Turbulent Tuesday Lunch Report

Hey folks, today lunch is some twice baked potatoes (home made by yours truly) and a large muffin. Likely with some coffee.

Got mail today saying our hydro is turning over time TOU rates. This angers me to no end as I figure this will be another 20$ jump in my bill. Pair that with the harmonization of sales tax earlier this year in Ontario and we are paying the full 13% tax on these bills (another 8-10$ jump earlier this year) opposed to the previous 5. We also pay debt retirement for times before the deregulation of hydro as the gov't botched it, and the delivery fees are almost as much as my usage fees. I do not understand how the populace can be expected to alter their entire schedule to be nocturnal to save energy costs.. It is freaking retarded.

Enough of that though, lets talk pickups, G&L pickups to be precise.

To start, they ruined my Carvin pickups for me. The short of it is the carvin pickups lack character. They are bright, have good frequency response but little life. The are just there, they are not improving the sound at all, very neutral. The G&L pickups sound more, fatter, livelier, still tight though. There is more harmonic content, more shine/sparkle. Just more everything.

As far as output goes, these are much lower than I am used to. All my carvin buckers blow these out of the water (I know humbuckers should have more output than single coils) but the difference is pretty staggering, very audible. I had heard a lot of the folks referring to these as high output or hot, and really I don't see it. This is great though as I generally speaking, do not like my output too high. I do not want the pickups to be so hot channels break up prematurely. So while I now need to replace the humbuckers in my carvins (thinking some bare knuckles, a rebel yell has been recommended to me by the dealer I am working with), the G&L pickups could not make me happier. I can even play early Iron Maiden on them.

What is your take on these pickups?



I typically read a lot of books, that is until my Master's started. Now I read a lot of books, on soils. It kind of killed pleasure reading for me. I read a lot of historical fiction and fantasy novels. My favourite fantasy series are The Dark Tower (King) and Malazan: Book of the Fallen (Erikson), but I have a penchant for Cook's Black Company also. Another interesting read was The Engineer Trilogy (Parker), very different from what I was expecting. On a more serious note Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics were awesome non fiction reads, that I would highly recommend.

What are you reading/ what do you read?


I would like to take a moment here to talk about my rock influences, and how they have shaped my playing. I have always been a rocker, from about 8 I was rejecting 90s music and buying AC/DC instead. The first CD I purchased was back in black. Admittedly I outgrew AC/dc over time, probably due to my musical aptitude. That is not to say the things Angus can do with 2 fingers are not amazing . Rock sort of instilled an archetypal sound into me, the loud distorted guitar. Most music doesn't feel right without it, although I do enjoy folk. I know some of you may heckle me for not having experienced the golden age first hand (more with the old jokes, what the hell is this punk up to eh?), but I couldn't respect that when I was younger. Nowadays however I really enjoy it too. But something about the attitude of the 70's sings to me. Blues rock especially (while I really don't care for 12 bars blues, I love some of the blues rock that surfaced.

What are you feelings towards rock?


By the way Sam, I missed this yesterday, you asked me about graphite nuts. Honestly, I cannot tell you the difference. My last guitar and bass without a locking trem have all had it. I like the uniformity and self lubrication properties, but I am not sure it would help with slip much in my guitars, as they all have locking tuners. The ASAT is still settling in climatically/from newness so is definitely not the most tuning stable instrument I have kicking around. I may change it to a TUSQ to see what it is up at a later date, mostly just to see whats up with that man made ivory bone nut substitute.

Oooh, I love twice baked potatoes. For me it was a Hot Pockey and some tomatoe soup today.

Take on Pickups?

I pretty much just pick up an guitar and play it and don't worry about specs. I ain't a tone hound so I can pretty much pull music out of anything and be happy. My favorite G&L pups remain those slapped on the Nighthawks and Interceptors. A bit lower gauss than the S-500 and also with a different slant in the bridge pup.

Reading?

Can't tell ya how many folks say it took them a long time to get back into reading for pleasure after going to Grad school. If you think a Master's Degree requires alot of reading try a Ph. D program. It took me years to learn to read for enjoyment after running through a Ph.D. While I still read alot for work I also enjoy stuff like Tom Clancy and going back to the classics. I just re-read "To Kill a Mockingbird." Sometimes I am inspired by something. I re-read "In Cold Bllod" after I got to see the cells Hickcok and Smith were kept in and the gallows from which they were hung.

Rock?

I was raised on blues and folk. Then came The Beatles and those electric guitars. Man I had to get me one of those. Probably my biggest influences in those early years were the first LPs by the Butterfield Blues Band and Blues Project.

My favorite rock band though without a doubt was NRBQ whom I first saw around 1969.

AC-DC - never cared for them when they first hit the scene. But nowadays I kinda like them. For me much of it had to do with the fact I like Brian Johnson on vocals better than Bonn Scott. But you also have to just appreciate the fact that AC/DC has never been swayed by fads or trends. They know their limits and never stretch beyond them and in the process have turned out some great three chords and a cloud of dust rock & roll in the process.

