OK?

Good Friday

O Sacred Head, now wounded,

with grief and shame weighed down,

Now scornfully surrounded

with thorns, Thine only crown;

How pale Thou art with anguish,

with sore abuse and scorn!

How does that visage languish,

which once was bright as morn!

What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered,

was all for sinners’ gain;

Mine, mine was the transgression,

but Thine, the deadly pain.

Lo, here I fall, my Savior! ‘Tis I deserve Thy place;

Look on me with Thy favor, vouchsafe to me Thy grace.

What language shall I borrow

to thank Thee, dearest friend,

For this Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?

O make me Thine forever, and should I fainting be,

Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.

New Pedal Number 2

Ok, so the second pedal I got is the Electro-Harmonix Linear Power Booster (LPB-1).

Electro-Harmonix Linear Power Booster (LPB-1)

I found this pedal surfing the Guitar Center used gear page. It was a pretty good deal, (the pedal is cheap as it is) so I put it on hold, and went down there to get it. When I got there, I also saw the pedal which I will blog about next.

This is a pretty basic pedal, with only one knob, which controls the amount of boost. It seems to be very clean and transparent (i.e. it doesn’t change the sound, just makes it louder) It also does a very good job of taking my amp right to the edge of the “breakup” point.

I use this on songs where I need a clean sound that is a little more beefy, or on lead parts that need to stand out.

New Pedal Number 1

I got some new pedals recently. The first one I got was an Electro-Harmonix Metal Muff with Top Boost.

Electro-Harmonix Metal Muff with Top Boost (picture from Musicians Friend)

Now if you know much about my style of music I play (in recent times) and the rest of my gear, you’re probably scratching your head right now.  I have my reasons.

I was in Guitar Center checking out the usual display of used pedals, and didn’t see anything too special. One of the guys there knows me pretty well, (he knows what I like to look at and recognizes my voice on the phone) and mentioned that he had a metal muff for $10.  “Ten Dollars?” I thought, “surely there is something wrong with it.” So I asked him why it was ten dollars.

The guy then told me that someone had bought it, and returned it back because it wasn’t really what he was looking for. Guitar Center then sold it as used, and someone else got it, who brought it back because he said it was broken. They checked it out at the store and couldn’t get it to work either. The lights would turn on, and signal would pass through, but no effect. They didn’t have time to show it to me then, so I passed on it, because I didn’t know how to fix it.

That Sunday at church, I was talking to one of the guitarists (who I know has a lot of botique and hand made pedals) and asked him if he knew anyone who worked on pedals. He said he did, and told me to buy the pedal, and if it couldn’t be fixed, the parts were worth at least ten bucks.

I went back that afternoon and bought the pedal, brought it home, and opened it up. I couldn’t see anything that looked broken or loose inside. It sat in my room for a week, till I brought it to practice and hooked it into my rig. At first, I couldn’t get it to work either. Then I realized that I had used the wrong cables, and it wasn’t even in the effects chain. (oops!) I got it hooked up (correctly this time) and lo and behold, out comes heavy metal distortion!

I played around with it a bit and found that if I followed what people usually say for metal distortion (gain, bass, and treble to the max, mids scooped out) I could make a insane, brütal, really bad noise. Like an army of bees with chainsaws, on the other end of a cheap cellphone. After fiddling, I actually made some tones that were really good. It was actually way too good, because my whole amp was rattling from the immense amount of awesome coming out of it.

So now I have an awesome metal distortion. I don’t have any use for that much awesomeness. It’s like Chuck Norris with a piñiata. Overkill. Too bad I’m beyond my metal phase. I can think of maybe one or two songs that I play which I could use it on. Maybe if the band goes all angsty again I can pull it out.

Acquire The Fire

Well, here we are at Acquire the Frie in Greensboro, NC.Everything Is going pretty well. We got a good night sleep (except for runaway heaters, malfunctioning alarm clocks, and MJL loosing his tickets) Unhindered’s worship was great, they had a few new songs, and they completely rewrote “Light This World” (we were so lost!) we saw the beginng of an interesting drama, and Jeremy Camp was amazing as always. We’re getting ready to leave though

Special Note about the Newsboys

Check out the post from the Official Newsboys Blog:   (Original post at the link)

MICHAEL TAIT TO JOIN NEWSBOYS

by admin on Mar.09, 2009, under News

After 22 years and more than 2000 shows, newsboys frontman Peter Furler will no longer front the band in concert. Michael Tait will be touring with the band as lead singer with Peter making special appearances throughout the year.

