Conclave 2025

I was raised a Catholic, but abandoned going to Mass decades ago. I have five of the seven Holy Sacraments in my resume'; Baptism, Communion, Confession, Confirmation, and Holy Matrimony. Unless my wife passes away and I then decide to become a priest, the final one will be The Last Rites making six. Unless Mass EVER returns to the traditional Latin Mass of prior to the Second Vatican Council, I don't see myself ever going again, except for weddings and funerals. To me Novus Ordo seemed that it was more about collections and money than celebrating Jesus Christ, and Mass had just become more and more fucking goofy as they change prayers and responses.

That said, this is the 6th Conclave in my lifetime. Pope John XXIII died when I was a baby. Pope Paul VI served through most of my youth. Then came the super short tenure of John Paul I, followed by John Paul II. He was my favorite by far, being Polish and helping Reagan and Thatcher destroy the Soviet Union. Then came Benedict XVI who strangely resigned becoming "Pope Emeritus", giving us the now "Good Commie" Jorge' Bergoglio aka Pope Francis.

This is the first Conclave with this much online, social media, and news media coverage. I am watching the proceedings on Newsmax. While I don't give a rat's ass who becomes Pope, I do find the process interesting in a historical manner. I can't wait to see them lock and seal the doors.

A Man's Stay-cation

Last week, I was supposed to join my wife, adult daughter, and several of my daughter's friends on  her 40th birthday celebration in Florida at the house of the mouse. The two main reasons I chose NOT to go are; #1) I am on a self-imposed commercial "NO FLY LIST" meaning I refuse to fly commercial anywhere. This way I avoid having to be disarmed, the TSA Kabuki theater bullshit, and any of the "wild animals" acting out in airports or on airplanes. I have seen Europe twice and don't care to go back, and anywhere I desire to go here in the states I will drive to. The single exception is if my father-in-law passes and I need to go to Florida with my wife and her family. #2) I refuse to give one red cent to that woke mess called Disney. I made all this abundantly clear to my wife and daughter months before they went and they felt it was my loss. Oh how wrong they were. Until that corporation returns to its non-woke, family oriented content and environment I will never return. I cashed in two 24 hour PTO days from last year to pay for my time off and still have 12 hours left over. My last shift ended at 06:00 AM on April 11th, and today is my first day back. Nine glorious days off, including not attending two training sessions which I will probably hear about, but TPTB are not going to like my response to. It's called a fucking vacation and that means you don't see me until I come back to work!

On the 11th I helped my wife get ready and did stuff around the house. My daughter stayed over at our place so we could leave early. We left at 06:15 AM to drive to Logan Airport Saturday morning the 12th. What an absolute shitshow ride that was. Cold temperatures, heavy snow, and no roads treated or plowed. We thought the MA Turnpike would be better, but oh no, it was far worse. And the heavy wet snow was accumulating on the asphalt and freezing. Not until we got to about Framingham did conditions improve, and luckily any of the accidents we passed were minor spin outs. By the time we got to Boston it was as if the bad weather behind us was nonexistent. I got them to the airport on time and quickly got the hell out of there. The ride home was easy-peasy, because by that time roads were clear and wet and the snow was gone. Time to start my stay-cation! I had to take care of my normal weekend chores except laundry which got done the day before.

The next few days were me doing some of my favorite things and eating meals I like. Sunday I went to the range. I usually only go during the week when I have the place to myself. A couple of guys came over after Trap to each fire a few handgun rounds and then left. I was now by myself for testing some subsonic .22LR ammo I bought from an estate sale. I tried some in a semi-auto rifle and pistol. It would not cycle in either one so I ran it manually. Accuracy was fine so it should be good for pesky chipmunks out of my bolt action .22 rifle. I then put a few cylinders through my 1935 vintage S&W K-22 Outdoorsman. Of course it functioned just fine and I repeatedly dinged the hanging steel plates at 25 yards. Next up, my US Patriot 1775 home built sniper rifle. Originally a 1939 Soviet Mosin-Nagant 91/30 from the Izhevsk Armory, this reformed Commie now serves to support and defend The United States and The Constitution against ALL ENEMIES, FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC. Targets of opportunity from a far away hidey hole, don'cha know.

