Holiday Post #3- Modtone Aqua Chorus

Ok, so I love the Buzz Boy. I was eager to try out their other pedals. I'm going to cut out any suspense and say this is nowhere near as good. Oh, it's still a decent chorus- but that's all it is. It's voiced similarly to, and functions like a Boss CE-2. So, considering you can easily purchase it for much less than the CE-2, and it definitely looks cooler than the CE-2- so it's worth what it costs, and if you're looking for a perfunctory Chorus, here you go. I, however, am looking for magic. I was raised on Dave  Fielding and his Roland RE-301, and Geordie Walker and his Bell  ADT - both of which are basically high end delay units, but both of which had chorusing features. They say that tone is in the fingers, and yes, there's a lot of truth to that. But, closer to the truth is the notion that sound is created by humans finding a perfect tool for their purpose. So, I'm still looking for my magic tool. I partially have it- I have a Danelectro Fab Chorus that has the perfect amount of depth and sweep. It just has a volume boost and horrible form factor. I'm working on perfecting it- but, in the meantime, I'll try out anything. Between the Modtone and the Donner, I've got decent Chorus tones. Again, if that is what you seek, I would seek no further. So, call it a three out of five.

2nd of the Holiday posts- The Little Bear R.Attack

You know that debate about Chinese pedals, clones and counterfeiting? This is pretty much the whole shebang in one pedal.
I mean, first there's the name of the "company"- Little Bear. This is a pretty transparent reference to Small Bear Electronics, a reputable company that sells components for making your own pedals. I bought all the parts, except the enclosures, for my homebrewed distortion pedals from them. The actual name for the company is unknown, and efforts have been made to make it appear to be a single individual, hand making these. If that were true, the guy drives himself like a sweatshop worker- he's always got 25-30 offerings on Ebay, Amazon, and Aliexpress. I have a feeling it's a front for a company that doesn't want trouble for obvious copyright infringement. Based upon components, I think it may be Motorola.  Then, there's the pedal, itself. It's a Proco Rat- toggling between the "You Dirty Rat" "Turbo Rat" and "Vintage Rat" modes means this is a clone of the Mooer clone of the Rat- with a key difference- it looks like a Turbo Rat, and it has a Motorola LM308 chip- the exact chip used by Proco in the late 1980's and early 1990's. So, this is a no-bones-about-it clone.
On top of that, I tried to buy one on Ebay for quite awhile and was thwarted by last second bids- literally within the last 10 seconds a bid would come in that brought the price to just above the "buy it now" price on a parallel auction. This would, again, indicate to me that there's something dishonest going on.
But, I had indicated my interest, and the person who bought it for me is a much more masterful wizard at the Electronic Auctions, so I suspect that this was purchased for less than thirty bucks.
So, before I talk about the pedal, itself, there's a discussion to be continued, here. So far, I have sided pretty heavily with the Chinese, and the Cloners. The continuation would be if a blatant rip off of an already mid-priced device would change how I felt, in any way. Truthfully- it doesn't, but it does strike me as something different. Now, if I'm wrong, and this really is one dude in China, making and selling clones of various pieces of gear to satisfy his creative urges- then all this is moot. The majority of the evidence points more towards piracy and counterfeit. I don't think that's what Joyo, Donner, Biyang, Mooer, or  Modtone is about. I think they're more about the same thing as every other company on the market- make money by building a better "mousetrap". The difference is that this is building somebody else's mousetrap, behind their back to sell in place of their mousetrap.
So, will I give my pedal up? Nope. It was a gift, and quite frankly, it's better at being a Rat pedal than most Rats out there. About the only thing a Rat can do, that this won't is that highly compressed nasal sound that Mike Campbell got on his back in the 1980's. I'm really good without that, thanks!
So, what should I do? I've decided to just be dead honest about it- It's a Rat clone- both words.
I cannot find fault with the build quality. This sucker really is a flat out tank, probably better than most Boss pedals. The powder coat is even applied better than most automotive parts. The LED's which are key for the optical clipping on the Turbo Rat setting ( my favorite setting- it's like a Rat on Mid frequency steroids) are hearty and strong.The battery compartment is snug and sturdy- heck the dials are firm, and metal. I will put this thing up against ANY pedal out there in terms of build. To get the hype out of the way- yes, like almost every pedal out there, it's point-to-point hand wired, and hand soldered. The difference is the shielding on the leads is thicker than most, and the solder points are finer. Truthfully, this is better work than I've seen on most electronics. If the "Little Bear" folks got it together to do their own designs, they'd be sought after, easily.
How does it sound? Well, depending upon the mode, I have everything from Jeff Beck to Johnny Greenwood. It's a hard clipping distortion with some fuzz characteristics. Which means- you've got more articulation than, say, a Fuzz face, or Tone Bender, but still not so much clarity and piano tone as a modern distortion pedal. Like my Buzz Boy, the MXR Distortion +, or a Metal Muff, it's in that strange place between fuzz and distortion. Which means I can't get enough of that sound. But, in all modes, Violin tone is easily reachable, and full bore molten crunch is a no brainer. The only curveball is that, like a good rat- there's no "tone" control, per se- instead there is a Filter dial, which filters out brightness by shaving off treble frequencies- in a stacking fashion- so, when you have the filter all the way down- no frequencies are filtered out. As you dial up the filter, you are cutting frequency after frequency off, starting at the highest , and working your way down, until, at full filter, you've just got the lowest end mids, and bass frequencies left. I prefer just to filter out the very top, so I've rarely got the filter up past the third position.
I'm not saying you should go out and get one- but, I am saying I'm glad I've got mine.

First of the Holiday posts- two Donner Pedals

So, my family knows what I do, and sometimes, they even support it. They got me stuff for Christmas. Good stuff, mind you. But, it does give me a quandary- can I be respectful to my friends and family, and still give a fair assessment of the stuff? That's why I'm starting out easy-
my son bought a Donner Jet Convolution and a Donner Harmony Tri Chorus.
Now, I have already gone on record for how much I like their Yellow Fallout delay pedal. The Jet Convolution is, essentially to flanger pedals as the Yellow Fallout is to delay pedals. You've got your Mooer/Eno/TWA/ TC Electronics mini-pedal form- which is awesome, and possibly my favorite form factor for effect pedals. At about 32 bucks, it's definitely on the low end of the price spectrum, so the sacrifice you make is that two of the dials are plastic, and... that's about it. I'd put this up with Boss, EHX, Ibanez and MXR in terms of build quality. The small form factor  eliminates some areas of error- primarily, the power source must be via an external DC adaptor. But, that's not what makes this an equivalent to one of my favorites- it's the range of sounds. I've had a vintage Ross Flanger for 25 years, that I modified quite extensively, and this little pedal reminds me of what that Ross sounded like. There is a subtle, and slight delay on the effect to simulate a "stereo" sound, the sweep and range deep and full, and the noise is minimal. It does everything a vintage analog effect does, but, because it's digital, it's far more reliable and convenient than any analog pedal ever will be. Basically, I can get first album Chameleons on it, no problem.
The Harmony pedal, on the other hand... Well, let's get the negatives out of the way-
- Build quality is nowhere near up to snuff. The footswitch is weak, the knobs are loose, and the selector switch is nearly unusably tiny.
- For all the switches and dials, there are few effects that are both musical and forceful.
- Several of the dials have no purpose at all.
- In one of the settings, the volume cut is enough to make it nearly a kill switch.
Significant problems, yes, but, even this has two really good uses- when coupled with a volume boosting distortion pedal- I can dial up some "Geordie" tones. As in- that watery "Eighties/ Come As You Are" tone and "The Beautiful Dead/ Black Moon" heavy Gothic tone. Those are some useful sounds to have in the arsenal. Unfortunately, there are cheaper, and more direct routes to that sound. So, while I appreciate the gift, this will be a back up pedal for me.

ModTone Buzz Boy

I've tried.  I actively tried to find a "boutique" hand-crafted, American- made Fuzz Pedal that truly meets the need. Here's what I've found-
1. Most boutique pedals are made for a one use gimmick. Yes, I said gimmick. Devi Ever, Dwarfcraft, Earthquaker Devices, etc- a lot of the hip names? I could find one setting on any given pedal that was cool, but it was only good for a certain application. For example- I tried out the Earthquaker Devices " Tone Reaper"- I could get a great upper mid boosted, treble rolled off sound, Like a trumpet, and it was great for if I wanted to do a fanfare, trumpet type single note line. Which even blue moon or so, I want to do. Similarly, The Devi Ever Soda Meiser?  Smashing Pumpkins tone. Done. That's it. I never want that. You get the idea.
2. Hand Crafted is a great bit of marketing, but this isn't Whittling, nor framing. Electronics actually are better made by machine- except for the soldering, and here's the deal with that- absolutely every pedal, most amplifiers, most radios, basically everything but video games, phones, and Mp3 players, is hand soldered already. In that respect, there is no difference between your Klon and a clone.There is no artistry in putting together a PCB- only in selecting components, and quite frankly, the mass-made stuff quite often- but not always- has better components.
3. American made- I'm no longer certain that's a virtue. We're incarcerating at Chinese and Russian rates. We're top three, for pollution. Our social net is terrible, our politics are corrupt, most of our businesses are criminal- I'm struggling to find a reason, here. I've heard the "jobs" argument, but show me the booming boutique instrument, effect pedal, or "craft" item maker that employs more than 5 people. There are things to buy American, and good reasons to buy food locally ( transportation is a big one) but I really cannot think of a truly good reason to think that buying a Klon Centaur is necessarily a better thing than buying an Electro Harmonix Soul Food.

