tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184747912010-02-02T13:33:57.328-05:00The more the words, the less the meaning, and how does this profit anyone?M. Weedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10102212085362717376noreply@blogger.comBlogger169125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474791.post-462957669987836432010-01-03T23:12:00.003-05:002010-01-03T23:38:31.785-05:00

WWII gun installations north of San Francisco (having a good time with an old discipline).

M. Weedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10102212085362717376noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474791.post-11210583411751998792010-01-01T00:14:00.003-05:002010-01-01T01:26:44.728-05:00

End of December is the time to breathe a little and be with family. Christmas is with my family, New Year's is with the in-laws. It gets me away from work and from the constant building projects. I have more time to do other things I like, such as taking pictures. I've fallen off on the less mechanical production in the past year.I've gotten into doing "best of" lists at the end of the year,

M. Weedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10102212085362717376noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474791.post-27669583300922549962009-12-20T22:51:00.004-05:002009-12-20T23:07:44.473-05:00

Significant stats on this one:- 22.5 inches- Second biggest Philly snowstorm on record- Biggest December snowstorm on record- Thunder and lightning (!)- Actually happened during the Fall (before the solstice)Who wants 2 inches? That looks pretty and vanishes. It's not fun unless it's apocalyptic! Some of you nordic people will doubtless turn up your noses at this "dinky little storm", but then

M. Weedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10102212085362717376noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474791.post-76009151352556735612009-12-09T10:16:00.003-05:002009-12-09T11:27:40.371-05:00

Many people who read this site originally found it while looking for help with repairing or modifying an amplifier. I get a lot of messages asking for help with people's music electronics projects, which is the reason I created the "Tech" label for posts. On occasion, when someone is local, I will actually look at their gear for them, and maybe fix it.I wanted to offer that service more

M. Weedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10102212085362717376noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474791.post-20153901548805189772009-11-24T20:03:00.019-05:002010-01-12T17:41:30.036-05:00

I've had a broken Sunn Model T reissue head since 2007. I got it from the (then) bass player of Battlefields in Fargo, ND. It has a hole the size of a quarter burnt through the main PCB near where the power transformer primaries are connected. I took it to a shop about a year ago, hoping to have some sort of point-to-point workaround, but the amp has been sitting there for all that time with

M. Weedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10102212085362717376noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474791.post-31250833049812418152009-11-10T23:04:00.006-05:002009-11-12T00:15:29.015-05:00

Last weekend Rosetta started recording for the next full length. In two days we finished all the drum tracks and bass tracks for two songs. This coming weekend is going to be all guitar tracks (bass will resume later). BJ put up a video of some first weekend antics here.It's a really different experience working with an actual producer, instead of just an engineer. I can see a lot of

M. Weedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10102212085362717376noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474791.post-12855760329291218232009-10-18T12:46:00.013-04:002009-10-22T23:34:09.965-04:00

Rosetta is less than a month away from beginning the sessions for our next full length, which is as yet untitled. It may end up staying untitled, along with all the songs. We'll see what happens. Our working titles for the songs are:1. The Hardcore Song (yes, really!)2. Barack Obama: Change We Can Believe In3. Untitled4. Blue Day for Croatoa5. Sexultura6. Crazy Eights (the 8-string song)7. Why

M. Weedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10102212085362717376noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474791.post-31339899711383286562009-08-28T21:30:00.004-04:002009-08-28T21:51:01.633-04:00

Speakers and other modsAlong with amp and instrument mods, I've experimented a lot with different speakers over the years. I had more or less settled on a combo of Celestion V30s with G12T75s, until I recently tried some Eminence Red Coat speakers and was very impressed. I'm now using their Governor model in place of the V30s. V30s are 60W speakers and should have been fine with my amp, but I

M. Weedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10102212085362717376noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474791.post-58720508427641545972009-08-17T14:21:00.006-04:002009-10-18T15:30:38.071-04:00

