Black Holes

Yeah...I mean the gravitational monsters that have physicists and laymen alike wondering what they are and what does it mean to me?

N.P.R. had a fascinating article about the interior of black holes.
Stretch Or Splat? How A Black Hole Kills You Matters ... A Lot

It struck me as completely over thought.
(Many times in life what staggers others seems glaringly simple to me and conversely I can be the densest person in the room)

Gravity was classically though of as a force of attraction. The more mass an object contains the greater its attraction.
Wrong Mr. Newton.
Mr. Einstein showed us that magnetism is the only attraction related force in physics.

Gravity pushes you, not pulls you. This was an incredibly significant deviation from Newton.
The greater the mass the great the object deforms space around it, until like a bowl with no friction you slide to the bottom of the well created by the mass of that object.

What the artist doesn't show is the bowl extends in all directions, enclosing the planet like a shell, the depth and reach are the function of the mass. The center of the object being the focal point for the deformation of space. Where you are being pushed.

In this depiction of a black hole (the eponymous "artist rendition") we can see the leeching of a nearby planet as it enters the field of the black hole.
The surrounding accretion disk of spinning material, and the jets of material from the polar extremes.

Quantum physics demand nothing created, nothing destroyed. The information contained in your body must be preserved even after entering a black hole or all of quantum physics fails. It must go somewhere.

The other side of that coin in the N.P.R. piece is there is nothing inside a black hole. Space and time end.

Two things strike me as glaringly obvious.

As a fire clears a forest for new growth, black holes are galactic cleaning tools. We have found the womb of the stars, we can watch dust and matter coalesce into balls that gather mass and momentum. Some ignite when the pressures needed for atomic reaction are met. Some fall a tad short and become Jupiter. Gas giants that should have been stars, but failed.
Black holes remove matter from the visible universe. And to a man looking at fire a thousand years ago we might see that he thought a forest fire to be a most destructive force, consuming everything in its wake. A force of evil, a thing to be fought and defeated.
Black holes are natural things; therefore they serve a purpose. Admittedly beyond our understanding at the moment, but were someone to find a "cure" for black holes I would tell them to abandon the idea. They serve a natural purpose as do ants and cockroaches and earthquakes and volcanoes and fires.

And two, to satisfy the quantum crowd I say this: your body and being would be reduced to the size of an atom in an instant. All the information is preserved, it just takes up far less space.
No spaghettification at all.
Galactic smushing.
If the universe is oscillating then the need for dark matter may be closely tied to black holes?

I haven't violated Einstein or Hawking. Have I?

And now back to your regularly scheduled blogging.

Band In A Box 2014 & Tumblr

The new and improved BIAB is out and boy, is it a winner.
The GUI has been completely redesigned. Things like the mixer, an integral component was somewhat hidden in the old layout.and now occupies close to a quarter of the layout.

Zones have been laid out - Songs, Views, Transport, Drop, Tacks, Tools, File, Mixer and the actual composition window.
Each has been made a little more intuitive; much easier to find what I need without resorting to having the manual laid across your knee as you try to build a piece from scratch.
Little things like a 'Tap' button to tap out the beat you wish to use.

From PG Music's website:

We’re very excited to offer one of our biggest upgrades! Band-in-a-Box 2014 includes over 50 great new features and enhancements, 101 more amazing RealTracks, 54 MIDI SuperTracks, 36 Artist Performances and that’s not all. 

The GUI has been redesigned with a great new look and many time-saving enhancements! The Toolbars and Song Title Area have been redone, and the chord sheet now has a “Real” looking handwritten font for chords. We’ve addedUserTracks. Now you can make your own RealTracks to add to your song. Plus there’s a handy Instant Preview of styles, RealTracks, and RealDrums so that you can quickly audition them to choose the best ones for your song. Loops now support Acidized Loops. A Legato Strings feature that automatically optimizes MIDI string parts to prevent retriggering the same notes, a new Master Volumeallows you to boost volumes of all songs with one setting, 8 new Hi-Q MIDI sounds, and many more…

I first discovered BIAB in 2009 and have been a fanboi ever since.
I cannot imagine trying to compose and then lay down backing tracks without it. It allows me to be creative with little overhead. A tiny learning curve for the basics to be absorbed; although mastery would take a good deal of time. It is worth the time spent.

Joez Blues

Throw together a blues progression (I, IV, V), pick a style; in this case Joe Zawinul and you're off.

A month ago I heard a rap piece in which I liked the progression a lot. I sat and wrote the chords down. Opened BIAB and laid it out. Changed the beat, and the style from hip-hop to a jazz thing and all of a sudden I have a great tune that sounds nothing like the original.
(Fine, I also changed a couple of chords - the resolution was major and I wanted more open ended, like sustained etc)

I cannot recommend this enough to my musical friends.

TUMBLR

I dislike MusicClout - the "services" they offer are of little reach, are over-priced and generally of no use to a musician trying to get their music "out there."
To fill the otherwise incessant barrage of ads with "content" they from time to time, offer advice via a blog style column.

One of them had a cogent suggestion. Rather than using a third party such as ReverbNation or SoundCloud that an aspiring musician needs their own website.
Not subject to the whims of the site owner as far as may be possible.

In this they are 100% correct. Just as MySpace used to be the premier site for self promotion, as times and content changed, MySpace's relevance as a music platform diminished.
I had been using FaceBook as a tool for networking. It came to naught. Today, my 3,400 "friends" have become a steady stream of what they ate for lunch, a pithy quote from someone taken out of context so that Ronald Reagan seems coherent and wise, or a plea to buy their latest CD, jewelry making or custom built guitars.
In short - FaceBook is now mostly an ad platform.

I moved over to Twitter as a way to promote and be engaged with the people who can actually further my musical ambitions. It has been fairly successful to this point.
I've gotten airplay on radio stations, found composition competitions worth entering, met a number of people who are flying higher and closer to the sun than I and have gotten the wind from their wings just by proximity.
But I still am just linking people to my page on Soundcloud rather than hosting my music.

So I took a site at TUMBLR:

The Importance of Being Ernest Page

And quickly posted three of my tunes. As time progresses I will fill the pages with content that may be somewhat of an overlap with this page. So be it.
(Apologies to Mr. Wilde)

Grateful For...

My head cold, stuffed head and attendant tickle starting in the throat.

Music.

Lou, Gregg, Dave Lou Sr - Styles Music, Pomona

Music

Sunny days, frigid nights.

My green thumb.

