Tuesday Early Breakfast Report - 2-1-2011

Hello everyone......welcome to February.
I hope today finds everyone in good health. I woke up this morning with a bad sore throat. Not good!

I have meetings right through lunch today, so I'm posting today's report a bit early.

Thanks to all of the respondents yesterday!

It's 7:00 AM right now, so lunch seems so far away, but I think a trip to 5 Guys burgers might be in order today. We just got them a few months back, but I've become addicted to them.

Here we go......

G&L Topic

Do you think G&L is doing a good job in getting their guitars in the public eye??
Have you seen an increase of G&L's in the hands of popular artists? Who would you like to see wielding a G&L???

Music Topic

Alrighty....show and tell time.

I know a great many of us are in bands. What's the name of your band, and if possible post some pics, vids or links to music!
Do you use your G&L's in your band???

..and for those not in bands.......what's stopping ya?? Time, confidence, or lack of interest in being in a band?


General discussion

I know the end of last year, and the beginning of this year have just been brutal weather wise for many of us.
How are ya'll coping? Are you overwhelmed by snow?
Here in Louisiana it's been colder than usual for this time of year, but so far no snow down here in Baton Rouge. It snowed up in North Louisiana, but that's not too unusual.


Alrighty gang.........let's get to answering some questions!!!!!
I'll post my answers later.............

I know a great many of us are in bands. What's the name of your band, and if possible post some pics, vids or links to music!
Do you use your G&L's in your band???

Up until last October I was in a band. We were named, Ruckus Wood. We played a few really cool gigs, had a blast and had a following but eventually too many factors resulted in a break down. Our drummer suffered from prescription drug abuse and our keyboard player wasn't remebering his parts so the bass player quit. Even though we walked away from an $800 gig, I side with the bass player on this one because it was frustrating having to go over the same endings / beginnings/ breaks week after week becuase the keyboard player couldn't remember what we had worked out the week or two previous. Ultimately it was a matter of differing expectations that killed us. The only guitar that I played in that band was my ASAT Special. I'm really loyal to my guitars, like my women!

..and for those not in bands.......what's stopping ya?? Time, confidence, or lack of interest in being in a band?

I'm working on my next band. It will be, "Honky Tonk Country" in the general sense. Whiskey shooting, beer drinking, man crying, barn burning, women twirling fun. Actually I don't drink but I do measure success by the size of the party on the dance floor. I'm currently working on songs, everything from Hank WIlliams , George Jones, Johny Paycheck, to Dwight Yokam and others. After I have about 20 good songs I'm going to look for a singer and after we work out my songs and his I'll bring in my bass player and look for a drummer. Fiddle and or pedal steel will come later if we are really lucky. I'm taking the opportunity to learn how to play with a thumb pick (thumb pick hybrid) and may learn a little hybrid flat picking as well. I already finger pick so I hope to use all three styles, which will keep me on my toes. And finally, after I dump some excess gear I'll look for a guitar to use in this band. It might be an ASAT Classic it might be a tele. We'll see.

Good to see you on the board again.

Tom

I live in the niagara falls area in canada. There was 1 G&L dealer in st. catharines, he mostly had tributes in stock and you could order a USA made from him. That's all in the area.

I went into the store this past week to have a look, all G&Ls gone and he's gone big time Fender. I talked to the owner, he said kids want the fender name, don't understand that the G&Ls are better. Then he went on to rave about the G&L USA necks, both in quality and consistency. BUT, he's selling fender and gibson, with a little BC Rich and Dean thrown in (cheapies).

There are a few dealers in the northern USA, but that really doesnt help me much.

When I bought my first, a 2008 ASAT Classic Bluesboy, semi-hollow, I ordered it from a dealer in Alberta, took 12 weeks (as it is a lefty) and they shipped it to me from there.

In my area, no one except real guitar guys, know G&L, sorry.

