Lunch Report Friday 27th May 2011

Lunch report Friday 27th May 2011

Lunch: Today, a small bowl of ‘Morrow’ which is a recipe from my Caribbean wife (who also loves Latin guitar music). It’s basically a rice dish with beans (you can also add things like nuts, or raisins etc if you wish). It is very filling and very nice. My wife likes to slightly burn the bottom of it in the pan and get a kind of crispy / chewy rice sculpture. Anyway, I cannot dunk this food in my coffee, for obvious reasons but I will not deny that the thought crossed my mind. It was followed with a nice apple and a bottle of water. Very nice indeed.

G&L topic: How did you discover G&L? Was it from a fellow musician? From just perusing the web? From an initial random stroll into an independent guitar shop? Your guitar teacher (if you had one)? From seeing them on TV? To my mind, G&L is like one of the best kept secret in guitars. As the saying goes….”people that know about fine instruments, know about G&L….” When did you pop your G&L cherry? I’m not convinced G&L does its best to get out there and promote itself so my feeling is many of us discovered them through word of mouth.

nonG&L topic: Guitar myths: I used to think I would not be good at the guitar because (i) I have relatively small hands and (ii) short stubby fingers (the nickname “tommy dickfingers’ springs to mind ). This is of course nonsense. There are plenty of players out there that have the same mechanical constraints I have and do just fine (Danny Gatton?). It is not a limitation to being a proficient player. So I think it’s a myth that you need long spider fingers (even though all the shredders seem to have these hand shapes). This myth probably comes from things like the finger length of players like Hendrix and Brian May. Hendrix had very long fingers and May’s are like tentacles. However, not every player is built the same way and we all have mechanical advantages and disadvantages and we should not concentrate too much on those that seem to confirm the myth at the expense of those that do not. Are you aware of any guitar myths that you commonly hear and know to be nonsense? Have you even been given really bad advice at some earlier point and if so, what was it? On a personal note – as a relatively new player, I find its my timing that’s a major limitation. I cannot get my hands to do what I hear in my head – so there is a delay. Also, lots of things can be going on to make the music sound cool including a kind of ‘broken rhythm’ (like in the blues) – where gaps of different time intervals and small accents are crucial to add the colour of the blues. Working this out is more of a limitation to me than my hands. Thoughts on this?

What was the name of the old Jazz musician that lost some fingers and still continued to play (Django or something)? Now that’s overcoming a limitation.

Non G&L topic (ii) as the saying goes “If I don’t practice for one day, I notice it. If I don’t practice for two days, my fellow musicians notice it, and if I don’t practice for three days, my audience notices it.” OK – that was from a classical musician (I forget who) – but what is your practice regime? Do you still have one? I think once you get to a certain level on the curve the need to practice for hours and hours may become redundant to some degree – but if you don’t pick the guitar up for a few weeks – do you notice it? If so, in what way? I’m not talking about band practice – but your personal practice. Do you have a set regime or are you more relaxed about it? My feeling is very technical forms of playing require more of a regime – but I’m no expert.

Non G&L topic (iii) linked to the above in terms of a person over-coming limitations. Two years ago at Christmas I had to go to the local garden centre to get some bits a pieces for the family arriving at our home. The garden centre is huge and carried a whole manner of things. Low and behold who do I bump into in the plants section but Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath fame (he still lives in the Birmingham area). There he was – about 3-feet from me looking at plants with his wife / female partner. No one else hanging around seemed to be aware of him and he quietly moved around doing his thing. I saw him and as soon as I realised it was him I froze up, only in the sense that, I wanted to go up and say something nice to him, but also, I wanted to respect his privacy and leave him to his Christmas shopping. Anyway, he turned around and looked straight at me and I just said “Merry xmas Tony, have a nice one” and he replied “Cheers man, you to”. What a nice guy. It’s my only claim to fame. Tony, of course, lost the tips from some of his fingers on his fretting hand – but he overcame that and became a major innovator of his style of music. My question to you guys is, have you ever bumped into your heroes or a well known musician when you were least expecting it? What were they like? Unassuming nice guys? Total arsehole’s?

Non G&L topic (iv)Great famous live bands / artists you have seen. I have seen a lot over the years, obviously Clapton (many times), Bon Jovi, The Happy Mondays, Donovan, The Killers, Santana, The Stone Roses, Jack Johnson, etc. They were all great, but in terms of an evening of entertainment – Santana was surprising quite brilliant. The sound mix and quality was superb for the venue (not an unimportant issue for big venues) but it was the whole Latin percussion he had going on that was amazing. I have never seen so many drums. Very uplifting show and of course, the man can play. How about you guys? A famous live band that nailed it? Anyone seen the Rolling stones over the last few years? Have they still got it? Have they gotten better? Worse?