Someone asked in the pedal post what I have on my other board. This is the setup I keep at home -- all the stuff that doesn't get used for Rosetta (except the Marshall head, which comes and goes because I like to play it every day).The board has a EH LPB2ube, Boss RV-3 Delay/Reverb, MXR GEQ-10, Ernie Ball stereo volume pedal, Boss BF-2 Flanger, and Ibanez WD-7 wah. There are also an Ibanez

M. Weedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10102212085362717376noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474791.post-19324510608543161342009-07-27T15:15:00.007-04:002009-07-27T17:13:38.833-04:00

Our friend Andrew has posted some of his pictures from the European tour. He ended up in the hospital in Belgium with a collapsed lung and it's a relief that he's safe and at home now. I have yet to go through my own pictures from the trip.I continue to reflect on the tour and what it meant, personally and collectively. It's part of a larger nexus of upheavals this summer that have included

M. Weedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10102212085362717376noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474791.post-87566533811569566322009-07-03T08:15:00.010-04:002009-07-05T19:31:48.587-04:00

The Murphy's Law European Tour 2009, 6/15-7/1"A disaster a day keeps the hubris away"Seems like everyone else beat me to pictures and videos. I'll post some of my own pictures later, but for now you can find videos here, here, here, here, and here. Other people's pictures of the shows we're putting in a Myspace album.First, what went wrong:-My amp was overweight for the airline, had to pay $150

M. Weedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10102212085362717376noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474791.post-74063932626518748092009-05-27T22:23:00.007-04:002009-11-16T23:17:35.102-05:00

An update on pedals, since the last time I posted my layout was in December 2006. The Ibanez WD-7 wah pedal from my previous setup is now for sale ($45, contact me if you're interested).Over time this has started to look more and more like a Boss product display. That's mainly because of a subconscious feeling that Boss pedals "sound better" --- which is in fact because they play well together.

M. Weedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10102212085362717376noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474791.post-72950948220133929982009-05-05T12:00:00.018-04:002009-05-05T15:22:23.059-04:00

Metal, as I experience it, seems to contain part silly histrionics and part genuine heroism. The proportion of those parts depends on the context. I'm beginning to frame this experience in terms of gender --- as I've tried to understand why metal as a genre and subculture is so male-dominated, I've concluded that it's not because of a "club" mentality or intentional exclusion of women. (There

M. Weedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10102212085362717376noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474791.post-78702445066652703162009-04-27T09:42:00.004-04:002009-04-27T09:55:49.739-04:00

Linshuang and I are buying this house:I apologize for the "search engine" pictures, but they're all I have right now. We'll most likely be moving in July, after Rosetta gets back from Europe (both of us are going). Now the chaos of inspections, appraisals, mortgage, and settlement begins...This neighborhood (Kingsessing) is a place I keep coming back to. I taught Kindergarten here during my

M. Weedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10102212085362717376noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474791.post-67813292016633748312009-04-05T19:27:00.002-04:002009-04-05T20:07:46.796-04:00

"When Metal Dudes Do Laundry"

M. Weedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10102212085362717376noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474791.post-70400246495079920562009-03-30T12:14:00.012-04:002009-07-27T17:35:21.190-04:00

This has been my main stage instrument since Spring of 2007, and I used it to record all tracks on Wake/Lift except Temet Nosce. It's a 2005 Gibson Les Paul Studio, finished in wine red. It had gold/black hardware when I got it, which I swapped for cream almost immediately. Originally it had EMGs in it --- taken from the destroyed cream Les Paul that I used to record Galilean Satellites ---

M. Weedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10102212085362717376noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474791.post-41291671782571869862009-02-28T00:10:00.002-05:002009-02-28T00:21:26.393-05:00

A couple things:1. This site got a minor face lift, which it really needed. Everyone knows that when it comes to actual content, I hold Web 2.0 standards and legibility in high regard. This site does not qualify, though, since it is devoid of any "real" content and exists to perplex more than to inform. So I will make no effort -- ever -- to make the font bigger, label any of the links, or

M. Weedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10102212085362717376noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474791.post-69155223711527185022009-02-20T19:20:00.007-05:002009-02-20T19:52:36.873-05:00

Generally speaking, I do better with list-making than with actual writing. I would much rather make a list of "top 10 things I would change about myself" or "top five strengths" or "action items" (shoot me, please) than actually write a coherent account or argument to communicate the same information.I'm not sure whether this makes any definitive statement about the nature of my self-reflection,

M. Weedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10102212085362717376noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474791.post-30861699998113563722009-02-10T12:28:00.008-05:002009-07-28T15:40:55.421-04:00

Nobody asks about this guitar because I haven't recorded anything "serious" with it apart from (Temet Nosce). But it's probably my favorite because it's so weird, and it's one of a kind.It started as a standard MIM Fender '72 Telecaster Deluxe reissue, made in 2006. I bought it to replace my '87 Les Paul, which had been destroyed by heat and botched neck repairs. '72 Tele Deluxes are

M. Weedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10102212085362717376noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474791.post-77756165339922563422009-02-04T15:39:00.008-05:002009-04-08T14:24:39.642-04:00

The first fashion article I ever personally related to:With the recent decline in our security, industry and standing, that nostalgia for a prelapsarian America (and the durable domestic goods that defined it) seems to have settled over the stylish set here at home. "Ironically, it's largely because of overseas interest that Americans can now wear real American stuff," says Michael Williams, a

M. Weedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10102212085362717376noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474791.post-23179568653620116882009-01-28T22:25:00.006-05:002009-01-31T19:33:04.789-05:00

The judge concludes:It makes no difference what men think of war, said the judge. War endures. As well ask men what they think of stone. War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner. That is the way it was and will be. That way and not some other way....The judge smiled. Men are born for games. Nothing else. Every child

M. Weedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10102212085362717376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474791.post-76467392108364824012009-01-22T13:28:00.008-05:002009-01-31T19:33:04.790-05:00

A concise statement of the goals of the Enlightenment -- remarkably similar to the attitude of C.S. Lewis's antagonists in That Hideous Strength, and to Lewis's own critique of the Modern scientist-turned-shaman:Whatever exists, [the judge] said. Whatever in creation exists without my knowledge exists without my consent.He looked about at the dark forest in which they were bivouacked. He nodded

M. Weedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10102212085362717376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474791.post-41306029759123632632009-01-21T11:16:00.014-05:002009-07-27T17:37:55.252-04:00

These are the two Valve Junior heads that you hear on Rosetta's track (Temet Nosce). I run them in stereo, each through a 2x12 closed-back cabinet with one Vintage 30 and one G12H30 (made by Avatar, who I highly recommend). On (Temet Nosce), I played my mutant '72 Telecaster through a stereo delay pedal, with each amp/cab set up and mic'ed in a different room. We just panned the tracks left/

M. Weedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10102212085362717376noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474791.post-39144896389976733592009-01-16T09:44:00.004-05:002009-01-16T10:00:55.221-05:00

Looks like I finally got my wish from three years ago.To wit:"Being cynical is FUN, and it gets you p***y, but that’s not the same thing as it being an actionable worldview that makes you smart and helps the world get fixed: Therefore, never get uppity while you wax neo-cynical - fatal error right there!...For those of you who say Obama is just-like-all-the-rest, some kind of shill for corporate

M. Weedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10102212085362717376noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18474791.post-20470657625522521222009-01-07T08:53:00.052-05:002010-01-07T08:53:51.220-05:00

How to make the TSL-100 good at almost everything(but especially sludge/doom)This post is Google bait, so that someone else won't have to do all the searching I did in researching these mods. All of them require some experience soldering components on PCBs. They are presented in the order I did them.Schematics here, with links throughout. Before doing these mods, please be sure you know about

M. Weedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10102212085362717376noreply@blogger.com33