I went into the store this past week to have a look, all G&Ls gone and he's gone big time Fender. I talked to the owner, he said kids want the fender name, don't understand that the G&Ls are better. Then he went on to rave about the G&L USA necks, both in quality and consistency. BUT, he's selling fender and gibson, with a little BC Rich and Dean thrown in (cheapies).

Same story here. There were 2 shops that carried G&L. One stopped carrying them, and started carrying lower end brands, the other went out of business.
I think the closest might be in New Orleans now. You'll see the odd Tribute here and there, but it's been awhile since I saw a USA G&L in a shop.

I'm working on my next band. It will be, "Honky Tonk Country" in the general sense. Whiskey shooting, beer drinking, man crying, barn burning, women twirling fun. Actually I don't drink but I do measure success by the size of the party on the dance floor. I'm currently working on songs, everything from Hank WIlliams , George Jones, Johny Paycheck, to Dwight Yokam and others.

Tom

Oooh....sounds right up my alley! I love classic country.
Would love to here ya'll when you get up and running.

I am currently playing in a band. Drums, Bass (look sirmyghin two 's!), 2 guitars. We share vocal duties, and work hard on our harmonies lacking a really great voice in the band. We have worked under two names - Tonight Only and Harmony and the Sidemen. I think that we are kinda coalescing around Tonight Only going forward.

Yes, I gig my G&L's, there all I have right now!!!

There are a lot of head winds to keeping a band going. Just finding time to get together. Scheduling gigs in advance. Plus, we never make money. The going rate here is $300 - $500 for a band of our 'stature'. Which is to say not much stature. We donated our fee to a benefit show last year, and caught hell for it from other musicians. They feel like we are driving the price down...

We are, in fact, driving OUR price down, because we are working on an original set...Why not, it's a labor of love anyway. It's a real challenge in our minds to see if we can jump em up and down with a high percentage of our own stuff. We'll see.

I'd sure go for hearing that country set!!!

Great responses gang!

Guess I'll go and answer my own question...............!

I think G&L is doing a really good job trying to reach out to the youngsters, the older casual guitarists and the professionals.
The endorsed artists range from country to jazz, to metal, and all points in between. The G&L brand has to fight the constant comparison to Fender. That's definitely an uphill battle. Most kids don't care about the history, they just know that their favorite guitarist plays a Fender, and that's it.


I play in a rockabilly band here in Baton Rouge. We've been together for 2 years now. About 4 months ago we had a "Yoko" situation with our upright bass player, and had to quickly find a fill in for some outstanding gigs. Butch, the new guy is working out fine, but we lost a LOT of momentum when Brian our original player bailed. It was an amicable split, but man we didn't need that drama.

Anyhow...we're a three piece, myself on guitar and vocals, Greg Guffy on drums, and Butch Ammons on upright. We play the area clubs frequently, but have really been focusing on getting the higher paying festival gigs. I don't play my G&L's in this group, mainly I'm playing my Gretsches. I play a Tele from time to time, so an ASAT would definitely be in order.

We're currently working on our debut CD. It should be out in March with any lucK!

Here's some footage....do originals in the style of Eddie Cochran, Elvis, Carl Perkins,Gene Vincent and all of the great 50's guys. We specialize in doing songs by the great Louisiana rockabilly and rock and roll greats.

Here's some footage...

An original called "Cattin' Around"
[youtube]Al1esVnXVHE[/youtube]

A bit of "E"
[youtube]nc44HCn9Qfs[/youtube]

..an old number by Jack Scott (with our old bassplayer)
[youtube]JPy5IT38478[/youtube]

I think G&L needs to doa bit more to attract some artists, they are not really in the public eye at all I would say.

The band thing, I am not in one, and currently don't even have time to do my solo composing work. But I will provide the links to a few of my favourite pieces I have put together.
Brittleness:
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=9039038

Tenderness (something I wrote for the wife)
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=8714966

Some funk, The flight of the Kiwi:
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=9017810

And something completely off the wall and very strange. This one is very love/hate
Summers End
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=9607818

I think G&L needs to doa bit more to attract some artists, they are not really in the public eye at all I would say.