The twists and turns the life metes out to each of us may seem daunting at the moment, but most episodes become cherished memories.
It may be a product of aging, or just the wisdom that comes with it, or even the realization of a childhood dream.

Music.

It has been a tight year in terms of the material - and yet, not.
For every 'no,' there seems to be two or three, 'yes;'  we're laughing!


Merry Christmas,

And be happy for your lot in life.

My Network is a thing of...of...Hell if I know...

What is a verified account?

Any account with a blue verified badge on their Twitter profile is a verified account. 

Twitter is the network tool. Facebook was a failed promise.

I joined MySpace and that was not helpful to me as a musician, it did link me with a few people from high school. Well, why not join FaceBook and just maintain contact there?

So I left MySpace for greener pastures. Those pastures are barren and devoid of real life. It DOES serve to keep me in contact with cousins I would not see or talk to regularly otherwise. More like its intended purpose.

Along came Twitter.

Someone infinitely smarter than I told me that Twitter was the future. They sat patiently, and explained how to organize contacts and what to watch for. I dove in. It took a bit for me to find my footing. But it was not as much "work" as FaceBook. Much more intuitive. And as it turns out, useful.

Not looking to have "followers" for their own sake, I wanted meaningful contacts - A&R people, radio and television personalities, anyone that can teach me, reach me, offer me a gig.

Twitter verified accounts are the people they purport to be.
All of a sudden I find my network collecting check marks the way I used to agree to friends requests on FaceBook. 

All I do is post music, express an opinion - Twitter is a cocktail party. I mingle. And dang it, payoffs have been seen. I have garnered airplay on three internet radio stations. I have submitted works for a rock compilation album. I am doing exactly what I thought I would be doing.

One of these people is going to hear me play or engage in conversation and it will be that link I have been looking for. I can filter "A&R" as a search criteria when looking for people to follow. I mean, how much better can it get?

Let me tell you...I can talk to Don Rickles.

I See God

I look at branches of trees and see patterns...fractals...mathematical imagery.
I hear a beautiful song...mathematical imagery.
Language is math in that they are both symbolic languages. Conveying higher order from symbols. Feelings from hieroglyphics.

To see a pattern in chaos is part of , wait for it - The Chaos Theory.
If you wait long enough, even seemingly random chaos begins to exhibit patterns.

God is therefore the ability to see a pattern in everything.
Focus on the large enough picture and you see what God sees.

Math and music and God.

Gödel, Escher & Bach?

Like Rand Paul I seem to be plagiarizing.

When applied to music, the formulaic reply becomes trite. You have to step outside that box.

Well, to math as well...and language. Crepe...it is a never ending circle.

The name George fascinates me...GE...OR...GE...OR...GE...OR..like pi, it never ends.

Infinity scares physicists, it is not a reality but only a way of expressing what is beyond us.

To them real infinity does not exist.

Go to a street corner and listen to a busking musician.

Look at the stars.

To talk to God is to make humor where sadness could live; to see order where chaos seems to prevail.

God...is a choice.

Lord Jesus on a Jumping Bean, Horse Hockey too!

I go to play my guitar. I am always in the midst of a project, the actor waiting tables.
TURN THE LIGHTS OFF

S'cuse me?
TURN THE LIGhts off...wait - remember when you were 15? Playing air guitar or after you got the strat...what was the first things to set the mood? Before I lit a joint. Before I got the guitar from its case.
I turned the lights in my room off and left lighting to the one desk lamp I had.

How brilliant must I be to see the tree in front of my face?

Maybe I should make the background picture on my PC an audience shot?

Maybe not?

Roots?

My first real love was every instrument other than the guitar.

The saxophone in the Dave Clark Five.
The bass on Hey Mister Bassman.
The snippet of bass to the coda on Everybody has Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey.

I still harbor a secret desire to play the drums.

What turned me so sharply?

Woodstock
Summer 1969

At summer camp that year, almost every night we were sent to sleepland to the strains of Tommy.
(It was the only album my counselors had brought)
Townsend had a magical strum going that summer.

Our overnight trip was to Woodstock.
After our return I just HAD to have a guitar. I enrolled in the camp's beginners guitar class. I learned, 'Mister Tambourine Man,' in about five minutes and played it until my fingertips bled.
(Although I was not taught to sing it at the same time - they were happy to get us to play the damn things; so my parents had no clue what song I was playing when they came up for Parents Day - I was crestfallen)

When I came home from camp my parents got me an old Gibson archtop, which would be worth a lot today; but at the time, the action was way too high, it was not electric...it took me until December of 1971 to get my parents to order a strat for me.

So here I am, a sax player on a six string, with the funky soul of a badass bass player, who wishes he could play drums...playing guitar.
It actually makes sense.

Can You See The Light?

Playing is such joy.
A mental thing.
A physical thing as well.
An orgasm that does not tire you until you finally leave the stage. How?

The mental stimulation I understand - we are expressing ideas in a symbolic language at the speed of thought. And when it works it is sublime. Even when it is not perfect it is a joy.
The physical I also understand - I am jumping and dancing and singing and sharing my inner joy with strangers who for the most part are appreciative.

Tonight I had the chance to play a local jazz club - The Club 66 - and we did a Herbie Hancock night.
Palm Grease, Watermelon Man, Chameleon, Spank-A-Lee (a favorite of mine), et cetera.

The groove was just so solid - it was palpable, a solid object in the room.
The communication was snapping.

The drummer, Ray is an old hand and smooth, not fancy but very capable of driving the beat as well as keeping it.

The bass player was focused and followed every nuance, every glance and look.

Chris, the keyboard player was in his element. He is very skilled, although somewhat eccentric.

So at first I am filling. Comping has its own rewards. When you are holding up a piece of the beat, allowing someone a sip or a wiped brow, it is satisfying in a purely productive way.
When you combine it with enhancing the sound, making it more lush and full - a joy to the heart.

I got my breaks - Love my Bennie Maupin - I am a six string sax player at heart.

But then there came a point at which the normal give and take gave way to am extended jam.
I mean we took flight.
Everybody got into it. It became a four place call and answer.
Gud Gawd - it was great!

It felt as though all of us were in the zone, simultaneously. It was wondrous. It was only when it was over that I noticed I was sweating and in need of a shower.
I feed from the light - I have seen it and need more.

I Need an Excuse

When everything is working, not just functional but firing on all available cylinders you are left with two opposed feelings - conflicting feelings.
Satisfaction - everything is working, and well at that!
Guilt - So why am I not more successful?

