My MusiCredentials

In a world of A-holes with an opinion the question may arise at any point:

  

...and may be not answered by my social media sites

https://bobbylilcat.blogspot.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@bobbylilcat6880/featured

https://www.facebook.com/BobbyLilCat

Yes, I may suck at music, I may be stupid, but I am definitely not ignorant.

My grandfather, Nagy Sándor was a self-taught musician. He played the accordion, violin, Hungarian zither and harmonica. He could have been my first musical influence, had I not been such a little brat. He makes me think of this quote, may he rest in peace:

“You know," said Arthur, "it's at times like this, when I'm trapped in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelgeuse, and about to die of asphyxiation in deep space that I really wish I'd listened to what my mother told me when I was young."

"Why, what did she tell you?"

"I don't know, I didn't listen.”

― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

When I was 7, I joined the recorder study group at elementary school, led by Csirmaz György*, the school's music teacher. He taught me how to read music, and his music lessons always increased my love for music. May he rest in peace. (*: In this post I shall follow the Hungarian convention - surname followed by first name.)

I must have been about 10 and in 5th grade, when a great teacher in our school, Balogh László organised a guitar study group, tutored by Bazsa Attila. I believe I attended the lessons for two years, then I reached a plateau, which does happen when you're too lazy to practice... Guitar has brought me many-a-good evening around the campfire. With a buddy, we performed as a guitar duo, but we did not have our breakthrough.

In 7th grade, when I was 12, my big brother gave me the idea to learn the saxophone, so I made my application to the music school in Debrecen. Alas, the sax was unavailable, so I chose the trumpet, which became a most influential and consequential decision and experience in my life. I was assigned to Lobotka Pál, the leader of the music school's senior wind band, where I spent the happiest and most fulfilling musical moments of my life. I completed the 4-year training cycle of the music school, toured Hungary, Germany, Czechia and Italy with the wind band, regularly marched the Flower Carnival procession in Debrecen on the most important national holiday of my country. May God bless the soul of my first beloved mentor.

This was the time when I first made money from music - I played bar music with a keyboardist friend on a few occasions. A few other achievements were my contribution to a project involving a choir, soloist and a youth string orchestra where I played the brass band part from Yellow Submarine. This project led to my TV-appearance at Juventus Pop-Rock Festival with the professional guitarist, band leader and songwriter, Enyedi Sándor.

When I was 17, I decided that I will pursue a degree in music, so I had to learn some piano and I had to pass the baccalaureate in music. Juhász Gyula was so kind as to tutor me at the music school and my former high school music teacher, Köpöczi Marianna prepared me for the bac. I took private lessons with Végh Mónika (solfege) and Györgyfi Zsolt (trumpet) who prepared me well for my college admission exam. I will ever be grateful to them, may they spend many-a year in good health and success.

In 1997 I was admitted to Eszterházy Károly College as an English-Music double major on the B.Ed programme in Eger. Without doubt, the musically richest and most formative years of my life thanks to the great atmosphere, my wonderful peers and professors, who were like family to each other and me. Many of my musical dreams came true during the four years of training and the two gap years I spent abroad.

• I performed with the Eger Symphony Orchestra on the 50-year celebration of teacher training in Eger under the baton of Tar Lőrinc.
• I sang in the choir of Gárdonyi Géza Theatre in the operettas Sybill and János Vitéz and played in the matinée play Snow Queen in the chamber orchestra. These were my first official work contracts.
• We revived ensemble playing at the college after decades of hiatus by forming the Blum Jazz Quartet and the party-rock cover band Bartók Terem.
• I joined the Cantus Agriensis Chamber Choir, with whom we sang in the Vatican and won first prize on the 7th international sacred music choral competition "GIOVANNI PIERLUIGI DA PALESTRINA" in Rome. We performed with Gregor József in Eger Cathedral. Singing under Gergely Péter Pál's direction has been an honour, may he live on in good health for many more years. I experienced my second recording session with this choir, as well as singing in Regensburg Cathedral, sharing the stage with the Domspatzen and the future Pope's brother, Georg Ratzinger.
• Further recordings included an indie-rock band (before it became a thing), Hotel Restaurant and Movendo Chamber Choir.
• I sang and conducted at masterclasses led by Professor David Vinden and Maestro Hollerung Gábor.
• During my first gap year I had the honour to sing in the performance  of the grandiose 40-part motet 'Spem in Alium' by Thomas Tallis with the University of Aberdeen's choir. I also formed a brass trio there and often joined the local folk jam session. Being a Camphill worker at the time, I also performed on the 60th anniversary celebration of the orgainsation.
• During my second gap year I fulfilled another of my musical years, and played two trimesters in the 'Little Big Band' of the Conservatoire de Palaiseau under Bernard Duplaix's direction. As a bonus, I played solo trumpet in their salsa ensemble 'Tutu Gomez' and another related act, a bebop sextet with whom we performed on the Fête de la Musique in 2002.

