Hard to imagine

[RecoveringBiker]

There's only a half dozen bikers here. I know good and well there's a lot more where I come from (LA) that are in the program.

[toad]

Welcome to the forum......share a little.

what do you ride

how long you been clean or sober

[RecoveringBiker]

Originally Posted by toad

Welcome to the forum......share a little.

what do you ride

how long you been clean or sober

No thanks.

[Astro]

Nice to see you here, I was hoping you'd stick around a little longer to help us keep the bikers forum alive.

[toad]

Originally Posted by RecoveringBiker

No thanks.

You're welcome

[RecoveringBiker]

Originally Posted by Astro

Nice to see you here, I was hoping you'd stick around a little longer to help us keep the bikers forum alive.

Sorry, I just aint got a lot to say.

[Astro]

Understood. Thanks for stopping by, you're always welcome here.

[Jazzed_N_AZ]

Originally Posted by RecoveringBiker

There's only a half dozen bikers here. I know good and well there's a lot more where I come from (LA) that are in the program.

Be an example, invite them here by coming back when you can. Tell your story or just share some ESH on occaision.

[Goat]

Well I'll see if I can increase the gang by one!

I'm not sure how I managed to find a biker-focused recovery forum, but I'm glad I did! The past few hours have been fun reading

So I'm 24 hours sober this time, and I'm quite sick of relapsing. SO I'm looking for something new to try, because it's clear what I was doing before isn't helping.

My longest stint sober was March 27 2002 until my marriage started going bad in 2006. During that time I kinda lost track of the fact that I was an alcoholic. I knew it... I was aware of it... but I "just didn't drink anymore". i.e. I was not progressing in my recovery.

Then I was sober again from thanksgiving day 2007 until early 2009. And in 2009 I've relapsed three times. So, yeah, it looks like it's getting worse.

At any rate, this is ridiculous, and I don't want to do it anymore.

I do know from my experience that sober friends help, and so I arrive with open arms ready to give friendship in hopes of getting some in return

And, yeah, I'll post pics of my bikes when I get up to 15 posts I still have the 1970 Yamaha Enduro that I learned to ride on when I was a kid... And an 07 Street Bob with lots of willie g skulls on it.

-Goat

[Hurricane]

Welcome Goat,
It certainly don't hurt surrounding yourself with others in recovery.
Stick around.

[Goat]

Well howdy pardner... This here's a ghost town!

Perhaps the zombies come out at night only during the week.... braaaaains!

-Goat

[toad]

Welcome to the forum Goat.........I have seen some that stayed sober and clean for a period of time with nothing more than God and this thread.....Hang in there.

What kind of Axe are you playing? I play a American Strat with Seymour Duncan Humbucker pickups. Also have a Taylor Accoustic, and a Ibanez 5-string bass.

[Astro]

I've got a customized Fender Lead 1 and an Ibanez Destoyer, haven't played either one in years but I'm too sentimental to get rid of them. Played when I was in my teens, then drinking became more important.

Welcome to the forums, Goat. Maybe we can liven this place up after all, the Bikers forum has been a little dead lately.

[BillJ]

Welcome aboard, Goat. I know it's been quiet here lately, but there is support here, for them that want it.

You already know the drill: Keep comin' back, keep doin' the do, and recovery happens. Blessings on you, mi amigo. Let us know if we can help.

[Goat]

Originally Posted by toad

What kind of Axe are you playing? I play a American Strat with Seymour Duncan Humbucker pickups. Also have a Taylor Accoustic, and a Ibanez 5-string bass.

The one in the pic up there is my warlock, I put a seymour dimebucker in the bridge and a rockfield mafia in the neck. It's my "jamming" guitar It has speedloader strings, so it's not terribly versatile, but it stays in tune for a very long time, so it's good for long practice sessions.

Besides that I play:
A BCRich warbeast with rockfields in both positions... this one I keep tuned to B standard
One of Ed Roman's prototype guitars with seymour black backs
A carver electric-acoustic
A cheap-ass dreadnought
A BCR mockingbird that doesn't sound very good, but looks cool
An old washburn 4-string bass
An ESP 5-string bass.....
um
and probably more, I would have to get up and go look

Very good point, Astro, about drinking becoming more important than music.