This rifle fires my precision measured and loaded ammunition with PPU 7.62x45r fire formed brass to this rifle's chamber that is neck sized only. The bullet is a 174 gr Sierra Matchking BTHP in .311" diameter. Some rifles are .308" but most of the Russian ones are .311" I slugged mine to find out. Accuracy with .308 factory ammo is less then satisfactory for obvious reasons. The powder is 45 grains of Hogdgon Varget. The primer is Winchester Large Rifle. I measured the chamber length and have the bullet seated 0.005" off the lands. Chronographed muzzle velocity is 2580 fps. Accuracy is better than I can make it shoot. More practice would definitely help for sure. That and a trip to the eye doctor for some new glasses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking downrange to 200 yards

 

200 yard backstop circled in yellow

17" spatter target with added 2" bullseye

 

A closer view. I'll try again after a visit to the eye doctor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I started by verifying zero at 100 yards and it was dead on. Next out to the range maximum of 200 yards. After some windage adjustment, controlling my breathing, and waiting for my heart rate to slow so I could time my shot between beats, shot #5 was as close as I was probably gonna get. Definitely close enough for my purposes. I then proceeded to hit the 12" gong and then the smaller 6" gong I had stood up on its side on some timbers on the ground. It makes a really loud "THOK!" sound when hit. After 3 shots at the smaller gong it fell over. I decided to see if I could hit it lying on the side.

On its side with 3 fresh shiny shot marks

 

 

Exactly where I was aiming. Perfect!

 

I went down range to pickup my targets and then back to the firing line to pack up for home. I headed home to secure all my firearms and ammo, and have some lunch. The plan was to go fishing early evening to dark so I got my fishing gear in shape. Later, I headed to my club pond a little before 6 PM and was met by my neighbor and his 9 year old grandson. The grandson was pretty rambunctious splashing a stick in the water and then hooking my rod when he tried to cast. No biggie, I caught a nice largemouth bass anyway and then I moved to the left of them near the pond outlet and deeper water where I promptly caught another smaller largemouth. Every evening except Wednesday (too cold and windy) I returned to the club pond and had great success with both bass and trout, landing a decent 14" Rainbow Trout on Thursday. Since all my tackle has the barbs crimped, catch and release is easy and not hard on the fish. They all swam away quickly. I went home at dark to feed the dogs and watch a streaming movie (I don't remember what I watched) but it was definitely something my wife would not care for.

Monday was supposed to be the warmest day of the week with highs in the 70's, so late morning I headed out on The Beast for the Kommiecticut shoreline, specifically Niantic and Skipper's Seafood on RT. 156. It was more crowded than usual since the kids were out of school for spring break. But since I had nothing but time I had no problem waiting to order, then waiting for my food. $22.54 for a fish sandwich with onion rings and a bottle of soda was a little expensive, but man was it good and screaming hot. Their onion rings are lightly battered and sliced very thin like shoestring french fries. I thought I might stop for ice cream on the way home but I was too full. I got home and decided to play some guitar before heading out for an evening of fishing. The 1946 vintage case is in pretty good shape, but the old leather handle was falling apart and I really didn't want it to break making me drop it. I found a Gibson style excellent replacement handle on eBay and ordered it for $29 plus tax. The new handle arrived on Thursday and fit my old case perfectly.

What's left of the original handle. It went in the trash.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The new handle installed on the original hardware. Nicely made

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other than fishing on Tuesday evening, I don't recall what I did all of Tuesday and Wednesday during the day. I do know Tuesday afternoon I took my little poodle girl for a walk around the town park and then along the river on the linear trail. We had the place to ourselves and she got to have some quality alone time with Daddy. 

