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authorialarcanist · 3 years

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Gracidea Blossom Chapter 7: In The Town of Incessant Rain

(Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, & Platinum x Little Busters!)

Mirror Links: AO3, Pokécommunity, Spacebattles

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Meow?

“You can do it, Lennon! Reach for the stars!”

Meow!

With a determined cry, Lennon pounces at its target, white fur shining under bright ceiling-mounted lights. Its ambitions are frustrated as the fluffy toy jolts out of its way, leaving the Litten to hit the floor on the other side empty-pawed. With an agile hop, it turns to look for its prey.

“Keep going! Only by believing in yourself can you grow into a proper warrior!” Rin waves the toy - a simple stick with white fluff modeled after a Minccino’s furry, white-tipped tail on one end - and brings it back down into her Pokémon’s sights. Lennon makes another attempt to catch the toy, and yet another as Rin leads it on a merry chase around the room.

At the moment, they’re inhabiting a small side room in a Pokémon Center, one of several set aside for Trainers to battle or train their Pokémon. The ubiquitous Pokémon Center Theme can still be heard filtering in from the main rooms of the building, but it’s quiet enough to blend with the sound of rain pounding down on the roof and the roads outside.

After their meal, Rin had brought her and Riki’s Pokémon to be healed while Riki and Kengo ran for a store to grab more than a single umbrella’s worth of rain gear for the group. Masato vanished to who knows where for his muscle training and Kyousuke went to get a start on his advertising gig, leaving Rin to her own devices. After waiting a short while for the Pokémon to be returned in full health, she retreated to the training room to let them stretch their legs.

MEOWWW! Lennon cries triumphantly as it finally snags the Pokémon toy out of Rin’s hand with a flying tackle.

“Woah!” Rin’s jaw drops when she realized what happened. “Well done, Lennon! Could it be you’ve become a proper warrior already?” Lennon preens, only to hiss in surprise as the ground yaws beneath it. It scrabbles with its claws, finding no traction in moist soil as Terra dumps it off from where it had landed on the Turtwig’s back. Terra snaps at the cat Pokémon indignantly.

Lennon bristles, and starts to circle the Turtwig before being cut off by a sharp “No!” It looks back at its trainer, who continues, “I’m watching Terra and Sly until Riki gets back. You’re not allowed to fight them.” A minute passes, the Litten withering under Rin’s stare, until it finally gives up and slinks back to her side. “Good kitty.” Lennon arches its head up into Rin’s palm as she pets it. “Oh? Do you want a treat?”

Nya.

“You want some Mon petit?”

Nyaa!

“You’ve already had some today. You shouldn’t eat too much between lunch and supper, or you’ll get a bellyache.”

Nyaaa…

Rin shakes her head. “I’ll give you this, instead. You diddo well today, after all.” Smiling brightly, Rin pulls out a plastic container full of small, colourful cubes. She places a red one in the middle of her palm, offering it to the cat. Lennon sniffs the candy block and then laps it up, tickling Rin’s hand in the process. “You too, Santa. Come here.” This time, the Pokéblock she offers is pink, and the Chingling looks up from the other side of the room where it has Sly wrapped up in its tendrils. It lets go, (Riki’s Bonsly looks relieved at the release from its cuddling,) and wanders over. After a couple of tries, it gets its jaw around the Pokéblock and jingles happily at the sweetness.

Rin slips the rest of the Pokéblocks back into her bag. They’re not all that easy to find in Sinnoh, so she has a limited stock until her brother takes another trip to Hoenn. There are Poffins, of course, but… She glances at Santa as it tries to crunch down on its treat. When it comes down to how cute her Pokémon look eating them, Pokéblocks win every time!

“Hm?” Rin becomes aware of a gaze fixed on her, and turns to see Riki’s Pokémon staring balefully. “Ah…”

Terra blinks, first with one eye, then the other.

“I really shouldn’t… I mean, you’re Riki’s Pokémon, and he might have his own plans…”

Sly looks like it’s on the verge of tears.

Rin folds. “…Okay, fine. It’s our secret, alright?” She fumbles in her bag to pull out a couple more Pokéblocks, glances both ways to confirm nobody’s watching, and slips them to the Pokémon. “You’re not allowed to tell Riki, got it?”

Terra crushes one of the blocks with its beak.

“Woah!” A tugging sensation on her clothes draws Rin’s gaze back to Lennon, who is trying to climb her like a tree. One of its claws goes a little too deep, and nicks her skin for a moment. “Aah!” She jolts, and the Litten flops to the ground in surprise. “You have to be more careful, Lennon! People aren’t as tough as you are!” She pauses. “…Well, Masato might be.”

Meow~ Lennon rolls back and forth on the floor.

“You’re really brimming with energy today.” Rin watches Lennon roll around her in a clumsy loop. “Are you trying to tell me something?”

Roll… Roll…

“Did you have that much fun battling?”

Lennon comes to a stop once it’s right-side up and meows at her.

“What about you, Santa?”

The Chingling bounces up and down, its bell sounding every time it pushes off the ground.

