No preamble today, you all know what this is by now. As I sew a Cthulhu patch onto my vest, I just wanted to check in with my favorite comrades! This is your space to talk and vent!
A lot of you remember that show I had last week with the people who don't like me. It actually went pretty horrible for my partner, not so much for me. I walked out during the performances of the people in question, and the 3rd person just walked right past me without saying anything, and I had my best friend with me so it ended up being a fun, drunken/high evening for me, in some respects.
My partner tho...one of the performers (who I fucked things up with) had a mental break right before the last act, was screaming and crying about how they didn't wanna do it. I can't help but wonder if my presence played a part in that. Partner isn't holding the break against them, but they haven't reached out since to say anything at all about it. My partner produced and directed the show, so they won't be inviting them back. On top of that, they ended up losing money on the show that they worked hard for, and they found out that some other people in their community were trying to poach the venue, which upset them. ON TOP OF THAT - they're coming off Lexapro, so it hasn't been an easy week.
Beyond that, I've been making new friends, some of them from Hexbear, some of them from Lex. Talking with someone right now who is spitting Marx quotes at me and I'm just like....oh yeah, let's fucking do this. Had a GREAT day on Saturday doing mutual aid work and then hanging out. My partner seems to be working on us doing ENM/poly stuff in a positive way, so that's cool. Band practice tonight, rest tomorrow, and then back to distributing food on Saturday.
Hope you're all well!
I'm hanging in there. My sleep schedule has been shot to shit for most of the month, and I don't know if it's from stress, anxiety, or what, but I'm still more or less keeping it together in spite of not being able to get any damned sleep.
All that aside, I started (DIY) HRT recently, so that's a whole different mess of impostor syndrome. I keep reminding myself that cishet AMAB people don't typically go out of their way to source feminizing hormones from strange corners of the internet on a lark and that this isn't just some fleeting hyperfixation. At any rate, the T-blockers are definitely keeping my usual levels of angst at bay, so that's a nice change, even if my E levels don't feel like they've ramped up to anything special just yet.
On the long-winded guitar nerd front... I got my hands on a used Marshall Mode Four head for pretty cheap, and I'm really digging it so far, even through the sad little speaker-swapped 4x12 Valvestate cab that I run. I'm mostly just planning to use the head for studio stuff, since the second channel is bang-on for hot rodded Plexi/JMP/JCM800/Silver Jubilee noises, mostly if you run it through the right speakers to tame some of the treble that this thing puts out. The fourth channel is like an old Valvestate on steroids with the option to voice it like a Dual Rec, so I can't wait to hear it in a mix with my 5150. Unfortunately, it's in need of a bit of TLC. It has taken a few too many hits to the faceplate, so the control boards don't stay in place very well if you push the channel selector buttons. I have it torn apart to try to fix that issue (and also to clean up some spider egg sacs that were on the fans), and I figure I might as well take some automotive detailer to the tolex on the headshell while I'm at it. I was able to find a new-old-stock footswitch for it, which was a pleasant surprise, so that should cut down on the "buttons jamming the PCBs off the friction-mount standoff posts" issue. (Absolutely bizarre footswitch cabling choice, too -- it uses a 15-pin D-sub connector, like an old PC gamepad or Sound Blaster MIDI breakout port.) I just wish I weren't too exhausted all the time to actually work on the thing.
Congrats on starting HRT! Excited for you! :lea-bounce:
That head sounds awesome, we have one in our space but idk if it works. I'm currently struggling with finding an octave pedal to do mock bass stuff for live shows that doesnt sound like total fuck with my low tuning (f standard). Even using old 70s 15" speakers and a Model T, the OC5 I'm using now sounds like ass. Maybe I need to add back some dry signal - I'll try it out a few minutes tonight before practice, but I'm looking at the Pitchfork Plus now. Maybe I should just go down a fifth instead of an octave. Ideally I'd have a biamp setup with one clean + bass amp, and the other with my regular effects. Just need to find a pedal that sounds ok. I also started playing with the Behringer HM2 clone, and actually really like it with my super low tuning! Normally not much of an hm2 person, but I vibe with this.
It's super cool that you know how to fix up stuff like that! If you were closer to Chicago, we could definitely use someone like that. Funny story, my Matamp was built in England and uses weird fuses for a guitar amp. I had problems with it and took it to tech after tech, until someone was like "oh shit, I checked the 70s OR120 schema and we need a 2A slo blow." Been rocking like a champ since then, and I can actually play it cranked all the way to 10 now.
Holy shit, I'm not surprised that the OC5 is struggling with your setup. The Pitchfork might work a little better for you; I haven't tried one, and certainly not at that low of a tuning. I have a Digitech Drop, and that does pretty well until you get into E-standard bass territory -- once your source is tuned that low, the tracking is OK, but the output signal gets weird and artifact-y past about 3 half-steps down. Are you using something like an LS-2 at the front of your chain to split off the clean signal and send it to the octave pedal/bass effects loop and then mix it back in? That should still work as a Y-pedal if you decide to send the "bass" signal to a separate amp (or maybe a modeler and a PA system).
I love this thing, and not because it's hot pink. OK, not just because it's hot pink. It's a little fizzier than a real HM-2, so I've actually given mine to my kid and swapped out for a TC Electronic Eyemaster, which is a two-knob version that is also built like a tank. I've tried it on multiple amps now, and I grin like a jackass each time because it's just instant Entombed, even through my silverface Fender. I don't normally go for the Swedish chainsaw thing, but it's good stupid fun and an amazing blend tone.
I have been drinking before practice and would love to continue this conversation but once I mark this as read, I know I'll probably forget. Are you on Element or anything? Dm me and let's talk gear!