CygnusX-1Bk2

He had transplants years ago. 90's/2000's. They didn't stick. He still had a bald spot and you could see the man made line of hair on top. Looks like he's been wearing a piece for a good while now.

Considered the P-Rails for my Lester but opted for the multi connector Classic 57s instead. I am not crazy about my push/pull pots though. Not sure where I got them. I think maybe Stew-Mac, but I have to check. Bridge is too bright at full. Have to pot down to near half for something clean that's not harsh.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Bass-Combo-Amplifiers.gc?N=1085&postalCode=92101&radius=100#narrowSideBar Here's a variety of amps on that range. Ampeg, GK, SWR and others make good products in that range.

Not for that yet but I've been working with a guy who used to program presets for a bunch of synth companies in the late 80s/early 90s and he creates patches with ease so I intend to get his help. We've already attempted the wow sound in Natural Science but didn't quite get there. He has done some OB tones and has a Subdivisions patch that he made a couple weeks ago, but I have tones for that already. I made a bunch of patches for Reason for my former Rush band. There are really good Moog refills, even some from Moog. The Maelstrom and Subtractor synths in Reason do some good OB tones. I use Reason because I'm used to it but also I can open multiple instances of it per song making it very useful for live use. Plus it has samplers and sequencers so I can utilize synths, samplers and sequencers with multiple controllers or assign them across a single keyboard. For Spirit of Radio I have a sequencer triggered by one key, a sampler on another and a synth on the rest because of the Combinator which has great, simple programmability. You can combine multiple modules within the Combinator which makes Reason really powerful. But since my day gig is as a game/picture sound designer I use all kinds of synths as sound effects elements so I have been expanding my palette. There are some cool things in Logic but they're only available there or in the supplemental Mainstage app. I've been using Komplete for a few years now, mostly Massive and Kontakt. My coworker really likes Reaktor too. Komplete has a lot of stuff in it. Really good for composition.

I've been reporducing Rush tones in Reason for years. Recently I have been working with Native Instruments' Massive which is part of their Komplete assortment of products. Understanding synthesis is kind of important because Rush patches aren't exactly part of the standard fare when it comes to synth presets. There are lots of nice current hardware synths available but I personally prefer software with midi controllers for variety and more control of the tones I make/use. One can really set up keyboard splits and layering of tones a lot more freely.

You're coming up on 10 years here... Nice! Great talking with you the other night!

The fact that it was a gear porn tour made it that much better. Loved seeing all the different basses from Ged, and hearing the differences in tone on the live album. Yeah, a parade of Les Pauls and J's with some very nice odds and ends mixed in. Plus Neil with 2 kits and real tubular bells. If you count all of the fake amps too it was an astounding display!

Yeah, that close to the ocean things will stay pretty moist, even given the drought. Also being so far south the temperatures are really gradual. Wood instruments like consistency and you are in a really good place for that.

I have heard from a few people that they where sound checking Vapor Trail on one of the recent tours (Time Machine I think) and he was playing the EDS for that. I didn't catch How It Is on R40 but saw pictures of Al playing the PRS 12 as on the video but also a Ric 360-12 which I would have loved to have seen. I think when Al goes on vacation he takes 50 guitars with him. :)

That will be very gradual. If you are really concerned then a portable humidifier in the room where the guitar is kept can help things stay more consistent. I live in Northern California now and winters are a good bit colder here (already dipping into the 40s) and summers peak into the low 100s. I generally check my necks this time of year and only occasionally need to make adjustments. I try to keep the temp in my house consistent, maybe a bit warm but I have a lot of gear (guitars, basses, piano, drums) and keeping swings in temperature gradual help minimize the impact on the instruments. I have two Martins and a Washburn 12 string acoustic and I've only had to adjust one of the Martins once in the past 6 years or so. When I play gigs in the winter when it's really cold I keep cases closed for at least 15 minutes or longer to come up to room temperature before removing my guitars/basses depending on how cold it is and/or how long they've been exposed to the cold. When I lived in Encinitas I did have issues with chrome in the salty air. My snare drum in particular used to react to that. Plus I was a grubby little kid so that didn't help either. :) All that said all of my instruments are "players" not collectibles. I think if I had a collector piece I would definitely check out some sort of pristine storage.

Older EDS-1275s can be found for considerably less than $7300. Gibson made a Don Felder version and a Jimmy Page version as well. The Felder was cheaper and the Page was more expensive. Also Ibanez "lawsuit" double necks are very close to these. I had one for a while but got rid of it because I wasn't crazy about how it was wired (before I got into doing it myself). It was also quite heavy and awkward. Now I have a Rickenbacker 360-12 that I use for electric 12 tones. I have had occasion to mount it on an Embrace stand to play while "wearing" other instruments for double neck type situations. Not quite as efficient, but effective. :)

I think in San Diego you are fairly safe, having lived near there myself (Encinitas). If you travel with the guitar where it would be exposed to different conditions in short periods of time it might be a good idea; i.e. From dry heat to snow to high humidity. The differences of temperature in Southern California is not terribly drastic. Wood instruments tend to react to sudden climate/temperature/humidity changes so having such a device in a case may cause reactions simply removing the instrument from the case. I also went through a cigar period a while back and maintained humidifiers for me and my dad and if it works similarly it may require upkeep to maintain consistent conditions inside the case. But as soon as the guitar is removed it will react to the change in the air. This in turn may increase the maintenance on the guitar itself. Whereas in climates where summers are hot and winters are very cold then a humidified room for guitar storage would definitely be a good idea.