Let me dedicate a paragraph to my most influential mentors during this period. I studied singing and vocal techniques with Hegyesi Hudik Margit, my musical stepmother and a dear friend. My musical father figure and mentor was the composer Maestro Kátai László, also the consultant to my B.Ed thesis. May the Lord keep them with us in good health for many more years. I am ever grateful to Dr. Kis Katalin, who showed me an example of humanity and dedication to the cause of music, and to my other impactful professors, for all the things they tried to teach me and for putting up with my youthful trespasses, Dr. habil. Gábos Judit DLA (piano), Marik Erzsébet (to opponent of my thesis and my score reading prof), Vass Márta, Gulyásné Székely Éva and Benyó Tibor (trumpet).

Alas, after my return from France I had to refocus my efforts on writing my B.Ed thesis (on wind band orchestration), passing my exams and teaching practice, my M.A. in English language and literature (M.A. thesis written on English Renaissance music), working, raising kids, so I became infidel to Lady Music.

The lean years lasted from 2002 to 2015. Then finally, I bought my first real lefty six-string Tina, I found my happy place, I became a published musicology translator, got infected with GAS, began this blog, tuned my guitars to P4, and a lot of diffuse knowledge started to snap into place.

I started collaborations with a like-minded producer:

I wrote a few songs during the quarantine:

          

And have been having a try with a few bands... with little success so far.

I do not know what the future holds in store, but I fret no longer, for  music will find a way!

Newsed Gear Day II.

Hello there cats, kitties, dogs and beach bunnies! I hope your day is as pleasant as you are. Bobby Lil' Cat welcomes you to another episode of Tune up to Blues, with a most warm new year's greeting.

I should not be looking at local music gear ads, but still, this activity replaced reading the daily news more than a few months ago. I decidedly have every piece of gear I need so I pass on almost everything, unless it's a deal too good to resist. This is how I happened to buy two stereo PA amps (2*200 and 2*50W) in a rack cabinet (on wheels) for about €75, and then a Hiwatt Maxwatt B100-15 bass combo for my bassist son at the same price.

So, last spring I was eyeing this beauty:

She was on offer at €270 for quite a while. The quilted maple cherry burst top, the gothic crosses and the abalone binding place her looks somewhere between kitsch and country fair trifles. Still, I could not resist revisiting those photos.

Fast forward to January 2020. The guitar reappeared on my favourite ad site, uploaded by non other than the former owner of my trusty Epiphone G-400 SG, Barbory. She was somewhat dirty and beaten, with a ding on the body and one on the head, and the seller (who is a good guy though, but seems to be unable or unwilling to take good care of his gear) was open for offers. I offered him a trade of his former Epi SG for the Schecter and he accepted. So as of now, I have got a new beater and could not be happier with this new workhorse (or workwhores?). Wanna read a few lines about her? There you go!

Made in 2006 in Korea by WMI for Schecter Guitar Research under the S-1 Elite Diamond Series model name, in my opinion she is one of the most underrated (and rarest) models on the used market. Da bitch is a real mongrel, though:

-The body style and the choice of materials follows the LP double cut recipe: mahogany body with maple cap, mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, 2 humbuckers,

-The controls (V-V &T with coil split on the Duncan designed HB-101 pickups) are inspired by PRS,

-The hardware consists of black chrome Grover tuners and Tonepros TOM-style bridge, but with a string-through-body design in place of a stopbar,

-With a surprising 25.5" scale length reminiscent of Fenders. Do not be fooled by the faulty information available on the interweb. Measured. 25.5!

(All this reminds me of the joke about the old peasant's answer when hearing about the specs of a giraffe:

"Now son, that kind of animal just can not exist!")

Well, this mix is just what I was looking for, or at least missing in my everyday workhorse bad-weather beater SG! This should be a versatile instrument, a jack of all trades and mistress of none, maybe just the thing what I need for my non-obtrusive 'vanilla' tone and playing style.

And now for my first impressions after having spent a week together.

She is built like a tank, rock solid, somewhat on the heavy side; my first guitar where I feel that I could easily use her the beat a man to death, paddle a boat, than continue to play in tune with no worries about the new dings she earned in the process. Of course, the coating is too thick for tone purists, but super-dooper smooth, making the not too thick neck with 22 jumbo frets very comfortable to play. Quite low action with negligible buzz (the bridge almost bottoms) - but that may change when I get rid of the current 12-54 strings that forces me to play tuned to Eb6 to E1, all perfect fourths.