“Hmm. Well, I’ll tell you a secret, then.” Rin leans in close to her Pokémon, and whispers, “I did, too!” She deftly lifts Santa into her lap, and runs her hands along its rope-like appendages. It cuddles up closer to her in pleasure, and she pats the smooth top of its bell.

“Hmmm…” Rin plops her chin on one hand and hums to herself, deep in thought. “Hmmmmmmmmmmm…” Her head tilts slowly to the side as she thinks, approaching a 90 degree angle. Once her head hits 45 degrees, she straightens up. “I’ve got it!”

Lennon sits and looks up at her, tail swishing on the floor.

Rin nods, filled with self-satisfaction. “Tomorrow, I’ll ask Riki to battle me!”

——

“I still don’t understand why I have to do this…”

The next morning brings with it the hustle and bustle of the big city. Businesspeople dash to their places of work, some with bagels dangling from their mouths. Children rush to their schools, chatting with friends as they do. Nearly everybody is carrying rain gear of some kind - while the rain let up overnight, the skies above the city are still cloudy and threatening.

Although the crowds disquiet Rin, she nonetheless pushes through, dragging Riki behind her until they near Jubilife TV. Across the street from the TV station, set smack-dab in the center of the city, is a refreshing spot of green that stands out amidst Jubilife’s rocky greys.

“It’s so we can fight,” Rin responds matter-of-factly. “Masato, Kengo, and Kyousuke are all too strong for a real match. If I want to battle someone, it has to be you.”

It’s not much compared to Amity Square, but Jubilife’s sole park - boasting wide stretches of grass, a fountain, and even several trees all scattered around a path dotted with benches - remains a popular spot for elders and children who want to be amidst living things without venturing into the wilder routes outside the city. Rin pulls her friend past several benches until they reach a dirt battlefield in the shade of the massive Global Terminal building.

“No, no, no, that doesn’t follow at all,” Riki sighs. “First of all, nobody said we’re the only Trainers in the world! I’m sure you could find someone who wants to battle at the Trainer School or the GTS!”

Rin glances behind her at the building in question. It’s a huge, multi-story cone of glass and steel, with a tower on the roof pointing satellite dishes in every direction. Originally called the Global Trade Station - the first in the world, Kyousuke once told her with a gleam of patriotism - over the years it grew beyond its original purpose as a glorified signal-booster allowing interregional Pokémon trades and became a general all-purpose gathering point for the region’s Trainers to communicate with both each other and their counterparts in distant lands. Even as far away as she is, Rin still gets the impression of hundreds - maybe thousands - of strangers crowding within, all shouting over each other, their shadows twisting and merging into a multi-headed beast—

The hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. “Of course I can’t do that, dumbass!”

Riki steps back, hands in front of him placatingly. Whatever further arguments he was going to present die on his lips. “Okay, okay… I’m sorry. Still, are you sure you’re alright not being able to talk to strangers? You’ll have to manage on your own someday, won’t you?”

Rin shakes her head. “You and Kyousuke will be there,” she says simply.

“Ah…” Riki doesn’t seem to have anything to say to that. In lieu of further debate, Rin points her Pokéball at the ground in front of her and presses the button on front, causing it to shoot out a red beam that materializes into Lennon. Riki gives up and throws his own Pokéball, his eyes widening as Terra appears across from the fire cat. Lennon darts for its opponent, and Riki fumbles with his belt. “Crap! Terra, return! Go, Sly!”

“Lennon, use Lick!” Rin seizes on the opening without remorse, and her Litten lashes the Bonsly with its tongue before the Pokémon can get its bearings. “Now Roar!” Sly is still staggering back when Lennon lets out an intimidating yowl, and before Riki can react his Pokémon is hiding behind his legs.

“Sly—“ Riki grimaces, and after a moment he sends Terra back out into battle. The turtle Pokémon has no choice but to take an Ember attack head-on upon reentry, but it shakes it off and lumbers forward. “T— Terra, use Tackle!” With a determined cry, the Turtwig plows through a second Ember to ram into Lennon, sending the cat stumbling back. Lennon jumps out of the way before it can take a second attack, and readies another Ember, but both combatants are flagging. A third Ember should be enough to finish Terra off, but… its physical attacks are strong enough that it might be able to take Lennon out if it gets luck— “Come back, Terra! Sly, I’m counting on you!”

Rin clicks her tongue in frustration as Riki backs off, and switches Sly into an ineffective Ember attack. Even if the Bonsly has a better type matchup, Terra’s been weakened enough at this point that it won’t be able to recover from the tempo loss of switching back in. No matter how she tries to push, the spark she felt the previous day just won’t come. Riki is all over himself with hesitation and openings; she doesn’t feel an ounce of fighting spirit from him. “Charge him, Lennon!” Lennon darts for Sly, as Rin bets it all on getting in closer than Rock Throw’s effective range.

