LR - Thurs - 1-6-11

WOW! Thursday already. Can almost see the weekend from here.

Lunch today maybe another can o’ tuna, rice and veggies.


Any coffee drinkers here?
Like Maxwell House Dark Roast for the quick one in the AM.
My Grandma used to serve the 8 O’Clock brand.
When I worked in Lafayette LA, Community and Mello Joy were my faves.
Locally, S&D Coffee does a lot of the office coffee “service”. Like it.
Use a drip maker at home, but prefer perked.
Had a Pyrex stove top perker, but broke it during a move.


Last night’s volleyball started rough for the team I was on.
Lost the first game, but came back and swept the next 3 games.
Volleyball is the best class for fun at the Y.


Music....

Who influenced you to pick up the guitar?
Lessons or self taught?
Are you in a band or do a solo gig?

Do you go out to hear live music?

Who is your favorite local band?


Guitars...

Do you do your own setups?
Who is the luthier you trust with your guitars?
Please mention his or her name and location.


Have a gooderun

jamie

Any coffee drinkers here?

I drink Folgers or Maxwell House. Whichever one is on sell is the one I drink. I've had some of the more expensive coffees and they're good but I don't think they're worth the extra cost.

Who influenced you to pick up the guitar?
Lessons or self taught?
Are you in a band or do a solo gig?

Do you go out to hear live music?

Who is your favorite local band?

I took lessons for a few years when I was teenager. At the time I thought they were good lessons, but looking back I didn't learn anything about theory or how to read music. I've never been in a band. I don't go out and see local bands.

Guitars...

Do you do your own setups?
Who is the luthier you trust with your guitars?
Please mention his or her name and location.

I do most of my own repair. If it's something I'm not comfortable doing then I'll take it Mass Street Music in Lawrence, KS. I use to use Bass & Treble Music in St. Joseph, MO but it closed a year ago.

Sprinter 92

Lafayette LA? Thats where I live, we may know each other. emil me at roane at cox dot net

talk soon.
G

Way to rally the volleyball troops! I don't do anything competitive anymore. Kinda miss it.

Coffee. I love coffee, but the coffee doesn't love me. I don't need any additional uppers! I use folgers/kirkland/maxwell house at home. From the drip maker.

But in the summer, camping, I perk coffee and I get the good stuff. There are a lot of local roasters around, so I get some of that and make it over the fire in the peculator. That is the stuff! And I am very busy all day!

Guitar Repair. I am an inveterate do-it-yourself er. Of course, I am also a do it over again-er. Really I have never done that much. Adjusted truss rods, dressed frets (Wow, gotta love plek, we don't have to do that any more), adjusted bridges and nuts. Replaced pickups, pots, caps, tuners. Bolt on stuff, but no real heavy repairs or mods.

Same is true with amplifiers. Recaps, replaced some parts like jacks or noisy pots. But not major mods.

Guitar players, great question. Especially the local angle. I am back to my home town after a 15 year sojourn around the country. When I was growing up, there were 2 guys here that just blew me away. One is a rock 'n roller. The other is a hybrid finger picker. The rock player, who we would probably call very classic or maybe vintage now, was by far the biggest influence on me. I learned a ton just watching him. He has real strong opinions, and shared a lot of them with me. Most of them were good, but some not real helpful, lol.

He sold me the F-100 that I have had for over 20 years. So I owe him a lot for my enjoyment of music. I have never taken formal lessons, but jams and tips from other players sure helped, and still help me along. I don't get out to see much live music right now, doing the Dad gig. But I used to take in a ton. Both big productions and local club type shows. My wife and I did go out dancing to a live band about a month ago. I was totally disappointed, and this brings me to my final lament.

These guys where not young, but younger, meaning my age. About 35-45. They have been playing around for at least 7 years in various configurations. They used to play cool 'classic rock' covers. Some stuff that you always hear, but also some really well chosen gems. They weren't great, but proficient and FUN. Now they are jumping on the Americana band wagon, and covering tons of great songs terribly. They market themselves as some kinda Uncle Tupelo knockoff--punk americana or something. This could be done, obviously, but to me there is some minimal level proficiency and artistry required. So my question is--where are the young cat's or even guys my age that want to play for real? The closest thing near me is the great folk/bluegrass scene over in Bozeman. There are some great combo's and people aged 9 to 90 playing beautiful music. But blues, rock, jazz, country? Pretty thin.

