Gear Lust... *drool...*

Awesome! Our tax refunds were accepted and we didn't owe anything! In fact, I'm going to buy a guitar amp now! Hahaha! Lately, I've been wanting to play my guitar more, and Pajjar’s also been totally supporting me in this endeavor, thanks hun! I’m going to go talk to some churches, worship leaders, and other guitarist in the area to see if they need another electric guitar player. I love playing Magic but if I had a choice of playing Magic or the guitar, I would choose the guitar. (That's right Pajjar, I would rather play the guitar over Magic!)

I'm hoping to get me one of these. A Vox AC30 CCH Custom Classic head! Why this amp?

- This amp isn’t the cleanest sounding amp out there, for that you’ll probably want a Fender, nor is it the dirtiest sounding amp out there, for that you’ll probably want a Marshall. This amp falls right in the middle. It cleans up well and can give you a nice crunch.

- This amp also, IMHO (in my honest opinion), doesn’t color your sound as much as other amps. When you plug your guitar into a Marshall, it’ll sound more Marshall’ish than it’ll sounds like your guitar. If you plug your guitar into a Fender, you’ll sound more Fender’ish than your guitar. This isn’t necessarily a problem if you want a Fender or Marshall sound, but for me that’s not what I want. I want an amp that keeps the characteristics of my guitar (a G&L ASAT Special) and the unique sound that comes from my technical skills (how I finger my chords, vibrato notes, strum or pick). I feel like the Vox AC30 does this better than any other amp in my price range.

- I play with a lot of effects as well and because the Vox AC30 does such a great job of keeping the original sound of my guitar and technical skills, this amp will also be great for all of my effects. This amp begs for pedals to be put in front of it. That’s why the Edge continues to use AC30s and that’s why Brian May (the guitarist for Queen) loves putting a Treble Booster pedal in front of it.

- There are a lot of other amps that sound like the AC30 like amps by Matchless, Dr. Z, and other boutique amps, but they are also a little different sounding and react a little differently from the Vox. The Matchless, IMHO, doesn’t have as many overtones. It’s a great sounding amp and great for strumming but when it comes to effect heavy sounds, the Matchless sounds just a little more dull. The Dr. Z amp, IMHO, sounds great but is so expensive! It’s almost 1.5 more times expensive than the AC30. Plus, IMHO, it doesn’t handle a lot of effects as well either.

- Why a head and not the combo? Because I already have a cabinet and plan on getting another cabinet. This allows me to keep one cab at home and another at church, which means I just have to tote my head around. Plus the head doesn’t weigh as much as the combo. Have you ever tried to pick up a Vox AC30 212 combo? It’s not easy, nor is it fun! But it’s nothing compared to an old silver face Fender Twin 212 combo! Josh used to have one and it was the heaviest amp in the world! One time, we made Keng move it and one of the wheels on the bottom was broken, it was pretty funny. We love you Keng!

Here’s some other gear that I’ve been looking at:

PRS Starla: I’ve never desired a PRS before but after playing a Starla yesterday I’m a changed man.

The Starla might be my next electric, sorry Gibson Explorer… you'll have to wait...

The PRS Starla doesn’t look that great at first but keep looking at it… it’ll grow on you, especially that Bigsby vibrato bridge. It’s made of solid Mohagany and sounds great! I’ve been looking for a guitar with humbuckers in it and this might be it. You can also pull the volume knob up which splits the humbuckers into single coil pickups, which gives you even more versatility.

You know, the more I look at it the more it looks like an SG to me. It’s made of solid Mohagany, it’s thin, has two humbuckers, which you can coil-tap, and it sounds great! I'm not too sure what color I want yet though...

G&L ASAT Z-3: Ever since I got my G&L ASAT Special, I’ve wanted a Z-3. These guitars sound amazing! They sound like strats but hotter, fatter, and a little brighter!

The only G&L retailer that I know of is about 45 minutes away. Every time I’m near that store, I always try to stop by to play a Z-3. Maybe after next year’s tax return I’ll get another guitar, kekeke!

I also want to start building guitar pedals as well. They're pretty easy to build, they're just like Legos or IKEA furniture, you just need the right tools and to do the following:

Read the directions and measure twice, then cut and solder once.

Double check your previous step, proceed to the next step.

And you're done!

A Simple Tax Tip: If you’re still new to the working world and don’t want to owe back taxes, then set your I-9 to single/married with 1 exemption/dependant. When you work through the I-9 form it’ll sometimes say that you can put at least 2 exemptions/dependants but don’t, just put 1 even if the math on the I-9 doesn’t allow you to. The I-9 is simply a tool for you to tell how much you want the government to take out of your paychecks. They may take a lot out of your paychecks but that’s okay, it’s better than owning money after you spend 3+ hours doing your tax return. Plus, if the government does take a lot out of your paycheck, it’s okay! You'll get it back! Just learn to live with it! You’ll be fine, trust me. In fact, you should jump your 401K up to 10% even if your company only matches 3% AND you should also direct deposit 10% into your saving account! All you have to do is learn to live with it! Trust me, you’ll be fine! You just have to learn how to live with it!