To 41. :P
 
Since my life often seems to parallel the life of my very first hero, Elvis Presley, it's the big 42 that worries me. Furthermore, since the house we recently moved into has not 1 but 3 bathrooms, I'm statistically even more likely to die alone in a bathroom at the tender age of 42. Scary, uh?
 
But then again, I don't eat deep fried peanut butter-banana sandwiches. Or even bacon. And I train anywhere between 6 to 9 hours a week. Makes up for the 2 extra bathrooms, I guess.
 
I'm loving the new LP, which was one of my birthday gift from my wife. I didn't think I'd have much use for the split coils but I'm loving those things, especially for the neck pick up. And the satin finish chunky neck is my new thing. I'd want one like this on all my guitars. She also got me the Kissology DVDs, which I had great fun watching while getting familiar w/ the new guitar. Now I'm thinking of adding a little Marshall practice amp to my rig - I'll see tomorrow.
 
Speaking of Marshall practice amp - my wife needs a little amp for her bass. Since she's only beginning, we don't want to spend too much on it. This one seems to get pretty good reviews. Any of you familiar w/ it or maybe w/ better suggestions?
 
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Marshall-MB15-Bass-Combo-Amp-104397849-i1169653.gc
 
She wants an amp, so Amplitube SVX or a Bass POD aren't really an option.

Congrats, Rain!  Here's to the next 42.  

 
(I changed last year's to remind you of your mistakes when you were younger.  )

Congrats and Happy Birthday Rain!

No man, you don't want a bass amp with an 8" speaker. Check out the Kustom bass amps. They probably come from the same Chinese factory and cost the same kind of money. The selling point is the 10 or 12 inch driver. Another good amp is a used Roland Cube bass amp. I have one that I paid $50 for and it sort of gets lent out to use at jams. If you lived here I'd say come on over and grab it. Not worth shipping since I put a 12 bass driver in it.
 
Little bass amps need to move as much air as possible, unless you just want to run them direct.

Thanks guys. :)
 
John - Thanks for the advice. Makes a lot of sense. I'll check 10-12".
 
You know what? We actually had one of these little Kustom back home, I don't know where it came from. It sat in my studio for 2 years before we moved. Can't remember if we sold it or stored it.

Hey Rain . . .      *.:" HaPpY B-Day ":.*

Happy birthday, Rain.
Don't sweat the bathrooms.
At the ripe age of 55 I've strolled with the reaper a few times. He bough me lunch, and sent me on my way. Whatever I'm here to do, I haven't done it yet.
When your number's up, you'll be the first to know. In the meantime, live it.

Happy Birthday, Rain! I hope you have many more. We don't want you to leave the building just yet.

Thank you guys. Here are pics of my b-day party ;)
 

 

 
 
I've decided to officially retire my black strat today after giving it a decent clean up and re-adjusting it a bit. Believe it or not it was the first time I actually took it apart. It does have the 1946-1996 sticker on the headstock, but it was made in late 95 - well, at least, the neck was...
 
That's not very old to retire but it would need some work done which I don't have the skills and tools to perform and it'd also need new pickups and, in the end, I'm not sure it'd be worth paying to make it into an instrument I'd feel like playing again. 
 
The body is nothing special. I found out this pm that it had the so called "swimming pool route". I'm really not one of the purists who'd believe that it makes much of a difference. OTOH, it does make it look as if they'd been cutting corners - quite literally. It's also dented pretty badly.
 
The pick-ups are nothing special either. Just your stock strat pick ups.
 
Actually, I always felt like it was the neck that made many strats special. For a while I though I could salvage this one and order a new body, but I don't think it's worth it.
 
So after I was all done cleaning and re-stringing and adjusting her, I plugged her in and played a couple of riffs and t kind of confirmed that there's nothing more I can squeeze out of it w/o some major rework. If I really wanted a strat, I'd probably be better just buying a new one.
 
But the spit coils option on the LP really makes my day. It doesn't sound exactly like a strat obviously, though it is reminiscent. I guess I actually prefer it that way.