As I mentioned in my last post, I have bought an 8-string guitar. It arrived awhile back, but I had to get it replaced, the replacement arrived on Tuesday, and naturally on Thursday (after the back of the guitar had been covered in belt scratches) the bridge pick-up slipped and is now very out of place. On the upside, I reckon I can give it a decent temporary fix.
This 8-string guitar actually turned out to be a better idea than I had originally hoped. My initial plans were to use it in Open F and play some nice instrumental music on it. Instead I took it down to Nathan's to show it off on the day he decides to start drumming.We jammed for a good ninety minutes, and during that time we had answered all our problems.
Our band had been struggling ever since our drummer decided to quit, and on Wednesday during mine and Nathan's jam session, I realised that we could work as a two-piece band because I could play both the bass and the lead parts on my 8-string guitar. This works out at a few more financial difficulties, since we were better prepared for our original idea, but overall it'll all work out cheaper for us, if we do it properly.
During our jam session we were also able to write a song, which was great since we'd have to start again with the song writing. Thankfully I was able to salvage and rework three of our other songs so we could still do them, they may sound different, but they still sound good. This knocks our current song count up to four, if I can get another six original songs I could happily start gigging, I don't mind doing the odd cover song (I have two in mind), but I'd much rather be doing our own material.
I also know that I need quite a bit more than just a few more songs before I can start gigging. The main thing being a decent place to rehearse. We unfortunately can't practice in Nathan's garage, his neighbours keep complaining, thankfully his dad plans on sorting out the back part of the garage (where we rehearse), which will hopefully involve some sound proofing.
Other things we need, amps, mics, and a few helping hands. Things I need: to sort out my guitar, another 8-string as back-up and/or different tunings and an amp that is NOT likely to explode on stage. Unfortunately for me, my brother has done a lot to my amp, and it apparently has a tendency to blow up if pushed above bedroom volumes. I'm not the only one who needs to invest money though, Nathan has a drumkit that needs quite a lot of maintenance, I'm also hoping he'll help investing in the mics and some amps for them.
In order for this project to work I need to start prioritising my expenditure. The first step will be to sort out this guitar as best as I can. The pick-up needs leveling, the strings want changing, and I'm putting some Schaller Strap Locks on for added security when playing. The pick-up leveling will be the hardest task since the screw is currently useless, my dad has an idea, and I have a backup idea, one of those ideas will definitely work. All the other adjustments on that guitar can wait, and so after that, I'll see about getting a decent guitar amp head, and then I don't have any clue what comes next.
I am quite excited about what I can do in this band, but I realise I've made plans like this before and something has decided to thwart them. I can only hope that that doesn't happen this time around, but I am already facing adversary. I hope this works out, but only time will tell, either way, I don't plan on giving up.
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