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Wednesday, Miscellaneously

I hate writing User Manuals. I mean, it's not like it's hard to write or anything — it's just the idea of having to write them. I think knowing that I need to write them, rather simply wanting to write them, makes the whole thing annoying. At least I don't have a lot of them to do (they're for my effect pedals)...

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I got my Gretsch Country Club in Monday, and sweet fat on a stick, I'm in love. MUTHA! I love the action on this puppy — not to mention the sound, which is perfection in the neck position. I don't know if I'll ever let it leave the house, though.

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I'm getting closer and closer to opening for RAILhead Effects for business. We have a meeting with our CPA to finalize the good ol' Big Brother crap, and then we're good to go.

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One of the girl here at work is hacking up a lung. I'm getting sick just listening to her. And of course, the last thing I need to be is sick since I take Dad to his Dr. appointments every week. I really, really wish I could tell her to go home, but I can't — so maybe I'll just leave...

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I'm craving spaghetti squash for some reason.

Posted at 3:44pm CDT | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cycle 1, Day 7

We had our first "Fast Track" blood work lab today, 1 week after Dad's first chemo cycle. Everything is moving just as expected, so that's totally great. His white blood cell counts are on the way down, and his platelets dropped a bit — but that was expected. All of his other blood items were better than they were the 15th, which is nice.

I had been praying that over the weekend, Dad would begin to feel something happening with the mass in his chest. I prayed that he would keep it to himself until he knew, without a doubt, something really was happening — and at 9:30 on Saturday night, he called to tell me the lymph node under his arm shrinking, and that his breathing was also improved. He was also finally able to eat more. This was a total answer to prayer.

Since then, he's been doing great. He hasn't had any of the chemo side effects just yet, but we're expecting them to begin this week now that he's no longer taking the 5-day regimen of Prednisone. The Neulasta injection will be kicking-in — Neulasta being a drug that helps the body create white blood cells. Since this creation occurs in the bone marrow, you often feel aches and pain in your long bones and hips, which is where the highest concentrations of marrow are. This is also the week where his counts will be at their lowest, so he'll have to be extra cautious about what he does and who he goes around.

But all in all, things are starting off great — and we pray that God would continue to be merciful and compassionate as we walk through the next 6 months of treatment.

Posted at 5:55pm CDT | Permalink | Comments (1)

So Close, Yet So Far…

If there could only be one more day in this week, I would have my new Gretsch Country Club, but alas, the Gregorians were plotting against me even hundreds of years ago.

Posted at 3:28pm CDT | Permalink | Comments (1)

SWEET!

I just got a call from my guy at Sweetwater, and my new Gretsch G6196T was finished early — and I ought to have by Saturday. SWEET!

And now I'm off to get my Dad so he and I can go get our heads buzzed...

Posted at 4:39pm CDT | Permalink | Comments (1)

Cycle 1, Day 1

And so it begins.

I'm currently sitting alone in the hallway next to the B elevators on the second floor of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC), just down the hallway from the Ambulatory Treatment Center Bed Unit (ATC Bed Unit). In room 5, my Dad is receiving his first infusion of Rituxan, a drug that enables your body to selectively kill cancer cells on its own. After about 5 hours of Rituxan — which will gradually increase in dosage as they monitor his body's reaction to it — he will then begin to receive the 4 other drugs in his R-CHOP therapy (Cyclophosphamide, Doxorubicin, Vincristine, and Prednisolone) over a period of 3 hours. As I type this now, his Rituxan dosage been bumped up to 300 ml/hr, with 400 ml/hr being the maximum — and he's handling the drug just fine. We are fervently praying that this positive trend continues throughout the rest of the treatment.

If Dad's white blood cells rebuild as desired, we will have our last treatment — which is called a cycle — on December 3. Until then, we will return every 3 weeks for another cycle, for a total of 8 cycles. During this time, we will return once a week to get blood work done as part of his contribution to the clinical trial he's participating in. If, for some reason, his counts do go up as desired, they will postpone his cycle for 1 week, then go from there.

MDACC is like a different world. This isn't just your family doctor's facility — there are no "runny noses" or "sore throats." Dad said it best when he said that people only come here to live — and there's a palpable camaraderie between everyone here. We are here to live. We are here to fight something that wants us to die at any cost. We are sick. We are dying.

But here, in the midst of all this sickness, there is an undercurrent of hope. There's a pulse, a beat, a constant knowledge that people are being healed and cured all around us. That rhythm reverberates through the staff, and then on to all of us here. It's like we're in our own little, isolated world — like we're a People Group of our own. And, I guess, we sort of are. There's a sympathy in the glances we all exchange as we pass in the halls, and look of "I know" and "I understand." You find yourself talking to strangers as though you've known them for years; the bond made strong in so short a time because of the situation we're in.

