Soul Soothing

Happy fathers day to all the Dad's.

A new Jensen C12N 12" 8ohm 50 watt speaker arrived this morning for the 1x12" guitar speaker cabinet, the original el cheap speaker was only 10" and the new Jensen is clearer, cleaner and brighter sounding, had to cut the speaker baffle hole 1 3/4" larger, added a speaker input jack to use a seperate speaker cable and converted the cab to a Fender style open back cabinet. This cab will be used with my Marshall Origin 50 amp head, an external speaker for my vintage Roland Cube 40 and an external speaker for my Fender 1964 Champ clone.

More governmental bu****it, this time regarding so called invasive weeds one of which is Gazanias. Many of the governments so called invasive weeds have many health and or medicinal properties and benefits. The government is trying its hardest to stop people being healthy and self sufficient. The government is one of the main reasons there is so much illness in humans, domesticated pets and live stock (farm animals)-
"Retail giant Bunnings under fire for stocking invasive weeds that threaten Australian ecosystems.
Major Australian nurseries, including retail giant Bunnings, are selling plants listed by governments and their own industry body as invasive weeds.
Mallee Conservation president Fiona Murdoch said the invasive ground cover gazania — imported from South Africa and popular among gardeners for its pretty flowers — is causing a "massive problem" as it spreads in the Mallee and Wimmera."
Here is the truth about Gazanias-
"In addition to their aesthetic appeal, gazania plants also play an important role in attracting pollinators (bees, birds, other insects and animals that pollinate flowers) to your garden. (This is why Gazanias are great to have when growing fruit and/or vegetables).
Beyond their visual allure and ability to attract pollinators, gazania plants possess medicinal properties that have been used for centuries. The leaves of gazanias contain certain compounds that have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. These properties make them valuable in traditional medicine for treating various ailments.
Gazania extracts are often used topically to soothe skin irritations, sunburns, and insect bites. They are also believed to have antimicrobial properties, making them useful in the treatment of minor wounds and infections. Additionally, studies have shown that gazania extracts may have potential in preventing or managing certain chronic diseases due to their antioxidant activity.
In conclusion, gazania plants offer numerous benefits and uses that make them a valuable addition to any garden or landscape. Their stunning beauty, ability to attract pollinators, medicinal properties, and low-maintenance nature make them a versatile choice for both experienced gardeners and beginners alike. Consider incorporating these vibrant treasure flowers into your outdoor space and unleash their power today."

Daily Health Fact-
Watching television numbs the brain and leaves the body sedentary. Even if you eat well and don’t smoke or drink too much alcohol, television will still take its toll on your brain.

A nice afternoon to be out in the sun getting some guitar practice in after playing drums for 1 1/2 hours before lunch.
Attached a shortened tie down to my free music stand/ guitar stand that wraps around the neck of the guitar a couple of days ago to stop guitars falling off the stand if they accidently get knocked.

This morning removed the speaker baffle from my speaker cabinet and ironed the hessian baffle cover while still attached to the speaker baffle by lightly spraying the hessian with some water and using the iron set on linen (hottest setting) as there was a few creases in the hessian, this also shrunk the hessian slightly tighten it on the speaker baffle.
I also covered the the black blank off panel I made to fill in the cabinet where the old amplifier mounted into the cabinet with a piece of left over hessian from the speaker baffle.
1st photo is before, 2nd photo is after.

This morning I had a play with a spare 1x12" speaker cabinet I previously made from an old cheap guitar amp that stopped working, I removed the front metal grill panel, cut out the foam in front of the speaker, that was muffling the speaker, which is glued to the front of the speaker baffle, then covered the speaker baffle with a piece of hessian that was wrapped around a bunch of flowers and screwed on a Fender amplifier badge I made a while ago.
This works well as a 12" external speaker for my Marshall MS2 1 watt 9v battery and 9v power supply practice/travel amplifier. Using the 12" external speaker with this amp makes the amp less plastic sounding and a lot bigger and fuller sounding on both the clean and overdrive channels.

Too nice of a day to be inside today, so set up my laptop and guitar out in the sun to work on music.

I have now registered my music business under a new business name and as a separate entity to both BeeZ Brew Eco Surf Wax and Soul Soothing.
The new name for the music business is Counting The Beat Music Acadamy.
page is https://www.facebook.com/countingthebeatmusicacademy/
Instagram page is

This morning changed the bridge and bridge posts on my 2021 Epiphone Les Paul Custom.
Photo 1 & 2 are the original Epiphone loctone bridge and bridge posts. The bridge posts are 2 piece, cast cheap alloy stud screwed into a cast cheap alloy bushing.
Photo 3 & 4 the new abr1 bridge with the small mounting holes closest to the tailpiece, original bridge with the larger mounting holes original bridge posts and bushings on the top of the guitar, the new bridge posts mounted into the body of the guitar, the new posts are a one piece solid bell brass studs and thumb wheels.
The one piece studs give a more solid mount to the body for the bridge transferring the vibrations of the strings to the body more effectively and efficiently making the guitar resonate and vibrate more for better tone as well removing the metallic sound from the 2 piece studs and bushings to a resonant timber sound due to the 1 piece solid bell brass studs.
The new bridge and solid posts are similar to the original Les Paul's from the 1950's. I've modified this Les Paul to be as close as practically possible sound wise and cosmetically to a late 1959/ early 1960 Les Paul Custom.
Photo 5 filing the low E, A and D string slots in the saddles of the new abr1 bridge.
Photo 6 & 7 the new abr1 bridge and studs fitted and set up.