All my excuses are gone in a sense. Now, the only things I can blame to are external - and that in itself is a cheap shot I refuse to use.
It's on me to push my art - my mission is to hand out as many business cards as humanly possible.

Who but me is responsible?
I can wait a lifetime for another Brian Epstein to find, acknowledge and craft me into the next Beatle or...

Or I can laugh with a bit of gusto and sally forth, tally ho...see what happens.
It is in my hands.

It is up to me. Always has been but the reminder is timely now and again.

Off The Beaten Path

Have a smart phone?
Android or iPhone? Not enough representation from the Windows phones to be included, yet.
Androids are based upon Linux.

I have may apps for musical use.
Apps that make lyric generation easier. Or composition.

I also have a background in electronic engineering so I have apps that allow me to design and test schematics.

Tools that allow me to remotely wipe my phone should I lose it...also try to locate it et cetera.

One that I find invaluable is called Screebl.
"Screebl is an application that controls your screen based on orientation."

If the phone is sitting at zero degrees or ninety degrees, it will shut off.
If it is inclined in between those two it will remain on and active.
Ingenious.
One, I never have to use a button or tap to end my session with the phone, just put it down. And two, this extends battery life significantly without much from me. The display, more often than not is the culprit when it comes to battery usage.
Neat.

Maildroid - the only mail app that works every time. Expensive but worth it, imo.

WiFi Explorer is another useful tool - it allows for a WiFi connection between you Android device and your PC.
Move, delete, rename, make a new folder, zip files - all the functions of Windows Explorer within you Android device.

mooLa is another - a checkbook. It also complies statistics so you can see where your money goes. It has a bug or two; using save and repeat will eventually make it crash. But it is far easier and intuitive to use than the others.

CamCard is great for taking a photo of a business card and integrating the info into your contacts. It also eliminates the collection of cards on your desk - the best selling point, yet.

Music?

Chordwheel - want the notes for a scale or chord? Relative? etc?
Caustic - a DAW
Band In a Box Remote

GuitarPro
GuitarTapp - 3 ring binder of songs, scrollable while you play. A teleprompter for guitarists.
Maestro - composition
Musical Note Pad - composition


Miscellaneous:
InstaPaper - allows you to  save online content for later use, offline - save an article to read when on the plane.
MyCarLocator - Set it when you leave the car and then it'll draw a map back to the car.
PocketInformant - a day planner, but the new version, number three is incompatible with my phone and the sync function leaves much to be desired.

And you thought you had beaten the rabbit holes in your path?

Just Do Your Craft For Fifteen Minutes Without Stopping

A friend told me about a discipline that might be of use, musically.
Being a writer, it came out this way.

Write for fifteen minutes without lifting your pen.

I loaded up fifteen minutes of tunes in need of overdub and let it rip.
No, I didn't get the outcome I was after, but I did find the avenue with which to approach the song.
"Okay, I see it...now."

I think it is also the desired effect when employing this when writing.
(No, really?)
Not that you solve the current stalemate but that you move the landscape around.

Perspective really means a lot.
Discipline in actions is a form of self hypnosis.
Trying to reach a place of concentration. Where the world no longer intrudes. Maybe crafting for fifteen is the equivalent of chanting, "om..."

What changes is the method used to achieve this state of concentration. A tape with subliminal suggestions or playing without hitting the STOP button for fifteen minutes.

When I can blot out everything but the music, what flows from me is the best, absolutely the best of what I have to offer.
It, without exception manifests when I play in public - without provocation. I just fall into it as I take the stage. Time has no meaning, I see nothing, I hear everything.
The difficulty for me is doing this - concentrating when alone.

I now have a new technique to use.

The Need to Produce

Once you come to the point where you recognize your own talent; probably well before, actually, you start to feel almost obligated to produce.
I'm a musician, so I eat, I breathe and I make music, right?

I guess not always would be the more realistic answer.
A writer has to write, and birds gotta fly. But the ones I notice spend a lot of time sitting and observing. Preening & cleaning. All sort of things but not flying.

Because music is part of your DNA doesn't mean when you poop it comes out musically.
Quite the contrary.

There is much time that is not singularly dedicated to making your craft, but it is just as necessary as the act of creating.
The minute I feel guilty about not having churned something out, I realize how foolish that premise is from the start. Shaken, not churned.

Craft is an act of finessing it out of you, not pinching a loaf, pushing to give birth or evacuate anything.
There is a spark that resides inside me and it takes a lot of work to get that spark to dance its heart out.
I'm sure some creations were acts of birth, but I would hope most are not so painful.
-----
Listen to me on Rocker's Dive Radio and BBC Introducing - Jazz on 3 on BBC Radio 3 - from free jazz to fusion, post-bop to electronica.

A pal and I exchanged emails in which we bemoaned our current state of affairs. I said, I am doing something positive to change my life.
How 'bout you?
Thank You Blue - My latest piece.

BBC Introducing

One has to sign up for every opportunity available.

Social Media - Lies and Damned Lies...

In 2008? I joined FaceBook. Not as a means to reaching out to those far away. No, in an effort to generate some buzz.
I had a MySpace page that got me absolutely nowhere, musically speaking. One nibble in the, literally years I had taken to "craft" a MySpace page and persona. And the reason for the nibble was that we were connected in life and used MySpace as a communication tool.
But not one band needing a guitar player...no A&R guy looking for the next big thing. And funny, but everyone and their mother had product for sale. This was becoming a marketplace, not a networking tool.
And so I left.

What is FaceBook now? Beyond the obvious; lunch snapshots, pictures of people on airplanes...and God Bless America, but fucking advertisements. And no, I don't mean Mark Zuckerbergs ads. I have a very effective ad blocking plugin for my browser.
No, it all the purported musician "friends," my so called network selling their latest CD or Kickstarter campaign or gig. (Isn't that what the "Invites" are for? And NOT my newsfeed?)

Gawd...
At least with Twitter it is a simple thing to cull those whose only input are services they offer. I am not buying 100 CDs and jackets with promo material all for the low price of two hundred fifteen dollars.
If you know an A&R person, great...can sign me, awesome...want to propose a route to stardom, I am here to listen.

Understand that I get the use of social media as a free advertising channel and I do not begrudge them the space or bandwith involved. Ain't my dime.

But I will stop following you the way I switch channels on the television every time an ad comes on.
I am the worlds worst consumer, I know what I want for the most part and only need a few choices made clear. One whiff of salesman and I run.
Same applies to servers in restaurants - be friendly, not sycophantic, be accessible, not hovering.

Some people really get it.