“Sly, use R— I mean--“ Riki hesitates just a moment too long. “Er, use Flail!” Paralyzed by its trainer’s indecision, Sly takes Lennon’s Lick attack before it can retaliate. The Litten goes down, but before Rin can switch in Santa to finish the job, she’s interrupted by what sounds like thunder rolling.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THIIIIIIIIIIS!” Rin clamps her hands over her ears and screws her eyes shut at the explosive shout. When the noise dies down, she takes in the sight of a tall, wiry old man in a green robe. His mustache, goatee, and spiky hair have all gone white with age, and he’s glaring at the two of them with brown eyes. “JUST WHAT DO YOU CALL THAT DISPLAY?”

“…A Pokémon Battle?” Riki cocks his head at the old man.

“Pah! I’ve fought better Pokémon Battles than that in my sleep,” The aggressive geezer growls. “I’ve seen Pokémon Coordinatorswith more aggression than you, kid! And as for you!” He wheels on Rin, who steps back involuntarily.

Before he can advance any further, she settles on a preemptive strike! She bristles and shouts at him, “Nobody asked you, old man!”

The geezer explodes again. “WHO’S AN OLD MAAAAAAAAAN!?” His eyes flash with anger, and his shout echoes around the park. As though in response, the clouds burst open and rain begins to pour down once again. Quivering under the huge stranger’s shout, Rin kicks into fight or flight mode, and miserably succumbs to her only option.

“Rin! Wait up!”

She runs away.

——

Rin presses her back against the wall of a building, half-sheltered from the rain by the lip of the roof. Her breathing is slowing down again now that she’s gotten away safely, but… she’s traded in for a new problem instead. She’s lost and alone in the big city, surrounded by people she doesn’t know. Even now, strangers with ponchos and umbrellas rush up and down the street, causing Rin to flinch back whenever one passes too close. Occasionally a member of the faceless mass slows, as though debating whether to approach her, but they always pick up their pace when she hisses at them.

“Rin! Thank goodness, I finally found you… Are you okay?”

Rin jumps at the sudden voice calling out to her, and glances around wildly. Her body tenses up, ready to make one last desperate attack… and then she recognizes the voice as coming from Riki, standing in front of her with an umbrella. The pent-up energy transfers to her voice as she speaks a little too quickly. “I-I’m fine!”

“Are you sure? You looked kind of—“

“I said I’m fine!” Rin glares at her friend, daring him to contradict her.

“Ah… Alright…” Riki blinks first, averting his gaze. After fidgeting for a moment, he hands Rin a folded-up umbrella. “Oh, right. By the way, you dropped this.”

“O-oh. Thanks, Riki.” As she falls back into a familiar routine, Rin slowly relaxes. She unfolds her umbrella - courtesy of Riki and Kengo’s shopping trip - and steps back out into the rain. “…I guess we should meet back up with the others.”

Riki falls into step with her as she turns back towards the hostel where Kyousuke arranged for them to stay. “You’re not going to say we need to finish that battle?” he asks.

Rin just shakes her head. “No point.” The scary old man was right about one thing - she’s certain, now. She’s not going to get the challenge she wants from Riki.

“I see…” From the look on his face, Riki clearly doesn’t see, but he follows along nonetheless. Rin continues to glance around warily, some instinctual part of her still convinced that an enemy is going to accost her. In the end, however, she and Riki encounter nothing but puddles and thunder-cracks as they walk through the sodden city.

——

“You want us to what?” Masato’s jaw drops.

Rin stares at him unblinkingly. “Help me train,” she repeats, brooking no argument.

“Well someone’s had a change of heart. Didn’t we have to bribe you the last time we wanted you to learn something? Why the sudden change?” Kengo drums his fingers on his arm.

Rin had wasted no time in making her demands when she and Riki arrived back at the hostel. She’s not sure what’s so hard to understand about it. “I just want to. Riki’s not enough to give me an interesting battle -” she ignores his halfhearted ‘Hey!’ - “so I need to try something else.”

“Hmm. Well, I guess that’s reasonable…” Kengo plows over Riki’s murmur of ‘You too…?’ to give Rin a nod, but Masato interrupts him.

“Woah, woah, hold on! After all the trouble she gave us, Rin gets to just plow in here and demand our help like it’s a given?” Masato frowns and crosses his arms. “Shouldn’t we at least make some demands of our own?”

Rin glares at him. “Like what?”

Masato thinks for a minute, face scrunching up further and further. Finally, he gives a defeated shrug. “Heck if I know. Ugh, now I’ve got a headache…”

Rin looks on with naked awe. “What an idiot!”

“Uwoooh! At least don’t call me that when you’re asking for my help!” Masato covers his face with his hands and lets out a groan of utter despair.

Rin places her hands on her hips. She can’t help but feel that they’d strayed from the main point. “Anyways, help me train!”

“No, he’s got a point…” Kengo scratches his chin. “You really should be polite if you’re asking a favor.”

“Ugh…” Rin grimaces. The conversation is going off the rails, fast. She looks to Riki for support.

“…I’m sorry, Rin.” Riki shrugs helplessly. “It is important to know how to ask for help properly…”

Rin groans. She glances around, as though something in her surroundings would grant her an escape route.

