Jason Becker

I have no updates to any projects. I do however have a massive cold. Here's a little about Jason Becker, probably one of the most talented guitar players the earth will ever produce. I hope to god that this movie is made.

Buell XB9

I keep threatening to get rid of my Buell. I guess the whole situation with Harley Davidson and Buell left a bad taste in my mouth. Also, leaving a trail of nuts bolts and other assorted hard-parts behind can make you consider a nice smooth Japanese motorbike. Anyway, I probably won't ever sell it because it is god awfully cooler than most other bikes. I also seem to have a major problem leaving it alone. Between custom paint (which I have given the title Cosmic Cloud Metallic) and my 1200 dollar Micron Serpent Exhaust, I have already done just about everything I can find to do to it. I started to fuck around with the riding position a while ago. I lifted the tail and made a custom seat last year.  I decided last season that the pegs could use to be set back more. I looked into rear-sets and none of them really change the position of the peg much. Then I found these beauties from cyclepirates.com which I already ordered.

Jason Aldean

If someone was ever to stumble upon my music collection they might think I have Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder). My taste is THAT eclectic.

With no further ado, Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson.

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50% off basick merch!

50% off basick records merch!

Buell xb9sx early 80's Clubmans

Three sets of bars later and I'm still not satisfied. I feel like these might not work out either. We'll see.

Ibanez rg4ex custom.

I bought this badboy new a few years back and my only complaint was those black inf/s pickups. They have since been replaced with a set of dragonfire screamers in chrome. I left the infs3 but covered it with a chrome strat cover and chrome bezel. Both pots are push/pull so I can tap either humbucker. The 2nd and 4th position puts the infs3 out of phase which sounds cool. I may wire it differently and hide a switch somewhere for that. For now it looks and sounds so awesome this way!

Bauer Vapor 3s

I had these Bauer Vapor 3s they were my first expensive skate. The shock-rocker chassis was showing its age and didn't function correctly so I bought a pair of junk Bauers in the same size and jacked the chassis. They got powder-coated wrinkle black installed some older wheels that I had with bsb abec 7's and now my vapors are back in business as a backup, outside skate!

Chimp Spanner

Chimp Spanner is a group that started out as a single guy, Paul Ortiz, and keeps growing. Here's a video of Paul. This fellow has established basick records as well as Chimp Spanner and has discovered many new groups/talents.

Keith Merrow

This dude is awesome. Check out his youtube channel! Very interesting stuff.

Skrillex, From First to Last, and The Human Abstract.

So Sonny Moore (Skrillex) left From First To Last and after a few years has become some sort of dub-step icon. In fact, most recently he has worked with Korn and other popular names. FFTL has disbanded and Travis Richter has become the lead singer of  The Human Abstract. A.J. Minette has re-joined and their last album was very solid.

Skrillex

 

The Human Abstract with A.J and Travis.

And that's the music lesson for today kids...

The Human Abstract

The Human Abstract (I will spare you all the gory details.) had  Dean Herrera and A.J. Minette as guitar players. Then A.J. left to further enlighten himself on "melt your face off" guitar playing.  Dean stayed and with the then singer Nathan Ells and other members (great musicians just not important to my lineup change story) Released an album without A.J.. The album was controversial as a lot of people thought The Human Abstract without A.J. would be nothing. The sound was similar. It did lack A.J. but still I think it was a well executed album.

THA with A.J. Minette

THA sans A.J. Minette

Click Here for Video (Couldn't find a good one here.)

From First to Last

From First to Last, what an epic tale. So my next few posts are dedicated to the crossing over from emo/post hardcore (or whatever you want to categorize it as) to dub-step.... and progressive metal.

Sonny Moore (now Skrillex) sings in a group From First to Last. The band doesn't really gain notoriety until after he leaves and Mat Good takes over vocal duties. Travis Richter continues background grunts and screams. The band gets placed on the Madden and NHL soundtracks for EA Sports. Sonny seems to disappear for a little while.

All in the while interesting things are happening to another band which has no connection with From First to Last.... yet. (See my next post.)

FFTL with Sonny

 

FFTL sans Sonny

 

Monkey sports

I have NEVER seen so many sticks. This is only about a quarter of the selection!

Peavey VTX Classic 65w update 1

This is after stain, poly, and butchers wax. Still need some knobs. So far so good. This amp sounds so nice. It can get as heavy as metal or as smooth as jazz.