Being a Creative Genius Can Be a Lot of Work

I get energized and plop myself in front of my computer ready to write, record, compose, play and be that musical genius I think I am.
I compose a score.
I revise and edit.
Rinse and repeat...rinse and repeat.

Finally...hours later, I have a score I like. Yes, this sounds good - in a vacuum.
Now I have to add my guitar for perhaps with a second or third time.

And fuck, I don't have the energy to go on.
This is not new; not age related. I have always had this. After an orgasm, I tend to be hungry and sleepy. Well, the creative process, being another expression of intimate sharing is sex. It is the same thing.
I want a drink, maybe a sandwich and a nap before I go on.

So to be that driven musical genius, I have to learn to have multiple orgasms. Not at the same time. Over a course of a several hours.

I think I am truly on to something. I am not being facetious.
Maybe it is a scheduling thing? Write early in the day and later when I feel it try laying the overdubs down?

Like Sex, Only Better...(I Said That?)

You play and the feeling is sex only you are doing this in public in front of a crowd and garnering applause.
You are having intimate relations with a room full of people.

This area of LA county is home to not a few honest-to-goodness roadhouses.
A Grotto is one. Literally a basement room. Long and low and packed. People who are drinking and looking for fun.
We don't have to be great. Just something to dance to.

Easy. Fun. And the release is palpable. For all of us in the room. Maybe for different reasons, but everyone is finding a way out.

The night began watching another friend at a local lodge. I have been putting it off as I find the lodge scene way too shuffleboard geriatric for me. The only interesting people are the drunks. Again, not for me.

We are playing a mix of Small Faces, old Johnny Winter, jamming 'cuz nobody realizes it's not a Hendrix song anymore...
I realized I had my acid smile on and that I was having a great time doing a huge amount of nothing.
Share, sharing...experiences or fluids, it's all the same to me really.

My guitar sounds great.
I can play a lot more than I imagine if I put my mind to it.
People appreciate what I can do to the point they buy drinks and leave tips.

I am THIS close!

Villex Update

Want to save the shipping? Drive to Sherman Oaks.
(Amp Shop/Bass Exchange)
The Villex demo

(Ask me how I know)

Gud gawd.
Okay I realize that demoing a product is not a strength of mine, yet. There should be more finesse in this but here it goes.
Staring in position five on the guitar (neck pickup) with the VMB off, play four chords & flip a switch.
5 off then on
4 on then off
3 off then on
2 on then off
1 off then on

I watched the output on an oscilloscope and saw an increase of somewhere between 75 and 200 mV depending on the pickup and notes struck. Which means to keep G Ohm happy, we must reduce the current. Conservation maintained.
In the world of guitar pickups and their output, 200 mV is a huge increase.

When gain is employed it is not as noticeable.  However this vastly expands the guitars palette.  What was a weak sound, i.e. without gain is now a very usable option.

When I got my Alairex HALO what I noticed was that it doesn't have one "set" perfect position for me. Depending on what I want to hear I need to flip switches, or turn knobs.

What this little miracle does is it also make the guitar "unstable." Needing input from me to achieve what I want to hear.

Next Up, Villex Passive Mid-Range Booster

Clapton...Beano boost...Mid tone.
Eric has said his signature sound is the emphasis on the middle frequencies.

If you buy the Fender Clapton signature Stratocaster you get an active mid boost circuit included.
Active versus passive - using a power source, in this case a battery to power and boost the circuit.
A passive boost, by strict definition is not real - what it does is shift the resonant peaks down stream...so they get away with using the hyperbole "...Mid Range Boost." Yeah.

No, the loudness factor is not what interested me, boost is not needed. So why is this interesting?
Clapton used a boost to the middle frequencies of his Strat, the quintessential 'quack' of a Strat. He used an active amplifier, made small to fit within the body of the guitar.

You unscrew the jack from the guitar. Cut the two wires and insert them into the opening in the top photo. Screw the wires snug. Replace the jack and attach it to the guitar.

Flip the switch and the circuit is in use, otherwise you have the stock sound you bought.


The ONLY troubling aspect in the entire process is the company and it's murky history. First in the U.K. and now in SoCal, a website that a would cause a 2nd grader to giggle, has a loop in the 'How To Order' page inducing anything but warm and fuzzies.
It seems your choice is to call a personal number and give someone your credit card information.
Whew...I found a dealer on eBay and that adds PayPal protection and also obviates the need to give someone I do not know my personal information.

In California...$105.99 + $9.54 tax and $3.99 shipping - $119.52.

Okay, Now I get The Tortured Artist

I love my shit.
I play well, although not often enough.
I can make the sound I hear in my head.
I have very, very good friends. Some are there at the drop of a hat. Some pop up from time to time.
I have more than enough to eat and drink.

The negative side of my personal balance sheet is abysmal.
I have no job. (12 years same firm)
I am at the end of unemployment benefits.
I am not happy in my "natural" environment.

But life finds a way. I survive and even at times, thrive.

I am, Van Gogh.
I cry watching Grey's - I am moved.
I am riveted watching The Newsroom - I am infused with positive energy.
I frequently look at the ceiling and silently mouth, "Why?"

Okay, I fit the definition of a tortured soul.
And I am only halfway immersed. What bothers me the most. I could be a savant and communicate in a very different way than the rest of humanity.
But I am not. I have some of the disadvantages but none of the genius. I am a jack-of-all-trades.
A wonderful way to skate through life, but short of meaningful impact.

A tortured soul playing one? It boggles the mind.

Pictures of My Guitar

Yes, I have been known to take a shot or five of guitars I buy. I know I may indeed off them sometime in the future, so it serves as a record.
But...

There is a website that among guitar players is HUGE with a capital G.
My Les Paul

As the name would suggest it is primarily a Gibson site but over the years has grown to encompass many brands.
It boasts of well over twenty five thousand members. Huge in forum numbers.
From the data I have seen the average age is forty six, the average number of guitars each member owns is four.
The site is privately owned but the income stream is not negligible by any stretch of the imagination.

The first and foremost occupier of time on this website is posting pictures of a new guitar.
Yes, are we all excited by the purchase of an expensive thing? Cars do this to people. Shelling out three or four thousand dollars for a guitars also qualifies.

But having seen one Les Paul, you have seen them all.

And yet what I have noticed is more often than not the people on the site are not musicians.
Wait, wait...what?!

A website about photography, do the members post pictures of their cameras or compositions they have made WITH their cameras?

Do saxophonists wax poetic over the patina of the brass? Or do they discuss the tone, how when they are playing Trane they are transported?

