New Fuzz Pedal

Well I needed a new casting for my Fuzz Pedal I was building. I did not want to go with the usual square box looking things so I built this out of a GMC hubcap I bought for a dollar at the swap meet.

Pro-Street Pedal Board™ Update!

I'm about finished up with my Pro-Street Pedal Board™ I'm working on. It's all soldered up and ready to be mounted to the rest of the board (when I get that part made) It works really good. Nice and smooth switches between F/X The LEDS are almost too big though I think I'll use the 3mm ones next time.

I also built a Bazz fuss fuzz pedal. It was my first ever pedal build and I'm really stoked. I just need to build an case for it but it sounds really good.

Got Me a Rotovibe!!!!

I just picked up a used Rotovibe. Man I love that thing. I have always wanted a Univibe like Hendrix used. Then I discovered that, that was based on the Vibratone so I really wanted one of those too but they are pretty expensive and kind of rare. Then I discovered the Rotovibe. I had heard the name before but I had no Idea that it did the Leslie/Vibratone thing so well. Thanks to youtube I just had to have one. I'm very stoked.

I should be finishing up my Pro-street Pedal Board soon. I got all the parts that I need finally. I just need to solder it all together. I would have been working on it more but this damn heat wave just kicked my ass. All I did last weekend was sweat. I picked up a few parts to build a Fuzz Pedal too, so after I get the pedal board done I'll give that a go and see how it goes. I found a very simple circuit called the "Bazz Fuss" Looks and sounds pretty good from the mp3's I have heard.

Pro-Street Pedal Board™

Well I have for a while now been looking for a simple over the counter switch box that will toggle between my Creepy Fingers Hybrid Fuzz and my EH Big Muff. I have not been able to find anything that fits the bill. There are a few custom loopers but are kind of spendy. I decided that I would try and build one myself.

I needed something to house it in. Most of pedal housings our there are strait up Plain Jane or butt ugly. My dad had this old Ford Aluminum Valve Cover hanging up in his shed. I decided to use that. It is coming out pretty good. I got most of the hardware installed now I just need to wire it up. When its done it will have: 1) one loop that toggles between the two fuzzes. 2) A true bypass FX loop 3) a Muted tuner out.

I figure if it goes well and there is enough interest I'll build some to sell too.

Smokers Suck!!!

I have always detested cigarette smoke. I'm so glad that more and more states are enacting a ban on smoking in public places. Of course the smokers are crying like babies about taking away their rights. If it was the DEQ enacting more regulations on cars no one would be upset. They would just resign themselves to the fact that it is better for the earth and go a long with it. Smokers are the last bastion of old worlders that think they have the right to make everyone miserable with their smoke because it's their right.

It's not bad enough that you have to put up with smoke in clubs but even at home. The last two places I have lived I have had to deal with some jerk that goes out side to smoke (he obviously knows how disgusting second hand smoke is and does not want it in his house) then it blows in my window. I can't just close the window when it's 90+ degrees outside and I have no AC. Pollution is pollution whether it comes from a cigarette or an exhaust pipe.

Trout Lake Art Festival

This weekend Sarah and I took a trip up to Hood River to the Trout Lake Art Festival. It was really fun time. It was hot as hell though. They had lots of Folky and Hippie type crafts for sale. The best was the live music. I wish I could remember their name it was something like "Savant Guard" or something like that. They were a trio two girls and a guy. Two guitars and a bass. I would like for Sarah and I to get a booth up there next year so she could sell some of her pottery or pin-stripping stuff and I could sell some of my Metal Sculptures. Maybe sit in with a couple of the bands and play some tunes.

After the festival we went fishing. We did not catch anything but like my Dad used to say "If you caught something every time it would not be fishing it would be catching"

Summer Time Blues

The 4th of July went off with out a hitch. Sarah and I had a really nice time. A friend of hers rented a house boat on the Columbia river across from the Fort. We had a really good view of the fireworks. We were supposed to be camping but Sarah got a new job and can not take the time off now. It's good she got the job but man I really miss camping.

I hope we can squeeze in a weekend camping trip some where. We were originally planning on going to the Olympic Peninsula but we will have to camp some place closer to home now I think.

But on a good note the weather has been pretty good and I have been getting to do a lot of BBQing with my new BBQ so that is a plus. Although the weather has been really freaky all summer. I can't remember the last summer we had that had so much up and down weather.

Working On My Tote Gote

It was a nice day the other day so I got out my tote gote and started to tinker around with it. I had picked up an old seat at a swap meet here in Portland for it a while back and now I thought would be a good time to see if it fits. It is a heck of a lot bigger than the stock tote gote seat but heck I'm a heck of a lot bigger than most so I need a big seat. I just need to weld up a bracket for it and it should work fine. After that I just need to get a throttle and break cable for it and it will be ready for a spin.

Reconquista Of Psychedelica

I have not posted in a while and I should have. So much has been going on. Tombstoner got a little side lined do to our 4 track going out on us. We set out to find a replacement only to find out that nothing of any quality could be found for a decent price. We ended up getting an old Peavey MC Mak II series mixer. Oh man that thing is the bomb. I don't know how old it is but it's old. It looks like a piece of furniture but it sounds awesome!!! Zak's drums now come through the mix crystal clear and booming on the bottom end like never before. My guitar sounds much fuller more dynamic. And just think that's just going into a regular old Hi-Fi cassette deck. Imagine how good it would sound running into a reel to reel. We have also been experimenting with the Glyn Johns Drum Micing Method, and let me tell you that if you have a good drummer that knows how to play and tune his kit this Method will bring out every nuance of his playing. This mic setup has captured Zak's playing exactly as it sounds live. I've been in a lot of studios and it amazes me that up until now no producer has ever tried this with us.