As I stood in line at the pharmacy tonight, a man said he'd been seeing me all day with Dad, and when I looked in his eyes, I could see he was looking for someone to say it would be okay. He has a different cancer, and he's hoping to start treatment on Thursday — but I'll never forget the look in his eyes when I told him you just have to keep looking forward to that next bit of good news. I hope to see him again, and I probably will — and I'm quite certain we will chat for a while when we do. As we went our separate ways, I said what I've heard so many "old pros" saying around here: "good luck."

That's the rally cry for everyone here.

I wish I could do a better job of explaining what it's like to be here, because it's so humbling. It's a miserable place in the sense that you know so many people are suffering — and it's a wonderful place because you really do feel like you're in the fight with hundreds (thousands) of other people at your side. I guess you could say it's the human condition at its worst, and the human spirit at its best. It is a Good Place, for sure.

Amid all the science, God is moving without a doubt. You are constantly hearing snippets of conversations about prayers and healing — and that's totally awesome. It's like you're in a lightning rod that's receiving God's spirit.

I could go on, but it's 10:45pm and I'm exhausted. Dad is doing great, and I'm sure he'll be almost finished with his Rituxan by the time I walk back to his room. I love sitting out here, knowing he and Mom are sitting by one another. I cannot think of two people that are quite so wonderful, and I look forward to finally killing this cancer so that they can be free of the burden of this sickness.

Thank you all for the prayers and thoughts. We ask that you continue lifting-up our family in this time — and we ask that you pray especially for us to give hope to those we see and meet, so that we can be a blessing to others as we, ourselves, have been blessed.

Posted at 9:01pm CDT | Permalink | Comments (3)

YAPS: Yet Another Peach Sample

While I wait for my Darlington's to arrive, I've been goofing with more transistor setups for my fuzz effect, Peach. I threw together this quick sample, which is quite poorly recorded (I just have the mic hanging in front of the speaker) — but you'll get the idea. I'm playing my 88 Les Paul since it's my fattest guitar, and the samples go from the bridge pickup with no tone, to the bridge pickup with full tone, then to the neck pickup with full tone. After this, I play a simple sustained lead-line just to show off the sustain I'm getting with my secret formula, then I end with a little bluesy noodle that shows sustain, but without the intentional holds.

http://www.maurymccown.com/images/uploads/Peach002.mp3

Posted at 7:55am CDT | Permalink | Comments (3)

The Switch by RAILhead Effects

We finalized the artwork for my A/B channel switch, The Switch (formerly known as Switcha-Rooski). I am totally loving the new look:

Posted at 10:09am CDT | Permalink | Comments (1)

Motorola HEP 53 Fuzz

A friend of mine is a parts junky like I am, and he hooked me up with a few old school transistors for me to goof around with in my fuzz pedal. I'm still looking for pinouts for one group, but out of the others, I really liked the sound of the Motorola HEP 53. I can't put a date on this transistor, much to my chagrin — but it looks like it was something bought in the early 80s. With a maximum hFE of 85 (though I'm getting around 30, measured), it's a pretty good candidate for a classic fuzz sound — and here's a totally lousy recording (the SM58 is hanging in front of the speaker because I was too lazy to go out and get my mic stand). This is my Les Paul, bridge pickup, volume max, tone rolled all the way out:

http://www.maurymccown.com/images/uploads/Motorola_HEP_53_Fuzz.mp3

Thanks, Mark!

Posted at 6:15pm CDT | Permalink | Comments (1)

Finalized: The RAILhead Effects “TUA”

I finished the artwork for my metalcore distortion pedal, TUA — and here it is in all its metallic black glory:

I kept it simple with this art, so it's only text and metallic black paint. I love how you can see the sparkles in the black paint, too — as well as the great reflections from the clear coat.

Coming soon from RAILhead Effects!

Posted at 10:22am CDT | Permalink | Comments (6)

Speaking of Taxes…

Upon further research, it seems that if you sell "tangible personal property" (which is anything you can literally touch) — or if you sell 3 or more items online from your home in a calendar year — you're a business. So, you have to collect and report sales tax on those items. So, if you live in Texas and buy one of my effects pedals, I have to collect and report sales tax, obviously. This also means that if you live in Texas and buy one of my prints — which are ordered from a seller in New York and shipped to me for delivery to you — I have to collect and report sales tax. These taxes are to be reported quarterly, and require a tax permit.

