michelle: LMAO, I can't believe what that thing sold for! That guy is pretty funny, sounds like something I would pull lol.

anibur: I've always thought if Joe was posting here in cognito, he'd be talking a bunch of trash and arguing with people, just to let himself vent lol.

Mr Nick: I say go ahead and at least finish the term at ACM or you'll regret it. It sucks that it isn't what you expected, but this late in the game I doubt you'll be getting any money back. Might as well do what you can to get your money's worth.

Luminous Flesh Midget: That's the best nickname I've seen on here in a long time.

Zenfish: And now you've added to the list lol and you made the mistake of bringing up Led Zeppelin, which I can talk about for days and days lol.

jblaze1: Rush is Rio is awesome! I'm gonna have to go watch it now that you've brought it up. When my neighbors complain, I'm gonna blame you lol.

Yamboy: Awesome news on the chat, I'll give it a shot here in a few and check it out.

Austin: Does that mean you lose your star? lol And by the way, how in the hell can a trend toward short miniskirts be a bad thing! I know what you're getting at lol.

Ethn: I was so offended by your review of ITLIS? that I'm gonna...ummm, well, I don't really know what I'm gonna do, but as soon as I figure it out, I'll do something you'll like none too much lol. I remember when EOC came out and Joe was catching a shitload of flack about it on here and he said something like, "Keep the reviews coming, good and bad, I'm a professional, I can handle the criticism" so I wouldn't worry about what you had to say at all. Hell, YaYo said EOC made a nice drink coaster and Joe didn't get made at that, so have it lol.

Artainis I: NASA's primary source of funding is from private companies and individuals, not necessarily from the government's budget. I'm not certain, but I believe less than 10% of NASA's budget comes from taxpayers. I don't know if this was always the case though.

Quote of the day: "There's music in the sighing of a reed; There's music in the gushing of a rill; There's music in all things, if men had ears; Their earth is but an echo of the spheres." Byron

Ethn: It's fairly easy for me to see why you don't care as much for ITLIS? than some of the other albums. I notice in your list of favorites, you don't have JS95 or The Extremist listed. To me, ITLIS? sounds a little like a morph of those two albums. For me, I love this album and like it, as a whole, better than any other album. I really dig basic blues based stuff with great solos and this album delivers that to me beautifully. I wouldn't say that any one song on this album is my favorite Joe song ever, or even top five, but for the first time on a Joe album, there aren't any tracks that I feel I have to skip. That's why I think this is the best album.

Artanis I: Well in that case, be on the look out for Artemas, Articoloato, Arbitrator and or Articulation from me in the future lol.

VFRrocker: Cool man, you'll be enjoying that ride for a long time. The VFR is every man's dream: A respectful, ladylike woman in the living room and downright nasty skank in the bedroom lol.

Mr. Nick: How many more terms are there after this one?

Zenfish: Eddie said that about Page? That's cool, I hadn't heard that one before, and so true too. Well, my introduction to Van Halen had a huge impact upon my music preferences. Van Halen was the first band I started liking on my own, without my parents or brother's influence. I was only nine when 1984 came out and I thought the Hot For The Teacher video was the end all be all of videos! Over the years, I became a VH fanatic and never really understood why. I always thought it was because of his solos and tapping, but I've come to realize that isn't it at all. The thing about EVH that really grabs me is his rhythm playing. Like Page, it's the perfect balance between accurate and sloppy, which I love. To borrow a phrase from the mighty Zep, it's tight but loose. I played "air guitar" for ten years before I picked up a real one for the first time. If it weren't for EVH, I might have been playing "air accordion" lol. For this I thank him. All of my sloppy timing style can be attributed to him, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck.

slanshroom: I own the house so it's all on me, unfortunately lol. I'm going to be putting tile up above the counters to the cabinets, but I also have two walls that will just get paint. I'll never put any wallpaper up anywhere, in any house for anyone. It's devil's paper lol.

death cube K: That's a lot of buckethead lol. Sounds like he's been busy in the chicken coop.

michelle: "What's the point of even wearing clothes if you want everyone to see your snatch?" Great point, I think we need more forward thinkers like yourself advising some of these women. Just go naked! It's cheaper than buying new clothes lol. I think I'll get married naked, a full nude wedding party. I'll run that by Miranda when she gets home lol.

juju808: It has been my experience, that every single printer known to man can be put in just one category. Doesn't matter what type, dot matrix, laser jet, ink jet, whatever. They all fall in the category of Piece Of Shit. They should have that sign over all the printers in all the stores. The salesperson would ask, "Would you like your piece of shit to ruin your paper with color blotches or just black and white ones?"

