Lunch Report - Wednesday May 4, 2011

Welcome to the mid-week lunch report….
On tap today – my easiest day of the week WooHoo - We were up early got my 4 year daughter to school and now it is time to hang out with my 2 ½ year old daughter. We have some running around to do while my wife is at work (She’s a piano teacher by the way), then back to the studio for lessons from 3-9.
Lunch….
I asked my wife she wanted for lunch and she suggested a hot roast beef sandwich . Needless to say I declined! I think I will grill us all a nice steak, with a ceasar salad side. Some rice sounds good to.

G&L
My ASAT special was the first G&L that I had ordered brand new. I knew I wanted the Special but there were so many options. I spent more than a few trips to the dealer, mulling over the catalogue, trying to decide on what the heck I was going to get. The end result – ASAT special, tobacco burst, cream pickup covers and guard, with locking tuners. Here it is……






So a few months ago at the local dealer I was talking to one of the salesmen and he was telling me about ordering his new G&L. He tells me he just order an ASAT Special, I said “Hey, I’ve got one of those and I love it”. He said “Tobacco Burst”, and I was like “ Wow that’s what mine is” He then says “Cream pickguard and pickup covers”. I couldn’t believe it. Here’s the twist… He’s a lefty – so I took my Special to the shop and snapped some pics.





So the question… Have you custom ordered a G&L yet? If yes then post a pic of the beauty here, if no let us know what you have spec'd out... I am sure the pics are already else where on the site, but it would be cool to have all of our hand picked G&L’s in a row.
I currently have a SC-2 on order. As soon as I found out that they had opened the SC-2’s up to all the options (which was a great move IMHO) I knew it was time to pull the trigger. I was going to try and keep it under wraps until it got here but I am terrible at keeping secrets. The specs…… Ash body, rosewood neck, saddle lock bridge, cream pickup covers and finished in .. Terquoise Metal Flake! (Yes the Will Ray colour). I ordered it mid February, and I was going to ask at the dealer to check on it when i was at the store yesterday, but from what it sounds like G&L is really busy right now – so I know they will get to it when they get to it. I keep checking the facebook page to see if maybe it is cool enough to be posted there…. Nothing yet!

Non G&L

So the good and the bad from yesterday. The good, a really cool Keb-Mo fingerstyle song called “you can love yourself” check it out on you tube…. I had never heard it before, it is really cool. The bad, I would have to say High School Musical’s “were all in this together” really not worth checking out if you don’t know it. On to the question – talking about this teaching stuff, I was wondering where you guys learn. The internet has really changed the game for us guitar players. I can’t imagine having youtube when I was a kid starting to learn…. Do you take lessons? Check out stuff on youtube? Study at school? Or maybe you simply learn the old fashioned way of using you ears. I would be interested to find out.

Today’s videos are some good old rock and roll favs featuring the ASAT Special.
Our version of The Stones “Miss you”
[youtube]5grnUHf-B4Q[/youtube]

Rare Earth
[youtube]id6Ry56SDfA[/youtube]

And last but certainly not least Zeppelin
[youtube]VwjcrS1i06s[/youtube]

Thanks for sticking with me this week, i now know it is time consuming to post a reply - so an extra thanks to all those who are taking the time to participate.
Scott

"So the question… Have you custom ordered a G&L yet?"
you must be getting a commission from my credit card company...
not yet...but i have gone to the Options page and ordered an S-500 SH with no f-hole, #3 neck w/gun oil tint, ebony FB, blueburst, black pearl or mint PG....and i've started casing local banks in order to pay for it...

never had any lessons...learned by ear and a few friends along the way...i've bought a few DVDs, but end up just picking up a lick and doing something different with it...

No, I have never custom ordered a G&L.

I have always bought "off the rack" so to speak.

Lessons: I took lessons a long time ago and I have taught bass and guitar lessons for about 40 years, off and on.

I really like your band. You guys are very good. Its a rare band that has the vocals, drums and the guitarist who can pull off Led Zeppelin. You guys have them. There is not a bad clip among all that you have posted on YouTube.

Keep on rockin"

Howdy Scott,

Love your one guitar version of Miss You. Pretty funky all by yourself! And these pics of the mirrored Specials are fantastic. What a coincidence and great the unique opportunity was captured in time.

