Last week I was feeling super fucking maxed out. Work has been tiring on a number of fronts. Then working on the house in the evenings compounded it.
So I logged out for lunch, put my phone on silent, and made some music.
This was recorded over a single take in 30ish minutes. I recorded some mini synth sounds onto a tape loop, then my guitar onto another tape loop, then fed those each into a channel on my mixer. Then guitar through some pedals and into another channel. Then some random creek sounds from the BBC sound archive.
I bought an Epiphone LP Jr. earlier this year from my favorite guitar shop. It needed a little work so I got a great deal on it. I removed everything, started to strip the nitro, but parked it to work on my Fender Strat build. I started working on it again this weekend and I’m stupid excited about it.
There wasn’t a lot asthetically I wanted to change with the Fender, but this guitar was different. I didn’t want an all black guitar and didn’t want a relic’d black guitar either.
After putting down the shielding the next step was routing the grounding wires. I installed the wiring, soldered the ground to the tremelo and jack pin. Everything tested correctly with the multimeter.
Next the pickups. I went with a set of hand wound, aged, Alnico 5/2, with flat poles. According to the description, the combination of Alnico 5 rods for the low strings, and Alnico 2 rods for the high strings, “creates a smooth, well balanced output… punchy attack with well defined bass response on the lower register and warm swelling vintage tones on the upper register.”
This part of the project was a lot of fun. I spent a fair amount of time researching materials and proper shielding techniques. There are many differing opinions about the effectiveness of shielding and when it actually matters. In the end, the copper tape was cheap, and it was fun applying it.
I covered each cavity with the copper tape then ran a small copper wire between the jack cavity and the main body. Using the multimeter, each cavity and wall tests conductive to every other cavity and wall.
The other day my friend Clay from Franklin Music messaged me asking if I wanted to take on a new project guitar. I’ve jokingly become his salvage guy. Clay had purchased the guitar just for the pickups (and apparently the tuning machines) but didn’t want to invest the time or money to build it back up. Perhaps it was too beat up for the average customer at his shop, or perhaps he wouldn’t get out of it what he would have to put into it. Lucky for him that’s what I like, that’s what I like.
The recording is very tinny and in several places almost difficult to listen to at normal volumes. The songs lack dynamic range, but I don’t think it’s from the tape itself. This specific model and manufacturing year of Maxell is highly regarded by modern tape scholars (tapeheads, as they cleverly call themselves). Since the sound is fairly consistently thin for each of the songs, I imagine Scott recorded this tape using a handheld recorder in front of his stereo speakers.
A couple weeks ago my wife and I were driving to an errand and noticed several signs advertising an estate sale. Without much thought we looked at each other and both said, why not? I’d never been to one and didn’t know what to expect.
As we walked through each room in the house it was clear a couple had lived there. There was an antique doll collection, men’s and women’s coats, shoes, and boots. In the basement there were several old tools, typewriters, and several parts for small electronics repair. There were some really neat antiques like an old wash basin and washing vanity. A red “world’s best grandpa” hat hung on the wall. These people were loved.
January 18, 2026
