Stace, juju, optical, jblaze, Michelle - thanks for the birthday wishes.....

this year, I will mostly be 9 and 3/4

when I think Vox, I also think Rickenbacker guitars with the funny triangle shaped sound holes... which makes be think of a scratchy and tinny tone... mods, scooters, spotty 17 year olds in 2 tone suits wrapped in huge parkers with a bulls-eye sewn on the back...

Hey Joe,

Clarky, re Rickenbacker, amazing isn't it that they could for quite a period of time secure the rock bass market with what I presume was a more "lead" bass oriented sound (think Squire, Entwhistle and Geddy Lee) and playability yet their six and twelves always felt cheap, flimsy and produced the jangly tinny tone you referred to!!! (think Byrds and Tom Petty). Pete Townshend only used em to break up on stage, (one nice feature was that they broke up quite nicely and easily) he only developed a seriously crunchy tone when he went on to Strats Teles and ultimately Gibson SG's....

Clarky - Happy birthday! I had no idea... Here's a question for you though: Do you would it be better to get a solid state power amp, rather than a valve one? Won't the presence of the valves colour the signal from the POD a bit? I have the same approach as you - all I want the power amp to do is take the sound of the POD and make it a hell of a lot louder... This was just a thought I had on the boring train journey from Hastings to Guildford, so I may well have been delirious at the time!!! lol

death cube..how much is the line6?? it looks cool although only one pedal.

Jblaze, oh honey, let me tell you, I wanted to pound somebody's face in. Hard! lol! It wasn't anything like you're going through. That really sucks! Just when you think you have your ducks in a row, huh? Money is usually a high factor in crappy moods. lol! $368 for a tune up? What the hell? Did they drop in a new engine? Losing your registration fee really, ree-hee-healy sucks! Hope things work out for you and you get things set up and get rollin' down the right path. As for the basket - come on over and we'll kick the shit out of it together, although I think you might need a heavy duty basket for all your stress. Maybe a big Rubbermaid trash can? lol!

Suzie, bad dreams, huh? I hate when that happens. You wind up tired and worn out the next day because you didn't relax overnight. Last night I had problems with my knee that woke me up and kept me awake for a while. My body does not want to co-operate these days. lol! I feel like a bag of ass, but it's still better than 2 days ago. lol! I see Joe tomorrow, so that's improving my mood greatly. Take a lot of deep breaths today and kick something (or someone) if you have to. lol! Hopefully today will be better for you too. As for full moons, they always make me happy. Full moons are one of my favorite things in the world! They're so beautiful and powerful. Today is a new moon. The next full moon is Oct. 27th :)

Happy Humpday people!

Joe,

Thanks for a "night to remember" in Clearwater, 10/11/04. I've been a fan since the SWTA tour back in 87'. This show in 04' was my 6th time seeing you and my 1st with my 15 year old son. We bought the Platinum Ticket Package through Fanfire. Needless to say, we had the time of our lives. We got to tour the facility and stage prior to the show. Of course the show was incredible (as usual). We had front row seats right in front of you. We were totally stoked, getting to see you play that close. My son was beside himself as well. Then we went to the meet n' greet, which too was fabulous. Thanks for being such a gracious, polite and humble person. I've been playing since I was 8 and will be 40 this month. My son has only been playing for 2 years and he is already passing me up. He was the only kid at the meet n' greet and was thrilled to meet you. He mentioned to you that he could play the intro to "Satch Boogie" and "Summer Song" and you said "Really, that's pretty good!" Thanks for all the autographs and for talking with us. It's good to know that their are some celebrities that stay in touch with their fans. On our way home, my son said this was a day that we could tell our grandkids about. How 'bout that? You also told him to keep up the good work on the guitar. He's obsessed with it right now. If he keeps up at this pace, maybe he'll be on the G3 bill in 10 years.

Yes, Hello.

Nothing eventful in my life this wedesnay morning. Just having some OJ and typing up some reports. And yes, listening to A perfect Circle's Thirteenth step. Its really good.

SWEET JESUS PEOPLE!!! If you don't have the new Dream Theater DVD Live At Budokan RUN out and get it now!! LOL! Throw it in the player and crank it up to concert level!! It's awesome!!

michelle..i would have the dvd but its not out here in uk yet. i have the cds though.

michelle and jblaze- i know this will sound silly, but when i get in those fighting, kick the crap out of the basket moods i find the best way to calm down, and this quickest is by listening to the music of vince guaraldi... its impossible to be mad when you have the background for charlie brown playing... :) although sometimes kicking the basket until the sides cave in can be very therapeutic! lol...

24fom- welcome back....

well off to do more studying for midterms, hope yall have a good day!

Mr Nick, anything DT must be hard to play. Hell it's hard to follow along in your head sometimes! lol!

juju, no disrespect to Vince, but that would probably irritate me more. lol! I like to listen to heavier music when I get in a mood. I popped the Korn cd in my car, and the third song was Y'all Want A Single. It's a precious sing-along kind of ditty. Any time I can sing along and throw down the F* bomb, I'm a happy camper. lol! Sometimes it's the little things that mean so much :) Happy studying!

Hello !

I'm recording a version of the Rite of Spring only with guitars, trying to imitate the sounds of a complete orchestra (reeds, woods, strings and percussion). I'd really like to send an extract to Joe, I'm sure he will like it. But I don't know how !!! (I'm new on the list).

Can somebody give me a clue ?

mikesb - lol.. yeah... before making such a crass and sweeping statement about Ricks.. the 4000 series bass did cross my mind... I think they sound great.. they look really cool.. and I love 'em... I'm a huge fan of Squire...

but then... you'd never jack such a lovely thing into a Vox... lmao...

amps... when I talk about 'clean' tone... I'm mostly interested that the amp isn't adding any over-drive, reverb etc etc...
right now, my amp is MOSFET [solid state]
the amp I'd like [the EL34 100/100] is valve

I have no preference to solid state or valve...
my only requirement is that the amp is nice and clean and sounds great...
of course you choice of head and cab will colour the sound... how can it not... a 4x12 cab will sound quite different to a 1x12 cab...

all you need is a nice amp that can stay clean at high volumes and a nice pair of 4x12 cabs [or 2x12 cabs if you prefer them]
also, some amps sound thin at low volumes and don't start working nice until they're hitting the 1/2 way mark...
what you need is flexibility and quality...

I think that all this stuff about the superiority of valves is a myth started in the 1970's....
amps are either great or not irrespective of what they are made out of...
your ears will be the judge
you have a great ear... trust it..
and don't let some shop-keeper try to blind you with bullshit
especially given that they most likely know absolutely fuck all about electronics and accoustic physics

when you come to mine....
I'll power up my rig... 2120-->8008-->pair of 4x12 cabs..
we'll give it large and see what you think...

are you refering to bald muffins verses natural ones???

by all means... try out as many as you can...

clarky..."are you refering to bald muffins verses natural ones??? "...whats that supposed to mean??

michelle - "yesterday was bad, wasn't it. I wound up kicking the crap out of my innocent laundry basket and throwing a small, quiet hissy fit in the basement"

I thought that was going to be followed by something like "EWWW!!! I saw a HUGE spider."... ;-)

Also, yeah...the DT DVD is AWESOME. I made it through the first hour and 53 minutes on Monday. I'll hopefully be able to finish watching it today...