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sandman

sandman

Well-known member
I’ve been a member here for years. Recently I started participating here again after not doing the forum thing for a long time. I see some folks I remember well and some new folks. One thing I noticed is this forum still rocks! Always helpful, always some humor as well. And tons of amazing talent and gear porn here. Love it! Anyway, what I want is for you to post here. Tell me what music you like and what music and guitars and amps mean to you personally! For example, to me music has always been a part of my life. Was my only friend at times when I had no one in life. Gear is also an outlet for me today to relieve stress and escape the world. I could have worse habits right? Haha. Again, this forum rocks. So post and tell me your story. I will read them all and sometime this weekend I will choose the one that speaks to me the most and I will send you this pedal for free. There will be no bias. It will literally be whatever story speaks to me. All I ask is that you be honest and I trust you will.
LPD Eighty7 Plus for those rockin 80’s tones. This pedal is like new. It isnt a cheap pedal but I just want to do this because Rigtalk is awesome and at times through the years this forum also helped me through some rough times. So post away and maybe you will be chosen.
 

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Grandmother would let me out of the basement sometimes to teach me the piano when I was little.
She was very strict and would hit my hands with a switch when I messed up.
Loved her dearly.
 
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some of my earliest memories as a kid are being in the backseat of my mom's convertible with the AM radio playing music, and my mono record player with stacks of 45s that I would sit and listen to, or play while the music was on. I remember family and friends gathering with the music playing all day and night, and watching the musicians and bands play on TV, and eventually given the choice to learn piano or guitar, I chose guitar...learned saxophone, and often had solos in school concert band, and jazz band, and played in the local youth symphony, and my first band at 14 with overhearing one of the trombone players behind me say he played bass, which led to my first of many gigs, and bands, at 14...and eventually meeting my future ex-wife....

music has been an integral and important part of my life, and I hope that never ends before my time is up.
 
I’m sort of devolving musically. It seems as I get older I’m gravitating back to the music from earlier and earlier in life. And I don’t seem to have the appetite for new music as when I was young. We are voraciously seeking/consuming new music when young. But by the time you’re old, you’re full. So I’m liking ‘70s music, some early 80s/late 60s and I still like some 90s stuff. Weird how some stuff sticks and some doesn’t.

I was going to be a rock star but I injured my right hand around age 24, two weeks before my original metal band’s scheduled studio time for our first demo. The surgeries never took and the band broke. And I was big pussy about it and ‘abandoned’ music, went to college, still miserable working an engineering job. Wish I had known about Django back then, I knew about Iommi but apparently that wasn’t enough. I was shooting for Yngwie level and that wasn’t going to happen with my injury. It was merely my right index finger, I’ve learned to pick OK since it just took a lot of practice. Hindsight.

But I couldn’t stay away. My senior year I started playing again with the one guitar I kept, a Kramer Focus that I still have.

My music room is my escape. And playing in there is the only thing I really have a passion for. It means a lot to me…and I have at least 2x or more the gear I need.

There a at least a couple around here that are in a hard time right now. If I win don’t send me the pedal send it to them.
 
Music is life. Period.

The good and the bad.

Earliest memory is playing in my mom's record collection, while she was sleeping.

Memorized all the bands and songs, was kind of a bar trick for a hot minute, and can still usually call a song with only a few seconds played.

Taught myself how to play everything, learned writing, learned how to record and do sound.

Played all over the world, mostly for free, or at least drinks.

Never truly got to realize what I was looking for, due to life and bad decisions. Made a conscious effort to retrain myself and leave that all behind, which made me feel empty.

Now I struggle with arthritis and tendinitis, and it is a chore to get through a whole song without my right hand going numb. But I cant stop. It's like a dumb drug I can't quit.

So now I am gearing up for helping my daughter and her cousins to learn and rock out ... hopefully they can reach the finish line.

I help build boards, and pass along cds, mp3s....and information, when they ask. It's truly all I have now.

Guess I'm gonna be that dorky dad/uncle that is too old but has all the gear. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Maybe I should start a pseudo school of rock, but in modern times, this seems like a risk.

I don't need a another pedal, but I love threads like this.

Cheers all,
🍻
 
Story time!!! Wall of text alert.

First off I have no use for the pedal so if for some reason my story speaks to you, send it to Lisa instead.

I moved around a lot, had some crazy things happen, ended up in a bad place and started playing guitar at 14. I did not put it down ever, I do like all kinds of music. I can find at least one song out of any genre but particularly love Classic Rock, Death metal and 90s rap.

