A Personal Clarion Call

The best way to progress isn’t to be the most organized, ambitious, or the best planner or hardest worker. The best way to make progress is to stay focused on the work–laser-focused–to overcome the daily resistance that reduces any long-term goal to nothing more than daydreams. Resistance makes a mess of all men who do

Rig Rundown: My Travel Pedalboard, Etc.

The board To keep things minimal from a liability and a functional perspective, I slimmed this pedalboard down as much as possible. I was bringing my Fender AVRI Jazzmaster, which has that dreaded 60-cycle hum, so first order of business was to omit as much of it from the signal chain as possible by putting

Ramblings of the Last Five Weeks

Those who know me personally know that I have been traveling for some time. With remote working being a thing nowadays, I found the call of the wild irresistible, so I packed up and got out of Dodge. It’s been fun, challenging, and filled with lots of growth. I sit here a better man, fully

The Shopkeeper

I recently read a book, “Keep Going” by Austin Kleon–a fun little jaunt through artists’ everyday struggles. Being an artist (or aspiring musician) is like a long-term relationship; there are ups and downs, high and low arcs, times of discovery and joy, and times when it seems like nothing is new or will ever change. Despite

D.I.Y. Guitar Pick Hack (Never Lose Your Pick Again!)

Here’s a simple hack for slippery guitar picks. Take some course, 150 grit sandpaper (or equivalent), and pinch & twist the pick back and forth a bit. Make sure to avoid getting the tip of the pick. Viola!

Pulling the Trigger: hand struggles of a musician

I’ve been dealing with a pretty scary tendon issue with the middle finger of my fretting hand for a few years now, probably even longer. Sometimes it will just lock-up half open, caught on something. Then my finger snaps closed, pulling through the catch-point and causing a nice blend of pain and cracking. This all

Making a string mute from a bridge cover D.I.Y. (Fender offsets, Jazzmaster, Jaguar, etc.)

If you own an offset like a Jazzmaster of Jaguar, then you might dislike the microphonic noise created by heavy strumming. I enjoy banging on my axe pretty hard, and sometimes (like when I’m playing funk!) I don’t want to hear that noise build-up from the excess string length between the bridge and tremolo. I