Both my LE and SC-3 have so-called S500 pickups, if I'm not mistaken. I like how they sound, although being single-coil sometimes positions 1, 3 and 5 can get a little noisy. I am particularly curious about how the ASAT Special MFDs sound, but never went out of my way to play and listen to one.

I had a Carvin DC200 of solid koa (both body and neck) with an ebony board that I ordered off of their catalog in 1981. It played great and sounded OK. I kept it until 2008 when I decided to sell it because I just didn't play the guitar much.



When I was single I used to read quite a bit, but with a wife and children I don't the time to do it much. As a family we subscribe to a few magazines and I hardly even have time to read Time, which is a magazine I've subscribed to for 40 years.

Occasionally I would read a book. Not long ago I decided to look into Stieg Larsson's 3-book series. Stieg Larrson is an interesting story in itself, if you are not aware of him. I managed to get the second book, "The Girl Who Played With Fire" from my library first and it turned out to be a very good detective story. I am currently reading the first book "Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" and will be done in another couple of days. Not heavy reading, but very entertaining.

Rock? I don't have any particular attachment to rock, it is one of several genres of music that I like. What I listen to just depends on my mood and what I'm doing while the music is on.

Kit

Kit- the pickups in the ASAT , at least these ones are pretty quite. Dead quiet in ch 3 (my high gain monster channel) even, if I am not sitting infront of my computer (which I am now playing it). No different than my humbuckers really. Maybe a nice metal pickguard would fix that with more shielding. Very possibly. On clean there is no noise at all ever.

Not to mention, dude, Koa.... dang.

Zombywoof - what you got that there PHD in? I know what you mean about playing any guitar and just going, but I like to get the most out of em so to speak.

Just stopping by to say hi.

I love reading but lately just the A- and Sports sections of my (home-delivered) Washington Post.

The last book I read was a couple of months back, a kids book, "My Side of the Mountain" and I really enjoyed it. I have several novels and such lined up, but recent circumstances conspire against me.

Rock? Guilty. I'm reliving '60's and '70's rock and turning my kids onto it thanks to satellite radio. They can't understand why anybody would listen to Rap. My older one is interested in why the Eagles let Joe Walsh kind of ruin them. Ha!

I intended to answer the other day that my first G&L was an ASAT Special - probably from '93 or '94. I was immediately hooked (as are you, I take it). Those big MFD's are something, no? The fact that I no longer have that particular guitar notwithstanding. Having subsequently acquired an early SC-2 and '86 ASAT with those same pickups, my Special became expendable. Fantastic guitars, all...

Regarding replacement humbuckers, you don't need no stinkin' 'spensive Bare Knuckles thangs. Get you a good used set of Dimizario Virtual PAFs and you will be set with money to spare. They are crisp, cruncy, articulate and split better than the worst marriage you can imagine. If you don't like them, I'll buy them from you and put them in my LP DC Studio to replace the so-so 490R/498T combo. Seriously. - ed

Got mail today saying our hydro is turning over time TOU rates. This angers me to no end as I figure this will be another 20$ jump in my bill. Pair that with the harmonization of sales tax earlier this year in Ontario and we are paying the full 13% tax on these bills (another 8-10$ jump earlier this year) opposed to the previous 5. We also pay debt retirement for times before the deregulation of hydro as the gov't botched it, and the delivery fees are almost as much as my usage fees. I do not understand how the populace can be expected to alter their entire schedule to be nocturnal to save energy costs.. It is freaking retarded.

Hey Kyle. I have been busier than a one-eyed cat watching two mouse holes lately (heck...all year). I didn't get to respond to the Monday LR. Like you, I am enrolled in my Masters of Science program for Engineering Management....and all online too...and I didn't have to take my GRE!

It's interesting how Canada is all Hydro...I work for Entergy and we hardly have any hydro...but Natural Gas is quite abundant down here. Yes...part of the "smart grid" is pushing utilities to try new ideas. Time-of-use power may not be the best idea...but I can see where utilities are feeling the pinch. In the last 30 years...consumer electronics have shot through the roof...while hardly any new power plants have been built. So when everybody gets up in the morning or comes home...people fire up their puters...70" Teevees...(heaters or AC units for us in the South!)...and cooking. It's a lot of demand!

I can tell you there are other ways to save electricity usage without cooking, washing clothes etc at night. Put in insulation, wrap your hot water heater, seal leaky windows, install CFL lightbulbs, get a smart thermostat....etc

What is your take on these pickups?


What are you reading/ what do you read?


What are you feelings towards rock?

I don't own any G&L geetars with humbuckers...but my legacy has some sweet alnico V pickups and my 82 S-500 has those so-sweet-sounding square MFD single-coils. Leo knows pickups!

I don't read books usually....never for fun as I don't have time. I read tons of technical specs, user manuals, etc for work and my college textbook for my class. I read to my kids. When I was a kid...I read the entire World Book encyclopedia. I pretty much just read the internet. Wikipedia is addictive when digging for information.

