Q: “Where are you?! Are you still on a…
A: Ahh yes. Where did the 11th Fret go? For starters, we’re still here accumulating gear in a frenzy. The only drawback is not only a dedicated space to film, but also a dedicated space to unpack the gear.
If you’re not up to speed with the channel, we were served a no-fault eviction notice in June 2022. We were given until January 1st, 2023 to vacate the property, but we didn’t want to put our kids through all that stress. With that in mind, we started looking for a new place to call home and found one quickly within our budget. The house was a little smaller than the one we had before, but we felt as though we could make it work. We even planned on a space for all the gear to go with a new set.
However, many many many unforeseen challenges reared their ugly heads. For one, we hit a massive heat wave in Burbank on the daily for weeks. So no one, myself included wanted to be in-and-out of the house unpacking and figuring out where things go. Another challenge is still that the space all the gear was planned to go matches the temperature outside. It’s a sun room, and apparently has no easy way to manage the temperature without it being an electric bill nightmare. So if it’s 110°F outside, it’s near that temperature in the sunroom too. The garage is the other place we planned on filming, and still might. But it has no ventilation and limited outlet options. Combine that with the fact that it’s also not temperature controlled, and will get boiling hot in the summer. There’s also no places here to stash empty guitar cases after unpacking since this new garage is devoid of overhead rafters. What that means is that unpacking guitars will essentially double my space issues.
As far as the house itself is concerned, we love this house. Of course not as much as the previous house. But this house works well except for one umbrella issue: None of our stuff fits. Wherever we feel like a piece of furniture can go is always like an inch too small to facilitate the item. So we’ve had to get really crafty, getting rid of stuff and bringing new things in without breaking the bank.
In addition, I’ve personally been feeling a bit defeated by this house. I know, I know. I’m trying not to come across all “poo-poo” about it. But it’s the truth and is how I’ve felt lately. Almost everything I try in this new place just doesn’t work out well for us in the end. We have lots of furniture in limbo, two computers with no place to go yet, limited electrical, excessive heat, my wife asking me to hang pictures everywhere, etc. …All that stuff. So it makes it a challenge to find that initial, motivational first breath to roll up my sleeves and dig in.
I’m aware of storage facility options, as well as lockout rooms. But the difficult thing is that the USA economy is flirting with complete disaster and prices everywhere have skyrocketed, including rent at all the above spaces. The 11th Fret channel is not monetized (yet), so I don’t have that kind of money coming in to facilitate a room like that. I’m also not super eager to open up some third party coffers for the audience to do a monthly paid subscription (eg: Patreon). I’m just not comfortable with asking that kind of thing. Maybe one day I will. But right now, I need to simply focus on getting up and running sooner rather than later. That’s priority #1 for us here. But in order for that to happen, I need to make some kind of functional space because I’m proud of adding production value to my content. It’s silly and likely unnecessary. But it’s something I’ve worked hard on in improving with each video – some with better results than others.
But we’re here. We’ve got a lot of stuff planned, and may move some pending content around to allow filming with limitations. These might be talking head style videos or plain ol’ narrative style opinion pieces. But for now, I’m sitting here wearing my 11th Fret shirt and itching to get going once more. I need this. I need you all. And I cannot stress how much I’ve missed the lot of you in my daily routine.
So yeah, I’m still here. I’ve not gone anywhere other than to a new, smaller and somewhat awkward house. In the meantime, say hi. Please feel free to reach out anytime. I still read all the comments, and am starting to see the Nuno Bettencourt video take off virally. That’s pretty cool to see happen as that was my first real effort in structuring a story for the 11th Fret channel and editing it to cater to that idea.
Thanks to everyone for sticking with us. The 11th Fret will return soon to cover opinions, pedals, a large new collection of guitars since the move, and yada-yada-yada.
All the best!
-Kris