 

Wednesday was in the 40's and very windy. I am surprised I didn't lose power. Thursday I rotated out my snow removal equipment for my lawn upkeep equipment. The lawnmower and weed whacker got fueled up and started on the first couple of pulls as usual. The snowblower got a fresh oil change and then the fuel tank drained after I drove it down to the barn. I pulled all of my wicker porch furniture from the back of the barn. The snowblower then went to the back of the barn with the snow shovels. I had backed my truck and trailer down to the barn to load all the furniture to bring up to the front porch in one shot. I was outside all day and then back out in the evening for fishing until dark. The fishing action every night has been great. Friday morning after breakfast I took a trip to BJ's for a restock in anticipation of my wife's return. I am also in the process of rotating out all of my generator gas storage from last spring, so I picked up 25 gallons in my Jerry cans and then topped off my truck. That leaves five more Jerry cans to dump in our vehicles to burn up and then refill. This gives me a total of 70 gallons of gas on hand which this time of year could have my generator run about 10 days at full power. 20 days if I was to run conservatively and even longer if I siphon some out of my vehicles. I would only do this if I was unable to buy gas because of a regional outage due to large scale system damage. Luckily that has never happened. After going to BJ's I came home and put everything away and made some lunch. After lunch it was out for another cruise on The Beast. I only went about 50 miles, but 50 miles of wind therapy will do anyone some good. I went home, had some supper, and then out fishing for the evening until dark.

Saturday evening I was to return to Logan to get the wife, so I wanted to make sure I managed my time during the day properly. A week earlier we went to Boston in snow. Saturday the 19th it was predicted to be 85. My club had our big spring cleanup work party in anticipation for our two big fishing events and our big summertime fundraiser event. I worked from 08:00 to about 11:00 on the pond detail. I figured since I have been doing so much fishing I would concentrate my efforts there. After that the weekly trip to the dump, home for lunch, and then some guitar time sitting out on my front porch entertaining the birds and squirrels. My wife and I had dinner plans for on the way home, so I needed to shower and put on some clean duds. Her flight was due to land at 6:06 PM, so I left at 4:00 PM in case of unexpected traffic to Boston.

I decided that since I would have to sit in a cell phone lot for an unknown amount of time and then have to hit a rest area on the way home, I would have to play my game of "Felon-Not A Felon" by carrying my EDC into the Republik of Massachusetts without their "permission slip." As I cross the imaginary line at the state border where I magically transform into a felon and then back again, I call out "Felon-Not A Felon!" Because of the warm weather I was wearing cargo shorts and carrying my S&W 45 Shield in a DeSantis pocket holster in my right thigh pocket, a spare mag in my left thigh pocket, and as usual my SOG Instinct blade horizontally at 11 o'clock. Traffic was non existent and I arrived at the cell phone lot at Logan Airport at 5:15 PM. There is a sign in the lot with all the "rules"... no unattended vehicles, no idling over 5 minutes, 30 minute maximum wait time. Wait, WHAT? It's over 80 miles to Logan from my house, how the fuck am I supposed to know what traffic will be or if her flight is on time? Well, I decided to see just how that gets enforced. If necessary I would just circle the airport and then return to the lot if I got kicked out. Certainly don't want any trouble with "authorities" while carrying. It turns out, no one enforced anything, so I sat and waited listening to streaming music. The flight was on time and my wife called me saying that she and my daughter would be waiting curbside for pickup. Aw man... my daughter was supposed to have a friend pick her up. There goes a nice dinner with my wife because going out to dinner with my daughter (the vegan freak) is beyond tedious, so I normally avoid it. I got to their location in just a few minutes, loaded their luggage, and headed for the airport exit and the Mass Pike. After drinking a bottle of water and sitting for so long in the cell lot, I needed to hit the first rest area in Framingham heading westbound. We arrived at the rest area and all went in because my wife and daughter wanted drinks, I went straight to the Men's room. While at the urinal doing my part to recycle, in walks a MA State Trooper and goes to the urinal more than the appropriate anti-gay distance away. I watch him out of the corner of my eye, but he pays me no mind as he has probably been on the road for a couple of hours and just wants to relieve himself. I finished first and walked behind him to get to the sink to wash my hands. He heads for the sink as I am exiting the restroom. As I am walking across the main concourse of the rest area I see him come out and then head into the convenience store. Never saw him again, but man if he only knew. The advantage of concealed carry. The girls got their drinks and we got back on the road.

