Road to "Freaking Awesome"

I just picked up a new DVD from Metal Method called Sweep Pick Mechanics. I've always been interested in sweep picking but didn't know the ins-and-outs. At the end of introductory video, Dan Mumm (the author), says somewhat jokingly that if you consistently practice, in a year you'll be "freaking awesome." I don't know if anyone would ever call me that in regard to anything, much less sweep picking. So I decided I'd take him up on it. I'm going to resurrect my blog here to track my progress, including posting clips. Use the label "R2FA" (see the title of this post for an explanation) to follow along.

Here's the intro video I mentioned:

Intellitxt Blocking

I've been trying to go without Adblock Plus since I got my new box. Flash can't eat up all my CPU cycles anymore and I want to try to support the sites I like. The only ads that drive me nuts are the Intellitxt links. Usually they cause popups that link to Bing but other companies use them as well. It makes text harder to read and heaven help you if you accidentally mouseover one of the stupid things. So I reenabled Adblock, but instead of using a filter subscription, I just added a filter that says:

http://*.intellitxt.com*

Problem solved.

Compiling Mediatomb

I've been using Mediatomb to stream pictures and MP3s from my computer to my PS3. I had some issues getting it to detect Slackware64 13.0's sqlite3 installation. MySQL worked, but seemed like overkill. With a little help from my friends at LinuxQuestions I was able to get it to work. Turns out I had to do this when issuing ./configure before compiling:

LDFLAGS="-ldl" ./configure --with-js-libs=/usr/lib64/seamonkey --with-js-h=/usr/include/seamonkey/js

After that, it all worked great. I just had to change the one line in my config.xml (which is clearly pointed out in the comments for the file itself) for use with my PS3. Done!

digiKam . . . Much Easier Now

Well, I've already found one benefit to installing Slackware 13.0. It's much easier to install digiKam. Now all of the prerequisites are a part of Slack13, so I just have to download the digiKam source and follow the directions.

Adventures in 64-Bit Slackware

I bought myself a new i5-750-based box and am installing Slackware64 13.0 on it. All told everything is going reasonably smoothly. I upgraded to KDE 4.3.1 (using these packages) because of some problems that I've heard with the default 4.2.4. That would have been easy except that I tried to install 4.3.2, not realizing he had made those packages to work with Slackware -current. No wonder it didn't work to well.

All told I'm very happy thus far. The only issue I had is with my onboard LAN. Slackware was setting that up before my wireless card. So I disabled the onboard and we're all good. My only complaint is that my network isn't working so hot so I'm finding easier to transfer files from my old computer via my USB pen drive and sneakernet. Oh well.

80s Metal Settings on my AD30VT

I added an Eminence Ragin Cajun speaker to my Vox Valvetronix AD30VT because I wasn't happy with the stock speaker at anything other than low bedroom volumes. The RC made the clean amp models sound nothing short of glorious. The high-gain models are a different story. The RC has so much extra low end that the amp almost sounds like it's got a blanket on it. I've been trying to get a decent 80s metal tone out of it but with only limited success. In the past day or two I may have hit on a solution.

I use the UK70s (aka Marshall Plexi) model with the gain, treble, and master volume dimed, the volume and mids at noon, and the bass all the way off. I also add a bit of delay. I can only imagine that it would sound absolutely nasty with the stock speaker, but it's great with the RC. For a little more edge or as a solo boost, I add the overdrive channel on my Thesis 96 overdrive. I've got the tone and level at noon and the gain all the way off. The switches are set for normal TS-808 mode (silicon diode clipping with mid-range hump). It adds a nice bit of snarl and some helpful compression. The Thesis 96 has so much more output and is so much brighter than a stock TS-808 that those settings brighten and punch things up quite a bit.

I hope these settings keep me happy for a while because quite frankly I was getting sick of searching. I was thisclose to getting a metal pedal.

New Gear (Since I Last Posted)

I know it's been a long time since I last posted. This summer I made some gear acquisitions, one of which will seem very strange given the previous post. I sold that Floyd Rose DST-3 and my Fender Showmaster Celtic H in order to get a Jackson DK2M in Inferno Red. Here's a pic:



I added a set of Schaller strap-locks, a fourth spring, a Floyd Rose trem stop, and a Ping-made arm. I've had this now since the middle of June. Let me tell you, I love it dearly. It's like I've finally found my match. I thought for sure I'd miss my old guitars, especially after investing so much time in the Floyd, but I really don't.

I also got a new overdrive/boost pedal, custom made for me by my friend, Duh Voodoo Man. It's a modified version of the BYOC Overdrive 2 with original artwork. Here's a pic:



The Overdrive 2 is a TS-808 circuit at its heart with all the popular mods. Mine has the ability to switch between three different tone settings and three clipping modes (TS-standard silicon, MOSFET, or no clipping diodes) and a Burr Brown OPA2134 op-amp. There's also a classic JRC4558D op-amp that I could swap in if I wanted. The op-amp is socketed for just such an occasion. Inwardly there are trim pots for maximum and minimum gain. Mine is set to have roughly double the gain of the stock TS-808.

So for much less than the price of a TS-808 reissue, I got an overdrive that has all the classic features plus a ton that the original doesn't have. And it's got a clean boost on top of it. It's a seriously cool pedal.