Care free days

I only wish my days here in the sprawling city of Wuhan were care free. I came here with the intention of improving my life, yet near the end of the month my bank account is always empty and I am borrowing money. I know that if I go back to the US full time it's going to be another dead end min wage tech support job that will make me want to down a bottle of pills. Here I am almost on my feet, and out of the hole on my debts. As mentioned I do have plans for business but I am working almost 40 hours a week, so I don't have time to "Sit on my ass" so much as I have been accused of. Plenty of people come here just to get drunk, be irresponsible, and put their penis in things. Personally, I can hardly stand to be around those blokes. It seems like such a waste of time, I also enjoy writing quite a bit, but with all the reports and such I have to do I barely have time. I am still in the process of finishing my English certification, and I am looking for a cheap accredited online school where I can get a degree in creative writing. Not to mention it would be nice to have at least one kid by the time I'm 35, but perhaps I am getting a little ahead of myself. Within the next year I plan to be at least in college somewhere working on my degree, and hopefully with a little hep and a few investors, starting my business.
Work sucks right now, they are enforcing a dress code. Shirts, ties, and at least khakis. They are one of the lower paying institutes in Wuhan, they ask for the most hours, and pay the least. It seems like the only one they get angry with for not following it is me for some reason, I dunno. I hate rules, in many ways they are the most stupid things on the planet and should be broken as often if possible. Three more guitars with this post.


The Fender Stratocaster

"The Fender Stratocaster, (often referred to as a Strat), is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender and Freddie Tavares in the early 1950s, and manufactured continuously to the present. The Stratocaster has been used by many leading guitarists, and thus can be heard on many historic recordings. Along with the Gibson Les Paul, Gibson SG, and the Fender Telecaster, it is one of the most enduring and common models of electric guitar in the world. The Stratocaster has been widely copied; as a result "Stratocaster" or "Strat" is often used when referring to any guitar that has the same general features as the original, regardless of manufacturer.The Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company (now known as Fender Musical Instruments Corporation) developed the first commercial solid-body 'Spanish' (as opposed to 'Hawaiian,' or lap steel) electric guitar in the Telecaster, a simple design whose earliest models were offered under various names like Broadcaster or its single pickup conterpart the Esquire, beginning in 1950. While the Telecaster and its variants were successful, many guitar players of the day used a Bigsby unit, a spring-loaded vibrato device that players use to bend notes up and down with their pick hand. Instead of adding a Bigsby, Fender decided to produce a new, more expensively-made ash or alder line of guitars with his own design of Tremolo (see tremolo arm for more on the evolution of such mechanisms). His decision was also influenced by guitarists Rex Gallion and Bill Carson, who requested a contoured body to temper the harsh edges of the slab-built Telecaster; the new ash body design was based on that of the 1951 Precision Bass. The name, 'Stratocaster,' was intended to evoke images of new jet-aircraft technology (such as the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress), and to express Fender's modernistic design philosophy. In designing the Stratocaster's body, a significant area of the back of the guitar, and the area where the strumming arm rests, were beveled to accommodate the player's chest and arm. The upper bouts featured two cutaways, for easier access to the higher frets. The new 'Custom Contour Body' and 'Synchronized Tremolo' bridge made the Stratocaster a revolutionary design. The headstock shape of the Stratocaster is patented by Fender.[1]The guitar also featured more complex electronics than the Telecaster: three single coil pickups, each with staggered magnetic poles; a three-way selector switch (five-way since 1977); one volume knob, and two tone controls. A three single-coil pickup design was an innovation already in use by Gibson in their ES-5 model since 1949. However, Fender's pickups were much more compact. Patents were applied for all these new designs, and production line Stratocasters reached the market in early 1954 for US$249.50 (approximately US$1,850 in 2007 currency[2]). The basic production model had a two-tone nitrocellulose 'sunburst' finish, one-piece maple neck, ash body, chrome hardware, and Bakelite-like thermoplastic parts. Other manufacturers began imitating these innovations immediately. An early-model Stratocaster was a key component of Buddy Holly's signature look, along with his black-rimmed glasses, and he was among the first players to popularize the Stratocaster in rock music. Both his gravestone and his walk-of-fame statue in Lubbock, Texas feature a Stratocaster. Much of the popularity of the Stratocaster can be attributed to its versatility. The neck, middle, and bridge (termed "rhythm", "normal tone" and "lead", respectively) pickups provide a wide range of tones. The standard single-coil pickups often found in Stratocasters produce a trebly sound with a high top end and bell-like harmonics. The Fender synchronized tremolo tremolo arm mechanism, introduced with the Stratocaster, has become the most copied design of all, eclipsing all other designs including the later floating bridge designs by Leo Fender himself. The Telecaster also remained in production, and both the Stratocaster and the Telecaster flourished into diverse families of guitars, with many variants. Each continues to enjoy its own following among guitarists. (Info Courtesy Wikipedia)"

This is by far my favorite guitar of all time. It's versatile, easy to work on as all the electronics are on a plastic plate you can remove, thus no cramped routed cavity to work in. I have owned and sold many of these, in fact if dad were to browse my collection he would find 2 or 3 of these. This is usually every ones first guitar as the strat copies can be had for as little as 100 bucks, I specialize in taking cheap strat copies and turning them into stage playable pieces. My guitar here in China is a strat, if anyone wants a good versatile electric consider one of these by almost any maker, just make sure the neck is comfy for your hands, they vary a great deal.

