Conference napalm::guitar

    To commemorate this Colorado Springs jam thing,  Mike Manthei and I took 
    a ride up to Denver.  No real GOAL in this trip except some fellowship 
    (okay, we BOTH managed to get some time off away from the families.  :-).  
    I also had mentioned that I was interested in a practice combo...I didn't 
    really intend to BUY one, just TRY some.
    
    Here's how it went:
    
    - Mike came over in the Olds at about 10am, and we hit the road. 
      Started off right when some Scorps came on the radio.
    
    - About an hour into this journey, we discovered that neither of
      us had a clue about where to go ("I thought you had a plan?  No,
      cuz I thought you would!").  We decided that only Bassists and
      prorammers would 'have a plan' (sorry guys).  :-)
    
    **First stop - Marriot to take notes and addresses from the Yeller
      Pages.
    
    **Second stop - National Speaker.  Sorry, nothing here except some fine
      looking G&L ASATs, PRS guits and a couple of Matchless amps - OH, and 
      some fine ProAudio gear - also got a look at th Mackie 24x4x2 console.  
      Cute.  Also snarfed some info on Mackies new fader automation package 
      (slobber).
    
    **Third stop - Listen Up Audio.  Interesting place.  I've spent some
      major DOUGH at this place, and I still get a cold feeling about the
      folks there.  They DO have an excellent example of a LEDE (live end, 
      dead end) room there, and some nifty pro audio stuff.  
    
      Come to find out that they are trying to get out of the guitar
      business, and while asking about combos found they had ONE combo and
      two stomp boxes.  I pretty much had my heart set on a Marshall JTM30,
      or JCM900 1x12...But I said "okay, what kind of combo?". 
    
      "Oh, it's a Crate" she sez.
    
      Now, those of you who know me, know that I'm NOT a snob...However,
      Crates make me think of something you use to CONTAIN something (I 
      used to have a 20wt something, that LOOKED like a Crate...  Anyway,
      a little bird said "Hey, remember someone in the notes file raved
      about one of these little crate combos?"...  Well, I thought it might
      have been Jerry White, but...  I forgot.
    
      Anyway, they had one 1x12 30wt (VC-3112, Vintage Club).  Typically
      retro - white tolex, celestion clone speaker, knobs on the back (that
      were definately purchased in a Marshall-knob liquidation).  FX loop
      (Insert style), channel switcher, typical.  Well, they didn't have a 
      guitar for me to try the thing out...Wouldn't sell it to me on a
      contingency, wouldn't send it to the Springs store where I might
      drag my own guitar...  Eeesh.  Anyway, $360 and it could've been
      mine.  I didn't know if that was a good deal or not, but it sure
      smelled like one...  Oh, and the manager of the store DID say "Go
      find Bobs Music - They're a Crate dealer".
    
      Now, Mike, being the pal he is, dragged me out of there before I
      spent money (he bought some $7 insert cords - NICE DEAL!), and off 
      we went. 
    
    **Fourth Stop - Bobs Music.  Empty store.  Going out of business I
      guess.  Bummer.
    
    **Fifth Stop.  Weglies Music (Is that right?).  Slum of a Pawn dealer, 
      but we poked  around anyway.  Had thousands of guits - Hondos,
      Vantage (!), Kent, and tons of other high quality instruments.  
    
      There is a Audio Technica ATM31R on a mike stand, and I say "just out
      of curiousity, how much for the ATM?".  I'm expecting him to say
      "$472.99(99)".  But he goes to the boss.  Boss sez "Doesn't work, and 
      proceeds to use a xlr -->  1/4" cable to plug it into a MINT
      "Marlboro" amp (remember those?) and yells into it "It doesn't work!"
      But alas, if I really want it, $10 and it's mine.  
    
      I figured this guy has never HEARD of Phantom Power, doesn't know 48vdc 
      exists (except an Lionel train set) and certainly doesn't know that 
      the R in ATM31*R* stands for REMOTE.  Mike and I caucus behind a
      vintage Emu drumulator (or something like that) and decide that the
      mike must be okay.  ;)
    
      Also, they've got a Crate VC3112 there by the way - tag says "$700".
      And I got to plug three guits into it, a squire strat (via a speaker
      cord - man these pick ups are LOUD!), a Kramer with singlecoils,
      and finally, a vintage Ibanez lespaul looking something...Then we
      tried a new cord.  The boss comes down and sez:  "Cash and carry?
      $550".  I told him about the other price and he laughed.
    
      Man, I had a BLAST ragging this guy "Gosh, you guys are PROUD of
      this stuff eh?"  or "Cool cord - Retro 70's thing?"  (coil cord
      from Radio Shack or something).  Zing-Zing.  What a hoot!!
    