I am currently playing with a band of friends. Me are working up and original set. Style indeterminate. I am working on booking about 10 shows this winter and spring, then we take a hiatus between July-September for family time. We gigged extensively as a cover band for about 3 years in college. So it's myself on guitar/vocals, my brother on bass/vocals, another guitar/vocal player that we played with in college. And a drummer that's 15 years younger, and awesome.

Another coffee drinker here. I don't like instant coffee. I favour the plunger method of making coffee, that way it's not too strong. If it's too strong I generally feel terrible after it. I couldn't tell you what brands I've bought recently, they all have Italian names and taste pretty much the same. I go for whatever is on special at the shop.

Who influenced you to pick up the guitar? Dick Dale, when I heard 'Misirlou'. I still rate him as one of my all time favourite guitar slingers.

Lessons or self taught? Self taught. I had a handful of lessons as a teenager but never got much out of them.

Are you in a band or do a solo gig? I'm in two bands. See my signature. Ones a soul band, the other country-rock

Do you go out to hear live music? Yes, but not enough. There's so much good music here that it can be overwhelming, which is a good thing

Who is your favorite local band? They aren't my local band anymore but when I lived in Fremantle, Western Australia, I used to love seeing a group called the Zydecats. They play Zydeco, jump blues, anything fun. Lucky Oceans, ex-Asleep At The Wheel, plays steel with them. They are all super high caliber musos and have always got a great crowd. They've been playing in the same pub every sunday for as long as I can remember. I first saw them there when I was 16, and they'd been going for longer

I do all my own setups. I've not had good experiences letting other people do it.

These guys where not young, but younger, meaning my age. About 35-45. They have been playing around for at least 7 years in various configurations. They used to play cool 'classic rock' covers. Some stuff that you always hear, but also some really well chosen gems. They weren't great, but proficient and FUN. Now they are jumping on the Americana band wagon, and covering tons of great songs terribly. They market themselves as some kinda Uncle Tupelo knockoff--punk americana or something. This could be done, obviously, but to me there is some minimal level proficiency and artistry required. So my question is--where are the young cat's or even guys my age that want to play for real? The closest thing near me is the great folk/bluegrass scene over in Bozeman. There are some great combo's and people aged 9 to 90 playing beautiful music. But blues, rock, jazz, country? Pretty thin.

I'll back this up. It seems that too many people are only interested in playing 'cool' music, which is fine, but 'cool' music is generally pretty boring to see on a night out. Or at least it is for me. I'd much prefer to see something I could dance to than stand stationary in a room with some melancholic singer. In both of the bands I play in I am the youngest and by quite a margin. There simply aren't many people my age who want to get out there and play fun music.

I prefer organic coffee, dark roast, beans that must be ground - especially those from Columbia, Kona from Hawaii, some of the Costa Rica coffees, and just a good French Roast. I tend to mix them to get different flavours, often putting a decaf with some other of the above. Not easy to find a dark roast in a decaf, but they're there. I don't always go organic, but they have the most flavour. My son gave some coffee from Brazil for Christmas, very dark, ground and formed into a block. I like it. I'm doing about half & half with some brand of decaf my wife got at Sam's Club. I like it just black, straight; however, there are times when I don't want a dessert that a coffee with cremes, sweetners, and/or other flavorings does the trick. Worth the cost? It sure is to me. I don't hardly every drink anything alcoholic, so coffee is my drink of choice.

I wanted a guitar since seeing singing cowboys in the movies. That was acoustic. When I saw what Roy Clark, Glen Campbell, Jerry Reed, & Chet Adkins could do with one, my interest shifted to electric. [I didn't say I could play like them, I'm just sayin' that they influenced me.)

No lessons, but I do own some instructional dvd's that have really helped. That and hanging out with folks at jams.

I do solo - at home, mostly. Never been in a band; don't want to be. Well, some of us got together and played some music behind some singers at our connumity theatre, but that was for a play that ran a couple of weeks. Looking back, it was fun.

I don't mess with guitars or amps. Ole woodfixer lives nearby now, so I just head for his house with a 6-pack & get-er-done.