Yeah Sam & Max are a lot of fun. A bunch of former LEC (LucasArts Entertainment Company) guys formed Telltale and took Sam & Max with 'em. We tended to call the company LEC internally, but some of the other companies called us Arts. Now it's gone...

I listened to the CDs first then the bluray. I was pleasantly surprised with both. The cymbals on the first kit can get a little lost but that's on the recording end.

Watching the R40 bluray I noticed the red bass tuned down for Hemispheres is actually this new version of the main bass. It has the ugly black and gray pickguard and everything. Though Geddy's has one of the CA symbols carved in the the pickguard just below the strings it is the one now being sold in red, not the other trans-red with the nice flame.

Overdrive is distortion. :) Volume, Wah, Distortion/Amp, Modulation (chorus, phase, flange), Time Domain (delay, reverb). EQ can go anywhere but serve best very early or very late in the signal path. Comps should go before time domain, but really don't act much more than as a boost than as a compressor works in a studio scenario. They work best before the amp, as do preamps. These days I am processing after the fact: guitar, quality cable, amp, mic, outboard processing. But I used to really like the DigiTech stuff. Had a bunch of RP units (still have one that sits unused). I have an old analog Ibanez multi effects that is my primary modulaion FX. Super creamy phase and flange and wide, smooth chorus. That stuff just doesn't work digitally. Good luck finding true analog modulation boxes anymore.

Well aren't you special?... Super edgey and cool. Thanks for that enlightened point of view... :dweez:

Everything is more up front and well defined. The last few have been thin and mushy with too much crowd in the satellites. This one has a good mix top to bottom. The drums are solid, not hollow. Bass and snare drums are punchy and clear. The guitar has nice space when Al's FX are very Al. The bass is also very solid, defined and punchy. The variety of tones of the basses especially comes through very nicely. All the tones really. There's good depth, things don't step on each other. Things aren't EQ'd to death to compensate for hearing damage. It has a more natural sound overall.

Thanks Bowl!

Watching the bluray right now for the first time. Easily the best sounding of all of their live releases except maybe ESL. That's saying something. Even the CDs sound great. Dave Botrill is awesome! He fixed VT and now this! Plus the video editing so far is quite tasteful, not quite so frantic as the last couple. Nicely done. Very happy with this one. If this is the last one we get its a good one to go out on. :)

The reason Windows is open to viruses is because of a few factors; it is the larger portion of the personal computer market and is largely backwards compatible across older hardware. Less so after the move to 64 bit but still there are a lot of variables involved due to the wide variety of hardware Window OS can be installed on where Macs are pretty much a closed system as well as aggressively update OS versions and gradually eliminate older hardware. That makes it tougher for hackers to find vulnerabilities. Coupled with MS early domination of the market means that more damage can be done by virtue of there being more PC users in general. Although the Mac user base has been growing (since the advent of the iPhone, a market they lead) they still only take up less than a third of the personal computer market last I saw. Since I work in game and video production Macs are a regular course of business for me and I have several. I do also have a background in building PCs from my career in games, but these days I am 95% Mac, the exception being game development specific PCs. At my home studio I've done away with Windows altogether. The exception now being my Xbox One which now has Win10 components.

I'm a good ways into Assassin's Creed Syndicate. It's like the 9th game in the series I've played. Seems like they've finally tightened up player movement. It's much smoother than previous versions, but still will exhibit the inexplicable path impediments at inopportune moments. The last two have gotten back to the core game mechanic, so no more dreaded ship maps. Not that they didn't have good moments, but I digress. It's got all of the AC elements that I like on a giant map of 1860s London. Also just picked up the first Star Wars Battlefront I didn't have a hand in. It's Battlefront alright. Couldn't be a Star Wars game without the obligatory "protect the shield generator" mission. Looking forward to the inevitable "escort the convoy" mission. 'Cause we never did that either. In the Rogue Squadron series, or the first 2 BF games. I've finally been gone from LucasArts longer than I was there, even though it's been gone a few years now. Wish I could have worked on this one, if only for my personal continuity. Also been hitting the Batman DLC which has been better the last month with quite a bit left to come. Yay.

Probably saw these at a NAMM show but hadn't heard one. Demo is nice. 3 channel is cool too.

Prospective buyers have real estate agents show the property. What agent showed you the property officially?

The first Boston record is great top to bottom.