Now, certainly there are exceptions- most notably Matt, with Noisemaker Effects, is a good human being, who is bringing well made products into the marketplace, and isn't trying to rip you off. Likewise, PureSalem guitars are trying to bring something heartfelt into the marketplace- even if I can't say they're truly "American Made". But, as a rule, I think a lot of this is trying to conflate the really good indie business model- like Jon Wye with simple snobbishness,  trying to justify the rip off of paying 20 times or more of the  material costs ( seriously, the components to make a muff style Fuzz will set you back less than 10 dollars. Buying a Fuzz pedal for over 200 dollars is like a Government Contractor Pork Barrel scam ).

So, enter Modtone. I've been digging the way a lot of their stuff looks ( just look at this pedal. Look at it!) and I've been thinking that the design seems like a good middle ground between Boss and Electro Harmonix, and MXR/Dunlop. You've got the solid footswich and small footprint of MXR, with the pretty graphics and warmth of EHX, with the super-solid construction of Roland/Boss.
But, 100 bucks for a Chinese pedal, seems a bit much, to me, when Joyo and Donner, etc can do just about as good, for half or less.
That changed- from Youtube clips, and pictures, The Buzz Boy was bar none my favorite pedal of their stuff- and it got dropped. Now, it was showing up on clearance and discount sites. So, for 30 bucks, I got one.Let me just say- HELL TO THE YES!!!!- this is a great fuzz pedal, exactly the opposite from my complaints regarding the boutique stuff- I'm able to dial up everything from sustain boosted overdrive to buzzing, crunchy kill-fuzz- and it fits! I never hear a musically displeasing tone, I can use it for a variety of styles from stoner to garage, to noise, and it works. I think that's because it's not a pure Fuzz tone- more like a Distortion/ Fuzz hybrid. Furthermore, it plays extremely well with other pedals- so, I can add a mid-cut in a separate overdrive, and I get Metal-style distortion, or I can add reverb with a slight treble boost, and get garage madness, no problem.
So, while "Change my life" might be a little strong, here- it's definitely crystallized a thought for me- screw 99.9% of that trendy boutique bull- I'm sticking with the stuff I like, and I think the stuff getting downvoted is better- I think the Chinese stuff, like Joyo, Donner, Hotone, Mooer and Moen is innovative in the form factor, and competitive in the sound category. I think the mass market stuff- Boss, Digitech, and MXR kicks the butt of finicky, unreliable stuff like   Dwarfcraft and Catalinbread. I think a lot of people are falling for hype, and I'm done with it. Look, there are some boutique folks making quality stuff- you'll note I've not bad-mouthed Wampler, or Z Vex, or TC Electronics, but the price point on that stuff is still pretty high, and quite frankly, I'm not going to spend 250 bucks to get inches further towards some sound I like, when 50 bucks gets me most of the miles- I don't think there's enough utility in that. I mean, for example- My Biyang baby Boom tri-reverb doesn't sound 100% as good as the TC Electronics Hall Of Fame. But, I'd put it at 90%. So, is it worth the extra 100+ dollars? I don't think so. I could( and did) run the Biyang with another reverb, and I hit that 100% mark, and still spent less. Or, the big example- my Joyo Ultimate Overdrive might not be able to hit that dark, clear overdrive sound that the Fulltone OCD does- but it gets so close that a minor goose on the Amp's EQ gets me the rest of the way- and it cost about one quarter as much. But, I will put my Donner Yellow Fall delays up against any delay on the market, and I bet none of them will get that voice that they have- an analog, low-mid boost that sounds like a well-used tape echo, with a patina of wear- I actually prefer their sound to just about any delay ( the only exception is a vintage early 80's Memory Man) - and how can you argue that the design is great?
Likewise, the Modtone Buzz Boy. I think it looks better than anything Earthquaker has made, and it's more ear-pleasing than anything Devi Ever has made, and it's more usable than any fuzz pedal- save for the Z Vex fuzz pedals- and here's something novel- if it ever breaks- I probably could find a one-to-one replacement. Think about that, the next time you're tweaking your Tym's stompbox.

Breaking a promise, but hear me out.

So, I bought more guitar gear. It's still this year, so, yes, that violates my promise to ease up and buy no more gear, this year.
BUT- I bought a guitar that went to my wife. Then, I bought a guitar that kinda matches, for me.
Both of them are First Act. Now, I wouldn't say they're top quality. Not even close. However, my wife's is a prototype one-off from the custom shop, and it shows- much higher quality cut of wood for the neck- a really good chunk of maple, with a decent rosewood fingerboard. The frets need a little dressing, and I've done that for her. The tuners are comparable with a decent Squire- meaning they're workmanlike, but not horrible. I'll replace those for her, but it's not crucial. I can't tell the body wood, but it feels pretty lightweight , so I'm guessing poplar or basswood. The single pick up is actually pretty sweet, and sounds more like a Fender humbucker than a midrange heavy Gibson. The Tone and volume controls are good, solid speed dials. The hardtail bridge is decent, along the lines of a Korean Strat copy, as opposed to Chinese.  The paint job is fairly thick, with a couple of flaws, and the pickguard, though purely ornamental is pretty chintzy. Adding all that up- I'd say I feel good about giving this lavender beasty to my wife as a first guitar.
So, I went out and bought a First Act ME1980 to go with it. It's a righty, so, yes, mods must happen to make it playable. But, again, the neck is really good, the hardware is a downgrade from my wife's, and so must be replaced, I was expecting to replace the pick up, but it's got a nifty zing- I've not heard a hot humbucker voiced in this range before- it's got tons of upper mids- like a Japanese Hot Humbucker- put through a treble booster. The pickguard is so terrible that I removed it immediately- it's a piece of plastic that feels like packaging, not part of the instrument. I can see from the screwholes this is a very cheap light wood for the body, but heavier than my wife's so I suspect it's a plywood body. So, call it a Korean made Danelectro take on a Melody Maker, and you're not far off . It will be changed, mark my words. So, here's a Pic of my wife's and a link to mine. Yes, that's a Toys R US link. Deal with it.Oh, and I spent less than 100 bucks for both.

The Problem of Leisure

I have a question rolling around in my head. Even if we're "poor" most of us, in America have something that we spend money pursuing, even though it serves little practical purpose. For some, it's a sport, for others it's collecting something, and for me, it's guitar-related stuff. I know, from my own hobby, that it really isn't about "thwarted dreams". I could play guitar in a band, if I wanted to, probably within the day. I always know musicians, and I know how to get gigs, and I even know how to make it marginally successful. But, I really don't want that. I'm sure it's the same for, hmmm, as an example, my brother-in-law who, later in life discovered Motorcycles. I'm sure he could either develop a couple of exhibition bikes to show around, or could take up racing, or otherwise turn it into a business. I have a friend who loves rugby. He's a big burly type, who is unafraid of pain, and has the discipline that I'm sure he could turn semi-pro ( professional rugby in this country doesn't really happen- but, now that I think about it, he might be good enough that he could emigrate to say, Greece, and play professional- but I'm too ignorant of the leagues to know how realistic that is) but he doesn't. I'm fairly confident that there are those with thwarted dreams, but I think for most of us, it's just a hobby. So, with that being the case, a question arises: How much is too much? I don't really have an answer, but I'm trying to work that out. 

Let me clarify: I cannot justify buying a vintage left handed Jazzmaster guitar, and a full sized Orange Amp, because I'll never use it professionally- that equipment belongs to, and should be owned by a professional musician, and it would be an obscene extravagance for me to spend 10 to 20 thousand dollars on a hobby, when I have people who need me. But, with the extreme out of the picture, how about this- would an 800 dollar guitar, and a thousand dollar amp be too much? How about five hundred, each? Where's the line? Likewise with time: I know that playing 6 hours a day is ridiculous, and would leave little time for other needs, but is it too much to spend say, 2 hours a day? At what point does the time investment become absurd?

Again, I haven't fully answered this for myself, and I think the answer is necessarily a bit "fluid". For example, now that I have no children living in my house, yes, it's ok to spend a little more time playing esoteric scales on the guitars I already own, and yes, it's ok to buy an extra guitar or three, because I have the space and money, but if that conflicts with my wife and her writing hobby, that would cease to be ok. So, I'm not looking for a hard and fast answer. I'm looking for an outlook, or a philosophy. 

This is a blog about spending money, or not spending money, so I figure this is as good a place as any to work this issue out. Granted,  very, very few people are reading this, but I'm open to input.

There will be more about this. Hey, maybe it'll become my own little sub- hobby: a "how to" on having a hobby....

Sansa Clip Zip

I don't feel the need to be in the cultural thick of it where my devices are concerned. I've got an LG smartphone, but wouldn't mind a Samsung. I just don't feel the need, just yet. Likewise, I still have an Ipod Nano, but never use it, mostly because it's difficult to "jailbreak" it from Apple's truly wretched Itunes software. Instead, for the past few years I've been using a SanDisk Sansa Clip +. I still think it's the apex of Mp3 player technology. It'll play any format- so I'm not really stuck with FLACC or Mp3, has a drag-and-drop loading system that's easier than typing this sentence, and has expandable memory- so I can load up to 32 gigs worth of audio onto it. On top of that, you've got radio, and a recording device built in. I would strongly suggest it over against using your phone, or Apple's dreadful software. So, after several years of continuous use ( generally about 3 hours a day) the headphone jack has gone a bit wonky, and it's mono. Fair enough,and I'll still use it to listen to books, radio and podcasts, but for music, I got a Clip Zip for 25 bucks. It's roughly the same deal, and the only real changes are: A. The sound is a bit more bass-heavy B. It's got a full colour screen C. it's got a "sport" setting that I can only guess is either a pedometer or stopwatch function and D. It feels a little more lightweight and flimsy. Because I'm just using it for music, I'm leaving it with the standard 4 Gigs of memory. That's more than enough for the 250 song playlist that I keep. More than 250, and the chances that I hear some album cut that I don't like goes up exponentially. At 250, I have enough variety and selection that I rarely feel "burned out" on a song.

So, while you're struggling to get the new U2 lp off your playlist, or cannot upload that groovy Polish death metal record in .OGG format to your playlist- I'll be out for a jog, listening happily. See? No need to join the personal tech rat race.