Jay

I wanted a guitar since seeing singing cowboys in the movies. That was acoustic. When I saw what Roy Clark, Glen Campbell, Jerry Reed, & Chet Adkins could do with one, my interest shifted to electric. [I didn't say I could play like them, I'm just sayin' that they influenced me.)

Jay

That is a hell of a list of great players. I am not familiar with Jerry Reed, but the others are some of my favorites. Sometimes I kinda forget about Roy Clark. I saw a special on him, when I was traveling for work. It blew my mind. I watched it like 5 times. And to me, Chet is in a class almost by himself as far as what he can do with just a guitar. And I mean just a guitar. bassplayer nope, singer nope, drummer electronic or otherwise no. Guitar tech, no. Pedals, no. chair, sure if one is handy. Total magic.

Hmmmm. Coffee. The Great Enigma. Love the smell of it, love the thought of it, love the idea of meeting at a cafe to drink it with friends. But once it passes my lips any possibility of a relationship is over. I've never got used to the taste, or worse still the lingering bitter after taste. Every 5 years or so I'll give it another go but I think I'm a lost cause. Now a good cup of tea is something I can really get enthused about.

Guitar Influences: As a 5 y.o. my Dad influenced me to pick up the guitar by giving me a little tenor guitar to play along to his folk and C&W records. As a teenager seeing John Lennon play his Rickenbacker made me want to play electric guitar.

Self Taught or Lessons: I'm a self taught guitarist through and through, but I did 5 years of piano in my teens. That was a valuable experience as it taught me how to read music and forced me to consider the way bass, chords and melody interact. The linear relationship between the keys also made it easier to visualise critical concepts like intervals, scales etc. I can see why piano is a preferred tool for composition, but it can't compare to an open E chord through a cranked amplifier.

Band or Solo Gig: I'm not currently in any bands though I was for much of the noughties. I do miss it but don't really have time these days. Dealing with strongly opinionated band members is not something I miss though. It should be fun after all.

Live Music: I try to support live music as much as I can, but we're spoilt for choice here in Melbourne. There's so many talented bands/musicians it's hard to know where to start. I actively try to avoid any DJ's/self indulgent electronic noise or people playing to canned backing tracks. As long as there is some melody and people are actually playing their instruments then I'm interested.

Favourite Local Bands: I haven't been out enough lately to have one. When I do go to a gig though, I always try to catch the support acts because I frequently enjoy them more than the headline. There's a sincerity with up-and-coming muso's that often gets lost with the bigger acts.

Setups: Over the last 10 years I've tried many different establishments for setups/repairs. The best experience was with a guy called Mick Brierley in Adelaide who makes his own pickups. Mick was good enough to rewind a broken MFD pickup for me even though he barely has time for repairs these days. My least bad experience with setups is a place called Eastgate Guitars in Balwyn. They have some absolutely fantastic instruments and amps including vintage strats/teles/Gibsons etc, and the luthiers there are pretty competent, as you'd have to be when working with such expensive gear. Unfortunately the attitude of 1 or 2 of the guys in the shop has turned me off them. It's a shame when a few a$$holes ruin a place. Mostly I've ended up disappointed and considerably poorer from having other people service my gear, so I try to do my own repairs these days. My next project is wax potting 2 MFD pickups on my S-500 which have gone microphonic and doing a shielding job while the pickguard is off.

Yeehaw on the Thursday remarks!

No coffee for me, heavy tea drinker however.

Who influenced you to pick up the guitar? It was a mix of Beatles, my cousin's strat, Buck Owens/Roy Clark, Pete Townshend, Duane Eddy, Jerry Garcia and James Taylor.

Lessons or self taught? Most self taught with mix of lessons at 12, 20 and doing some online learning now.

Are you in a band or do a solo gig? Solo now. Played bands in high school and college.

Do you go out to hear live music? When I can but not as much as I would like. Probably 2-3 shows a year, not the amount years ago. Kids are getting older so we can all go now!!

Who is your favorite local band? Unfortunately lost touch of who the local bands are a few years back with kids, will make that a goal for the year to at least hear some local talent.

Do you do your own setups? Do what I can, but rely on a few talented guys locally for heavy duty work.

Who is the luthier you trust with your guitars? Trust is a hard earned title, but if I had a trust guitar, especially a treasured one, it would go to Mac!

Thanks for your responses.