The rest of the ride home was uneventful. We hit a heavy rainstorm west of Worcester and down I -84 which was good because it washed most of the salt off my wife's car from the previous ride to Boston. When we hit the Kommiecticut state line I said quietly "Felon-Not A Felon" and my wife asked "what did you just say?" to which I replied nothing, just mumbling to myself. When we got closer to home we came out of the rain and as we came down the home stretch on the main road everything was completely dry.

My wife and daughter and her friends had a great time. Not the kind of fun I would care for. And they got to see The Old Man (my wife's father) while they were there. He will be up for the summer next month and we hang out on my days off.

Wow.

Yet another reason to hate and yearn for the utter destruction of Commies. They have decimated the poultry industry, even at my level. I foolishly got too busy and was too late calling my supplier last fall that I had used for the last several years. When I called them the other day to order some new Rhode Island Red pullets (young hens just about ready to start laying) they said they have none and are closing down their family business. Shit.

This is all caused by the stupid policies of the former administration in culling hundreds of millions of laying hens because avian flu. This not only caused egg prices to spike, but created a shortage of replacement birds. I began searching for a new source. The first ones I checked were sold out until later this year.

I finally found a supplier over 50 miles away that will have exactly what I need so I placed an online order. But holy shit, the price! $49 per bird! I will be driving downstate to get them because their delivery charge is $2.50 per mile round trip... almost $200! The most I have paid in the past was $15 per bird for the Rhode Island Reds. I have gotten Leghorns from UConn at $6 per laying hen. Every year they turn over their flock for the next school year and sell the birds off. But they are commercial stock birds that have been laying for a year before I get them and they didn't seem to lay for very long afterwards. They lay giant white eggs that I can't believe come out of such a small bird. There is one left in my flock that is basically just a pet. She is in my face in the coop while I clean the nesting boxes in the morning and is right at my feet when I am out there. I prefer the nice brown eggs of the RIR. This also means I will be raising my price to $5.00 per dozen for any surplus I sell starting now.

Brought Back Memories

Yesterday morning I did a Patriot Guard mission at the CT Air National Guard base in East Granby. It was a send off for the 103rd Airlift Wing on a deployment. The PGR was there to stand a flag line. There were about a dozen of us and although there was media present, none of the local outlets have posted a story. Here is a link to the media advisory from the 103d and below is an excerpt about their mission:

The Guardsmen will provide logistical, mechanical, and mission support to forces deployed within various global combatant commands supporting of Operations Spartan Shield, Inherent Resolve, and Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa.

They regularly fly their C-130s over my house at low altitude every couple of days heading east out towards Cape Cod and I assume Otis AFB. Later the same day they fly heading west back to Bradley. Occasionally they'll fly contour at maybe 500 feet. Some people in town are frightened or annoyed by it and complain, but I think it is way cool! In fact, so many military aircraft fly over my house I believe my house is a navigation waypoint. In addition to the C-130's, I get pairs of F-15's, UH-60 Blackhawks, CH-47 Chonooks, and the occasional C-5 Galaxy, OV-22 Osprey, or CH-53 Sea Stallion directly overhead. Sometimes it's like my own private airshow. 

I had to work until my FD shift ended at 06:00. I thankfully got out on time, went home to clean my chicken coop, shower and change clothes, grabbed a breakfast sandwich and coffee, and made the less than 1 hour ride to the air base. I did not ride "The Beast" because my driveway went from a frozen glacier to a mud hole suitable for 4x4 races. At this point it will be weeks before "The Beast" comes out of hibernation.

