Tech Tuesday Lunch Report - Tuesday Sept 28

Monday recap
Wow...thanks for all of the responses!

Several of you had some interesting electrical engineering topics. Are there any other fellow EEs out there? You can't have geek or beer without EE.

It seems from the poll and your responses that a GbL Limited Edition II is definitely maybe something y'all are interested in. Should we make a new topic in the G&L instrument forum so folks can start talking about it? It would be cool if this board could come up with another design...if it's modifying an existing design, resurrecting an old George & Leo design (baritone *cough*cough*),or coming up with something completely different.

Lunch
I'm probably going to go to a Japanese place for hibachi lunch. I usually order teriyaki chicken with a boatload of fried rice. I love fried rice!

G&L Topic of the Day
With this being Tech Tuesday, let's talk about G&L and technology. What are some ways to enhance G&Ls with technology? The PLEK fret dressing machine is one that comes to mind. CNC has been around a while already and is also good. They recently added the N-tune tuner to some models.

I think that piezo saddles (such as the Graph Tech ghost system on a Dual Fulcrum Vibrato bridge would be a cool add-on...that way a gigging musician wouldn't have to carry 2 guitars. Click here for a cool article of a G&L with the ghost system. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec06/articles/guitartech_1206.htm

What are some tech things G&L could put on their instruments to add a cool feature or enhance the instrument?

Non-G&L Topic of the Day
Yesterday I mentioned something about a buzzword in the electrical industry that is gaining popularity. Have any of you heard of "Smart Grid"? For those of you who don't know what smart grid is...it's basically taking the existing electrical grid and adding a two-way communications grid on top of that.

In an ideal world:
-in the home - your dishwasher and refrigerator will be able to talk to your electrical panel, you'll be able to tell what to come on when
-from your home to the power company - your meter will be able to talk to the company and the company can do some things remotely. If you have a generator/solar panel/wind farm...you'll be able to let that talk to the meter too
-from the power company to the generation company - the meter data can be sent to the substation and eventually up to the generation station...so the generator will know how much to output

The gov't has a Smart Grid portion of the stimulus money funding many projects across the country...especially in big cities. So you may be getting a smart meter and a smart thermostat/info panel at your house in the near future.

What thoughts or questions do you have about smart grid?

I hope y'all have a great Tuesday!

A well thought out Tuesday report. As for Monday, I would like to see G&L re-introduce those earlier pickup designs. Adding those to the existing line would be a huge deal. Nobody has them and we all want'um.

The Smart Grid seems like a good idea. You are able to bring everybody up to a new standard. Also, It'll make it easier to shut the power off for non-payment...


Cheers,

WIll

G&L Topic of the Day


I think that piezo saddles (such as the Graph Tech ghost system on a Dual Fulcrum Vibrato bridge would be a cool add-on...that way a gigging musician wouldn't have to carry 2 guitars. Click here for a cool article of a G&L with the ghost system. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec06/articles/guitartech_1206.htm

What are some tech things G&L could put on their instruments to add a cool feature or enhance the instrument?

I think bringing back the older pickup styles is a great idea, (on a Baritone ! ).

I have a legacy with a piezo system, it adds a sort of bright nylon string sound...pretty cool.
I like the way the saddle wires are run in the guitar in your link, very stealth.
Here's how mine were run:









Great LR's, thanks,
Elwood

Yes - piezo saddles (such as the Graph Tech ghost system) would be great. I sometimes run my guitar through a BOSS ME-50 set to "acoustic guitar" which is okay but I'd rather have a system built-in to the guitar. I'd also welcome the MIDI controller - I would love to be able to record other instrument sounds with my guitar. I used to play keyboards so I have a couple of MIDI sound modules that I could use. G&L should offer that as an option?

We recently had a "smart meter" installed by PG&E on our home in California - So far, we don't have any two way communications. I think that is supposed to be phased in after they get most of the meters converted. I'm guessing they will then be able to offer lower rates if you use your dishwasher "off peak", etc.

Piezo is something I like, I am not a big acoustic player so I take it for miles if I have it. The in tune system doesn't interest me much, I use a polytune and am quite happy. As far a tech, I would like to see SS frets, A lot. Places like to use excuses like extra tool wear etc, meanwhile I will gladly pay the difference so it worked out the same in the end ( I nearby shop charges and extra 50 bones). A sustainer could be a fun addition to any guitar. Otherwise I am not particularly interested in tech stuff onboard. I want my guitar to be a guitar and not much else. One thing I am not interested in is MIDI ported guitars, I find their synthing to sound cheap, and the guitars attack often ruins the instrument they are trying to emulate. I know they make wind controllers etc, but really, it still can't get all the way there.

Not an Electrical Engineer, am Civil, energy really isn't my strong point. In Canada we have smart meters installed in most places, hasn't seem to have helped the bill overall except increasing it. The whole using them for 'peak and offpeak hours' to me is crookery, I should not be gouged for having to be working at home/ doing things in my house during regular hours when I cannot just adapt a nocturnal cycle for their 'off peak' nonsense. Fortunately my area does not have that currently.

Hey Chris,

Welcome back to LR Duites - Nice job so far.
Enjoyed the Python skit - thought I'd add this one...
[youtube]T70-HTlKRXo[/youtube]

I was a certified electronic tech in a prior years and at one point thought of going on to a EE degree. I dug the math but I didn't dig it that much.

I'm old school as far as G&L's go so I don't care much re current models. I'd say bring back the 3 bolt/tilt adjust neck, orig specs on saddle lock bridges and pu's. That'd be a good start in my book.

Cheers,

JBo

Believe it or not...one of these two has an MSEE degree from Oxford.
[youtube]OGFz9gt0-Fc[/youtube]

Here is an overview of the ghost system. It would be cool to install the acoustic-phonic preamp on a G&L. I wouldn't use the midi.
[youtube]RhGA1c3E47c[/youtube]

This dude installed both the acoustic and midi
[youtube]T7821v2kmBk[/youtube]