Rugged Bugs

- Waldo Drogulus @RuggedBugs -

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Young Waldo (on bass) with Agitated - Strand Theater, Wadsworth, Ohio, 1982. (August or September...I dunno) I have no idea who initially took this photograph, nor who posted it to Discogs. Damn, I was skinny! Starving on food stamps in Reagan-era / post-industrial Akron.

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Wald∅ Dr∅gulus - N∅vember 18, 2∅24

(It's really still the Year Nil ∅ - but who's counting?)

Back on tumblr, for better or worse. This is my last social media account. I permanently exited the twitter (now known as X). I'm fatigued by the "now everyone migrate over here" aspect of social media. I'm not a herd animal, so this is it.

I found a bunch of "less than wholesome" "likes" somehow attached to my page here, I have hopefully deleted those.

I'm still modding and playing rat guitars, mostly neglected First Acts purchased from Goodwill. I have about a dozen now (actual number unknown - but who's counting?).

Here's a blurry photo my latest acquisition, photo courtesy of a technology challenged thrift store employee.

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Enjoy this blast from Cleveland’s past.  Thanks to the stalwart Kapusta Diamond for retrieving this gem from the Almighty Internets.

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 July 2, 1981. The Cramps played at the Pop Shop beneath the old Cleveland Agora on E. 24th St.  In the center of this photo are (L-R): Patti Spraypaint (back to camera, facing me),  Waldo (against the wall), and our friend Kelly Sidekick.  We were all underage, not that anyone cared much.  Patti didn’t appreciate being photographed and eventually snarled at the photographer.  The photographer wisely slunk away.  We only dated for a few months but remained friends.  If at any time you so much as dared to give me a dirty look, Patti would launch herself at you - claws out, teeth bared.  Patti died in 1984.  It appears that she has two headstones, I don’t know the story behind that.

[Allegedly Patti was also briefly part of Prince’s entourage.]

“The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long.” - Blade Runner

I searched for this photo for several years, perhaps decades.  Thanks to Scene Magazine and Cleveland Public Library for finally putting these archives online.

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The V-Nervz cover ‘Radioactivity’ (Kraftwerk) with a 3 guitar line-up at the Bank Niteclub - Akron, Ohio - summer 1981.  L-R Johnny Dread (guitar), Waldo (guitar), Jimi Imij (bass), Jimmy Dread (guitar).

I was usually the lead singer of this “delightful” outfit, but I played guitar on a couple of numbers.

Addendum: I note that Johnny Dread passed away earlier this summer.  #RIP

2 ∅ 2 ∅

[a1ien0]

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Huh?

I don’t know who made this artwork or where it came from. I quit in January and  rejoined in August for about 5 gigs, then quit again for the final time in September 1987.

[bestreasonstowriterecordreviews]

“…one of the year’s best songs…if more people hear this, wow, it’ll be just a matter of time before Starvation Army get in a position where they can lose twice as much money being heard by a few hundred more people…”

STARVATION ARMY review by GERARD COSLOY, Editor

CONFLICT 46 Nov./Dec. 1987 (page 13)

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Thanks!  (Three + decades too late)

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Visit Original Link

My deceased bandmate sends his greetings.

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I found this vintage paperback while rummaging through my infinite pile of detritus.  I probably read it decades ago, but can’t remember much about it.

However the description on the back of the book is prescient.

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“Shorty” got a makeover - primer gray spraypaint and the original white pickup from my other First Act thrift store guitar “Lurpy” (see below).  I still need to find a couple of bridge saddles, so Shorty remains a 4 string.  Overall, not a bad little guitar. Toy box battle scars are telegraphing through the primer coat, maybe they’ll disappear when I put more colors on.

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January 1, 2017 - Rat guitar season begins with this “fun-sized” First Act ME 1958. This $10 thrift store refugee has done hard time in the toy box and has lost a few essential parts along the way. Despite the obvious abuse and neglect, the 21.5″ (VERY) short scale neck is in very good shape and the action is decent.  When I find another organ donor (for replacement bridge parts) I intend to restore ‘Lil Bastard’ to “something approaching its former glory.”  

[showflyers-blog]

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1986 Ok

[thevaultoftheatomicspaceage]

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Another kit from a thrift store - General Electric ‘Ready Set’ Model S-15 - it appears to be all present - EXCEPT FOR THE INSTRUCTIONS (aaargh!) - The parts are even still in the plastic wrap! (yup...$3) I wonder what year it’s from?*...my guess is pre-1970 because it’s AM only.  Maybe the almighty internet will cough up the “easy” three step instructions.

“I’m in love with the AM sound” - Jonathan Richman, ‘Roadrunner’     *Addendum: Photo #4 - Hey check it out...1964...(!) Photo #5-6-7 an awkwardly reconstructed advertisement from Popular Mechanics December 1963      (Photos #4-7 ”borrowed” from google)

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Nerd alert!  I found this mostly complete Radio Shack “Sensors Lab” kit (ca. 2001?) at a thrift store where they charge by the pound(!).  Even the IC chip set and MOSFET transistor are present (though hard to photograph - embedded in their protective black anti-static foam).  The “sensors” resemble miniature Atari video games cartridges from the 80′s and plug into the “sensor socket” near the top center of the console.

Since this kit includes a small breadboard, 9 volt power supply, l.e.d. readout and 3 potentiometers, I’ll be re-purposing it into a guitar effects lab. (It worked out to slightly less than $3 by weight, quite a bargain.)

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Two views of the recently modded $16 First Act thrift store guitar, hereby dubbed “Lurpy.”

I “fed” the rosewood fretboard with lemon oil followed by one coat of gun stock oil and allowed it to dry overnight.  I shimmed the neck with a thin piece of plastic. I restrung with a set of 10′s and adjusted the truss rod one quarter turn. Then I set the action and intonation. There are no pokey fret ends or uneven frets.  It was all relatively easy.  I feel exceptionally lucky, that’s rarely the case case with rat guitars.

I added a Carvin C22-B pickup out of my junk drawer.  There was nothing wrong with the stock pick-up, I just wanted (slightly) more versatility. The C22-B is wired to a series/parallel switch. I put the fragile switch between the knobs where it gets some protection.  This switch gives two distinct sounds, parallel being cleaner/brighter and more “Fender-y” - series is standard humbucking wiring and “heavier.”  (The chrome knobs also came from my junk drawer, the originals were low quality plastic.)

Ironically, “Lurpy” is by far the best sounding guitar I own right now.

(Lurpy is pictured with a “delightful” strap I also got at a thrift store for $1.)

I will eventually find a black pickup surround, as the white does not match the creme/black pick-up.  The pick-up surrounds are proprietary and specific to First Act, so I’ll need to find another on a thrift store or garage sale guitar.

I may also change the ultra-cheap-o tuning machines, though they’re holding pitch reasonably well at this point - I wound the strings onto the posts very carefully.

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Yours truly in poison w/ Starvation Army at Dudley Hall, Willowick Ohio, early summer 1986.

Bad sound, no monitors, nothing mic’d except the vocals -

I’m playing an out-of-tune Fender Mustang (purchased at Uncle Ben’s when they were still on Payne Ave), borrowed amps (Sound City (?) tube head/Sunn 4x12).  Tim’s still got his late 60′s Fender Jazz. Video by Jeff Reding

ps, Real nice shorts, Timmy.