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Thread: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

  1. #1
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    Getting anything, buying anything music-related for the holidays?

    My kids are struggling with money, so I'm expecting socks or a shirt from them. I'm holding off for a little bit, but once I've paid a few bills, I'm thinking of getting a Line 6 Pod HD500X. I used to get great recordings out of the PodXT. The HD500X seems to be a robust machine. However, during this break from teaching, I'm going to try to record with a mic to my Deluxe, and if that works well enough, I might forgo any new equipment purchase.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  2. #2
    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    I can't justify buying anything for myself until after the holidays. Then, it's a toss-up whether I'll spring for a FSR Roasted Ash '52 Telecaster or a 12-string Stratocaster XII.

  3. #3
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    My ES-335 is still very new. I don't need anything else at the moment.

  4. #4
    Forum Member gibsonjunkie's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    What might have been...

    the wife got hammered the other day and called Guitar Center to order a John Mayer Martin guitar. It is unclear whether she ordered it for her son, Scott or for me for a Christmas present, but considering I would end up paying for it it wouldn't be a welcome addition to the stable (I already have a really nice Guild OM sized guitar - and I love my stepson, but the Strat I got him a couple years ago is about as far as I can afford to go for him right now ).

    Luckily I got wind of this before they shipped it so I managed to cancel the order. I am getting a DBX AFS-2 Feedback suppression unit from Amazon Vine - all I have to do is write a review and I get to keep it for free... that's about all I'll see for music stuff this holiday.
    "We catched fish and talked, and we took a swim now and then to keep off sleepiness." Mark Twain

  5. #5
    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    I've long resigned myself to getting anything musical I have to get it myself. I've bought a fair bit of software the last couple of months and surprise surprise I've actually been using it nearly every day. I have the garage project waiting to be completed. I have a bass build waiting for the work space the garage project is to make. I have a Strat neck waiting for a body and I've been watching auctions and horrified at the prices people are paying especially this close to the holidays. Easily 75 to 100 dollars higher than the last time I was buying a body seemingly only 6 months ago (i'll have to look at my journals to find out when I bought one last). I pretty much want a Strat to play more than anything else at the moment.

  6. #6
    Forum Member Offshore Angler's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    I'm thinking about replacing my current Crown power amp in my guitar rig with an ART SLA4. Got to play around with one and fell in love with the flatness of the frequency response. Plus, it's only 1 RU high and if I bridge it to stereo it get 280W per channel which is all the headroom I'd ever need for stage volume. And, just a tad under 20 pounds too! That will shave a bunch off the rack. That will be a nice present to myself.

    Chuck
    "No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim

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    Forum Member FrankJohnson's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    Quote Originally Posted by Offshore Angler View Post
    I'm thinking about replacing my current Crown power amp in my guitar rig with an ART SLA4. Got to play around with one and fell in love with the flatness of the frequency response. Plus, it's only 1 RU high and if I bridge it to stereo it get 280W per channel which is all the headroom I'd ever need for stage volume. And, just a tad under 20 pounds too! That will shave a bunch off the rack. That will be a nice present to myself.

    Chuck
    I remember a friend using a SOHIO preamp and power amp in his guitar rig - it was amazing.
    I have recently seen a few 1 RU sized power amps but didn't really pay much attention, since I didn't need them. Is the ART a newer version? I like a lot of their stuff.

    Under 20#......
    I have two Peavey IPR 5000 amps I bought for the old PA setup a couple of years ago. These things are like 975 watts at 8 ohms per side - (going be memory) and about 14#. AMAZING where we have gotten weight wise!

    Edited -
    Ratings....
    2525W RMS x 2 at 2 ohms
    1510W RMS x 2 at 4 ohms
    890W RMS x 2 at 8 ohms
    Kenny Belmont
    >:^{I)>

  8. #8
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    Quote Originally Posted by DanTheBluesMan View Post
    I've long resigned myself to getting anything musical I have to get it myself.
    Same here! I don't mind.