The ceremony was held inside a closed pristine hangar on the base. That required me to give my drivers license info to the PGR State Captain to be forwarded to base security for a background check. Last time I did one of these we had to park outside and walk in, but this time we drove on base and parked in the hangar lot. This also required me to be totally unarmed, because we were actually going on base and would be subject to search at any time. I had to choose between doing this mission unarmed, not doing the mission at all, or taking a chance. I chose to do the mission and not take the chance so as not to reflect badly on the PGR by potentially getting arrested with a firearm, therefore honoring those that deserve my presence. I made sure I went straight there and straight home so as not to regret my decision to be unarmed.

Driving on base brought me back to my days in the military many years before 9/11. Back then, all I had was a DoD decal on the left side top of my front bumper. If the sticker was not expired and I was in uniform, I just slowed down enough for the SP to see it and waved through. If I was in civvies, I would have to stop and hand the SP my ID. If your sticker was expired, you would have to produce your ID and then report to the base security station to get a new decal. On weekends when we Reservists were there, there was a back gate with one SP manning it we could go in and out of. It was even pretty easy for civilian visitors to go in with a brief check at the gate or an escort. There were no physical barriers other than the chain link fence gate that was always open. No zig-zag roads, pop-up barriers, or other post 9/11 modern base security measures. Yesterday, they held us in a special lane until everyone was there. The State Captain verified the list with the SP and we were let in. There were plenty of SP personnel to guide us to the parking area. The ANG personnel in the parking lot was disappointed none of us rode in on motorcycles. They were hoping for a "Rolling Thunder" optic of our arrival. Sorry, not this time of year. We grabbed our flags and headed in to the hangar.

You could truly eat off the floor in that hangar. There were two portable bleacher units brought in for spectators set up at a 45 degree angle to the stage and chairs in front of the one on the right for brass and dignitaries. The open area in front of the stage were for the formation of those being deployed. There was a 4 piece military brass ensemble playing Sousa march and patriotic tunes. We all hit the restroom, assembled our flags, and lined up to the right of the stage. After we lined up, many National Guard brass and dignitaries went down the line to shake our hands and thank us for being there. The first one through as usual was someone I have met a few times before, Major General Francis Evon. He is the Commanding Officer of the entire CT National Guard, a soldier's soldier and a real down to earth guy, starting his military career as an enlisted man. Then several other ANG officers came through. The local state representative came through the line. Then.... I had to suck it up and do my duty to the PGR, because here came US Senator Richard "Da Nang Dickie" Blumenthal; Mr. Stolen Valor himself. If I had been there on my own, I would have waited until he approached me and turned my back on him. But since I was there with the PGR, I did not want to mar the reputation of the PGR. I shook his hand and when he thanked me for being there, I just gave him the stock PGR response of "It's our honor." I don't know of any health problems he may have, but he seems to have become a shrunken little man. He reminds me of a toddler, whose head is too big for his body.

While we waited lined up and looking good, they called for formation. I chuckled to myself, remembering have to assemble for my own daily morning formation in the drill hall so many years ago. It was usually called by SSG Ed Demetrion, but when he wasn't there it was up to SFC Gomez. That was always fucking hilarious. SFC Gomez was a naturalized US citizen from Colombia and he had a heavy Spanish accent and he was also quite the comedian. He would walk down the hall of the Reserve Center repeatedly yelling, "OK, OK, for-may-shon in de drill hall! Le's go, Le's go! Get een for-may-shon!! NO ES-MOH-KINK!" He knew damn well how funny he sounded to us young gringos, and it was even more funny while he tried to emulate a tough Drill Sargent to get us lined up and squared away.

It has been quite a while since I have been around that many active duty personnel. Some of those females, young and older, both enlisted and officers were quite fetching. We used to call them "Split Tails." Of course since this was the Air National Guard, it is the Air Force, and to me always seemed to attract more females than the other branches.

