The Mandelbear's Musings

I slept very well the first night back from ConChord -- my own bed? good pillows? total exhaustion? the glass of gin? Who knows? I'll take it.

I bought a nice, handmade 10" djembe at Guitar Showcase's consignment shop after my therapy appointment. Heavier than the dumbek, but sounds better. Only $75.

I was moderately productive, although work was more than a little frustrating. Git doesn't do too well in a machine with limited memory, it turns out.

Sent in my membership for OVFF.

I found myself walking rather slowly and awkwardly, almost as if I had back pain. I didn't feel any, but took it easy anyway.

I was having some kind of weird communication problem with the YD; everything I said seemed to upset her, and she flew into a tizzy when I tried, several times, to explain something she'd misunderstood in a recipe. It was confusing -- I'm not surprised she didn't get it; it took me a couple of readings. But why flap her arms and yell? She said "you wouldn't understand" when I asked her to explain. Teenager?

It took me a long time to fall asleep, as usual.

Gibson's Powertune system has been in the works for quite awhile, and although there are other axes out there that claim to tune themselves, only a Gibson will do for some. Reportedly, the firm is readying a "new line of instruments" that are equipped with the system, which includes "an additional set of pickups mounted underneath the strings that are used specifically for the tuning process." By using all sorts of digital electronics and fancy algorithms, the equipment is able to automatically tune the strings, but it only activates when users pull out the Master Control Knob. Purportedly, the system can have have all six strings back in tune "within a few seconds," and you can even utilize a number of pre-programmed alternate tunings if that's your bag. 'Course, it's certainly debatable whether the hands-off approach to tuning is worth the extra $899 or so, but it's sure sweet to have the opion. Click on for more pictures.

The HD.6X-Pro features a hand-oiled mahogany neck, smooth frets and a comfortable profile for effortless playability, and classic Gibson humbuckers for incredible, traditional tone. Media-accelerated Global Information Carrier (MaGIC), an Ethernet with patented Gibson technology, carries bi-directional signals with low latency and no signal degradation over miles of cable. The HD.6X-Pro’s Hex pickup is composed of six small, patent-pending humbuckers positioned under each string at the bridge. The high-technology pickups send six individual signals to studio grade preamps, allowing the six signals to be immediately digitized. The incredible sensitivity of the Hex pickup and the high-definition signal stream offers dynamic range and sonic possibilities never before imagined. The Breakout Box, known as “BoB,” routes any combination of the six Hex signals to any assigned destination automatically detecting outputs and designations for ease of use and playability.