Burnside "The Lance" by Guild guitar

Below: Something I've been meaning to do for a while, that being showing photos of this particular guitar I own. Someone did a Google search (yet again) for this guitar and ended up on my site (I mention it in some other posts here), so I figured I'd make it official and make an entire post just about this guitar.

This is a Guild "The Lance" Burnside guitar. It was made to look very similar to the Jackson Rhoads V model. I bought this guitar years ago for $89.00 used from a music store in Southbridge Massachusetts and yes, I still own it. I had always wanted a "V" guitar and hey, the price was right so I couldn't say no. I've had it ever since. While it's true I own much better guitars like my Schecter C-1 Classic, I still play this cheap Guild from time to time.

The guitar is in its original color, with a 21 fret neck, stocked with EMG active pickups (the 9-volt battery is below the pick guard), the strings are top-loaded only and there are no holes in the back. The reason you don't see any bolt-on screws where the neck meets the body is because there are none. This is either a "neck-through" design or it could possibly be a one-piece.

Compared to other V's, this one is weighted perfectly. The headstock does not "drop" when you have it strapped on in standing position. The bowl-shaped cut in the back is unique to this particular model as it doesn't cut into your body at all (a nice touch).

The bridge is not original, it was replaced due to one of the string saddles breaking. One of the volume pot knobs is also obviously not original. I never bothered replacing it.. why bother?

Note added 7/10/2006: The replacement bridge is a Kahler "Flyer" fixed bridge system.

The back of the neck has its paint worn down (it was like that when I got it) and there is a finish crack.

On the headstock, the locking nuts are missing. Since I don't use the tremolo I never bothered to get replacements.

This guitar surprisingly stays in tune very well and has distortion so "hot" it distorts on clean when the bridge volume pot is turned all the way up.

The Lance is one of those guitars made in the glory of 80's heavy metal when every kid in town wanted to pick up a guitar, and manufacturers were more than happy to oblige. That time has past, but the guitar is still cool - and it still plays well.

When was this guitar made? Unknown. Were I to guess, I'd say around 1985, which would make this guitar over 20 years old.

The college car (and driver) 37-point checklist

This is the college car (and driver) 37-point checklist.

1. The car has at least one dent in it - and when anyone asks about it, of course it "wasn't your fault".
2. There are furry stuffed animals all along the back window, either stuck to the glass and/or sitting below the window, effectively blocking your rear view.
3. You talk on your cell phone when you drive. It doesn't matter how often or not often it happens - you still do it.
4. You DIAL numbers on your cell phone while driving while you should be keeping your eyes on the road.
5. When you tailgate someone (as you always do) and the person in front of you angrily looks back and possibly starts yelling at you - you laugh - as if it's perfectly okay.
6. There's at least one bumper sticker on the back of your car that has absolutely nothing to do with education or the college you attend.
7. There are "performance" stickers on your car, such as Moroso, JEG's and the like - but don't have any of those accessories installed on your car at all.
8. You have something hanging off your rear view mirror that dangles down at least two inches from the bottom of the mirror - effectively blocking the center view of your windshield.
9. Your car hasn't been washed in at least a month.
10. There's at least one part of your car that doesn't work unless you physically hit it first.
11. There's at least one door that doesn't open or close correctly.
12. There's at least one window that doesn't open or close correctly.
13. The car stereo doesn't work, or doesn't have one at all.
14. You wear headphones and listen to music when you drive, so if a police car, fire truck or other emergency vehicle was coming down a side street - you'd never hear it coming. (Anyone who says "But I could see the lights.." I said SIDE STREET - READ.)
15. There are fast food wrappers strewn all over the floor of your car.
16. Your car has no spare tire.
17. Your car does have a spare tire, but no jack.
18. Your car does have a spare tire, and a jack, but no tire iron or bar to lift the jack.
19. Your car does have a spare tire, and a jack, and a tire iron - but you don't know how to use them.
20. You don't even know if you have a spare tire.
21. There's at least one spot on one seat of your car that "smells funny" for no apparent reason.
22. There's at least one burn mark on any part of your car due to a cigarette or joint.
23. There's an empty bottle of booze in the trunk of your car or rolling around the floor.
24. There's at least one seat that has a rip in it.
25. The seat that has the rip is "fixed" with duct tape or a seat cover.
26. The seat cover used to "fix" the rip in the seat also has a hole in it.
27. There's at least one seat has a stain that you can't get out no matter how hard you try to remove it.
28. There's at least one window that is cracked.
29. You don't remember when the last time was that you changed your wiper blades.
30. You park in handicapped spaces even though you're not handicapped; you're just plain lazy.
31. One of your side mirrors is broken or dangling on the side of the door.
32. The dome light doesn't work and you need a flashlight to find your way in the car at night or just "go by feel".
33. The gauge pod lights don't work and you guess how fast you're going by the sound of the engine and/or by looking at other cars.
34. The emergency brake ("e-brake") doesn't work.
35. When you turn on the vents, things fly out of them (leaves, dirt, etc.)
36. When you turn on the vents a "funny smell" comes out of them for about five minutes, then stops (or you just get used to it).
37. There's at least one part of your car held together by rope, string, tape or a combination thereof.

