What shall we talk about?

Another "slow news day."

Re-strung the Les Paul last night, and applied some Nut Sauce for the first time. I've been having some trouble with keeping the guitar in tune, especially the G-string. I think the problem is that the nut grooves are just a bit too narrow, and bind on the strings. So, when I play hard, or do string bends, they get caught in the nut, and can't slip back into the original, tuned position.

This is my guess, based on what's happening. The turners aren't turning, so it's not pulling out there. I really think I'm dealing with a binding issue. So, I was doing a little research, and trying to figure a way to resolve the issue. I was REALLY hoping I wasn't going to have to try to sand out the nut grooves, although that would ultimately be the "be all, end all" solution.

I started reading up on guitar lubricants, and found Nut Sauce. A lot of people seem impressed with it. I had to mail-order the stuff, which is just bizarre to me, living in Chicago with several high-end music/guitar shops, and I tried it out last night.

I didn't play much, but it looks to be holding tune pretty well, within an acceptable drift range, anyway. I played for about 20-25 minutes this morning when I got up, and, while I didn't check the tuning against a tuner, or anything, the tuning was staying reasonably accurate comparing string-to-string.

So, at first blush, I'm sold on this stuff. We'll see how it goes over some recording I hope to do this weekend. (I started working on a slower blues progression this AM, and I think it may become the next track for the ongoing project)

Speaking of which...I listened back to a few things. I'm actually...wait for it...kinda happy with how it's all going, so far. I'm really comfortable with the overall vibe of the music tracks, which are definitely hard-rock, with some metallic touches, with a better groove than anything I've done before, in my humble opinion.

Now, of course, I haven't started trying to lay vocals in. I know that's where I stumble, a lot of the time. I'm not a singer. I can carry a tune in a bucket, on occasion, but I certainly can't do the things I hear in my head, most of the time.

I really do (here I go again) wish I could find a group of people who wanna do some low-stress jamming, record some stuff, and maybe play a few gigs. I have this silly dream of playing fundraisers for the assorted theatre companies I'm involved with. (ha HA!) Making some original music, putting it out, and not worrying about making a career out of it. Just being creative, with real, live human beings to bounce off of.

Because I THINK these tracks are going to turn out well, pretty good. Certainly the best stuff I've ever done, but I'm also aware they could be excellent demos for something really good and fun.