The Biyang RV- 10 ( Baby Boom Tri Reverb)

You musicians can claim to be original all they want- the truth is, they're fashion victims as much as the next guy ( or girl) . You've got your Stevie Ray Vaughan followers, buying stratocasters, winding the bridge pick up hot, stringing the guitar with telephone cables, and playing through a Tube Screamer ( or better yet, a boutique Tube Screamer clone) into an under 10 watt tube amp. You've got your Noise Rock nerds playing Aluminum guitars into Traynor Amps, set on "crackle". You've got your Shoegazers, and 1990's  indie Rockers playing Jaguars and Mustangs, with a big Muff and a fender Amp, with the reverb all the way up, and so on.
My fashion set, as a guitar player is closest to the Youth Pastor at a Church "Praise" band- I go for stuff that's inexpensive, yet can approximate the Tone Lawyers. ( The Tone Lawyers are the guys buying "investment grade" guitars and Amps- all very tasteful, but not necessarily "gig ready" )
In my fashion circles, then, there was a big wave of dudes who totally lost their minds on the Biyang Tri Reverb. It's not quite a clone of the TC Electronics "Hall of Fame" reverb pedal- it's a different design in most of the key factors- but the reason for its popularity is that it can approximate some of the HOF's best tones. I'll admit- the trendiness is what hooked my attention, but I got it for this reason- while I've got a great sounding Spring reverb on an Amp, and my Digiverb can handle the shoegazer special effects- this Biyang is the shortest and simplest route to a shimmery "Post punk' reverb- you know that "big" guitar sound from about 1985, that went from The Edge to Geordie to Simple Minds, to heck I think Culture Club even had it a bit. I set the switch to "Hall", the "A/B" to "A" and keep the "Blend" and "Time" dials somewhere between 11 and 2 o'clock, and I'm on it. No real tweaking required, and I've got that big wet reverb. Combined with the Digiverb, and I'll give the Catherine Wheel a run for their shoelaces. Combined with my Fender Amp, and the JAMC have competition, but on its own, I've got everything from Dan Ash to Geordie to Reg Smithies. That's a lot of my tastes, right there. So, yes, I'll follow fashion, if I look good in it....

Two more Guitar Pedals

I'm no snob. I don't need a brand name, but what I do need and want is utility. I want stuff that meets my expectations. So, if I bargain hunt, I don't want to compromise. I happen to know that several things I like have a large amount of  "inflation" on the price (  nicest way of saying they're gouging) . For example, I know that stomp boxes aren't expensive to make. Assuming the boutique guys are paying what I'm paying, and I know I'm over-paying, The average distortion pedal is about 20 bucks in parts. So, let's be generous, and pay them 50 bucks an hour in building the thing- which is about how long it took me- then, 70 bucks really is the most, reasonably,  they should charge. Go Here and find a seventy dollar dirtbox. There's about 10% of their total. So, is it bargain hunting to expect a lower cost? I don't think so.
I've got friends who basically believe in magic, and I don't blame them. I understand. If you put an Earthquaker Devices pedal up against a similar Boss product, of course it destroys the Boss. But, rather than think of Boss as substandard, it makes most folks think of Earthquaker as superior. I have been pretty relentless, and while Earthquaker are probably the best of the high dollar "Boutique" guys, they are overcharging- in some instances less than what they could, so bravo to them for that, but still, it's a little bit of magical thinking to say that , for example, the Monarch overdrive is five times the pedal of the Joyo Ultimate Overdrive. I think the Joyo stuff is a little "underpriced" in the Wal Mart sense of the word ( How Wal Mart gets such low prices is by bullying overseas manufacturers, who generally comply by screwing their workers) but that in no way negates how much Earthquaker ( and others, who are far, far worse) are over-pricing. I'm willing to bet they could shave off 30% of their price and still make a profit, just fine- and while they'd still be too rich for my blood, I wouldn't think of it as quite such a game.
But, the problem of leaving the brand name behind is that you are on your own. See, it's a hype machine- the magazines and blogs, and so on are all built in- you'll find reviews and demo videos aplenty for the hyped brands, but apart from Joyo, who caught fire on a couple of pedals, there are precious little resources out  towards informing folks of all the manufacturers.
So, I bought this Nady Tremolo on Ebay for a ridiculously low price, and had no information going in. Zero.  It turns out that it sounds about as good as a Boss ( meaning on the lower end of mediocre. Not terrible, but nothing special) and is as ugly as a Danelectro ( meaning hideous beyond words. It looks like one of those "Hang loose" feet, in orange, and is huge) . It's worth what I paid, but I wouldn't suggest paying a realistic price for it ( generally it sells for about the same as the Boss- so, then, just get the freakin' Boss).
Even though it cost me a bit more- the Hotone Octa is another matter altogether. This is what I'd call a bargain. Generally, you can pick one up for 70 bucks- and it does virtually everything I would do with the 215 dollar EHX Micro POG. No, it doesn't sound quite as natural on the Octave up- but it's a matter of taste not genuine quality- The Hotone has more warble, the Micro POG has more distortion. So, you have to ask what you're looking to do- I'm looking to double up a few melodic lines- basically play some dyads that sound more like harmonies- Which is what the Micro POG is usually used for, as I hear it. So long as I keep it to whole notes, not more than a bar of sustain, the warble doesn't really come into play. In every other way, the Octa just trounces the Micro POG- first off, this is the smallest pedal I own- it's even smaller than my EBow. That's a feature, to me. It way too small for a battery, but seriously, if it's not a dying battery thing for a fuzz pedal, is there any reason for a battery? I can tell you a big reason against Batteries- throwing toxic heavy metals away every few months. As I was saying, sonically, it's as good as the Electro Harmonix, but that's in standard mode- in the "dirty" mode, which is not polyphonic ( able to handle chords) it keeps up with virtually all the analog "sub-Octave" stuff out there- from the DOD Octoplus, to- get this- the MXR Blue Box- It doesn't have its own fuzz, but I swear it does the single note blend thing as good as the MXR- and when I add my own Fuzz, I've got a Stoner/Sludge monster. In the polyphonic mode, adding a dark overdrive, like the Joyo Ultimate Overdrive produces that "organ tone' beautifully.
Now, I got it on Ebay for 50 bucks, postage paid. Getting it for that might be challenging, but still possible. So- consider that. I could spend 150 and get the Earthquaker Devices Organizer, I could spend 215 , and get the EHX Micro POG- and each would give me slightly different options to arrive at the same place this 50 dollars got me. That's bargain hunting, to me. It wouldn't be if it didn't get me there, any more than if it cost more.

Zenni Optical

So, I now own 4 pair of glasses from Zenni Optical.
They have the distinction of being the cheapest glasses I will buy. I could go cheaper, but I refuse to go that cheap. See, for the most part, there are very few actual manufacturers of glasses. Oh, sure, they'll slap different labels on different types, but they're pretty much all made in the same place. So, it complicates things- I know that my Lookmatics are still made by Luxottica, but my Mezzmers as well as the Zennis are made by Asisn upstarts. I honestly cannot tell which one, but I suspect Mezzmer is with Wenzhou, or another really large Chinese firm like Optibiz, whereas Zenni is more obscure- but still likely Chinese. I suspect that the manufacturing process is more "mass" and definitely less labor, and eco friendly than either Lookmatic or Mezzmer, but at least they're not all the way down there with some of the Indonesians- and that's why they are about as cheap as I will go. It's worth noting- and it's absolutely best to know, not guess, where the stuff you own was made, but in this world, and especially when it comes to monopolies, you have to make compromises.
Anyway- so I owned a pair of reading glasses from them, from last year's deal- they had a four for the price of three deal, so I bought three pair for my son, and one pair for me. This year's deal was three for two, so I got three, and my son got three. Here's my Three: "Blue Steel" "Retro Metal" ( AKA "Cory Doctorow") and  "Hipster Clown" - Zenni doesn't bother to name their styles, so I've done it for them.
So, what do I think? Well, Blue Steel is very much what you'd expect- super cheap, but not as cheaply made as what you'd think- like  most Chinese products. They create the most gnawing guilt- I'm pretty sure they were made by sweatshop labor, because the price vs. quality vs. flaws just fits that profile too well. Retro Metal is actually very comparable to a low-to middle end Luxottica product. I'd put them on par with Oakley. Not bad.  Hipster Clown actually is garnering me compliments, and I'm not so self assured that I can completely ignore that. They're still very cheaply made, and that's obvious ( I'd put it at Wal Mart type quality- aka "at least I didn't get it at a swap meet" ), but they evidently look good to other people, and they're the first pair of glasses since my Lookmatic Clubmaster-inspired "Austins" that get remarks of "Hey where did you get those? I want a pair!" So, I'll take it. So, all in all, I'd call it a win. Oh, and total price for my order was about US 160.00- which is what I'd pay for one pair of Lookmatics, with all the bells and whistles that I like ( which still beats the pants off of the 300 to 400 I'll pay, using my insurance, at a brick-and-mortar. Without Insurance, I'd pay more like 500 to 600) so, again, not bad.
Basically, Warby Parker still rules hell, for having the least amount of guilt, coupled with a decent price
(unfortunately they can't quite hit my distance prescription so I just have a reading pair). Mezzmer is a very close second, and Lookmatic might be third, but they win over both for style points. But Zenni still is slightly on the "good guy" end of the spectrum. If they start doing the moral equivalent to "carbon offests" I'll eliminate one of my other choices.