Picked up a great bargain this afternoon, a free Rhythm Traveller complete drum kit (photos 1 to 4) as I want a more compact drum kit in the studio than what I have now.
This is similar to the Pearl Rhythm Traveller drum kit, though the bass drum on this kit has 8 rim lugs per side where as the Pearl bass drum only has 6 rim lugs per sided and the 12" & 14" toms have 1 extra rim lug each compared to the Pearl kit. The drum sizes and configuration are the same as the Pearl kit 20"x8" bass drum, 13"x5" snare, 10"x5" tom, 12"x5" tom, 14"x5" floor tom.
Photos 5 & 6 are of my drum kit that is in the studio with 22"x18" bass drum, 13"x10" mounted tom, 16"x16" floor tom and 14"x6" snare drum.
I will be making a compact club or jazz drum kit from both these kits that I will put in the studio and the kit I make from the pieces I won't be using I will sell.
From the Rhythm Traveller kit I will possibly be only using the 20"x8" bass drum and either the 10" or 12" mounted tom as I will only be using 1 mounted tom.
From my other kit that's in the studio I will be using the hardware, cymbal, hi-hats and kick pedal.
When I get the kit set up in the studio and start playing it with the snares and toms I will then decide which mounted tom and snare drum I'll keep, though I'm leaning towards the 14"x6" snare drum that is with the kit in the studio as it is a lot better snare drum and whether I use the 13"x10" mounted tom on the kit in the studio as the floor tom or the 14"x5" floor tom from the Rhythm Traveller, leaning towards the 13" tom as it has a resonant skin and is deeper so it should sound better than the 14" tom.

Home made frozen chocolate ginger brownies (photo 1) and home made Neapolitan ice cream (photo 2).
Both are super healthy and only contain 2 or 3 ingredients.

Frozen chocolate ginger brownies-
6 large apples
Fresh ginger to taste
3 heaped teaspoons cacao or cocoa powder
Peel and dice apples, place in a saucepan and cover with water.
Grate ginger into apples in saucepan.
Stew apples and ginger until soft, approximately 20 minutes.
Drain apples and ginger and place into blender with cocao (cocoa) and blend until mixed.
Spoon into rectangle muffin moulds then place in freezer over night.
Remove from muffin moulds and cut in half, thirds or the size you prefer.
Place in a freezer proof container and store in freezer.

Ice cream-
6 large bananas (2 for each flavour)
6 to 8 med or lge strawberries- frozen
Peel and slice bananas- place in a bag or container and freeze for 2 hours to overnight.
Strawberry Ice cream-
Place 2 of the frozen bananas and the frozen strawberries into blender and blend until mixed and smooth, put into a container and place in freezer.
Vanilla and cinnamon ice cream- place 2 of the frozen bananas in a blender, add 2 to 3 teaspoons vanilla essence and 3/4 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder, blend until mixed and smooth, place in container next to strawberry ice cream and place in freezer.
Chocolate bush mint ice cream-
Place the last 2 bananas in blender, add fresh bush mint (can use regular mint) to taste and 2 heaped teaspoons cocao (or cocoa) powder, blend until mixed and smooth, place in container with the strawberry and vanilla ice cream and place in freezer.
Freeze ice cream for at least 2 hours or overnight before serving, store what is left in freezer.

Finished the guitar lesson I started last for lessons and guitar lesson book.

Had an early surf, got home about 11.00am for breakfast, with it being too hot to do anything in the yard and garden decided to sit in the cool music studio for a couple of hours and copy and put in order the common chords used on banjo tuned to G for banjo lessons and banjo lesson book so when we have a cool day or 2 this week I can be out in the yard and garden working on what needs to be done.

You don't give up surfing cause you got too old, you got old because you gave up surfing.

World's Oldest Surfer Goes Big with New Trick, Raises the Bar for Kelly Slater (Watch) We've all heard the saying, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." But it doesn't seem to apply to surfing. Eleven-time world champ Kelly Slater has adapted

The sowing I did a week ago is showing some good results so far with a couple of the cucumbers, the radishes, purple beans, green beans, rocket, kale, and snow peas sprouting.

Wrote a guitar lesson for lessons and guitar lesson book.

Drying out some papaya seeds from a papaya I cut for breakfast this morning.
Going to plant them and see if I can successfully grow them, need one male plant for about every 10 to 15 female plants, so I need to have at least 2 papaya plants, papaya grows quickly if successful and will fruit in 7 to 11 months after sowing.

Wrote up a guitar lesson today for lessons and guitar lesson book.

Got a lesson written up today for guitar and banjo lesson books and lessons. It is the same lesson on vibrato just the exercises are different to suit each instrument.

Had a day off from writing music lessons today. The day started with my usual sunrise surf check, didn't surf though, solid 6 foot + close outs, yet always good to catch up with surfing mates for a good yarn.
I did redraw my music lessons advertising logo which will be used on business cards (that I got updated late this afternoon after some archery), signs, flyers and stickers.
🎼 Music and playing a musical instrument 🎸🎹🪕🥁 is a universal language and the great connector, music and playing a musical instrument can and is used for soothing, healing, meditating, de-stressing, expression, free expression, art, keeping the mind active, used for helping dimentia and alzheimers patients, entertainment for oneself and for others as well as many other reasons.
It is never too late to learn to play a musical instrument.

After the food markets and breakfast this morning, finished off another lesson page in the banjo lesson book and started the next lessons page, then realised I had already done this lesson page earlier in the book, so deleted that page and tomorrow I get to start a new lesson in its place.

Working on a couple of more lesson pages of my book for guitar. For guitar, bass, banjo or didjeridu lessons, don't hesitate to make contact and book in for lessons. Music is soothing for the soul.
If anyone wants to be a singer/vocalist, I know a great Vocal Coach as well.