      So I coughed up the $10 for the mike, and off we went to find lunch.
    
    **Sixth stop - LUNCH BREAK!!
    
    **Seventh stop -  Drum City and Guitar land.  Place used to be a
      Marshall dealer; no more (too bad).  Now, this place has nothing but
      drums, and custom shop guitars from ESP, Dean, Ibanez, Fender, Jackson.  
      Slobber.   Amps too - mostly Fender, Ampeg and Jackson.
    
      I tried a 1x12 combo out here - a Fender Blues Deluxe - 30wt?  40wt?
      I don't recall.  Nice clean sound - but serious lack of kahonas on the 
      overdrive channel.  Like, HELLLOOOO!  McFLy, where's the GAIN !?? ;-)  
    
      (Sorry, just takin' some shots at you Fender lovers out there...)
                        Fender .nes. "ME" I guess
    
      At this point Mike and I also discussed how I was going to convey to 
      Cindi why I *needed* that JP100 Petrucci Special they had...  Nice.
      Buck, I'm jealous!
      
    **Eighth Stop
      Little Pawn place three stores up.  Guy has LOADS of vintage stuff
      here (and is damn proud of it too).  Gibson Archtops, LPs, Fenders,
      Ricks, Gretch, Guilds, etc...  Told him I was looking for a Marshall
      and he quiped that he had a Marshall with an 8x12 (or 10?) cab - a 
      Major - I quiped (to myself), "does it come with a fire extinguisher?"
      Think he wanted $1500 for the whole thing - I never saw it either.
    
    **Ninth Stop
      SoundTown.  Cool store - ALWAYS treat me right.  I knew they'd shoot 
      straight with me.  Some nifty stuff,  but I tell the manager what I'm 
      looking and what we found (at Listen Up for $360).  He finds that
      they have one at their other store (the one I've dealt with before)
      and calls the boss.  He comes back and tells me $369. The guy calls 
      the other store and tells them to expect me.  
    
      Before we leave, we plug that ATM31R into a board with Phantom and
      get some meter action, so we THINK that mike is in fact good...
      This is a GOOD day!!
    
      So, for $9 more, I'll give my business to SoundTown.  We went there
      and goofed around with the amp for a while,  Keep in mind it's the
      first time we've really had a chance to hear this amp with a decent
      guitar (Ibanez RG570), a decent cord, etc...  Man, this thing HONKS!
      Big-fat clean side, Marshall-ish gain/tone/eq on the lead side, nifty
      FX loop "insert", switchable channels, sep. EQ and 'verb returns, and 
      just an all around cool combo.  Sold!
    
      All-in-all, a GREAT day.  Mike and I yakked it up for hours
      (everything from guitar tricks to what we were burping up from lunch :), 
      and had a great time.  Snarfed some Insert cords ($7 each), a $10 Audio 
      Technica ATM31R, which we are 99% positive is MINT, and a Tres-cool 
      combo that I think we got for a good price.
      
    Can wait for this jam session!!
      

    Yup.
    That about covers it.       EXCEPT!!!
    
    Lunch: All the sopapillas (spelling?) you can eat!   Jose O'Shea's.
    Just west of the Fed Center.  Great food - check it out.   And, yes,
    the burping was intense....
    
    I actually tried to talk him out of buying this amp for nearly 5 hours.
    Then I gave up.
    
    He forced me to go to his house afterwards, so his wife wouldn't kill
    him immediately.    I don't know what happened later....  I had to
    leave.
    
    Hmmm.  The only thing left to report is the severe lack of Marshall
    amplification to try.   What's up with that?
    Also - I heartily agree with Coop's assessment of the Fender retro amp.
    Played with a nice guitar-NO GAIN.   It's like 2 clean channels, only
    with one that seems broke.    I declined the opportunity to play thru
    it.    What's the point?
    
    Next trip....  ???     
    Mike
    

    I don't know yet if I can make it.  The only thing that might get
    in the way is something my wife could already have planned.
    
    Other than that ----  I'll be there.
    /=\
    

    I'm proud to report that Cindi *didn't* kill me, by the way.  
    But I am thankful that Mike came in and distracted her while
    snuck it down the stairs...
    
    ...Well, okay I was busted long before I even took it out of the
    car.  To set the stage, we pulled up and Cindi was emptying groceries
    from the car - Now, I *hate* bringing in the gorceries, and Cindi
    *knows* this.  So I guess I blew it  ...Went something like this:
    
    Coop:  Hey babe!  Have a nice day?  Here, let me help with those
           groceries!!
    
    Cindi: Yeah, you'd better!  Especially if BOUGHT something...
    
