Apparently, I picked up some crap along the way.  I had to reformat and reload my laptop…AGAIN.  Aggravating, sure, but at least I had pretty much everything backed up to the point that nothing substantial got lost.  The biggest groaner of the whole thing was getting the updates for Windows.  On two different attempts, the updates got all screwed up for one reason or another.  On the third attempt, I got smart and downloaded the service packs directly from Microsoft, putting them on a thumb drive.  After I reinstalled the OS and the basic batch of drivers, I installed both service packs in order.  Sure enough, everything worked great after that.  I’m still reinstalling some stuff, so the process continues.

I did have a project keeping me busy along the way – a guitar.  A Strat copy, to be exact.  I found it for under a hundred bucks at Zamar’s and thought it might make a good rebuild project.  It was in rough shape to begin with, but it was at least playable.  I noted early on that the neck that was on it was not the proper size for the body.  This was apparent in that the base of the neck was much narrower than the neck pocket in the guitar body.  It was easy enough to swap out, though.  After refinishing the body (badly, but it got done), having the electronics cleaned up, and mounting a new neck of proper size, I got it back in shape. I have also replaced the bridge along the way.  I got hold of a Tascam US-122 USB interface and a copy of Guitar Rig 3 to use for tone shaping.  Looks like I could conceivably gig with that setup with a DI going straight to the board.  Now all I have to do is get some new music worked up and I might get out and start playing again.

Well, that’s about it for now.  Lots more to say since the last update, but I’m frankly too tired at this point to put it down coherently.  In the meantime, a cool trick with a pilates ball…