In all, I custom ordered 3 guitars. First a '99 ASAT Classic in Butterscotch Blonde, single ply black pickguard, #1 Bird's Eye maple GTN. And Scott, to answer your question, this one is always in open G. Strung with 11's it just sounds awesome. My second is a '01 George Fullerton: ash body with 2-tone Sunburst finish, white pickguard, creme pickup covers and controls, #2a Bird's Eye maple GTN (has a beautiful nice V-shape), and tweed hard shell case. (As a side note, I have always regretted I ordered the ASAT Classic with the default thermoplastic case instead of a tweed case. It's in a G&L tolex case now.) Lastly, my first Bluesboy, built in '04: semi-hollow body in 3-tone Sunburst, pearl pickguard, #1 Bird's Eye maple GTN (again) and tolex case. Was the first one I bought unseen online because the Zobrist had gone under by then. Given that this was my 4th G&L, I trusted G&L enough that I could take the gamble. And I was not disappointed.



I have never taken lesson, but given a few myself. Mostly just teaching friends of mine chord shapes. I think I would be a much better player if I would have taken lessons, especially when it comes down to soloing and improvisation. But teaching myself has also been an incredible adventure. I do not have perfect pitch, but I discovered as a teenager that I could play along with about any song on the radio fairly easy, even when the chords were not entirely 'standard'. Every discovery I've made was an 'aha'-moment. And that has been valuable too. Still, you never do it entirely by yourself. I also pick up hints from transcriptions in Acoustic Guitar magazine and Guitar Player and that has certainly accelerated things a lot. And noodling for me usually means trying to pick a song apart and try to do it fingerstyle.

Keep it up,

- Jos

Edits: fix image link after album was lost.

Last edited by yowhatsshakin on Mon Dec 19, 2011 12:18 am, edited 2 times in total.

I have custom orderred a G&L. ASAT special #3 neck, locking tuners, graphite nut, trans orange.


Where do I learn? everywhere. I have never taken a formal lesson in my life, playing bass 11 years, guitar about 4 seriously (8 otherwise). Jamming with others, playing in bands, learning and dissecting tunes,and the odd instructional DVD.

I have been following the lunch report all week but did not have the time to chime in. I have to do it today after I watched the "Miss You" video. "Miss You" is one of my favorite songs because of the bass line and the cool rhythm that just gets my head bobbing, and your band does an incredible job with it. Nice!

Kit

Scott, I'm really looking forward to that SC2 you've ordered - certainly sounds cool enough to make the Facebook page! Looks like you have a good relationship with your local dealer, thats a good thing.

I custom ordered my Bluesboy. It's semi hollow with no f-hole, has a #1 neck with GOT, locking tuners and a tortoiseshell pick guard. Here's an old photo



I've modified it since this photo was taken - I'm putting in a Bill Lawrence Keystone pickup in the bridge this week (when it arives) and attached a Hipshot B-bender. It's my favourite guitar. If this guitar can't get a certain sound then I don't need it.


I'm mostly self taught. I had a few lessons when I was 14, I remember learning 'White Room' and the pentatonic scales. I still don't know much more than that I've been thinking about taking lessons to help me towards my long term goal of playing jazz.

Scoot, I had a great salad today. I met some friends for lunch.

The R & L ASAT Specials are a cool picture. I just got my first American Special a little over a month ago.

Great videos! Good band. I am not familiar with a lot of the songs but I admit to being in a rut and I did enjoy them.

I have not had lessons and I do not read music with guitar. I studied music in college but never applied it to guitar. I do use charts if I have to.

Keep it up Scott-Good week!-- Darwin

Today's lunch was leftover mac and cheese: comfort food now that I'm back home in Toronto.

I have yet to order a custom G&L and if I did, it would most likely be a Legacy HB, ash with chrome covered coil-split PAFs (or the equivalent), maple neck and dual fulcrum bridge. Body would be dark metallic red with a matching headstock.

I learn through a combination of tabs/youtube videos (justin sanderlove rocks)/playing by ear and watching other players in action. I took classical lessons briefly almost 30 years ago and got really annoyed and bored with them because we were stick playing Mary Had a Little Lamb and Michael Row the Boat ashore after ten weeks and I'd already learned to play Rush's Broon's Bane from tablature. Mind you, I sucked at everything BUT Broon's Bane and Stairway to Heaven (minus the solo).

Never have ordered a G&L, most of mine were bought used. The one new was an off-the-rack Legacy, with a RW board and the ubiquitous three-color sunburst. I am thinking that I need one more Legacy Special, though.

(And here'e where I whine about wanting to buy a Comanche 12-string. Or two.)

I'm basically self-taught, though I did take a few lessons back in the early '70s after I had already been playing for about five years.

I enjoyed the videos. How about a gear rundown: Amp, effects pedals, etc.; AND, I'd like to know what you used to record the video and audio. I like it that your distortion isn't totally over-the-top maxed out distortion.

Inquiring minds want to know the setups of the stars!!!!

