One item in the hopper: Via I Heart Guitar, I saw that someone has posted a petition to reissue the Fender Starcaster. 143 signatures so far.

HK posted the following questions in the comments:

is that your guitar at the top of this page? what is it?

Yes, that is my guitar. It’s a Fender Starcaster.

Now, HK didn’t ask, but for the record, here’s a bit of backstory on my Starcaster. In 1997, I had some cash to burn and a jones for an electric guitar. One day, I was over at DeLaRuss’s apartment and got a chance to play his recently acquired Starcaster. I picked up the thing and was smitten.

Not long thereafter, I wandered in to Chelsea Guitars on 23rd Street in NYC. I asked them if they had a Starcaster in stock, and they did, although it wasn’t on display. As the guy went to the back of the shop to fetch the guitar, I heard someone say, “A Starcaster, huh? Do you play the blues?” I looked over – it was G.E. Smith (pictured above). That kind of sealed it for me.

Also for the record, I later learned that I paid way more than DelaRuss did for his Starcaster. Oh well. I stayed within my budget, even if I overpaid. A fair price is what a willing buyer pays a willing seller.

I took one of myself that had me laughing so hard that tears came to my eyes. I’d share that one on the blog, but I don’t want to frighten anybody.

Instead, here are two tricked-out photos of the Starcaster.

First, MPomy, right here in Washington and taking the Starcaster out for a spin. For the record, we also had a quick piano-guitar jam and a serious hang with el Sturj and wife.

Second, a pug named Daisy who is staying at FBdN central tonight. I swear this photograph was not staged. The dog climbed into the baby chair on her own volition.

THE scene at Damrosch Park last August promised something spectacular: amplifier setups for 200 guitarists and 16 bassists, configured in a horseshoe that stretched along the south end of Lincoln Center, across the front of the park’s band shell, and curved up alongside the Metropolitan Opera House. The rehearsals for “A Crimson Grail,” an epic-scale work by the experimental composer Rhys Chatham, had gone exceedingly well — first at the nearby Church of St. Paul the Apostle, then, at 1 p.m. on the day of the event, in the park.

“The sound was so fantastic,” Mr. Chatham recalled recently via Skype from his home in Paris. “It took my breath away.”

Here’s something else, from Lincoln Center, that the Google coughed up on this:

In 2005, the New York composer Rhys Chatham was commissioned by the city of Paris to write a piece of music. The result was A Crimson Grail, a work for 400 electric guitars, which premiered at the basilica of Sacré-Coeur for La Nuit Blanche, an all-night arts festival. For its first U.S. performance, the work has been extensively revised by the composer for an outdoor performance at Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park, to suit the dynamics of the park’s outdoor acoustic. A Crimson Grail will call on the talents of 200 guitarists (including 16 electric bassists), who will be selected from an applicant pool drawing on the many talents of musicians in New York City and beyond. The piece was rehearsed and soundchecked in August 2008, but inclement weather forced its cancellation. We are looking forward to its long-awaited World Premiere on August 8, 2009.

Requirements for performing in A Crimson Grail:

1. It is necessary to be a competent guitarist with at least a rudimentary comprehension of standard musical notation. A bit of basic music reading is involved to be able to perform. All musicians participating will be assigned to one of four sections, each of which will have their parts provided in simple written notation and textual instructions, and explained by section leaders.

Also…

Please note the following restrictions: No acoustic guitars. No hollow body electrics. No vibrato or whammy bars.

What? No Starcasters allowed at this gig?

Uploaded to Flickr by projectarchive.net

Ladies and gentlemen, some more musical microblogging:

071009

It’s amazing how much effort you can pour into one minute of music.

Nothing special on the gear side of things here. Starcaster and Spector went through the MBox into GarageBand. For the vocals, I used the built-in mic on my Mac, then tricked out the two tracks with a little chorus. I actually had to sing, if you want to call it that, fairly quietly, as I didn’t want to alarm my wife upstairs.

This one’s comprised of 11 tracks.

Same as usual: everything (Starcaster, Spector bass) on this went through the MBox into GarageBand, and I leaned on GB’s phaser and chorus effects. I thought about adding keys and vox – maybe next time.