    Coop:  Babe - don't strain yourself, let me grab the bag of potatoes
           too...
    
    (and off I scamper to the house with a HUGE load of groceries).  Cindi
     comes in:
    
    Cindi: So how nice ($) of an amp did you get (Can you say Ca-ching!)
           (She's zeroing in for the kill right away...)
    
    So I tell her, and thats about the last I heard about it.  She even let
    me escape downstairs to play thru it, and write up that trip report!
    
    She was SO cool about it, I actually had the ballz to mention the
    Petrucci Special I saw...And she said (get this!):  "How much?"
    
    Sheesh - I *love* this women!
    
    jc
                          

    Cindi just realizes that the fastest way to a guitar-playin man's 
    heart is thru his patch cord.
    
    	db

    re: -1
    Yup.
    My better half (Suzanne) just gets that glazed look when I tell her
    how cool the Mackie/Alesis/Tascam/Carvin/Blah/Blah..... is and then
    she gets this funky look in her eye, and says "So when are you gonna
    get it?"
    She knows that I don't buy anything if there's a chance some bill might
    not get paid - so she just puts me on the spot.   I think our women
    deserve some applause <insert polite golf clap here>.   Of course it 
    helps when you send *her* out with a pocket-fulla-twenties to the mall
    and tell here she _must_ spend it all.   You gotta do that once in a
    while too.
    /=\
    

    
    No way man, you got it wrong.  See, Cindi knows that I'll not pay a
    bill if there's a chanfe some guitar toy might not be bought.  :-)
    
    :-)

    Sez U!
    ;-)
    
    So was that you shakin' in your boots - about to die - on the way back
    to your hut on Saturday, or was my right front tire out of balance?
    [double :-)]
    
    I only noticed the fear 'cuz I know it well.  You shoulda heard me
    telling Suz I bought a wireless on Sunday night when she called from
    Virginia.....     I make a lousy actor.
    
    /=\
    

    
    What I mean is Cindi throttles me back (beats my head in) if I get 
    a little anxious about getting a toy and start eye-balling the mortgage
    money.  ;-)

    [:]
    
    So, what will Cindi do if a bunch o' guitar doods show up at your
    place?  Does she plan to go shopping to escape the noize?
    /=\
    
    

    
    She'll survive...  We'd done this once before, and she still insists
    she had a good time.  :-)   We had a big turnout last time too!
    jc

    >    Sheesh - I *love* this women!
    
    Um, Coop, just how many do you have? ;-)
    
    Something tells me she's just keeping a mental tally for the hutch
    factor.  This could be anything from new furniture to a new house. ;-)
    
    Mike

    Well, we're building a new house....And it'll need new furniture...
    I see your point.
    
    Now I'm depressed.  THANKS.
    :-)

    So where's the jam?  Is it all electric? Time?

    I think we oughta post-pone it.  Lesse, I think Mike Manthei has band
    practice, Mike Heiser piked out, Sam has relatives in town, Steve
    Jensen left the company, and you and I are the only ones left (not that
    this is a BAD thing... :-). 
    
    :-(

    If we could make it another day, I would really appreciate it.
    I *hate* having to make a decision between two things I want to do.
    'specially when they are both this much fun!
    /=\
    

    I think another day is the right way to do it.  :-)

    Sounds good.

    you have to make an initial committment in order to "pike out."  

    Eh, stop your whinin' - I committed for ya.
    
    :-)

    Hey Coop!
    U ready?
    Lotsa room in yer basement!
    All we need to do now is set the date and buy chips 'n dip...
    /=\
    

    
    I'm ready!!
    
    Me Needham (sorry, poor Mass. joke here) volume too!

    Got my fix last night.   Had rehearsal with Marv. and the rest of XP.
    *whew*
    We're getting psl now.   (pretty stinkin' loud)
    

    Hello my fellow Springonians. So when may I sit in on the next jam (if
    of course I may)  I've never met any of you in person but would be 
    interrested in jamming a few tunes sometime. I'm not real great but
    not afraid to jump right in. I'm not in a band right now but my
    roommate is fooling around with a bass but he's still way at the 
    beginners level (he's having trouble with "Smoke on the water") so
    you may understand my frustration. 
    Response is appreciated.
    
    -ss
    

   Well, I and 3 others are playing at the Storage Christmas potluck tomorrow.
   Does that count?  :-)

   Seriously though, there's not been a new date set.  It'll probably have to
   be after the first of the year at this point.

   -- Sam
   

    I'm pretty booked through the new year too. I'll bug you guys about
    it at a future date.
    
    -ss

    If I don't bug you first...   I'm itchin' to do something, even though
    I haven't the time to do what I have planned already!  ;-)
    /=\