On a strap she balances much better than the neckdiver SG, I could even say: perfectly. Seated, the balance is fine, maybe less comfortable than the lighter and less fat-bottomed SG. A solid feel in my embrace or on my lap, you know, like a real meat'n'curves lady as opposed to those insta-fashionable anorexic chicks. She may lack certain body and neck resonances that my Ibanez semi-hollow and my Fender U.S. Strat possess, but she moans and growls just fine when I tickle her down there - open strings and at the first few frets. Her sustain is fine, and boy, the way the abalone projects colours onto the strings, that is just sixties-trippy.

Just as the facts above are based on my first impressions, the following will neither be definitive, as I am playing a string gauge and tuning that is not as planned, with all its effects on setup, playability and tone. (Well, unless I grow so used to 12-54 in Eb/P4 before restringing, that I will keep to it.) So, yeah, on to dat toan!

Now, I am not an expert on it by far, but the supposedly PAF-inspired HB-101 Duncan designed pickups are surprisingly hot, especially for my taste and in comparison with the Super 58s in my Ibanez and the Epi 57CH and HotCH in the SG. I presume that the difference mainly stems from those stupidly heavy strings (and possibly these being my first uncovered humbuckers), but even at extremely low pickup position they easily overdrive my Zoom and Guitar Rig presets. On my favourite cleanish sounds splitting coils results in a heavy volume drop, but depending on the amount of overdrive they can add clarity and remain usably loud. The electronics cavity seems to be shield-painted, the single coil buzz and overall noise is quite low, the only weakness is that the tone pot turns with almost no friction.

Oh yeah, the usual counter-lefty fuckups are also present on this axe: the pots max out counter-clockwise, but the speed knobs read '0' at that point, whereas the logarithmic tone push-pull pot is wired in a manner where it is only effective in the bottom few notches of its travel - as if it was a tONe-OFF switch. We badly need lefty luthiers and guitar manufacturing team leaders in Asia. Oh, and as we are at the shortcomings, the frets seem to have been levelled, but not crowned at a certain point in her 14-year-history, and filing the black Tusq nut for these heavy strings could have gone better (some tuning instability occurs), which is also a design issue, with the lateral break angle possibly even worse than the Gibson design.

To sum up, this fine-looking beast is a promising jazz player in its current state, but bluesy bends are not her cup of tea due to the heavy gauge string. I shall keep on using these strings for a while, for who am I to throw away a perfectly usable set, and also to seize this opportunity to experience down-tuning (SRV, Jimi, here I come); but until then I cannot give a final verdict on the playability, feel and tone. This is why she has not received a name yet. After bonding, that will certainly come.

Until then, as usually, stay tuned!

From Hungary with love, meow and purr,

BLC

Overdrive as attenuator - Bobby's thoughts on practice volume

I live in a house which is one in a row of five, so I have 2 walls shared with my lovely neighbours - with no room non-adjacent to said walls. Reason dictates that I cut down on practice volume.

I have introduced you to my travel gear, and my practice gear is not much more sophisticated: I usually plug my guitar into my Zoom G3 or G1Xon and use headphones, or amplify via anything available, such as on of my DIY junkyard boomboxes, my home theatre amplifier, the line in of my digital piano, or the aux in of my Baltimore by Johnson 40W 2x8" solid state amp. I ain't no cork sniffer when it comes to guitar tone, for sure.

So, my guideline to setting my practice volume is the following: if I can hear and play along my phone running my favourite MetroDrummer drum machine app, I cannot be too loud. If I can do that with my laptop playing my favourite backing tracks, it must still be acceptable for my neighbours. Anything louder may awaken the music critic living in them.

Now, sometimes I use my son's Kustom Defender V5 combo upgraded with a Celestion 8" speaker to familiarise myself with the response of real tube amps, but it is difficult to set a good room volume along the guidelines above. The volume knob is very sensitive around that lowest setting and we know well that a non-cranked tube amp does not work anywhere close its sweet spot. So normally I turn the amp volume up to 40-50% and turn the guitar volume down to taste. Still no pushing the tubes into any sweet breakup but at least it is possible to set the volume more precisely than between the 0-15% notch of the amp.

However, internet wisdom says that without a treble bleed circuit in your guitar, turning the pickup volume down also alters your tone, killing off high-end frequencies. This is supposedly not a problem for Maria Juanita, my strat equipped with active Seymour Duncan pickups, but the passive beauties in my stable are affected by this tone loss.

My solution for keeping the tone high and the volume low is the following: I plug my guitar into the amp through my son's Mosky Golden Horse overdrive pedal. I add drive/gain on the pedal to taste, a turn up the amp volume to that usual 50% and the level down on the pedal. That way I can regulate volume with precision in the low registers without sucking the tone away with the guitar volume knobs, using the pedal as a clean or overdriven attenuator and tone control.