The band thing, I am not in one, and currently don't even have time to do my solo composing work. But I will provide the links to a few of my favourite pieces I have put together.
Brittleness:
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=9039038

Very cool.......Brittleness reminds me of Firehose. The bass playing sounds a bit like Mike Watt.

I think G&L needs to doa bit more to attract some artists, they are not really in the public eye at all I would say.

The band thing, I am not in one, and currently don't even have time to do my solo composing work. But I will provide the links to a few of my favourite pieces I have put together.
Brittleness:
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=9039038

Very cool.......Brittleness reminds me of Firehose. The bass playing sounds a bit like Mike Watt.

I might have to check out these guys, I have never heard of them. My sound evolved from years of chasing Geddy

I might have to check out these guys, I have never heard of them. My sound evolved from years of chasing Geddy

I love these guys!
Sadly they broke up years ago, but Mike Watt their bass player is still kicking around.
[youtube]aeov75xE3-E[/youtube]

G&L Topic

Do you think G&L is doing a good job in getting their guitars in the public eye??
Have you seen an increase of G&L's in the hands of popular artists? Who would you like to see wielding a G&L???

I read an early interview (posted on this site) w/ G&L about this topic. They didn't want to dump a bunch of instruments into the market and deal w/ endorsement issues. I can appreciate that, however maybe it would be a good idea w/ the Tribute line.

Sorry I can't hang anymore today, but good job Mr. 500!


Cheers,

Will

Shawn, good questions today and I will check in.

I had lunch with 3 guys that i had worked with and it was a Taco Salad/ Beef with plenty of Iced Tea followed by a stop at the Local GC.

I am currently a gigging musician and out group is booked as Pretenders and Friends. We were The Pretenders back in the 60s and I believe that someone else has trademarked the name. Just to be safe we released out CD as Senior Class a couple of years ago. I am going to post some CDs on here after I pay a mp3 license fee to Pro Tools. I will do that soon. There are two of us Original Pretenders and some retired pro musicians in our band.

I continue to be amazed at the market place that G&L seems to have (small share). There have been 3 American G&Ls that have shown up at the local GC in the last 3 years and I have ended up with all 3 of them. American Band, our local G&L dealer carries about 8 different G&Ls along with a few Tributes. They are very knowledgeable on G&L but I am not sure if they push them as such. I am not influenced by artists who play them but probably the young ones are. Joe Walsh and Stuart in the Eagles are sporting Carvins and Stuart is also a MM player. I do notice what all the musicians are playing. Also some manufacturers have terrible customer support. I think that G&L stands out in this area by having outstanding support but that is only apparent to the G&L owners. Some comments that I have heard is that the people who have G&Ls are the most loyal owners around, and this website certainly supports that, but, they need to target people who don't know about them. That is the difficult task. I am shocked by the used G&L market. They are an incredible buy and that is why I end up with used ones. I would like to order one and the Stainless Fret option could be the turning point. Room is a problem and I should thin out some and buy very selective. It seems that what I have been doing is buying selective and each one that I own is special and I don't want to part with any of them. Maybe I need to redefine my idea of selective. At well over 40 maybe I will have to make some choices. That is a whole problem in itself. No GAS here though! Have a great day!!! Darwin

I am currently a gigging musician and out group is booked as Pretenders and Friends. We were The Pretenders back in the 60s and I believe that someone else has trademarked the name.

Yeah, probably best.....You don't want Chrissie Hynde after you! (well then again............. )

[youtube]mY7JdnLk7c4[/youtube]

I might have to check out these guys, I have never heard of them. My sound evolved from years of chasing Geddy

I love these guys!
Sadly they broke up years ago, but Mike Watt their bass player is still kicking around.
[youtube]aeov75xE3-E[/youtube]

Shawn, that guy absolutely rips. I am a bit more reserved on my own recordings as I tend to put more emphasis on my weakest points. I would play a style more active (but not quite that active I would say) in a band setting where I only need to worry about me. I like 3 pieces for that reason, lots of freedom.