Also, I recommend you all check out the now disbanded “Stone Roses” – pure class from the Manchester sound stable.

On a personal note: I want to thank you all for joining in the discussions this week and making me feel that I had something interesting to say – it is much appreciated. This forum is generally a very friendly place and even those of us that might disagree on certain topics – seem to do so in a respectful manner, which is exactly as it should be. There is a lot of experience on this board and I have benefited greatly from being a part of it. I have read every post in the LRs this week, and even if I have not had the chance to respond to all of you, I thank you for the input. I am sure forum lurkers will be benefitting from your suggestions and thoughts as well – let’s not forget them.

I am going to try to respond to a lot of you over the weekend (those I missed).

I contacted some of you about replacing me next week as the Lunch Reporter as I did not want to be stuck with no one to follow up. I was operating a first-come-first-served type of policy. I would like to thank those of you that responded and showed an interest in picking things up for next week. However, I can confirm that next week’s reporter will be none other than “Bassman”. Good luck man, and looking forward to the posts. Apologies to those of you that did get back to me and were willing to take up the challenge, it was much appreciated. The early bird gets the worm and all that…(but then it’s the second mouse that gets the cheese…..ah well…).

The search for the perfect sandwich and dunking biscuit goes on…..if only G&L did biscuits……….

Dickfingers! Hahahahahahahahahahahaha! It's good that you just wished Mr. Iommi a merry xmas rather than hummed the riff to 'Iron Man' or something stupid like that.


Best live artist I've seen was Dale Watson. He's a consummate showman who knows how to entertain a crowd. No big lights, crappy house P.A., borrowed backline. Sounded great. Some footage from the actual gig:

[youtube]Wf6O84iTMBM[/youtube]

Judas Priest were awesome too - the complete opposite of DW, with a huge stage with lots of lights and props.

Good work this week Dr. Dickfingers

Best live artist I've seen was Dale Watson. He's a consummate showman who knows how to entertain a crowd. No big lights, crappy house P.A., borrowed backline. Sounded great. Some footage from the actual gig:

We went to the US last year and caught him at the Continental club in Austin, TX. Great 4 hour show, with no breaks. Spent 30 minutes prior to the show speking to the pedal steel player. Even got to hold and play DW guitar before the show. The one thing that shocked me was Dale Watson is short. All the members of the band are very nice people. He had a frind on trombone fill in with him on the night. Also looks like a different fiddle player as well.

Looks like he might have picked himself up a new guitar. Not as many coins on this one compared to 1 year ago

Nice week Dr. Unfortunately of late I struggle to find much time to participate during the working week.

Today’s topics …

How did you discover G&L? I knew of G&L from the outset being an interested follower of Leo Fender's career. First time I got my hands on one was when we shared the bill with Western Australian Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan’s band at a charity gig and I got to try his Legacy.

What was the name of the old Jazz musician? That would be Django Reinhardt. He had a couple of fingers fused together in a fire. Awesome player.

Have you ever bumped into your heroes or a well known musician when you were least expecting it? One Saturday afternoon there was a knock on the door. I opened it and found myself face to face with Hank Marvin (He’s lived around Perth since the ‘80’s). He was wanting to speak to residents in the area about a matter that was very important to him. I got to spend a couple of hours chatting with him about lots of stuff … including music of course. He told a story of how he had walked up to a door earlier and could here an old Shadows record being played rather loudly. He knocked and knocked but no one heard - If only they knew Made my weekend!

And playing catch up ….

Band Egos. Never had any real vocalist vs lead guitarist (aka me) issues in any of the bands I’ve played with. One band there was regular tension between the vocalist and the bass player. I remember one day when the bass player and I were having a music discussion (arrangements and the like) and the vocalist chimed in. The bass player responded with “what the !@#$ would you know about music …. You’re just a singer". Oh … did I mention that they were married …. Well, for a couple more years anyway.

Albums from the past? About a month or so ago I resurrected my Peter Gabriel era Genesis albums. Lamb Lies Down on Broadway and Trespass were particular favourites back in the ‘70’s …
[youtube]aDgh3C6klMQ[/youtube]

Cheers, Robbie

Good work this week Dr. Dickfingers

Cheers man!!!!!! Its a great line isnt it.....I could not stop laughing when i first heard it. It reminds of another joke I heard about someone's poo looking like, and I quote, "King Kongs finger"

Judas priest - were they the ones that had the motorbike on stage????