Well we defiantly got the stuff now to make a good old fashioned DIY basement Demo. It's quite hard to do that in this day and age with out spending a lot of money and I can tell you this, we spent less than 100 bucks on everything. We also have some great songs to record to. We have been working on this new one called "Scratch A Match" it is super heavy like Saint Vitus Meets War Pigs kind of heavy. There are no lyrics yet but it's going to be about the Failure of Higher Learning institutions. One community college in particular and how the brainwashed teachers and faculty educate generation after generation of mindless zombies. I do have some lyrical ideas but nothing concrete yet. But it's based a lot on my reaction to Death Metal and Black Metal bands that have burned Churches. I say why burn a church when schools have done far more damage to you and society than any single church ever could. I don't condone violence of any kind especially arson so don't think that's what I'm getting at. I'm just saying that what they did was not only hate full but down right ignorant of the facts.

More to come stay tuned....

Life Is Good!!!

Oh man things are so much better than they have been in a long time for me. I had a medical scare with some medicine that I had been taking for my Arthritis so I had to stop taking it for a while and since then I have found out that it was doing me more harm than good. I feel so much better now like a vale has been lifted off my brain. Modern Medicine is a good thing but sometimes it's best to just go "all natural"

On another High point. Zak and I have been writing more songs and getting very experimental. It's so refreshing to just throw off all the rules and just see where it takes you. We have been jamming on this new song called "Opium Den" and we made a recording of it. It's really spacey and cool check it out at our myspace page
myspace.com/tombstoner

We hope to be recording our demo soon and booking some shows for this summer!!!

Christians Who Rock VS. Christian Rock??? Rock N Roll does not have to be the Devils music

I never realised that such controversy existed until just the other day. I have now for a few months been making it known that I'm a proud Christian. I have also recently started a Doom Band. I posted up on a local Portland Oregon Musicians chat board pdxrocks.com and told them about my knew band. At no time did I make the statement that it was a "Christian Doom" band or that I was proselytizing and trying to convert people over to Christianity with my new band. I'm simply a Christian who plays Doom.

A lot of the people on that board do not see it that they think because I'm a Christian that I must play Christian music. I said well there are a lot of Jewish people who play Doom also but no one is making a big deal of it and calling it "Jew Doom" Why can you not be who you are and play the music of your choice with out someone trying to put you into a box.

I also said though that I was not going to be playing anything praising or promoting the Devil or Satanism and or anything critical or Negative of God or Jesus. But they act like if you aren't one of the other then you are nothing. That's pretty sad that peoples imaginations are so small that the only thing they can find to write about are religious topics. There are so many more things to write about that that. I think you can be a Christian and play any kind of music you want as long as it "bears good fruit" if it does that then you are OK.

It's becoming really obvious that there is some kind of war on Christianity in the music world. Anyone who has good Christian values is relegated to the back pages of the Music Magazines but anyone who is anti-Christ is all but guaranteed a big article. I have also noticed that even if you are not a Satanic band that if you mention: The devil, Satan or hell any were in your interview there is a good chance of them blowing that quote up and using it as the lead. Why is that? What kind of agenda do these reporters really have?

Like I said I'm a proud Christian and there should be nothing wrong with saying that and I should be able to be a Christian who plays heavy music with out having to defend myself. Rock N Roll does not have to be the Devils music

Tombstoner It's Official!!!

Well it's official now. The name of my new band is "Tombstoner" it's kind of funny my Dad actually suggested that name many years ago before HYDROZEEN. I have been kind of setting on it until the right time. Zak really liked it so we ran with it.

Look for some Tombstoner shows to be coming your way in the near future...

Just Need A Name

My new band is coming along really well. We recorded some new songs on my 4 track last night. We only used one mic and one track and recorded drums and guitar at the same time. I can't believe how great it turned out. Our demos are turning out better than the finished product for my last band. Zak is a total professional. His playing is so well balanced there is no need for compression EQ or even multiple Mics for him. I finally got the Fuzz tone I have been hearing in my head all these years thanks in part to my newly acquired Big Muff Pi and tuning to C#. We are both really excited about entering the studio to lay down these tunes. We both agree on recording things as live as possible. That is a big relief to me because my last studio experience was like make a patchwork quilt all the vibe and soul was completely lost.

We just need to come up with a name. We are taking our time making sure we pick a name that is an accurate description of us that will grow with us.

Stay tuned because we are going to be kicking out some tunes that will blow your mind.

Even Hard Rockers Like Me Love Jesus

Well I just had to say something. I have been getting so sick and tired of everyone assuming that if you are into hard rock that you are some kind of devil worshiper. All of the latest issues of guitar world seem to praise or reward the most satanic bands while letting many other good bands go unnoticed.

I think there are more Christian rockers out there than anyone knows but most are afraid to say anything for fear of being labeled as a "Christian band" even I think most of the bands you hear today on the Christian channel are pretty lame sounding, so I can see why other musicians might be afraid to get painted with that moniker.

If you are a musician and a Christian don't be afraid anymore. If you loose any fans or friends because of it they were not really true fans or friends anyway. Surround yourself with good people. For too long I surrounded myself with bad people in my band and in my personal life. I wish I could have done more to help them back then but I was too afraid of loosing them and in the end I lost them anyway. Maybe now though I can be a more positive roll model for them and my new Friends and band mates.