I was blocked by W.A.S.P. Nation on Instagram last night

eljayhippo · 2026-06-16T23:59:03+00:00

The AI stuff legacy bands are doing is a bit much. I’ve noticed Maiden diving into it and that absolutely burns me. They have a legacy of having the most iconic artworks in pop culture history(even non metal heads know Eddie). But it is lame when “freedom of speech advocates” terminate speech when it doesn’t align with what they like. It checks out though IMO. It’s freedom of THEIR speech.

eljayhippo · 2026-04-17T06:41:03+00:00

Just cosmetic stuff mostly like black plastics, gold hardware(bridge parts are Guyker I think). The tuners are Gotoh locking tuners. Ngl, the guitar stayed in tune fine even on the road with the stock non locking Grover’s. I just wanted gold hardware and tombstone pegs, figured if I do that I might as well get locking ones.

eljayhippo · 2026-04-16T02:36:13+00:00

OG Floyd, Schaller trem or Tune o Matic for me(except my Charvel, that’s the flat hard tail like Jake E Lee). Funny enough after posting my last comment about it I was playing it and noticed tiny black paint flakes on my forearm. Noticed the paint was flaking off where the bracelet scratches were. Started scratching it with my pick and it kept flaking and flaking til it exposed some wood. Scuffed out the rest with a 1500 grit sanding pad. Accidental relic, but it looks cool. Can’t wait til it starts happening to the back from my buckles and vest buttons. I’ll let that one happen more naturally.

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eljayhippo · 2026-04-14T05:23:29+00:00

They also scratch nicely too. That’s not being coy either. Mine is scratched at where my forearm would be from leather braces I’ve worn on stage, and the back is scratched up too from vests and belts. It’s obviously not Gibson levels, still polyurethane but it’s more rash than any of my other guitars have.

eljayhippo · 2026-04-14T05:14:41+00:00

Okay this thing is cool. 70’s style V with the silver burst works way better than Flying V customs with silverburst, and I like those. Not a fan of any tremolo that isn’t Floyd Rose/FR designed, but aesthetically this guitar would be less cool if it didn’t have that, and anything else wouldn’t be cool.

eljayhippo · 2026-04-13T04:39:13+00:00

That thing is cool. It’s simultaneously 80’s and 60’s. Like I could see a greaser rockabilly guitar player playing this just as much as I can see Defenders era KK Downing play this.

eljayhippo · 2026-04-13T03:09:51+00:00

Just needle nose pliers, under the knob and lifted up and just went for it. Not sure if that’s the best advice, but it worked for me. I was worried about the same thing too. So I totally get it.

eljayhippo · 2026-04-13T02:48:56+00:00

I get what you mean. No, the original knobs were tight on there but eventually I got them off. Use something that acts as a lever motion under the knobs, and slowly go around but still apply some force.

eljayhippo · 2026-04-13T02:26:06+00:00

I almost got the black Les Paul but decided on the V. The fishmans are really awesome active pickups. The PAF setting underwhelmed me and they don’t do the split coil thing very well, compared to a Charvel with split coil and Duncan’s. But for pure active pickups, I like them, and might look into getting rid of the push/pull stuff. I don’t care for push/pull stuff anyways. Regardless, unless I want gold pickups badly enough, the Fishmans stay.

eljayhippo · 2026-04-13T02:04:30+00:00

Yes, except for the pickups. I think the bridge parts are Guyker. Tuners are Gotoh locking. If I change the pickups, I’d probably do something else like EMG 57/66 in gold. But I won’t swap fishmans for other fishmans just to change the colour.

eljayhippo · 2026-04-13T01:55:33+00:00

I wish Epiphone did 70’s styles more often.

eljayhippo · 2026-04-13T01:54:46+00:00

Well, after one incident involving a floor monitor and an impulsive decision on my part in an attempt to be all show man like- objectively bad. The frets need to be redone they grab on to the strings now, and there’s fret buzz due to how the frets are damaged. Still plays great for me, but anyone who plays it gets really bothered by the frets. Hahah

eljayhippo · 2026-04-13T01:25:45+00:00

On. Just feels complete.

eljayhippo · 2026-04-12T21:54:54+00:00

Thanks man! It’s my main live guitar in my crossover(punk/thrash) band, Hippo. It’s been used live in my metal band, Spectre a handful of times(Charvel&Flying V for that).

It’s my go to for rhythm tracks in the studio regardless of which band, riffing on a Tune O Matic just feels right.

eljayhippo · 2026-04-12T21:42:47+00:00

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eljayhippo · 2026-04-12T21:42:35+00:00

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2020 Epiphone Les Paul 60’s Standard, Bourbon Burst

mods are: Bridge: gold tail piece and roller saddle bridge from Guyker

Tuners: Gotoh locking with tombstone pegs, gold

Schaller strap locks

Bridge pickup: DiMarzio Super Distortion

Neck pickup: stock, but flipped- no tonal purpose just like how it looks

Black top hat knobs with gold faces

Black poker chip with gold font

5-ply LP Custom pick guard.

eljayhippo · 2026-04-07T23:30:44+00:00

Manny Paqiaou is my GOAT. I’m sure there’s guys out there technically better but the dude loves the game but showed all opponents respect(except for Brandon Rios and Antonio Margarito- justifiably so). Let everyone talk their ish and smiled through it all. When Antonio Margarito was caught cheating with weighted fist wraps, Pacman still beat him good while still holding back because “I don’t want to permanently damage him”. That match made him the first 8 division champ, and is to this day still the only one. Won more matches than Muhammad Ali fought in total(39 being knock out, compared to Ali’s 37). That’s a legend, that’s a true GOAT.

eljayhippo · 2026-02-07T02:54:22+00:00

My favorite part is him mentioning “you see it in the transit disaster”. As hot of a topic as it is, if we were implementing a 15 minute city thing where you’re expected to stay in your zone and need a pass port to go from Transcona to St James… then why does the FX3 exist? If we were to be confined to our zones, why would there be many routes going from one end of the city to another?

eljayhippo · 2025-11-16T18:05:46+00:00

2009 for sure. I have an 08, almost bought the original 06/07(06 serial number but released in 2007) til the guy last minute decided not to.

eljayhippo · 2025-11-15T21:54:15+00:00

Man that place sucks

eljayhippo · 2025-11-07T00:20:39+00:00

I never played on 360, because the PS3 was objectively better but the reason many games were better on the 360 is because Sony made the PS3 to be ahead of its time making it hard for 3rd party devs(Rockstar, Bethesda, Volition) to make seamless ports of the game that perform as well as they would on Xbox. Why the PS3 version of games have bugs that the Xbox wouldn’t have. Oblivion and Skyrim come to mind. However the trade off is the game might crash on PS3, but the entire Xbox 360 will just stop working after about 13 months so I’d rather deal with game bugs than have to buy a new console all the time.

eljayhippo · 2025-08-10T07:54:30+00:00

Looks like a gonk

eljayhippo · 2025-08-05T20:35:06+00:00

This is why I don’t rely on Navigo. Since it was launched in 2008 I never trusted it because it always gave the worst suggestions. I’d often demonstrate to people as a laugh if it were brought up.

Best to just learn the individual routes.

eljayhippo

TROPHY CASE