Dang, I should post once in a while...

Rockin' 6-String Style

So far I'm really liking the Fender Squier ROck Band video game controller/guitar. I'm pleasantly surprised how quickly the ole two-finger power chords and even the basic barre chords are coming back to me, considering I was never a good guitarist and it has been 30 years. My chording finger tips are sore and need to build calluses, and I'm having a hard time picking the correct string at "song speed" in the game, so it's not all glory and roses... but it is pretty awesome. :)

I've made it through the first stage pro guitar trainer and that was pretty good. Played some songs and it seems "Easy" is too easy and "Medium" is just about right for me right now on the easier songs. Medium has the two-finger power chords and is pretty do-able even though it gets going kind of quick at times. I'm good for about an hour or two of trainer and songs before my finger tips ache, so I'm trying to play every other day to build up toughness without drawing blood and requiring more rest.

I haven't set up the Squier yet. I'm on travel next week, so I'll try and do that when I get back. I need to adjust the action down some and then tweak the intonation. That sounds pretty pro, but I have some step-by-step instructions so it sounds pretty easy. Plus I'll be throwing some Super Slinkies on it for strings, so that should make it a little easier on my fingers too.

With about a week of ownership, I'd rate this thing a "must buy if you can afford it and want to learn/get back to playing guitar".

Fender Squier, Rock Band Edition

I picked up the Rock Band Squier last night but didn't get a chance to play it. I'll post my impressions this weekend.

Almost There

I believe I've got enough disc sales lined up for this weekend to fund the Squier 6-string purchase. I think I'll keep pushing the disc sales until I have enough to grab a $299 Line-6 Spider 75 watt amp, too. I don't need anywhere near 75 watts of hard-rockin' power, but Line-6 has this nasty habit of adding watts *and* features as you move up the product line. The 75 watt-er seems to be the sweet spot with quite a few more features for not-a-lot more money than the 50 watt version. We'll see.

Disc Golf and Xbox Collide

How are you, my merry readers? I feel bad for leaving y'all hanging for 18 months, and I'm sure you were tired of checking for new posts every day only to be disappointed. I'll do better from now on, I swear! :)

On to the title of this post... In order to fund the purchase of the Squier (real) electric guitar that doubles as a Rock Band 3 guitar controller, I've been selling off some of the stacks of disc golf discs that are piled up around my house. It's not that I can't afford the Squier, but it's $300 and I already have a lot invested in drum gear. Figure in all the discs I have and it's a pretty good solution. And believe me, I have a lot of frickin' discs. I came up with this plan a while ago, and when I was finally ready to go plunk down the cash and buy the Squier my wife actually held me to the plan! Oh well, I'm almost there.

I used to goof around and make some noise on a guitar when I was in high school. I was a decent technician and could run some scales, but I wasn't a musician. There is a difference. With the guys I jammed with, we were mostly interested in the social aspect of hanging out and drinking beer and making noise more than learning songs and making music. It was fun, but I was never really a guitarist. I've always wanted to go back and re-learn the guitar with more focus these past thirty years, but I've never gotten around to it. Enter Rock Band 3 (RB3), a perfect opportunity for me! The RB3 Squier is made by Fender with a bunch of extra electronics in the neck to track finger position and works with the game. I figure playing a real 6-string in game is exactly what could work for me because I've been a computer/video gaming fool since junior high. (That's 1974 if you're keeping score at home, so gimme my geek cred!)

Well, I'm looking forward to the purchase and plan to start updating this abandoned blog as I embark on my journey of finger calloused fun. :)

So Much For the Frickin' Lasers...

My Chauvet laser was mechanically broken on delivery, and since it was a closeout I couldn't get a replacement...only a refund. Still no laser show in my Rock Band den.

I did pick up a spare Stage Kit from GameStop when they were blowing them out for $29.99. I'm going to eventually do the "Dual Stage Kit" mod and have two LEDs and two strobes going.

Coming Soon: Rock Band With Frickin' Lasers

I don't know if I told y'all this, but I got the Rock Band Stage Kit for Christmas, and it is some super fun retardedly overboard smoke machine and LED light fun. I have to pull the smoke detectors out of the ceiling in two places and make sure all the bedroom doors are closed since I bought some cheap ass Party City fog juice, but it is absolutely worth the effort. The smoke and light effects are keyed from the game, so the strobe light goes off during drum fills and smoke blows during slow or anthemic sections, and the LED light match what's going on on the screen.

It's one of those rare things that sounds like it will be pretty cool, but you know its going to end being dorky/lame, and then it turns out to be excellent.

My buddy was flashing a laser pointer through the fog one night when we were rocking out, and it was a great effect as the entire beam was visible lighting up the fog. So I've ordered a Chauvet Scorpion R laser light effect, which is a little dinky DJ style sound activated laser.

So I'll have frickin' lasers in my Rock Band setup soon. :)