Why I like Junk

I don't like "junk". I don't like the conceptualization of objects as "junk". I think of that as wasteful, and petty, and disrespectful to other people.
But, let me back up a bit. While this same argument can be used about anything from cookware to shoes, I've encountered it the most with leisure purchases. Cars, Guitars, Grills, and TVs. I can certainly see how there are objects that harm the user- Aluminum cookware, lead paint, and the like. Call that "junk" if you want. However, usually, what is meant is " that object is not up to my fine standards, and you should be like me". I object to that. Take cars, for example- I literally ( and yes, I mean absolutely and exactly) drive cars until the wheels fall off, the engines explode, or the vehicle simply cannot be repaired. So, for most of my life, I drive what others would have called "junk"- some rust, some wear, maybe not the most classic of designs, you get the idea. I feel that's a responsibility. The amount of resources that go into a car, from insane labor practices to toxic materials, to the destruction of fossil fuels, means that, to me, it's irresponsible to be the cause of additional cars being manufactured. If you have a car, it's your responsibility to wring every little bit of use out of it as possible.
Another aspect is with Guitars. I have belonged to various online forums for guitar players, and it never fails- some "newbie" will asking about starting, and out come the people to tell them what they should buy. Every single time, the end result suggestions are an over-expenditure. They'll tell them to buy a 500 dollar guitar, a 500 dollar amplifier, and more. And why? Because you don't want to buy "junk". Bastards! Well, I'm telling you it's a flat out lie. My first guitar cost less than a hundred bucks, and I had to learn how to make my first amplifier- but had I purchased one, I would've been happy with an equally cheap amplifier. I still keep a check on my purchases. I'll never be spending more than a paycheck on any piece of musical equipment. You know why? Because I'm not playing to impress 20 people out of the 500 hundred who paid to see me. That's what that extra money goes to, seriously. You know what the difference between an Epiphone and a Gibson is? Pure vanity! They're both made with questionable labor, and parts, with questionable quality control- so don't go telling me about Korea, China, or Tennessee, because I've actually been to both Gibson and Epiphone manufacturing centers. You know why "boutique" manufacturers charge so much? To make you think it's worth it. I know this because they'll say it. And the people who buy into the claptrap- who are the majority, easily, - they'll bully people who disagree. ( So, to get along, I won't exactly "disagree" with them- I'll just fail to agree)
I don't own a manufactured grill- I make them when I need them. So, there's no bragging rights to a campfire. It's a matter of skill versus status, in my mind. If you're skillful enough , the convenience of the machine isn't needed. If I know how to gauge heat and mass and the transfer of caloric energy to transform my raw food into the cooked state I want, I don't need the controls and gauges. It's about mastery versus success. Success is, by and large, in the eye of a beholder- if other people say you are a success, then, you are. However, if you've mastered something, you have made it do what you want.
Finally, I don't have some TV as big as a coffin, that costs as much as a bathroom remodel. I have a 32" Samsung that cost less than 400 bucks. Some would call it junk- it's not smart, 3D, or anything beyond. It's not even up to 1080, like my computer. You know why? Because I get to define it- not the manufacturer. I say it's a visual speaker for a visual HiFi system- more like a Stereo system than a radio, get it? It's there to simply translate the electronic content I'm feeding it, not to interpret it. I like that. I like my objects to do exactly what I tell them to do- and no more.
So, no, I don't like the designation of quality to be in someone else's hands and mind. I don't like "junk" anymore than I like "Fine" or "top quality" ( or "organic" or "gourmet" or "professional" or any other marketing term that people have given themselves over, in an effort to appeal to their insufficient self esteem, and overinflated vanity). No matter what- even if it's buying stuff- I believe in living in my own world. I'm a materialist in the most exacting sense of the word- I believe the physical world is a much better judge than your conception of my perception. So, no I don't like "junk"- I like my stuff.

An Anti- purchase

I buy what I want. Basic rule of American Capitalism, right? I guess it can be interesting to talk about what I don't buy, as well, right? For example- I've bought two guitars since starting this blog, right? Why didn't I buy some other guitars?
Right, well, I didn't buy a Gibson because while the cost is high, the quality control is about as varied as the cheapest guitars- so why spend the extra? Two grand expenditures seem like a heck of a gamble. Likewise, Fender guitars are  more consistent than Gibson, but they're very little better than their much cheaper Squier range- so I would consider a Squier, well before a Fender- however, at the same price point, there are literally dozens of other brands that achieve the same thing as a Squier, so there's no real reason to go with Squier as opposed to Agile, SX, Douglas, Stagg,  Jay Turser etc, etc.
Of course, I could try to find some hand built custom thing, but it's hard to justify paying the same price as a used car, when I could get very near to the same place at the price of a nice night out.
Likewise, there's a lot of "cork sniffery" with buying effect pedals. I believe the "cork sniffer" tag got applied to guys who, much like a buyer of fine wine, spent enormous amounts of cash to buy something with probably less actual use than a much cheaper variation. You don't drink a 6000 dollar bottle of wine, you might sniff the cork. Well, likewise with effects pedals- I've seen, very recently, bids higher than what I paid for my effects pedals on some Devi Ever aborted attempts- I mean three figures for an effect pedal that all it has going for it is that Devi Ever might possibly have touched it. Seriously! They're even clearly labelled as "non functioning". I've also seen high dollar bids on the box or instruction manual for an effect pedal- so, why didn't I buy a Devi Ever, or Earthquaker Devices, or Fultone pedal? Because I'm not interested in sniffing the cork, nor in spending quadruple the amount to get to the same place.
My basic point is that I don't buy stuff without thought, and careful analysis. So, why I'm not some kind of label groupie, or connoisseur should be obvious. Less obvious is why I don't have a bunch of the cheapest  chinese made knockoffs- and the answer to that is simple - most of that stuff won't get me to where I want to go. Example- the Danelectro 600MS delay pedal I got just does not suit my purposes. The decay rate is too short, the depth is too extreme, it just doesn't sound right. So, I've got two of the Donner Yellow Fall echo pedals, and that gets exactly where I want. Costs more, but it was the most direct route to the sound I was after ( somewhere between Geordie and Surf Music)
The same thing goes for other purchases- jeans, Cars, Houses, you name it- I don't buy what I don't want, so one of the keys to this project is getting a clearer idea of what I want- and honing in on exactly that. Whether you do it in a blog, or with your friends, or just in your head- I'd suggest that everybody do that.

A Quick Follow Up

My PureSalem now has a name! I have been emailing with Rick Sell, who not only confirmed that it is, in fact, a PureSalem protoype, and that the body is a solid piece of mahogany, attached to a solid Mahogany Neck- that he likes my name for the model- so, it's now officially a "Louie". I know, naming guitars is just a childish thing, but this is at a slightly different level. You can say it's yet more childish, but considering the names for his other guitars : Brave Ulysses, Tom Cat, and Sad Fester, I think it's a vote of confidence that he agrees with the name "Louie De Palma"- the guitar is short, dark, angry and has no tone control.

Another Guitar??

Yes, I bought another guitar. Now, you might think that this blog is about buying guitar stuff, and in the micro-sense, it might be. What I mean for it to be is a documentation of how I'm finding my way, in what I purchase. I don't mean letting my stuff define me, but the reverse- how my self-definitions play into what I purchase.So, I'm finding that, as a complete music nerd, the most resonant ( geddit?) purchases are those that involve music. I don't know why I'm so stuck on music. My Dad played guitar, but not professionally. My Mom sang in the church choir, but again, nothing professional. I can't tell you why I started trying to be a roadie at 15, a sound engineer at 25, joining bands in between, and not really quitting that circus until I was 37, thus meaning that somewhere around half my working life was based on music and sound. So, at this point, me buying guitars isn't about fulfilling a fantasy of being a rock star or something. It's more like a woodworker buying a new Bosch  circular saw, or a day trader buying some penny stocks. It's me asserting my little self over the course of my time, here.
That doesn't mean that I'm not aspirational. If I had the money for it, I'd have a Martin D-28, customized to be fully left handed, and a vintage Jazzmaster, again lefty, and a couple of Gibson guitars, most likely a vintage Melody Maker and an early 1970's SG, and a Mesa Boogie Mark II, and an Orange custom Reverb, and an H&H I/C 100, and so on, and so on. Two of those "aspirational" things are the lovely guitars from PureSalem, and vintage, early 1960's mutant guitars- you know Supros, Nationals, Burns, Danelectro, Silvertone, Teisco, and so on.
So, by a fluke, I was able to meet several of those aspirational desires, this week. I got a PureSalem guitar.  Don't look for it on their website, because, when Rick Sells was looking to make his guitar company, he tried out several designs at several different manufacturers. The prototypes that he made that represented manufacturers that he didn't ultimately go with, he sold on Ebay a few years back. One of these was bought by a fellow lefty less than 10 miles from me. I never knew that guy, but he decided to sell his prototype on Ebay, and I bought it. So, mark the "PureSalem" box checked. How about the mutant factor? Well,  the design is  about one half a Silvertone/Danelectro 1448, with the remaining half taking bits from the Silvertone/Kay  1410, and the 1963 Gibson Melody Maker. Doesn't that pretty much fill the bill?
See, it's a solid slab ( I can find no seams, joints, or bindings, and the stain and poly are fairly thin, leading me to believe it's real, solid wood) of what appears to be Mahogany, with a definite, and set Mahogany neck, and a single pick up- so you've got your Gibson there. The small scale  (17 Fret)  neck, the body shape, all on one side tuners with a paddle headstock definitely calls up the 1448. The red color, pickguard shape and humbucker voicing calls up the 1410, but really, yes, this is a mutant. It's got a few problems, typical of this kind of purchase- there's some glue on the neck from where they were sloppy installing the nut, the action is set on Slide ( almost a quarter inch up from the body, and about half that from the upper frets. The prior owner liked really thick strings) the Humbucker is a muddy no name, and the tone control has come loose and is therefore useless. But, all that is tweakable.
So, why should you care about my purchase of a guitar you will never, ever own? Why should it matter to anyone but me? In a way- it shouldn't. That's part of my point in this blog. Most folks when they talk about stuff, are trying to make you envious of their stuff. They are saying "I got this, it's cool, and you should want to get this, too". The ultimate aim is for their ego- I have cool stuff, therefore, I'm cool. Well, I know I'm cool enough for me. If you think I'm cool, well, good for you, I guess, but it doesn't matter to me. If you think my stuff is cool, again, good for you, I guess, but it's far more important to me that I think my stuff is cool. What's more important than any of that, is the question of your ego, your cool, and your stuff. See, I'm offering up my process to legitimize your process. So, if, let's say, you're a book collector, and a former Librarian- then, I'm presenting this as an encouragement for you to talk about what makes for a cool book, in your book. Let's say you dig cars- well, then, I'd want to hear about some obscure Auto that only you can explain- get the picture? I'm talking about the stuff as a way to get to the ideas.
In this case the ideas are as follows:
1. It's not magic, but if you follow your muse, your singular desires, eventually, your ideas will manifest. In my case, take a look at the manifestation- this little guitar checks off a lot of boxes, and not necessarily compatible ones, and yet, here it is, purchased for less than the price of a decent family dinner at a restaurant. I don't think it's a deity, or magic force. I think it's a matter of tuning your perceptions, and essentially, creating a radar for the way you want to see the world. I really dig the stuff I was describing above, so I was turning my attention towards it. When things conformed to that set of desires and aesthetics, I would pay more attention to it. That allowed me a better "eye" for what I wanted. I'm not saying we create our own reality, but I'm saying we choose what to put our minds into, and that affects our perception of our actual reality.
2. None of us are alone- think about this- wanting a guitar made by PureSalem, a lefty, and following both Gibson and Sears catalog aesthetics is a pretty obscure, lonely thing- and yet, there was somebody almost within walking distances to me who evidently at least partially shared that aesthetic. That's an incredibly comforting thing- none of us are truly alone, no matter how alienated our lives make us. If you look, you will find like-minded individuals.
3. If you examine both yourself and your "evidence" ( the physical traces of your mental existance) you might come to a different understanding than if you kept it to a purely mental exercise. For example, through this purchase, I've come to understand that most of the reason why I like PureSalem is that these are not "trash" guitars, they just reference guitars that are. So, not only does this guitar scratch the itch, it fills the desire- because nothing is more "trash" than an old Silvertone, but this is actually a fairly high quality guitar, and I wouldn't like it as much if it weren't.
4. Owning something is a collaboration. In this case, there is the guitar, as is, then, there's what I'm doing with it- playing, and tweaking, and adjusting. It doesn't matter if it's a camera or a fridge- it's all an interface between you and the manufacture.
5. Pictures can be better than words- have a look-see:

Blue Glasses

So, I still like Lookmatic. I've found that Mezzmer has a few frames that function better, book Lookmatic still has better style, and are just spot-on excellent for prescription sunglasses. So I got a pair of the "Jones" in black ( evidently their last pair, as the frame is not on their site any more) with blue lenses- let me tell you the blue lenses are key- they actually seem to work with my eyes such that I see details better, and more clearly when wearing them- it's like "Hi Definition" sunglasses. Very cool, and if you have blue eyes like me, I suggest you give them a try.

Guitar Fetish

So, in trying to build the "Stagcaster" I've made some mis-steps- the Aluminium pickguard just didn't work out as every one I tried just didn't fit, and the guitar tech that I asked to check my set up actually turned out to be less savvy than me and now I've got some fret buzz (I'll fix that- probably have file down a fret or two, and will raise the action ever so slightly) but one thing that worked out great was going to Guitar Fetish for parts.  The Tele Knobs look great, and function much better than the stock knobs, the copper fill acts as a pretty good noise gate, and best- the Alnico neck pick up sounds great and balances perfectly off the existing bridge pick up. The result is a quiet, but ideally "Telecaster" sound- as in there's a good amount of "spank" or treble response on the attack, and the notes ring out in a chime, with a slight upper mid boost on the decay- this versus the bridge means that on the three positions the bridge tone is slightly harsh and biting, the middle (out of phase) position sounds bright and full, and the neck position sounds bright and bell-like- that is, nothing sounds like a strat, or generic single coil- everything is well within the range of tones you'd expect for a telecaster- but it's got just that little extra bit of signal strength that makes it best for a twangy, steely sound. Good stuff, and now, I think I'll look into some of the other things they sell....

It doesn't have to be big

Little things can make me happy. But what's a little thing? I got this little computer lamp at IKEA .  a five dollar USB LED lamp which might seem little, but I use it about 3 hours a day, and it's noticeably saving me money because I'm not using desk lamps. That seems like a big deal to me. I guess it's a matter of perspective. I don't get real excited by  new TVs. I know other people do, but I'm more into the technology of my Roku box, than the monitor for it. I get very excited by new CDs, but I've got basically the same stereo I've had since my son was born - I just have added new components. Which is why a blog like this is interesting to me- I find it fascinating what seems important to other people, so I'm hoping that others might find it interesting what I find important. It doesn't have to be big, it just has to be big enough.

Now, it can be said- the Noisemaker Effects Plus

Ok, you may recall that I got this for my birthday, more than three weeks ago- so, why so long to talk about it is that it was a bit defective. Matt was very candid with me, and admitted to me that he never got particularly excited about the design on these, as he wasn't really operating on his wheelhouse- duplicating old designs wasn't really his bag. So, I suspect with his mind on other things, it wasn't his best work. So, he offered to have me send it, and he'd fix it, free of charge. Now, keep in mind, I didn't buy it from him- I bought this second hand at Reverb- which, by the way, has serious problems, and I wouldn't suggest going there- and he still was going to fix it. So, again, his customer service is incredible, and, I strongly suggest you patronize him, if you need a guitar effect.
But, that takes time, so I only got a chance to really try it out, today. The executive summary is that it's a great, but limited pedal. To get it out of the way, no, it doesn't sound like a MXR Distortion Plus. Quite frankly, that's impossible. The MXR Distortion wasn't just one set of circuits, nor even a consistent set of components- a 1974 will not sound like a 1978, and even two 1978's won't sound exactly the same. So, no, you cannot clone a Distortion Plus. You can get close, and get inside the range they cover, but you can't nail down that moving target. That having said, this is aimed toward a distortion plus, but definitely is voiced differently. Some things the MXR does better, others the Noisemaker does. What it does exceptionally well is a medium gain midrange distortion ( with some small fuzz characteristics) that still has great note clarity. We're talking American Hard Rock crunch distortion. It's a great sound- and the way to dial it in is not intuitive. See, the limitation is that you can't really get great high gain, nor low gain sounds- you crank both gain and volume near to all the way up, and there you go- a "Marshall' kind of gain, but with presence. You also can't get that nasally bite that is most associated with the MXR- Randy Rhoads. Add an overdrive before it, and an EQ afterwards, and maybe, but my MXR can generate that tone by itself. So, no, I wouldn't use it to replace my MXR, but I will be using it- mostly with humbuckers at high volume.
Now, Matt has discontinued the pedal- you most likely will never own one which means that my point is not to get you to buy one. My point is two fold- the first, and primary one is this- with anything creative, whether making electronics, or sculpture- you're far better off with something original- duplication is never exact. The second point is that , at their best, products are a reflection of their producers. Matt is a good guy- that shows is how he conducts business, and in the products he sells. You cannot go wrong in dealing with a good person.

Some New Glasses From Mezzmer

I've got really pretty bad eyes. I don't have the worst prescription of anyone I know, but it's definitely on the worse side, not better. So I appreciate well made glasses. Mezzmer does glasses extremely well. They don't have the biggest selection, and basically, if you don't like retro plastic glasses, they have nothing for you. However, I do like retro plastic glasses, so they have plenty for me. So, I got two new pair from them- a pair of the Oscars in black, and a pair of the Astaires in brown. I like them as glasses, and they fit well, and are very well constructed. The only thing against, is that I have to get a new eye doctor. This one has got my prescription slightly off, again. I can still use these, but I can't use them for the reason I bought them- as computer glasses at work. I can read just fine with them up to about 20- 22 inches away from my face, but my computer at work is about 28-30 inches away, with small type. These will be fine for reading books, but because my doctor still doesn't listen to me, they will not function as I need them to function. It's definitely been that kind of day. So, I will have to go to another doctor, pay for an eye exam out of pocket, and then, I can order a new pair... Absolutely not Mezzmer's fault. and again, the glasses themselves are great. Just a pisser...

