Studio

Last weekend my close friends Bean and Hafjac came over and helped me rack up some old gear. Bean moved stuff around and Hafy manned the fillips tip screw driver. Best of all, they handled my "do it my way personality" pretty damn well. I thank you Brothers.

Some of the gear has not seen tron flow for over 10 years and i was hoping all the tubes would light up and... they did! Behringer tube pre's and compressor/gates will handle incoming signal duties. Not top of the line stuff by any stretch of the imagination but, when used properly they sound very good. In live settings they help control the bleed from other mic's. I am still far away from building my studio into one with true isolation so they help in that environment as well. At this point better gear would not produce better results.

I recently picked up some more microphones, stands, cables and tie-wraps. I found a 16x4 snake at a pawn shop on the cheap and picked up a reference mic at the same time. Now days instead of needing expensive outboard gear to shoot (measure frequency response) a room you can use a laptop, free software and some white noise (full spectrum noise). I will be shooting both the master studio and the tracking studio in preparation for some acoustical treatment.

I am mixing a new track for the Half-N-Half album titled "Dont" and am getting more excited every day to go back to the family ranch in Vacaville CA and record.

Eight years ago i was recording in here. Over the ensuing years i have continued to jam with close friends, build motorcycles here and store way to much crap. Thinning the crap out now and slowly bringing her back to the former status of "Studio".

PsychoManifesto Music Production.

Fix

Sooo.... yeah. I really thought I could travel and for one night, not obsess about blog mouthing. I was wrong. Actually, I think that being OCD is cool.

Heading for the Wheeler Ranch. Lot's about that on the RTP blog. It's linked up here. The Fly on the Wall post is particularly good. Panda's are a bunch of Sick Fucks. I Love It!

RTP

Family and Friends

Family and friends or is that friends and family? The line blurs for me so often now.

I am a fortunate man. Fortunate to have lived enough years to sometimes adequately judge character. Sometimes the bad ones are my own blood. Other times the good ones are not related. I still make mistakes in judgement but as the years go by, less and less often. I am thankful to be surrounded by all of those I call my friends and all that I call my family. Funny how I differentiate less and less between the two.

Many of my younger years I had spent thinking I was with the right people and had been wrong. Now I choose my friends more wisely. You cannot choose your blood though, they come built in. The nice thing about being blood family is that, at least in my case, I choose whom in my family I respect and who not as much. I am happy to say that I can find good in all of them.

Flip that perspective around with friends. This has made me more accepting of people in general. What I think now, is that we do not have to always like a particular trait or or point of character. The freedom in friendship comes when you just accept. It is the same with family. I am free to choose with whom I associate. When it is true, when it is right, this is true freedom. When it is wrong I have the freedom to walk away. Or they from me. It is like being happy and sad at the same time.

Between family and friends the line continues to blur. This indeed, makes me a fortunate man.

Build

Let us go back in time a tick...

I am the worst at taking photos when I create stuff. Unfortunately I have none of us going through the engine or the countless fabrication details of getting stuff to work. I will be taking more close up photos of some of those details soon. Yup, the front wheel on her now is of the drop center variety. I love the old Akront rims. The customer.... not so much.

Contributor: Vintage V-Twin. http://www.vintagevtwin.com

Build

 1967 XLCH Stroker using S+S internals and 1000cc top end that was heavily modified. Mag/Gen configuration. Came through the shop door that way. We tore it down and checked it out. New S+S pistons, rings and pins to freshen her up. All was in spec so we maintained the +20 over and honed the cylinders. We went through clutch and primary as well. Stock frame, 3 degree neck cups, 77 stock front end with late model head light. Stock rear wheel. Most all the parts used are original Iron Head stuff. Lots of polishing to make them look new and shiny. Kick only.

I will be the test pilot when she is done. Very stoked for that day!

Big shout out to Bill, Sue, LilBill, Cody and PaPa Joe.

Bill Tillie: Owner, Master Mechanic and Lead Designer. Vintage V-Twin, Spokane WA. (pictured)
Jeff Wheeler: Build and Design.