Big sneakers for big feet

I finally found a pair of sneakers that fit right. Starter sneakers in size 12W ("W" is "Wide"). I have very happy feet now because my old sneakers are worn out.

You know what they say about guys with big feet.

Big shoes.

Camaro Concept Car

All I can say is that I'm glad the car is still in conceptual stages, meaning hopefully the car won't look completely like this. More on that in a moment.

I remember seeing several test mule Mustangs in Motor Trend before Ford released a full production version, both on paper and in real form. I think they got that one mostly right. The Mustang is a great looking and great performing car and yeah, if I had the money I'd probably buy one.

I also remember seeing the Dodge Viper in clay model stages (also from Motor Trend). That car is the only one I've ever seen where there was very little difference from clay to real production form - which in itself is shocking to begin with because that almost never happens.. but the car was an awesome ride even from the baby stages so there was no need to stray too far from the original concept.

As far as this Camaro goes, I dunno. The front air inlet I don't like. The side air vents I do like. The raised cowl on the hood I like. Side windows look way too small, causing the wheels to look way too huge. Rear tail lights for some reason look "angry" (but maybe that's the point..?) Combine that with the large rectangle for the rear license plate with the bow tie logo for a nose and it looks like an angry robot going EX-TER-MI-NATE - and that's not a good thing.

I can see an attempt at '69 Camaro styling here, but I'm praying that they re-work it a bit. Tail lights should be rectangular with rounded edges reminiscent of the '69, the exhaust tips need to be pointing down not out or blackened out, a different styled wheel needs to be used, the bowtie on the back needs to be moved to the bottom right (80's style), and the car needs an accent of some kind, either by thin chrome on the side or something like that. It also needs to say "Camaro" on the back somewhere. And those side mirrors have gotta go for something a tad larger. The Camaro logo on the side of the car needs to be moved down about five inches.

Am I being picky? Yes, I am. :-) I really don't care about the performance specs, the appearance of the car is the first thing people see. It's kind of like the same thing with the modern Dodge Charger. Great engines, great car, but ugly. Hopefully the Camaro won't suffer the same fate.

Back when 16 colors and DOS was king of the online world

This, dear readers, is how I prove without a shadow of a doubt that I'm computer geek (grin).

About once I year I get the yearning for running a BBS again. No, not an internet forum, I'm talking about a text-based Bulletin Board System.

Some background information on BBS'ing: My first online experience was with DOS. DOS v6.0 (before 6.22!) to be exact. The way people got online back then was by phone line only and you connected to local systems that people ran out of their homes.

Out of their homes? Yes. BBS SysOp's (that's System Operator - and I was one at one point) would run a single-node (meaning only one connection at a time) BBS using nothing but DOS and the BBS software of their choice. Multitasking? HA! Like it existed back then. Well, it in fact did, but that's a whole other story.

A true BBS is nothing but text on screen with 16-color ANSI codes. No mouse. Nothing to click. Keyboard only. BBS users were usually local and people you knew mainly due to the reason no one wanted to rack up the phone bill with long distance calls to out-of-area systems. Message boards were predominantly local per system. Very up-to-do BBS Sysop's actually used FidoNET which was an international messaging system that still exists to this day.

The modern version of BBS's provide connectivity by means of telnet. Telnet is a protocol, like HTTP or FTP and usually operates on port 23. HTTP is normally port 80 and FTP is normally port 21.

What I need to run one of these bad boys is an ISP who would allow me to run a telnet server. And man, I wish I could.. but I can't right now because it would violate the "Fair Use Policy" of my ISP. Blah.

Some would ask "Why bother? What's the point?" Well, it's for the same reason anyone does anything that's considered "not necessary":

Because they can.