Back again... Dean version 2.0?

[dean712]

I feel a bit like a ghost from the past... it has been too long since I posted here, and I am very sorry for that. It is good to see so many friends still active here, and I am looking forward to getting involved again, too. This Forum has been so helpful to me in the past that I even gave it a liner note thank-you on my band's last CD! And I still have a printout of a post Joey Vasco did on intonation that I keep in my jam room and use whenever the truss rods bekon. Not to mention having met Howard in person, attended a Milwaukee Ric Confluence, etc.

I will try to be brief, but it has been soooooo long since I posted, I thought I should start with an update. I am actually just getting back into playing after taking an entire year off. And... I intend to switch instruments (hence the version 2.0 in the title).

My band, Inspected By 12, ended our 10+ year run and disbanded in 2011. We split due to an external event. I had the great fortune to play bass on hundreds of club gigs and make two CD's of original music with those guys, and from the beginning to the end, we never fought once, which made it pretty ideal. We shared workload, load outs, pay, responsibilities, and songwriting credits very evenly, which worked very well with our chemistry. At the end, we were turning down gigs left and right, which is a nice place to be in when you started with next to zero club connections and built your way up. Our last show was for about 1,000 people at the Illinois State Fair Budweiser Tent, and it was our best - warm summer night, cold beer, dancing fairgoers, band hitting on all cylinders. It was a perfect night. We split a week later, which sucked, but I really felt like we did it all, no regrets. Much of that time I used either my '94 jetglo 4003, or my '00 mapleglo 4003. I also used MusicMan Sting Rays and Sterlings. I will have to see if I can figure out how to post a pic or two later.

Anyways, when it was over, I knew it would be impossible to find something that great again, but I kept jamming the bass at home to keep my chops and calluses up. That wasn't fun by itself at that point. A good friend, a drummer of all people, gave some good advice that I took... to take a year off. So I did. Didn't touch a musical instrument for over a year. I took up bicycling and lost 60 pounds. Which reminds me, I need some updated photos now that I look much different. During that time, I found a lot of good new music.

I think I'm recharged now, and I want to get back to music. To songwriting. I think I want to try a focus on 12-string guitar for a while. I bought a '04 Turquoise 660/12 with gig money that I really haven't ever fully explored. I wrote a guitar line with it and used it to record on the last CD. Other than that, it has sat in the case. It is a little intimidating picking up such a nice guitar, but it is inspiring too. So I will give it a go, with fresh mind and much to learn. I will go back to bass at some point, but want to try this and see if I have anything to offer.

Any advice on the 12er? Good discussion areas (RRF Guitars, I'm guessing)?

Sorry for the long post. I'll post photos too.

[dean712]

At Marley's Pub, 2010

Photo playing the '94 4003.

[dean712]

Turquoise?

Here is a photo of my 660/12. I need to get better photos of it. What a nice guitar - I need to learn and use it more to do justice to such a beauty.

[weemac]

Welcome back!
Music like the rest of life takes it's swings and roundabouts and has it's fair share of flat tyres.. A year off was probably a good move. You are back and ready to roll!

Eden.

[kiramdear]

Welcome back, Dean!

My advice? Rick 12 strings are like nothing else and take some getting used to for many. The important thing is to play it lots until it becomes second nature, an extension of your fingers. Get very comfortable with it.

[jdogric12]

That's a great guitar to "learn" on! I had a TUR 660/12 myself. Does the wood grain on yours show through the finish? It did on mine. Part of me loved that and part of me hated that. I sold it, so I guess we know which part won!

[dean712]

That's a great guitar to "learn" on! I had a TUR 660/12 myself. Does the wood grain on yours show through the finish? It did on mine. Part of me loved that and part of me hated that. I sold it, so I guess we know which part won!

No, the wood grain doesn't show through on mine. It is a solid, smooth, metal-flake (very small flake) forest-green finish. The only other Turquoise Ric I've seen in person was Lindsay Hahn's 4003 bass, and his was the same finish. I really like the color. I'm not sure what my favorite Ric color is... I like Jetglo, Midnight Blue, and Mapleglo too, (I have all three in 4003 basses). And yes, the 660/12 is a helluva model to "learn" on. My rationale when I bought it years ago was that (a) I was only going to ever need one 12-string, so why not buy the best one possible since I had gig money to spend, (b) I wanted the slightly wider neck, and (c) I love, love, love the checkered binding. I promise I will get some better photos taken once I bring my camera home from work, and post them up, probably over on the Guitars section somewhere.

[dean712]

Welcome back, Dean!

My advice? Rick 12 strings are like nothing else and take some getting used to for many. The important thing is to play it lots until it becomes second nature, an extension of your fingers. Get very comfortable with it.

That is good advice, and similar to what I have been thinking. I have the time to focus on the 12-string solely now, and my muscle memory from bass and 6-string has faded some. I will give this a good go....

[dean712]

Welcome back!
Music like the rest of life takes it's swings and roundabouts and has it's fair share of flat tyres.. A year off was probably a good move. You are back and ready to roll!

Eden.

Thanks Eden, and others, for the welcome back. You are right about life's swings, but I am in a good space now.