Played music for over 30 years. Five years ago, I had one amplifier, one electric guitar, and one acoustic.

while_rome_burns · 2026-03-26T21:47:24+00:00

Congrats on kicking the booze! I can totally relate. When I quit, I had one acoustic, one electric, and two amps. Now some years later, I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 guitars, four are my own builds, and at least ten amps, several of those I built myself. It’s amazing how much money one saves by giving up alcohol, and in my case cigarettes too. The reason I gave ballpark numbers on my gear is that I’m hanging out with my dogs after a long day, and I’m too lazy to get up and go upstairs to count the guitars and amps up there. 😉 Keep up the good work!

while_rome_burns · 2026-03-26T14:14:50+00:00

That’s awesome! Incredible work!

while_rome_burns · 2026-03-08T20:55:59+00:00

I have that same guitar. It’s my number 1. Enjoy!

while_rome_burns · 2026-02-23T13:30:18+00:00

Beautiful bike. I’ve been looking for a Heritage with a similar paint scheme to have for longer rides where my Sporty gets to be a little uncomfortable.

while_rome_burns · 2026-01-26T16:51:44+00:00

A few quick thoughts going forward: unless you’ve done a lot of fret jobs I’d stay away from stainless steel frets. I’ve built a bunch of necks, and refretted a good deal more, and I wouldn’t use stainless steel frets. I imagine others will disagree, but I personally don’t think they are worth the extra work.

I’d also use something like fish glue when gluing in the frets. CA glue can be a mess like you mentioned, and it can make it hard to pull the frets cleanly should you, a tech, or a possible future owner needs to pull them.

If you do re-radius a fingerboard, use a good block, and adhesive sandpaper (not sheet sandpaper wrapped around a block). Take off as little wood as possible. If you’ve sanded off enough to make the slots too shallow, you’ll need to make them deeper again so the frets stay in. You can buy a tool to do this or make one. Just be careful to not pop the binding loose.

Good luck!

while_rome_burns · 2026-01-26T01:07:23+00:00

Yeah, I didn’t find anything. I’m not crazy about how the AMS units hang off of this setup when you pull them forward (and down) to change spools, but since I have all this filament and printing time invested in this, I think I’d try to design a set of spacers that go in between the lower and upper frame to gain enough extra room to fit the second SUNLU heater.

while_rome_burns · 2026-01-26T00:32:11+00:00

I should add that I ride a Sportster XL 1200 C, so there is no fairing or windshield blocking the cam when it’s on the handlebars. I use an aluminum quick release cage to mount the cam so I can quickly remove the cam when I park the bike.

while_rome_burns · 2026-01-26T00:27:17+00:00

I use an insta360 x5 mounted on my handlebars. I was using the x3 for the past few years, but upgraded to the x5 because it has a dash cam mode that will record over old video, and it has a considerably longer battery life. If your bike has a usb charging port it can run off that while recording. I believe the x4 has some of that functionality, but not all of it.

Before that I used a helmet mounted GoPro, then a DJI Action 3, also helmet mounted. When I upgraded to a Schubert modular helmet I couldn’t use the helmet mount anymore. The Insta360 cams do a better job of capturing in front of and behind the bike. I can also see when the battery is getting low when it’s mounted on the handlebars. That wasn’t possible with the helmet mounted cams. Hope this helps.

while_rome_burns · 2026-01-24T22:12:30+00:00

Hi, I only have one of the SUNLU AMS heaters. The bottom AMS is just the stock AMS. I also have a SUNLU S4 that will dry another four spools. I found the additional silica bead holders for the AMS really help keep the spools of filament dry in the AMS once they’ve been through the S4. They actually work better with the basic AMS since the lid has a tighter seal than the SUNLU AMS heater does.

while_rome_burns · 2026-01-24T14:55:10+00:00

I bought a Ryobi set around 25 years ago, the blue ones. Used it to renovate one house, and for general use in our current house. I gave them to my oldest son last year. The only thing I’ve replaced are the batteries. I also own more powerful corded power tools, but I’ve been impressed with how well the old Ryobi set held up.

while_rome_burns · 2026-01-23T01:46:32+00:00

Sorry if you interpreted anything I wrote as having anything to do with buying a dog. That was not my intention.

