Greetings from the mortarman

It's been awefull quiet around here lately. Hard to believe there has been no new Westones out there or at least someone checking in. Hope that means we are all out playing our Westones Live.

Very true. I've been perusing and thinking the same as of late but I have nothing to report.
It'd good to see we're still active

Hi ya Arthur. Yeah it's getting harder and harder to ignite some excitement about not only our Westies but guitars in general. Hell, instruments even!

I think we may have hit a wall of some kind. Seems like passion for guitars has been on the wane for sometime now. That certainly was the prime reason for the closing of the shop where I worked in Milton 2 years ago. Either that or everyone's buying online now.

The stuff that we're devoted to doesn't resonate much with the current generation I'm afraid. The hip hop rapper crowd just couldn't give a toss.

I do note however, that "country" music seems to have become the de facto new rock and roll, complete with smoke bombs and low slung guitars. Some good players in that bunch too. But I just can't get past the vocal "twang" and the dumb hats to get into it.

Therein may lay the popular guitar's salvation though. 

Hey up, Arthur and Steve! 

Yeah, I dunno what's up with any of the forums I frequent; they've all gone very, very quiet indeed! Often, it's only Barry and I wandering about in here, banging the drum, eh! I suppose people have moved in their lives and their interests have matured and changed and I have to admit that my guitars sit, for the most part, under a tarp at the back of the shed apart from the two I have inside. The Westone ST Telecaster is one of the chosen presently as is the Vantage X-99....

It may be a sign of economic times.. everyone is cautious and sitting tight on their assets.
Very few 'good buys' to be had out there right now.

On my side, I've achieved what I longed for and have enough inventory to keep me busy, happy and entertained for quite a while. The buy and sell thing isn't my cup-o'-tea, I just can't seem to part with any of my Westones. They are enjoyed daily, that I can tell you! A little tweaking and adjusting here and there, playing every night for about an hour and visual candy for sure. I'm as happy as a ..  proud Westone owner and supporter

DimensionIV-addict wrote:It may be a sign of economic times...everyone is cautious and sitting tight on their assets...

Hey Steve.
I'm not seeing a lot of Westones around generally, and certainly not much of the top end lines. I was lucky to find a Genesis recently but that was a fluke. Not sure why, perhaps the value is realized and as you say they're sitting on their assets.

I am seeing a few more Vantages about but still, not many. And Aria Pro II's (the good ones) are in slim supply.

...have enough inventory to keep me busy, happy and entertained for quite a while. The buy and sell thing isn't my cup-o'-tea, I just can't seem to part with any of my Westones...

Yeah, me too. G.A.S. is an awful thing ain't it?
Every time I look at my herd I seriously wonder if I should have so many. Then I start playing them and fall in love with them all over again.
Selfish? Perhaps.
But I'm not on the planet much longer so bugger it, I'm gonna enjoy 'em!

Hey John, how did the move go?

bizzybizzybizzy...
i have been severely constrained in my guitar related activities due to our home remodel project. and as if that was not enough of an inconvenience, we decided to sell the place and move to San Francisco. so, i'm now in the process of moving everything to a new home. 


i stashed a Concord 3 and a small Vox amp in the closet so i have something to play around with until i'm done with the all the work at the old house. the guy doing the finish carpentry plays guitar, so we are going to have a few beers and jam a bit one of these days.

i probably will not get to the rest of my guitar stuff any sooner due the fact that i need to finish the remodel and then put it up for sale. but then i get to set up a whole new guitar room at the new house... somewhere off in the not too distant future.

Barry wrote:Hey John, how did the move go?

G'day, Barry! Yeah, mate - sweet as, eh! We're now on 5 acres of prime Aussie scrub, 15 minutes away from Hervey Bay in a smallish, albeit exceptionally well designed, modern house; I'll post a pic or two presently, but we're all comfortable...

George - the 15 yo boy - isn't best pleased, though, as there is bugger all Telstra set-up out here for internet and we've gone to satellite briadband, which is frightfully expensive - costs as much for 90GB during daylight hours here as it did for a TB in town - so his gameplaying online is shot to hell... no bad thing, really!!

I've been occupied with fixing my meagre amp collection as rats had chewed off the power leads on them, so I've opted to install IEC sockets, and clean up all of the pots and caps et al....

Birdwatching, however, is where my head is at out here - we've spotted 43 different types of bird either on, or just by, the property....

corsair wrote:...Birdwatching, however, is where my head is at out here ...

Wearing bikinis no doubt?

Barry wrote:

corsair wrote:...Birdwatching, however, is where my head is at out here ...

Wearing bikinis no doubt?

....sssshhhhhhhhhh... our little secret, eh?! 

Hey Mike.
Sounds like you have your hands full of real world problems at the moment! Glad to hear you're still around, in spirit, if not in post.

Look forward to seeing you back on the board when you can.

... and the spotty interwebs are back up so here's a wee peek at our new digs...



... view from the road



... my new workshop/music room



... rear verandah, overlooking 5 acres of prime Aussie scrub



...surveying all I see before me... with coffee!!

Very nice! Looks like you could raise all the hell you like and not disturb the neighbours, eh?.

The satellite internet is poo, but do you at least have flush toilets?

Yep.... and reticulated hot water!! And yeah... neighbours either side will get a blast presently....

Love the new place John, looks like a good home indeed!

Hey up, lads - I split the topic as it was wa-a-a-ay off Arthur's OP...

... over at Non-Westone.

corsair wrote:


...Birdwatching, however, is where my head is at out here - we've spotted 43 different types of bird either on, or just by, the property....

I always knew there was some reason why I liked you, mate.

What is your life list up to?  Mine went north of 550 just this past spring, but they are all North American species only.

I seem to be something of an anomaly amongst birders as I don't keep lists... at all; I just like watching them do their thing, and trying to get a good photograph!
As a rough tally, I suppose I have about 250 here in Australia, in 3 states and without having been up to the tropics yet.... about 40 in Jersey, 40 in France, about the same in England and everthing bar the kakapo in New Zealand. I've even tripped over kiwi on the beach on Stewart Island whilst hunting!!
I've been lucky enough to indulge myself a little bit, especially in NZ with trips to island sanctuaries and now my eldest daughter has caught the bug as well so I have a companion with whom to go charging about the Australian bush.... and youngsters have great eyes!!
The home tally - so Madeline informs me! - is at 51....