Lunch Report Thursday June 3, 2010

Lunch: Today is going to Five Guys, burgers and Fries.
May be not, If my conscience kicks in. My daughter has recently made me more aware of eating healthy.

Tribute Gig report:

The Tribute L-2000 bass rocks and is great as a gigging bass. The only things I miss as compared to my USA L-2000 are the screws on the volume/tone knobs are what I use to reference where I am on volume and tone.
I often turn down the bass or treble depending on the song and I often turn my volume off between songs.
The Tribby knobs are screw less (and give no reference point).

This proved awkward when I started some songs with my volume turned off. LOL

The bass neck felt great, the controls and tones were very similar to my USA L2k and I never switched off to my back up Sting bass.

We did about 27 songs in an hour and a half. I t was about 90F and 60% humidity. Typical summer weather for Washington D.C environs.
No breaks, we played straight through and we don’t chatter with the audience.

We received many compliments and a few people asked for our card/website.
It was a good turnout for this gig and we always want to get the follow-up gigs and referrals to keep the band going.

We had three guitars on stage, Stratocaster, Epiphone SG for slide and lead and a Carvin acoustic electric.
There were 5 on stage and 3 of us sing lead and backup depending on the song. Our guitarist's son sat in with the band and played a lot of blues slide guitar on his modified SG. He always sounds great.
Back line was: a Blues Junior, a ’78 Fender Pro Reverb and a Carvin amp along with my MarkBass amp and 2x10 Cabinet.
Of course our drummer, Andy, had his black Yamaha set with some of his outstanding cymbals.

The PA was our single Bose L1 system with one bass bin.

This set up works for this band since we do watch our volume. It is very easy to overwhelm the PA so we have to be conscious of the volume. Most crowds really appreciate this consideration although it’s hard to do but it really demonstrated great control when you can bring the volume down in the middle of a song. It is a very powerful tool to demonstrate control as a band.

Questions for thought:

Are you bothered when a band plays too loud?

Do you approach them a tell them to turn down or do you think loud volumes go along with live bands and you are willing to put up with it?

What is the best inexpensive guitar that you own?
(Let's define inexpensive as a guitar that you bought for less than $500)

Have a great Thursday everybody!

bassman

I like Five Guys because of all the fixin's you can order on you burger. Their fries are great too. But you do pay the calorie penalty, so we don't go there very often.

I don't go listen to live music like I to used to do when I was much younger. I'm in a hobby band and we practice and play at modest volume. We've only played for an audience a few times, and we have never been told we either play too loud or too softly.

As to the best inexpensive guitars, I have 3 that can qualify. I have to admit that they meet the under $500 criteria only because they are bought used.

The first is a Daisy Rock DC12 which I paid around $250 for. I did have to shim the neck to get the action right, and once I did that it played very well and actually sounds quite good. For the occasions where I want a 12-string sound this fit the bill for a lot less money than the majority of 12-stringers. I does sound darker than a Rickenbacker though.



The second is a Godin ST-IV that I paid $475 for. It has perfect action and is just about my best playing guitar. I just love playing this thing.



This last one qualifies for inexpensive only technically. Almost a year ago I saw an SC-3 advertised in my local Craigslist for $499 so I went to check it out. The owner lived in a town about 50 miles away and wanted cash for payment. When I got there I was met by the wife who told me that her husband had to visit his dad who just took sick. He left her instructions so I can test the guitar out. I played around with it and knew that I've found a good guitar. I gave the woman 5 $100 bills and she was going to give me my $1 change but I told her it wasn't necessary. This guitar definitely has some mojo and it has become one of my favorite guitars.



Kit

They opened a 5 Guys Burgers near me recently. Haven't tried it but I hear that they make some of the best
fries around.

If it's too loud then you're too old
No, actually I have been in small clubs where the band is just too damn loud. I've never said anything
but I do interpret it as either a lack of consideration or a lack of knowledge.

The best inexpensive guitar I own is a Tribute SB2. I paid well under $500 for it and consider it to be a
great guitar for the money.

Jeff

(Let's define inexpensive as a guitar that you bought for less than $500)

That's almost everything I have. The most I've spent is $800 on a rare (one of about 90) Ashbory Mark II. It doesn't sound as good as the new ones IMO, which are $250.

The El Toro fretless was $500. The first style SB-2 was $350 and the L-5000 was somewhere around $450. My solidbody Martin EB-28 bass was $423.60 including tax. The USA Hamer 8 string bass was $550.

...so, back to the question...

What is the best inexpensive guitar that you own?

Here's some winners:
1. The Martin EB-28
2. The SB-2
3. The DeArmond Ashbory Bass
4. I have a Danelectro MOD7 guitar which I'm not exactly in love with, but for $99 new shipped it was a deal, and I still use it.
5. I have a J Reynolds banjitar that my wife bought me for the holidays that's seen some use, and certainly worth the under $200 spent.

I'm taking the neckthrough EB-28 is the winner, mostly due to the amount of years and time I've spent with it. The SB-2 is excellent, and the Ashbory is arguably the best sounding of them all.

