The Merry Month of May Brings a New Axe and Event 8

Wow - it's been about 3 weeks since I've done anything on this blog. The main reason is that our IT department recently made some changes to the network and I'm not unable to load this blog on my computer at the office. Frankly, by the time I get home from the office, I don't feel much like getting back on a computer.

New PRS Tremonti SE
The most exciting guitar-related news is my new PRS Tremonti SE. It's a nice maroon color with the bird inlays on the fret board. A got it new at a discount due to some shipping damage around the volume/tone knobs. Still not sure I'm going to keep it, but I do really like it. I consider it my first REAL electric guitar. It's certainly my most expensive so far. My others are an Epi LP Spl II, Epi LP Jr., and the Frankenstein Yamaha EG112 with mystery neck. None of which cost me over $150. The PRS set me back twice that amount and some change. But, it's got a very nice tone, quiet pick-ups (i.e. no static or hum), and feels good in the hands. Well, all except the neck finish. It's got a glossy neck which I don't like. I really prefer the natural finish on my EG112's no-name neck. Anyway, here it is:

PRS Tremonti SE - See Below for Better Shot of True Color

A Much Better Photo of the True Color - But Also Showing
the Battle Damage that Got Me a Decent Mark-Down. Maybe.

 Apparently it got dropped during shipping and landed on the knobs. The finish is cracked and the top is cracked. I looked in the pot cavity and could see where the wood was actually cracked. But, it's not in a place where the sound is affected. The knob also shows a little damage to the inside but it's not loose on the pot or anything. Could make for a good story - something about how I was playing this gig this one night and somebody jumped up on stage and tried to attack the bass player and I whacked the bastard in the side of the head with my PRS. . .

Not Keen on the Non-Adjustable Bridge

 

 I was a little surprised to see that PRS puts a non-adjustable bridge on this guitar. Well, it's not truly NON-adjustable, but there are no individual saddles. You have to adjust all strings at the same time - or none at all. If I keep this guitar, I'll probably replace this bridge. Although, as far as I can tell, the intonation is perfect as is. So, I won't be spending money on a new bridge any time soon.






Angela - 100% Accuracy Run
I haven't been setting the world on fire with scores. I had a competitive run on I Want Some More a few weeks back when that was the Ubi Forum weekly challenge song. But, one night I was playing multi-player with my kids and I scored a 100% accuracy on Angela! That's my second 100% run. Funnily enough, my 100% (403 notes played in a row) score was not my highest. Seems like it would be. . .

Events 8 and 9
I played Event 8 finally and started working on my Event 9 set list.

Event 8 was pretty good until the Encore. I ended up with 499,948 RSP for the event!
Burnished: 72253
Gobbledigook: 83240
More than a Feeling: 69991
Islands: 83143
Icky Thump: 95896
Smoke on the Water: 82411

Pretty good, I'd say. But, then I get Space Ostrich as my encore. I'd never played it before - typical for encores - and it showed. I mean , it was horrible. 13014. So, no double encore on this one even though I was only 9 points from having 6 songs above 70k on an event.

Event 9 is a 7-song set including Slither, We Share the Same Skies, Chimney, House of the Rising Sun, Panic Switch, Step Out of the Car,and Between the Lines. Half of the songs are still below 40k, but I got 50k on Between the Lines and 64k on Panic Switch on my very first play. Slither started off slowly for me, but after several plays I've gotten that one up to 82k. Still planning to not play the event until everything is above 70k.