The ceremony only lasted about a half hour. They posted the colors and the brass ensemble struck up The National Anthem. A military Chaplain did an invocation. There were several speeches, and first up was General Evon. After him was the unit Commander. Then the politicians.... blah, blah, blah. Luckily with my poor hearing, the loudspeakers facing away, and the poor acoustics of the hangar, they all sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher. I did catch Da Nang Dickie complaining of defense budget cuts, spinning the waste, fraud, and abuse DOGE has been eliminating into political gibberish and propaganda. Fuck that piece of shit, gaslighting the young skulls full of mush in the process of being deployed. They then held a promotion ceremony for a few airmen, as well as service awards for others. The Chaplain went back on stage to deliver a benediction and the ceremony was over. The troops were dismissed and the PGR was called to stand down. We disassembled our flags and walked out single file to the lot. The ride home was uneventful and I continued with my weekend chores and errands.

Later in the day, my wife and I went out for dinner at a restaurant we haven't eaten at in over 20 years. The Traveler Restaurant off I-84 in Union, famous for their roasted turkey dinner and a free book with dinner. That's right, a full free library as well as some books, puzzles, games, and greeting cards for sale. The last time I remember eating there was on the way back from Maine when we would go to the State Fair in Skowhegan back in the 1990's. I wasn't going to take a book because I am behind in my reading already, until my wife showed me this:

I bought it for $4.50 to keep at the firehouse. A non-woke children's book from 2010 with large print and cool illustrations where the "kids" are different little animals. A couple of pages were ripped but I taped them as good as new. Sometimes little kids come to the firehouse to visit, but when they get there they are shy and want to hide behind their parents. My plan is to read to the younger ones when they visit to "break the ice." By the way, we both had the turkey dinner with a large side of green beans to share, washed down with a glass of lemonade. The dinner was delicious and filling, perfect for a cold late winter night. Pretty reasonably priced as well and Glypto recommended if you're passing through the area at dinner time.

I Guess This Makes Me A Luthier

luthier /loo͞′tē-ər/

noun

1. One that makes or repairs stringed instruments, such as violins.
2. One who makes wooden stringed instruments, such as violins, guitars, etc.
3. A person who, or a business which, makes or repairs stringed wooden musical instruments, such as lutes, violins, and guitars.
4. A craftsman who makes stringed instruments (as lutes or guitars or violins). 

 

 

Apparently I am, according to definition #3. However, my experience is even more limited than my experience as a amateur gunsmith. Oh well, I will add it to my multi faceted list of skills and abilities.

I have been diligently practicing on my lap steel guitar when I am home alone or if I have access to the big screen TV in the living room. I am subscribed to Troy Brenningmeyer's Youtube channel where he has some great free videos. It's much easier to see and rewind on the big screen than on my phone. Every day I get a little bit better with not making extra sounds or notes, picking strings properly without looking, holding and placing the tone bar properly, hammering the strings, doing ring outs, pull offs, slants, and pick blocking. For example, hammering properly doing multiple notes in succession requires having my ring finger contact the string(s) right before the tone bar hits them and that takes lots of repetition to get right. I will do the same hammer over and over trying to build proper muscle memory. If I plateau and need more instruction, Troy has a website called "Lessons With Troy" that you can pay for more lessons, sheet music, and accompaniment jam track files. I have a few songs I work on one at a time in the Open D tuning by simply copying what he does repeatedly. The Allman Brothers "Midnight Rambler", Led Zeppelin's "When The Levee Breaks" (actually in F tuning made by using a capo on the 3rd fret), the opening slide parts of Pink Floyd's "Breathe", and "Ghost Riders In The Sky" by Stan Jones. I also work on the "X", "L" and "U" patterns as well as several bluesy licks and riffs, some demonstrated, some I "found" on my own. I am able to do so much more than when it was set up for Hawaiian music, that I am really into it. Sometimes just making sounds and trying to put notes together that sound good helps me learn where things are. A lot of Troy's videos use the dual camera angle, so you can see the picking and tone bar placement.