Bill

Lunch: Lunch today is last nite's burger in a wholegrain sandwich with grilled capsicum (red peppers), grilled onions, grilled eggplant (aubergine) and chilli tomato chutney. It has to get me through a marathon 3 hr lunch time meeting.

G&L Question: If I could order a G&L I'd have to go for a Himalayan Blue Bluesboy semi-hollow, double bound, with no f-hole and vintage creme tort guard. It would have a maple board with gun tint finish and be a 7.25" or 9.5" radius. Vintage frets and locking tuners too.

Lessons: I had ~10 yrs piano lessons as a kid. It didn't help me much with guitar playing but I learned to sight read, which is a handy skill to have sometimes. My Dad taught me a few guitar chords and bought me a copy of the Fender Chord Finder. I loved that book and knew every chord in it at one time. The rest of my guitar knowledge came from tabs in Guitar Player magazine, the occasional video, watching live gigs, and using my ears.

I wish YouTube had been around when I was a kid. Back then you could really only learn as much as the best player in your town. This guy was the best player in my town. I wish he'd taught me a few licks before he left (the song starts at 0:23).

[youtube]DaCppzEE1Ag[/youtube]

Philby, that is a guitar picker. Only to be done on a Gretsch with a Bigsby. A smoker indeed! Thanks for sharing.-- Darwin

Whole lotta great video action this week. Bravo!

Lunch: Sesame bagel toasted, ham, munster, banana. Orange juice.

Never custom ordered a G&L. All eBay acquisitions. All but one used.

Had a couple of guitar lessons after taken piano from age 4 to 12.

Great week! - ed

great tunes this week!

Had a few lessons as a youngster, help from friends on the way, occassional vhs or dvd and lately some on-line lessons. Picked up a music theory book recently that is helping bring more of it together.

Only one of my ASAT's was ordered from G&L, the ASAT signature. Simple Black body, maple satin neck, sperzel's. All others used or off the rack.

Be sure and post pics of yer SC-2, love that color.

Wow! That Asat looks amazing! And once again, the band sounds fantastic! You definitely have my respect!

I have not yet placed a custom order, but I do plan on trying to have a special build at the end of the summer. Since the Rampage, Superhawk and Invaders of the 80's were the same body shape, I am hoping G&L will build me a Superhawk. Using the current Rampage neck and body, I would only need a neck humbucker routed, a toggle switch and tone control added. I would add a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge, and a '59 in the neck position. I would like the finish to be candy apple red, with the kahler and hardware in black chrome.

Not sure if they would build this for me, but I can dream!

Thanks again for another great report Scott,
Dave

Thanks again guys for the replys

Jaxx, A commission cheque would be nice, i'll give them a call - credit card companys are always friendly and helpful right? Maybe if i ever get tired of teaching i'll try my hand at G&L sales!

Jos, i have ordered 2 unplayed as well, and also was not disappointed. I must say you have one hell of a collection - i love it!

Sirmy, is the orange special in the porn section? i don't know if i have come across it yet

Kit, Thanks for chiming in, and thanks for the complement. I actually find it a tough song to get into sometimes since it is only Am to Dm. It feels a little self indulgent at times moving the triads all around the neck, but it certainly keeps me on my toes.

Jamie, love that bluesboy colour. Is there an updated pic with the mods? maybe i missed that one too. I certainly will post pics of the sc-2 when i get it.... it is either going to be one of the coolest or ugliest G&L's around! Either way it will be mine

Darwin, i am interested, what was you primary instrument going into college? I think i will post the mirrored ASAT pics in the porn section to share with the folks that don't venture into the LR with us.

CGT, That is why i never teach from those mel-bay books. Most people would rather shoot themselves in the hands than play those tunes, not to mention shoot me!

Bill, thanks for the interest in the gear, i was thinking i will take a couple of pics and use it friday for the non G&L content (thanks) The recording setup is............ a canon HD VIXIA HF200 - set up about 30 ft from the band... thats it.

Philby, i am thinking double bound as well, royal purple w/bigsby... that guy is a heck of a player, thanks for sharing

Ed and Sam, thanks for the compliments. I almost didn't post the videos. As you know they are just some rehearsal stuff from the last 2 months or so, the guys in the band don't even know i have shared them! I didn't know if they would be board appropriate or not, i am glad everyone is enjoying them.

Dave, thanks alot and i think if you get that superhawk it would deserve its own separate forum! As for the CAR until i had seen it in person i never would have picked it out of the catalogue - but it is an amazing colour.

Scott

Scott - I meant to add that you've got a beautiful Special there - your buddy does as well! Wow!!! A Special was my first G&L, and I quickly became hooked... - ed