The world is not so accommodating.

Finally, she clenches her fists, screws up her determination, and shouts, “Please, train me!”

She hears Masato’s astonished voice. “Woah… Did Rin actuallyjust ask us nicely…?”

Her eyes still closed, Rin half-bows to her friends. She’s certain that with this, she and her Pokémon will be able to battle and grow closer. This is how her story begins. “Please, help me get stronger so I can challenge the Gym!”

#Little Busters!#pokemon #fanfiction #Natsume Rin #Naoe Riki #Kamikita Kojirou #Inohara Masato #Miyazawa Kengo #Gracidea Blossom #Sinnoh

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dailynewswebsite · 3 years

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Magnetism of Himalayan rocks reveals the mountains’ complex tectonic history

Himalayan rocks maintain magnetic clues about their origins. Craig Robert Martin, CC BY-ND

Respiratory shortly within the skinny mountain air, my colleagues and I set down our gear. We’re on the base of a jagged outcrop that protrudes upwards out of a steep gravel slope.

The muffled soundscape of the spectacular Himalayan wilderness is punctuated by a army convoy roaring alongside the Khardung-La street beneath. It’s a reminder how shut we’re to the long-disputed borders between India, Pakistan and China which lie on the ridgelines just some miles away.

This space additionally accommodates a distinct kind of boundary, a slender sinuous geological construction that stretches alongside the size of the Himalayan mountain vary. Often called a suture zone, it’s only some kilometers huge and consists of slivers of various kinds of rocks all sliced collectively by fault zones. It marks the boundary the place two tectonic plates fused collectively and an historic ocean disappeared.

Our group of geologists traveled right here to gather rocks that erupted as lava greater than 60 million years in the past. By decoding the magnetic information preserved inside them, we hoped to reconstruct the geography of historic landmasses – and revise the story of the creation of the Himalayas.

Sliding plates, rising mountains

At a subduction zone, two tectonic plates collide, with one slowly sliding beneath the opposite. VectorMine/iStock through Getty Pictures Plus

Tectonic plates make up the floor of Earth, and so they’re continuously in movement – drifting on the imperceptibly gradual tempo of just some centimeters every year. Oceanic plates are colder and denser than the mantle beneath them, so that they sink downward into it at subduction zones.

The sinking fringe of the ocean plate drags the ocean flooring alongside behind it like a conveyor belt, pulling the continents towards one another. When your entire ocean plate disappears into the mantle, the continents on both aspect plow into one another with sufficient power to uplift nice mountain belts, just like the Himalayas.

Geologists usually thought that the Himalayas shaped 55 million years in the past in a single continental collision – when the Neotethys Ocean plate subducted beneath the southern fringe of Eurasia and the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates collided.

However by measuring the magnetism of rocks from northwest India’s distant and mountainous Ladakh area, our group has proven that the tectonic collision that shaped the world’s largest mountain vary was really a fancy, multi-stage course of involving at the least two subduction zones.

Earth’s magnetic area is generated by motion throughout the planet’s outer core. Magnetic north and south drift and generally flip over time. VectorMine/iStock through Getty Pictures Plus

Magnetic messages, preserved all the time

Fixed motion of our planet’s metallic outer core creates electrical currents which in flip generate Earth’s magnetic area. It’s oriented in another way relying the place on the planet you might be. The magnetic area all the time factors towards the magnetic north or the south, which is why your compass works, and averaged over 1000’s of years it factors towards the geographic pole. But it surely additionally slopes downward into the bottom at an angle which varies relying on how far you might be from the equator.

When lava erupts and cools to kind rock, the magnetic minerals inside lock within the course of the magnetic area of that location. So by measuring the magnetization of volcanic rocks, scientists like me can decide what latitude they got here from. Primarily, this methodology permits us to unwind tens of millions of years of plate tectonic motions and create maps of the world at completely different instances all through geologic historical past.

Geologist collects core samples utilizing a water-cooled electrical core drill. Craig Robert Martin, CC BY-ND

Over a number of expeditions to the Ladakh Himalayas, our group collected a whole lot of 1-inch diameter rock core samples. These rocks initially shaped on a volcano energetic between 66 and 61 million years in the past, across the time that the primary levels of collision started. We used a hand-held electrical drill with a specifically designed diamond coring bit to drill roughly 10 centimeters down into the bedrock. We then fastidiously marked these cylindrical cores with their authentic orientation earlier than chiseling them out of the rock with nonmagnetic instruments.

A couple of rock core samples, with the pattern orientation line marked on their sides. Craig Robert Martin, CC BY-ND

The goal was to reconstruct the place these rocks initially shaped, earlier than they had been sandwiched between India and Eurasia and uplifted into the excessive Himalayas. Preserving monitor of the orientation of the samples in addition to the rock layers they got here from is crucial to calculating which means the traditional magnetic area pointed relative to the floor of the bottom because it was over 60 million years in the past.