Peter will continue with the band and his trademark songwriting and production will remain as he focuses his professional career toward future newsboys recordings.

Michael has been on the road with the band over the past weeks working alongside Peter in what has been a positive and enjoyable experience for both parties. It has been a graceful process that both Peter and Michael have worked through as they prepare to make the change in the coming weeks.

Peter states, “newsboys to me has always been a mission, and I entrust Mike, Jeff, Jody and Duncan to continue all that is in store for us as a band. I’m looking forward to focusing on the band’s studio career and spending time in my own bed after many years in a tour bus and hundreds of thousands of miles on the road.”

Wes Campbell, newsboys manager, explains, “Whilst the decision to replace Peter on the road was a painstaking one, when the idea of dc Talk vocalist Michael Tait was presented, it was a no-brainer to all of us. No one can replace Peter, but we know Michael will bring a new attitude, energy and vocal style that will thrill our audience. To be able to continue a world class show and still have Peter behind the scenes guiding the career and making of newsboys music is a huge opportunity for all of us. It’s amazing that after many years of touring with dc Talk in the 1990’s, that in 2009 our paths would cross once again. It’s an exciting time for all of us.”

“For years dc Talk and newsboys have been family and thus shared the same loyal and adoring fans,” says Michael Tait. “When I received the initial call from newsboys to consider joining the band as lead singer, I was speechless! I immediately sought wise counsel and flooded the heavens with endless prayers for insight and vision, and I soon received a clear and definite peace. Last weekend, I had the opportunity to perform my first show as newsboys’ frontman to an audience of 12,000 people. I was completely wrapped in love and support by newsboys’ fans, who are clearly the best fans on the planet. Now I know this is exactly where I belong in this new and wonderful moment in my life’s history. This is a definite highlight of my career and for my 20+ years of walking with Jesus, and I am humbled, proud and privileged to call myself a newsboy.”

In the coming days, Peter will be releasing a personal statement on the band’s website in more detail.

The band has recently finished recording its new studio album, In The Hands of God, which features Peter as lead vocalist on the entire album. Street date for this record is May 5th.

With five gold albums, sales exceeding six million units, more than 20 No.1 radio hits, and a mantle of Dove Awards as well as Grammy nominations, newsboys has achieved phenomenal success in its two decades together. Known for its amazing live performances and groundbreaking tours, the band continues to sell out festivals and concerts worldwide, satisfying diehard fans and winning new ones in the process.

The end of an era? I hope not. The Newsboys and DC Talk were both some of the original pioneers in the Christian Pop and Rock genres. While I know it will be extremely different, I think it will be good. I’m going to get to see them this weekend and Acquire the Fire in Greensboro. Michael Tait certainly has a wide vocal range with many, many long years of touring experience to help him. I pray for the best for them and for their ministry through music. I can’t wait to hear the New Newsboys.

Back to Acquire the Fire

So here we are a year later… I’m going to Acquire the Fire again. I’m sorry I never got a chance to finish the stories from last year, but with moving and all I got really sidetracked and scatterbrained. (I’m about to move again, by the way)

I’m really excited about this year. I’m going with the group from Greenhouse and First Baptist of Ravenel again. This year, we are chartering a Bus instead of renting vans. Since we aren’t having to drive ourselves, we are only staying one night and returning after the session Saturday night is finished. We’ll probably get back around 2AM on Sunday. Also, since we are taking the bus, we will be driving non stop up there. Which means, I need to eat lunch before hand. (Yay, Chinese takeout leftovers for breakfast!?!?)

I’m also going to be a chaperone this year. That should make things interesting. Fortunately, the kids in my room I know well and trust to behave for me (well, in most cases) It’s also not in Winston-Salem this year. (Dunno if that is good or bad, I have to learn a whole new colosseum) It’s in Greensboro instead. All of my really close friends are going, so that makes it even better!