A photo of Troy's "X's and L's" video on my TV

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Several years ago I cleaned and restored the guitar. I junked the old strings, took the guitar apart, took apart and re-soldered the electrical connections, repaired the tuning mechanism, re-strung it, played with it a bit, and put it away.

Playing it now has me doing things with it I never did before. Like playing strings 1 and 2 very high up the neck, like on fret 21, 23 and higher. I noticed I was losing the sound. Weird, I thought until I did a little investigating. First off, being an older instrument I wish to preserve as well as play, I have a lighter set of strings than would be on a modern instrument. This allows for more downward flex with the tone bar. I discovered string 1 and 2 (but mostly string 1) was contacting the top surface of the pickup, muting the strings when I got that high up on the neck. The reason was the plate the pickup and controls are mounted on was warped and forcing the pickup upwards into the strings. I decided I would disassemble my guitar once again to correct. That was my project for earlier today after getting off work and getting the weekend chores out of the way.

A close up of the "L" shaped chrome plated mounting plate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I couldn't remember how the guitar was made and put together, but I knew it wasn't too difficult to work on. Once again, it never dawned on me to photograph what I was doing. DOH!! I used my padded gun bench in the basement to do the work.

First was to remove the strings. To make life easier I removed the chrome plated cover over the bridge. From there I released tension on all six strings, and then unwound the strings one at a time from the tuning machine post. I also discovered the three mounting screws for the bridge were not tight and cranked them down tightly. No wonder I had to constantly re-tune it! Once all the strings were removed, I removed the five wood screws holding the mounting plate in place. There is a wire that goes to the output jack soldered in place. I removed the retaining nut on the jack and the whole plate came away free. Well, looky here... I found the problem! It was either a manufacturing defect, or someone many decades ago changed or serviced the pickup. The pickup mounts to the plate with four tabs, one in each corner, that goes through corresponding slots in the mounting plate and are bent over at 90 degrees. The plate with the pickup lies flat on the guitar body, and there is only a recess under the controls by the output jack. No provisions were made for the pickup mounting tabs in the guitar body! That caused the plate to warp and raise the pickup too high. There were marks from the tabs on the guitar body, so I used a very small chisel and a soft mallet to create a small recess for each tab at their corresponding marks. When I test fit the plate after my modifications it sat flush on the guitar body. I then hand stretched the first and second strings across the bridge and nut and BINGO! plenty of clearance now. I re-installed the output jack and re-mounted the plate to the guitar. I re-strung all the strings and replaced the bridge cover. The clearance between all six strings and the top surface of the pickup looked perfect.

I went and got my chromatic tuner, picks, tone bar, amp, and cord and headed back down to test my work. Tuning with the chromatic tuner is done without the need for the amp. It clamps to the headstock and uses vibration to read the string. You just pluck the strings one at a time, turning the tuning key up or down depending on the readout on the tuner. Once it was in tune, I plugged in and fired up the amp. I was able to pluck the first string all the way up to the very last fret with the tone ringing out crystal clear, even with the lighter strings. I did some licks and riffs and everything sounded normal. There was no change in sound with the minute amount of wood I removed.

My Fender Tuner from eBay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I decided that before getting any effects pedals, I would get a new amp. Two reasons; put away and preserve my beautiful and rare existing amp, and the one I bought has built in effects and a battery for portability. Nothing big or too fancy, just this Boss Katana 10W amp again off eBay and again from Sweetwater's eBay store. It has built in reverb, tremolo, and has an input gain control I believe will let me overdrive the input to create some distortion without having to buy a pedal. We'll see. It is supposed to arrive via FEDEX tomorrow.... can't wait!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had it in my "Watchlist" for about a week, and they offered it to me for $15 off and free shipping, so I pulled the trigger.

I uploaded these two recordings. This first one is just a strum of all six strings in the Open D tuning.

 

This next one is a strum of all six strings in F using the capo, and a riff from "When The Levee Breaks" that comes late in the song.

 

Those are as close as anyone is gonna get to any kind of "performance"