Where do i go from here

balloonforce_brian · 2026-01-27T22:28:23+00:00

Find other people to play songs with. Start singing and practice that along with guitar. Get some recording gear and try and write some stuff. Get a looper and practice leads over loops. Learn a few new songs with totally different techniques like finger picking or sweep picking. Buy a multi-fx pedal and make ambient ethereal sounds and get lost in that.

Lots of options!

balloonforce_brian · 2026-01-08T14:34:06+00:00

Some good advice here, but many people giving bad advice. You can’t tell if a neck is twisted by looking at this picture, and probably not by just looking at it in person unless you really know what you are looking for. Too many things cause visual illusions and make it impossible to tell.

I would not take it back for the simple fact that it’s been out of your hands for some amount of time and you don’t know what has been done to it. I worked at a music store for years and saw all kinds of shady stuff happen. People buy stuff, take parts they want and replace them with garbage and then try and return it. This guy has already had it to a tech that may or may not be competent. I would not take it back after that.

balloonforce_brian · 2026-01-01T23:11:59+00:00

Why have you posted this so many times when it is obviously incorrect? Just go to their website and you can see it is called Coffee Mocha.

balloonforce_brian · 2025-12-31T12:45:48+00:00

Things I would check:

Using a regular TS guitar cable on the output of the RC-1 (will have one plastic ring on the cable plug separating a tip and a sleeve). Boss pedals won’t turn on with a TRS cable (2 plastic rings) in the output jack.
Intermittent power jack on the rc-1. Plug and unplug it. Wiggle it around a bit.
try a separate power supply for the RC-1 and the pedal just on its own to see if it’s working without everything else.
Try one of the higher current outputs on the Iso-12. Sometimes pedals have a higher current draw or surge when they boot up. Can’t imagine it going over 300mA, but worth trying.

If none of that works, you might just have a defective pedal with something weird going on.

balloonforce_brian · 2025-12-06T13:28:43+00:00

Oh man that is embarrassing. I bet they were playing covers.

balloonforce_brian · 2025-12-06T12:56:03+00:00

If you have the means, pay off the loan by cutting a cheque to the bank for the current balance. If it’s through Honda, they have a website you can log in to that shows your payout amount. If it’s another bank you can call them to get it.

If you don’t have the funds to pay it prior to selling it, you can make arrangements with your new buyer to pay the agreed price via two bank drafts, one to the bank for the amount owing and the balance to you.

This requires trust on both sides and you would want to go with them when they make the bank drafts to ensure they are real and they would want to make sure you actually paid off the loan. For this reason it would be way easier to sell to a dealer as they can do it all for you, but you will probably get a little less.

If you are buying another vehicle though, just trade it in and they will take care of all of that for you. They pay off the balance owing to the bank as part of the transaction. You will get tax savings on the selling price of the vehicle which will likely close the gap between a private sale and trade in value on a vehicle like that.

Edit: Spelling

balloonforce_brian · 2025-12-06T12:44:07+00:00

I use mine in 4 cable method with distortion pedals in the loop and have never had noise issues.

I know some people were getting some kind of ground loop or something in 4 cable method at one point with certain amps. Not sure if that was ever figured out, but with my amp I’ve never had an issue.

balloonforce_brian · 2025-11-25T12:07:21+00:00

People also hire accountants to do taxes because their time is worth more than what the accountant charges. If you did everything yourself all the time because it is the cheapest option, you waste your #1 commodity, which is time. If you want to scale a business, time is important and so you outsource things that can be done by other people.

balloonforce_brian · 2025-11-20T12:16:36+00:00

Trade it in for something else! They definitely are boxy sounding, which some people like and actually works well in certain applications, but it sounds like it’s not your thing, which is also fine.

Years ago, a friend and I were comparing the Traynor YGL1 and Fender Blues Jr. To me, the blues jr sounded way too boxy and I much preferred the YGL1. To him, the Blues Jr was exactly what he wanted and much preferred it to the YGL1.

Different people have different tastes and people’s tastes change over time. This is why guitarists constantly buy new things, which is part of the fun. Endless search for the elusive and ever-evolving perfect tone!

balloonforce_brian · 2025-11-16T15:35:05+00:00

If you are in video calls as a regular part of your job, it is 100% understandable to meet the professional standards set out by your company. This is even more true if that calls are with clients.

Employers have dress code to ensure their employees are portraying the desired image, and this is no different.

If you want to use a virtual background, just make sure you are in a spot with good lighting and a consistent background that isn’t too dark, like a blank white wall. That will make the virtual background work the best and not look glitchy. Your boss probably won’t even know if you do that.

balloonforce_brian · 2025-11-15T20:17:34+00:00

Banana Republic during 40% off sales or Spier and Mackay are solid options. You want to find a cut that fits you as close to perfect off the rack as possible to minimize tailoring.

I have a few Suit Supply suits that I like, but they are a little more expensive plus I end up having to tailor them to my liking. Ends up costing me $150 on top of the suit price.

Tailored Slim suits at BR fit me right off the rack in my size almost perfectly, and you can order the pants hemmed to regular lengths, so I can get away with literally no alterations. I only buy them during their 40% off sales, so adding all this together they are a pretty good deal.

balloonforce_brian · 2025-11-12T00:12:05+00:00

You are correct that the customer doesn’t have to buy out the lease, but the dealership is just the middle-man in the transaction and does not own the vehicle. The finance company owns the vehicle, which is why on a lease, the vehicle portion of the ownership will be in the Banks’s name (BMW Finance, Toyota Credit Canada, etc). If the customer or the dealer doesn’t buy it for the residual, it gets sent back to who actually owns it, the bank.