Alexandre: I'll definitely post a link to the song once it's done. Trying to shorten it up now, goes on way too long and the theme isn't interesting enough to support something like that lol.

Ethn: I hear ya, and yeah I'm glad Joe's happy with it too. That way he can really get into them live. A lot of the new tunes are going to be great live I think.

Zenfish: I've been listening to Beck more than anything else for the last year or so. The man's creativity is just never ending.

michelle: You aren't getting away that easy lol!

962: You gotta check out the commentary track, good stuff on there. And no problem asking about the coma. I was on a respirator that was doing the breathing for me. After three days I was able to breathe on my own, but was still in a coma for almost five days after that. At this time, a critical decision had to be made by my father, which was whether or not to give me a feeding tube. If I were to linger on for months and months with no end in sight, I would have been allowed to die at my father's discretion. If they were to install a feeding tube, the law in Kentucky states that it cannot be removed. My dad's brother was in a car accident that put him in a coma. He had a feeding tube. It took 18 months for him to die. My dad didn't want that to happen to me, so they didn't give me a tube. A tough decision, but anyway back to the point I think you were going for, the sole discretion of letting me die would have fallen upon my father since my mother has passed away and I don't have a "living will" stating my wishes on that matter.

mick87: No problem man, and I guess you noticed the Mike Stern interview in Guitar1 as well? Pretty nifty stuff, I'll have to check him out sometime soon. I also noticed in the Clapton interview that he's using Nathan East in his current line up, the bassist Joe used on JS95. Small world.

Austin: Check out some fan sites for Pearl Jam and of course the Grateful Dead. Don't know if that will show you anything different or not, but that's the best I can come up with.

bluebuffalo: If we counted our age like that, Michelle would already be 40 and I don't think she's quite ready to all of a sudden be 40 lol.

Loo Who: Congrats on the contest, it's nice when a regular wins those things.

juju808: No problem on the printer info, I'm just here to educate the masses lol.

elpp: "Either way, Kirk Hammet still sucks." lol man, I like the way you think.

Austin: Cool, I'll be voting momentarily. For a change I'm somewhat pleased with the results. Nothing really negative to say at the moment. Sooner or later something will creep out though lol. And hey, I can't help it if the dog has his own tastes too lol.

Mikey Vai: What I don't get is on Vai's site just a few days ago, they showed pics of Colson in the studio. Maybe Vai is just using drummers he likes based on availability? I don't know, but I know what you mean about the bland drums on The Extremist. He sounds pretty good on Carlton/Lukather Live in Osaka though.

Mick 87: Well maybe that's why I had heard of him from before JS95 then lol. I didn't realize he'd been with Clapton a long time. Pick up a copy of Reel Satriani, it shows a lot of the making of that album, pretty nifty stuff.

death cube K: Population Override eh? Cool, I'll pick it up sometime soon.

michelle: Fine just ruin my fantasy, I don't care lol. As far as the tube, I have mixed feeling about it. If, when in a coma, you could at least dream or something, I could almost see it. But there's nothing, in it's purest form. I can't imagine having to make a decision like that for someone else's life, and I'm glad he made the one he did. I'm going to have a living will written up so that if it happens again, that burden will not fall upon anyone.

Artanis I: Everyone else came up with much better ones than me I'm afraid. I guess I'll just stick to Artanis I for now, until I can come up with something better lol.

jelly man: iTunes isn't available outside the states? Why? How can something designed for use on the internet be available in the US only? That's about as stupid as anything I've heard this week. That sucks dude. It's not like they have to ship you anything and deal with customs or whatnot.

Zenfish: Cool, I'll check out that Stern disc. Reading about him in that interview really made me interested in hearing his stuff.

slanshroom: Thanks, now that the nasty business of stripping the devil paper is done, I get to have fun. I'm kinda getting into it now, even if it is taking time away from my playing.

VFRrocker: I'm gonna go ahead with a no comment on that question. Can't be revealing too much, might get in trouble again, therefore reversing polarity of lady/skank arrangement lol.

Mr Nick: I can hear you but I can't see you, how'd you do that lol.

Ovation 1: Man, typing that just seems more natural lol. As far as Vai's pics on drummers, only time will tell. And then after time tells it, I'm gonna repeat it lol.

