I have a rather affordable Zoom G6 multi-effects processor but not with the intention of going ampless but rather the options. It can be used as an interface for recording (lowest latency ive ever had), it has an effects loop, it also has a looper and even a rudimentary drum machine for practice, and you can add your own IRs if you want. I've used it stand alone through a PA, it worked okay. It also has one of the most accurate tuners I've ever used.

But where processors like this really shine imo, is hooking it up through an amp via 4 cable method and using it as a stomp box which frees up your dsp for more effects. And allows you to position the effects where you want them.

I also have a 100w Katana Artist MKII. I see a lot of hate on the katanas outside of YouTube and a lot of people saying "it's okay for what it is" or what it costs but vast majority don't bother with the software and you absolutely have to have a PC and the software to unlock the Katana's full potential. That goes for any Katana but there is a huge leap in tone when moving from the regular Katana to the Artist with the Waza speaker. Watch a few Studio Rats videos and learn how to actually dial a Katana in and you will be blown away by what that thing can do for the money. If you live gig, I'd recommend the Artist.

So I bought the footswitch and an expression pedal for it and then hooked up the G6 via 4 cable method. 🤯 Completely satisfies my tonal curiosities and experimentation. Katana is worth it but it is a time sink in terms of dialing it in and requiring a PC nearby to do so.

Indeed, though not in the middle of nowhere per se, sometimes what lives where you are camping isn't exactly obvious. Me and my dad camped on a ridge in the Hoosier National Forest in the early fall only to find the whole ridge was crawling with black widow spiders when the sun went down. Killed one on my sleeping pad. Stuffed the space between my zipper poles with tp and spent an hour searching every piece of gear I had. I finally laid down and before I turned the light out there was one right above my head between my tents mesh and the rainfly. Had to sleep with it chilling there. It was gone by morning. My dad had encountered a few as well.

We nicknamed the spot, Black Widow Ridge!

All this time and continual pushbacks they could at least compensate with the 1hr earnings cards for the hours of downtime. 🤷‍♂️

"Can you help me fix my network? But you work in IT right?" Just because I code in JS doesn't mean I can fix the dead spot blocking wifi signal to your bedroom TV 🤷‍♂️

I use EZ Drummer 3 with a Surge SE, sounds in Ez Drummer are better than BFD to my ear. I can just leave the PC on with the plugin and daw loaded so boot up on the Surge is like 1 second. Really the only gripe I have is the hi hat. Would much prefer a more acoustic feel there.

I started around 13 or 14 and then learned drums all throughout highschool and after while noodling around and writing riffs here and there then got more serious about guitar probably around your age. This is when I saw the most significant improvements in ability. Now 34 but kind of in a rut stuck on some patterns I need to break out of

Kraft came through, this happened like 2 years ago I think. Haven't been to that shop since though.

I would but the local shop here sucks. Went in and was trying out a couple guitars and was told to turn it down (it really wasn't very loud - like bedroom level) cause they were trying to sell some family thst just walked in buying a keyboard I guess for their kid so they figured me with my metallica shirt on had no money. I had enough to walk out with 2 guitars and was thinking about it until that happened. Well family walked out without buying anything and so did I... told the guy as he was walking away I'm not gonna buy a guitar I can't even hear the tone of... ended up ordering a nicer guitar from Kraft Music because Sweetwater was out of stock.

Maybe for new bikes in the cruiser category? I've only ever bought used bikes. Honestly $6k for a gently used 09 Yamaha Stratoliner with less than 7k miles and a bulletproof 1900cc engine was a pretty decent deal. The new market isn't too crazy either but it is remarkably devoid of cruisers since a lot of metric manufacturers have dropped their cruiser lines. So really if you aren't in the market for a cruiser the sky's the limit. I think it may largely depend on where you are though. Here in Indy you can get an RE super meteor for right at MSRP of $6999

EDIT: Also a 2024 Rebel 500 has an MSRP of $6499 from Honda's website so not sure where the $10k for a 500 is coming from but I would stay far away from whatever dealer is charging that. $10k for the 1100 makes more sense though

I love Rams, but it saddens me what was done to this poor truck. 😥

Yeah, it is super tempting... just over 5k miles?! It's the torque that makes it difficult for new riders more so than the size imo. Gotta be real comfortable with feathering the clutch in 1st and 2nd gear with muscle bikes like this as the throttle response with all that low end torque and engine braking on bikes like this can be real jarring and dangerous when taking low speed tight corners... if the clutch is all the way out and 3rd is too high of a gear for a 15mph turn, once you get into 1st or second you pretty much have to feather the clutch to corner at those speeds as any tiny movement of the throttle can be real jerky which you don't want when cornering. Hit a bump and move your throttle hand even a mm can cause the bike to jerk forward from the torque or engine brake that feels like you just grabbed the brake. At least that has been my experience on my Stratoliner. Once you get the hang of taming the torque at low speeds though it is a lot of fun!

