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Canada Toronto Ont. GTG......

Hey, gang.

Just checking in.

I'm OK financially, as my business is veterinary-related, and they have been considered an essential service throughout.

My music situation is getting pretty depressing, though. Haven't had a regular gig in a dog's age, and my church-related work has gone down the drain altogether:
  • All our conferences and other away gigs have been cancelled.
  • My church is holding services again, but I have a son with severe immune deficencies, and most of the congregation isn't masked up.
  • I would go by myself, but he's been in and out of hospital with lingering non-COVID lung infections since February, so I can't risk bringing anything home- not even a common cold or influenza.
Steve Clark, a London local who tours and teaches, recently started training to become a bicycle mechanic. From what's been happening with his bookings, he doesn't see 2021 getting a lot better, and he can't afford to simply sit around waiting for work.
Hey Steve...good to hear!!
Yeah it was a slow go for many...i made some things to keep busy and pay bills. I started making the plexi/lexan safety shields..i got in 50 sheets of 4'x8' lexan and got busy on the table saw. Cranked the tunes and the wife answered orders via phone from contractors ..and we plugged away.
Music and gear wise...i ordered a custom Skjold juuuuust before this all happened...luckily they take awhile to build..hoping for a Christmas bass.
Hope everyone has been well ...we have all just survived a part of history that generations will read about.
 
My business is pretty reliant on hockey getting played. We’re doing OK but considerably slower than normal.

I ordered this just before lockdown and received it finally in July. Wildwood’s custom Rickenbacker 4003 in Montezuma AmberGlo with checkerboard binding, toaster in neck position and the new Ric bridge that makes intonating a piece of cake!
2A9E7E84-5C04-4781-A1FE-44771A1E4816.jpeg
 
Hey lads with Covid we’ve been pretty quiet lately. Over in the Ric thread a member from Peterborough (he was not aware of the GTG group) has just ordered a from Wildwood a Ric 4005 short-scale hollow-body.

I’ve made him aware of our group and hope someday we can set up something to check that and many other cool things out.

For myself I’ve hooked up with a couple of local guys in Whitby and am jamming again. Having a great time playing. I still think I suck but these guys seem to love the sound of that 4003 in my Avatar, we get along well and we’re having fun. Cool to be playing again with a goal of playing some gigs!
 
Hey, guys.

My music situation improved drastically in early 2021. I was invited to check out a group that was playing weekly, with all the proper safety precautions, just before Christmas 2021.

Not many conferences and no away dates, just regular weekly rehearsals and services. A big plus has been an interesting intercultural flavour, with African, Korean and Russian immigrants bringing all sorts of interesting influences to the mix.

IT work stayed steady throughout the pandemic thanks to a boom in the vet industry, it’s been great to be playing regularly, and things picked up even more when my son went on a new medication in November 2021. Called Trikafta, it offers Cystic Fibrosis sufferers a chance at a normal life. We’ve had some setbacks since then (youth gang activity spiked in London over the last year), but overall, I’ve got a lot to be thankful for.

Since the last GTG I attended, I picked up and flipped a bunch of interesting instruments, including an NS Design NXT electric upright and a couple of short-scale ABG’s (currently rocking a Guild).

The NXT and the ABG’s turned out to be gateway drugs back to 4-string basses. Currently in the fold are a Plekked, semi-hollow D’Angelico EX-Bass, a modded Hofner Ignition Club, plus two oddball Ibanez 5-strings: a headless, fanned-fret EHB1005SMS, and a miKro GSRM25, tuned E to C.

Once flu season and gas prices settle down, I’d definitely be interested in another meet.
 
Depending on when/where this potential GTG is, I'm in. Don't expect I have anything too wild or funky to share with the group, but hey, it'd still be fun!
My first RIC was the same mid 80's 4003 as yours and I would sure appreciate 5 minutes with it as I have been watching for a similar year and colour for over a decade!
GTG's are a lot of fun. So many different things to try and best of all, some really nice folks who share a common interest.
Fishheadjoe
 
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