2 Million Views!
Just catching up on some replies today on my YouTube channel, and was surprised to see this on my channel!
Wow! It seems like such a short time has passed since my channel reached the first million, but actually it was a year and a half ago. More
A Year in the Drop Daddies
It’s been a very busy year. I haven’t had much time for making videos and posting blog updates. Here’s why:
About a year ago, I started up a band – the Drop Daddies – with some of the other Dad’s at our kids’ elementary school. Originally, the idea was just to get together on weekends to play some music and have fun. Almost immediately however, a friend invited us to play at her 2012 end-of-the-world party. That humble little gig by the Christmas tree kicked off a very busy year for the band. So far, we’ve learned 60+ songs and played at least a dozen gigs- bars, an auction, carnivals, and parties large and small.
A few observations – each of which should be its own blog post, but I’ll collect them here for now and maybe expand on them later:
Don’t Break The Chain
In my Millionth Anniversary video back in 2012, I talked about Jerry Seinfeld’s motivational technique for tricking yourself into getting things done. “Don’t Break The Chain!”
Since February 19, 2012- I’ve kept my pledge to play guitar every day, no matter what. That’s 660 days! Yes, sometimes it’s just a few minutes right before bed. But more often, once I pick up the guitar, I end up playing for a good session.
I no longer need to draw X’s on a calendar, as in Jerry’s technique- I just know that I don’t want to miss a day. This technique really builds new, effective habits.
Output Jack Considerations
In this article, Pete Biltoft at Vintage Vibe Guitars goes in-depth on the simple, often overlooked output jack.
Thanks again to Pete for the permission to post this here!
September 2013
Howdy!
The topic for this tech tips newsletter is the all-important output jack.
While there are a few different styles of output jacks have been used in electric guitars and basses including cables with XLR connectors, ¼” stereo output jacks and 1/8” size mono and stereo jacks, for the purposes of this newsletter I plan to focus on the industry-standard ¼” mono output jack. I quite often use output jacks manufactured by Switchcraft and unless specified otherwise in this discussion I will be referring to the Switchcraft model output jack designed for strat, tele and Les Paul style instruments.
This simple and often overlooked component provides both a mechanical and an electrical interface to the guitar cable and is one of the most frequent causes of electrical issues in an electric guitar or bass.
Feedback Destroyer
Garage acoustics aren’t the best, to put it mildy!
In garage rehearsals with my band the Drop Daddies– it can get loud, and we’ve been struggling with the mics feeding back.
So, a few weeks ago, I ordered an inexpensive Behringer Feedback Destroyer FBQ2496– it was used on Guitar Center for only $50. GC has a good return policy so I figured it’s worth a shot.