Met my soon to be lifelong best friend at 15 and this dude is a guitar god. The most gifted player I've ever met in my life, he was also into death metal and really showed me a lot and moved my playing to the next level.

We spent our teenage years causing trouble, partying and trying to start a band. I would skip school, he would come over after his 12:00 day ended (senior) and come to my house to jam. We kept looking and playing and never stopped.

People in the area got to know this guy as an incredible guitarist. The metal and hardcore scene was blowing up in our area at the time and around the time we FINALLY found a drummer who could play the stuff, he got a somewhat local famous singer to join our band and it went from 0-100. Played all the metal fests, packing out local shows, started traveling and doing the thing. It was great and all we really wanted to do. I'd say drugs got the better of me, life's hardships got the better of him and we just couldn't keep it together, even had major labels in contact at that point but it was short lived.

So, I decided to move again, addicted to coke, did nothing but party, couldnt keep a job. Things were bad. I moved halfway across the country to get my life together. I have an actual career now I guess, I could never be in a band again at my age but I will always play metal.

I have a kid now who is at the age that I was when I started playing guitar, I work a decent job and I am very boring and love it.

Can't really say what music means to me. I just don't know how to answer that question but it's something I have always done and a part of me. Movies and music can have an emotional impact on people I find that it does for me quite a bit and I don't really know what else to say about your topic or question but that is my general story, sparing you some horrific details that I would never share with anybody but you are right, Rig Talk is a great place and welcome back.
 
Born and raised in a tiny rural village in Louisiana....no musicians in my family but my mom especially was obsessed with music (and had great taste IMO); there was always music playing in the house, either on the console or VH1/MTV. This started my love of hair metal and Poison was my absolute favorite band as a wee tot 😬

Fell in love with music as a baby basically and always dreamed of playing guitar; finally got a cheapo guitar starter pack setup for my 12th birthday and was immediately obsessed. A lot of my friends got in on it and became musicians as well - there was no shortage of people to jam with which is crazy considering the total population was MAYBE 500 people

Started my online gear nerd obsession when I got my first office job and found HCAF lmao; ended up meeting a lot of forum bros in real life and even organized the Louisiana Ampfest back in 2014 which was a lot of fun

Never did any touring but did play gigs all over the state with a couple different bands (my metal band, as well as a prog/hip-hop/jazz fusion type band)

Not in a band these days but I'm still best friends with all those people and consider myself fortunate that I can organize and participate in improv jams practically any time I want
 
I entered this mortal plane sometime between the years of 1981-1983AD, although the exact date is still unknown. I was raised by a group of ostracised monks in a remote part of the Ozarks, where I was taught the arcane arts, specifically thaumaturgy. I spent my days studying, and my nights staring at the stars in wonderment. One morning, I awoke to find that the men that had raised me had all disappeared overnight without a trace...seeemingly vanished from the face of the earth. I spent weeks searching for them, hoping for a sign of life...to no avail.

With food running low, I had no choice but to make a trek through the wildnerness with no destination in mind to find sustenance, and maybe....just maybe...answers. I was found walking down a county road by a couple...the beings I now call mother and father. They took me in and fed me. Although I was unable to speak their language (english), my mothers background in teaching made learning their native tongue effortless. I was fluent in weeks to their astonishment.

After going through the legal framework available to them, I was adopted and took on their surname. Eventually I was enrolled in public school, where to the teachers astonishment, I had a mastery of science that rivaled even the top university professors. I was taken out of school and put in a government program where I was to, where I later learned, be studied and analyzed. I was there for 3 days when the facility I was housed in mysteriously burned down with the entire staff inside.

I won't burden you with further boring details, but I took up musical arts as a theraputic method and it has enriched me greatly. I like playing Telecasters and old Bassman amps.
 
Growing up, if you played an instrument it was something like piano or a flute and you were branded a nerd. Everyone I knew listened to country music. I didn’t like it, but was stuck listening to it in my parents’ car and whatnot. No one I knew played guitar or listened to any kind of rock/metal music. If they did I was unaware of it. I’m also an only child so I didn’t have any siblings to influence me either.

I don’t really know what got me into music. I think I just blazed my own path with that. Somewhere along the line when I was around 12, I got ahold of a Metallica cassette; either Kill ‘Em All or Ride the Lightening and loved it. Expanded my listening from there.

I started playing guitar in 1994 when I was 14-15. Similar to discovering metal… I think I just woke up one day and said I want to learn guitar. No real reason behind it. I didn’t want to be like the guys on the albums I was listening to. No aspirations to become a rock god. I just decided I wanted to learn for no other reason than to do it. After that I always played. Some years were more active than others, but I never gave it up or took a break from playing.