For now, sellers still don't have to worry about taxing people that live outside their State — but Big Brother is trying his best to change that. Last I knew, Amazon had started charging tax for people buying from New York. That totally stinks. And as much as I'd love to tell The Man to shove it and conduct my affairs in hopes of never being found out, my Mom and Pop brought me up too well to be comfortable breaking State and Federal law. And of course, there's the potential for being audited, which brings up another point: you can get your butt handed to you by Feds not only by them auditing you and finding out you're a cheat — but if someone who has purchased something from you gets audited, and the Feds follow the paper trail back to you. Most people forget about customers being audited — and that's how Big Brother gets lots of people.

Isn't Government fun?

Posted at 2:00pm CDT | Permalink | Comments (2)

Early Morning Post

I haven no idea why I'm posting this early in the morning — I guess I mainly need something to do while I drink my cup of freshly brewed, Panamanian Luna de Oro coffee. This is my first cup of this coffee, and I'm quite impressed.

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I have to go to the County Clerk's office today, which is always a fun trip. I always think of the courthouse as I do the DMV, even though it's never been that way before (for me, at least). Anyway, I'm filing my DBA (Doing Business As) for RAILhead Effects to get established with the State. It should be fairly quick and painless.

Speaking of business-related stuff, I also got my tax permit taken care of so that I can properly report taxes paid by people who buy from me here in Texas. A couple of people I talked to thought I was nuts for worrying about it, but it is the law. Even if I sell I a $10 photograph, and not a $200 pedal, I'm supposed to report that a portion of that sale was taxed. A lot of people don't worry about this, though — but if they have an extra $400 to $600 income reported on their 1040 and can't account for taxes when audited, they'll have Hades to pay. Of course, this assumes those people are reporting their extra income like they should be. I mean, I'm no fan of Government, but the law is the law — and with taxes, once you're discovered not reporting/charging them, you can get fined up to $500 a day.

So get your tax permit, people — and report your earnings on your 1040 like you should. Just because your home-based business doesn't generate a W2, that doesn't mean you aren't responsible for reporting the income. Believe me, you don't want Big Brother looking at your papers in 3 years and suddenly owing him back taxes on income you didn't report!

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I finished up the new paint job for my io Super Distortion, and I love it. It's finishing-up its curing, but I'm planning on posting pics in a day or two.

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I have another residential photo shoot today. I like shooting big, empty houses because there are so many cool shots and angles. Hopefully it won't rain and kill the natural light...

Posted at 6:14am CDT | Permalink | Comments (0)

Another Peach Custom Fuzz Sample

I really need to get back to my "regular style" posts, but until then, I'll keep posting my RAILhead Effects related goodies. That said, I tweaked my Peach Custom Fuzz once again, and I'm really, really getting close to the tone I'm looking for in a fuzz. My recording setup is my 88 Les Paul w/Goodwood pickups, bridge position, guitar volume max, guitar tone rolled out, fuzz at max. I start out playing a simple rhythm riff (and eventually have to fade out because I have so much sustain!), then I play a simple blues-type run. After that, I roll the guitar tone all the way in and play the blues riff again. Here's the MP3:

http://www.railheadeffects.com/sounds/Pv2001.mp3

I like it quite a bit — but there's one more transistor I'm waiting on to test, so I may be changing it again ever so slightly...

Posted at 9:34am CDT | Permalink | Comments (2)

My Little 3PDT Board

For over a year now, I've been looking for some way to make wiring my effect pedals' foot switches and DC jacks easier to wire, and now that I have an awesome PCB boardhouse at my disposal, I've done just that:

This little guy is only 26x31mm, and it fits right over the lugs to a 3PDT switch. Starting from the bottom left, I have pads for the DC jack's positive and negative hookups — airwire I loathe running because of the distance it has to travel to the board. Now, all I have to do is tap on a 10mm wire and I'm done with the power (my DC jacks align right next to these pads). Next we have the input jack sleeve pad, which is another short jump. Above that is a resistor spot named "INR," which is an optional spot for placing your input pulldown resistor. Beginning at the top left, we have the standard board in, then a +9v pad which is spliced to make room for the LED resistor (in case your circuit doesn't include one already). -9v comes next, then the pad for the aforementioned LED power. Next is the standard LED ground, switch ground, then the board out. Going down the right side, you see another spot for an output pulldown resistor, and finally, the output jack sleeve.

This will greatly simplify the running airwire all inside my pedals, and it'll take care of those pesky DC taps I hate so much. Also, I designed this board to be used by pretty much anyone, as the pulldown and LED sections are totally optional — and once I get them in and verify them, I'll be making them available for $1 each (plus shipping) to my fellow DIY enthusiasts.