    I just traded a guitar that I had languishing on CL for $300 for quite a while for a really clean 2007 Taylor 110 with gig bag. Does that count as a music related gift to myself? It's not a fancy guitar, but a good workhorse spruce topped dreadnought to go with my mahogany top 000-15. I like it!

  9. #9
    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    I hadn't planned on it, but I wound up getting myself an unexpected Christmas present: hearing aids!

    I've had some congestion and associated difficulty hearing for the past couple of years, and a visit to an ENT specialist and an audiologist resulted in (the expected) hearing loss in the high frequency range. Given the choice, I opted to buy some small hearing aids that tuck behind the ear and snake into the ear via a clear fiber.

    At first, I had to deal with the denial that I was getting old, and then I realized that these things make me more like the Six Million Dollar Man: They connect to my phone via Bluetooth, and I can stream audio from my phone, take calls, and generally seem to everyone around me like a weirdo talking to myself!

    I can function without them, and while in my office, have taken to removing them for long periods of time. But when I put them on, the higher frequencies add some "sparkle" to my hearing. They are best for crowd usage and when there is a lot of ambient noise around.

    Maybe it's not musical, but to me, it's music related!

    Merry Christmas to all!

  10. #10
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    OS--No shame in wearing them if you need them. They probably make music seem sweeter to you now. Good for you that you're not too vain to wear what can help you to hear. My father worked at a factory for 30 years. 15 years in, when he was around 40, he had lost a lot of his hearing, and back then, hearing aid technology was sorely lacking. 25 years in, the technology improved, and it made a positive change for him and for us all. For the last 20 years of his life, he could hear, and I could finally talk to him privately when we were out in public!
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  11. #11
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    Those actually sound kinda awesome!

  12. #12
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    I went ahead and ordered the Pod HD500X. I won't be using it live, rather going to use it for recording. I'm pretty excited about it, and it should be here a few days after Christmas--I could have had it by Christmas, but I'm not in a hurry. I'd rather spend the holidays with my kids, without having the urge to sit down with the thing and figure it out.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  13. #13
    Forum Member FrankJohnson's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    When I first started playing, I wanted a Zoom GX505 pedal - it had a nice rhythm machine in it.

    I went to the local music store, who had it for $20 more than MF, but were local, and I tried to support them. I put $20 on it, and gave my wife, parents, kids, a note saying what the model was, and what music store, so that they could collectively chip in on this ONE item on my christmas list. They F'd that up and no one....NO ONE.....NONE OF THEM...... made an effort. Instead I recieved worthless trivial BS that they could have gotten at the dollar store, walmart at the checkout isle, etc.......

    I was not ungrateful, and don't mean for it to sound that way - spirit of the gift is in the giving, etc....
    It was trivial, incidental garbage you throw cash away on. Why Bother.

    I get for myself, and honestly, am also ok with it. My wife did "let me " buy a bass one year - my red Jaguar. She held that over my head, so I saved from a couple of gigs and put the cash into the "household budget", and told her I paid my hostage fees on it and it is now free and clear. I don't ever want to hear about it again.

    Its not supposed to be like this. It is for me. Oh well.
    Kenny Belmont
    >:^{I)>

  14. #14
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    Kenny, I don’t miss the fights I had with my first wife over music purchases. But I’m still conditioned to feeling guilty about what I buy, even though I can afford it now.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  15. #15

    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    DOD Boneshaker for $34.95 shipped. Couldn't pass it up.

    Hoping that she'll get me a HSC for my King V but idk... Many times we're not on the same page.

    Better yet is knowing that a underprivileged boy or girl will be getting a really cool little Duo Sonic reissue with some seriously cool mojo!

  16. #16
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    Quote Originally Posted by HighPlainsDrifter View Post
    DOD Boneshaker for $34.95 shipped. Couldn't pass it up.

    Hoping that she'll get me a HSC for my King V but idk... Many times we're not on the same page.

