I've been methodically going through my personal guitars and getting them all perfectly adjusted. Finally made it to the speed daemon electrics. Some background is in order. Whenever I bought one of these things the first thing I did when I got home was to put the lightest gauge strings possible on them and then lower the bridge until a pimple on a dimple on a red ant's chin above where it starts to buzz. Now I'm trying to set the scale length for these strings precisely. The stock Gibson bridge doesn't have enough adjustment range to do it.

Though I've known most of my life how to adjust a guitar bridge, I usually have left it alone. They set it at the factory. Works for me... But it doesn't. Lighter strings have different scale lengths. Whenever I've tried to adjust one, it always seemed to go from horrible to worse. The electronic tuner which I'm using now doesn't lie. That's exactly what was happening. There is no setting you can make that's perfect.

I've been playing out-of-tune electric guitars for years. I've noticed that I compensate - I tend to stretch every note a little bit more going higher in my playing. Just something I learned to do. I need a few new bridges. Or (shudder) have to revert to big thick nasty strings. I've gotta' have one speed daemon. That would be the flying vee. It also has the most adjustment range already so I can get it really, really close without a new bridge. And stretch the notes like I've always done. Just not nearly as much.

Suppose I'll slap heavier strings on the others. It's not optimal for speed thrash but that's not all I play. Once they're back in harmony with the universe you never know what might come out of them. Time for me to find out.

Didn't find out yet. Got side-tracked on the bass. You can't always' get what you want. That's the tune that found it's way out. Like you've never heard it before. Two octaves of bass chords. At her feet was a bleeding man... But if you try some time - ya' just might find... Didja' ever try sometime? I did. Long time ago. Sold my last silver dollar I did. Had an old Ford van that was home. Fixed stereos for five bucks. Saved up enough to put an ad in the paper. Cost me ten bucks. Got seven or eight jobs for 5-10 bucks a piece. As I recall, I bought a bag of pot with the first month's proceeds and was penniless again. And since I was stoned and happy, I wasn't out hustling new business. Times grew even darker, but I never starved. I was never without shelter from the elements. Scrape a little here and a little there and a coupla' good friends that let me use their shower and split the cost of a few burritos once in a while - and ya' know - life was good. Cut to its basics. Sometimes it was just a whisper of salad dressing on the tortilla. That's it. Tortillas were 29 cents for three dozen at the mexican market. We rolled 'em up and pigged out on 'em.