Shin the Musician
Last update: August 7, 2025
The John Shinnick Web Site
The recording, lyrics, and back story to "My Brain Is Too Small", a song I wrote and recorded in 1990.
It Served Me Well
I suppose it had to happen. For years (I think probably six) I played my guitar through a Boss WL-20 Wireless Digital Guitar System. It that needs explanation, it simply means that instead of a physical cable connecting my guitar to my amp or pedalboard, I plug one small gadget (the “transmitter”) into my guitar and another almost as small gadget (the “receiver”) into my amp (or pedal board) and the signal would be sent through the air.
No wires to trip over to get tangled up with other cables, or uncoil and later coil during setup and breakdown. And if I was performing, I could add to the show by going into the audience and dancing with the patrons. Great fun!
I never had a problem with the WL-20. I was happy when Boss (a company which makes all manner of accessories for electric guitars, keyboards, and the like) got into the market. I’d tried going wireless when it first came out, a company called Line 6 getting into the market first. Perhaps it was just the luck of the draw, but my first wireless was one of these and the connection was always bad. I replaced it with the next generation Line 6, on the assumption that it would be better. It wasn’t. Then out came the Boss competitor. It was far less bulky, especially on the guitar end where this mattered. Also, I was familiar with Boss and always impressed.
The Boss served me flawlessly for over six years. My only complaint with the design is that there is no indicator as to how much power it has remaining. It’s rechargeable batteries are said to last about 10 hours per charge, but tracking this is a real pain, so I wound up recharging the two pieces far more often than I probably needed.
Well, I performed with a trio in church last Sunday. It was fun putting the piece together, and I was impressed with how hard my fellow musicians had worked. But when I got to the sound check, the receiver had one of it’s lights glowing blue instead of the usual green. Bad news. With cables, it’s always good to have spares, so I just used a standard cable. The performance went on without a hitch, and we played and sang probably better than any of our rehearsals.
The big question was whether or not to replace the WL-20. A wireless system runs about $230, where a cable runs more like a tenth of that for a good one. I already have an excess of cables anyway. But it was really no question at all. Today, I went online and bought another WL-20. I just love the absence of the wire. By coincidence, I had just set up a log to track when I recharged and then used my old unit. It turned out I never used it at all!
I went out on the porch to practice my set for the upcoming Neighborhood Night Out, using a standard cable. Wouldn’t you know, there was a commotion down the street where I couldn’t see. I immediately got up and started to move down my sidewalk to investigate and help if needed. I’d forgotten that I was no longer wireless! Nothing broke, but had I been moving any faster I would either have pulled out the cable or possibly worse. The commotion turned out to be some overly-exuberant kids letting off steam. Can’t wait for my new wireless.
In other news, my band “Blues Daddies” was asked to play the annual Solano Stroll, a very large “block party” covering a two-mile stretch of road. More on this later.
Also, there was a song from the last millennium called “Take On Me” by a band named “A-Ha”. I hated it, but it was a huge hit. A-Ha would later re-work the song completely, and play it acoustically for M-TVs “Unplugged” series, though I didn’t hear it there. Who did hear it? Apparently, Ryan Reynolds, who featured it in a scene late in his movie “Deadpool 2”. I loved this toned-down version which I’m finding works pretty well in my solo porch set. It won’t be ready in time for the Night Out, I’m having fun with it.
The video, lyrics, and back story of the song I wrote and performed for my retirement party in 2006.
My old Boss WL-20
