🌱 A New Season, A New Chapter

Whew, less than 48 hours before we kiss 2016 goodbye. 👋🏻

It has been a happening year for me. Too happening perhaps. I remember when I started this blog last year, I regretted not posting a summary of 2015. I have to click on every single post to find what I need. So here I am, jotting down my 2016. There's gonna be throwbacks here and there, and some little reflections. Here goes. *Caution. Lengthy post ahead.*

Those starting times...

The start of 2016 saw me with only a few Boss pedals to start my analog pedals journey. I was only stepping into this vast world and Boss pedals were sort of a beginner's brand. I remember buying my Line 6 M5 for $120 and was so happy about it. To me, if the current draw wasn't so high, the M5 could have easily been my most favourite pedal. Unfortunately, I had to let it go to make way for simpler pedals. The pedals that I have in January, are longer with me now, except for the Boss OS-2. The other Boss pedals just sounded too artificial. Distortion? It doesn't matter, you can't hear it clear enough (pun intended). 😝

Febuary saw me buying the wah pedal, which is the main reason I made the switch to analog pedals. I remember the exciting moments when I finally got to use my foot more on the pedalboard when the wah came onboard. I was a pretty happy dude back in February because I thought that was all to analog pedals. Oh how naive I was. 😣

March saw one of the greatest blows to my music life. I was actually rejected by my church band due to my apparent lack of skills. It actually took me 2 years of practice to even get to the audition so knowing that I sacrificed so much for nothing was painful. That threw me off for quite awhile. I had no mood to even touch my guitar. This Pokemon song, I recorded a few days after that rejection. It was recorded because of the fact that someone brought a Taylor guitar to my class chalet. Guess some things never change. 😛

April came in like a speeding bullet. It was a month where things start to pick up pace again. I began being addicted to my guitar again. I saw the move of my personal space to the balcony because my sister now occupies the study room as her bedroom. It was wonderful because now I guitars can see more sunlight (if it's even a good thing). It was also a time where I got interested in the older songs dating back to the 70s. It's fascinating how great those guitar players are back the good old days. 😍

Trying to act like a pro.

May was quite interesting on its own. I clinched the sweetest deal on Carousell that earned me 2 guitars and a 5-way stand for just $100. The Epiphone Les Paul Special II alone is already worth the $100. I quickly sold off the unknown acoustic guitar and the stand to earn back my worth. Since I have my little space now, I imitated a guitar workshop and cleaned up the Epi. After realising the electronics were faulty, I took no time to sell it away too. All that hassle for a $50 profit, not bad at all. 😎

Never regretted adding this onto my pedalboard.

June saw the next huge step in my pedalboard journey. I finally got rid of the lousy daisy chain because the excess noise was unbearable. I had a dilemma between the Cioks DC8 and the Voodoo Lab PP2+. Obviously the PP2+ reached me first so I became a loyal supporter of Voodoo Lab for good. I remembered the frustration when I realised the 2nd hand power supply didn't come with the power cables. That started my month-long fumble with Swee Lee. Eventually, I got the power cables from Swee Lee so that itself is a relief. 😌

Family portrait as of July 2016

July was one of this year's most exciting month. It saw me buying a new guitar from Swee Lee. Yes, it is comparable to last year when I bought my Gibson Les Paul. The Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster looked so sweet in my arms. I remember getting so pumped up when Swee Lee notified me through email that the CV Tele was back in stock. $569 spent, no regrets at all. 4 was the maximum number of guitars I saw in my custody. 🎸

August saw two significant events of my music life. The good event was that I finally took effort to record better quality videos. I learnt how to record guitar and video first, then edit the song in, instead of recording everything all at once. That made the song so much clearer, and my guitar so much sweeter. I couldn't believe how amazing the Telecaster looks and feels. The bad event was that, I finally saw my first guitar leave me. The Squier Bullet Stratocaster was a gift from my dad to start off my music journey. It was a really tough decision, I had no choice but to let it go because space constraint was a issue. I hope the guitar is in good hands today. I am still missing the presence of a Stratocaster so perhaps I would get one next year? 😏

September saw the next big step in my pedalboard journey, after 2 months of pedalboard inactiveness. The first of the series of pedals came onboard. I bought the Ibanez TS9 because of the amazing reviews it had online. And it truly is one amazing beast. Having two overdrives at that point in time, excess noise came back. The only solution was to get a noise gate, and then the MXR Smart Gate arrived. These two additions alone finally made my pedalboard a little less empty. 👍🏻

October was where all the fun happened. So much happened during October that it is impossible to keep it short for this summary. The few key things that happened was that my pedalboard saw a major advancement in terms of new pedals. All I remember is I was constantly on Carousell because there were deals almost everyday. Amidst all the buzz, I even had time to record two more guitar covers. That alone was pretty satisfying. Of course, the school term kicked in towards the end of October and I still wasn't done yet. 😫

Moving on, November saw the first time I sold a guitar pedal away. I am reaching my dream pedalboard soon and it was time to let some beginner pedals go. Since the entry of the TC Electronic pedals, Boss pedals just seemed too limited. The RV-5 and CS-3 went on their way. The Xotic SP replaced the CS-3, and it was the first time I bought a boutique-level pedal. November was the also the period when I sold off my Line 6 M5 as well as the Classic wah. The Baby wah replaced the Classic and an Ernie Ball Volume pedal replaced the M5. Not bad at all. I saw the entry of the Boss Digital Delay again, since there wasn't any M5 to fulfil that role now. I also recorded my last of 4 intended guitar covers before the schoolwork came rushing in. To top it off, I finally bought a new case for my PT2 Classic. That ended the most happening month of 2016. 😍

December saw the completion of my pedalboard. After a year-long tone chase, I finally finished gathering all the pedals I need. I even ordered a tap tempo pedal from America and that alone took me 2 weeks. December saw me satisfied with the Mono M80 pedal case and my full PT2 just fit right in. There's also a significant step in my music life that happened in December 2016 too. I got to play on stage for the first time in my life, although with the acoustic guitar. It's okay, it's good to start small. To end off my year, I recorded my last cover for 2016 last week. It was a really nice cover but I was quite sad it can't be viewed on mobile devices due to copyright issues. Still, I felt super great to have arrived at where I am today. 😆

And that concludes my 2016. Not gonna say much in this paragraph because it's not good to have a conclusion in a conclusion. 😂 Here's to a great music year ahead! 🍻

Edwin Ang
30th December 2016

P.S. Stay tuned to New Year resolutions because it would make my summary for next year a little easier. 😊