Lunch Report for Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Made it home! Left yesterday morning and made a few stops to visit a friend and to do some shopping. It was a beautiful day in the PacNW, and I wasn't under any pressure to to be at "point X" by a certain time. Kept the Voyager van at the speed limit on the Interstate; and it was very kind on the gas mileage, getting 23.6 mpg on the trip home, according to my trip computer. Not bad for a '94 Plymouth Grand Voyager LE with 147K+ on the clock, IMO.

I have no idea what's for lunch today, as I'm posting this LR at night for the benefit of the East Coasters, who are usually getting up about the time I'm going to bed. I will say that I should probably be changing my name to Pablo, what with all the Mexican food I've had over the past week.

But the high point of cuisine for me on my trips to Seattle is Ivar's Fish Bar. Ivar Haglund was a very colorful restauranteur and folk singer in Seattle for many years, opening his first restaurant in 1938. He passed away in 1985, but he left a big imprint on Seattle. Had Saturday lunch at one of the Fish Bars with a friend, and it was the best fish and chips I've had since the last trip to Ivar's! I'd eat there 3-4 times a week if I could. I like it because it is not heavily battered--just lightly rolled in cornmeal. You Seattle guys know what I'm talkin' about! Yum!

At one guitar store I hit yesterday, I saw a beautiful, used Invader H-S-S in Honeyburst with a quilted maple top and a satin no-tint birdseye neck. Gorgeous guitar--the color just jumped off the wall. It was a little pricey for me, but if it would have been a hard tail, or had the DF Vibrato instead of the Floyd Rose, I would have been whining to my "financial consultant".

G&L enthusiasts on this board seem to be either Avid ASAT Admirers or Looney Legacy Lovers. (For the sake of argument, I'll include ALL of the Legacy body shaped guitars, like the S-500's, Legacy Specials and Comanches in this group.) But is seems that Intrepid Invader Investors are few and far between on this board. Charvel, Jackson, Ibanez and Schecter seem to dominate the shred guitar market. The Invader models are wonderful guitars, but painfully obscure. Invader Invisibility is Insidious! It's Incomprehensible!

Why is that? Does G&L not do enough advertising of these models? Have you ever played an Invader? The Cantrell Rampage is going strong, but the Tribute Series Invader is gone. Speak up, Invader lovers, and extol the virtues of this wonderful guitar!

Well, I'm going to keep this LR short, I need to hit the sack after four days away from my own bed. Thank you all for your prayers for my friend Tracy. Keep them coming if you can, please. There's was no change in his condition, but he's holding his own.

BTW Portlanders, I've got a gig coming up this Saturday, the 17th at the Lake Oswego Applebee's. Tomorrow I'll talk a little about how I prepare for a gig--physically, mentally, and the equipment.

Bill

Hi Bill...sorry for the short response but I'm on my way out the door to work. I have to ask where did you see the HSS Invader?

Never really hit up a fish restaurant, always been more go catch some and go from there.

The invader looks to be my kind of guitar, if I didn't have a Carvin that is pretty much identical. I could see myself ordering one in metallic silver or something though (I wanted a bolt + in large fleck silver but Carvin would not do it). Would probably go for the + model (H-S-H) as I have an H-H and a H-s-s (actually H-H-H) coverred. That said, I gravitated to G&L for the ASAT as I was looking for an alternative to the telecaster to play country on. Then on touching one I fell in lust over it, so no looking back. As for Floyds, although set up is more tedious, they are unparalleled for performance. Unless you are a string popper (I never break strings)

I don't have much use for a Floyd Rose but if a hardtail Invader crossed my pass and played great, I would definitely consider it. While I have nothing really against the Invader, my GAS is leaning towards a Legacy Special for my heavier needs.

Please let us know the time on your gig this Saturday. I am sure I can find the Applebee's in Lake O.

I remember that you had written about Ivar's before but I still have not made it to Seattle to try it for myself. On my recent vacation I had the opportunity to try some seared Ahi on watermelon that was fantastic. I do like fish, I just hope we don't eat our way out of the limited resource.

For being a guitar player (not much of a player) I really don't go to guitar store very often, so I have never seen an Invader in the store. Given the lack of first hand experience I can't have any useful opinion. I don't really play much high gain type music and I find that my SC-3 is totally adequate for what I play.