But guitarists, want to measure dick size. The fuck?
"Mine costs more..."
"Mine has the best flame maple top..."
"Mine has a long tenon (the method of attaching a set neck, a glued neck)..."

Are you kidding me?

In 1972 when you wanted to prove your were the better guitarist, you came to school and during Study Hall would show all your friends how you figured out Johnny Winter's latest.
I bought a Stratocaster, Augie had an SG, Corky bought a Les Paul...we didn't compare construction or flame or hardware...we compared chops.
What I can play that you can't.

So on the website I tried to cajole and prod and push and what I got in reaction was,
"Quit peeing in our cheerios..."

Some people got it. That an older member of the tribe is passing down knowledge earned with years.
And I know that youth is made to not "get it" until it is too late and they are my age.

Sure I have pride in the crap I own; that's human nature.
But what is more important?
What I own, or what I make of myself using the tools at my disposal?

It has been a frustrating week in many, many ways.

Laugh or cry, right?
Watch me.

The Joy Is Unimaginable

How can anything that is not related to sex feel so good?

Answer:
It does relate to sex.
That was easy.


Food, the act of eating and sharing with others is as intimate as removing clothes and uttering words seldom heard in broad daylight.
So too, is music. Intimate, revealing, laying bare...literally. Either your soul or your body, but no one rides for free.
It is an act of love to give of ourselves this way. To play the music and sing the songs; to accept what you hear and be moved by it. It is very much a two way street.

I frequently am moved to tears of joy while playing. Often someone will ask, 'If I am okay?'
Two people seeing the same thing and taking two different things from it.
I am more than okay.

Knockin' On Heaven's Door got me thinking of my father, and the tears flowed. But I was in a happy place, reliving good times.

However, our culture and society have dictated a more "manly" approach. Tears? In public? And not at a funeral? Unacceptable..
At the same time, a heartfelt expression will bring any crowd with a pulse to their feet.
I saw an cute player weep after every love song and watched the female component of the audience melt.
I don't know if his expression was heartfelt - the guy in me saw a cynical use, an alterior motive. I still could recognize the power of sharing your emotions.

When I was a kid and did this is usually cost me greatly. I put myself way out there and it felt, invariably that my feelings got trampled in the end. I built a wall about me to protect myself.

Now that I overtly put my emotions out there, I seem to reap so much more than I sow. It is not that times have changed. It is that I, me, e has changed. I revel in sharing; I know this. Now I can do so with little reservation. What a difference in my life.
To give a piece of me...to you.

A Lot To Be Said About The Mix

Someone with a learned ear and good taste to boot told me my mix was off.
In short, "Not enough guitar."
What am I selling? Me or?

I had to think about it. It was not intros or laying low for the first verse, no, my mix was low. And in truth...it was.
I had always mixed my guitar to other input at 7:9.
My guitar is loud and the mic is not bad and in many cases this has worked well.

Constant Change - works here

Ms Bonnie Meadow - but not here

So I took a hard look at mix levels and moved them; reset them to something like 8.5:9
The thought also occurred that because I mix for the lowest, worst, cheapest set of speakers, i.e. in mono I am further muddying things for the listener. If a change in mix level doesn't do it, stereo may.

Music, like any art is such an organic process and yet the amount of time we must spend harnessing technology to capture our art can be an interference to say the least and a complete distraction at the worst.

One of the many quirks of my Fostex 16 is if I leave it in record mode for too long a period of time a capacitor charges that shouldn't, and prevents the unit's power button from functioning. And it remains charged so that subsequent attempts to turn the unit on will fail.
I need this?
This weighing on my mind while I am trying to put pen to paper? You see the dilemma.
(You short out the plug and discharge the capacitor)
Many are the times I have been trying out a new piece for a first run, not taping and the results are wonderful...only to fail to be repeated once I press the Record & Play buttons.

Laugh or cry...
I'm going to record for too long a period and deal with the cap when it happens.
Mix may be set. And if not, there is always stereo. Or boost? Or punch up the guitar in post? Or?

You wouldn't think it was a purple beast from that shot, would you?

How about now?
Same guitar, different lighting.

Uplink: Hack Elite

With the incredible noise generated this week over "uncovered spying on our emails, phone calls and internet use...", pardon me but welcome to 2001 and 2007 - I uncovered a great time waster for the puzzler in all of us who enjoy and use technology.

A game, "Uplink," being the original title, licensing issues ensued and so we have essentially the same game sold under two names, and "Uplink: Hacker Elite."

In this game you are a hacker.
No manual. There is a sparse tutorial that shows you how to establish a link online, crack a password and copy a file. They really don't delve into the facts that in following the tutorial you left a digital trail of breadcrumbs and will soon be found out.
In this game, if you are arrested, the game is essentially over. There are no Save Game options, the game loads from the last place and when you exit, that becomes your save point.
(Yes, you can root around, find the user profiles and copy them as backup)
But the idea is there is no do over, no reload. You lose, you lose. So be careful.
But they don't explain this.

So you either play by trial and error until you are arrested; although how you managed to ignore the several daily messages asking for payment of the fine assessed, is beyond me, or you go online - IRL and start looking for a manual, a hint, something!

The game itself is fascinating to play. You go to a bulletin board and peruse available jobs and the rating required for the jobs. Accepting one or if your rating is not up to snuff you can contact them by email, although that rarely works; you then set about to accomplish the job.

Steal a file
Copy research papers
Delete files

And as the game progresses, so do the missions. There is a plot line, but also this sandbox of work.

Later missions involve changing data, transferring funds, erasing identities. As you start to get the idea, any computer in the game is open to hacking. You can change your identity, transfer fund into your account. Ruin the reputations of your rivals. The way you approach it is up to you.

You can upgrade the Gateway itself, the various components, CPU, memory, the Modem Security measures etc. One security measure is a suicide device - when you are about to be caught you destroy all the evidence. The game is so very open to exploration that no two people will have the same experience.
You can upgrade your software, naturally.

Good Old Games
Has the game available for download for $5.99. Or you can get the original CD from the UK developers for $15.
Introversion - Uplink

I find myself frequently saying,
"Just one more, I need $2,000 more for my new CPU."

Yes, references to moves (Nakatomi is from the Bruce Willis Movie Die Hard) abound - one Easter egg is the Wargames computer is out there, somewhere.

Damn...I'm Good! So...Why Can't I Focus Myself?