In 2003-2004 I got an itch to try building a guitar from scratch. Another one of those wild hairs to say fuck it, why not. The first one I built didn’t look the best, but it played pretty well. I kept at that too, trying to do better with each one I built. 20 years later I have a room full of guitars. I’m starting that same journey now with building amps. I’ve successfully completed 2 simple Class A kit builds and am working on a 3rd amp now. Still waiting on the f-ing transformers from Mercury so I can continue.

Peppered throughout the years I gave some other instruments a shot; bass, drums, keyboard, penny whistle, hammered dulcimer. Bass stuck since it’s similar to guitar. The rest I developed some rudimentary skills; at least enough to look like I know what I’m doing.

So playing has been a part of my life for the last 3 decades. I really enjoy playing and it serves as something fun to break the monotony of everyday life.
 
I had an old Turkish neighbor who used to touch me where I make pee from. Finally I cut his head off and fed him to a pack of wild dogs. Playing guitar makes me forget about our secret tickle time…. I wrote my first song soon after….it’s called “no no square “ it goes “STOP! Don’t touch me there! This is my no no square!” You scream that while chugging an e chord kranked…. Very therapeutic…
 
Glad you are back man!! I mainly like 80’s rock, but I’ve had gigs that take me to lots of different styles. Music is an escape for me and maybe therapy to a point. I can have the worse day, and 5 minutes playing a cranked amp seems to balance everything out and everything is ok. Keeps me sane :)
 
Devin said:
Born and raised in a tiny rural village in Louisiana....no musicians in my family but my mom especially was obsessed with music (and had great taste IMO); there was always music playing in the house, either on the console or VH1/MTV. This started my love of hair metal and Poison was my absolute favorite band as a wee tot 😬

Fell in love with music as a baby basically and always dreamed of playing guitar; finally got a cheapo guitar starter pack setup for my 12th birthday and was immediately obsessed. A lot of my friends got in on it and became musicians as well - there was no shortage of people to jam with which is crazy considering the total population was MAYBE 500 people

Started my online gear nerd obsession when I got my first office job and found HCAF lmao; ended up meeting a lot of forum bros in real life and even organized the Louisiana Ampfest back in 2014 which was a lot of fun

Never did any touring but did play gigs all over the state with a couple different bands (my metal band, as well as a prog/hip-hop/jazz fusion type band)

Not in a band these days but I'm still best friends with all those people and consider myself fortunate that I can organize and participate in improv jams practically any time I want
Click to expand...
What Devin isn't telling you guys is he's the coolest chill mofo around too.
 
Started on the accordion at 12 years old because my favorite aunt was a badass accordion player. Lasted about 2 years.

My first band I got into was Rush, before the "Permanent Waves" album came out. Started bass lessons on a junker Memphis P bass copy. Upgraded to a Ric 4003 in 10th grade. Dropped out my senior year to join a ski circuit band and played lots of covers I hated for two seasons, working as a gofer at a new studio during the summers. Got super into the first Metallica/Megadeth and Slayer albums during the last year of the circuit. All the band members(6-9 years older than me)were bagging me for digging thrash. I bolted after the last cycle and headed back home. Some local hero bros in Arlington introduced me to a guy and I joined the first thrash band in DFW. Smashed my Ric bass at the first gig. Was so blown away by the rythym guitarist that I started playing guitar.

Hooked up with another local guitarist who was a meth dealer and started playing thrash covers. Did that for two years as the drugs took over. Eventually dried out and went into the Navy.

While in the Navy in the 90s I started buying my first real good guitar gear. Built a huge rack rig including the the first "big knob" generation eventide harmonizer and a 2290. Eventually got out of the Navy and moved back home. Then life got in the way of playing and eventually sold off everything.

Then a childhood bro passed away and I felt I owed it to him to start playing again. By 2005 I was on the Dean Guitars forum regularly and buying gear again. Went from import guitars and cheapish amps to Custom shop orders and good to great amps. Did a lot of flipping and trading for a while to try every amp I could get ahold of. Kept the best(best for me anyway)and dumped the rest. Eventually stopped dumping amps after a couple bad shipping issues and lack of time to be bothered to ship altogether.

Now that I have so many weird amps laying around, I've become pretty particular about what I want and what I'm willing to spend. By being tight, I paid off all my debt and have a great credit rating and a nice savings account. But I'm still looking and thinking about some big dog amps I really want. The Hellrazor, Uber Ultra and others are definitely on my radar but I'm holding out for now. Enjoying the no debt and great credit rating too much. A best bro told me "Nobody dies thinking Thank God I don't have debt'". He certainly has a good point....
 
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