From Hungary with love,

BLC

Hackin' the sh@t out of windows audio

So, you're curious about how to get sounds from your PC on a basic USB audio interface concurrently with sounds from NI Guitar Rig 5 and that's why you clicked this link after reading Solution No.1?

Well then, here is

Solution No.2

So, as (semi-)pro audio applications tend to take complete control over the audio interface, they have to be tricked. Windows itself offers next to no help to achieve that. This is where VB-Audio's Voicemeeter virtual audio mixer software enters the scene.

It comes in three 'flavours', i.e. complexity levels, of which I recommend the banana version, which is the one in the middle. My setup could not be handled by the basic version, but as the software is released as donationware, I can afford to use whichever I like. VMB can handle 3 hardware in/outputs and 2 virtual ones, offers a compressor and a limiter on the physical inputs as well as echo, modulation and panorama effects, effect inserts, graphic equalisers and a sound recorder. (Of course, volume sliders, too.)

Installation creates virtual audio devices corresponding to the virtual main and insert channels of the software. Running it takes control of one ASIO interface as the first hardware device of the mixer (A1), accessing the other ones (A2-A3) via WDM, MME or KS protocols, and routing the signal from any hardware or virtual input to any such output or combination thereof.

Let me demonstrate it via my own example!

My goal is to be able to use GR5 on my guitar signal while playing quality backing tracks from Youtube. So I set my Peavey Xport as hardware input 1 on the left and A1 physical output on the right. You can see that on the left strip A1 is chosen, which means that the signal entering  the XPort is routed to its own physical output; as a result, the preamplified clean guitar signal exits via its line out and headphone ports, after applying the gain, volume, EQ, compression, etc. of VM - the case when GR5 is not running.

Now, you cannot see, but in settings, I have activated the insert send and return for HW input 1, which is a virtual ASIO device. I have set that device as the main I/O port for GR5 - thus my XPort signal leaves the mixer, gets processed in GR5, returns to the mixer, then leaves via the XPort output.

Let's add the backing track from Youtube!

I have chosen Voicemeeter VAIO on the Windows system tray as the active audio device, so when the browser plays its sound on the default device, it enters via the 4th strip (in the middle), conveniently named 'From PC'  (Voicemeeter VAIO) there. As you can see, the signal is routed to A1, which is the output on my XPort.

And some further options:

Should I want to hear it on my laptop speakers, too? I'd have to switch on A2 as well, having set the on-board audio chip as HW I/O2.
Should I want to add a VST drum machine running in my Cantabile VST host? The second virtual input on the Voicemeeter Aux virtual device 'From Cantabile' takes care of that - having set it as the I/O in Cantabile settings.
Capturing my voice too? Unmute and route the microphone on HW input 2 to A1.
What about recording? Meet the recorder in the top right corner! Unless I want to route my inputs to B2 for example and set the VM Aux as the input device in Audacity.

And this is but the tip of the iceberg and the second-born of the VM software package.

Would you like me to present further scenarios to you? Do leave a comment!

From Hungary with love,
BLC

My travel gear...

... or practising your repertoire on the go.

I spend a few days away from home every week on business, but practice cannot stop, now can it? (Unless for the occasional blog post.) Although I take my car, I still prefer travelling light, with only the indispensable gear. That consists of my faithful Epiphone SG, Barbory, a pick, some cables and my son's old Peavey XPort USB guitar interface. Oh, and naturally my laptop, Pippa, but as she always travels with me, she does not count. If I can't find a stereo lying around to plug these in, I can just use a pair of headphones.

On the soft side of the ware, I use Guitar Rig 5 to spice up the tone. That also covers my needs for a metronome, tuner, audio player and recorder and what is the best: a 2-track looper! What else could be missing?

Oh, yes, something essential: a drum machine and a Youtube player, preferably with the ability to get (at least) the former recorded in the loop. Windows, as we know it, leaves much to be desired in the flexibility department when used with basic audio interfaces. As GR5 takes komplete kontrol (pun-an-intended) over the ASIO soundcard, it is not possible to mix a standalone drum machine or a Youtube backing track to the output, and even less routing any of these audio sources into the GR5 looper.

This is where the story ends. :(

For most, but not for the el cheapo gearhead! So let me show you a few solutions!

Solution No.1

If all you want next to your processed guitar signal is a drum machine, download the VST host by Cantabile and the MT Power Drumkit VST drum machine. As a guitarist you should have GR5, so you can load its VST plugin version into Cantabile alongside MTPD. Cantabile will take control of your audio interface, you can route the signal with MRPD output into GR5, then patch this combined signal into the output and you're done.

However, if you need your Youtube backing tracks too, you shall need something more complex, as I have not found a VST browser plugin yet. So, how badly do you need a solution? Badly enough to click on

Solution No.2?