The weirdest part about it to me is that solid beginner bikes like this will get listed for unreasonable prices but then you'll find bikes like my 09 Stratoliner 1900cc with less than 8k miles on it, well maintained and sat covered in an old guy's climate controlled garage and just doesn't ride it enough for the same price. 🤔 I'm 33 and so long as I take care of her, I'll probably never need another bike and could probably pass it on to one of my kids when I get old. Definitely not advocating a beginner snatch up a 1900 for a first bike but, I do feel like the market for beginner bikes is in a super weird spot.

Doesn't feel clunky to me! The only thing that is weird about it is the throw on the clutch lever is kinda far on mine for my hand size so holding off on giving throttle towards the end of the clutch release smooths things out a lot.

I took the Abate course, but they are all pretty much the same. I passed mine relatively easily. That said, I pre-gamed the course with tons of mental "exercises" by watching untold amounts of beginner motorcycle tutorials on YouTube and would even dry run shifting and braking with my hands and feet just sitting in a chair or on my bed until I had the "concept" of operating a motorcycle down. This helped me tremendously to connect the dots between conceptual knowledge and practical application faster and easier despite the fear and anxiety from hopping on a motorcycle for the first time. The advantage is that the more you understand before going into it, the easier it is to translate that knowledge to application. Operating a motorcycle is a lot to wrap your head around when you first sit in the saddle. Nerves, anxiety, fear... that stuff won't go away so dry run it until it is "brain muscle memory", watch and rewatch vids, mentally connect the dots and parallels from your studies and your experience then the next time you will have a much easier time focusing on the actual hard part - applying that knowledge.

For me, I knew what I had to do to perform the exercises, and so instead of learning and applying in the course, I could really focus on applying the knowledge. You'll still make silly mistakes but you'll recover quickly and nail each exercise in no time!

That's a good idea! May go ahead and flush and fill the brakes while I'm at it. I need to pick up a chock this weekend as well to get the bike upright. My old 81 Honda GL500 Silverwing has a center stand which made it super easy to do maintenence so I didn't really have a need for a jack or anything.

A lot of people only make around 50k or so before taxes, so if we assume that you'll have to probably work a part-time job for about a year or longer to pay that on top of your day job. But ultimately it just depends on your financial situation.

Since Trirec's are pretty rare, wanted to share in case anyone else had this issue and stumbles on this post, I had this exact issue and it was not power tube related (I had rolled lots of tubes to try and fix the issue). Because they are budget amps, a lot of the connections inside use little plastic clips instead of being soldered, to fix it you need to take it to a good amp repair tech to diagnose and replace or solder the faulty connection. I took mine in, took about a month (huge backlog of amp repairs for my tech), he removed the clip and soldered it and haven't had any issues since! Cost me $100 USD but ymmv!

A tombstone

It's a conspiracy by big printing to get you to buy more ink!

Taken plenty of concrete and asphalt core samples. Definitely used a core drill. Considering the length and thickness it was a wet drill and bit that uses water for lubrication. Most likely a truck mounted drill, since you can't anchor a core drill stand into asphalt, with a generator and a water tank. Considering it looks as though the sample only maybe split vertically it could have been extracted via the drill bit itself where it remains inside the bit, you torque the bit off and push it out from the top or feed water to build pressure and pulse the drill power to spin it while hammering the bit with a big ass rubber mallet. Or more likely it remained in the hole and they just used a 5 gallon bucket handle with the tip bent in an L shape, stick it down the side to the bottom twist and pull it out of the hole!

Edit: I see it split horizontally too but that doesn't really change the process much

When you find yourself searching the lint trap of the dryer for a pick so you can get your guitar fix in for the day.

That's an excellent idea and I believe I originally heard about it from Guthrie Govan. I have yet to try it though and need to but I have other methods of breaking out of ruts. My favorite one is borrowing a guitar that I am not used to playing. Sometimes the tone and feel of a different guitar can really change the way you play those old riffs. My other method is to play with the note intervals within those old riffs, you can sometimes find new riffs inside of old riffs that way. Either way, good stuff! Thank you for sharing!

Omg I miss my MX518

I worked at a grocery store several years back, I had just got off of work and stopped by the store's gas station to fill up. While I was pumping gas there was a lady at the pump next to mine on the phone crying to her husband that she didn't have money for gas (I don't remember why, think she forgot her wallet or her card wasn't working or something) and she didn't think she was going to be able to get back home. I walked up to her I asked if $5 would get her home so I paid $5 for her to get couple gallons of gas.

The next day I'm at work, she finds me to thank me and tries to give me $20, I told her it was fine and she doesn't need to give me anything but she said she wasn't leaving til I took the $20.