I was watching the television show Becker.
As a theme and for lead in and out of scenes a then young man, Jason Miller throws short stacatto phrases from his telecaster and generally is universally seen as just a wonderful player, gifted with an eloquent musical vocabulary. Also very tasteful.

I fired up my amp and grabbed my guitar; sometimes the opening is in one key, C Major I believe, and the interludes in another - A Major or E Major, sometimes they match...one never knows until after the fact. In which case I just backed it up and then play along.

But very quickly it became apparent to me that I was not struggling to match or follow him at all. I have seen most if not all episodes...more than once, so the music is not unfamiliar. But the ease with which I fell into it was pleasing and a somewhat of a surprise.

My inner critic, the voice that is silent in the shower, keeps talking about focus.
But I play many styles.
Shut them down? No.

There is a way for me to explore Blues, Jazz, Rock, even Country and remain true to my vision for myself. Has to be.

Clapton has reinvented himself many times. The Stones have been a rock group and a country and western band.
But...

Usually, they do one theme and then move forward.
I continue to play all themes simultaneously. Is that my 'thing?'

If so, how do I present it in a way that keeps me from appearing schizophrenic? In a way that will allow me to present all my facets? not one theme at a time.

Has anyone done an album with a complete mosaic of styles? What is my mosaics larger picture?

I have homework ahead of me.

What Matters? Perspective...

Tone?
Gate?
Personal satisfaction?

Music...all that matters is communication. The sharing of thoughts and ideas. 'Ah-ha!'s and I see's.'
"How'd they do that?"
Some have personal satisfaction above the mix. Like the world, really. So many musicians are assholes - actually and inordinate amount. Ego is a driving force in public expression.
Few and far between are the souls in search of new horizons and new ways of speaking, expression...communicating.

The first time you got high and that ah ha moment when you saw the contrast between pot flavored reality and the run of the mill variety. And you HAD to share it with the person you were with.
I recall explaining it over and over to someone a few years older and wiser; who knew everything I was about to say and yet allowed me free expression - I discovered getting high!

It was a Birthday gig. A repeat performance. In in itself that is not bad at all. Paying gig, too. And the other two musicians were, up to this point, not the best of friends. This seemed to make things better.

So now, who am I communicating with? The audience of semi conscious people? The rest of the band? (Almost as inebriated a the audience)

A smile comes as I realize I am speaking to no one in particular. I am wireless and free. My guitar has a distinct voice that I can manipulate and bend to suit. I can communicate.

When you play with others there is an energy. When you are ensconced and alone that interplay is lacking.
But were you to talk to no one in particular - to every one together.

Callaham Steel Tremolo Block II

The sound is similar, although the middle bottom seems more pronounced. More on this to follow.

The tremolo bushing is nice - the bar doesn't flop whether you have one thread coupled or all of them. It feels tight in any position.

The bar is two ounces heavier (11) and considerably wider than the stock PW-29 zinc bar, although it fit in the cavity with no modification.
The mounting screws are half again as long as the original OEM screws and non ferrous.

The surface where mating takes place is polished - "We always have gone to great lengths in our machining to produce a near mirror finish on the mating surface with the top plate to obtain the best fit possible. A very important detail missed on all factory blocks."

All the holes lined up perfectly.
(I did notice that the Fender person who drilled the holes for the bridge plate was inside tolerances on the outside holes and perfect on the four holes in the center)

No modifications were needed, it just dropped in.
(A quick trick - rather than removing the saddles to get to the mounting screws that affix the block, turn the saddles on their sides two at a time and you can easily get access without changing intonation)

The links are sound clips of both blocks.
Guitar into amp - the knobs on the amp are in the center and on the guitar they are dimed. No effects.
It progresses from the number one position of the selector switch through number five.

Zinc PW-29 Tremolo OEM block

Callaham Steel Tremolo block\

It is now not as hard to make that initial break from the body, once the bridge lifts, it feels very smooth.
I have not made any adjustments to the claw et cetera.

After a day playing I have noticed some differences.

I can hear sustain and clarity...less mud, so to speak. A chord, even with full OD can be heard - all six notes just flat out ring.

The sustain is not just a longer note per se but the contents of that note as it decays is important and this is full.

I have been at this all day, obviously there must be some, "I bought/traded it, so it must be good," syndrome - but as anyone that knows me will attest, I do not do the hoodoo that you do so well.

The Raw Vintage Springs made a very real change in the harmonics and so I must confess that some hoodoo works.

This sounds like the Outlaws Green Grass & High Tides opening.

It also took the guitar from 7lbs 8 oz to 7lbs 10oz.

The trouble with the hoodoo is there are SO many variables, I can't be certain which is responsible. Is it the material? 

Or maybe it is just the mating surface and screws that are twice the length of the OEM screws?

And the one thing I dismissed out of hand? The delrin insert that holds the bar where - ever you leave it? Genius.

Oh yeah - the tremolo itself feels much smoother. Sounds better in that when you have to exert a bunch of pressure to break the tension there is a corresponding warble.

Since this is smooth, there is no warble...just the notes changing pitch...smoothly.

I can finally use the tremolo the way it was meant to be.

I have also noticed that the area between the anchor holes in the zinc block for the springs and the trailing edge of the block has grooves from the steel springs digging into the softer zinc.

Thanks for stopping by, Frank.

Callaham Tremolo Blocks

Callaham Tremolo Blocks

A friend calls, he knows I am a pack rat of sorts when it comes to guitars parts and accessories.
Knobs, bridges, straps...I have many.
Pedals, effects, still a large pile.

He wants two of my pedals, and would like to trade.
I know the music community is small and local, but this is nuts! I make a trade with one friend in town a month ago and now I get a call for another trade offer. How's about a gig, instead?

I'm open, I'll listen. It's his dime. (Actually, that phrase no longer applies, notice?)
After he beats about the bush for a minute or two he names two Danelectro pedals of mine, one of which is a bit of a 'find.' The two together are worth $150 new, these are well used.
I'm thinking half.

Would I take a Callaham Trem Block and fitted 64 arm in trade? They are worth $80 new. These are NOS (New/Old Stock) unopened but not exactly new.

Frank, have you been peeking at FB? (I had posed a question in a group I am part of; The Guitar Players Association about brass versus steel blocks) As a matter of fact, no. Frank is one of the very few people I know not on FB or so private he tells no one. Chalk it up to timing.

We agree on the trade and he promises to make it out here one day this week.
We shall see. On all counts.

