Category: ♫

explorer update part 3

clean-ish!

despite a less than stellar reaction to yesterday’s work, i motivated myself to continue, and i’m happy with the progress. it ain’t perfect, but it least 90% of the shit everywhere has been sorted. i still need to install that garage door opener, but it’s pissing rain right now and my car is clean soooooo….. yeah, it’s going to have to wait until the rain stops and i can put my car outside.

tonight i think i will be able to start sanding the body and neck and if all goes well, i’ll apply the grain filler too. if that happens, i’ll update this post with pics.

and yes, i said i didn’t want to put my car outside because it was raining. shut up.

UPDATE: actual guitar stuff is happening!

all the bits that came in the kit. body has had the first sanding completed, i forgot to take pics but don’t worry, there is plenty of sanding to come! i don’t understand why, but this kit came with like 10 feet of copper shielding tape. wut? also, tuners… no bueno.

i thought this thing would have come with appropriate glue, but alas, it does not. thankfully i still have some of this stuff left from the telecaster repair a few months ago. it’s not the right kind of glue, but it should work… right? RIGHT? fuck I hope it works.

like with everything i glue, too much in some spots, not enough in others… hopefully it will squish around to all the right places.

wiped up the excess, bunch of clamps on there… now we wait at least 24 hours.

things i am concerned about: neck and body were in my air conditioned office all week. now they are in the hot and humid garage. the wood is going to do funny things. hopefully the clamps and glue will keep everything together. also, the glue i used is probably not the best for this… we’ll see. i guess WORST case scenario, it comes apart and i have to clean it up and re-glue with the right glue this time.

explorer build update 2

jesus tapdancing christ. it’s 30c out, and probably about 36c in the garage. 36 stagnant, dusty, degrees. still, at least i got something done. it’s better than nothing. tomorrow i tackle the rest.

side note: i have a problem with wheels i think. why do i have 4 complete sets of wheels and tires for the s4? wait no, 5 if i count the ones on there already. i also have another set on order. what the fuck man?

listen – anthem of the lost

sometimes the youtube algorithm knows me too well. this is exactly what i needed after facing the disaster in my garage. i remember when this video was first posted so many years ago, to me, it’s just as motivational now as it was then.

to whoever needs to hear it: if you can sing, if you can play an instrument, if you write, if you paint, it you fucking knit, bake cakes or even make sand castles, then do it! don’t let bullshit stop you from creating things. sing your little heart out even if no one hears it, draw those pictures, write that poem, whatever it is, put it out there into the universe. you’ll feel a lot better after you do, i promise.

explorer build update

got most of the bits, pieces, doodads and doohickeys i need to get started today. i also decided on the finish i want to do, but i’m not telling what it’s going to be just yet. you’ll need to wait and see. i think it’s a bit of a risky move, but i’m doing it anyways. if it turns out how i am imagining it, it’s going to be amazing! alright, lets gooooo!

step 1. sand everything.

step 1. find somewhere to do the sanding.

step 1. clean up the garage.

argh! the back of my garage, which also serves as my workshop is, funny enough, about as clean and clear as my mental state these days! it’s a dump zone and it has been for a few years now. for fucks sake. it’s completely out of control. i gotta clean this shit up.

i swear i am not a hoarder.

guitar build might have to go on hold for a couple days while i deal with this. what a fucking disaster. how did i ignore this for so long?!

i really should get started right now, but i’m too discouraged to even think about tackling this mess tonight. it’s going to have to wait until tomorrow.

chubs and prom queen

tabarnak. last night was great, but oh boy am i ever paying for it this morning.

j&k, m&j2, you are good people. i’m happy to count you as friends. j2 i am sorry you are perpetually the asshole, but at least m got to be prez this time! for one round anyways lol. and thank you so much for hosting, cooking, cleaning. most of that is usually my job, so taking a break from it felt great, also everything was delicious!

there was a lot of reminiscing tonight as well. j&k and i share a lot of history… i mean, j has been my best friend since we were like 13 or 14 years old. and i’ve been friends with k for just about as long too. we all used to live together too at one point. man, we had some good times.

band today. i don’t know if i am going to make it. at least i know j and m are going to be in similar boats after last night.