Shawn, that guy absolutely rips. I am a bit more reserved on my own recordings as I tend to put more emphasis on my weakest points. I would play a style more active (but not quite that active I would say) in a band setting where I only need to worry about me. I like 3 pieces for that reason, lots of freedom.

Yeah, Mike is the man!
We opened for his new band, The Missing Men last year. He played like that for almost 2 hours. I thought he was going to collapse after every song!

Darn, I have a writing project to tackle-and I was going to give all this stuff a listen. But alas, I forgot my head phones. argh.

I read an early interview (posted on this site) w/ G&L about this topic. They didn't want to dump a bunch of instruments into the market and deal w/ endorsement issues. I can appreciate that, however maybe it would be a good idea w/ the Tribute line.

I read that same article and it made a lot of sense.

I'm in a couple of bands - the links are in my signature. The Spokesmen is a soul band which has been on hiatus for about 4 months now. The singer has had to completely reshuffle his life twice in that period AND has his first child on the way. He's the one that put it together and he foots the bills for rehearsal spaces, recording etc and so one of us are rushing him, but I can't wait 'til we start gigging again. The guys are all top notch muso's and I've learned a hell of a lot from them. We recorded a demo in November last year but I'm yet to hear it - I believe it is still incomplete.

The Prairie Oysters do country - with classic honky tonk stuff making up a big part of the set along with some country rock. We do a few originals too. I joined them recently, just after they'd recorded their second LP. They're older than me by 20-30 years but it's still fun. They've been in the industry longer than I've been born so, again, I'm learning a lot. They get good paying gigs, and have a few regular slots in various pubs/clubs around Victoria as well as inter state.

With both the bands I use my G&L's, favouring my Bluesboy for both. I have my Classic S as a backup guitar, but the jack in it has crapped out and needs replacing. This weekend's gig I'll be using my newly completed parts-o-caster as my main guitar, it's always fun gigging a guitar for the first time.

The weather in Australia has been well documented - floods, fires and now cyclones. Here in Melbourne we've been untouched, but the last few days have been stinking hot - around 40C . Thankfully it's cooler today!

P.S. Shawn - I LOVE that your audience cheers when you take a lead break! I long for that day!

P.S. Shawn - I LOVE that your audience cheers when you take a lead break! I long for that day!

HAHA....it's sure beats getting tomatoes thrown at you!
Checked out your links......Great stuff!

Hope the horrible storms miss you there in Melbourne. I have some friends that are pretty much in the path. I'm worried about them...

Shawn. Have you seen the price of tomatoes? You have to be absolutely terrible to have those thrown your way these days!

But I agree that the reception you get is well deserved and likely great fun. I enjoyed your videos a lot. What are you plugging the Gretch into exactly (gimme the chain if you got one)? Sounds fantastic. - ed

btw: Australia has had more than its share of Nature's misery lately. My thoughts and best wishes your way.

Marketing G&L: I hate, hate to say it, but BBE has to get their guitars into the hands of popular players. The good news is given the quality of the guitars and basses, it ought not be that hard. Just got to get them to into the hands somehow...

sirmyghin: I find your music to be quite interesting. I actually like some of it ;+). Seriously, good work and thanks for putting it up for us to enjoy.

G&L Topic
Do you think G&L is doing a good job in getting their guitars in the public eye??
Have you seen an increase of G&L's in the hands of popular artists? Who would you like to see wielding a G&L???
Yes and no. The real players know about G&L, but the kids just learning guitars only know F, G, etc. I have some friends in Nashville...and they say everybody there has a G&L somewhere. I kinda like G&L being a grassroots kinda best-kept-secret. I brought mine to the blues jam...and somebody said...I didn't know they still made those!

Music Topic
I know a great many of us are in bands. What's the name of your band, and if possible post some pics, vids or links to music!
Do you use your G&L's in your band???

