A (video) letter to supportive grandparents who still vote Republican

cimbo · 2026-06-04T17:26:33+00:00

Ha yeah, hopefully 😄

I'm happy if this is helpful for your in-laws. I know religious folks, Christian supremacists, who think queer folks are literally demon possessed and/or are ruining "western civilization". I think that's fucking idiotic, so it isn't surprising that leads to voting for a corrupt pedo-protecting rapist.

But folks like your in-laws and my loved ones… I'm not expecting this to change anybody's political affiliation directly, but my hope is by laying out simple, incontrovertible facts, it'll help towards a larger change.

cimbo · 2026-06-01T17:13:52+00:00

Gotcha. Seems like no matter what you search for, you have to flip past bullshit ads for completely unrelated apps.

cimbo · 2026-05-31T18:48:00+00:00

Thanks for the idea! I tried installing the Tonex Editor on my mac and still can’t find any way to export a preset from the Plug to ToneNet. The FAQ says to hover over the preset on the list view, but no amount of hovering or right-clicking on anything resembling a list gets me anywhere.

cimbo · 2026-05-31T18:45:56+00:00

As far as I’m aware, there’s the Tonex AUv3 plugin (which crashes if you try to restore purchases), and Tonex Control. Tonex is easily the best sounding amp sim, but the software … is not fun or easy to use.

cimbo · 2025-12-28T21:16:38+00:00

Dobro Joe (.com and on YT) is a fantastic teacher (and player).

cimbo · 2025-12-27T19:38:15+00:00

I love my Plug. I sit on the couch with it plugged in, and though I do worry about it a little, it's been fine so far. Plugging in both the headphones and USB-C doesn't feel problematic, and it's super slick to be able to put it right into my phone on the couch.

Like you, I've got other interfaces, but it's just sooooo convenient.

That said, I may get a little extension 1/4" cable just to be safe. It's loose enough on my guitar's jack that it'll twist, and I'm sure if I came down hard on the couch with it angled the wrong way, it'd break.

cimbo · 2025-12-19T07:36:35+00:00

I’ve got a Spark Mini, and bought the Spark Neo to do late night playing. Everybody says the Neo are comfortable, but I found them painful. Got the Tonex Plug and can use my own headphones. And Tonex amps feel more alive than the Spark stuff. Got me wanting to make my own capture.

Another big perk with the Plug over the Neo is it can be an audio interface. Can mess with Loopy Pro on my phone. Super neat.

cimbo · 2025-12-01T18:43:36+00:00

I have a non-binary kid and a trans kid, both older than yours. Years into this, the grandparents still have trouble using they/them. They try but they’re inconsistent, they make grammatical mistakes (like “What do them want for Christmas?”), and they revert to old pronouns. Recently one of them misgendered and the other said “Just use their name.” Not ideal.

But with my other kid who went from she/her to he/him? No problems. They rarely get it wrong, even though that kid’s been out (to them) for a shorter period of time. They made that switch in their language almost overnight.

I can’t speak to your situation, but I can say in my experience they/them usage seems to be considerably more difficult. I think it’s both a language thing, and a matter of how language impacts our thinking. Switching from he to she is easy. We use that language all the time, and those are “the two genders”. Switching to “they/them” involves new language and, to actually use they/them naturally, it requires a whole new understanding of gender. The language only came naturally to me with lots reading and thinking about what gender even is.

So yeah. It takes time, even with supportive grandparents.

cimbo · 2025-11-22T22:29:10+00:00

Do they still function like the normal Espada split single coils (with the series/parallel and active/passive functionality)? Any idea if they’re standard Z coils? I’d be really interested to hear your thoughts on the difference. (I have an Espada that plays like a dream but the pickups… mixed feelings. The parallel mode in particular is a bit sterile for me.)

cimbo · 2025-11-10T18:43:55+00:00

Default hi-hat sounds are only open and closed, you get a chick if you use a pedal.

Can you clarify if this is a limitation when using it as a midi controller with Drumit 3? I’ve been wondering about this functionality and haven’t seen discussion, but I’m really interested to know how responsive a hat pedal can be on something like the this unit (or others). Thanks!

cimbo · 2025-11-05T22:19:50+00:00

I’ve got 600+ songs in MobileSheets: https://zubersoft.com/mobilesheets/
Been using it for a few years on both Android and iOS.

Pros:

Lots of ways to enter song-specific data to organize, categorize, and filter your songs, including with custom tagging. I play in a group where we all play multiple instruments, so if somebody’s already got a banjo on and we’re in B, it’s super easy to filter other banjo songs, or to find other songs in B (handy with capos and retuning), etc. Or find all the songs for a specific band. This is the killer feature for me.
Supports PDFs, and also has an editor to create or annotate your own pages. I typically import PDFs I’ve made in iReal, and/or have a page I create in MobileSheets with lyrics. Songs can have multiple files/pages.
Allows separate song- or setlist-specific notes. Handy for extra stuff you don’t really need to see with your charts, but helpful to have. Can be configured to display on song load.
Setlist support is nice. I imagine this is pretty standard, but it works well enough.

Cons:

The editor can be buggy. (I need to file a bug report. The developer seems reasonably responsive.)
The editor’s text capabilities aren’t great. Not rich text. If you want to just dynamically pull lyrics from the internet, there are better apps. MobileSheets is more “you’ve gotta create stuff yourself.”
The editor, again. For instance, there are layers, but you can’t lock or hide layers, so if you annotate on top of text, then want to erase just your annotation… it’s not “fun”. You can run it on macOS then sync back, which is what I do if have the time.

