u/HideousMutant

I had saved this 20 years ago before the dawn of information overload. Dave Mustaine posted this message on the megadeth forums and his username was "megaman." He used the forums to interact with fans and post messages such as this. This post caught my attention because before he flew to Dubai, several so called fans kept telling him to be safe and away from danger because it was the middle east.

I however had grown up in Kuwait, and chuckled every time I saw how much paranoia and fear was etched into people via propaganda. I bought every album from KIMB to Risk in Kuwait and heavy metal was quite popular and in demand.

Anyways, here it is.....

Droogies!

Now to tell you about Dubai! I am sure y’all saw the first

half of this, about getting there and meeting some of the

bands. I ended up really feeling like we were anywhere else

in the world and not like I was in the allegedly dangerous

hot spot that we are fed propaganda to think it is. And to

spare you the suspense, James was great, I loved the

audience, and would go back again to play.

Now, onto the story. Actually, I learned a lot about Dubai,

and the people were really interesting because the

population has came from all over. I met five guys from a

band over there, and I think they said they were from

Kuwait; two blonde girls that were sisters from Lebanon,

who now live in Saudi Arabia. There were loads of South

Africans, English, European, and American people living

there and when I looked out at the audience during 3 Doors

Down, James said, “American Idol” because of all the

squealing teenie-boppers after their songs. And I noticed

that there were so many beautiful young people there,

dressed like normal music fans, moshing, dancing, singing,

and taking pictures with their friends, just like anywhere.

I'm glad I let Megadeth’s music help persuade me to go to

this far and distant part of the world. It helped a lot

that we had made fast friends with the other bands that

were on the bill that were actually staying still in one

spot long enough for a conversation to take place. Of

course the guys in Testament are my friends and I dig their

stuff so much, I sat in the desert with the sun beating

down on my red-head for at least 45 minutes and I started

to feel like a crouton, so I went into my trailer to cool

off. The two days before the show, mainly at the press

conference, was when I met most everyone else on that bill;

the 3DD guys the night we arrived; Reel Big Fish and

Mannakind at the press conference.

So, I was hanging out a little so I wouldn’t seem like a

snob, but I couldn’t eat or drink so I slinked off to bed.

The next morning I woke up feeling green again and went to

have breakfast, but was still destroyed from the apparent

food poisoning and time change, since Dubai is 12 hours

behind LA. When I went downstairs to go to the press

conference there were dozens of choppers and modified

vehicles from Monster Cable that were there to escort the

bands to the press conference.

As soon as we arrived I introduced myself to the guys in

RBF and told them how much I liked Madness and a few other

ska bands. Later, we all ended up going out on a safari

riding the sand dunes. Yep, bouncing around on the sand

dunes; up and down, and down and up, side-to-side-to-side,

and I am getting bloody carsick in front of five SUVs full

of new friends and whatnot. Thank god we stopped long

enough for them to sand board for a bit, meanwhile,

allowing me to search the backseat of the Land Cruiser for

my ass.

Finally, at that point where I stopped rerunning TUMS and

Alka-Seltzer commercials and jingles through my head, we

packed our caravan back up and headed to a campsite with

belly dancing, camels, pipes, and authentic Mediterranean

catering. I was hypnotized by the belly dancer and thank

god we got called away to go do our sound check or I would

have probably agreed, had she asked me to go dance and make

a fool of myself. Who knows? It may have helped.

Arriving at the Festival site that night, I found

everything in order, a real professional stage, sound, and

light configuration, and the dressing rooms were perfect.

We sound-checked for a while and then headed back to my new

infirmary, the Hotel. I watched hours of information about

this fascinating country on TV, like how Dubai is more of a

State, with the United Arab Emirates being for them like

the United States is for us Americans.

Morning finally arrives the day of the show, and I wobble

into the restaurant for breakfast. The good guys in RBF ask

if I wanted to join them, and I said no, although I quickly

changed it to a yes. I was just feeling a bit "the odd man

out," but they looked like they were having a good time

every time I saw them, so I accepted. The clock has

screeched to almost a complete stop and it is taking hours

now for the rest of the day to come and go. We are

scheduled to leave early to see Testament, so the band

leaves, and I go with the promoter to the American Hospital

one last time before the concert. Everything checks out, he

says I will live but don’t do anything strenuous. Ha! What

. . . like a 90 minute Megadeth concert?

So, I get there in time to see Chuck and the boys, and to

hang and talk to them about touring again sometime in the

future. Next, RBF take the stage. I was really excited to

see these guys because ska is just plain “feel good” music

to me. I was pleasantly surprised; actually shocked at

their opener, because they pretended they were a metal band

for a few seconds and I though, “Wow, now this I gotta see

for an hour!”

3 Doors Down were good too, and I had no idea how many of

their songs I knew. It was like every ten minutes or so,

there was another song that I knew. I understand now why

they are so big in the states; a lot of pop ballads with

great hooky melodies for the radio.

Then it was our turn. I have been dealing with nerves,

nausea, and curiosity that would kill a lion about how

James is going to do. But as soon as we walked up the ramp,

there was no before or after. There was just there and

then; that 90 minutes on the other side of my normal world.