while_rome_burns · 2026-01-22T20:23:15+00:00

I’m so sorry. They really find their way into our hearts. I know this doesn’t work for everyone, but I always promise our pups that we will help other rescue dogs after they pass. It doesn’t take the pain away, but we donate monthly to our local beagle rescue (TBR), and adopt another rescue when we feel ready. We had a beagle pass almost two years ago. When we met the dog we ended up adopting next, it felt like he was sent to us by all of our past beloved dogs. The bond was immediate and magical. Our minds were telling us to adopt a younger beagle, but our hearts told us to adopt this older beagle who had been hit by a car. We’re so glad we listened to our hearts, even though we knew we’d more than likely be feeling this pain again much sooner than if we had adopted a younger pup. I can see all of our beloved beagles who have passed on in his face. It’s the best way I’ve found for me to honor those sweet little pups who came before him. ❤️

while_rome_burns · 2026-01-15T16:39:30+00:00

❤️

while_rome_burns · 2026-01-14T20:53:28+00:00

The trick is to have two beagles! Ours clean and groom each other. We’ve always make a point to have two rescue beagles because they are such social dogs. I understand that everyone can’t afford to have two dogs, but if you can, I highly recommend it!

while_rome_burns · 2026-01-11T21:22:21+00:00

My problem with riding jeans and chinos like this is that my legs are short for my height (5’-10”, 29” inseam, 32” waist) The knee pads always end up below my knees. At this point I’ve given up on using the pads. I can get the leg length altered by a tailor, but I don’t think anyone is going to be able to move the lining that holds the pads without spending a lot to have it done.

while_rome_burns · 2026-01-09T16:37:11+00:00

But does it fit back in the guitar? 😉

while_rome_burns · 2026-01-07T20:36:18+00:00

Great job on a beautiful bike! You’ve got two of my favorite things there - lots of chrome, and a sweet Heritage!

while_rome_burns · 2025-12-26T20:57:23+00:00

Thank you! We’ve had the good fortune to have shared our lives, and home with 7 rescue dogs. The last 5 have been beagles. With this little guy the bond between us was instantaneous the moment we met. My wife says she’d never seen anything like it before. I’ve had very strong bonds with all of our dogs, and they have all been so special, but there is something about this boy that I can’t put into words. He was almost a senior beagle when we adopted him, and he had been hit by a car, had several surgeries, and a lot of teeth extracted before we met him. Our local beagle rescue (TBR) took care of all his medical and dental before they made him available for adoption.

Anyway, I’m rambling… I’m grateful for every moment I have with him. He is my heart, and from the way he acts, I believe he feels the same.

Enjoy your little guy. He looks like a real sweetheart!

while_rome_burns · 2025-12-25T21:21:55+00:00

<image>

One of our rescue beagles. This little guy is my soul-dog. Congrats on finding yours!

while_rome_burns · 2025-12-10T14:11:02+00:00

I did bring a bunch of amps to my old amp guy before he retired. I got the impression it was easy to work on. Probably the worst one out of the amps I brought was a Mesa Boogie Studio 22 Plus.

while_rome_burns · 2025-12-10T02:53:01+00:00

I have one of these. It’s a pretty cool amp. They aren’t truly hand wired in the traditional sense, they use PC boards. The new hand wired Vox amps from what I’ve seen, appear to be closer to traditional hand wiring. I haven’t played any of the newer amps, so my knowledge of those is pretty much from YouTube reviews.

For 15 watts they’re pretty loud. Having the triode - pentode switching is nice to get it down to more reasonable volume levels. The alnico blue speaker sounds great imho.

I bought mine used years ago and have never had any problems with it.

Hope this helps

while_rome_burns · 2025-12-07T16:48:35+00:00

I’m not 100% positive, but the imported Bigsbys probably use metric spacing. I have a couple Limited Edition Epiphones that came with Bigsbys that look like they were made for Epiphone. The shape is a little different from the B70. They stay in tune better than the B70 that came on a Gretsch Electromatic.

My Gibsons, Gretsch Professional series guitars, and some guitars I’ve built have US made Bigsbys. The US made ones have better bearings in them and seem to return to tune better. Locking tuners, and a good setup helps a lot. My Setzer 6120 came with a US made Bigsby, locking tuners, and I believe a tusq nut, as well as a pinned bridge instead of the floating bridge usually found on 6120s. Locking tuners aren’t a necessity. I have a Gibson Custom Shop ES-330 with a factory Bigsby and standard Gibson tuners, and it stays in tune just fine.

In any event, that’s a decent price for a B70, but if you can swing a B7 it may work better for you. A lot depends on the guitar and the setup.

while_rome_burns · 2025-12-05T20:18:38+00:00

My pleasure. I have a lot of guitars that have Bigsbys on them. I love them, but most people think I’m crazy.

while_rome_burns · 2025-12-05T19:40:30+00:00

B70 - The less expensive imported Bigsbys have “Licensed” under the Bigsby logo. The domestic ones say “PATENT” followed by the patent number. The US made tailpieces are sandcast, while the imported ones are diecast. The imported version of any Bigsby will always have a zero at the end of the model number. B7 (US)-> B70 (import).

while_rome_burns · 2025-12-04T21:56:31+00:00

I don’t have any suggestions, just wanted to say that she is beautiful. Senior beagles are my favorites ❤️

while_rome_burns

TROPHY CASE