Spell Check

At least the ones facing the highway and parking lot were correct.

Good Advice

No Personal Cameras

Oh really?
Just try and stop me.

Zzakk Goes On Vacation?

Actually, Sylvia went to Cancun and Cozumel and brought back some pictures for the garage, so I'm just getting a break from shooting content--I still have to do the rest of the work.
We've never been to LA so forgive us for finding this sign unusual.
A little scary and funny, too.

The combination of an ominous Mayan icon and a Christmas tree in the same photo struck us both as perfect for this site.

Great job, Syl!

Bassic Repairs

An old Ibanez bass showed up at my house tossed in the back of a pickup truck with no case.
It had crapped-out many years ago, but was remembered fondly.


There was no cover plate on the back, just duct tape protecting the wiring and keeping the battery from falling out. Step 1 was selecting a solvent that would get rid of tape spooge without damaging the finish, then scrub the bass clean of beer, sweat, and essence of whore.
Step 2 was to dive into her spaghetti guts and figure out why she was mute and slightly retarded.
I won't bore you with the details because it's tedious work I'd rather forget.
Newer instruments have a drop-in circuit board that takes care of everything, but then I wouldn't have a chance in hell of even diagnosing the problem let alone fixing it.
Computer chipz aren't friendly to us old-school soldering gun & hammer types.

Step 3 was finding some plastic and fabricating a new back cover.
For a paying customer I would have gone out and bought some, but on this project my budget was zero so I used an EXIT sign scrounged from a dumpster for a previous project.
After cutting it to shape with an ExActo knife and sanding it down to fit (a bitch!) I drilled and countersunk the screw holes, painted the backside white, and glued a layer of aluminum foil to it for RFI rejection. You can see where there's some Ibanez foil tape to transfer ground connection to the plate in the 1st pic.

Step 4 was to find the correct allen wrench and adjust a steel truss-rod inside the neck. After letting the neck "settle" for a day I adjusted it again, then went to work on the bridge to fine-tune the action (string height).

Step 5 = Intonation.
Depending on how high the strings are and what gauge/tension strings you prefer, the bridge saddles have to be moved to shorten or lengthen the vibrating length of each string so it will play in-tune all the way up your neck.
Steps 4 & 5 are an interrelated balancing act that must be performed periodically, and any time you change string gauge or even brand.
Many musicians haven't a clue how to do this, and the ones who also can't afford to pay a professional to do it for them will forever suffer from that "garage band" sound.
You've heard what I'm talking about--chords sound a little "odd" and despite tuning between every song none of the instruments in the band agree on what exactly constitutes a G#. Yuck!
I taught myself these skills when I was 14 and have made a few bucks on the side over the decades since.
It's also a good way to spend quality time with a lot of different instruments and learn their secrets.

I brought the newly Zzakk'd bass to the next gig, and I thought it sounded much better than the one I've been listening to for 19 months.
Longer sustain, no dead notes (F#), less muddy/more even tone.
After one set I was waiting for the old bass to come out of it's case, but it didn't happen.

At the end of the night I was asked to put this one in the case and leave the other one naked.
The photo above is from the next gig and Miz Ibanez Roja again handled the whole night and in fact the other bass was left at home, so I guess my efforts were successful.
Since I prefer this one's sound and will have to listen to it for 24+ hours a month, I'm very happy that the owner is happy.

BTW, I would have charged anyone else $75-100 for the work but I consider stuff like this part of my job.
Yet another step towards being irreplaceable.

Water

After a good week+ of rain we're looking good for getting Stage II restrictions lifted. The Edwards Aquifer is filling back up at a respectable rate.

This means that fountains get turned back on, and just in time for cooler weather.
You know I'm loving that.

But what's up with this sign at La Cantera?
Doesn't anyone fucking proof-read anymore?

The Correct Amount Of Pee

Compare and contrast from this post in August.
I take full credit for getting this fixed.

As your intrepid shitcan advert watchdog, it falls on my shoulders to make sure that offensive typos don't ruin your pissing experience.

Thank me with beers so we can keep this project going...

Extra Pee

Typos are one thing, but for ad copy with a major gaffe to make it to print and then get used is not acceptable.


It's just a coincidence that two photos in a row include urinals.
I'm not some creepy guy with a camera hanging around the men's rooms all over town.
Both of these were in bars across the street from each other (another coincidence--like gold, comedy is where you find it) on Broadway.
Last week's was taken after closing, while today's was caught before they opened.

Will It Work?

Free brush pickup is next week in my neighborhood.

Hooray Beer!

Not much you can add to that message.

The lights actually ran a clock-wise chase pattern around the sign, but the long exposure necessary rendered a full-on effect which probably works better anyway.
I offered to take it home and replace the 4 dead LEDs, but for some reason they weren't interested.

Some people aren't as dumb as they look...


Zzakk's Garage Hits 15,000

And I was lucky enough to catch the moment!

I keep screenshots of all the major milestones on my main blogs, but usually miss them by several digits.

How Does This Happen?

I stopped in a WalMart parking lot, backed up and then sat there, and didn't get cursed or shot.


And who flips a sign over but doesn't notice?

Photo by SylCan2