I’m sorry to say that I failed at Black Friday and bought things I didn’t need. Sigh.
Okay, what did I get?
Easy Music Center, my local instrument and gear shop located an annoying two blocks away, had their annual 10% off anything in the store. Sometimes, stores will advertise that, but then you’ll find it doesn’t apply to things already on sale. Easy Music Center doesn’t do that. Admittedly, there were a few specific manufacturers that weren’t included, not many, and nothing I necessarily would have bought there anyway.
What did I get?
I upgraded my audio interface from a Focusrite Solo Gen 2 to a new Focusrite 2i2 Gen 4. The difference in sound is very noticeable; very. In addition, I can now plug in more than one input instrument, something I’ve wanted to be able to do for a while. I haven’t tried it yet, but I did get the interface set up quickly and easily.
That’s the solo, this is the 2i2 4th Gen.
Naturally, I had to buy new cables, but that was a plus! I’d forgotten that I own studio monitors capable of balanced input. All I needed now that I have a unit with balanced output were some new cables. And yes, they were on sale.
I also picked up a new string winder tool. I own one. I just don’t know where it is at the moment. In addition, I picked up a couple more cheap tuners. They seem to last me a couple of years, then start giving me trouble.
But did I get anything else? Maybe something expensive?
Well, here’s the fail.
I ended up buying one of their clearance guitars. I’d really liked to have had a guitar on my epic road trip this past summer. Imagine, if you will, a month without being able to make music. Not so much anymore.
I bought a Steinberger GT-Pro Spirit “Deluxe” guitar. Given the clearance price and the sale discount, it seemed like an opportunity to have some fun on the road. I’ll travel in January and February, the former to Hawai’i Island and the latter to San Francisco. I’m covered, I can bring a guitar, my Spark GO, and some headphones, and jam out daily!
Is this the best-reviewed travel guitar out there? Nope. Does it have fans? Yep. Could I have done better? Maybe, maybe not. I will say that with my Spark GO, this guitar sounds excellent to me. It’s easy to play, feels well made, has a smooth action, and is light and easy to carry around. It even came with a decent gig bag.
Should I even bother with all this stuff? After all, I’m not a great or even a good musician. I’m hopeless. But here’s the thing. I’m not playing for other people and certainly not for pay. I enjoy what I do, and that is the point.
I’ll show you what I mean…this isn’t for you…this is for me to remind myself I did this one day and had fun doing it.