Let me know the time of your Applebee gig. We've known of each other for years now, we live in the same town and have never met. This may be a good opportunity. Will you be playing solo or with a band?

Kit

Only fish place I recall in the Seattle area was some restuarant out at Point Defiance Park.

I Like the ASAT and Legacy body shapes but my favorite G&L remains the 1st body style Interceptor.

So, how is the table dancing at Applebee's?

I am off to see Tom Petty tonight - should be a good one.

Hi Bill...sorry for the short response but I'm on my way out the door to work. I have to ask where did you see the HSS Invader?

The Honeyburst/H-S-S/Floyd Invader is at Guitar Center-Tukwila (Southcenter). Go make 'em an offer!

Bill

Never really hit up a fish restaurant, always been more go catch some and go from there.

The invader looks to be my kind of guitar, if I didn't have a Carvin that is pretty much identical. I could see myself ordering one in metallic silver or something though (I wanted a bolt + in large fleck silver but Carvin would not do it). Would probably go for the + model (H-S-H) as I have an H-H and a H-s-s (actually H-H-H) coverred. That said, I gravitated to G&L for the ASAT as I was looking for an alternative to the telecaster to play country on. Then on touching one I fell in lust over it, so no looking back. As for Floyds, although set up is more tedious, they are unparalleled for performance. Unless you are a string popper (I never break strings)

Carvin is another guitar with beautiful build quality, yet you don't see very many of them. The right options on a Carvin, versus the Invader, might be a tough choice indeed. I must admit, I'm not a Floyd or Kahler fan. The DF Vibrato does everything I need.

Bill

I don't have much use for a Floyd Rose but if a hardtail Invader crossed my pass and played great, I would definitely consider it. While I have nothing really against the Invader, my GAS is leaning towards a Legacy Special for my heavier needs.

Please let us know the time on your gig this Saturday. I am sure I can find the Applebee's in Lake O.

Actually, I use my Legacy Special for much of the hard rock we do in this band (which isn't much--we're a bit "soft".) The great thing about the Legacy Special is that i can use it to backup both my Legacys and my Les Pauls. The Gotoh Blades give a nice thick, almost PAF-ish tone; but you can roll down the volume and the PTB Bass, and with the PTB Treble dimed, you can get close to the vintage alnico tone of the Legacy. (I would love to put my Legacy Special in Carlos Santana's hands some day.) The PTB is just a great tone shaper, and works even better on the guitars with the hotter pickups than it does with the Legacy.

The Applebee's is off Kruse Way/217 and I-5--sort of tucked behind the Oliver Garden. We'll start about nine.

Bill

I remember that you had written about Ivar's before but I still have not made it to Seattle to try it for myself. On my recent vacation I had the opportunity to try some seared Ahi on watermelon that was fantastic. I do like fish, I just hope we don't eat our way out of the limited resource.

For being a guitar player (not much of a player) I really don't go to guitar store very often, so I have never seen an Invader in the store. Given the lack of first hand experience I can't have any useful opinion. I don't really play much high gain type music and I find that my SC-3 is totally adequate for what I play.

Let me know the time of your Applebee gig. We've known of each other for years now, we live in the same town and have never met. This may be a good opportunity. Will you be playing solo or with a band?

Kit

Yeah, we definitely need to hook up, and this would be a great opportunity for you PDX guys to see how bad I really am!!! LOL! There are a couple of cool stores here in Portland--we just might have to play hookey for a day, skip school and goof off!

The gig is at 9:00p.m., and I'll have Don (bass) and Sandy (vocals and keys) along (and a drum machine). I could easily do this gig as a single, but it's more fun to play with them.

Bill

Only fish place I recall in the Seattle area was some restuarant out at Point Defiance Park.

I Like the ASAT and Legacy body shapes but my favorite G&L remains the 1st body style Interceptor.

So, how is the table dancing at Applebee's?

I am off to see Tom Petty tonight - should be a good one.

I was never much of a Tom Petty fan, but over the years he has become one of my faves. Be sure to give us a concert review.

As far as the table dancing, well....um....ahem,....

I would be kinda cool to see some of the local girls get wild and crazy...but hey, it's APPLEBEE'S!!!! LOL!

And I would LOVE to have an Interceptor!

Bill