    Better yet is knowing that a underprivileged boy or girl will be getting a really cool little Duo Sonic reissue with some seriously cool mojo!
    So did you find a particular child for the Duo Sonic? Again, such a kind act.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  17. #17

    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    I didn't find ( didn't try to find) a specific kid. I let my buddy handle it. He and his wife are involved in the local music scene and assured me that the guitar ( along with a small used amp that he would donate) would make it's way to a budding-musician by Christmas day. I'm honestly not sure how they handle things like this but he consistently gives back to the community so I have complete confidence in his involvement. I also included a new strap fwiw. Although it's a cheap one, it is absolutely better than the first one that I had ( made from one of my grandfather's neck-ties and duct-tape lol!

    And thank you, Willie... but it's really nothing more than any of you would or have done many times. I know that and that's why I enjoy this small yet seemingly close-knit online community.

    Hope y'all have a great day. Now time for me to pull up my boot straps and head into the last-minute insanity of the retail world... ugh. God help me lol!

  18. #18
    Forum Member Laker's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    I didn't want to respond earlier in case anyone would leak this info to my son. My wife and I managed to give a 25th Anniversary Strat to my son that he had sold 25 years ago. I believe he is a very happy camper to get his guitar back after all these years. I had the frets dressed, pickups and wiring reviewed, everything cleaned and buffed, and the tremolo was done with the Carl Verheyen tremolo set up.


  19. #19
    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    the exact guitar or one just like it?

  20. #20
    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    Suh-WEEEEET!

  21. #21
    Forum Member Laker's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    Quote Originally Posted by DanTheBluesMan View Post
    the exact guitar or one just like it?
    The exact guitar, I purchased from the friend who bought it in '91 or '92.

  22. #22
    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    wow, that is so cool

  23. #23
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    What a great gift, Laker!
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    Cool! Merry Christmas!

  25. #25
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    Awesome gift! That guitar looks clean!

  26. #26
    Forum Member S. Cane's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    Awesome!

    I don't know if i could call that a "Holiday Gift" but I bought myself some ammo... D'Addario niners for my strats.

  27. #27
    Forum Member Laker's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    Quote Originally Posted by DanTheBluesMan View Post
    wow, that is so cool
    Thanks! My wife and I drove 8+ hours to meet with him (half way between us) so we could see the look on his face. I wrapped up the wammy bar from the Strat in a little box to try to really throw him off about the gift. It was pretty cool to see that smile when it set in that he was looking at a piece from a Fender guitar and even better when he saw it was his Anniversary Strat.

    We drove home with no sleep and through a bit of a snow storm on Christmas Eve, but the whole experience was totally worth the chance to do this.

  28. #28

    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    Wow! What a cool story and generous loving sentiment.

  29. #29
    Forum Member S. Cane's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    Quote Originally Posted by Laker View Post
    Thanks! My wife and I drove 8+ hours to meet with him (half way between us) so we could see the look on his face. I wrapped up the wammy bar from the Strat in a little box to try to really throw him off about the gift. It was pretty cool to see that smile when it set in that he was looking at a piece from a Fender guitar and even better when he saw it was his Anniversary Strat.

    We drove home with no sleep and through a bit of a snow storm on Christmas Eve, but the whole experience was totally worth the chance to do this.
    In one word: beautiful.

    Thanks for sharing, man!

  30. #30
    Forum Member Offshore Angler's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    Quote Originally Posted by Sérgio View Post
    Awesome!

    I don't know if i could call that a "Holiday Gift" but I bought myself some ammo... D'Addario niners for my strats.
    You would have gotten publicly flogged for that during the Tone Wars.
    "No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim

  31. #31
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    Haha the great tone wars. BTW purple guitars sound better than yellow guitars.

    My Pod HD500X came in. I’ll be exploring it today and creating some usable presets.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  32. #32
    Forum Member dirtdog's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    Got me one of these bad boys, a Mackie Big Knob monitor controller and some Auralex foam monitor isolation pads for my "studio"


  33. #33
    Forum Member Offshore Angler's Avatar
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    Re: Music-Related Holiday Gifts?

    Went out to buy some picks, came back with a Lexicon MX200 reverb unit for my guitar rig. Hate it when that happens.
    "No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim

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