The Stagg T320 SB LH

Yes, the name is a mouthful, so, from here on out I'm calling it the "Staggcaster".
I already explain my reasoning behind buying this, but now that I have it, what do I think? Well, it definitely has the traditional "look", and some of the sounds definitely fill the Telecaster shaped hole in my goals as a guitar player. But, with it being a cheap guitar, I'm going to get the negatives out of the way, because I know that's what people want to hear- what's wrong with it that it sells so cheap? Well the biggest drawback is this neck plays like a Squire neck. That might be a selling point to some, but I've owned some Squire guitars and I don't like their necks- the shape is just off enough from what I can comfortably hold that they slow me down. I haven't had that problem with Epiphones, Agiles, Samicks- you name the cheaper brand, and  all of them play a little faster for me. The next problem is the neck pickup. Now Tele's are noted for having boxy, uninspiring neck pickups, but that isn't the problem here. This is just a nondescript sounding pick up. It just sounds like a single coil. It could be a strat neck pick up, a single coil jaguar pick up, a Schecter single coil, you name it- just generic sounding.
I also must mention it's a used guitar. It has a couple of issues based on that: there are some very light scratches on the pickguard, there's a small dent near the rear strap button, and a nick on the bottom. It could probably use a new set up, but it is perfectly playable. Oh, and the volume knob is a bit loose, and therefore causing a very little bit of noise.
That's it. I have cataloged all negatives. Seem like a short list? Because it does to me, too. Yes, the neck is a little slow but the action is low, and that makes up for it, for me. I was able to get some wailing blues style bends with almost no effort If I can figure out a way to speed up the neck, I will, but while I was planning to swap out the neck, there's no way I will, now- I was expecting cheap maple sealed in a tomb/tube of polyurethane. Nope! satin finish flamed maple- better than some Fenders I've played. Seems pretty stable, and the truss rod has not been adjusted, so I like that. I've had stability issues with virtually every Fender styled guitar I've ever owned though, so we will see. Right now, I like that it's satin finished, and pretty.
That neck pick up has got to go, though. The one in there is utterly lame. But the bridge is full bore Tele twang and spank. I'm probably going to leave it because it's the loudest, clearest single coil pick up I have on any guitar.  Until I replace the neck pickup, I'll just treat it like an Esquire.
Since I hate the white pickguard, and will replace that post-haste, I might as well replace the knobs with these GFS numbers, and so, I'll replace the volume pot, at the same time. Mark that solved.
So, the guitar was bought on Ebay, for under a hundred bucks. So I wasn't expecting much, but after putting it through some paces, I really like this guitar. I had no idea I was missing a Telecaster sound so much. It's making some of my pedals sound brand new, and it's opening up some frequencies and techniques I really haven't explored- for example; as a joke, years ago I wrote an AC/DC styled  cowboy chord piece of rifforama called " Blow on my Dice". It's a lame joke, but a useful set of riffs. So, I tried that out, and lo and behold, instead of the expected "Malcolm" tone, I got Billy Squire, and I really liked it. Again, there's no saving the song, but it totally livened up the verse riff, and gave a new energy to the rave up bridge section which is mostly vamping in B- which is tough to sweeten, but I'll be damned if this didn't have just a few grains of sugar. So, totally worth it, right there. So, yes, it's a cheap guitar, but it makes me feel happy about my playing- and for a guy like me, who is done with playing in bands, but still likes to play, that's huge. So, yes, it's a great guitar, and with a few tweaks, I will have a new not-so-secret weapon!

Birthday stuff- the Prequel

My Birthday is coming up this week, and, true to American form, I plan on spending some dough on stuff I want and don't need. Now, this has been stymied somewhat by some circumstances beyond my control, but there still is stuff to be had. Of course I don't know what others have purchased for me, and that will be another post. For this post I'm just going to briefly mention the stymied part, then talk about the two things I ordered.
First, a week ago a business near and dear to me suffered a serious setback- Functional Utility had their main shop totalled. A hundred year old tree fell on the main production facility. Since this directly affects the income into my house, yeah, that puts a crimp in my ability to spend like a Yank. Then, worse for me individually, I had my checking account frozen. See, the Visa folks reported to my bank that my debit card may have been compromised. My bank didn't inform me, so when I used my card, as I normally would, this triggered a fraud alert- so they froze the account. I wish I could tell you "never use Bank of America" and you'd never have this problem, but I've been a banker ( it was a low point in my life) and I can tell you it could've happened at virtually any bank. Since I'm trying to help people, let me tell you what to do if it happens to you- first pull up two tabs on your web browser. On one tab look up your state's Attorney Generals office. On the other, pull up your bank info. Then, call you card services. Act dumb when you dial in, and get through their phone tree by dialling zero. you want to start low on the totem pole. you want a human, but you want a human who has little reason to protect the bank he or she is temping for. When you get them, don't go off , but be super insistent they tell you what's going on. Threaten with the info from the Attorney General's office. Make 'em think that you're dangerously crazy, but not in a criminal way- in a pain the keister way. They'll run you up the chain to a floor supervisor, right quick. The floor supervisor is there to retain your business- so they'll try to work with you. Now, you just tell them exactly what happened, and remind them- this is your money and failure to help you get at it is a violation of the SAFE act.  You might not get your debit card, but you will get access to your cash.
So, anyway, I still purchased two things, both used, both at bargain Ebay prices: I got a Stagg Tele Style guitar and a Noisemaker effects Distortion plus clone.  Now, both are in the mail, so I can't review them, but I can say why I got them. The tele copy I got partially because of the price- I could get what, by all accounts is a decent guitar for 150 bucks, at about half that. But, I wanted a Tele because a lot of guys like I like play tele type guitars ( not mentioned in that article: Guy Kyser of Thin White Rope, Black Francis of the Pixies, and Joe Strummer) but I wanted certain elements of a tele, without others. I wanted the ashtray bridge. I wanted the bright tone, and I wanted the weak neck pick up. I didn't want the weight of a real Telecaster in Ash, or worse yet ( and more authentically) Pine. I think Alder is "spanky" enough, so long as you've got a top loader. So, add to that I'm a lefty- and the field is pretty narrow, and really doesn't include a lot of Fender options. Now, I do love Rondo Music. The other serious contender based upon a price vs features comparison would be this one. But, saving about 70 bucks speaks pretty loudly to me, right about now, so the Stagg won. We'll see if I made a good choice.
The Noisemaker thing? Well, you know I'm in love with Matt's products. You know that I'm a GIANT fan of the distortion plus ( pretty much up until 1985, MXR could do very little wrong) so, when I could pick up Matt's take on a distortion plus, and get it for well under 50 bucks, and I know he's discontinued the model? Yeah I had to go for it. I'm definitely going to be pruning the effects collection, though- geez. I've got a lot.

Die, Hipster, Die!

So, it was kismet- Noisemaker effects listed on Cheaper Pedals? Yes, please! A great company, being distributed by another great group of people- that's important to me. I'm no nationalist. I don't care if it's Merkin or Chinese, or Auf Deutsch- because I like it when everybody has a decent job. But, I'm much more inclined to buy from a nice person than from either a machine or a jerk. Matt and Elliott are nice people. That's a rare thing when it's nice people, up and down the line- I can't say all the way up and down- I don't know about Matt's parts resource- could be sweatshop labour, I don't know- and I can tell you that my local USPS are a bunch of jerks, with exactly two exceptions. Still, it's more than a bit more secure than ordering from, say, Danelectro.

However, I'm sure the question would obviously be- why not just buy from Matt, directly? Because Elliott is a good person, and in a position to do good- not everyone is combing through the Reverb and Etsy lists, like I am. But, people do google search terms- and I can see 'cheaper Pedals" making it into a google search, can't you? So, Elliott can make sure than people who otherwise never would have heard of Noisemaker Effects not only can become aware, but can purchase them. It's the same reason why you book at show at a bar, instead of at a BBQ, or why you put your record out on a label instead of on your own  hand press. Yes, there's a slight loss of purity, but it's worth it for the increased visibility. There's good reasons not to, of course, but if the Bar, record label, or in this case, Pedal salesman is one of the "good guys" who can fault you?

All that having said- what did I get? The Dead Hipster. I got that one for three reasons- it's low gain, so I can use it as a boost. It's one Matt, himself, uses. If that's not enough, I also got it because it is not transparent. See, I've heard complaints about the Dead Hipster coloring the sound, and I just think- why would you get a low gain dirt pedal that doesn't color your sound? I mean, at that point, you're better off just getting a low watt Tube Amp. I know that Epiphones are showing up at pawn shops for under a hundred bucks. I think you want a dirt pedal to either really distort your signal, like a fuzz, or Metal pedal, or you want it to bring out certain frequencies. I've already established that I like mids- I literally made a low gain pedal to do exactly that- bring up the mids to ungodly levels. So, the Dead Hipster brings the "jangle"- which would be your upper mids, to lower treble range. I'm not quite ready for a treble booster, but bringing out those upper frequencies is exactly what I want in a low gain distortion- I want overdriven Tele to lipstick tube Dano tones. I know Matt likes that too- because if you listen to any of his sound clips, everything he plays has the upper mids cranked. If you are looking to boost your signal, highlighting the upper mids is like an Amp's "presence" getting cranked- it's a sure way to be heard- because upper mids are far more directional than lower mids- you're literally cutting through with the smaller wave form. But, that brings me to the main reason why I got it- low distortion, big boost. I noticed with my Donner Party that Matt makes LOUD pedals, so I knew he was my man for a boost. So, why didn't I get a Suckerpunch or a Loudmouth? I really considered both, but like I said- jangle. Why just boost when you can shade the EQ in the direction you want?
So, I got it today. That was fast. I ordered on Monday, late. It's Thursday. I plugged it in with the Epiphone and Vox first- instant Rockabilly roar. Then I went Strat into Vox. Quite a bit more reedy and wiry, I think with a little tweaking, I could get overdriven Tele bridge tones out of it. Tried it Strat into Fender- huge amounts of attack and snap, very percussive. I goosed the gain, and got into a really vicious punky tone- like Joe Strummer on 1st album Clash, so I play the intro riff to "Clash City Rockers" and was amazed at how closely it nailed the tone. This inspired about 45 minutes of New Wave riffing, everything from Cr@SS to Tom Petty, it might not have nailed all those tones, but it was close enough for cover band work. I didn't get time to do the rest of my tests - Epiphone into Fender, Strat and Epiphone into Crate, Strat and Epiphone into Sovtek, etc- but here's my statement-if you want slightly overdriven New Wave to late 50's garage rock, here you go.

The Serendipity was too much

So I mentioned that Noisemaker Pedals was on Cheaper Pedals? Well, I couldn't resist- I cashed in a discount, and got the Dead Hipster pedal. It feels good to support two good companies with the same purchase, and have you heard the sound clips on this thing? Low gain, but lots of top end with just a bit of grinding dirt. Imagine how that could combine with a high gain fuzz like the Donner Party, or with a darker voiced overdrive like an OCD, or my own Darmstadtium pedal? I can see this thing being a real mainstay on the rig. What it seems like is"garage band in a box" which really appeals to me. I will follow up with a review.
I know that I can get obsessive- I find a nice Ben Sherman striped shirt, and the next thing you know I'm a slightly more Anglophile version of this guy. But, there's something serendipitous about it- People don't know that Guitar Center was a front for Bain Capital, and now Ares . People don't know that Gibson has been busted for illegally harvesting endangered species, and is partnered with Onkyo . Most of the "good guys" are priced above what guys like me can afford ( and with good reason, mind you)- so finding that two of the "good guys" are working together? Yes, please. On top of that- I seriously hope that others get into Noisemaker Effects, because I think they sound great, and are not voiced in the typical "creamy" or 'screaming" or cliched way-but I'm nowhere near a great guitar player, and it'd be great to hear some really talented people approach the "Noisemaker" voice.