The bands playing this year are Unhindered, Leeland, Jeremy Camp and the Newsboys. All of them personal favorites of mine. If you’re not familiar with them, click on the links and check them out! Leeland is the only one I have never seen live, Jeremy Camp I have seen 3 times (all within 6 months) and Newsboys I have seen twice. (Special note on the Newsboys, see my next blog)

Needless to say, I am very excited, this is one thing I look forward to all year long. I hope I actually get a chance to blog about everything for y’all.

Long time, no blog…

Well, here I am again. Long time, no blog.

I finally have my digital camera, so maybe I’ll be able to make some picture posts sometime. I’m also planning on doing a guitar gear posting sometime soon…

Oh yeah! It’s almost Acquire the Fire time again! I hope I’ll actually be able to blog about all my experiences before I get sidetracked and forget most of it…

Hope to be blogging again soon!

McDonalds… How I loathe thee.

Last Tuesday, the daughter of our bass player (and owner of practice space) had an afterschool vocal practice. Our current house is less than a mile from her school, so we volunteered to pick her up. It took a while to get her, so I knew I wouldn’t have time to go to any of my usual fast food/quick dinner places. I was going to go to Arby’s and get a chicken sandwich, but my sister said that she wanted McDonalds. I needed to get gas so I was going to Walmart, and it has a McDonalds in it.

(On another note here, did you know that if you buy gas at a Murphy USA gas station on the premises of a Walmart, that you will get 3 cents off of an already low price?)

So after I got my gas, we pulled up, and went in Walmart. Here is my Conversation

“Hello, I’d like two double cheeseburgers.” The cashier said, “That’ll be $2.61″ As I was getting out the money, I did the math in my head. “Um, whats the tax on that?” “9.5%” she said. Then she looked at me and said, “Oh. The double cheeseburger is $1.19 now.” Looking up at the dollar menu, and seeing the words ‘McDouble’, I asked, “Well, whats that?” “That’s the McDouble, it’s a dollar”.

Image from http://mcchronicles.blogspot.com/2008/12/mcdouble-mcdonalds-newest-product.html

So I said, “Well, I’ll have two of those.” The woman then looked at me like I was crazy, and then called back to her manger, “Hey Mrs.–, he wants to get a McDouble!” To this, the manager replied, “Well, tell him I can’t sell it to him.”

Me: “………”

The manager then walked up and said, “They took the Double Cheeseburger off the Dollar Menu, and replaced it with the McDouble.” “So,” I asked, “Whats the difference?” “Oh, well, the McDouble only has one piece of cheese instead of two.” Me again: “…….. So why can’t you sell it to me.” The manger: “I can’t sell those until tomorrow.” I, having working in a business world-renowned for customer service, am having difficulty comprehending. “So why is it on the menu now, if I can’t get it till tomorrow?” (my employer does major changes to signage when the store is closed) She said “I dunno, first shift did that.” So I gave in. I asked for two double cheeseburgers. My sister was freaking out because she had intended to only spend a dollar. I got my food, went out to the car and started eating. Only to find…

There was only one piece of cheese.

Last night, on the way to the Tenth Avenue North concert (I hope to blog about that too) I realized that I didn’t have enought money to buy my ticket. The nearest ATM was at a Super Walmart. I also realized that if I stopped there, I wouldn’t have time to get food anywhere else, let alone the fact that I didn’t have money for the food. I got my money, and the only place to eat, once again, was McDonalds.

I got in line, it was rather short, but the cashier was flirting with two guys from the carwash place across the street. I ordered my “McDouble” and got in line to wait. I stood there, and the folks fixed the food for the two carwash guys, and then the other employee seeing that there were only a few people waiting, and 8 tickets on the screen, handed the carwash guys their food, and cleared all the tickets. This has happened to me before, so I knew this wasn’t going to turn out well. The folks behind me ordered their food, and I stood waiting… waiting… waiting… and then the other employee (the one who had just cleared my order) said, ” Hey! These people didn’t order a McDouble!” The cashier rolled her eyes, pointed at me and muttered something under her breath, I would imagine about the incompetence of her fellow Wal-mart McDonalds workers. The other employee put it in a bag (with no napkins) and handed it to me, muttering something about “sorry for the wait”.

And this sandwich had TWO PIECES OF CHEESE.

I plan to avoid them as much as possible.

Get ready…

Over the last few days, I’ve had several things that I wanted to blog about. Get ready, I’m about to pound them out!