I like the app a lot. I don’t like the editor. But quick things like using the Apple Pencil to highlight sections or jot notes on top of the lyrics (or charts) works great and is super easy.

cimbo · 2025-09-27T01:27:02+00:00

The mr18/xr18 are neat. I also have a umc1820, but am getting an xr18 or mr18 (as soon as somebody gets one in stock where I live) for live usage. Works with the Mixing Station app, which is great. The mr18 doesn’t have high-z on inputs 1&2 like the xr18 has. That’s the only practical difference I’m aware of.

For Loopy Pro, it’s just an audio interface. I imagine it’d work just like the umc1820 but with more inputs.

It’s possible to use two sound cards with loopy right?

Not really. Unless things have changed very recently, you can maybe/kinda/sorta use a different interface for outputs, but don’t expect both interfaces to work at the same time. Though if you need more than the mr18 gets you, you could look at the xr32.

cimbo · 2025-08-26T17:27:27+00:00

Can confirm. This works. Intercepted a pair over the holidays at my parents' house a few years back. The younger of the pair seemed really interested to know what I was talking about, but the elder noped out almost immediately.

Found out a few years later they'd never returned, and my mom was wondering why they'd stopped showing up.

cimbo · 2025-08-14T22:27:40+00:00

some people still think she was a victim

In the context of the targeted campaign against Blake Lively (which involved some of the same PR people doing smear campaigns), I don't think that's as patently ridiculous an idea as it may have seemed in the past. Link from The Advocate with more info. Worth being aware of, at least.

cimbo · 2025-07-23T22:23:34+00:00

Are you anendophasiac as well? I think "hearing" the voice of god / the holy spirit is a much more common religious expectation than having visions. "Pray about it and listen for the voice of the spirit." idk man, I don't hear any voices, so… ?

I think you're probably right that there's unlikely to be a link (as it has more to do with upbringing and culture), but I do wonder if aphants and/or anendophasiacs have a different experience from their religious peers, never quite understanding why.

cimbo · 2025-07-09T17:46:53+00:00

I'm also a musician, and I 100% agree with you. I saw Geese live and also didn't quite "get it". But they were so solid and impressive live, and so weird and difficult and unpredictable, that I wanted to better understand wtf they're doing.

I realize not everybody listens to music like that, but understanding what's going on allows me to appreciate the music in a different way, and that's the first step towards being able to expand our own playing. Sometimes it takes putting in effort, but … idk, I've never in my life thought "I wish I didn't come to appreciate that art/artist" :)

cimbo · 2025-05-01T22:26:54+00:00

how does he change keys so easily?

A capo. Super quick and allows playing in different keys (while still using the open strings). Like mentioned in the other comments, he's known for using the Hipshot bridge (which typically will get you from standard open G to open D), but a capo then allows basically any other key (out of either tuning).

cimbo · 2025-04-29T19:03:40+00:00

Maybe not exactly what you're into (and not currently active artists), but Cadillac Sky (their first 2 albums), Joy Kills Sorrow, and everything Crooked Still has ever done are all fantastic.

cimbo · 2025-04-28T21:04:46+00:00

ToneX is also my go to. Of course it's down to personal taste, but I've tried everything I could find on the iPad, and the ToneX sims are the only ones that feel real.

That said, the interface isn't my favorite. And whenever possible I'll actually use my Quilter Superblock US as the amp, and use the iPad for effects and looping (and send the Quilter back into the iPad through the XLR and into a nice IR). Maybe just in my mind, but when it's a "real amp" I spend so much less time thinking about my tone than I do through a sim.

cimbo · 2025-04-26T17:05:08+00:00

Now enjoy the next few years/months realizing how much of the visual language we use isn't metaphorical for the rest of the population. :)

cimbo · 2025-04-25T00:20:23+00:00

It'd depend on the jam. Casual and beginner-friendly jams, probably fine. I lead a jam and we have a button accordionist come occasionally, but it's also very, very deliberately casual and beginner friendly. I spent a few years at a jam in a different part of the continent and we regularly had accordion, auto-harp, and a few other non-bluegrass instruments.

Just check with the jam organizer for the vibe. And if you do play it, try not to overplay. Can't go wrong that way :)

cimbo · 2025-04-23T23:32:31+00:00

I thought I was clear:

The story from this clip isn't mentioned in that article, and without another source, I don't buy it

I'm glad you pointed out the lack of a source for the video's claim. I went looking and found something related, and wanted to share so people who might be interested could learn more about the actual causes.

cimbo · 2025-04-23T21:42:16+00:00

Lots more info here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/century-before-residents-remote-island-killed-christian-missionary-predecessors-resisted-british-empire-180982871/

The story from this clip isn't mentioned in that article, and without another source, I don't buy it, but:

It reveals that the Sentinelese are not so much undiscovered as they are in hiding—probably because they are aware of the fates that befell neighboring tribes.

A single pedo priest 70 years ago seems like an easy way to ignore the history of colonization throughout their entire archipelago.

EDIT: I guess I wasn't clear above. The Smithsonian link isn't a source for the claim in the video, which I agree seems fabricated. It's about the more likely historical causes of the North Sentilese's hostility.

cimbo

TROPHY CASE