Time To Pick This Up Again

 My 1946 vintage Regal lap steel guitar in Sunburst with matching amplifier. It was my Mother's. She started playing when she was 8 which would have been 1946. It spent a couple of decades in the attic of my parent's house. I have messed with it off and on since I was a teen.  Several years ago I restored it to what you see in the following photos. I replaced the strings with a set of John Pearse Am6 which gives it the "Hawaiian sound." I want to play blues on it, so it is going to get a new set of John Pearse "Open D" strings set #3160 from SteelGuitarShopper.com. It uses lighter gauge wire for older or delicate instruments.

The original case. The loose fasteners were all repaired

Dig that purple soft fur inside

A closeup of the headstock and original Regal decal. The original tuning keys were Mother of Pearl, but had crumbled away to nothing. I replaced them with faux Mother of Pearl for the original look. They simply press onto the spline of the tuner set.

The next photo is the business end. I disassembled everything, cleaned the pots, rewired and re-soldered all the connections. No more static or hums. I polished all the bright work and the pickup. While it was down to the bare wood body, I gave it a wipe down with Murphy's Oil Soap. It made the Sunburst finish pop. It also got a new 10' cord with gold-plated plug ends. The original was made of stiff wire and used telephone switchboard plugs. I kept it along with some other old parts.

Now I have seen these guitars for sale online anywhere from $299 to $800 depending on condition. The condition of mine put it with those at the higher end. I have never seen the matching amplifier that I have which still sounds great. I saw different Regal lap steel model with a matching amp and I believe it was like $1500 for both. I have no desire to part with any of this. After my demise, my wife can do whatever she wants with it.

The amp with its fitted cover on the left

The rear. The rubberized cord is like new

 

And finally, the stack of original music books she had. On the right were song sheets she bought at the local music store with pop songs and Christmas carols. Up on the top left folded up is her music stand.

I don't have any interest in playing the Hawaiian music that was popular when my Mother was young. Hawaii was not yet a state but was a cool and exotic place so everyone was into it. Her music class was quite large. I have a photo somewhere and there were like 20 kids in it. 

This is the video that got me interested again. I never knew my guitar could make such wonderful sounds, and so easy to play! He explains the tuning which is D-A-D-F#-A-D but his guitar is more modern than mine and can take the heavier strings of like a John Pearse #3150 Open D Heavy. I am also considering a different slide bar in place of the solid round stainless bar I have now. I like this Dunlop 928 Ben Harper Signature Tone Bar but I may be able to pick one up locally. It seems easier to hold and control. Maybe later add some effects like distortion and reverb.

Don't expect to see any music videos for a long time if at all. I haven't touched it in a long time, and with the cold dry air my fingers are cracked and painful.

I Will Be Watching & Enjoying

The confirmation hearing of one Kash Patel, that is.

I have been watching the hearings so far just to see how absolutely committed to personal destruction the Commies in The Senate are, and just how stupid it truly makes them look. I believe a group of Commie operatives sit with these morons in the so-called smoke filled back room and distribute the questions out among them so they all get to ask opposition questions. This is so it doesn't look like what it actually is.... BORKING a nominee. So far the nominees have weathered this onslaught. But I predict one nominee whose hearing has not been scheduled is gonna give it right back to them, prompting this post from me on X.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's right, nominee for FIBBIE Director, Kash Patel. Since it would appear despite the opposition from the Commies and RINOS, President Trump's nominees are going to be confirmed. I put this post out this morning after a terse discussion with my wife about not attending a family vacation in Florida because I am on a self-imposed no fly list. The other reason I won't go is because I refuse to visit or give one red cent to the woke fucking mouse.

 

 

 

 

If, after he takes over and does this, and the bullshit TSA kabuki theater could be minimized, I may fly commercial again.

Speaking of the FIBBIES, you motherfuckers only have 3 more days to kick in my door at zero-dark-thirty, terrorize my wife, kill me and our 4 dogs, or if I happen to survive.... haul me off to solitary confinement deep within Garland's Gulag.

FINALLY!!!

All the gear I ordered back on this post is finally out for delivery today. For fucks sake, I can never understand why the USPS does what it does with packages. Everything was originally scheduled to arrive Monday the 6th. Both the order from eBay and MidwayUSA were placed on January 3rd. The eBay items were coming out of Kommiefornia so the 6th was a little ambitious but I should have had it by the 8th. The same applies for the items from Midway which came out of St. Louis, MO. Nope, instead it bounced from bulk mail center to bulk mail center from CA or MO, PA, MA, and finally Kommiecticut. There were multiple scans of the packages at the same facility on the same day. Then (p)Resident Meat Puppet decided to declare "an official day of mourning" yesterday the 9th, shutting down the entire USPS! Both tracking numbers show them out for delivery today. We'll see. Our local post office only has four delivery trucks for the entire town, and sometimes they just don't finish their routes. Me being at the end of my carrier's route, well... I just don't get my mail until the next day when I have a pile in my mailbox.

