guitar rig.

I think a funny aspect that all guitarists and musicians face is the seemingly ever constant battle with gear... or the apparent lack of gear in a lot of cases I guess.  It's the perfect Man vs. Machine scenario... trying to overcome the physical material world in order to bring in a piece of the transcendental.

I was looking back through some pictures of my high school band Concubine and was taken back by memories of plugging my guitar directly through a PA system because I lacked an amp, something coming un-soldered in your one and only guitar or having a string break, duck taping the speaker of a keyboard amp because plugging a bass into it was just too much for it to handle, having your ONE and only cable die out on you mid show and being rendered incapable to play any longer, or having a 9V battery die in one of your effects pedal and not being able to afford another for a few weeks.

Now I have a nice tube amp, more guitars than I can ever play, a pretty nice bass amp,  a pedal board that powers my pedals from an everyday outlet, a big box of guitar strings, and a pile of backup cables waiting for me.  I am ready for almost any disaster that can arise.

Yet... the battle still continues.  My amp has a mysterious hum sound... this input jack doesn't work...this guitar needs some re-soldering... I should upgrade the pots in my amp...my $200 deluxe wah pedal is not working... my distortion pedal could be upgraded... I need more velcro to fasten my effects pedals to my board... something seems to be wickering out my overall tone... I don't know how I like my tone knobs set on my amp... the amp is too loud... the amp is not loud enough... I wonder if a compressor pedal would be a good addition to my effects board?... which compressor pedal would I even want?... why do I have to spend 100 dollars on a compressor pedal?....today I am really good at guitar.... man I really suck guitar why do I even play?.... I should re-tolex my amp... I should wire LED's into my amp... I am missing a screw... I am missing a nut and bolt...

and thus it goes.  The ever constant battle with gear.