Austin/Jellyman: I understand the international copyright laws (believe me, I know more about them due to the T2J project than I ever wanted to) but by stupidity, I mean the lack of initiative by iTunes to get international rights. The currency exchange could easily be handled by a number of different mediums. When I buy something from the U.K. with my credit card, Visa seems to figure it out just fine. I think iTunes management is making a mistake by not including the international market. I'd call it a half assed attempt at best. I guess they only want to encourage legal downloading in the US and not the rest of the world.

anibur: If you believe the emails I get regarding the T2J Project, I'm Joe lol.

Alexandre: Thanks man, and I'd like to say that you are consistently the coolest guy on this site. How is it that Portugal breeds such truly great people?

mick87: Nigel rocks! I've had The Satch Tapes on VHS for a long time and then I had to have the DVD too. So I'm watching it with Miranda and she's like, "Who is...what is he talking about...this doesn't make any sense. You and your weird stuff..." as she gets up and walks out of the room lol. Some people just don't appreciate great humor for some reason lol. By the way, AWESOME song of the day.

Austin: Thanks for hooking up Mikesb with the ability to put his interviews up.

mikesb: I'm gonna read them tonight if possible, thanks for letting us read them. I thought Austin could hook you up. And yeah, I'm sure all famous people hate answering the same questions over and over again lol. That gives me an idea for a question for Joe.

Joe: Off the top of your head, what are the top five questions you hate answering over and over again in interviews? Come on, I know you're dying to answer this one.

Zenfish: Saw your comments on the GNX2 and have to agree. I used to use separate pedals until I got a GNX3 and started recording. Separate pedals do offer better tone, but it's hard not to be spoiled by a multi effects processor. If I ever decide to start doing my recording with microphones instead of direct digital, I'll go back to stomp boxes. Until then, I only have one cable from my guitar to my GNX3 and another to my amp. Simplicity is good lol.

Plum Loco: Congrats on the raise man! Good news indeed. Be sure to get your lady something nice too, will help to ease any problems when new guitars stuff shows up lol.

novjul: Hello, it took me quite a while to figure out who you are lol. Sorry about that. Good to see you posting again.

On the abortion thing: Well, we've succeeded in beating this dead horse to a bloody pulp. It's hardly recognizable as a horse anymore, except for the tail. Let's talk about something the ladies might feel a little more comfortable with, and hopefully keep from offending anyone. With that in mind, with powers vested in me by being God of my world, I deem the next subject to be premature ejaculation and the women it leaves unsatisfied.

Quick gearhead question before I eat supper. Will catch up on all the posts later tonight. Anyway, when it comes to effects, which of these categories do you fall under and why?

1: Plugged straight into my Marshall with the gain at 11. When I want an effect I turn that little reverb knob.

2: Multi-effects processor. If so what kind and are you happy with it and what amp do you plug it into?

3. Individual stompboxes. Which ones, what order and are they all in the front of you amp or do you use some or all in the effects loop? Also what amp? Do you use only the clean channel of the amp and all sounds come from effects?

4. Rack effects. This is something I'm starting to get interested in, and know virtually nothing about, but I'm researching it some. Please include as much info as possible. Same as above about which channels used.

I think I'd like to slowly build a rack system, but I'm not sure where to start. I believe I'd like to get a head and cabinet that can give me a great clean tone to put effects on. I'm divided on whether or not to use an amp's distortion or not. Looking for many varied opinions on this. As far as suggestions on what to do, assume I have nothing except for a Les Paul, a pack of strings and a pic. Will be a complete ground up build.

michelle: On the living will, I know, I know. I'll get it done, promise. The song you're talking about, I have no idea. None at all.

TASTEY: Taken care of one way or the other sounds pretty interesting to me lol. And I'm feeling pretty good, thanks for asking.

Mick87/Austin: Yeah, she doesn't like Monty Python either, so I've decided her sense of humor is way out of wack lol.

Plum Loco: That's the way, gotta keep em happy lol. Life is a compromise. The ability to negotiate is probably the most important skill one can learn lol.

Austin: On iTunes, I don't know, I suppose you're right, but it still bothers me. Hopefully they are just testing it here for future world release. Cheaper to just get North American rights to see if it works I guess. Oh, can you post a link to the Vai and Stevens interviews again? I've lost it, sorry.

962: Glad you liked the commentary track on that. I couldn't believe the story on "Bankok", couldn't help but laugh at that. "I thought I wrote it..."

UF Dean: Big congrats to you! I recommend grad school, prolong joining the ranks of the work force for as long as possible lol.

Pete Mulas: I don't think IUMA is ever going to get back to normal again. Check out Soundclick. They are a free service as well, and seem to run pretty smoothly.

novjul: The Rumsfeld quote came from a calendar I got for Christmas that has 365 of the stupidest things ever said lol. I was thumbing through it and found that one interesting.