As far as the block itself and the theory behind such things:

That perforated block of cast zinc that the bridge is standing upon is the tremolo block. Through it the strings are anchored in the body of the guitar. The more dense the material, the fewer vibrations from the strings will be lost as heat in the block - more energy applied to the strings...an increase in sustain. The other sales point, and this one is not verified by any means, is that the material adds in some way to the sound of the guitar, usually the adjective is "resonance."

I am all for seeing that as voodoo or a placebo effect, however I did in fact, notice a change in the harmonics when I changed the springs attached to the tremolo block. The dynamic range was greater and the effect was very noticeable.
You can see the one pictured is tapered as well, less mass than a "squared" off block. The change in material from steel to zinc as well as the taper were done to reduce costs in manufacture.

The large holes are for the strings, the small ones hold the springs.

Now we are talking about something like this, instead. Cold rolled steel that is machined and the mating surface is polished to a mirror finish to ensure a good surface to surface mating.

They go further and make a new type of connection with the tremolo arm itself, the threads are anchored in a delrin plug and angled and shallow. The arm is tight as  a result even when turned away. A regular strat arm when not in use, flops around.
I like this...

"If you have an import guitar, your block is more than likely zinc (pot metal). Zinc kills both sustain and clarity and your sound. If you have a U.S. made guitar, you may have a steel block but it is either a hot rolled leaded steel, or in the case of the American Standard bridges, a soft cast steel block.

We guarantee you will hear the improvement after installing our block in both sustain and clarity."

Normally I would be arguing a change in material would have such a small effect as to be negligible, at least as far as human hearing in concerned.

But I keep coming back to the springs. The counterbore for the string end is at the bottom of the block by the springs and not at the top by the bridge. More of the strings pass through the block. The block is more dense than the Zinc cast block. 

We.shall.see.

Remembering Who We Are

In the midst of the week's events it is easy to fall prey to feelings of revenge. An eye for an eye.
On Facebook, that bastion of social discourse, the calls for summary execution are there along with various calls for torture, suspension of rights, et cetera.

What separates this part of the world from the rest is the rule of law.
A foreign national, arrested on our soil has the rights that we have. The exact same rights. There are no distinctions for where they were born or what their race or religion.
The exceptions is for enemy combatants in a time of declared war.

When something we find repulsive occurs, our worst, basest instincts come to the fore.
Fear, I think, being the prevalent emotion.

We recoil when a thief in Saudi Arabia is punished by having his hands lopped off. Refer to them as "barbarians" when they use beheading as their form of capital punishment.
So what makes us better? Stronger? Morally superior?

Not very much at the moment.
We are humans; ruled by emotions. Lately we have been trying to meld our emotions and our ability to reason. To improve the species.

And then a couple of these fallible, frightened humans does something so twisted that we cannot comprehend. We try very hard to pigeonhole them. Provide easily digestible reasons for what they have done.
How can you explain a mind so different than our own sensibilities? You don't. You dismiss them as, "twisted," "mad," "insane," and on & on.

It is now, more than ever that we need to adhere to our principals of the nations founding. That the law applies to all, equally.

Exercise Balls - STOP LAUGHING

Okay.
It is a small ball with more than one axis within a larger ball. A string wound around the central sphere, a tug and the inner sphere is spinning. Now, twist your forearm. The sphere is using friction to accelerate.
Think of hula hoops, but for your wrist and forearms.
So now you are holding up to 38 pounds (depending on how fast you get the ball spinning) of force in your hand. Torsional force, by the way...twisting force.
And so the more you twist, the more friction is generated the ball continues to spin.
A workout for your hand, fingers, wrists and forearms.

In the video you can hear it go from mechanical motion to an engine, so much so it can power the LEDS without batteries.
Thankfully I found one without lights, or a built in speedometer, or a spinning station for those who find the starting via string method taxing or beyond their grasp. (I see what I did there)

As a kid I recall having two small balls (enough with the snickering) of differing hardness and a regime of exercises I followed daily. They were easy, could be done while I was engaged otherwise...In short unobtrusive and they produced results very quickly.

So if this proves beneficial I shall have to plan for the metal versions which are $100 or more.
It can be a point of focus and discipline and beneficial to my playing as well.

I found the one in the top photo on Amazon for $17.29 with a 15% off coupon (only available to customers in this country it seems), which brought the total with tax and shipping to $15.98.
As I am fond of saying - we shall see.

04/17/13 I feel the "burn" after a simple five minute workout. I do thirty seconds with each hand and then switch. It's not quite a pain, more of every muscle in my arm is tight, in use.

Delay Pedals

Delay pedals afford the sound referred to as, "slapback," "echo," all the way into "self oscillation."

First called "Vibrato" on Fender amps, we were introduced to delay as distinct echo.
This, to differentiate it from "Reverb," short for reverberation - which is the echo of playing in a large venue. Faint and not to repeat more than once.

Delays can repeat many times, depending on the technology used, digital can virtually go on forever with no degradation in the signal other than what the initial sampling removed.
Digital delays can also be manipulated in many more ways than an analog signal.

In an analog device, a series of capacitors with transistors in strategic places transfer the signal from one group to another in a chain like fashion. The further down the chain, the more noise that has been introduced, and the more of the original signal lost until eventually it is no longer usable.
The name for the technology in the 1960s was aptly put, "Bucket Brigade."

Today, there are both digital and analog delay pedals. There are also hybrids that use analog technology in the signal path but digital to run the show.
It's hard to hold up old technology and find virtues to extol. And the digital world is far less costly. The chips used to make delays are not run-of-the-mill items that are in everyday use. Volume use has not driven the price down.

So when you enter this morass, you find everything is hyped and there are far too many types to choose from. More and more they combine delay with other cousins, such as chorus and phase. All innocuously labeled as "Modulation." In an effort shoehorn even more in, the digital offerings can also function as "Loopers." Pedals that will record short musical passages that can be successively layered upon until a lush song has been constructed by one person.

And these buggers can run from half a hundred dollars to well over a thousand for a tape based, "Echo-Plex." The granddaddy of all separate delay pedals.

While selling a neighbor an unused wah pedal I spied a vintage delay known as the Way Huge (name of the firm) Aqua Puss - who names these things? We came to an amiable exchange - I took cash and the pedal.

We shall see.

Spectraflex Original Series Right Angle Instrument Cable, 10 Foot, Violet

Remember when your mothers vacuum cleaner, or maybe it was grandmas had a tweed style fabric covered power cord? It wouldn't kink, no matter how you walked in circles during your cleaning.

I remember a few years ago, seeing some guitar player in a bar using a guitar cord that was covered by the same sort of fabric. I was intrigued.

