Gear Diary
Parade Banners
My band is looking forward to playing in this year’s Kiwanis 4th of July Parade in Danville. We’ll be on a huge flatbed truck, so we need some big banners. I prepared a modified version of our business card as vector graphics pdf, and sent it to this company BingBanners down in LA. I orderd two 3’x6’ vinyl […]
Ultimate Guitar Stand
I’ve used the classic A-frame OnStage stand forever, but its time to upgrade to something better! There have been too many near misses, where my guitar nearly fell off its stand. And, these strange reactions between the foam and the guitar finish are just not worth it. This is the Ultimate Support GS-1000 Pro. It […]
Working With DL32R Multi Track Audio
One of the great features of our Mackie DL32R mixer is the ability to record rehearsals and gigs in fully independent multi-track audio. We don’t have a sound guy in my band, so this feature lets us record the soundcheck at a gig, then walk out front and play it right back. We can listen […]
Line 6 Helix at NAMM
I had a chance to see a live demo of the Line 6 Helix at last week’s NAMM show, and I was blown away. They’re really taking modeling to the next level. The Helix sounds amazing, looks amazing, feels amazing. The Helix addresses all the issues that I have with myHD500X – the legibility/visibility of […]
OnStage Upgraded Mic Stands
We have been having some issues with four of our OnStage MS9700B+ microphone stands. We bought the “heavy duty” stands in the hopes that they will withstand the wear and tear of rehearsals and gigging. But they haven’t been so touch after all. Good news- it turns out there’s a new version of the MS9700B+ […]
Micro 4/3 Speed Booster For Low Light Video
Last month I wrote about my new Panasonic G7, and how I was having good success in low-light video. I’m using an old inexpensive manual Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 lens, along with an Fotasy FD – M4/3 adapter. At our last night-time gig, I had to position the camera really far away for the 100mm […]
Panasonic Micro 4/3 Camera for Video
We’ve been using the Sony HDR-MV1 camera to video our gigs, and it works reasonably well, but I’m continuously frustrated by the poor quality in low light. The stages we play in my band are always either super-sunny, or very dimly lit. I know that my Canon T2i DSLR works much better in low light […]
Strap LOXX
Strap locks are an indispensable investment for any guitar. There’s nothing worse than having your strap twist free, and your guitar drop to the ground. On my Les Pauls, I used the Dunlop Dual Design strap locks. They worked fine for a Les Paul, as they attached on the guitar horn, rather than on the […]