You made me smile, Toby 
. Reminds me of a child at Christmas who finally gets the long-desired R/C car, just to see Santa forgot to add the batteries…
I had my guitar setup yesterday and spent some hours in a bigger guitar shop and tried a tele. Had to think about you and: I can feel your pain! They gave me the sweety, plugged into a Blackstar Tube Amp,… nothing more to add… 
.
Fingers crossed your babies arrive well and in time!
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After all the trials and tribulations the Teles finally arrived today and I was blown away.
A brace of G&L Tribute ASAT Specials. It was the Antique Sunburst that first caught my, which has always been my favourite guitar finish - you can keep your butternut Teles - and then I saw the Leo Fender Locking Bridge, which looks absolutely stunning in the flesh and more eye catching than the normal shiny meccano plate.
When the ASB failed to be delivered to Thomann and I was still resigned to getting on of these, the only other colour I liked was the Irish Ale finish. It looked pretty matt in most ads I’d seen and even in some review videos but I am pleased to say its not only gloss but a near Identical hue to my beloved Cherry LP. Win win all round. With the post Brexit complications of import duties, VAT etc shipping the IR back to Andertons was always going to be complicated and a complete PITA that would have likely set me back around 150 euros, so I decided to keep it and rearrange the stable.
As you can see the rack now takes all the electrics bar one of the bases and the acoustics stack on solo stands, even my ancient Encore.
Don’t worry the thermo on the rad is virtually in the off position.
All neat and tidy and readily to hand, with the Mustang and POD Go under the desk.
Despite all the aggro it was worth the wait. Yet to plug and play as I have had virtually no practice time over the last 2 and half weeks and one of the OM songs is going a bit pear shaped. So with just 3.5 days to show time I am cracking on with that for now, rather than sitting around chasing orders or waiting for deliveries.
Turned out alright in the end. 
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Hi Toby,
Happy NG`sD 
Greetings
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Great collection, Toby 
. Have you ever thought of opening a guitars museum 
.
Happy NGD by the way . I’m curious to see and hear one (or both?) of them in action on Saturday 
.
@TheMadman_tobyjenner Toby you’re running out of room, next year ask for accessories for your Harley
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Thanks Nicole but acoustic on Saturday all being well,
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Now that would guarantee months and months of rain !! Still waiting to get out this year 
Still have these from the old forum.
Not sure about that last one 
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Happy NGDx2 
Hopefully we see them in action soon
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Wow! What a nice collection you have! 
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Hey, Toby, welcome to the world of G&L. In spite of your best intentions, I foresee additional purchases in your future.
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After all the years of nudging, you end up with not one but two . Belated happy NGsD, Toby.
Thanks David, still not played them properly with so little OM prep time. So hoping for a little noodling, easy as Sunday morning once the dust settles. Heck I am happy just looking at them
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Great lineup
I have an orange G&L custom classic ASAT
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MADMAN’s ROADCASE - HALF YEAR UPDATE.
Well there is about 36 hours before the Blues Immersion Course (BLIM) kicks off in anger. Some of you may have seen the news that I was signing up for it somewhere !
I am not one for using these Learning Logs for recording frequent progress and practice routines. Coming from the old forum I still like to do it Old Skool and the Roadcases were a case of periodic lines in the sand and a showcase of what gear had been bought in between.
So for starters I better clarify there is no new gear, since the ASATS arrived but I did get a Tab Notebook which will be abused over the next six months.
So where exactly am I at the end of June 2024 ? Guess it would be easier to just link my latest diary chapter that summarises what I have been learning, developing and playing.
So rather than reinventing the wheel, here you are …
The Madman’s Diaries - The Blues Chapters - Chapter Four (The calm before the storm)
So where I can summarise the last six months in a single line, the last four weeks may take a little longer.
So having been accepted onto BLIM, we all got a shed load of prep work, so the last few weeks have been pretty hectic but all good fun.
So apart from listening to countless Blues artists in the Immersion playlists Justin had created, I also went a bit mental on Spotify and literally been listening to every flavour of Blues out there whenever I had the time. Discovered old masters that were new to me, rediscovered artists from the 60s and 70s I’d long forgotten about and founds some fairly new Blues Rock bands to keep the blood pumping ! And on top of that been watching loads of Blues documentaries to feed the beast !
Aside from the audio video history immersion, there have been some recordings, all neatly tied up in the last diary release.
Wrote the lyrics to a Blues that may see the light of day later this year
The Blues Immersion Blues
Well I cant find my Blues, from my head down to my shoes.