From Hungary with love,

BLC

From zero to stage in x months

It has long been my goal to get back on stage. But how? Do I have the skills on any of the (numerous) instruments I play to be entertaining for a whole set? Unfortunately no. Do I know a repertoire well enough that would fill a concert? Again, no. As a non-professional musician do I have the time to practice, memorise and improve at a pace that would make me a marketable standalone entertainer in the foreseeable future? Sadly, no. Do my like-minded and similarly aged friends have the time to form a band, and practice regularly? Tragically, no.

Do I have a way out? Hell, yeah!

There is a marvellous musician in Andorra, Jesus Cuerva, who has uploaded thousands of backing tracks on Youtube, also available through his website. His arrangement of hit songs are rendered in several versions; missing vocals, guitar, bass, keyboard or drums, so that all these musicians can practice their repertoire.

That is what I have been doing lately, for sure, and by next summer I will have a quality repertoire to stand out there with a whole set. You can buy his tracks via his website and perform with your virtual band.

The quality of the tracks is somewhat mixed. Some are played quite audibly by midi instruments, but most seem to have tracks recorded on real instruments. Musically, they seem to be exact, precise and correct. The lyrics and chords can be read on screen. All in all, it looks like the tools made by Master Cuerva for himself as a gigging musician, and shared with the world.

Hats off to the man!

From Hungary with love,
BLC

Newsed Gear Day

As I have already hinted at in my previous post, a newcomer has replaced Tina, the Cort Source in my harem, a 2014 Ibanez AM93L whom I shall refer to as Inez.

To tell you the truth, about a year ago I had a GAS attack after finding ads of two Ibanez lefties on my favourite domestic site. That time I could fight it with success and let go; nothing could have justified having two semi-hollows, and Tina was my number one. The arrival of my strat, Maria Juanita tipped the scales, but it also made me ratify a one-in-one-out agreement with myself: a new piece of gear can only enter my collection when another one leaves.

Then, long after those were sold, there came an ad of another lefty AM93 made of quilted maple and finished in antique yellow sunburst, but way overpriced compared to the final selling price of the former one.

A little side-remark:

Internet wisdom says that Ibanez guitars are way too underrated (and underpriced) in the Western world compared to their quality. However, in Hungary the brand rings different bells for the middle-aged. You see, in the eighties and early nineties, when all we had were Musimas and Jolanas from the Eastern block, Ibanezes counted as the luxury that the chosen or lucky few could afford and procure. This makes my purchase 'something to write home about' and explains my lust for Inez.

So I felt safe in the happy belief that I will have nothing to do that beauty. Well, to ensure that, I should not have given a friendly advice to the seller on the price the prior one finally sold at - for when he reached that low (about €490) he sent me a message. What's even worse, he was also open to trading in my Cort Source. So it was done, after some haggling we agreed on trading Inez for Tina and about €210. The sum is quite close to the average price difference between the new righty price of the Source and the AM93 - outliers omitted. And did I make a good bargain? Let's find out in the following review section!

It is difficult to find out where 'under God's great Chinese sky' these guitars are made. Certain articles, like this and this suggest that formerly penniless hard-working peasants build them at Zhunyi Shenqu Musical Instruments. After Shakespeare, though this be PR, yet there is method in it? Thinking of families reunited by guitars just warms the heart and sweetens the tone, doth it not? (Axes empowering peasants, like during the French revolution...)

Internet reviews suggest sweet tone with excellent playability. And the looks? Well, absolutely stunning! The quilted maple, the yellowish sunburst, the gold hardware, the fake ivory binding, the acrylic inlays are just a sight for sore eyes. On stock photos and when new, that is. Time spent with owners less sickly concerned about cleanliness and conservation of their tools made her develop a patina; gold rubbing off from the bridge and the tailpiece, mattening on the pickup covers and the tuners, and even "uglish" corrosion on a strap button. This looks fine on this genre of guitars and luckily, the wood and the lacquer seems unaffected.

Now let me list the impressions she made on me as a musical instrument, good and bad altogether:

• The guitar's maple body is very resonant, playing her in a warm embrace just feels so fine...
• ...but it seems to be (when pickups are removed) a 3-layer laminate, and not solid wood as some reviews suggest.
• Yes, similarly to the Indonesians, not even our Chinese friends could wire the guitar or order the knobs to make 10 be loud and 0 silent... (It's just fair, I think differently than my right handed friends and neighbours, so why should they recognise the error of their ways?)
• ...but at least they chose the right pots, so the tone knob is effective all over its range, whereas the wiring seems to be shielded, resulting in a low-noise axe. And yes, the knobs with the rubber ring are very clever!
• The pickups are Chinese Super 58's (valued at about $65 apiece as some forum comments suggest).
• The truss rod is smoother and more responsive to adjustment than anything I have ever tampered with (Fender, Epiphone, Aria, Squier, Seagull). The neck is straight and healthy-looking...
• ...but the fretboard seems not to have been dry enough on assembly (or not kept humid enough in the 5 years since then) as the 7th fret inlay is loose and protruding. (As there is no fret sprout, it may be but a poor glue job, which can even happen to overpriced Gibsons, as wisdom on the web has confirmed.)
• Again, too much safety margin for wear and tear at the nut, it could be lower.
• The bridge is less sharp than the Cort's (very) or the Epiphone's (reasonably). But it fits more loosely on its posts, not good for intonation, nah. Also, the large diameter of the post is so small that it can't be turned by hand, only by a screwdriver from the top. But with its wear it currently looks copper (unless it's just plating to allow for gold anodisation).
• The strap buttons were loose and came loose after tightening when working the Ibanez straps on (not easy). When installing the strap lock buttons I sadly saw that the lacquer is cracked, and so is the wood at the bottom side. Well, it's only aesthetic, and invisible, so why worry?

But finally, here is the evil: she has some high frets, confirmed by buzz, fretting out and fret rocker inspection, so I cannot set the action as low as I would like. It does not seem to be due to wrong fret insertion, but rather some other phenomenon. My hypothesis would be mild deformation of the wood caused by drying and reaching its final shape, (further supported by the loose strap button screws and inlay). If I dug up the information about the factory correctly, they possibly relocated their production in 2013 - meaning that wood was transported, or sourced from a different supplier altogether. This can explain a lot.

However, it is not much to worry about, I've already polished the frets (overdue, they were tarnished due to missed cleaning after playtime), now I will find a way to give the high ones a mild sanding and re-crowning, without levelling all of them, which seems unnecessary (no visible fret wear, no issues at moderately high action). But it is still a way to go before it plays as smooth as my Epiphone G-400 or Fender Strat. (To tell the truth, those have a 12th fret low E action as low as 0.03-0.04 inches with only minor string buzz at certain places, partly thanks to the bone nuts I made, if my measurements err not.)

So did I make a bargain? Inez is definitely not a €210 improvement over Tina in their current condition. Considering that in this transaction Tina valued at about €270 (and deliberately ignoring the law of diminishing returns) Inez should be 43% more of the guitar. In different lights, having her over Tina should be as much more satisfying as owning a better-equipped Harley Benton telecaster in my collection.

Well, sadly, this is not the case, so I should have bargained harder (which I would have, if I had discovered the high frets and loose inlay upon my quick inspection). But...

But on the sunny side of the street I may state that now I have a guitar that I shall play regularly instead of one in the case. Now Tina may get the playtime she deserves and Inez's Sleeping Beauty days are over, too. Her new owner did not have to sell Inez way below value and the money I gave him went right into his Marshall cab, thus keeping the used market rolling. Inez is just in the condition where I will not find it a sacrilege to have a go at her frets and nut with a sandpaper or file so that I can bring out her full potential. It will not bugger me if I have to pack her up without giving her a thorough wipe or break my heart if someone spills beer on her at a jam session.

Moreover, (not as if it really counted) I will not have to explain that "you see, it's a Cort, you may not know it, but they produce most of the budget lines of big brands like Squier, Schecter, Ibanez, Music Man; and that actually some say that the Source plays and sounds as good as a Gibson ES-335, blah, blah." It's much quicker to say "...you know, Super 58, Benson, Scofield, you dig?"

And the lesson for myself to take away:

An ad saying "flawless condition, perfect setup" does not mean anything, even coming from a seller with great feedback. You see, we perceive low action and buzz differently, some play riffs, some play chords (and cowboy/power/bar/root ones at that), your food may be my poison, and so on.

Yo cats, that's all for today,

Keep it ringin'!

From Hungary with love,

BLC

Parting with Tina

The time came to bid farewell to my first real lefty electric guitar, the Cort Source I named Tina.

Thirty years earlier...

...or a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I was born behind the Iron Curtain, enjoying the last years of the already crumbling Communism. Resources were scarce, supply routes were controlled by the Bolshevik, so I set out on my path to playing the guitar on a Bulgarian made righty Orpheus steel string acoustic stringed upside down. Well, as it had no scale length compensation whatsoever at the bridge, stringing it lefty made no big difference to its (in)ability to intonate. Now, this is all the good I can say about it, so moving on to...

...my next "number one" which was a Russian 7-string Zolotoe Koltso similar to the one in this photo. (In case you ever wondered how I have not became a pro guitarist.)

My first electric was a Hondo HSS 6-point trem superstrat, but still a righty stringed in Hendrix style; I may write about her one day. Anyhow, by the time I got it ('conveniently' amplified through an East German turntable) "the thrill has gone" (on to my trumpet playing in a wind band, probably).

