Gear Diary
Travel Guitar vs Airport Security
I’ve just returned from a family vacation to Australia. As usual I brought my trusty travel guitar- the Traveler EG-1. And as usual, I was pulled aside at every airport security checkpoint to have the guitar tested for explosives. Every time, without fail! Now I finally know why…
Let Your Guitar Shine
Before I put my old Takamine acoustic up for sale, I want to give it a little TLC. This guitar has its fair share of battle scars. There are a few larger dings which I’m not going to attempt to repair. But it has tons of little scratches that I should be able to do something about.
Farewell First Guitar
I bought my very first guitar for $200 in 1985, at Spitzer’s Music in Concord. At the time, I thought of myself as a keyboard player and was pretty clueless about guitar. But I loved the sound of guitar, and really wanted to be a part of that world. The salesman at Spitzer recommended this used 1978 Takamine […]
Sony Headphone Repair
I purchased my Sony MDR-7509HD headphones in 2007. I love these cans- they’re comfortable and they sound great. However, the ear cups and headband are a bit lacking in quality and longevity. The thin filmy material is nice and soft when new, but eventually deteriorates. I have a couple pairs of Sony MDR-V6‘s and the same thing happens with those.
Wrist Bands for Guitar Stands
My Ultimate Guitar Stand has been rock solid, and I much prefer it to my old A-frame stands. However, I’ve noticed some wear on my SG‘s headstock, right where the stand’s self-closing yoke grips it. Disappointing!
Set List Maker
I’ve been using the Set List Maker iOS app since 2013. This app has a wealth of features for the practicing / gigging band and has become an invaluable timesaver. Prior to Set List Maker, I would always bring a folder full of printed pages and notes to rehearsals, and make copies for my bandmates. With […]
JBL EON Hiss and Factory Reset
When the Helix arrived, I borrowed a JBL EON 610 full-range powered speaker to work with, and I really liked the sound I was getting with it. However, as I started to go through the many hours of work preparing presets for the Drop Daddies’ setlist, I found that the continuous hiss coming from the […]
New Helix LT Announced
I saw the Musikmesse announcement today that a new model of the Helix was just released – the Helix LT. At first, I kinda panicked, thinking I just bought into the Helix and they’ve already released a new model with the same processing power and audio quality, but at a significantly lower price?! However, after looking […]