I love rock and blues the most. I really like classic rock. I don't like the newer hard rock that's out now. I think they pretty much all sound the same (at least what plays on the radio anyway).

Well...time to veg out....later!

Turbulent? I got your turbulent... RIGHT HERE!

....install CFL lightbulbs.....

<IMO>

Now there's a freakin' boondoggle.

They save kilowatt hours and that's bloody all.

I've spent a lot of years training myself to be a good boy and turning off lights when I leave a room or area, and that's great with incandescent lights. It's not worth a damn with CFLs (or most any fluorescent). They just don't like being power-cycled and it ends up costing more annually to run the things because I have to replace them more often that I would an incandescent in the same fixture.

Do they conserve energy? Probably some, depending on their power factor. But they raise hell with my wallet! Dammit, I've got basses to buy; not a bunch of curly little light bulbs!

</IMO>

What are you reading/ what do you read?

Yup. I love to read military/techno thrillers. I kept up with Clancey until he jumped the shark and got WAY over detailed in technical jargon. It got to the point where reading his stuff was a major slog. I like Coontz's novels. He's got enough details to keep the geek in me fascinated and there's plenty of action. Dan Brown's books can keep me glued down as well.

Ken...

Now there's a freakin' boondoggle.

They save kilowatt hours and that's bloody all.

I've spent a lot of years training myself to be a good boy and turning off lights when I leave a room or area, and that's great with incandescent lights. It's not worth a damn with CFLs (or most any fluorescent). They just don't like being power-cycled and it ends up costing more annually to run the things because I have to replace them more often that I would an incandescent in the same fixture.

Do they conserve energy? Probably some, depending on their power factor. But they raise hell with my wallet! Dammit, I've got basses to buy; not a bunch of curly little light bulbs!
Ken...

Quit shooting your lightbulbs out from your bed and go and install a remote control switch!

What's killing my wallet is the track lighting that uses halogen bulbs. Those thangs go out all of the time....I haven't had any of my CFLs burn out in the last 3 years...even with the kids making their own disco shows . But dang them stupid track lights....they are purty and all...but I haven't had one last more than a few months. CFLs are cheaper to run (for my house at least) even if the electric company charged for apparent power instead of just killerwatts.

I can tell you there are other ways to save electricity usage without cooking, washing clothes etc at night. Put in insulation, wrap your hot water heater, seal leaky windows, install CFL lightbulbs, get a smart thermostat....etc


I don't own any G&L geetars with humbuckers...but my legacy has some sweet alnico V pickups and my 82 S-500 has those so-sweet-sounding square MFD single-coils. Leo knows pickups!

I have CFL in most rooms, in my office where I do my research I have full spectrum incandescents though (bought em to try and see if full spectrum lights would help reduce tiredness I was getting working in here, it does). Hot water, heat, all irrelevant in my apartment. My hydro is only oven,fridge, computers, tv, etc. And what I think is the largest contributor AMPS. I am considering getting something tiny like a roland micro cube for 100$, just so when I do exercises I will not be powering up the Mark V all tube likely power eating monster. Any input there Kodor?

Never tried those legendary S-500 pickups, but you are right about the sweet sounding. The soap bars in the Special are dang sweet, permitting you treat em right. They can get pretty mean though. Not a single humbucker though? wow.

Those fat G&L MFD's are fantastic in my book. More growl and richness than smaller MFDs and definately more than the fender singles. You can still get some nice chickin' pickin out of them if desired.

I read quite a bit and since I travel alot, hince late reply today, the opportunity to read on planes and in hotels is there. The last book read was a very interesting take on the internet's affect on how we read. "The Shallows: What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains". Basically says when we read "books" wse engage in Deep reading and the internet is simply "shallow" reading. Very insightful look on the progression from storytelling to printed word to the interenet how the brain operates when reading in these various forms. It is not as academic as it may sound, but Craig probably should not read it, as it says put the internet away! Right now reading a cool baseball book "Odd Man Out" about a minor league pitcher who went from Yale to baseball to being a internal medicine doctor. Like a Bull Durham with a smart pitcher.

Not very sure about the state of rock today. It doesn't seem to have the presence of 70' and 80's radio play, maybe due to sirius radio, but I just do not see/hear folks singing memorable R&R lines or look forward to hearing that latest great new song. Could just be the limited radio I listen to however. AC/DC is still cool in my book. Saw them open for Kiss in 76' or 77' and have followed from the side lines since. Their latest Black Ice has a few tasty nuggets. Who's really out there today? Avenged Sevenfold, Kings of Leon, Daughtry, Mars Volta what's your take on rock and rollers playing now?

Avenged Sevenfold, Kings of Leon, Daughtry, Mars Volta what's your take on rock and rollers playing now?

These are not my Cuppa, Mars Volta is extremely talented but needs to turn down the freaking treble control. Avenged, too nu metal for me, not a fan of that scene, more on metal today though. Going to out the dog and then the new one will be up. The other 2 I am completely not familiar with.