Zenfish: I'd like to hear about your guitar setup.

Jellyman: Downloading your tune now. Since I'm on dialup, it'll be done in about 6 weeks, so I'll review then lol. Actually, if it's done by the time I finish this post I'll review, if not I'll do my best to remember next time and if I forget, don't hesitate to remind me. Well, it finished in time, so I guess all the previous nonsense I just wrote is useless. Oh well. I like it man, very cool. Love the guitar work, and the whole vibe the tune has. Looking forward to hearing the whole thing when it's ready. Cool stuff.

Alexandre: All I know is that you always present yourself in a positive manner here, and never try to offend someone. I find that exceptionally admirable.

Guitarded Boy: Wow, that's awesome news man, I envy you. Best of luck to you.

Mikesb: I'm gonna check them out real soon assuming Austin hooks me up with some links. Hint hint Austin lol

Thanks to everyone that's responded so far. I've been hanging out over at this site for the last couple of days, reading up on racks and getting myself quite confused lol. A lot of people there have some serious racks going. Since I know just about everyone here, I thought I'd ask the opinions of people I trust on the matter, so keep em coming.

Delfino Pie: I kind of went backwards, I had a pretty nice collection of stomp boxes going, and then bought a GNX3 and did away them all. Now I wish I had them all back, but it's all about learning I guess lol.

Stu Clone: The rack I'm planning on building won't need to be mobile at all, so I'm not necessarily looking for a shock mount or portable system. Thanks for you input though, any major compatibility problems you've run into or anything like that? And yes, of course I'm ambitious lol.

Brother Al: Yeah, in my research I'm finding just how expensive they can be lol. But I think I'm serious enough about my playing to want to build myself something like that. Slowly, but surely lol. Cool setup you have there, you might try putting your chorus in your loop or if not, put it behind your wah.

Sammy Andrews: Cool, when I used pedals, I had them all infront and didn't use the loop. From what I've been reading you've done the right thing, putting the "timing" pedals in the loop and anything else in front. I wish I had tried that back then.

Matt Martinez: That's a pretty sweet looking processor. I like Digitech's stuff and couldn't be happier with my GNX3 but I'm starting to feel a little bit limited. For example, with only one expression pedal to control a wah, volume pedal or whammy, I can't use all three at the same time. Little things like that are starting to bug me a bit.

SupaaDave: That sounds pretty similar to the effects chain I used to have, but I didn't have a whammy. If memory serves, I had a Bad Horsie wah - OC-2 Octave - DS-1 - BF-3 - NS-2 Noise Suppressor straight in. I also had some cheap black and teal thingy that someone gave me and can't remember what is was, some sort of flanger.

Mikesb: Lukather has a pretty sweet looking set up there doesn't he? Man, I'd go crazy trying to keep all that stuff straight lol. Thanks for telling me about your setup, it's amazing how in such a short period of time I've gotten such diverse answers from everyone.

OCPS470: Yeah, I agree with keeping things simple for live gigs, but I don't plan on playing live so I'm gonna go hog wild lol. Miranda is reclaiming the dining room and all guitar stuff will be heading for the basement soon, which isn't all that bad because it gives me an excuse to build a proper studio with a microphones and everything lol. Health wise I'm doing pretty good, but I think I'm going to have to give up racing motorcycles, which kinda sucks. So I'm trying to allocate the racing budget to the guitar budget, hence the interest in spending a stupid amount of money on a bunch of stuff I don't need lol.

death cube K: Which Soldano do you have? I'm really leaning toward an SLO 100 at the moment because I've been reading such good things about them, have no idea what to do for a cabinet though. I'm also checking out Mesa and Bogner stuff as well. I'll take my time and figure out exactly what I want, but for now the Soldano is the front runner. On the rig on ebay, I'd love to have something like that. But if I got it all at once, it'd take the fun out of building it lol.

opticalstudio: Yeah, budget is definitely something to consider. I won't be able to do everything at once, so I'm going to take my time and get quality pieces, starting with the basics and then building from there. I'd like to stay in the 12 to 15k range when I'm done, but I plan on it taking 3 to 5 years to do all that without my fiancee killing me lol.

Austin: Lasagna for dinner and it was prety damn good lol. Bass wah's sound cool, actually just about anything thru a wah sounds cool lol. Sometimes I'll hook my drum machine thru a wah for some really nifty drum loops lol.

quito: I was all excited about the Variax too, and played one for a short while, but from what I understand they don't hold up very well. Give them a few more years to get everything worked out on them.

michelle: LOL, sorry about that, that might be a Freudian reason behind me wanting a nice rack lol.