Started talking coffee and forgot to answer my own questions.

Music....

Who influenced you to pick up the guitar?

John Fogarty and CCR. I always thought they were a Southern Band. Ya say they're from California? NOoooo!

Lessons or self taught? Have taken lessons off and on. Piano, guitar, bass, violin

Are you in a band or do a solo gig? College and other family responsibilities curtailed gigging.

Do you go out to hear live music? Have a few friends that are in bands that I like to support.

Who is your favorite local band? The Belmont Playboys, Rockabilly


Guitars...

Do you do your own setups? Basic setups: action, truss rod adjustment, intonation.
Who is the luthier you trust with your guitars? Mallory Penland, Kannapolis NC. Beautiful workmanship.

WOW! Thursday already. Can almost see the weekend from here.

Lunch today maybe another can o’ tuna, rice and veggies.
I had a microwaved/frozen Bob Evans sausage egg and cheese biscuit, half a banana and water.


Any coffee drinkers here?
Like Maxwell House Dark Roast for the quick one in the AM.

I think Maxwell House is horrible. Almost as bad as Folgers. 8 O'Clock used to be great. It sucks the big one now.

I use a drip maker and brew Starbucks (never frequent their stores, though) and often mix it with something decent but less expensive (I like Chock Full o' Nuts or whatever they call it). Stop snickering!!!

.

Last night’s volleyball started rough for the team I was on.
Lost the first game, but came back and swept the next 3 games.
Volleyball is the best class for fun at the Y.

I like Volleyball, but being slightly less than 5'8", it just wasn't meant to be....


Music....

Who influenced you to pick up the guitar?
Lessons or self taught?
Are you in a band or do a solo gig?

Hmmm. Jim Croce, Cat Stevens, James Taylor got me to pick up a guitar.

Mostly self-taught.

Not in a band. Play a few (original) songs myself most evenings in the basement after the kids are asleep.

Do you go out to hear live music?

Sometimes. Less often since becoming a daddy.

Who is your favorite local band?

Bassman's band RAGS!


Guitars...

Do you do your own setups?

No. Just had Bassman set up my SB-2 and am looking forward to getting it back with fresh strings and a new attitude!
Who is the luthier you trust with your guitars?
I don't trust nobody (except Bassman these days)
Please mention his or her name and location.
"Bill" / Witness Protection Programme


Have a gooderun

U2

jamie

-ed

Who is your favorite local band? They aren't my local band anymore but when I lived in Fremantle, Western Australia, I used to love seeing a group called the Zydecats. They play Zydeco, jump blues, anything fun. Lucky Oceans, ex-Asleep At The Wheel, plays steel with them. They are all super high caliber musos and have always got a great crowd. They've been playing in the same pub every sunday for as long as I can remember. I first saw them there when I was 16, and they'd been going for longer

+1 on the zydecats! Spent many a sunday at Clancy's. Great musos who always give an audience a great time. Clip isn't truely representative of the live feel but its the best I could find ...

[youtube]akcqwZp0Zs4[/youtube]

cheers, Robbie

Sorry to have missed out on your posts last week. I was in Florida for a week of R&R.

Any coffee drinkers here? I love a good cup of coffee. For drip coffee, I like the BJs brand of Costa Rican blend. At home, I purchased an Expresso machine from Starbucks in 2009. I make a triple latte in the morning to get me started. The blend I like in that machine most is the Starbucks Italian Roast.

Music....

Who influenced you to pick up the guitar? - I'd have to say Ricky Nelson. When I was just a wee lad, I'd watch Ozzie and Harriet just to see the music video at the end of the show.

Lessons or self taught? - Mostly self taught. I did take some lessons when I first started but they weren't teaching me the stuff I wanted to learn and they weren't doing it fast enough. I just wanted to ROCK!. A friend of my brothers showed me some scales and licks and that was enough to get me started.

Are you in a band or do a solo gig? - Band - Tightsqueeze. We have an electric quartet version as well as an Acoustic duo version of the band.

Do you go out to hear live music? - Only occasionally.

Who is your favorite local band? - Don't have one.


Guitars...

Do you do your own setups? - Only when absolutely necessary. Usually I'll take them to Mark Kane, the finest luthier in the southeast.

Who is the luthier you trust with your guitars? Mark Kane at Fatsound Guitars.

RickT