Dream Theater: On the Backs of Angels

Well, they've moved on without Mike Portnoy. I for one think this was a necessary decision. Why would you let ONE guy stop your GROUP from making music? This move also showed that obviously Portnoy had little to do with song writing other than drums and backing vocals, because they still sound like the good old Dream Theater that I know and love. Don't get me wrong I love Mike Portnoy, but c'mon man, leave Dream Theater to join Avenged Sevenfold? Not that there's anything wrong with Avenged, but its a whole different design of Music. Although he claims it had nothing to do with his decision to leave, I think he thought he could collect from the cash cow that Avenged was becoming and get a little more public exposure as well. And now, hes stuck with his tribute bands.... That's all I have to say. Here's some NEW Dream Theater.

Of Mice & Men: Second and Sebring

Another great song. These days if you aren't into screaming its hard to find a good heavy group. These guys have "IT". I only know one thing about "IT". When you have "IT", you'll never make the money you should.

Periphery (Misha Monsoor a.k.a. Bulb) Jetpacks was yes!

At the end of the day.... This video makes me sad. I just recently discovered the world of djent and I love this song!

04 Ninja ex500d (Custom Paint)

I havent experimented with paint much. About a year ago me and my good buddy played around with my brothers first bike which he then crashed and sold. I thought this was a cool look for a kawi. It was my first time really playing with paint effects. Everything here is UNDER the clear. I am extremely proud of the finished product.

A Harley Davidson Vacation (November 2011)

Vacation 2011

I got the Ultra Classic.

My Brother on a Heritage Softail

My awesome Gameboy Phone Cover, oh and some dudes behind me.

My uncle (dyna low), his cousin (road king), my cousin (street glide), and my brother (heritage).

Possibly Lost? ....Nah

Soft shell crab sandwich.

Booking ass home.

The End.

Mudding 11/12/11

Riding on Sunday.

Burger King Mints

Here is a bowl of mints at a local Burger King. Notice that one seemingly empty spot. Remember on Halloween you always get that one asshole kid who takes 90% of the candy left out for himself? Well apparently my buddy is THAT guy.

He ate those mints all day long.

Epica

I've followed Epica for a few years now. They never fail to amaze me. Mark Jansen is an amazing composer / song writer. Simone Simons is as very beautiful as she is talented. Their new song sends a very important message as does most of their work. You can follow Simones Blog HERE.

1977 CB550K

So heres a Before, After, and Current Pic. Had some leaking valves so an overhaul is in order.

NYC Holland Ride

So this past summer we took a ride through the Holland tunnel and then stopped for a Guinness. Here are the bikes lined up. My Buell is in there somewhere.

Instruments

I gotta get a jumpstart on this blog so here are some instruments. First we have my 1980's Tama Swingstar set. I bought this with my own money. It was my first "big" purchase at a whopping $350.00 when I was about 13. Now a days it sits in my little drum room that my brother and I built last winter. Second we have my Catalina Club Mod kit and a plethora of Zildjian cymbals. Third is a shot of my mini studio with some of my guitars and basses. Some will be going bye bye soon and new ones will be added. Check out Alf!

Corona

Ice Cold Corona

One each of the MAJOR 3.

It was cool to have one each of the major 3 American trucks, all in the same series, and all of them were for dual exhaust jobs. All three were done, by me on an old school HUTH pipe bender. Eat My Shorts!

1968 Z50

Here are a few pics of my 1968 Honda Z50. I rebuilt the entire bike and bought a 88cc 4 speed engine. The original 50cc 3 speed is on the shelf. Check out the original Nitto tires.

Letters From Home

Seeing as though we will never NOT occupy a territory other than our own homeland. Here's something for the troops past, present, and future.

Angels Like Her

For the lack of better things to post I leave you with Trent Tomlinson.

Riding a Pit

This was last year around this time. (I'm on the YZF by the pipe gearing up for a hill climb.) This Sunday we will be going out for a ride near here.

Blues Deville 410

This is my first attempt shellacking a tweed cabinet. It came out great. 

CB550 Parts

I promised myself I'd get this bike back together. It's a promise I intend to keep.

Peavey VTX Classic 65w Abortion?

So, here it is. Cut into two pieces for some reason and left to rot for 20 years in a moist basement. I have big plans for this little guy for no other reason than I can't stand to see something that works go to waste. This is a solid-state pre, dual 6l6 power 65w amp. It carries 2 12 inch speakers. Plenty of power for a decent sized gig that I'll never play. Updates soon to come.