Long story long, I bought my first lefty Sherwood acoustic in Paris in 2001 and my Cort Source in 2015. I did not want a cheapo Strat or LP copy, so I decided to go the semi-hollow route; being late for a second hand Epiphone Sheraton II, I chose to buy the next best thing new (huuuuuuuuge mistake - buying new, that is). Her kind got real good reviews on the web so I ordered one online. She got me practicing again, took me to my happy place, and yes, she's been a real beauty. So why did I let (that bitch) Inez do us part?

Well, partly due to a fault in my personality, partly due to her flaws.

Firstly, I really should not buy objects new (and at full retail price), for I then tend to become overprotectively trying to conserve their factory condition (happened to my Amati trumpet, too). The one time my lady almost tripped over the case I had left by my bedside (luckily closed) the night before, fortunately pouring hot coffee over my (dead?) body instead of Tina's made me buy my first backup electric (Collins strat copy I called Rat-o-caster, but now call Jackie after her makeover), 

then my Epiphone G-400 SG (Barbory), finally, my beloved MIA Strat, Maria Juanita (of whose birth I still owe you an update). So it was Tina who pushed me down the perilous path of sickly gear acquisition!

Now, on to her shortcomings: 

• Sometime early in her history her truss rod nut hex hole got stripped - result of some weak pot metal mating with imperfect-sized wrench supplied with the guitar - so it became only adjustable with an oversized torx bit crammed into it.
• The beautiful factory-equipped Graph Tech NuBone nuts were cut with too much safety margin, thus not allowing an as low as possible buzz-free action.

(Tip of the day: place a capo on fret 1. If you can see/measure/feel a difference in your action at fret 12 and overall playability, you can still lower the nut!)

• One of the volume pots developed a crackle. And as a bonus:
• Stupidity combined with eagerness! You see, our kind Indonesian workers did the courtesy to their most esteemed lefty customers to wire all the pots backwards, so we can raise volume and tone counterclockwise. But adding lefty caps would have probably 'raised the cost through the supply chain too much', so max volume lived at notch position 1, and mute on 10. Typical first world problem for us lefties, you may say, but read on for something more substantial: if you wire a logarithmic pot backwards (as the tone pots were in this case), it mainly acts as an on-off switch, making it useless and taking away most of the countless tones a 4-pot 2-humbucker guitar is capable of.
• Finally, she also developed some hum-buzz while sitting in her case, something I do not take lightly in a humbucker-equipped guitar.

Really, quite an acceptable number of flaws for a then €300 guitar (now €400+), if only my own "keep her stock" craziness would have let me remedy them. On the positive side, the laminate maple was beautiful, the finish impeccable, the tone was quite alright, the build was sturdy, the neck straight and strong; and the alnico pickups were of the 4-wire variety, so could have been modded to be split for single coil tones, too. (I just could not will myself to taste the kind of oral sex rewiring semi-hollow guitars may be/become.)

So I got to the point where she became redundant.

Barbory, the Epi SG became my beater; having been already scratched, gutted and beaten when I bought&rebuilt her (for about €130) I do not fear to take her anywhere come rain, heat or prolonged stay in my car (as it usually does happen in the music camp I attend). A future upgrade of the Epi pickups will probably handle most of her tonal shortcomings, and the neck feels marvellous with no buzz or fretwear and with low action (also thanks to the bone nut I made myself).

Maria Juanita, my Strat became the one to cherish, to be proud of, to play in the safety of my home or at low-risk venues. A peculiar combination of a new body to care for and an old neck that has seen some rough moments - resulting in my almost healthy attitude towards her; treating with care, love and respect, but accepting the risk of dings and scratches, knowing those will be but letters in the story of our life-long adventure.

I had to let Tina go to spare her from a neglected existence as a dethroned queen who became third in the harem to a better place, where she may become a steady number two next to a Gibson LP and see the adventures she was meant for. In the process I also burned some cash to sate my lust and to cure my GAS for another beauty, Inez...

...but that will be the story for another post!

Stay tuned!

From Hungary with love,

BLC

Bobby Learns Jazz Blues Standards

As an aspiring blues man it is time to learn and practice some new tunes! However, the sheer amount of material out there is overwhelming - thus a kind of anchor is much needed to help give depth to practice sessions.

A 28 strong list by learnjazzstandards.com is a great example of such an anchor. Created by a marvellous guy, it is an invaluable resource with chord sheets, play-alongs and links to original recordings of jazz standards - I highly recommend you to check out their YT channel.

Still, to quickly learn the maximum number of tunes, one may also need the melody&chords (lead sheet) as well as the head theme in one handy file together with the play-along. This is why I have started to create a presentation with all these on 28 slides, setting the embedded YT video to only play the head theme of the originals.