I'm Excited!

Some marriages are meant to be. I think this one is. Noisemaker Effects are now on Cheaper Pedals!  I think this should open some minds via their ears. I'm not claiming to be a market analyst or anything, but I think if the Joyo crowd gets into Noisemaker, it can only mean good things. See, the folks buying joyo pedals tend to be semi-working musicians. Guys playing in "Praise" bands on sunday morning, and girls in cheesey cover bands, who practice after a day working at the local Pre-K or call center. I might have the specifics slightly off, but I know I'm right in my direction. These are the people who get snubbed by the "Boutique" makers- an OCD pedal, a Klon Centaur, or a Strymon Blue Sky is not going to be marketed towards them. They can't justify 250 bucks for a pedal, when they get paid less than 20 bucks, if at all for their music- you know? Yet, I know these people- they're professional- and sometimes they're better musicians than the Rock Star that everybody wants as an endorsee. The snob factor ends up working both ways- these "blue collar" musicians tend to call the boutique folks "cork sniffers", while the Boutique folks call them Amateurs, or "garage" musicians. But, see I've been a working musician, and better yet, a sound engineer- I've worked with all of the above, and I can say that rare is the piece of equipment that can make you a better musician. Really, the difference between a Boss DS-1 and a Zvex Machine gets lost if you're playing on a 75 watt Line 6 amp, miked to a church PA, and even if you can hear the difference, you're still talking about a minute difference, when all you're playing is a four chord campfire song, you know? But that guy might want the Zvex for chasing down a tone, when he's playing for his own amusement. This is where Noisemaker comes in- Matt's stuff can do several shades of Big Muff, only better, and can do the Devi Ever "crazy fuzz", and can do a better version of the Memory Man than the TC Electronics Flashback. Because his stuff doesn't get higher than 120, that means that our man in the choir can afford to play around for his own amusement, and might just discover his muse, apart from trying to sound like Billy Corgan, you see? So, I'm totally ready to throw rice at this marriage! Best of luck to all involved!

Another Pawn shop surprise

So I picked up another Amp, today. I went to the Pawnshop, actually planning to get a super cheap headphone amp I saw there before, but I decided to give this ugly, unloved Fender Amp a try, and talked the guy down to 50 bucks for a fairly loud 25 watt solid state Amp from the mid 1990's- a Fender Automatic SE. Look at the thing.  The design is obvious- Solid state, all the way, with an attempt to fool you into thinking it's a Champ . It's got these cheesey presets that, instead of having names, have pictures- a cowboy hat, and Eagle, a power lifter, a rocket ship and a mushroom cloud. Near as I can figure, they are clean, mild overdrive, distortion, fuzz, and heavy fuzz. You've got built in reverb ( which doesn't work on mine) and chorus ( which does) partial EQ ( treble and bass) and a ( I believe) mid cut button ( it just has pictures of a single coil and humbucker). That's about it. The distortion sounds completely sterile, and the fuzzes are just microphonic feedback. There's just barely enough bass. Sounds Crapty doesn't it? Here's where it won me over- putting it on the eagle setting, with the treble slightly goosed give a great stinging, and twangy sound- it makes my strat copy sound like a really good Tele- I mean really good. It makes my Epiphone SG sound like it's in some early 1980's post-punk Dance band. It's a really good sound. Some of the others are acceptable, but that one is really good. Then, that chorus? Perfect- just the right amount of depth for your goth infected post punk dreams- what I'm saying is that it sounds like an HH Studio 50. I can see how that's not lighting anybody up. It should- Daniel Ash, Marc Bolan, Andy Gill, mean anything? So, yeah, it's a sound I really like. But, here's the use I want to put it for: I've still got the Crate CR65, right? How about I roll the treble down on that, and crank the bass on it. Then, I keep the Automatic SE where I've got it- as a kind of biting mid range, which a slight lean towards treble. Then, the Vox to emphasize a smooth high end. Mix all three- and I think you'd have a completely unique, but still very good tone- it wouldn't have that lower mid mush like a marshall, and it wouldn't have the fizz of a Fender- I'm thinking since it's all solid state I could get somewhere around Jazz Chorus/ Gallien Kruger territory-and then, my pedal army could come into play- If I do it, I'm going to call it my "SRV Helicopter" rig. Mean? Yes, but Stevie Ray Vaughan was known for playing through a bunch of small tube amps, right? This would be the same idea, only about as anti-blues as you can get.
So, what's the point about discussing some piece of junk I bought at a pawn shop? Because finding something that pretty much only I will find "cool" is my whole point of being on this earth. See, yes, this is a blog about stuff- but the stuff we buy should be a reflection of us, not the other way around. So, should you want one? Maybe, I don't know.  Much more my point, and this will always be my point- you should want to find stuff that allows you to feel as excited and cool about yourself as my stuff makes me feel.

It's "Voice" in Latin

I don't mean for this to be "Max's Guitar Stuff"- it's just that lately, almost all of my "fun" purchases have been guitar-related. I promise that, soon, I'll talk about some other purchases, but for now...
So, my Crate CR65 practice amp ( meaning my main Amp-I play "Living Room Stadium" nightly) is very, very old. It still works, basically. The reverb tank is shot, and the brightness switch is a dicey affair, but I can still plug it in, and crank out noise with it. But, it's from 1978. I have owned it since before the 1990's. So, it's time for a change. I've been looking at the Orange Tiny terror, but a lot of my friends have gone in for Modelling. So, this is my compromise: I went down to the pawn shop and picked up a Vox Valvetronix VT15.  It cost me Seventy bucks, which is pretty dirt cheap. The pre-amp is all tube, so it's a heck of a lot louder than most 15 watt solid state amps- I'd put it up against a 40 Watt Crate or Randall. It's got several different modelled voices, but I have stuck with the AC30 for the most part. It's got lots of built in effects models, but I have stuck mostly with the Reverb, only. I really don't care for most of the model stuff. All it ends up sounding like, to me, is really bad early 1980's rackmount BS- Alesis styled stuff. Again, I've got lots of friends who swear by that stuff- but here's where I think the difference is- people want to sound like the records. I want to sound like the live performance. Keep in mind that I know this makes me a minority opinion, here. For example- virtually every Metalhead likes the Metallica "V" shaped EQ. I strongly suspect that Hetfield developed that because he loved a bunch of the New Wave of Heavy Metal bands from the UK- these were bands he could not see live, ever- so he was copping virtually everything from his home stereo- which would benefit from cutting out the midrange- see, Treble is directional, and bass is sensual- so crank the bass, and you feel it, crank the Treble, and the sound goes right to you- the end result is that it simulates standing right at the lip of the stage, where you feel the bass in your chest, and every cymbal snap translates directly to your spine. However- here's the problem with that- things like Cymbals, keyboards, and Snare drums have those frequencies, while Bass guitars, and kickdrums have the lower frequencies- with a live band, the most space for the guitars is in the upper mids- that V shape means that you have to kick up the volume in order to be heard. If you cranked the mids, you wouldn't be competing against the other instruments, and could be heard. Hate to tell you this- but that tone- from James Hetfield to Dimebag Darrell just sounds like frosting on the beater to me- a sweet mush with no distinct flavor. Likewise, the modelled Amp and effect sound- it just sounds flat, to me. So, lesson learned- I'm sticking with regular solid state from here on out. Still, I don't want to write about what I don't like- and this is no exception- While the AC15 and AC30 sounds really don't sound like "real" Vox AC's- they are better than passable "clean tones" and the reverb is a nice touch of wetness- so, it sounds good with my pedals. I can crank out some nice crunchy tones really easily, and with a little more work, I think I can get some Fender Champ type chimey tones. That means, at 70 bucks, this'll do, just fine. Still think I need another Amp, and I never have trusted tubes, at low volumes, but this is certainly a nice little Amplifier.

Yet more Pedal chain stuff

So, this will be the last of the pedals for awhile, unless I get some via gift, or horse trade. But, the pedal chain feels pretty complete. What completes it? A Behringer US600. Now, Behringer specializes in copying Boss pedals, but this isn't a clean copy of either the Boss PS-6, or the Digitech Whammy, it's more like a hybrid of the two. Used with my DOD Octoplus, I can get a decent Micro POG type sound, but without it, I can get a far more natural harmony effect just using that function- just select your key, select how many semi tones off you want your accompaniment, and you're off to the races. I can't say I get Thin Lizzy leads, but it does sound pretty much like a second lead line. Just using the Octave up, I can nail an Octavia tone. Using, the detune, I can get a chorusy/vibey effect about half way between a Chorus ensemble and a Univibe. Using the Trem effect, I can get the Tom Morello squeal- but I really haven't mastered that, as yet. I'm sure that with practice, I can get everything from Dimebag grunts, to Dan Auerbach divebombs. Finally, it's got a function  I haven't even tried yet called "flutter" that's a trem into detune effect. That's a lot of functions, yeah? For a hobby player like me, that's just unbelievable. It'll take me years to get all that use out of it. But, as an added bonus, it's making me a better player- I have to think about the notes and their relationship to each other, in order to get it to sound 'right" to my ear, so I have to compose even my improvisations- If I'm 5 semitones up, and in D, I'm going to have to stay in key, and even then, I've got to choose my notes carefully, otherwise it can go south quick.
So do I suggest it? At 50 bucks, absolutely. I could even see the point in getting a tuner, a dirtbox, and this pedal, and calling that a full chain For players who are more compositionally advanced this might just be a goofy little toy, but still, it's a fun toy But, for most of us, this will be both a fun little effect, and a good exercise. Sometime, I'll have to take a picture to show my board, but yes, I'd say it's pretty dang complete, now.