..and for those not in bands.......what's stopping ya?? Time, confidence, or lack of interest in being in a band?
Oh I wish I was in a real gigging band, but now is not the time. I play in church (with my G&L basses of course....maybe they'll let me switch to guitar soon) and occasionally at the Central Miss. Blues Society Blue Monday Jam.

Cool videos of your band Shawn! The Kang would be proud. You must have to fight off them fish camp womerns after a show.

Here's some videos...I'm the young white guy LOL. These guys know the blues...heck it was practically invented here.
This was from my 1st jam ever.
[youtube]5GIN7eAIgic[/youtube]

Here's one with the 86 ASAT I used to have.
[youtube]2jJpQhdNclc[/youtube]


General discussion
How are ya'll coping? Are you overwhelmed by snow?
Well...it's pretty durn weird weather we've been having. Last year about this time we had 6"...we need some local warming fer shore!

Shawn, your band sounds great! Your Gretsch has that early Beatles sound to it; very cool. And I take it your bass player is none other than Mr. Bayou Cable himself.

I only play with a hobby cover band. We are not good enough to be a gigging band, but we have done a few free concerts just for fun. Occasionally we record during our practice. The quality is highly uneven since everything is live, and we get what we managed to play.

Here's a few, including one that I actually sing lead:

Vasoline
Man-Sized Wreath
The Trick Is To Keep Breathing

Kit

Well, I live just a bit south of you in Lafayette and it's damn near the low of 26 tonight already. I love the cold (probably because we don't get much of it here - or worse, it only lasts a couple of days before getting back up into the 60s with lots of rain.

Some friends of mine and I had a project going in the studio for a couple of years, but when we tried to bring in a "real" drummer and bass player it all went to hell - more slowly than usual (and not a knock against drummers or bassists; it's just that the larger the band, the more egos start to become a factor that no one wants to confront until it's too late).

Now, I just practice new things at home when I'm not swamped with other obligations. I actually thought that I was past the age where I could learn something new, but it seems I was sadly (or happily) mistaken.

As for G&L in the marketplace, well I didn't know about them at all until my best friend and guitar collector gone wild told me I should try one (an S-500 he found for a very good price - and that I now love intensely for the wide range of sounds it is capable of). I read up on them and thought the idea was long in coming since the quality control of the competition or previous company is so laxed.

However, I think if most strat and tele worshippers just sat down with the right G&L they sell all that other stuff made after 1970 or so.

Phillip

What are you plugging the Gretch into exactly (gimme the chain if you got one)? Sounds fantastic. - ed

Here's my board as it stands right now...



The Echoluxe (an analog delay by a small builder) has been replaced by a MXR Carbon Copy.

I'm pretty much just using the Carbon Copy on those clips. I think it's the Exholuxe on the third (The Way I Walk)
Amp-wise that's my Reverend Kingsnake. I usually keep it right on the verge of breakup, and use my volume and picking dynamics to get dirt.
Sometimes I'll kick the TIM on if I need a little more dirt.

Shawn, your band sounds great! Your Gretsch has that early Beatles sound to it; very cool. And I take it your bass player is none other than Mr. Bayou Cable himself.

Yep...that's him!
Can you guess what brand all of cables are???

Here's a few, including one that I actually sing lead:

Vasoline
Man-Sized Wreath
The Trick Is To Keep Breathing

Kit

Very cool!

Today I can be short and sweet. G&L is still the best kept secret in the industry. It is great to have artists endorsing your instruments. But it is even better if, like for guitars built by Bill Collings, if artists want to appear in your ads after they have paid the same amount for the instrument as anybody else. I would love to see that happen for G&L's. How about Clapton playing a Legacy, Fullerton, or S-500 he actually purchased?

I do not play in a band. If I do that I want to give it my all and my other interests are just preventing me from doing so. And everybody knows it's always raining in Seattle. Keep thinking that and stay away so we can avoid overpopulation in these areas

- Jos