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.
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