Quote of the day: "In the fight between you and the world, back the world." Zappa

death cube K: How is the clean channel on that decatone? I want some fat and creamy distortion, but I also want a strong, beautiful clean channel that I can do anything with. The decatone might be a better choice for me than the SLO with it's versatility but I also like the Road King, but I'm wondering how much of a pain in the ass that thing would end up being. Does that tube selection system hold up ok, sounds like an expensive repair down the road to me, but the idea of having different tubes to select to intrigues me.

Delfino Pie: Get yourself a wah that gives you the chills when you play it. I like all kinds of wahs, from cheesy seventies porno kinda wah to death wahs from above that make the amp sound like the speaker has been blown out and it just hanging in by the wires lol.

Zenfish: Phasers are cool as well as Mustangs. Do you have any recording you can post somewhere?

mowlie2000: Cool man, thanks for the info. What was the hardest thing about putting your rack together? Selection of pieces? Actually wiring up with no hums from anywhere? What kind of problems did you and do you run into?

TASTEY: You want your kitty skinned! LMAO, that's pretty kinky! I better keep my mouth shut before this conversation becomes inappropriate for an all ages board lol.

VFRrocker: Were you skipping to the loo? And yeah, no racing sucks, but that's ok. Guitar stuff is so much cheaper and very little risk of death or severe injury involved lol. I think I have the 748 sold as is, race ready and with all the spares, which is a very good thing. I was afraid I was going to have to put it back in street trim and ebay all the race parts. I'm loosing my ass, but that's ok.

kell: That Mako stuff looks pretty nice, everytime I turn around I'm finding something new and confusing myself more and more lol. The main problem is, the dealer selection locally leaves a bit to be desired. I'll probably take a weekend trip to Nashville so I can try everything I want to.

deathcube K: Hmmm, that sounds pretty interesting to me. I don't know if the SLO's clean will do what I want it to, but it's impossible to speculate on that until I play one. The nearest dealer is about 90 miles away, but it's on the way to my grandmother's place, so maybe I'll have to go visit her lol.

Brother Al: Hey, if it ain't broke don't fix it lol, I hear ya. It's amazing the differences it can make when switching the order of your pedals.

OCPS470: Yeah, I've been checking out the Lexicon stuff, so many toys out there, so little cash lol. Before I get too ahead of myself, I'm going for my basic building blocks and then I'll start adding the fun stuff. I'm gonna need a rack with 30 slots lol.

crushingday62: Not yet, but very very soon.

Clarky: I thought you wanted to be a spaceman. Did that dream go away with your appendix? lol, sorry, hope you're doing better man.

TASTEY: That would require some sort of salad shaving device then lol.

kell: Yeah, it's hard to find everything you want, I so hard to spend so much money on something you haven't heard or seen, so I'll be taking my time I think.

962: My favorite thing about stompboxes is the ability to just turn everything on at once and make some sort of god awful, stupid noise that resembles nothing at all like music. Sometimes that just feels good lol.

Austin: Thanks for giving me the links again man, much appreciated. And thanks for the link to the screaming rack, that's exactly what I need, only with blinking lights and a tuner lol.

mikesb: Very cool interviews man, thanks! Fire Garden is my favorite Vai album so it's really cool that your interview falls into that timeline. It's also interesting hearing from Stevens as I've never really seen many interviews or stories on him. Cool how the Flamenco A GoGo came about. Thanks again.

slanshroom: I know what you mean, and I think I'm wanting all this stuff for the right reasons. I'm not in search of "the perfect tone" or anything like that. I know where the tone is, 75% in my head 20% in my fingers and 5% in my equipment. I'm just a buttons and switches freak lol. I'm looking for everything from crazy synth sounds to classic Jimmy Page. Plus all those lights in the racks look really cool lol.

novjul: I love that quote, but I think it was Harlan Ellison. Whomever said it matters not, it is, and always will be a true statement lol.

Brother Al: Yeah, wouldn't it be nice if all that stuff came in a standardized size so that everything just connected real nice, like legos lol. Oh, and lookout for those suspended chords, they can get you in bad situations. There's a reason they were suspended, because they're troublemakers. Always cutting classes, smoking in the bathrooms, showing general disrespect for authority and using foul language. Well, umm, I guess I'm kinda like a suspended chord then, that isn't suspended. Or since I'm out of school perhaps I'm permanently suspended. These are the thoughts that keep me up late at night lol.

death cube K: OK, I'm chomping at the bit to go try one of these things now lol. Dammit dude, you're making me want to just go buy it right now lol. On Marshall cabs, what's the difference between a 1960A and a 1960B? Is it just an angled front?