As I walked up the ramp to the deck and went to center

stage, I saw the faces of everyone up front, I knew that

this was something that these fans have been waiting a very

long time for. I don’t know how many of my peers have gone

over there, but these fans were ready! Flags from many

different nations, and t-shirts from almost all of the

Megadeth eras. It felt like I was playing to friends at

just about anywhere in the world.

The show rolled along as usual, and I noticed some of my

new friends up in the wings, which always feels good when

ya meet a new group to know they’ll at least check ya out a

little. And before I knew it, the show was over, the

firework display signifying that the Festival was over, and

the rest was some fat lady singing. The after-show party

was fun and the guys were hanging out with the fans;

meanwhile, I was trying not to show everyone what I had for

dinner

The flight home was long and horrible, and I won’t go into

that, because it was the fellow passengerms and not the

airplane so much. And now I am over jet-lag, preparing for

our trip next month out to England to do some work.

And in case I didn’t make this clear, James Lomenzo was

stellar. Thanks to J-Mac again for filling in such a

difficult position, and doing such a good job. To the bands

out there looking for a fantastic bassist, call James

MacDonough, he has my personal recommendation.

In closing, I had already met enough people backstage and

from the entire trip to convince me that this is a place

that I would come back to, especially to play for Jackie

and CSM, for either a string of solo concerts or to

participate in a future Dubai Desert Festival when we will

be eligible for returning in the next few years. Until

then, to all of the Middle-Eastern fans, "You've been

Great!, We've been Megadeth! Goodnight!!!"

COG2

My Positive Grid Spark journey — how a cheap Logitech 2.1 setup beat my expensive amp rigs

TL;DR: Before spending thousands on amps, power amps, cabinets and Celestion speaker comparisons, think honestly about where you play. For home use, my Positive Grid Spark connected to a decent Logitech 2.1 speaker system with a subwoofer gave me the loudest, widest and most satisfying sound I had found. My entire amplification setup cost roughly $400, which allowed me to spend more of my money on guitars instead.

My current setup is surprisingly simple:

Positive Grid Spark headphone output → Logitech 2.1 speakers with a separate subwoofer.

The Logitech system is not just two tiny computer speakers. It has two reasonably sized speakers and a proper subwoofer with adjustable bass. That bass control is important because it lets me add the low-end thump without making everything muddy.

The result absolutely shocked me.

I get a loud, wide and brutal sound with real low-end movement. Palm-muted riffs have chunk and impact, lead tones feel big, and ambient sounds spread beautifully around the room. It gives me everything from heavy Pantera-style tones to Joe Satriani and Zakk Wylde leads, John Sykes-era Whitesnake tones, clean sounds and ambient patches.

This setup gave me the sound and feeling I had been chasing through much more expensive equipment.

My journey started in 2023 when I bought the Positive Grid Spark. I immediately loved it because I could get the tones I wanted without endless tweaking. It sounded clear, controlled and surprisingly quiet, even with high-gain patches.

But eventually, I wanted something louder.

Positive Grid had released its powered cabinet, but I read a number of comments saying it could sound boxed-in and had noticeable floor noise. That made me look elsewhere.

I then made the mistake of going completely in the opposite direction. I bought an EVH 5150 50-watt amp with a Randall 4x12 cabinet.

It was obviously loud and powerful, but at home it did not give me the same clarity, versatility or low-noise experience I was getting from the Spark. It was a serious amplifier setup, but it was not necessarily the best setup for my actual situation.

I eventually sold both.

After learning more about modelling equipment, I bought an Orange Pedal Baby power amp and an Orange 2x12 cabinet. I connected them to multi-effects units such as the Boss GT-8 and Zoom G5n.

On paper, this seemed like the sensible solution: a neutral power amp, a proper guitar cabinet and my choice of effects processor.

However, I still was not satisfied. I was not getting the thump, chunkiness, width or feeling of air moving that I expected. I spent more time thinking about cabinets, speakers and signal chains than actually enjoying the guitar.

Eventually, I sold the Orange equipment as well.

Then, almost as an experiment, I connected my six-year-old Logitech speakers and subwoofer to the headphone output of the Spark.

That was when the magic happened.

The sound became huge. It was wider, louder and more physical than I expected. The subwoofer gave the low end real impact, while the two speakers preserved the stereo effects, clarity and detail of the Spark patches.

For my room and the way I play guitar, this inexpensive setup worked better than the supposedly “proper” guitar rigs I had owned.

The lesson for me was not that expensive amplifiers or cabinets are bad. They are designed for specific purposes, especially rehearsals, studios and live performances. But that does not automatically make them the best option for someone playing at home.

At home, you may never be able to push a powerful valve amp or large cabinet into its ideal operating range. You can end up spending a fortune comparing Celestion V30s, cabinets, power amps and processors, only to remain dissatisfied.

My full amplification setup cost me roughly $400. Instead of continually investing in amps and cabinets, I would rather put that money towards guitars, learning the fretboard, improving my playing and writing music.

Sometimes the best setup is not the most expensive or traditional one. It is simply the one that makes you want to pick up the guitar and keep playing.