First one, then the other ...

Saturday, April 11, 2015 -- I've been rotating which guitars I've been playing, and this week I've taken back up with my Oscar Schmidt OE-30. It really is a beautiful guitar, save for damage on the lower main bout. There's a couple of cracks in the top at the lower "f" hole, though I'm not convinced these are wood cracks or just finish cracks.

The guitar plays great; I got the guitar dirt cheap on the chance it would play OK ... so far it has.

One interesting note ... for the majority of my guitar playing over the last few years, I'm seated. Well, last night I'm playing "California Girls" with the Beach Boy's 50th anniversary live album, and decide to play standing up a while.

Actually, playing was quite a bit easier because the neck was in a more comfortable position in relation to my  left hand. I'm thinking a tall stool might be a better way to sit and play, rather than my office chair.

Anyway, I've decided that I really, really like the Elixir polyweb strings I put on my  Peavey strat. I have 9s on all of my guitars right now, so when I need to order another couple of sets, I'll buy polywebs I think.

HARD TAIL STRAT?  Every time I pick up my Peavey, I have to retune it. Sometimes it needs returning while I'm playing. This is just part of the tremolo issue I know, though my Peavey doesn't have the tremolo arm, it still has the strat-style tremolo mechanics.

I've decided I'm going to block the tremolo on mine using half-dollars and dimes. It will be an easily reversible mod that should help improve its tuning stability. The mod I saw on Youtube places the half-dollars (taped together in a stack) on the bottom of the tremolo mechanism, and two dimes taped together on the other side.

The bridge on mine stays relatively flat, but I know it shifts some when played. Of all my guitars, it is the one that needs retuning most (of course, all the rest are hard tails).

Rock on!