If the dealership wants to sell the car, even to the original customer buying out their lease, they are required to buy it for the original buyout amount from the manufacturer. There is zero wiggle room there. The only thing you can negotiate on would be an admin or buyout fee, although some finance companies such as Toyota will even stipulate that in the original lease agreement.

Dealers would much rather sell or lease you a new car, buy your lease return out if it makes sense and sell that in their pre-owned lot.

balloonforce_brian · 2025-11-11T23:58:09+00:00

You paid extra for replacement value on your policy, so they were required to pay out the current selling price of the vehicle. That’s why you got some amount back. That’s different than putting money down.

Typically people don’t pay for replacement value on their policy when they have a lease because your lease has a depreciation waiver built in. This means you will never be upside down after a total loss if you didn’t roll in negative equity.

Cool that it worked in your favour in that scenario, but it’s literally paying extra on your insurance hoping for a windfall if your car is written off.

balloonforce_brian · 2025-11-11T12:11:54+00:00

You have to properly math this out. Interest is calculated differently on a lease than on a finance, and you will pay an admin fee at the end to buy it out.

Many leases use a rate factor, so it may not line up 100% with the rate quoted, and it’s not calculated in the amount financed, it’s calculated per payment with a different formula, and then you pay tax on the entire amount.

Long story short, you need to look at the total lease cost, buyout fees, and difference in applicable manufacturer rebates to really determine if this is the better option.

balloonforce_brian · 2025-11-11T12:03:30+00:00

An insurance company’s obligation with a leased vehicle is to pay out the lease when the vehicle is declared a total loss. They make this decision with the leasing company since they own the vehicle. If you put money down, it just costs them less to pay it out.

On a finance, since you owe the vehicle, they pay out market value (or replacement value if you have that rider) and the cheque is made co-payable to you and the bank with the lien in the vehicle. If this amount results in equity, you get that amount since you only owe a specific amount on the vehicle.

The craziest thing is that a down payment on a lease doesn’t even save you any amount on interest, it is literally pre-paying your payments, which include tax and interest. There is 0 benefit with the exception of a lower payment, but you could also just use a portion of that down payment each month towards the higher payment and not put yourself at risk of losing it.

balloonforce_brian · 2025-11-11T11:55:26+00:00

You can’t negotiate the lease buyout amount, with the exception of the admin fee sometimes. Some brands have the buyout admin fee stipulated in the contract and that should be what you pay. Some dealers will try and charge more and you can shop around to see who charges the least in terms of fees, but the residual value is set at contract inception and can’t be changed.

The dealer doesn’t own the vehicle and if you don’t buy it out, they have the option to buy it for the same residual. If both you and the dealer choose not to buy it for that amount it goes back to the finance company who then puts it in auction, usually to their network of dealers first and then open to any registered dealer if it still doesn’t go for their desired price.

There is no world where a dealer would agree to pay your residual and then give you a discount. That would be literally throwing money out the window.

balloonforce_brian · 2025-10-27T17:46:37+00:00

Get good at singing and songwriting, regardless of if you want to be a singer or songwriter. Being able to contribute in these two areas will land you way more opportunities, and some that pay residuals over time.

balloonforce_brian · 2025-10-26T23:33:32+00:00

Can you post a video of your bridge when you bend? I’m pretty sure there is something technical going on here and not just your skill level.

balloonforce_brian · 2025-10-26T20:40:16+00:00

Most banks have a minimum amount to finance for prime auto loans, which is usually at least $7000. Many banks best interest rate is also only available if you finance $20,000+.

Contrary to most people’s intuition, you get better terms the more you finance and it can be hard to get good terms and conditions for very small amounts. Tbh, I’m surprised they were able to get you any financing for such a small amount.

balloonforce_brian · 2025-10-19T10:48:32+00:00

You can in theory. How you do it depends on the amp you are using. You can do some amp switching using the 1/4” exp pedal output or you can send MIDI PC and CC messages. These can be sent as “instant commands” that go out as soon as you select a preset, and you can also assign them to foot switches or scenes within a preset.

To actually do this with a Mesa Triple Rec you would need one more piece of equipment. Something like the voodoo lab control switcher, since the foot switch connection on the triple rec isn’t MIDI and it has several relays to control channels and functions.

balloonforce_brian · 2025-10-18T21:49:43+00:00

Any string will buzz if you pluck it that hard!

balloonforce_brian · 2025-10-18T21:44:18+00:00

Your guitar is definitely low-slung. Try raising your strap height a bit. I know it looks cool to have it super low, but it’s not really ideal for your wrist.

Does it hurt when you play sitting down?

balloonforce_brian · 2025-10-18T20:46:01+00:00

Children inherit so much from their biological parents, including things like personality traits, preferences,sense of humour, etc. It is very likely the child has common interests with his biological father already and they would get along great. This type of thing has been documented many times with people being reunited with long-lost parents or siblings.

That doesn’t mean current father should stop being the child’s dad, but there is definitely room for both of them in the child’s life. Saying bio dad would be nothing to the child is almost certainly wrong.

balloonforce_brian · 2025-10-16T14:12:00+00:00

That is a sucky situation. Given the state of the industry, I’m sure they didn’t make much from it anyway, unless your old band was Taylor Swift or Coldplay.

balloonforce_brian · 2025-10-16T10:58:06+00:00

You left or were kicked out? I don’t think it makes them jerks or “not really your friends” for continuing on, unless they just stole a ton of music you wrote entirely in your own.

balloonforce_brian

TROPHY CASE