Rocksmith - XBox Live Issue Resolved. I'm connected again. Plus, new axe.

First things first - after a few weeks of not being able to stay connected to XBox Live via my wireless router, I finally just ran a Cat6 cable from upstairs, down the staircase (beware of safety!), and across the end of the living room to the XBox. Problem solved. Of course, I still don't know exactly what the problem was, but clearly it has something to do with my wireless router - not XBox Live or Rocksmith (or Netflix). And, anyway, it's solved so I sort of don't really care what the specific problem was. Strangely enough, similar issues are described in threads all over the 'net, but nobody seems to know what causes the spontaneous disconnect from XBL. All I know is that it's apparently been going on for years. You'd think someone would have put a finger on it by now.

Of course, it's too late to get credit for the 210k+ score I got playing Smooth on Score Attack a few weeks ago. I should be about #3 on the leader board for that song, but if you aren't connected to XBL when you play the song the score doesn't post to the leader board. Ever. The console (or cloud - if you store everything there) will save your high score on Score Attack, but if you aren't connected to XBL when you get the score it's lost forever. Or at least until you can achieve that score again (while connected to XBL. . . ). So far, I'm still way off my high score performance on this song.

On to happier news: Last night I paid off my little Crate Vintage 16 tube amp at the local GC. $199. It's a nice enough little amp, I guess. Looks good,  and puts out plenty of sound for plucking away in the house. The spring reverb works great. I messed around on this amp with my Tele last night for a while .Sounded perfect together. But, I honestly don't know if I'll keep it. I certainly don't need another amp when I've got the Vox AC15. This little Carvin really doesn't hold a candle to the Vox, but maybe I'll use it with my acoustic and a pick-up.

Carvin Vintage 16 with "Simulated" (i.e. fake) Tooled Leather

When I put the Carvin amp on lay-away a week or two ago, I also put a pretty slick Ibanez electric on hold. Used, of course. Nothing to get excited about - until I noticed that the jack is built into the FRONT of the guitar body. I love that. No worrying when I set down my guitar that I'm going to break my cord off. Also, this Ibanez had a nice look to it, but I had forgotten what it actually looked like by the time I went back to the store to get my amp. While I was at the store I had one of the guys go pull the guitar out of the back so I could see it.

While I was waiting for my amp and guitar to be brought out from the back of the store, naturally I wandered back to the used guitar wall. Let me tell you - stock of used gear is WAY down at my local store right now. But, there were maybe a dozen guitars to look at. And, naturally, one of them caught my eye. A Schecter SG-looking double-cutaway, string-through-body in a a dark transparent cherry finish. I believe the model is called a "Vengeance," but mine may be a variant. Mine doesn't have the "horny" looking headstock or tailpiece, but it does have the "Schecter-y" looking fret inlays (the really cool ones that look like fancy crosses). Seymour-Duncan humbuckers, which may or may not be standard. And, it's already fitted with Dunlop strap-loc buttons which is handy since that's the type of strap locks I use. Can't wait to get it out of "hock."

The Newest Axe

This (above) is pretty much what it looks like, except that mine has cooler fret inlays. Like the ones on this Schecter (below):

Love These Fret Inlays!

Mine also has some flashy edge dressing - sort of a prism material. (Anybody else remember prism tape? I pin-striped my BMX bike with that stuff. Haven't seen it in years and years.)

My son, meanwhile, spotted a very nice Peavey neck-through bass which sounded really good and looks awesome. He liked the way it played but didn't want to pay for it himself (even though he's probably got more money in the bank from cutting grass than I have from my job). I couldn't just let it get away, so I had the bass put on lay-away with my Schecter. Might be another couple of paychecks before I pick it up, but it'll be there. It looks a lot like this:

New Bass

 I think ours has the 2 little pickups plus one wide pickup. Other than that, it looks a lot like this one.

So, more toys that I don't need, don't deserve, and can't really justify. BUT, I found out that there's a swap meet every month not far from where I live so I'll be able to sell off a few guitars (plus an effect board and a pile of drum stuff) without dealing with a bunch of Craigslist whackos or giving the stuff away at GC. (Much as I like shopping there, even the guys who work there will tell you that you can get more for your gear by selling it yourself.) It's definitely time to sell some stuff! To include a 1997 Chevy Diesel Box Van - perfect for an up and coming touring band! $3000 and it's yours!

Can't seem to access my blog at work now for some reason (weird error comes up - something about a time code not matching or something. . . ), so it looks like I'll be posting from home in the evenings for a while. That's what I"m doing now - but enough. Time to go play!