I have found that when I am drinking my musical output goes to zero. I can still jam a bit, I suppose, but my ability to write music is completely shot with even one drink.

I have a tape that I keep around of a practice session recorded while I was playing the drums. I was drinking quite a bit that night, and I remember how awesome I was playing. Or so I thought... When I listened to the tape later, my drumming was a sloppy mess!

-Goat

[toad]

The 4th of July I ventured up to KC to my cousins farm and jammed out with some friends. My good buddy Murray plays jazz keyboards and kicks the bass, barefooted, with two sets of organ bass pedals. My cousin Ely played drums, and Denyse sang the blues for us. I just kicked back and rode upon what they layed down. There were several people drinking, and some even got drunk. I thought I smelled some herb burning, but it could have been the bonn fire. Not once did I have the desire to drink, smoke, do a line, or shoot any dope. A miracle has happened in my life. There was a time when I could not live without being loaded. I owe it all to the grace of a loving God and the program of Alcoholics Anonymous. I don't want to go back to the way it used to be. God has done for me what I could not do for myself.

[Goat]

Nice stack you've got there... I think I've only seen the randall rg-300 once before, and from what I recall it had an outstanding sound, especially for solid state. But I suppose, in my opinion, if you're going for solid state, Randall generally has the best sound

I play through a peavey 6505+ (which is the reissue of the 5150 II) full stack. I've always been a peavey guy... dunno why.

-Goat

[toad]

That Randall amp actually belongs to my (non alcoholic) cousin David. He does not play, but when he bought a 10 acre horse farm outside of KC, they also got a inside horse arena, and the amp had been used as a PA system. I tried to get him to give it to me, but he hooks a MP3 player up to it and freaks out. It says its got 500 watts. I know one thing, it will hang in there with about anything I ever plugged into.

I play through a more conservative setup most of the time. My passion is for the keys, even though I have played the guitar for more than 50 years. I have a Roland RD 700 Keyboard that I play through my Peavey PA system. I use a sub 18'" with 2x10", Two 15" with horns, and Two 12" with horns that I put on stands. When I play my guitar I run through a Peavey Bravo 112 (has tubes) and use a GNX1 pedal and a pedal board that I put together. I get the sound I want and run it through the PA.

At home most of the time I just put on the headphones and plug into my pedal.

I dig the mandolin also. Had one built for me by a buddy DLM Stringed Instruments :: Official Website who is one of the best guitarist I have ever heard and had the opportunity to play with (5 years in a contempory Christian band). It is solid body taken from a set of plans for a Gibson F5. We used 2" mahogney with an arched quilted maple top. It has gold tuners and brass tail piece. Abalonia inlay on the frets. I had a Fender pickup put in it. It is built out of the same woods as the Gibson Les Paul ...............may Les rest in peace.

When I was using and drinking, a lot of my stuff ended up in the pawnshop every month. In and out......in and out.....the same thing over and over. Now that I am sober my collection grows and I even give stuff away sometimes....and then it will grow some more.

You've got to give it away to keep it...........thanks for letting me share.

[JohnnyZ]

Looks like we need a "musicians in recovery" sub-forum... :-)

>> I have found that when I am drinking my musical output goes to zero. I can still jam a bit, I suppose, but my ability to write music is completely shot with even one drink.

After a 30-year absence from playing guitar, I started lessons about 5 years ago. I've learned a lot, but I also forgot a lot, because instead of practicing I was drinking which made me unmotivated. Now that I'm not drinking I'm inspired to play but my teacher is gone. However, I'm taking what I remember, mostly scales, and working on them...

Oh, and being a motorcycle forum, I'm really looking forward to getting a new Triumph by next summer. Actually, since my post about a Triumph Bonneville, I've decided that the T100 is a better choice for me because of my height (6'2") than a standard Bonnie. And, I kind of like the looks of the peashooter exhausts... :-)