I don't just buy guitar pedals

I'm pretty pop culture obsessed. I know it, and it's ok if that disqualifies me as a person of taste in your eyes.
But, I do lots of things that have very little to do with Music, TV or books, or what-have-you.
However, the purchases I want to talk about today are related to music.
First, I had misplaced my black hooded sweatshirt. I'm sure it's around somewhere, but I cannot function without a black hooded sweatshirt, so long story short, I went to K Mart to get a new one. While there I happened to notice a Faux leather jacket in a slim cut, vaguely Motorcycle style- exactly the sort of thing I've been looking for, so's I can look like Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo. It was only after I bought it ( for 12 bucks, pretty steep discount, there) that I saw it was part of Adam Levine's line of clothes for K Mart. It doesn't bother me that people might notice this. But, it wouldn't be the first time. I also bought a shirt that was part of Justin Timberlake's line for Target, and I've got a pair of glasses that supposedly Jason Schwartzman designed for Lookmatic. I don't think anyone will confuse me for some teen trying to cop their mojo. But I have noticed the trend of supposed Pop & Rock stars turned into barkers, a la Bill Hick's rant. I think it's a far cry from what guys like John Baizley of Baroness or Ryan Patterson of Coliseum do. They actually seem to be trying to express an aesthetic, not endorse a product, you know? So, that brings me to the  T shirts I got. I got Coliseum's "Decade" shirt for me, and got the Cat Skull T Shirt for my wife- because she likes Cats.
Maybe I'm a hypocrite for thinking it's different, but hey, there's also a pretty good chance that, at some point, I'll be wearing both the Adam Levine and the Ryan Patterson stuff at the same time. Also, both are heavily tattooed musicians, right? I'm also not so shallow as to think that Adam Levine is invalidated because teenage girls think he's sexy. I just think that it's far more likely that Adam Levine has a team of people, including someone who came up with a "co branding" idea to put Adam's name on merch to be sold at K Mart- and that his "design" experience was to say yes to designs that his  people told him fell in line with his image.
But, again, I don't really care. If I'm at a gig, and I wear this jacket, and some sneering 20 year old hipster looks cross eyed at me because he recognizes it as an "Adam Levine", I don't think I'll notice. I'll be too busy enjoying the gig. Hell, yes, it's important that I feel that I look good- but no, I don't really care if some people disagree with me on that count. On the other hand, I really hope that somebody asks me about the T shirt, because I'd love to turn people on to everything I like. And, I think the stuff Ryan does is Art- whether you're talking about visual or musical Art. So, yes, I'm excited by the T shirt, and I think I look pretty spiffy in the jacket, too...

Noisemaker Effects Donner Party

So, after checking around, in several ways, I bought my super-high gain Fuzzbox. I went with the Donner Party from Noisemaker Effects.
Why this pedal? Because I've noticed that a lot of high gain Fuzz pedals either sound like a Big Muff with a dying battery or they sound like digital noise. I wanted something that was high gain, but emphasized the upper mids- in other words the frequencies that the electric guitar was actually made to make. See, I might like sludge metal bands, but a lot of them- even ones I like, make their guitars sound like basses, or possibly violas. Fair enough, but listen to an unprocessed electric guitar- humbuckers, P-90's, or single coils, the frequencies you hear first are in the upper midrange . As distorted and maxed out as I like the guitar, ultimately, I'm about the guitar, not the effect pedal. So, I wanted a fuzzbox that did that. The Donner Party stands out in that fashion- sure the harmonics are HUGE, and yes, this sucker is high, higher, highest gain, no one will think of Black Sabbath, here. Might I someday get something from Devi Ever, Dwarfcraft, or Earthquaker? Sure, I might, but this definitely has scratched the high gain fuzz itch, without resorting to sounds I've heard too often.
So,  the very first thing that captured me, before I even completed the purchase was the phenomenal commitment to customer service that Matt has. Seriously, this guy goes way above and beyond what you could and should expect.
But, then, I got it.Before it shipped I noticed the price- for a boutique ( i.e, "hand made") item, it's priced competitive to the mass market stuff- compare the Donner Party at 66 bucks to a Boss Hyper Fuzz (between 80 and 150) or the aforementioned Bug Muff  (70-90) .
But service and price are only worth it if the product is good. This is a good product. High quality components, with a great modern design- it both looks good, and is built well.
But the reason to get it is the sound. I could dial up everything from crunchy to glitchy in seconds of trying it out.
The thing is this- I'm not sure, because I haven't opened it up, but it acts like a kind of outrageous pre-amp. Very, very loud, with a fair amount of noise artifacts- I can't put the level up much past 9 AM on the dial without serious input frying volume boosts, so I paired it up with an attenuator (an EHX Signal Pad ) . Even then, you definitely do not need a line boost with this. With even my beloved MXR script logo Distortion +, there's some volume loss- so, again, this operates more like a pre-amp on crack, and with the extra volume control of the attentuator  - it's kind of like chaining an Amp into your amp. I can see how all the cliches about nuking the speakers, and bleeding eardrums might be possible with this thing but this isn't really a problem. I'm just trying to give you a heads up to avoid any potential problems.
The advantage of this model is the responsiveness- By adjusting my guitar's volume knob, I can go from noisy, fizzy overdrive to what-sort-of-8bit-nonsense is this? in less than 4 beats. That makes it pretty much exactly what I was looking for. Have you heard Aeges' Southern Comfort? Well, the noise they get on the bass ( I think. Could be a really down-tuned guitar)  is the floor of fuzz I was looking for- going from grainy to glitchy and back. But, don't take my word for it- listen to it. If I'm not mistaken my very pedal was used for the demo.
So, I know I've said things about boutique pedal makers, and etsy sellers, and makers of all descriptions that might seem to contradict this. I told you that I think it's complex. Noisemaker Effects and Matt are a standout. He genuinely is making something different, and his business practices are sound, and the amount of BS is kept below the minimum threshold. What I'm saying is this- yes, let your own tastes dictate, but if you want my example of someone getting it right, here it is.

Ever consider that the little guy may have a Napoleon complex?

A lot of current hipster/liberal/indie kid thought is centered around what I consider to be a fallacy. This myth that it's somehow automatically more noble, more ethical, and more pure to support the little guy.  From Grateful Dead parking lots, to Etsy to Farmer's Markets this idea has been tenacious- but it's not true. Buying crap is buying crap, regardless.  Sure, you can dress it up in words- be it "Luxury" or be it "Fair Trade"- but the naked fact is still- you're exchanging money for goods and/or services. Now, your job in this transaction is to meet your demand- to get the best, and most for your money that you can. The seller's job is to get as much of your money as they can. How each of you do that is up to the individuals involved. So, if to you, it's more important that you buy a hemp watchband than that you buy a cheaper nylon one- that's your demand, not anything else, right? So, when sellers use a term like "hand made" or "local" as marketing terms- they are preying upon demand every bit as much as the proverbial used car salesman using the words "cheap" or "sale".
I'm pretty self aware, and, yes, environmental concerns are pretty big for me- I do try to eat fairly local, because I don't think it's a good idea to ship corn across the country to put it on my plate- and I do try to keep my own driving down. But, if I were to only shop local for say CDs, I wouldn't have much to choose from. My solution to this is to buy a lot of downloads from Amazon, and Bandcamp and so on- but that means it's a little less direct than going out to see the bands, and buying CDs from them- but at the same time- sometimes that can be a good thing too- ever meet some rocknroll guy who comes across all kinds of "right on" on the record, but is a total ass in real life? I bet you have. Because it happens a lot. The same thing goes for buying local, or hand crafted. For every gem, there has to be at least 50 jerks.
So, an example- recently I conducted an experiment- I wanted to gauge the customer service for several boutique guitar effects companies. So, I wrote and called several. Guess what? I found a goodly percentage to be utter jerks. Some never contacted me back, some were rude in their replies, some gave out prefabricated "form" responses. So, how would that be better than going to the guitar store, and paying less to get the same metal box, that does roughly the same thing as their little metal box? Now, there was an exception-as I said last post- Noisemaker Effects. Oh, and they charge roughly the same as the mass market folks- maybe even a little less But, again, it's the exception that proves the rule. Likewise, I used to go to the "Crafty Bastards" giant craft fair in Washington DC. No longer. I got tired of being herded around like I'm shopping at Best Buy on Black Friday, and being overcharged for "Art" that came from a kit. I used to go, to see some friends- but now, I'd prefer to just chat with those friends, and buy crap online.
Think about Ebay- supposedly, sometimes you're buying from an individual, right? Ever have one of them rip you off? Or, how about this- ever have one of them bid on their own item at the last minute, to raise the price beyond your perfectly reasonable bid? Individuals suffer from greed and dishonesty at least as often as major corporations.
So, your hemp watchband? You got that because you wanted a hemp watchband. The nylon one probably has about the same moral weight as your hemp one.
This same thing applies towards services, by the way. I've watched, with frustration, as my Parents have gone to a string of bad mechanics because those mechanics were "friends" I've seen many a young girl get just horrifically bad tattoos from their boyfriends who are "apprentices" at some parlour or another. I've watched neighbours get ripped off by their "christian" plumber.
What I'm saying is that if you really wanted the nylon watchband, don't let anyone guilt you into the hemp one. I'm saying if you really wanted to go to the Ke$ha concert, not the Neko Case one, go and do. Most importantly, don't put up with a seller who tries treat you badly, like there's something wrong with you, unless you buy exactly what they want you to. It's up to you to satisfy your needs. Don't let people tell you that you're bad for it. Unless you're eating Big Macs. Those things are horrible!