The Sniper's Nest from Listen Up

What was I doing March 8th ???

2009-03-11T10:36:00.000-07:00

SEEING THE BRODACIOUS MOTLEY CRUE SAINTS OF LOS ANGELES SHOW !!!
It would seem that the ticket gods are smiling in my general direction. Thanks again to Donald from Boyertown WRFY comp tickets didn't go to waste. With the Crue were The Last Vegas, Theory of a Deadman and Hinder. I wish we could say we actually saw the Last Vegas, but, the hold up in line, 45 minutes plus, to be wanded and frisked meant we would only hear muffled parts of their show. By the time we reached our seats they had left the stage.
Theory of a Deadman was great. Not being familiar with their music, I was pleasently surprised. I will be buying their CD just for the song I Hate My Life. Awesome.
Hinder was much better than in Reading Austin Winkler's stage presense when not singing stil leaves a lot to be desired, but, at least he sang all the songs and didn't rasp through them.
Motley Crue. What else can I say? 25 years plus and these guys sound as good now, maybe better than, as they did then. Kickstart My Heart started the show and Home Sweet Home ended it. They kept it going almost non-stop in between. The Saints stuff sounds pretty good live and I think they will probably have several hits off of that album. It is a bummer that Mick Mars is so ill. While his playing does not suffer his exhaustion shows and at the end of the show he couldn't even hold the weight of his guitar to put it on a stand. A roadie rescued Mick and his guitar before they both crashedo the floor. The show ended at 11 pm and it was a long drive home. Oh and as for the boast that Motley Crue has the loudest show in the world, I have to respectfully disagree. From personal experience, Ted Nugent still holds that title. My earing was back to normal in a day from the Crue show, Uncle Ted was still whispering in my ears three days later.

The winning shape for the head stock is ...

2009-02-13T09:04:00.000-08:00

Like I said, Ignoring the directions was first on the agenda. Then it became obvious if I didn't want a neck that looked like a boat oar, it would have to be shaped.

The first idea was simple enough. A little curve with a drop and a notch cut in the end. From a woodworking stand point a piece of cake. From the bodacious outworld looking standpoint it wasn't quite complicated enough.

Oh, hey, that's better. Lots of points and reccesses to cut and sand. Mentioning the fact that I would have to stand on my head to make some of these cuts would be a futile gesture of wanting to really do the other design ...

Between me and myself the choice was made. What is not really obvious is that there is a color scheme attached to this shape that actually makes it make more sense. Off to the shop I went, simpleton that I am, not considering what would happen if I made a cutting mistake. You can't put it back after you take it off. Caution and Patience were the words of the day ...

Notice that I wrapped up the rest of the neck to keep it from being scratched on the saw or sander. Cutting was done slowly and from many different angles. With any curving cuts there are saw marks and when I was finally done cutting the saw marks that were left looked like the grand canyon. The sanding took much longer than the cutting. If you are going to try this just remember to keep the piece moving on the sander. Don't stop or put too much pressure on one spot. Moving sand paper can eat away wood at an alarming rate. Keep it moving with always light pressure.

Next will be figuring out paint and how to mask the areas that don't get painted. Quick and easy is what I'm hoping for ...

And the Rock Gods Smiled ...

2009-01-20T11:17:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday to ME !!! The Rocks Gods have again smiled upon me in the form of tickets to Three Doors Down, Hinder and Hubastank ! Thanks again to The Donald from Boyertown. Oh by the way, I am taking the next day off, they probably wouldn't want me around the next day anyway I'd be even more useless than I am normally ...

I bought it on Ebay and it came in the mail ...

2009-01-20T04:42:00.000-08:00

WTIM's latest project: Startocaster style kit.

Sometimes you get more than what you bargin for. When you play an electric guitar it doesn't seem that there are this many little pieces. Where DO they all go? Not to worry, this kit came with instructions (some don't! buyer beware). Be advised that the insrtuctions were translated from Chinese to English word for word so keep your mind open when you come to a word that doesn't seem to make sense, try to think of a word that may mean, in a round about way, nearly the same thiing but not quite.

The instructions are mostly concerned with assembly and guide you through all the details, kind of, and then mention the fact that the guitar has to be finished by painting or staining or markers, whatever you want to do with it. It also mentions cutting the headstock to shape. Take notice in the photos that the headstock is square and non-committed to any particular style. My guess is that the body shape is not a trade mark of Fender, but, the headstock is. At any rate, I wasn't happy with the thought of putting the guitar together and then shaping and or painting it. I am way to sloppy, so I chose to worry about finishing the body and headstock before even thinking about assembly.

Coming up with a paint design and cutting the headstock to fit my design caused my ears to smoke. Eventually I figured it out anad that will be the subject of a future blog.

Peaceful Valley

2008-12-23T05:30:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas

Happy New Year

tim

2008-12-18T11:53:00.000-08:00

Berks-Mont Christmas Thingy. Throw in some antlers, a blinking Rudolph nose and a slice or two of rum cake stir with a bunch of cut ups from the backwoods and the song suddenly changes to "Grand ma of course is a reindeer"... Good thing deer season ended a week or so ago. Berks-Mont couldn't survive with out our fearless reindeer ...er... leader.

You can't always do what you want ...