JS JS: That's probably going to vary from amp to amp. My DS1 sounded fine with a solid state, well as fine as a solid state can sound heavily distorted at high volume lol.

Brother Al: You were up last night that late without completing homework because, like me, you are a procrastinator. : )

Ariamiac: Actually, when it comes to theory stuff I'm generally pretty lost, so as to the actual definition of a suspended chord I have no idea lol. I probably stumble across some accidentally every once in a while though.

opticalstudio: Yeah, just clubman class stuff, nothing major. It's safer to go to the track than it is to be crazy on the street so that's why I got into it. I was never very good, but that wasn't what it was about for me. I wouldn't mind doing some GNCC style ATV racing or something along those lines in the future, but at the moment medical conditions forbid it.

JS JS: It's hard for me to guess because I haven't played one of those amps, but just guessing I'd say the Blues Driver would be a better choice for you. That's not saying it won't do the same thing your DS1 does though, so I'm just guessing. Also, Sammy Andrews makes a good point. There's no substitute for a tube amp.

jazzy boy: You haven't been around much lately, what's up?

jelly man: How can you possibly sleep when something as important as cadence is on the line? I'm shocked lol.

marimariSRV: On long posts, this it the method I've adopted. I open a separate window and read along all the posts while putting my replies in the other window. When I'm finished, I copy and paste the post I've written into an email. Then I click post this message. If it's too long and gets lost, I still have it in an email where I can copy and paste in two parts to make it fit. You could do it into Word or something like that too, but my email is just a handy click so I use that.

death cube K: That's what I thought, but just wanted to double check lol.

Powerslave214: I actually don't know much about him, but I always loved that quote.

PhryDom: Trying to hook ebayers up with extras huh? That would have been a hell of a nice bonus. Glad it finally turned up man.

Zenfish: I'm not at all familiar with any Mac stuff, but death cube K knows a little about it.

VFRrocker: Yeah, parting everything out would suck. Hopefully this guy will come thru for me and he isn't just talkin shit lol.

Danny K: No, not to late at all, thanks man. I'll check it out soon, hopefully today.

novjul: Sturgeons theorem is 100% correct lol.

TASTEY: Get a helmet! Soon! Today is good! And remember, yes they are goofy looking, but think how goofy looking you'd be without your face. And half helmets or skid lids do look better, but they don't offer you any protection unless you happen to land on the top of your head. Sorry, don't mean to preach.

962: Legends of the Fall is a pretty good flick, I like it. It's kind of a chick flick, but the story is good enough to keep ya interested. It came out about ten years ago or so. I get pick noise too, but I think it has to do with my picking style more than my pickups. I'd like to blame my pickups.

Well, I'm off to mow the yard. I hate mowing. It was fun when I had a bigger yard and a riding mower. I'd roll up a joint and grab something cold to drink and just cruise the yard and cheese. Now I'm sober and I have a small yard and a push mower. At least it's a Honda lol. I could always wear a helmet and pretend I'm racing my lil Honda. Umm, yeah. One last thought: How ironic is it that we're playing a guess that song game with lyrics at a instrumental musician's website? Joe, come in here and give us a lil blue, we're getting desperate for topics man lol.

Edit: Spelling

Quito: Sounds like a church hymn of some type.

mikesb: I've been wanting to check out Lost in Translation and haven't gotten around to it yet. I've heard mixed reviews.

Quito: You mean Spinal Tap didn't write church hymns? I must have went to a really strange church lol.

jelly man: Ah, the obligatory banging of thy head. One of the many signs of denial lol.

Flagg: I bought VHIII when it came out back in the day with high hopes and ended up hating most of it. About a year ago I was talking to I think Austin about it and of course he's quizzing me on why I hated it and wanting specific examples, you know couldn't just let me bitch about it without supporting evidence lol. So I dug it out and listened to it again and found that I still hated it. Every song starts out awesome, all the intros are cool and the majority of the instrumental side of things is all right, but then Gary opens his mouth and everything just goes to shit from there. From Afar is a pretty cool song and Once has something I like about it that I still don't understand. Ballot or the bullet or whatever it's called showed remarkable promise but still fell short of my expectations, and the instrumental tune was awesome. The rest I could do without, but that's just my long winded opinion. The strange thing is that unlike you, I liked Extreme back in the day. I guess both of us were expecting what he was and both of us were surprised with different opinions lol.