i think we might play some more of our own stuff today, or at least i am going to suggest that. last night m was pumped to show us some things he was working on, and also was strangely motivated by something i wrote when we first started this, played it once or twice and then discarded it. i thought no one liked it, but i guess it just needed to ferment a little.

listen – i really want to stay at your house

i’ve been posting lists of songs with no context. maybe it’s the lack of sleep, maybe it’s the 2 rebulls and 2 coffees i’ve had, but right now i am motivated to write, and i’m thinking maybe i should explain why i have posted each and every one of these songs. because each one has a story and/or deeper meaning. at least for me.

i really want to stay at your house is from the original soundtrack of Cyberpunk 2077 released in december 2020, written and performed by let’s eat grandma, but credited to rosa walton and hallie coggins. it’s song from a video game i have been following since its very first teaser was released over a decade ago. it’s set in night city a fictional near future dystopian metropolis, and based on the original ttrpg by mike pondsmith from the late 80’s early 90’s.

as a teenager, cyberpunk and shadowrun were my obsession. mostly cyberpunk. i still have the original rulebooks somewhere here as well as a folder filled with character sheets and campaign settings. something about the whole near future distopia with corporate greed and cybernetic body modifications mixed with ultra violence just set my mind on fire. to be honest, it still does. i love movies, tv shows, videogames, anything set in a similar type of scenario. it’s so hopeless, depressing and unfair and yet so ridiculously lucrative to those who figure out how to play the game. imbalance is everywhere and if you’re on the wrong end of the seesaw, it’s game over choom.

but this isn’t a review of Cyberpunk the ttrpg, nor is it an analysis of Cyberpunk 2077 the game, instead, this is about my connection to this song, and although it was definitely a jam in the game driving through the streets of night city, it really cemented itself in my soul when i watched Edgerunners on netflix.

if you haven’t seen it yet, then stop here, go watch it.

no for real. stop reading this and go watch it.

i don’t care if you don’t like anime. i don’t care if you don’t like the premise. none of that matters, because what Edgerunners does is tell an amazing and ultimately crushing story that will absolutely make you feel something. if it doesn’t leave you struck with intense feelings of despair, emptiness, unfairness, sadness, depression even, then you just might not be a human.

and this song is the god damn crescendo of it all. it’s the ptsd trigger that gives you flashbacks. it fucking kills you all over again every. god. damn. time.

david, lucy, rebecca, maine, dorio, pilar, kiwi, hell even faraday are all so relatable it’s scary. the studio that did it, trigger, are masters at making you feel a connection to the characters (watch delicious in dungeon). at least for me, the relationship between lucy and david in particular broke me. like grown ass man sitting on the couch crying watching a cartoon broken.

this scene in particular affected me in ways i cannot even put into words. i don’t know if it was just being so immersed that i felt what david must have been feeling, if it was something i wanted to experience for myself again, if it was just remembering past loves, or maybe something else entirely, regardless, all the feels. you hear me? all of them!

and then when the song plays again at the end of the series… i’m dead. fucking dead.

so, i’m telling you. watch it. you won’t regret it. or actually, you probably will, but you’ll thank me for it anyways.

edit: i forgot to mention, lucy > rebecca. fight me.

a welcome distraction

body looks good, grain is not pretty. will need sanding, sealer and paint for sure. color? i’m thinking yellow? orange? mint green? or maybe i’ll do stickerbomb? i dunno yet.

neck is… well… it needs a bit of work, but nothing i can’t handle. back bow is minor, hopefully the truss rod works. frets need leveling, like across the board. needs sanding, sealer and probably 1000 coats of poly. but i can make that happen easy enough. need ideas for a logo to put on the headstock.

hardware is surprisingly not as terrible as i was expecting. i’m probably gonna order a set of locking tuners and new pickups anyways, but the rest is actually fine. i may even try these pickups first and see, maybe they sound good?

i like beautiful melodies telling me terrible things.

more potato quality… for a guy who pretty much has a recording studio in his basement, i really fucking slack on using it. anyhow, recorded on my pc using a blue snowball. whatever, it’s fine for a work in progress. same little thing i was working on the other day. i’m happy with the next progression, even though i played it poorly. not sure if it will remain acoustic only or if i will switch to electric and add drums and bass. we’ll see. still need to work out some more parts.

i haven’t decided on what this will be about. i think it still needs to crystalize a little in my head. i have some ideas.