2008-12-18T11:07:00.000-08:00

So I had an invite for today to go to WRFY to see Get the Led Out play an acoustic set in the studio. I had to say no. Truck today, plus the infamous BerksMont Christmas thingy. I listened to the live feed on the internet. I missed a great opportunity. They sounded great. On the upside I am going to their concert the day after Christmas ... but, I've never wreaked havoc on a radio station before ... wah. Oh well, the party was good, I ate too much, we all laughed and had a good time. There aren't many things that we do well, but, cooking and eating thankfully are two of them. We don't eat till we are full, we eat till we are tired. Now I could do with a nap ...

Credit where credit is due ...

2008-12-10T07:03:00.000-08:00

The "Sniper Fire" picture was taken by my good friend and partner in crime(s) Orlando.

And so the torch is passed ...

2008-12-10T05:40:00.000-08:00

We got to watch Carter over the weekend. While no one was looking we went down to the WTIM studio and Carter got to play the keyboard.

He figured out that when you push down the keys it makes noise and when you try to pull the keys out of the keyboard Pappy makes noise ...

It kept him amused for 2 or 3 minutes, which in one year old world is an eternity.

He bops in time with the auto drum beats so, in time, he should be able to keep time.

Next visit I'll see how he reacts to major and minor chords ...

Matt wants everyone to know (especially me) that skeptical is spelled with a "k" and not a "c", see the first post ...

Hey Sue, I can see your comment now ...

I CAN SEE ME NOW !!!!

2008-12-03T04:39:00.000-08:00

SO can everyone else. Ooops. Thank you, L, for flipping the switch and putting up my blog.

Sniper fire ...

2008-12-02T13:26:00.000-08:00

Now do you see this guitar? Right here do ya see it?
This guitar can blow the b#!!s off a charging rhino at fifty
paces, uh ha ...

Santa came early ...

2008-11-26T12:30:00.000-08:00

WRFY's Donald from Boyertown dropped by the other day, he brought a photo album full of pics and tix he's collected during his time at the radio station. Way cool. I asked him who I had to kill to get a job like that ... oops that would be him, just kidding, Donald is alive and well. He was also gracious enough to hook me up with tickets for "Get The Led Out". I will be talking about it in "Listen Up" after the show.

Even though you still can't see this I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

I still can't see me ...

2008-11-20T11:46:00.001-08:00

Help, the content Nazis have me unviewable. Therefore, I am writing to myself.I owe Steve Miler ( of the Steve Miller Band) a huge apology. After all these years I was unaware how good a guitar player he is. The concert was very good, although, some folks weren't real impressed with their new stuff. It smacks heavily of in your face blues. It may be a little heavy for those that want more "Keep on Rockin' Me Baby" style music.

I went to Guitar Villa in Quakertown the other day. The folks there are very friendly and actually seem happy to see you. They were flirting with disaster when they told me I could take down whatever I wanted and try it out ... There is only one thing worse than letting me test drive any guitar in the store and that's letting me go into a guitar store with a credit card.
My inner strength maintained control or was it my wife's voice ringing through my head, "If you bring home another guitar wah wah wah, wah wah wah ....". So I looked but didn't touch. They have a nice selection of all priced guitars. From higher end Gretsch to Squire shred machines they got it. I noticed a nice Epiphone hollow body, double cut away that practically screamed "PLAY ME" or was it "I know you have the card and I know it's not maxed" very impressively priced. Really, very impressively priced. They have the gamut of assessories as well and a nice selection of music. The acoustic room sound is perfect, letting the true voice of the instrument shine through. Guitar Villa is definitly in my top ten for music stores.

Still in the Quakertown area I wandered into the music store at QMart. I am a Dean Guitar freak. I love my Dean Razorback, even though it looks silly playing some of the music I play. This store is a certified Dean dealer. Jackpot. They had a load of lower end stuff, very playable and affordable. Again, the voice in my head kept me from pulling out the card, a very nice Dean Acoustic called to me for a mere $99. I did play it. It was nice. I did put it back on the stand. Honest honey I put it back ...
Along with the Deans there were some nice BC Rich and off brand stuff. There was a dobro there I swear had my name on it. There were new and used amps as well,some of the stuff looked like good deals. Friendliness isn't their forte there or maybe it was only because I only bought 2 picks (HEY they were a friggin' buck a piece!) maybe it was because I paid a buck a piece for picks that the guy looked at me funny and didn't want to engage in conversation about all the Dean swag laying around, only enough to mutter that "THEY WERE a Dean Dealer". Thanks for that info I may put it to good use or I might use it for evil. The picks worked well, maybe I'll buy another one next time maybe not. Bite me.

SO you want content ...

2008-11-18T13:35:00.000-08:00

Are you trying to figure out the meaning of the title "The Sniper's Nest"?
I must tell you so am I, and I'm the guy that came up with the name.
My idea was to pop up with a blog every once in while that may or not be covered in Listen Up!, exposing the goods, the bads or the uglies of what's going on locally (or not), in music related things.

For example: What I find when I go looking at music stores, whose prices are good and whose attitudes, in my opinion of course, really stink.

A running list of the top guitar players, again in my opinion, as it changes maybe from day to day.

Commentaries on new music coming out and the like ...

this is my concept and I am sure it will change and change back a thousand times. So pay attention and maybe we all can learn something...

I am sceptical, does this really work?.....

2008-11-18T09:11:00.000-08:00

This is me at Cape Cod.

I don't like the beach, but, I like tie-dye.

I don't like sand in my shoes, but, I like wearing dark glasses and tattoos.

This doesn't make any sense, but, it really doesn't have to.

What ever happened to Jay Furgeson? I liked "Thunder Island".