slanshroom: No, I believe I understood the point of your last post. I know tons of people buy effect after effect hoping it will make them better or in search of some utopian tone, but that's not what I'm after. I just like tons and tons of variety and want to build myself a nice system that costs entirely too much money and is capable of any silly idea I should ever get, which there are plenty, let me tell ya lol. And as far as playing live, I don't think I could ever do it. I can hardly play in front of Miranda without sweating bullets and making silly mistakes, so to play in front of strangers would kill me. Plus I consider myself a control freak so no one in their right mind would ever work with me anyway lol. So in the studio I will stay. Operating budget for everything 12-15k. That's also covering recording equipment. It sounds like a lot, but I want a lot for my money. And you know as well as I do that 15k on a rack system is very easy to do. On the distortion/compression tip, will doing that help take away some of the bite a compressor can bring with it? Smooth it out some and make it not so....compressed lol.

Alexandre: It's really nice knowing guys like you are out there man, you rise above things while keeping your feet on the ground. Much easier said than done. I tip my hat to you my friend.

Powerslave214: That's good news on the EKG man, glad to hear it. An alien in there would have sucked a bit lol.

Clarky: Everyone here has bit on my question except for you lol. I'm thinking of building a rack for effects and I'm looking for opinions. What do you have now, and what have you used in the past? What do you think was the biggest waste of money or mistake you made and what was the best investment out of all of it? I expect a full report first thing in the morning lol. Just kidding.

death cube K: I've heard mixed reviews about the mods people have done to the SLOs, what's your opinion on them? I also might be looking at used stuff, so do you know how I can tell if it's been modded or not. Usually the seller would know, but if it comes from a pawn shop or something I'll be on my own figuring it out.

Austin: I know I sent you my votes, but did I ever send Miranda's? Can't remember at the moment. Killer news about DT and Yes, I'll have to see that show.

JS JS: I hear ya man, and you're not alone. I'm currently finding ways around my solid state amp as well lol. Don't worry and don't rush. You have plenty of playing time ahead of you to get all the gear you want.

michelle: RICK ASTLEY!!!! lol, sorry couldn't resist.

OCPS470: We're in liner notes stage and then it's off to the races! Won't be long now, I can feel it. IM me next time you're online, I just missed you. Cool news about your new axe. Sounds like a good idea on the demo songs for his site. You better have some pictures of it posted too.

mikesby: I can hear the chugging riff for Come on Eileen now lol. This idea is almost silly enough for me to try lol.

Artanis I: If I were smart, I would put it on the back burner. However, it's been quite a while since I was last accused of being smart. Plus, the riff of this tune is stuck in my head like hatchet, I'm afraid to take it out lol.

Ovation 1: That guy is awesome! Wow, serious chicken pickin goin on in that country clip. Country music in general is very underrated as far as difficulty. Bluegrass guys are the real shredders. My comp is acting up some so I only listened to the one clip, but I take it that guy is pretty diverse?

Clarky: I was with you on your list of song suggestion for OCPS470 and then I saw the country/roots suggestion and burst out laughing. Tons of thanks for the info on the racks. I have a million things to learn about before I really get started on this thing.

Mr Nick: I know this is none of my business, but I think I have a temporary solution for you. You need to get laid. Leave the guitar alone for a night, put some condoms in your pocket and head to the pub to find the skank du jour.

Alexandre: Thanks man, and as far as a quote of the day, I'm on the case.

death cube K: Cool. You're making it sound oh so easy to just go buy something right now lol.

TASTEY: Virgin surgery? I've never heard of that one lol. And on helmets, be sure to get one that has a Snell approval rating on it. It's worth the little difference in price that there is, believe me, and also stay away from plastic construction. Fiberglass does a much better job of distributing the force of an impact. Let's see, what else, put a "This bitch didn't fall off shit and has her own bike so piss off!" sticker on the back of it lol.

novjul: I had no idea my daily plagarisms were so popular lol. Can plagarism be pluralized? Is pluralized even a word? I think I'm just making up stuff now lol. How about, can plagarism be made plural? And if not, why didn't I just say "my daily exhibitions of plagiarism" and just avoid the whole mess? What was I talking about again? lol

Zenfish: VHIII is full of some really great ideas. You could tell that Ed had a ton of things he wanted to do, that lead off in all sorts of directions. I think this causes the album to lack any direction, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. He was definitely progressing towards something, and the thought of it actually makes me excited about what kind of stuff he's been writing for the next album, whenever that happens. I predict some very interesting music coming from him eventually.