The magnetometer sits inside a magnetically shielded room on the MIT Paleomagnetism Laboratory. Craig Robert Martin, CC BY-ND

We introduced our samples again to the MIT Paleomagnetism Laboratory and, inside a particular room that’s shielded from the modern-day magnetic area, we heated them in increments as much as 1,256 levels Fahrenheit (680 levels Celsius) to slowly take away the magnetization.

Totally different mineral populations purchase their magnetization at completely different temperatures. Incrementally heating after which measuring the samples on this means permits us to extract the unique magnetic course by eradicating newer overprints that may disguise it.

Black traces mark boundaries between tectonic plates. Black traces with triangular tick marks present subduction zones, with the course of subduction. The Trans-Tethyan Subduction Zone is the extra subduction zone not accounted for within the single-stage collision mannequin. The Trans-Tethyan Subduction Zone is the place the volcanic island chain shaped earlier than the Indian continent collided into it and pushed it into Eurasia, forming the Himalaya. Martin et al ‘Paleocene latitude of the Kohistan-Ladakh arc signifies multi-stage India-Eurasia collision,’ PNAS 2020, CC BY-NC-SA

Magnetic traces construct a map

Utilizing the typical magnetic course of the entire suite of samples we will calculate their historic latitude, which we consult with because the paleolatitude.

The unique single-stage collision mannequin for the Himalaya predicts that these rocks would have shaped near Eurasia at a latitude of round 20 levels north, however our information reveals that these rocks didn’t kind on both the Indian or the Eurasian continents. As an alternative, they shaped on a sequence of volcanic islands, out within the open Neotethys Ocean at a latitude of about eight levels north, 1000’s of kilometers south of the place Eurasia was positioned on the time.

This discovering might be defined provided that there have been two subduction zones pulling India quickly towards Eurasia, quite than only one.

[You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors. You can get our highlights each weekend.]

Throughout a geologic time interval generally known as the Paleocene, India caught up with the volcanic island chain and collided with it, scraping up the rocks we ultimately sampled onto the northern fringe of India. India then continued northward earlier than ramming into Eurasia round 40 to 45 million years in the past – 10 to 15 million years later than was usually thought.

This last continental collision raised the volcanic islands from sea degree up over 4,000 meters to their present-day location, the place they kind jagged outcrops alongside a spectacular Himalayan mountain go.

Craig Robert Martin receives funding from the Nationwide Science Basis (NSF).

from Growth News https://growthnews.in/magnetism-of-himalayan-rocks-reveals-the-mountains-complex-tectonic-history/ via https://growthnews.in

#Growth News

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racingtoaredlight · 3 years

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PRS vs. Gibson

Gibson is a historic, iconic, legendary brand that’s more responsible for shaping the face of western music for the latter half of the 20th Century than any other company than Fender. In a lot of ways Fender and Gibson couldn’t be more opposite...Fender’s are designed to be easily maintained and repaired while being able to literally be lit on fire and still make music on, Gibson’s are brittle and clunky. Fender’s are light and slice through a mix, Gibson’s are heavy and plow through a mix. Fender has had patches of brilliant, forward thinking leadership while Gibson’s C-Suite has been a running comedy of errors since Ted McCarty left (to work with PRS).

I’m not going to compare Fender to PRS because it doesn’t make sense. While PRS’ are considered to be “Fender/Gibson hybrids,” really the only hybrid aspect of Fender you see is the whammy bar and this really bad imitation of the “Fender sounds” via coil splitting the humbuckers. Listen, I’m not shitting all over Gibson’s here...while they have their flaws, there’s a reason that the Les Paul and ES-335 and dozens of other models have been used continuously since they were released. We’ll get to that.

PRS is a close cousin of Gibson more than anything else. And there’s a lot under the hood that you might not notice that represents a significant improvement in design over Gibson’s iconic instruments. Despite everything I’m about to write though, Gibson has the ultimate trump card.

***

HEADSTOCK ANGLE

Headstock angle? Really?

Gibson has known about the above fault FOREVER. Strings need to have a proper break angle after the nut...in order to tune properly, resonate clearly and essentially make good sounding notes come out. You can see in the image above how Gibson headstocks are angled backwards (at a 17* angle), so that every string has the proper break when feeding into the tuning pegs.

That idea makes perfect sense. If you don’t have a neck that’s designed to create that proper break angle, you need to do what Fender did, and add an ugly piece of metal right in the middle of your headstock...

Here’s the problem though...if your headstock is angled at an extreme 17*, it’s very suceptible to break. Gibson headstocks are so legendary for breaking like in that image above, there’s a common saying “not everyone is meant to own a Gibson.”

Oh, and there’s a solution for this that’s been known forever too. It’s called a scarf joint, where you take two pieces of wood cut at that 17* angle and glue them together. But then cork sniffers complain about not having “one-piece necks.” Why not make the headstock angle less severe? Because cork sniffers only buy guitars “to vintage spec.”

It’s ridiculous and Gibson is going to die on this hill. PRS headstocks have a 10* angle. Same sonic benefits, same break angle, same construction method...and in all my years in guitar forums, I have never seen a PRS headstock break like the hundreds of examples of a Gibson.

