guitar stuff » Site Updates

2009: What’s going on…

Mario — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 13:23:31 +0000

Now that I’m back online after a while, I owe visitors and readers an update on what’s up with the site. The hosting migration took place like clockwork but I did not get time to post confirmation or do much after that. 2008 was an interesting and trying year, that kept me from revamping/updating my websites, recording music and working full time. I’d moved to a new continent, traveled a lot and just when I started working again, my health took a u-turn for the worse.

The last quarter, in particular, was a real struggle trying to balance work with my illness and getting medical help, and things were looking gloomier each passing day. I was scheduled to be in India December, so my wife and I felt it would be wise to see a doc during the trip. That was a life-saving decision! After meeting this brilliant doctor and surgeon, the only sensible option was to undergo emergency (and experimental) surgery – which I did, on Dec 1, and now that a month has passed I will bravely claim it was highly successful considering the complications and how well I’ve recovered. It’s amazing how “one” surgeon, based out of a small town in India, single-handedly fixed me up after a “panel” of doctors and surgeons in England said my condition was inoperable and recommended a drug that had a list of side effects spanning 2 pages.

I was fortunate to have recovered in just a few days, but I guess part of it was me preparing for the next big event waiting to play itself out – the birth of our son. My little boy was born on Dec 10 and I’ve literally been on top of the world since :) I’ve decided to extend my vacation and spend time with my son the next 3 months while I recuperate here in Kerala, India.

I have lived my life with no regrets and always believed that whatever happens, happens for a reason, so I’m not going to let my recent illness distort that belief. Whatever doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, so I’ll be back in action in a couple months to complete development of this guitar site and finish the instrumental demo I started recording in 2008.

Thanks for dropping by and bookmarking the site, new content and articles should start rolling again in March. You can subscribe to the RSS feed (once I fix it) to get notified of future site updates.

Cheers to good health, shred guitar, more great music in 2009 and unlimited funds for those with terrible G.A.S.

EDIT: RSS feed fixed, so you can subsribe now.

Web hosting migration this week

Mario — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 09:46:31 +0000

I’ve been hosting my websites at Godaddy for over 4 years and things were going well until I ran into performance and configuration issues this year. I was reasonable and tried working with them from March, but finally gave up last month when they jerked me around for requesting a downgrade until they resolve all issues. Looking back on all the responses I received I have to assume their support staff are snorting coke on the job, and god bless them!

Anyway, I spent the last month evaluating other hosting companies, and found one that deserves my business after all the help they’ve extended while I tested their server and network performance.

In short, the site will be inaccessible for 8-12 hours between today and Tuesday. Once it’s back up, everything should work but if you run into a bug or bad link, please send me a quick email.

Breaking the silence

Mario — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:47:10 +0000

I’ve been busy the last two months looking for work and working on my tone for a demo I’m recording, hence the silence. However, I’m back for a while and will continue developing the site and making it as informative as it used to be. Over the next few months there will be lessons, exercises, reviews and guides to help improve your technique and get you comfortable with the guitar, whether it is setting up or customizing it.

I have also learned that many visitors are following links to the old guitar tech section, which doesn’t exist anymore – don’t sweat, updated information will be published as soon as the next guitar arrives for a setup.

Meanwhile, feel free to drop me a line if you have questions or suggestions.

Quick update on relaunch…

Mario — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 11:46:11 +0000

I’ve canned the old guitar site that I started back in ’99 because it is too much work to clean up, and a large percentage of the information I shared then may not be interesting anymore ;) Technology has really evolved, especially for music production, where the line between a home studio and a professional recording facility has been blurred to a large extent.

The cost and performance of instruments, effects units and other hardware have moved firmly in favor of musicians on a budget. Besides, home computing has also advanced dramatically in terms of speed and functionality to a point where anything is possible when you’re talking about digital media.

Anyway, after recently moving to the UK (from India), I have decided to resurrect the site and keep it updated with information and tools to serve as a handbook for the aspiring musician. While many topics will be about electric guitars and the gear that goes along with them, other musicians will also find a lot of useful information here.

FYI, I chose WordPress to run the new site so I can keep things more interactive this time round.