The inexpensive line for me is much lower than $500. Not sure where, maybe $250.

-Brock

Glad to hear you had a great gig and that the bass worked out well!

Questions for thought:

Are you bothered when a band plays too loud?

To be honest, I'm probably the loudest member in our band, but we keep things in check pretty well, I think. I rarely have anyone tell me we're too loud, but we also like to keep things loud enough so that there's plenty of headroom for dynamics, too. On the other hand, I went to see a local rock band a few months back, and they were so damn loud that I couldn't stand to listen to them for any more than two or three songs. I guess I have some limitations as to what I can tolerate these days.

What is the best inexpensive guitar that you own?
(Let's define inexpensive as a guitar that you bought for less than $500)

I guess I'll be the snob here.....LOL....I don't have any guitars that I've spent less than $500 on.

Jim

Most bands I go see or shows we play with other bands are venues with full PAs so 99% of the time the stage volume is governed by the sound guy. What I do find annoying is playing too loud in the practice room. As much as I love my band mates it’s a constant struggle to keep all three of our volumes at a reasonable level because as soon as one of us can’t hear ourselves over the others we turn up a little. Every third practice or so we have to stop and readjust everything back down to a tolerable level. Not sure why this is such an issue but it’s been this way in almost every band I’ve been in.

All of my guitars are $500.00 and under. I paid about $350.00 for Sybil 302 (Black Superhawk) and pound-per-pound she’s probably my favorite player. It took a bunch of elbow grease and tweaking to bring her back to life but definitely a “duration” piece for sure.

You guys have some nice budget instruments. I love the SC3 and a Tribute SB2 would easily do the bass job for most bands.

I have several budget guitars and basses. I have several that were less than $100!

Stay tuned for some pictures of them in tomorrow's LR.

bassman

Hey Bassman,

mmm... Five Guys, burgers and Fries, I can hear the arteries closing but enjoying every bite.

The Tribute sounds like a winner to me, congrats. Watch out for the mysterious volume knob silencer.

Congrats on what sounds like a fun show that may get some gigs.

Are you bothered when a band plays too loud?
Loud can be fun for a band but, unless I'm paying for the function, it's really hard to tell 'em to turn down. So I wait for the good parts and enjoy it.


What is the best inexpensive guitar that you own?
found a few winners over the years
'88 ASAT $500
'85 tele '62 re-issue $450
'94 Guild D-4 acoustic $450

Have a great Thursday everybody!
Backatya

Questions for thought:

Are you bothered when a band plays too loud?

Yep, my last band had a heavy handed drummer who didn't understand finesse or dynamics, our practice volume required me to use ear protection so we could HEAR ourselves over him, not even my bass could get by his cymbals. I always ripped on him ,but he was from a punk background...



I don't really have any 'inexpensive' instruments besides what I learned on, gave away the squier strat, still have the old '75 J bass knockoff (was my fathers). It needs full rewiring and refreting, better bridge to get acceptable action (pretty high but I learned on it so it doesn't bother me). Had to break it out while my other bass was in repairs, its very light, and I do like the sound. I plan to revitalize it one day when I have no other 'important' gear to buy.

Questions for thought:

Are you bothered when a band plays too loud?

What ya say? Actually, yes, if it's ridiculously loud, and I don't have earplugs, I might just walk out of shows. I'm have, as John Cleese's character said in Yellowbeard, acute 'earing.

What is the best inexpensive guitar that you own?
(Let's define inexpensive as a guitar that you bought for less than $500)

For electrics, my '86 ASAT. However, I have had it refretted, which takes the price to $600. For acoustic, my circa '84 Alvarez 5035.

Are you bothered when a band plays too loud?

We make it a point of not playing to loud. Sometimes that means potting down a bit after a song or two--usually we'll ask the audience for a sound report. Question: "How's the mix? Answer: "Great!" or "Too much bass." Works like a charm.

What is the best inexpensive guitar that you own?
(Let's define inexpensive as a guitar that you bought for less than $500)

I snagged my Larrivee Parlor for $300. Still love it after having it for almost 8 years! Such a deal!

Peace...

GDub

Lunch: Today is going to Five Guys, burgers and Fries.
May be not, If my conscience kicks in. My daughter has recently made me more aware of eating healthy.

Questions for thought:

Are you bothered when a band plays too loud?

Do you approach them a tell them to turn down or do you think loud volumes go along with live bands and you are willing to put up with it?

What is the best inexpensive guitar that you own?
(Let's define inexpensive as a guitar that you bought for less than $500)

Have a great Thursday everybody!

bassman

I have never been to a Five Guys. Do they have them in NC?

Most of the bands in the Asheville area tend to use mixing boards or do acoustic Bluegrass so I would have to say the levels are pretty well adjusted overall. A loud band does dampen the evening.

Best deal on a guitar for me is EZ...I traded a Dean Backwoods Banjitar (the trade value of the Dean was around a hundred bucks) for what is my favorite all time axe.



1998 U2 RI

If my , hopefully arriving today, Tribute Legacy plays as nice as the S-500 I got to borrow, the Dano might have some comp.