Yeah I cant find my Blues, from my head down to my shoes.
Ive never had to struggle, life for me’s been one long cruise.
When the back man plays the Blues, Blues to him comes naturally.
Yeah when the back man plays the Blues, Blues to him comes naturally.
Too much discrimination and those years of slavery.
When the white man plays the Blues, its from his head not from his soul.
Yeah when the white man plays the Blues, its from his head not from his soul.
Coz he’s probably never struggled like them Blues masters of old.
But there’s some that really get it, yeah its like they see the pain.
Yeah there’s some that really get it, yeah they understand the pain.
But I try an try an try, just cant make my Blues the same.
So I’m trying Blues Immersion, deep deep dive its gonna be.
Yeah I’m trying Blues Immersion, a deep deep dive its gonna be.
But I hope that after six months, it will let my Blues soul free.
Yeah I hope that after six months, it will let my Blues soul free.
Got to get my head around Hound Dog Taylor’s Give Me Back My Wig for this one, so may take some time.
The biggest achievement was transcribing, something I have run as far away as possible from over the years I’ve been here. Too hard, too old, life too short yada yada with a big dose of CBA - plenty of Tab online ! But one of the BLIM Prep exercises was to transcribe a 48 bar solo, as this will form an integral part the course. So after all the years of kicking and screaming, I dragged myself up to the PC and over the last few weeks, deciphered the whole piece as best I could. The more I did the easier it got and I kicked myself for not doing it early in my playing journey. So added to the “practice” routines is Justin Transcribing Course, which I think will help with the BLIM lessons.
Another achievements that shows things are eventually coming together, was learning a new Corey Congilio solo last week. Its still needs a lot of polish and I won’t be recording yet but I managed to get the nears two minute solo under my fingers and into my head in about 90 minutes !! The last ones and my acoustic Blues ones have taken weeks and months. Can an old man say stoked ? If he can I was really stoked about that and the transcribing.
So another half year is nearly over and the next half looks pretty exciting. All being well there will be some Madman’s Diary Chapters to chart the journey, so folks in the city can see what happening over the hedge !
Maybe the odd Open Mic appearance depending on slot availability and workload in the coming months. But a big thanks to @Richard_close2u and the JGC OM team for keeping things rolling while I take a sabbatical. A huge thank you to all who posted in Mr Coles’ Applause thread, truly appreciated the warmth of the comments.
So that will do for now, long read but hey what else would you expect.
Take care peeps, keep practicing. keep playing and above all keep rockin !
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You’ve made a lot of progress over the last 6 months, Toby. With your dedication, commitment & application, the next 6 months is going to be even better. Happy I’ve got a front row seat to watch you progress through the BLIM course and to steal your licks.
Toby @TheMadman_tobyjenner
I think you are right in having only periodic LL to report progress.
I am not a BLIMer but the more I hear about it, the more it seems a lot of dedication is going to be required and it is going to be time consuming.
Michael
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Great read and update, Toby! You’ve come a long way in the past half year, especially the last few weeks. It’s great to see how dedicated and motivated you are with regards to the Blues.
I’m so much looking forward to this!
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Hi Toby, I have to say that you have an impressive list of past recordings. I have been trying to read your learning log from the beginning ( it has taken me a couple of days), so this is my second viewing of this list. Of course any list this impressive deserves an encore (EDIT: upon further reflection, I realized that this list had to be updated since Dec. 2021).Your organizational prowess has inspired me over the last 2 years in JG. I have tried to mimic your organization and practice tips in a small way.
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Hi Toby, based on all your LL entries, I would say you are one of the better prepared members of the BLIM. This just gives you a chance to do like Eric Clapton or SRV and totally immerse yourself in the old blues music and artists, that provides the foundational understanding and inspiration for truly great improvisation in the blues.
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Thanks for the read Steve, there are another 12 recording to add from January this years and some others in the pipeline related to the BLIM course. The organisational side of things stem from my working life but they can be applied to all manner of things in life. Mapping them out is one thing, sticking to the plan is another but I have been more focused on certain things over the last couple of years and that seems to be paying dividends with the Blues course and for now I am 100% committed to that. As for practice tips and advice, I just try to help folk avoid some of the mistakes I made back in the day and save them a lot of heart ache !
Anyway, I appreciate the feedback. You’re doing ok yourself, so just keep doing what you are doing as you’re progressing well.
Cheers
Toby
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