Posted at 6:44pm CDT | Permalink | Comments (1)

While I Wait…

Today is "Stencil Day" here at the RAILhead Effects shop, and while I'm waiting for some stencils to finish exposing, and others to finish soaking, I thought I'd post a quick comment to let everyone know how much I've recently been loving the font Bodoni.

It's easy on the eyes, contains great serifs, has wonderful kerning, and radiates an all-around pleasant attitude. I wish more people were as pleasing as Bodoni, but so many are just your typical Helvetica.

Posted at 4:02pm CDT | Permalink | Comments (1)

Mid-Week Schtuff

Things are getting really, really close to going public over at my guitar effects site, RAILhead Effects. I have the vast majority of product detail pages finished up (they're offline to the public), and all that remains after that is final product shots and finishing the demo goodies. The adage "good things come to those who wait" should be the banner for any business, and we've been meticulously planning our grand opening for over a year — and I'm pretty dadgum confident that things will go well.

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I'm still getting some email from you guys (and gals), asking about the medical stuff I was talking about a few weeks ago. I was being intentionally vague until we knew what was happening, and now that we *do* pretty much know what's happening, I can fully let the cat out of the bag.

My Dad has cancer.

Man, it sucks to type that.

I'll post more about this in the coming days, but the nutshell version is that Dad has Large Cell Type B Lymphoma. We were afraid he had lung cancer or mesothelioma from his asbestosis, but a biopsy of a fast-appearing tumor that was removed from his side gave us the good news it was neither of those two cancers.

For weeks, hundreds of people have been praying for him and our family, and God has been compassionate and merciful — and we're crazy thankful for that. The pieces of this puzzle have been falling into place in such a manner that there's no doubt that God has been at work — from tipping us off with the sudden "cyst" so many weeks ago, all the way to providing care for Dad at M.D. Anderson with the top minds in the cancer field. Everything in relation to this situation has been touched by God, and it's been awesome to see Him work — and I'll post about all that later.

As far as the cancer is concerned, we had a visit with the oncologist (Dr. Nathan Fowler), and his preliminary diagnosis is that Herman Hospital did, in fact, identify the cancer correctly. Of course, MDACC will perform their own tests and confirmations — but Dad's presenting the classic symptoms of this cancer. The good news is that, while Type B large Cell Lymphoma is highly aggressive, it's eagerness to replicate makes it weak and highly susceptible to therapy. This means that Dad has a near 60% of going into full remission, and an 85% to 90% plus chance of being able to manage the cancer with sporadic treatments as needed. Those, my friends, are tremendously positive percentages! To quote Dr. Fowler, "the odds are stacked highly in [Dad's] favor."

We meet with Dr. Fowler again next week, and he will then give us his official diagnosis and plan for therapy. He said the typical regimen is R-CHOP every 3 weeks, with a total of 6 treatments. We'll know more details next week, though.

So there you have it: my Dad has cancer, and we're thankful it's a cancer with a butt that's readily kicked. We're blessed to have the best of the best working on this, and we're looking forward to being yet another case of cancer being made history at M.D. Anderson. That said, please continue praying for healing and strength and continued good news from the doctors. Stay tuned for more...

Posted at 3:56pm CDT | Permalink | Comments (2)

A Quick Peach Sound Sample

I made some final modifications to my fuzz circuit, The Peach, and I recorded a quick sample of its fatness. This is played through my Les Paul with the bridge pickup, tone rolled all the way out:

http://www.maurymccown.com/images/uploads/Peach001.mp3

I love how this circuit takes the sound of the guitar itself and uses those frequencies to really get a custom sound. Between my Les Paul, Strat, Teles, and hollow-bodies, I have a massive array of different fuzz tone possibilities — the classic circuit (with my personal tweaks in transistors and caps) is a truly versatile circuit. And the part I'm playing is an original, so don't bogart it!

For kicks, here's a pic of the test circuit:

Posted at 6:09am CDT | Permalink | Comments (3)

A Quick TUA Sound Sample

I've been lazy about doing demo recordings for my RAILhead Effects stuff, so I decided to gather-up all my recording gear to get ready for legit demos. That said, I recorded a totally quick-n-dirty sample of my high-gain distortion, Total, Utter Annihilation (or TUA for short). Needless to say, this isn't a "legit" or final demo — just a quick example. And of course, the better your sound system, the better this will sound — so if you don't have a good sub, you're missing out! I personally enjoy the massive feedback you can get at bedroom levels. And for the record, this is with tone controls on the effect set to neutral — and the gain is only at 50%. =)

Enjoy Total, Utter Annihilation:

http://www.maurymccown.com/images/uploads/TUA001.mp3

Posted at 6:54pm CDT | Permalink | Comments (1)