You can find the work in progress here in my Google Docs folder.

Please drop me a comment if you want to collaborate in  completing this current project, or the next ones in this series:

- 10 Jazz Standards That Will Make Learning Jazz Easy

- 50 Jazz Standards You Need To Know

Meow and Purr,

Bobby Lil' Cat

My Happy Place

My happy place is a camp that will be organised this July for the 26th time.


Where I can spend a week with my kind:

Doing what I like:

 With people I dig:

 And I'm a happy camper!

My Stratocaster Build

Building my dream MIA Strat under €700 Part I. - Purchasing Phase

A three-decade dream is nearing its fulfillment in my life: by the time I'm forty, i.e. this August I will have assembled a Fender Stratocaster (or Partscaster) mostly made up of American parts.

For a musician who grew up in an age and place where and when I did (let us call it post-communism), The Strat, especially Jimi's Strat embodied the American Dream. But as we grow up, we often lose the ability to dream and the will to make it happen. By the time I got where I could afford a new or used Fender American Stratocaster I became unable to justify the expense.

This is when I ran into (and deliberately ignored) an ad in the classifieds section of gsfanatic.com of an original Fender 2013 new old stock (NOS) Mystic Red Stratocaster lefty body (like this one here) offered at HUF49k - €153 or $172 at the current FX rate.

So the idea of building myself a lefty Strat just entered my mind and I stepped onto the perilous path. Haggled 10% off the offering price from the very kind NOS musical instrument trader Csaba at deltahangszer.hu and started looking for the other parts. The same guy was selling on the same platform a set of Seymour Duncan Livewire II pickups (complete with pots, jack and wiring), of course above my spending limit, but was kind enough to make me an offer I could not refuse at €112/$126 in our package deal.

Now the bottom part was almost complete (on paper), leaving the question of the top open. I sadly realized that no matter how substantial savings I made on these parts, it is the neck that makes a Fender an expensive instrument. Should I settle for a Squier neck, or even a Chinese CNC-machined noname replacement parts from AliExpress?

HELL NO! EITHER A REAL STRAT FOR ME, OR NOTHING!

Thus started I my quest for the neck, sweating heavily to see the prices. What I wanted was 22 frets, maple fretboard with plenty of life left in the frets, preferably including tuning machines and righty for that reversed headstock Hendrix vibe (and availability). U.S. deals were out of question, 30% of VAT and customs would make my expenditure unjustifiable. On to Ebay - I made bids in France and the U.K. to learn that these fuckers cost around €/£280 used! I almost settled for a made in Mexico neck at a bargain on reverb.com, but it was luckily snatched from under my crooked nose while I was haggling and building trust with the seller (who turned out to be quite a great guy, and a fine fellow musician). So back to square one, ain't Karma a bitch, whatever.

Well, she is! Also on Reverb, I found a 25-year-old (the age I've been admitting for the last 15 years) neck in Europe, at the right price but with horrendous shipping cost, this sweety:

Long story short, Mr Barrada of Music Store Geneva was very generous, understanding, flexible and sold me not only the neck, but also the original neckplate, screws and jackplate at a bargain of €295 shipped; from a damaged guitar he disassembled and parted out. I shall always be grateful to him. (Did I know that Switzerland is outside the EU's VAT and customs treaty? Hell no, and neither did I know that in Geneva, France is luckily just the other side of the street at certain places. Karma's not such a bad bitch after all!)

So, why is that neckplate important?

Well, for nothing else than giving this Strat build its real identity (and an excuse for me to buy and assemble it - her). A resurrection of a 40th anniversary model for my 40th birthday, a 25-year-old neck from 1994, the advent of the wildest of my teenage years, something old, something new, something borrowed and something blues... to seal my lifelong relationship with music. Like it says: 40 Years ...and still rockin', possibly the motto for my twenty-five years to come to help me combat the impending male menopause, mid-life crisis and prostate checkups.

The tremolo assembly came from the U.K., made by Sung Il in South Korea (greetings to my ex, Jung Hee there), who produce licensed Wilkinson parts, possibly not a downgrade from the original Strat part at a fraction of the price - €50 shipped. This and the plastics (pickguard, knobs, cavity plate - on their way from China to arrive in May or June, like a kind of tantric extended foreplay) are where I could not justify the cost of American parts.

Now my dream Strat is in a state of temporary assembly, she already plays and sounds acceptable even with guts hanging out from under a cardboard pickguard, with a shitty nut (will cut my own from cattle bone when I have the time), returns to pitch after heavy tremolo use - all in all a very promising piece of equipment, a dream not turning into nightmare!

Current state

Stay tuned for the post on final assembly with videos, sound tests and the launch of my educative and entertaining Youtube channel!

From Hungary with love,
BLC