And that’s not the only headstock issue either...

***

STRING ANGLE

Another thing that seems insignificant...but it’s fucking huge. Mega important.

PRS’ headstocks are designed for the strings to feed straight from the nut to the tuner. One straight line. You can obviously see on the Gibson headstock, the strings shoot off in different directions after they hit the nut (lol). In theory...old, outdated theory...it doesn’t matter what the string does before the bridge and after the nut, as long as it’s secure.

Which is ridiculous. Here’s the thing, man...what good is music if it’s not in tune? Nothing. It’s garbage and sounds like shit, even if you can’t immediately tell why. What good is a guitar if a string breaks mid-song? Not much of one, unless you know how to deal with it.

These two variables are legitimate things you have to think about if you play in a working band and choose to use a Gibson. The D and G strings (strings 3 and 4) go out of tune frequently, no matter how perfectly set up your guitar is. You gotta be ready to tune at a moment’s notice...and even be able to re-tune mid-song when you notice one of those strings slipped.

The A and B strings (strings 2 and 5) go out less frequently, but when I play Allman Brothers’ “Ramblin’ Man” and I’m at the end where there’s those beautiful harmonies...if both the B and G strings slip, those harmonies are completely ruined. What good is a great sounding guitar if it’s not in tune?

Now, I’m not saying the Gibson goes out of tune when you play 3 notes or something...but compared to a PRS? The PRS and it’s straight-pull headstock alone are designed not to go out of tune...and that’s before we mention that he uses locking tuners, which secure the string completely (where the strings on GIbson tuners can occasionally slip, another flaw).

Less stress on the strings, better tuning...that shit lets you focus on playing music instead of fussing with an instrument.

***

ERGONOMICS AND WEIGHT

On the bottom picture, you can see what’s called a “belly cut.” Another thing that might sound ridiculous, but think about how these things are used...

The belly cut was revolutionary when it came out in 1954 on the Fender Stratocaster. Guitars before this...even Leo Fender’s own designs...were on what’s obviously called “slab bodies.” Look at the top pic of the Les Paul, and it’s pretty obvious why it’s called a slab. There’s no contours or anything to fit against a guitarist’s body or where they rest their arm. When this came out...

...oh man, guitarists fucking LOVED it. You can see the belly cut here, where it just melts against your body...and you can also see the contour where you’d rest your arm. Why is this important?

When you’re playing a show or recording, you’re moving around, playing with energy for multiple hours, and when a giant slab of wood is digging into your ribs and forearm over and over, it fucking sucks straight up. When the Strat was released in 1954, the comfort of playing it was as big of a draw as how beautiful it sounded. Hell, look what Jeff Beck did to his famous 1951 Esquire.

He just said “fuck it” and did it himself.

A comfortable guitar to play for hours, is a guitar that you will play for hours. Gibson will never adopt this because of the cork sniffers, even though it’s been the number one complaint about a Les Paul since it’s inception in 1952.

Playing a Les Paul is a labor of love. You have to LOVE playing a Les Paul to make it your main guitar because it’s wrecked so many backs and shoulders over the years, that you know this going in. Imagine playing a gig...two 90 minute sets or something...Les Paul’s typically weigh between 9-12 pounds.

Keep in mind that 9-12 pounds is digging into your shoulder, ribs and elbow for three hours...and because it’s just a slab of wood with no contours, it’s swinging around and moving, making it all more of a pain in the ass. A Telecaster doesn’t have contours, but they’re the lightest guitars out there at 6-7 pounds.

PRS made this a non-issue. Their guitars are rarely over 8.5 lbs., they’re ergonomic and designed to fit comfortably against the guitarist’s body and be played for hours. They don’t swing around, move on the strap, are perfectly balanced...

You have to a fight a Gibson, pretty much no matter what model it is...PRS’ are so balanced and comfortable, you sometimes forget it’s there.

***

GIBSON’S TRUMP CARD

To sum up the advantages in design I detailed above...PRS guitars are more stable, more resonant and less likely to have the headstock pop off completely after a very minor fall compared to Gibson. That headstock thing is almost the perfect definition of an Achilles’ Heel.

So why do people still play Gibson’s?

A bunch of intangible reasons that don’t mean much unless you have an instrument in your hands. But these things are the most critical aspects of what an instrument is supposed to do, because if a headstock snaps, making that instrument worthless...just pick up another one!

The most Les Paul-like PRS is the McCarty 594 (named after the former Gibson honcho mentioned above)...but why doesn’t it sound like a Les Paul? Why is it clearly “lesser” sounding when it has almost the same body thickness, pickups, electronics, scale length...all that shit? I honestly don’t know.

But it is. I call the Les Paul the heavyweight champion of the world, because it is unbelievably thick, rich, meaty and huge sounding, almost to an overwhelming degree. That serves a very, very useful purpose with any type of music featuring overdriven amps...so basically anything from blues to the heaviest of metal. And the McCarty comes close in sound...close, but not the heavyweight champion of the world.

