Sunday evening at home. Mrs was cooking dinner, and the girls were chilling in their rooms. Nothing much was happening, and that was just fine.
I started at the dining table with Joy, my 1996 Fender American Standard Stratocaster. Ten minutes of unplugged playing—running through notes and chords, just listening to the guitar. Then I did the same with Faith, my 2026 Pipe Dream Fretworks Model S6 in Russian Green. Faith is noticeably more resonant acoustically, but both guitars were equally enjoyable. No winner, no comparison to settle. Just two good guitars and a little time together.
While the ladies had dinner, I took Lady, my 2017 Fender Japan Haruna Telecaster, into the bedroom and plugged into the Fender Pro Junior IV. Chain D was up: the Electro-Harmonix Green Russian Big Muff Pi into the JuHoo EQ Box. As expected, the Muff delivered its lovely, thick and loud fuzz. The EQ helped trim some of that thickness, and Lady’s volume knob offered another way to shape the sound. A good little experiment with a pairing worth exploring further.
After doing the dishes, it was Enza’s turn at the balcony workstation. My Müb Miezo five-string bass went into the Phil Jones X4C Nanobass, with the Orange Distortion on for a bit of doodling. Then I switched the pedal off, connected the X4C to my iPhone SE, and put on Spotify.
Three songs, three basslines: U2’s With or Without You, INXS’s Disappear, and Garbage’s Stupid Girl. I stayed fairly faithful to the original bass parts and simply played along.
That was the evening’s gear rotation: Joy and Faith unplugged, Lady through fuzz and EQ, and Enza keeping company with three familiar songs.
No recording to make, no tone to perfect, no need to justify any of it. Just picking up the instruments, enjoying their differences, and playing when the moment felt right.
After all these years with guitars and gear, I’m grateful that it can still be this simple.
Sometimes, a quiet evening at home is more than enough.