Everyone knows it's not cool to be white and straight anymore.

I was very drunk and angry when I wrote dem rants up, but that still pretty much sums up my personal sentiments on that subject.


On another note: Heil makes really cool mics. I've been doing shit tons of mic experiments the last few days. Been trying one mic and two mic setups and I've come to the conclusion that for what I am looking for, one PR40 is where it's at. Off-axis, aimed at the crease between the cone and cap. The dynamic information is totally fucking whacky. Super percussive chugging, really surprisingly "jumpy" transients in the waveforms with shittons of gain and compression. I realllly want a PR31 now.

The whole "dynamic that sounds like a condenser!" hype is fucking real.

I suppose in some ways, it never was, at least not both at once. The history of popular music in the past century basically is cultural appropriation by young middle-class white straight people, and older generation's reaction to it. We just happen to be witnessing reaction to the latest round because it's gotten a bit silly- there's no music left for them to steal.

We had jazz, through rock-and-roll, all boosted by white folks. By the mid-'70s, glam, punk, goth, and new wave were all cribbing from gay culture, and the two that survived, punk and goth, have a reputation for being LGBT-friendly. The latter to the point it's not so much friendly as curious and wishes to explore discreetly. Disco was an outgrowth of urban black music, funk in particular, and that scene's acceptance of independent women and gay men has been argued to have been a prime motive behind the whole "disco sucks" phenomenon- it's not the music so much- the weedlyness of '70s hard rock did make good cover, and motivated those who thought themselves artistes whilst snorting coke off a hooker's ass- it's the cultural values. It was subversive, in a way that merely boosting ideas from black musicians no longer was.

Growing up in an upper middle class suburb in the '80s and '90s, hiphop was cultural appropriation of the most embarrassing sort. White teenagers blasting Tupac while borrowing dad's convertible (said dad makes six figures, they live in an exclusive subdivision, and go to a school that has six black students out of a student body of 1500...) are decidedly not "gangsta".

Attempting to co-opt androgynous gender expression probably comes from a similar place as the wearing Yassar Arafat scarf phenomenon a few years back. It's shocking to squares and annoying to everyone else. It's not as if there's some specific musical thing they can lift from LGBT culture. What, EDM, which is about as universal and worldwide as you can get? Musical theater? That's about as unhip white suburban middle class as it comes. Their parents follow that stuff.

I suggest going full-circle and lifting blues lawyer blues next. Because it would make me laugh.

Sometimes drunk and angry works. And seeing as the proper term for that sort of thing is "some bullshit, yo", I think you're in the clear on that one.

I still haven't had the chance to try one out. I probably should. How's the whole crazy recording rig building thing progressing?

I got one of those 50w EVH 5150III heads and a 2x12 cab for tour.

Goddamn that is an angry sounding amp.

For some reason, the fender and peavey evh/5150/6505 remain the only amps that i would buy rather than build.

I love those little mini-sized 50w heads as well. How is their 2x12?

Very very directional, plenty of bottom end. I am going to run a TS9 into it and see if we can tighten up the lows a bit, but otherwise I dig it.

I snagged the pair for $900 off craigslist, so I feel ok about taking them on the road.

They are quite tight, I am thinking that I would like the PR31/30 even more for guitar purposes. The PR40 sounds very nice, but maybe is not accentuating as much of the crucial midrange info as the other mic would. However, I am getting pretty close to what I'd consider a usable (if not pleasing to my ears) tone. As an aside, I am also thinking that I am just really not into GT-75s. I've been using my roommates Sunn rig and it's just not exactly what I would ever use for my own tone. Works for him, but it's waaaaayyy too flat EQ-wise for me.

Re: recording rig makeover, I've made zero progress thus far. I keep on thinking I am going to free up some funds and then BOOM! Some shit I gotta spend money on pops up. Still haven't cashed aformentioned tax return because my listed address is not what it is. I think I am gonna change that shit online today.


As per usual, any sense of progress in my life is hindered by my shitshort attention span and thirst for mind altering subtances. WHICH, has somehow turned largely to strong beers these days. I smoke far less weed than I used to. Generally, I do so every day but the shit is just too terrifying without drinking to take the edge off.

If it's not bringing out the mids, and you're trying to get mids out of 75s, yeah, I can see that being an issue. Those are a just a tiny bit scooped. Now, this makes them useful in a few contexts- basically, old-school Marshalls cranked up, 5150s cranked up, and Mesa Marks. Anything with an assload of midrange. They're also super-inefficient, so they're cool for driving said amps harder. IIRC like 96dB vs. 100dB sensitivity, and at loudband levels, that sort of thing gains you at least another o'clock position on a 100 watter.

Ha! I like the blue grille and Fender logo plate.

#Butts.

One day I want a signature version of the 5153, and I will demand it have #butts on it somewhere.

A-ha! That makes a lot of sense as well with the speaker breakup. I've been trying to get a more refined, if that's the word to use, sort of tone and it's just not coming. I knew that I was definitely fighting the scoopy nature of both the amp and cab, but that is also some amount of explanation for the nearly lo-fi character of these tones.

Been playing with the Beta 57 for the past 10 minutes or so. It is kinda closer. Kinda. With some multi-band compression I am kinda pulling some muddy out but it sounds kinda weird, too.

I would say that I am getting the best that I can out of what I have got at the moment, but at the same time I am not incredibly stoked on it. But alas, my 800 has some issues, I am not sure what. At first I thought it was just a fuse, but I popped out the fried one and turned it back on (for the first time in like fucking months) and there was a slight burning smell. Not sick.

I dunno, might just be the tubes. Might be something more expensive.

Available in all the usual places this week.

DAMN. THAT is some very real cover art.

Welp, The Oh Whales are on iTunes now. Spotify sometime this week. Same for all the other outlets.

Spotify now too. Huzzah!

Gassing hard for another Warmoth. I have accepted that any guitar I ever own will pale in comparison to mine unless it has the exact same neck.

So if I can confirm that my work isn't actually thinking about firing me I'll be placing an order.

Friends I need your advice.

Its time for me to sell my Sunn Concert Lead, 610L, and Marshall 6100lm.

What do you think are fair prices? I got the Sunn + Cab for $900, and got the 6100lm for like $1200 after duties in 2006. I figure i can ask for 1K for each. Thoughts?

Can't help you with that other than to look at what those go for elsewhere! I aint your google!


Well I just pulled the trigger on a new Warmoth body. It's time to make Geoff's ultra guitar Mark II.