The other Gibson design that’s on the Mount Rushmore of guitars is the ES-335...which isn’t as thick and meaty as a Les Paul, but due to the hollow wings, has this wonderful bloom and sparkle. You can feel the hollow instrument vibrating against your body, and it occupies this sonic middle-ground that other semi-hollow and Gibson-styled guitars have never fully captured.

I know it sounds like a cop-out, after all that, to just say “yea well Gibson’s are better sounding, and that’s all that matters,” but that’s the case in my opinion. Also, there’s something psychologically to fighting with your guitar...keeps your mind active in the moment, instead of letting your thoughts drift because it seems like a guitar plays itself. For all the ergonomic advantages of the Strat, while it’s comfortable, you gotta fight it to get it sounding its best. That’s not the case for a PRS.

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PRS’ TRUMP CARD

PRS’ sound damn good, OK? We’re talking splitting hairs here in the sonic differences between, say, a Les Paul and McCarty 594. It’s just the Gibson’s have that certain something extra I can’t define, that’s all...

Fighting guitars is fun when you’re feeling it and it’s a great gig that you’re fired up about...but if it’s some shitty bar gig you regret taking on, 45 minutes away, in front of thirty people that aren’t paying attention, do you really want to have a 10 pound boat anchor digging into your shoulder and ribs all night? Not really.

PRS guitars sound more than good enough to get the job done. No-playing guitar nerds care about specs and stupid things that don’t mean a goddamned thing like “accuracy,” pros care about reliability and durability, the audience cares about NONE of this shit.

Why is that Gibson headstock thing a big deal and not a big deal at the same time? All the audience cares about is if they like what they hear...it’s binary. If they pay attention, it’s good. If they don’t, it’s bad. If something like the drummer knocking a Gibson over and breaking the headstock can keep you from playing, that’s a big deal. If you borrow another guitar, the audience won’t even know it’s borrowed, because...again...they do not care about any of this.

Plus there’s the value proposition. PRS isn’t compared to Gibson’s USA issues...where $3,800 vs. $2,500 for a McCarty vs. a Les Paul seems like PRS’ are ungodly expensive. Given the standard of quality, however...the comparison is to Gibson’s Custom Shop lines, where that $3,800 McCarty is now up against a peer Historic Gibson that will cost you anywhere from $5,500 up to $8,500.

Much different value proposition there.

*for the record, I consider Gibson’s current USA line to be the best value in new high-end guitars.

***

CONCLUSION

I do tho, so fuck you.

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josephkitchen0 · 6 years

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The Best Tractor Tires for Your Farm

Choosing the best tractor tires for your small farm tractor can be a make-or-break deal. Not all tractors are the same, and not all tractor jobs call for the same tire or tractor tire sizes. Knowing which tread will serve you best can be the difference between getting the job done, or making a bigger job than you bargained for. Let’s look at common, and some not-so-common styles available to you.

Typical Agricultural Style

R-1 is the most common style of tractor tire. This is your average agricultural tire that features an aggressive cleat pattern angled at about 23 degrees, radiating from the tire’s centerline. R-1 tires perform well in mud, dirt, and fields. It’s a compromise between traction performance, wear resistance and road manners.

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Don’t think of these as a proper road or hard surface tire, nor is it the best snow tire, but it’s a reasonably well-rounded tire fit for general farm use. This is the style I have on my John Deere 5105. Beware of deep sandy surfaces, however. R-1 tires will try to dig a hole to China in soft, sandy conditions. Be gentle and deliberate when driving R-1 shod tractors over turf, since making a turn on grass will obliterate a well-manicured lawn.

Aggressive Agricultural Tires

R-1W (Wet) style treads are just like the original R-1 but with a 25 percent deeper cleat for deep mud or slick clay applications. I don’t suggest these unless you plan on operating your tractor in deep mud, manure pits, or plowing fields of wet clay. Road manners are not this tire’s forte by any means, and running them on hard surfaces will yield unsatisfactory results. If your tractor spends all day mucking out sloppy, muddy areas, or wallowing in greasy clay dirt, then perhaps this is a good choice, but it’s not a good candidate for the vast majority of small farms and homesteads.

Row Cropping

R-1HA (High Angle) is yet another variant of the conventional R-1 tire, but instead of having a tread lug set at the traditional 23 degrees, this high angle variant offers a tread angled at 45 degrees. This style of tire performs well for tractors in row cropping, where you want a tall, skinny tire that fits between the rows of your plants. This is another one of those specialty styles that most small farmers and homesteaders will have no use for.

Let’s go Bogging

R-2 is a rare style in North America, but it’s nonetheless a variant of the R-1 tire. Unlike the R-1W which is 25 percent deeper than the R-1, the R-2 is twice the depth of the R-1, making this a tire that is entirely unsuitable for 99 percent of us in the United States and Canada. This specialty tire does reign king in rice paddies and bogs, but that’s about it. It’s doubtful that anyone reading this article has a real need for this style tire unless you bought a farm with a cranberry bog.

