Music

Sjuggs Jam

PHOTO: Something magical happened in the 1950’s. Gretsch drums, Fender Tweed, paired with (my ’67 version) Leo’s iconic guitar…they play together so well recording is effortless.
PHOTO: Sporting team colors, Sjuggs points out the Plexi/Tweed switch on this awesome Dumblesque “Tweedle” 5E3 build from Denver Amp Works. Fluxtone speaker tech is probably the greatest invention since radio — imagine your tone is perfect no matter what the volume in the room.

My good bud Steve Sjuggerud flew up from Florida this week to hang out in the studio and catch up. Our plan was to record a jam session, but we got distracted by amplifiers. More specifically, amplifier mods. Turns out, this might be the deepest rabbit hole of all time. We forgot to play and just talked for two days.

Choose your tubes. Pot values. Caps. Resistors. Rectifier? Schematic. Point to point. Switches. Wire gauge. Speaker. Magnet material. Cabinet material. Open back or closed? Pine. Birch ply. Finger joint. Tolex. Tweed.

Change out any of those variables and the amp becomes an entirely different beast.

Steve, so awesome to catch up in person. Thank you for our time together — and also this amazing amp.

PHOTO: Black anodize Rick Toone™ tremolo on the ’67. In the background the 5E3, patiently waiting to jam.

USM Earthshine

PHOTOS: USM Earthshine™ 6-string guitar. Quartersawn redwood body with birch surfacing. Quartersawn flame maple neck. Carbon fiber, aircraft aluminum. Patented and patents-pending Pisces™ tremolo system. 3D™ control system with 10-way switching. Bare Knuckle custom pickups.

Center city Philadelphia skyline, visible on the horizon, is not lit green this year. Eagles distracted themselves with internal politics, spiraling into the Delaware River, forgetting to come up for air.

The dog and I outside in the January evening darkness just now. Her senses alert to the movement of large animals, green eyes of deer bobbing in the field at the limit of my flashlight’s quick glance. I wonder what she thinks of the human hand’s ability to conjure light at will.

My attention is heavenward. Orion is our companion, now and for some months ahead. Jupiter too, alone this year for the most part, playing a solo in contrast to last winter when Mars and Saturn were constant accompanists.

Too much light at the moment, maybe Bortle 8. When we repeat our steps in the hour or two before sunrise, mankind will be asleep, skies maybe Bortle 6 here in the northeast. Perhaps visible a string of 19 space jewels moving south to north, a wink from Elon.

VIDEO: USM Earthshine. Fractal FM9.

Which Exit?

VIDEO: “Which Exit?” live studio improvisation. Chris Buono slots Wildcat ’67 guitar into tight crosstown traffic with snap and spank via noiseless custom single coil pickups designed by Steve Blucher (DiMarzio). Patented & patent pending Rick Toone™ tremolo. Watch his fingers. Then watch his feet on the pedalboard.

If you’ve ever lived in Jersey you’ll get it.

Turnpike
Parkway
Expressway
78
80
287
195
295

Bumpers locked tighter than NASCAR but turns in both directions. Don’t blink. Don’t brake.

Here’s a survival tip…

Draft a semi. Find a skilled pro and shadow him. He will run interference through traffic because he is higher than you, can see farther than you. And he stops much slower than you — so if things pile up you’ve got an offensive lineman.

How do you know he’s skilled?

Owner/operator with a clean truck. Consistently above the speed limit. When he passes he glues the driver side wheels to the left lane line and moves decisively, never lingering alongside another semi.

PHOTO: Killick shows how deep exit identity goes. After three decades in Athens, GA, he will always know the way home. (photo courtesy: Snorri)

Meat Computer

VIDEO: “Meat Computer” live studio improvisation. Chris Buono, Killick Hinds, Rick Toone, Adam Wilson, enjoying a moment of friendship and documenting the special creative empathy when human minds collaborate. (7.10.2025)

“Brilliant.
Like a guitar version of the German group Harmonia.”
(DavidH via YouTube)

Earth’s entire existence, the only form of autonomous decision making has been carbon-based. Every life form, every sentient organism, has always been carbon-based.

The ladybug (Hippodamia convergens) exploring my laptop screen, the eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) gathering acorns near my porch, the oak tree blowing in the remnants of Hurricane Melissa, the turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) also enjoying the winds in the blue October sky above, my dog curled peacefully on her bed in the next room — carbon-based.

I am carbon-based.
You are carbon-based.

Every extinct species was carbon-based.

Flora & fauna, together we carbon-based life forms create a complex system with all of us making decisions based on the simple will to survive. Because we seek to live, our patterns are predictable enough that each species finds a niche within this beautiful blue Darwinian organic recycling system slinging through space.

Will a silicon-based autonomous decision-maker value carbon-based life?

Aquamarine Porpoise Avenue

VIDEO: Chris Buono swims boldly through tremolo waters with Lawrence Haber on upright and Dave Moore thumping skins. ’67 guitar nicknamed “Pole Position” into dual Fender Deluxe amps. I really enjoyed recording these guys. Magic afternoon in the studio.
PHOTO: Pedals.