The Gibson Flying V

"Gibson first manufactured prototypes of the guitar in 1957. They were made of korina wood, a trademarked name for limba, a wood similar to but lighter than mahogany. (Korina, originally spelled 'Korena', is the name that has been given to certain types of African Mahogany.) This Flying V, along with the Futura (Explorer) and, initially, the Moderne, made up a line of modernist guitars designed by Gibson's then-president Ted McCarty. These designs were meant to add a more futuristic aspect to Gibson's image, but they didn't sell well. After the initial launch in 1958, the line was discontinued by 1959. In the mid-1960s, guitarists such as Albert King, Lonnie Mack, Dave Davies and Jimi Hendrix, in search of a distinctive looking guitar with a powerful sound, started using Flying V's. The renewed interest created a demand for Gibson to reissue the model. Gibson reissued the guitar in 1967, updating its design with a bigger, more stylish pickguard, and ditching the original bridge, which had the strings inserted through the back, in favor of the stopbar tail piece more commonly associated with Gibson models. Some models were shipped with a short Vibrola Maestro Tremolo. This 1967 model is now the standard for the Flying V or, as Gibson now calls it, "V Factor". A fully functional, playable highly enlarged replica of Gibson Flying V, sizing over 43 feet (13 m), was built in June 2000 by Scott Rippetoe and his team from The Academy of Science and Technology (Texas). This world record is registered in Guinness World Records. Many other guitar companies have copied the Flying V design, most adding several "personal touches" to avoid legal entanglements with Gibson. Among these other V's is the Jackson Rhoads model, custom built for Randy Rhoads in 1981 (It was originally to be called the Concorde, but after Rhoads death it was named as tribute). As the very first Jackson guitar and colloquially known as the "Shark Fin", it featured an asymmetrical cut among other differences from Gibson's. Following the Rhoads model, Jackson produced another V variation for Ratt guitarist Robbin Crosby and marketed it as the King V. Another popular V shaped guitar is the B.C. Rich Kerry King V, Jr. V, and Draco Models. Dean Flying V's or Dean Vs are often referred to as "the best deal in V guitars". A famous user of the Gibson Flying V, Michael Schenker actually switched to Dean Guitars, preferring the Dean over the Gibson. Other manufacturers, such as Cort, Antares, and Ibanez, produced clones so close to the original Gibson design that they reportedly incurred the wrath of Gibson's legal team. (Info Courtesy Wikipedia)"

Escentially a Les Paul with a funny shape, Same electronics set up and all. I have always wanted one but have only had the pleasure of holding a cheaper epiphone version at a pawn shop with no strings. These sound like hundreds of other guitars, but boy would you look cool playing it. If i ever build my own guitar from scratch it'll be a V. I have heard it can be a real bitch to play one of these sitting down though.

Gibson Explorer

"The Gibson Explorer (now marketed as X-plorer and Explorer Pro) is a type of electric guitar. The Explorer made its debut in 1958 under the name Futura. It offered a radical, "futuristic" body design, much like its sibling, the Flying V. Its initial run was unsuccessful and it was discontinued in 1959. In 1975, Gibson began reissuing the Explorer after other guitar companies had success selling similar designs. Gibson produced fewer than 100 Explorers during the 1958 run of the original Korina wood model. The low availability of this guitar has increased its value significantly and made them prized collectibles. There have been several variants produced by Gibson, including several smaller, more "user friendly" versions such as the Studio Explorer and the Matthias Jabs designed Explorer 90 (named so because it was 90% the body of a regular Explorer). An explorer was also produced in Gibson's "Goth" line, which feature some of Gibson's most renowned guitars including the Explorer, Flying V, SG, and Les Paul in Matte Black Finishes. Several variants are also produced by Epiphone, Gibson's lower cost, offshore operation. These include a model produced in Korina Wood and Epiphone's own "Goth" model. The Hamer Guitar company created a tribute to the Explorer in 1974 called the Hamer "Standard" . Gaining popularity with the more progressive rock musicians of the day, Hamer's success led the way for other reissues, including those from Gibson. The Jackson guitar company (now a subsidiary of Fender) was once sued by Gibson for their line of Kelly guitars, which are very similar to the X-plorer, although more lightweight. The Kelly was sleeker and lighter, but was otherwise identical. The most famous user of this line is Marty Friedman of Megadeth fame. High-end guitar company Alembic Inc produced a few custom made bass guitars for the late John Entwistle of the Who. These basses had the body shape of the Explorer. After his death, Alembic released a limited number of the bass guitars based on John's custom basses. Warwick also produces the Stryker basses, based on the custom basses. Other companies that have produced Explorer-esque guitars are: ESP, Dean Guitars, Ibanez, Jackson, Yamaha, Kramer and Peavey. In 2007, the Xbox 360 video game Guitar Hero II was released with a controller shaped like the Explorer, as well as being one of the featured playable guitars in the game. (the first game, Guitar Hero, had a controller shaped like a Gibson SG). A 3rd-party controller for both of the Guitar Hero games on the PlayStation 2 was made by Nyko, which also featured the Explorer design. (Info Courtesy Wikipedia)

Another glorified Les Paul, I hate this guitar, and as many of them as I have seen in pawn shops I have never been tempted to buy one, not even once. I don;t care if James Hetfield did play one for a long time.