Turf tires offer traction without destroying grassy areas.

Grass Friendly

R-3 is a departure from the popular R-1, and many people refer to them as turf tires. Turf tires are the most common tire found on sub-compact tractors and lawn equipment, but turf farms, golf courses and institutions with vast expanses of grassy areas use them on full-size tractors as well. As the name implies, turf tires are your best option when you need traction on a green expanse without tearing up the lawn.

Turf tires also tend to offer far better flotation in the field, compact the earth far less than other styles and tend to have better road manners compared to an R-1 style. Many farmers in New England use turf tires for tractors that have to traverse roads and hard surfaces often, but they do avoid mud like the plague since mud is a turf tire’s kryptonite. Once their treads are loaded with mud, it’s nothing but spin city for a turf tire.

The Best Tractor Tires

R-4 is what I like to call “The Great Compromise” of agricultural tires. Commonly referred to as “industrial” or “commercial” treads, the R-4 is not an aggressive R-1, nor is it a tip-towing turf tire by any means. R-4 tires are gaining popularity as the best tractor tire for many small farms because they offer excellent traction without being super aggressive. R-4 tires offer some flotation to keep you from digging in too deep, and road manners that won’t make you hate pavement. These tires don’t destroy turf like an R-1, but they will tear up the grass, so this is not a great tire for lawn duty. This tread style will likely benefit from loading with tractor tire fluid or foam.

These tractors have industrial style tires, which are becoming a popular option for homesteaders.

Floating Along

HF (High Flotation) series tires are wide tires that operate at low internal pressures so they allow tractors, trailers, or implements to “float” atop surfaces. These tires come in various tread depths, ranging from HF-1 (being the least aggressive), and HF-4 (being the most aggressive). These are not a general purpose tire but instead designed for commercial field farming or forestry applications, where soil compaction is a significant concern. It is unlikely that a small farmer, or especially a homesteader, would have a use for such a tire, but they are available nonetheless.

Classic Tractors

F (Front) series tires are becoming less and less popular, mainly because today’s modern tractors are predominantly four-wheel drive, unlike the older tractors. F series tires aren’t designed to offer any forward traction, but instead, are intended for non-powered front axles and offer varying degrees of side-to-side traction for steering purposes.

A classic F-1 design, also known as a mono-rib, features a sharp centerline rib structure that digs deep into the earth and allows a two-wheel drive tractor to steer in the field. Now predominantly used in planting implements, classic F-1 tires are not used often on tractors today. Modern F-1 designs, such as Carlisle brand’s “Farm Specialist F-1” is a shallow multi-rib design that is more road-friendly, as opposed to the classic F-1.

Second Generation

F-2 style tires also offer a prominent center rib design, but also include lesser ribs on either side of the dominant center rib. This model looks a lot like the F-1 but is more manageable on hard surfaces without losing its aggressive side-to-side slide resistance. F-2 tires are effectively the 2nd generation of the F-1.

These classic agricultural tires will serve well in dirt, mud, and snow, making it a versatile option for many farmers.

Heavy Duty

F-2M style tires feature a four-rib design and are intended for heavy two-wheel drive tractors. Being a compromise between aggressive, deep digging ribs, and road-friendly side traction, the F-2M style is the best tractor tire for the many two-wheel drive tractors that are still dragging plows today.

Backhoes

F-3 Style tractor tires are an industrial tire found on the front end of many dedicated two-wheel drive backhoe loaders. These are a specialty tire designed to perform on hard surfaces and resist rough treatment on a construction site. If you have a backhoe tractor, then these may be your ticket, but if you have a farm tractor with a backhoe attachment, these won’t perform well for you.

Tire Surface Application R-1 Dirt, Mud, Snow Typical Farm Use R-1W Slick Mud or Clay Manure Pits or Clay Fields R-1HA Field Wind Rows Row Cropping in Fields R-2 Bogs, Paddies Rice or Cranberry Farming R-3 Lawn and Turf Lawns, Hay, or Golf Courses R-4 Dirt, Snow, Hard Surfaces General Farm or Industrial HF Dirt and Sand Low Compaction, Industrial F-1 Fieldwork Classic Front Axle Design F-2 Fieldwork 2nd Generation of F-1 F-2M Fieldwork Heavy Farm Tractors F-3 Hard Surfaces Backhoe, Industrial

Cut to the Chase

Now that I’ve confused you with options, let’s boil it all down. For the vast majority of today’s modern small farm tractors, an R-1, R-3, or R-4 tire will be your best tractor tires.

For general farm use where you don’t have a lawn to worry about, the standard R-1 agricultural cleat tire will serve you well in dirt, mud, and snow. If you’ve bought a belly mower or an estate mower for your tractor, then you’ll find the best results with an R-3 turf tire. If you need to traverse a lawn on occasion, operate on paved surfaces, yet still have traction in mud or snow, then R-4 industrial tires will be the best tractor tires for you.

What style do you prefer on your tractor, and why? Join the conversation in the comments section below!

The Best Tractor Tires for Your Farm was originally posted by All About Chickens

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