ONML #7

Uh, barista?  There's a chord in my coffee....

So as I sit here in the local coffee shop with the ever so familiar face logo, I find myself thinking about what make me like certain instruments over the other.  No, no I’m not going to say something that puts words in your mouth about inquiring as to what I mean…. I’ll just tell you this time.  Of course, since I’m in a coffee shop, drinking a MASSIVE cup of coffee, I’m going to use a coffee analogy. Now, for all of you who aren’t that knowledgeable on coffee, there are a few things you should know. There are some coffees, usually light roast, that kind of taste really light (obviously) and nutty, or mild. These are usually really smooth. Now, the darker you get, the more intense the flavor gets, the more it bites you as you drink it, and the rougher it is. That’s pretty much all you need to know about coffee to understand my analogy.

 

I was comparing two of my basses the other day, in sound and the likes. Now, Cecilia, my Epi Thunderbird, is old. She’s seen better days I would say, but I love how she sounds. She, as I can explain now, is like a light roast coffee; very sweet, smooth and loving. It’s like she was brewed for jazz, for good conversations, and long nights. She was my first, and I named her after a song. Betcha can’t guess which?  Now, her color is a lot like a light coffee too. Very clear brown.  Her and I, man, we go back. I miss those times where it would be me and her, plugged into my little first act amp, just hanging out and having a good time. Back then I was naïve, and I didn’t really know too much about the world of guitar. It was all fun then, no goals in mind, no ulterior motives.  But I digress from the original point of this. Cecilia sounds like a light roast.  

Now, Elektra on the other hand, she’s a wild child. I like to compare her to a French roast coffee; Very dark, very rough, very harsh.  I’d almost go as far as to say that that’s her personality. When you turn her tone up, you almost want to scream “No! Stop! It hurts!” Then you realize that it’s awesome!  Once she came along, things got serious, because she wouldn’t have any of that sweet smooth nonsense.  She’s a serious punk, but an awesome one.  But, if you know how to play Elektra right, she’ll sound like acajou, a very smooth blend of light and dark roast.

Of course, all of this is for naught if you don’t know how to brew the coffee the right way, or have a good coffee pot. I just replaced the divers in my amp, which are the raw speakers (my old ones were crap).  Now Sunny (my amp/proverbial coffee pot) makes much better sounds since it has new speakers and the likes.

Remember, minions, that you gotta find your flavor, and get the right equipment and roast for it. Once you get that, be it for guitars, coffee, or anything in life, you’ll be set. Now, how do you get the right equipment for you?  Well, the answer to that is cheese. Just look at the post right before this one if you don’t know what that means.