Checking in for the first time in a long time

[Eric***]

Hello everyone-

It's been a while since I have been said anything around here, but I thought I would drop in to say hi. I am now living in Cleveland and my wife and I are really liking the shift in lifestyle; it's a pretty cool city.

I have been on a gear purge since about September and have sold off all but one of each major type of instrument (still have 1 acoustic, 1 electric, 1 bass). Surprisingly, it feels really good to have less overhead, but I'm a little weird that way. It was a long process to figure out what to keep. I recently assembled a nice bass rig with NWBasser's help, and my current 'official' musical pursuits (i.e. anything outside of guitar futzing at home) are now on bass, but that's more a product of need than anything else.

Otherwise, things are largely the same. I'm trying my hand at learning beer brewing and am figuring out my new job, and am just taking some time to enjoy a fun time in life. I've missed you guys, but it has been good for me to get away from the forums and re-center a bit.

So...all of that is to say "Hi." What did I miss??

[guitarhack]

Good to hear from you, Eric, and glad to know that all the changes for you have been positive. I'm ready to do a gear purge myself. Merry Christmas!

[kidsmoke*]

DUDE, great to hear from you. You've been noticeably absent. Glad to hear things are well. Interesting, I have family in Cleveland, 2 Aunts in Euclid Heights, cousin in Solon, his big brother is in Brooklyn, brews beer and is named Eric. Whodathunk. You're not working for a utility are you?

Noting the edited signature. Amphs have remained!

[Retro Hound]

Wondered where you'd gone. From seeing your name in practically every post to not seeing it at all you were missed.

What's happened since you were gone? Well, some people got some new stuff, some got rid of some stuff, some questions were asked and brilliant answers were given.

[Robert****]

Welcome back!

You probably didn't miss any major, groundbreaking events, but as RH says, brilliant answers have been given.

[Eric***]

DUDE, great to hear from you. You've been noticeably absent. Glad to hear things are well. Interesting, I have family in Cleveland, 2 Aunts in Euclid Heights, cousin in Solon, his big brother is in Brooklyn, brews beer and is named Eric. Whodathunk. You're not working for a utility are you?

Not to the best of my knowledge, but I'm fairly unaware most of the time; maybe that's me when I'm not paying attention.

Noting the edited signature. Amphs have remained!

Yeah, most of the attrition has been guitars (sold 4) and pedals (sold 12ish), but I only had 3 amps, so I guess there wasn't that much to sell. It was a big day for me when I realized that I don't have the patience to use many/any effects on a regular basis. Surprisingly, volume and tone knobs can be adjusted; why nobody told me that before, I don't know.

[Tig***]

Howdy, stranger! You certainly have been missed here in our virtual hangout. I suspected the move and job change plus all the associated fun put plenty on your plate. Those major stressors would have put me in a "keep everything simple" direction as well. The act of balancing time and energy can't be ignored for long.

It sounds like you are in a good place in life, which is fantastic news.

[marnold***]

Hey! It's what's-his-name! I too took a set away for a while. Good to see you.

[Eric***]

Hey! It's what's-his-name! I too took a set away for a while. Good to see you.

My recent gear changes had me thinking about you, what with the economy of guitars and acquisition of bass-cessories. The fact that the Jet City won out as my only 'real' (i.e. can be played with a drummer) amp probably added to that as well.

[marnold***]

My recent gear changes had me thinking about you, what with the economy of guitars and acquisition of bass-cessories. The fact that the Jet City won out as my only 'real' (i.e. can be played with a drummer) amp probably added to that as well.

Yeah. It's rather nice, actually, to have gear I like and not really want anything else. The only thing I've thought of is having some kind of hard tail guitar, but that's a minor deal. I still toy with getting a reverb pedal every so often, but I haven't done anything with that.

Part of my disappearance had to do with the fact that my Jet City was out of commission for a long time. Even when I got it back, I found myself playing more bass than guitar.

[Duffy]

It's good to see you back and happy with your move. Good luck with your continuing pursuits. I'd have a hard time giving up my Agiles too.

[progrmr]

I too have family Cleveland (Parma specifically) - glad things are working out for you there!

[piebaldpython***]

Glad to hear that things are going well for you, Eric......you left Philly at the right time as the IGGLES have been stinking up the joint this season.

[R_of_G]

Good to see you Eric. Glad to hear the move is working out well for you. Your absence around here is definitely noticeable. Best wishes to you and your wife for the holidays.

[Brian Krashpad]

E! Glad the move and job sitch worked! Welcome back. I've been pretty scarce the last few months myself.

Had a bunch of partners retire or quit, so we're moving out of our offices and divvying up the business. Fortunately rather than just having to hang up a shingle I contacted one of our best clients who offered to hire me years ago, and will be going to work directly for him, essentially doing the same lawyering thing I've always done.

He's downstate so I'll "telecommute" from home. First new job in 29 years! Starts in January.

[sunvalleylaw]

Hey Eric! Good to see you! I bet it is kinda nice to strip it down to essentials and get to know your instruments really well. Welcome back!

[oldguy]

Welcome back!

[NWBasser]

Hey Eric, nice to see you here.

What Eric didn't say is that I abducted him, brought him back to the PacNW, and brainwashed him into becoming a bass player.

The brainwashing took awhile, but I'm quite happy with the results.

Mwah ha ha!





Beware, Robert's next.....

[Eric***]

Hey Eric, nice to see you here.

What Eric didn't say is that I abducted him, brought him back to the PacNW, and brainwashed him into becoming a bass player.

The brainwashing took awhile, but I'm quite happy with the results.

Mwah ha ha!

You know, there's more truth to that than you might think. Obviously not literally, but I do quite like playing bass. I'm officially off the pick when playing bass, which was a big step for me. I'm not so good that I can play interesting parts and still do my job as a bassist (i.e. find a pocket and keep the band together), but I'm getting there. I still find the guitar to be a little bit more fun, but the bass fits my personality pretty well. It's a strange journey. One really good thing is that freaking nobody plays the bass, so it's incredibly easy to find people to play with.