Christmas was great. \u00a0We hung around here awhile and listened to the new hymn album I made Jill a bit and enjoyed the day. \u00a0Then we headed over to the Merrills for lunch and snow fun. \u00a0My arm got tired from throwing snowballs at the Nathan, Matthew, Mark, Ed, Steve, Julie, and Jill!<\/p>\n
My birthday was today. \u00a0Most of the day we hung out here, which ranks among my favorite activities! \u00a0This evening we went out to dinner with Nate, Caroline, and Ryan. \u00a0It was really great. \u00a0Jill, Nate, and Ryan had lengthy toasts and heartfelt encouragement prepared in my honor, and I felt a little embarrassed but very happy to receive them all! \u00a0What can you say about such friends? \u00a0I am truly blessed by knowing them. Combine all this with pizza and beer, and you have a very memorable evening.<\/p>\n
I had asked for no presents this year, and most people were happy to oblige me. \u00a0My biological grandmother sent me a shirt that says “Redheads are Hot” in bright red lettering. \u00a0I wore it this evening \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
Warning: \u00a0Guitar Geekery Section Ahead<\/p>\n
Recently I traded in my rack setup for a pedalboard and pedal setup. \u00a0I was very proud of my rack system, but I wasn’t excited about lugging around the heavy 6-space rack and extra stuff. \u00a0So I sold all the stuff and have been buying other things. \u00a0The first thing about pedals is they’re more expensive than the all-in-one units I’ve owned in the past. \u00a0So I can’t afford a lot of individual pedals, but the ones I was able to get so far I’m insanely happy with. \u00a0So far I have:<\/p>\n
Tech21 SansAmp Tri-AC<\/a>\u00a0– preamp, tube amp emulation, distortion<\/p>\n Eventide TimeFactor<\/a>\u00a0– extraordinary delay effects unit<\/p>\n Pedaltrain 2<\/a> with Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2<\/a>\u00a0– what holds the pedals in place, powers them, and lets me carry them around<\/p>\n So far I’m very happy with this setup. \u00a0The Eventide unit was expensive (their cheapest rack unit is $2,000 or so, but this was fortunately much cheaper than that). \u00a0With just these two pedals I can get almost any tube-driven distortion\/overdrive sound, and many kinds of lush reverb and delays (even some modulation effects).<\/p>\n Another thing the TimeFactor can do is loop. \u00a0It’s only 12 seconds, but it’s not a looper pedal, so this is just icing. \u00a0But it is very fun to play with. \u00a0It’s like having a guitar slave. \u00a0I can tell the pedal, “Play G and C for three hours and don’t stop!” and he complies instantly. \u00a0If only I had a drummer slave like that! \u00a0For fun, I recorded some of my impromptu jams today. \u00a0These were all spontaneous and have no mixing or editing – this is what it actually sounds like in my living room as I play.<\/p>\n 1<\/a><\/p>\n