President Trump has made mention of privatizing the USPS. Please do, Sir! Just like the plans for the Department of Education it should be completely eliminated from the inefficient behemoth of the federal government.

J6 Was NOT An Insurrection

It was an understandably angry but mostly peaceful protest that had elements of violence and rioting. But the majority of people at The Capitol on January 6, 2021 were simply on the grounds, walking around, peacefully protesting, and being let in to areas of The Capitol by the USCP. NO USCP personnel were killed (even though the propaganda media still insists 1-4 were depending on the outlet), however the same cannot be said for an unarmed woman named Ashli Babbit.

Had January 6th been a REAL insurrection, every tree and lamppost would have been decorated with the mortal remains of tyrants and their minions.

In 13 days, the J6 political prisoners will be pardoned and released. Cope and seethe.

With that, I say that January 6th should be viewed as a warning to those that cheat in elections or otherwise undermine The U.S. Constitution and plan to do so in the future. If J6 horrifies you, imagine what American Patriots could REALLY Do if we were so inclined. You have been warned!

 

What prompted me to write this was wanting to comment on this post by Roberta X over at The Adventures of Roberta X, but after reading her comment rules I did not hold out much hope that my comment would see the light of day. Therefore, I will respond here where I control the content. She says J6 was an ugly day with more ugly days ahead. I say that all depends on Libturds and Commies behaving themselves and not starting something WE PATRIOTS WILL FINISH.

Change My Mind

Killary Rotten Clinton and the former SS Nazi George Soros should have been given a bullet to the back of the skull instead of The Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Liz Cheney and Bennie Thompson can take their Presidential Citizens Medals to prison with them and hang them on their cell walls.

ALL OF THESE AWARDS WERE A GIANT "FUCK YOU!" TO NORMAL AMERICA (meaning not the Commies).

Indoor Training & Dry Fire

I spent some time the other day wearing and testing out my tactical gear indoors at home. With the terrorist attacks of New Years Day and the second Trump Inauguration coming soon, I thought it a good idea. As an old guy that served in the military from 1981-1987, I am most familiar with LBE web gear and a steel pot so that is what I have. It is currently set up for my G-17 in a GI holster on the right, two spare pistol mags at 6 o' clock, a small arms pouch at 1 o' clock, and a 3-mag pouch for my PCC-9 at 11 o' clock. My canteen sits at 7:30, the Ka-Bar at 9 o' clock. On the suspenders on one side is my lensatic compass, and the other has first aid dressings. The mag pouch for the PCC-9 and small arms pouch can be swapped out for 2 GI 3x30 round mag pouches for use in one of my other non-specified rifles I may or may not possess. The small arms pouch could be repurposed as a full IFAK with items from my FD EMT bag. I am to old to go looking for a fight or to willingly engage in CQB. I am more about defending my homestead or if I get caught in the shit while out and about.

So I made a couple of minor adjustments to the gear, specifically to my Ka-Bar sheath. I have a length of paracord at the bottom to keep it from flopping away from my leg. Because I permanently moved it to the left side the paracord was now too long in the front to tie on the front of my leg, so it was adjusted to my liking. I also decided to try and figure out a sling arrangement for the PCC-9. I have some items coming Monday.

A pair of Magpul MAG540 QD quick disconnect sling swivels from eBay

From MidwayUSA:

A Magpul M-LOK QD Sling Mount Aluminum Black

Catalyst Arms Hardpoint Length of Pull Spacer Ruger PC Carbine Aluminum Black

Blue Force Gear Vickers Combat Applications Rifle Sling Nylon Black

Midwest Industries Bolt Handle Ruger PC9 Steel Matte

I watched a video about a sling arrangement that I liked for the PCC-9. The spacer is metal instead of the factory plastic and has the QD holes in it on both sides.The Blue Force Gear sling has a pull tab to loosen or tighten the sling with one hand. The M-LOK sling mount will give me the front mount on the M-LOK hand guard. And the extended bolt handle came from reload practice and carrying with the sling. I had the bolt handle on the left side of the rifle even though I am right handed. It made for fast one hand/left hand reloads, but with the new sling carrying across my body, that bolt handle would dig right into my chest. So I moved it back to the right side and practiced doing some AK style reloads. Doing that I found the standard bolt handle to be lacking. The new one will be slightly longer and knurled. I practiced several evolutions of reloads with the mags loaded with Snap Caps. I did really well with the AK style of bolt operation, but felt like a fucking Commie doing it. 😆

Next I moved to the G-17 for some reload practice with the mags at 6 o' clock. I also did some needed dry fire practice and now that I loaded a quantity of 9mm, will get to range when the temps moderate a bit. I will have my entire ensemble with me to practice with live ammo. As usual, it will be on a weekday and I will have the place to myself.