So a year or so later I ordered one, in the ten foot variety. I planned on using it to connect my amplifier to the pedal board.
Violet color, extra cost natch. They come with one ninety degree connector - it goes into my Boss NS-2 noise gate. The other end is a straight end...which I insert into the amplifier. I'd rather have two ninety degree connectors but that is not an option form the manufacturer. (And I don't want to solder/crimp new connectors - I want a cable)

20 AWG Ultra Pure Copper Center Conductor

100% Copper and Conductive Polymer Shield Coverage

Low 39 pf/ft. Capacitance

Rugged, High Performance Connectors

Made in the USA-Lifetime Warranty

Durable, won't kink, and it's purple! A bit on the pricey side. $27.53 with tax ($2.27 to the state) & free shipping. I would love to see them making patch cables. Little one or two foot cords with two ninety degree connectors.
I am not ready to debate capacitance per foot et cetera; it hasn't broken and that is what I am after at this point.

Ordered it Thursday and received it Friday. Yay Amazon Prime.

Nothing To Change...Full Speed Ahead

My guitar is pretty much dialed in. The intonation, tremolo, action...they are all close to perfect.
What's next?

A gig.
A day job, or not. It doesn't matter.

My sound is perfect. My playing is far from that, but the voice. My guitar speaks.
I can get the sound I am after with a little tweaking of knobs.

What is left is for me is to tell a tale. Weave a story.
Maybe it has lyrics, maybe not.
I need a theme.

It works in "real life" as well.
A theme.

Fake it, until you make it.

Why I am satisfied? I have no idea. Well actually, I do. I am content, happy, need little in the way of things. I have what I want and need.

I am playing often enough, could be more, but it is good.

I see other bands/acts on a regular basis. I am eating better than a year ago.

I need to find something to complain about as most of my issues are clearly first world problems.

The human condition is one in which we constantly are on the prowl. Looking for something, someone, tone.

We seem to be chasing something...always.
What's the purpose?

Rocking My Ass Off In The USA

Well, actually...more of a North American thing, but then the reference to the song would have been lost.
Okay, start over.

I had two gigs yesterday, one after another and it was great.
Not the gigs, they were the run of the mill stuff - a birthday and a supper club mood thing at a posh sports bar.
Not the players...the same old Pomona people.

The best players make the rest of the band look good.
A drummer that no one notices but they feel a perfect beat under their feet.

The worst players make us all look stupid. The guitar player that does not turn the volume down. Maybe he is going deaf? Could be.
But when the singer is pushing it and still can't be heard...

But I was playing. Out and playing is better than most anything else. Watching a good band is close, but being in the spotlight is the best.

At one point a person seated yelled out, "Play some Hendrix..."
Someone hooks his iPod to the PA and there is SRV doing Voodoo Chile. It's not a bad cover at all.
Fine...I pick up my guitar and join in.
Twenty five minutes later the pianist announces the food is ready, time for a break. Um, you guys were on break. I've been jamming my ass off and grinning like a fool the entire time.

At the sports bar the crowd wants quiet and yet upbeat mood music.
Stevie Wonder works. So does Herbie Hancock or Booker T and the MGs.
The keyboard player in this band is unknown to me; I am an acquaintance of the drummer, but he and I pick up a riff in Watermelon Man and go with it.
Same thing with Green Onions - which is a guitar & keyboard jam as it was written. So this is real fun.

The people at the club were ignoring us. The way it should be. We were not the attraction. Basketball was.
But I was rocking - the way it should be.

Raw Vintage Springs

Raw Vintage Springs

Here is the ad copy from their site.

The wear and tear of parts from vintage guitars that were manufactured few decades ago can cause functionality problems. What vintage guitar users fear the most when these parts need to be replaced is if it will cause the sound to change significantly.

RVTS-1 (5-pc set)
Wire Diameter : 1.3mm
Overall Diameter : 8.86mm
Nickel Plated
MSRP: $27.00/set

Online shop (USA & Canada Only) > 

 Sound Sample

Raw Vintage products Dealer List >

Tremolo Spring is a part just as vital as the saddle and they are responsible for the fat sound of the 50's and 60's Stratocaster. Most newly manufactured springs have different characteristics from the vintage. They are hard with strong tension. 
As one of the raw vintage product, we researched the vintage and matched the tension of the spring. And with the prerequisite of using 5 or 4 springs together, we were able to achieve superb torque feel and stabilized arming that were made possible from the difference in weight and contraction percentage. And with the increased weight, we were able to create Fat Tone.
These can be used as a replacement parts for the new reissued guitars, enabling their owners to enjoy the characteristic closer to the original.

We recommend you to use this in set of 5

Clicking that BUY NOW button takes you here - Prosound Communications Inc,
I found them for $17 elsewhere online.


I usually am of the mind that things outside the pickups & tone circuit have very little bearing on the sound of my guitar.
I do believe that there are differences, but I think for the most part, we humans can't hear them, or if we can hear them then have trouble distinguishing one from another.
All things being subjective; there was a piece in the NYTimes by Nicholas Wade;
In Classic vs. Modern Violins, Beauty Is in Ear of the Beholder


"...and had them compare three high-quality modern violins with a Guarneri and two Stradivari instruments...."
"Despite a general belief among violinists that Stradivari and Guarneri violins are tonally superior, the participants in Dr. Fritz’s test could not reliably distinguish such instruments from modern violins. Only 8 of the 21 subjects chose an old violin as the one they’d like to take home. In the old-to-new comparison, a Stradivarius came in last and a new violin as the most preferred."


Fascinating stuff...

Back to my tremolo.
I had purchased a set of these five springs once before and liked the effect. The idea behind them is five springs instead of the OEM supplied three. But each of the supplied springs are softer, less tension. The claw got tightened a bit to pull the bridge closer to the body.

There was a distinct difference in the timbre of the harmonics. Normal adjectives and descriptors would include, bell like, chime,  clarity, ring,  The pickups needed adjusting after the springs pulled the bridge closer to the body.
This should be voodoo.
This should be a placebo effect.

If I am wrong about this, what other bits of hardware have a profound effect?
Many of the suggestions to improve tone are voodoo. I heard nothing after removing the back cover, although other people will swear by this.
The world is full of myth and most people buy in at a cheap price. So my inner cynic strikes first.

But if this is something, then new worlds have just opened.

The operation of the trem arm is as planned, easier to break the body at rest and set the bridge in motion. It feels smoother.

But now, even more so than yesterday, I love this thing. The sound is so close.