Stu Clone: Damn dude, that sucks. A quick quote from Mae West for you: "He who hesitates is a damned fool." Don't let opportunity pass you by again, it takes wider laps with each revolution, slowly moving further away from you.

962: I have finally convinced myself that my excessive pick noise is one of my defining characteristics and that it wouldn't sound like me if it wasn't there lol. Now, on the subject of Eric Johnson, I have a lot to say, but I need to be careful in my wording so as not to offend anyone. First off, I have so much respect for him and his ability it isn't funny. He is probably one of the smoothest, most talented players of all time. But I don't really like his tone much. Not that it sounds bad, it's a wonderful creamy tone, and one very close to what I go for a lot of times. However, the nature of his tone would imply that it's used to cover up problems with technique, which I know couldn't be further from the truth for him. I guess I feel like he's hiding his amazing ability under this tone, when he's just as smooth when he plays a very clean sound. I don't know if this is making any sense or not, but this is the best way I can put it.

Quote of the day: "The best portion of a good man's life, his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love." Wordsworth

Best Riffs? No particular order

Chuck Berry Johnny B. Goode or No Particular Place To Go

Van Halen Aint' Talkin' Bout Love

Steve Vai Fire Garden Suite

Led Zeppelin How Many More Times

The Doors Road House Blues

Rolling Stones Brown Sugar

The Guess Who No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature

Fleetwood Mac Oh Well

ZZ Top La Grange

Joe Satriani War

TASTEY: No, DOT isn't good enough. DOT is for Dept. of Transportation and they will approve anything that has a minimum measurement of padding in it. The Snell Memorial Foundation actually has a very stringent test they put all helmets thru. To be Snell approved, a certain percentage of the helmets produced must be submitted to them throughout their production for testing. Any and all racing sanctions, from cars, boats, bikes, go carts at the top levels right down to the weekend figure 8 drivers must use a Snell approved helmet. The test is updated every 5 years, the current top rating is Snell 2000. Next year the top rating will be Snell 05. Also, helmets only have a shelf life of five to six years because of the nature of their construction. All helmets have a date of manufacture inside them somewhere, so don't get something that's been sitting in a warehouse for three years.

PhryDom: In Atlanta are they able to understand you with your accent? Probably not to bad in the city, but in the rural parts you could run into some communication problems lol. Sometimes down south, I have a hard time being understood and I think I sound like a hick lol. As far as the riff is concerned, the melody will come. She's just playing hard to get.

slanshroom: That sounds great man, I'm in no hurry. I can't do all of it at once anyway, I'm planning on taking a long time to do it. Thanks for the help.

Flagg: Yeah, Gary does sound a little like he's trying to be a VH guy, maybe that's why I don't like it and you do. I'd rather him have sounded like he did before where you didn't like him before. Makes sense. Wel,l as much sense as having Gary Charone be lead singer of VH can possibly be I guess lol.

death cube K: You mean you can't arrange a full endorsement deal for me? lol

michelle: Your response to Powerslave is the inspiration for today's quote of the day.

JS JS: No problem dude. I know what you mean, I want it all, and I want it now! lol.

Plum Loco: Did everything come out ok? lol

Austin: The funny comments stopped because you made fun of my dog's votes. You piss off the dog and he won't make the funny comments anymore lol.

Ariamac: There's a slightly humorous story about the riff to Smells Like Teen Spirit. Here's a quote from Cobain, "I was trying to write the ultimate pop song. It's such a cliched riff, it's so close to Boston's More Than A Feeling or Louie Louie. When I came up with guitar part, Krist Novoselic (bassist) looked at me and said, 'That's so ridiculous.' So I made the band play it for an hour and a half." At least he had some self awareness to his suckiness lol.

Clarky: Yes, definitely a big help, most appreciated. I'll be asking more question in the future if you don't mind. Thanks man. Oh, and you want me to make a list of 20 non shredders that really kick ass? Hmmm, that'll take a minute.

Ovation 1: "btw2.... Steve Howe.... The entire YES collection is filled with amazing chord progressions and phrasing that makes for some great study time!! ;-) " Yep, couldn't agree more. I'm really hoping to catch Yes and DT this summer.

mowlie2000: Sounds like an awesome book, loving the quotes your posting lol.

novjul: I don't have a definite date yet, but it's coming soon. I'll probably mention something about it when it happens lol. Actually, when it happens you won't be able to shut me up. We'll have quotes of the day saying stuff like, "The T2J Community CD Project 'Satchurated Feedback' is essential to the well being of all humans inhabiting this planet." Albert Einstein lol