What was the name of the old Jazz musician? That would be Django Reinhardt. He had a couple of fingers fused together in a fire. Awesome player.

That's the one....thanks for that as its been bugging since i wrote the LR.

Have you ever bumped into your heroes or a well known musician when you were least expecting it? One Saturday afternoon there was a knock on the door. I opened it and found myself face to face with Hank Marvin (He’s lived around Perth since the ‘80’s). He was wanting to speak to residents in the area about a matter that was very important to him. I got to spend a couple of hours chatting with him about lots of stuff … including music of course. He told a story of how he had walked up to a door earlier and could here an old Shadows record being played rather loudly. He knocked and knocked but no one heard - If only they knew Made my weekend!

Wow....that beats my story hands down. Hank is one of the few players who's technique is incredible. To play so well with an almost totally clean sound (not hiding mistakes in over-drive and distortion) is not easy to do. Mucho Kudos my friend Did you convince him about G&L?

Band Egos. Never had any real vocalist vs lead guitarist (aka me) issues in any of the bands I’ve played with. One band there was regular tension between the vocalist and the bass player. I remember one day when the bass player and I were having a music discussion (arrangements and the like) and the vocalist chimed in. The bass player responded with “what the !@#$ would you know about music …. You’re just a singer". Oh … did I mention that they were married …. Well, for a couple more years anyway.

That's just the sort of story I love to hear.....

Looks like he might have picked himself up a new guitar. Not as many coins on this one compared to 1 year ago

The one he was playing was a new one that Alan Tomkins put together for him, complete with in built phaser. Sooooo jealous that you got to play the old one!

He was wanting to speak to residents in the area about a matter that was very important to him.....

He's a Jehovah's witness I'd welcome too. I once saw him in Perth city, getting around in his fat gold Mercedes.

Judas priest - were they the ones that had the motorbike on stage????

Yep, that was the finale - the lead up was a throne decked out in skulls with red LEDs in the eye sockets. So cool!

Your Lunch reports cover a lot of topics and I have to scroll back and forth to reply effectively. Good stuff!

I first heard about G&L when the company started in 1980 because I was and I still am an avid fan of anything done by Leo Fender. I followed the creation of the Music Man bass and even got to play one of the prototypes back in 1976.
When G&L started I was on the lookout for a used one and I didn't cross paths with a used G&L until 1989 when I got my L-1000.

Django Reinhardt was the master guitarist who played with two fingers on his left hand due to being injured in a fire as a child. He was an amazing player and his music is very challenging to play. no drums, heavy rhythmic guitar parts called "the Chop" take the place of drums in his music. check it out. John Jorgenson is currently playing Django's music in his touring group and even playing it with two fingers on his left hand!

I have met or backed up: Jerry Lee Lewis, The Coasters, The Drifters, Robert Bell of "Kool and the Gang" (Celebrate), James Jamerson and Danny Gatton. All were very nice people as I met or worked with them but I am sure everyone will have their good and bad days. Jamerson actually complemented me on my playing back in 1980 when I was performing in LA and Gatton worked on my 1966 Fender Precision bass (he made a brass nut for it in 1974) I actually went to his house and repair shop in August of 74. I have never seen so many 1952 Telecasters in one place!

Band egos- I have dealt with a number of conflicts in bands throughout the years. They were more demonstrative when I was younger, or so I thought. I have recently had some friction over my bass volume at gigs. I have to admit that sometimes it is hard to get the bass volume right in all of the different venues we play, but It doesn't have to be a source of friction.
I am willing to turn down. This is one of the problems with using a singe BOSE L1 as our PA system. Se la vie.

bassman

My First G&L experience was just walking into the independant store. Nothing more.

Not sure about fingers, never paid attention to it and I didn't consult anyone (except my father, whose bass I would learn on) before I started. Thereafter I don't recall hearing anything negative, especially with respect to hand size. Not sure where I fall on the spectrum, but I have fingers hovering around 3" with the exception of the pinky, and very long palms. If your fingers are longer than the fretboard is wide, the issues you have are probably invented.

Timing, if you do not already, is best learned around playing to a steady beat. I recommend playing with a metronome, as it removes the background and all you have is the beat. You need to lock in on it, and feel it constantly, not lose it regardless of what you playing. That is the key to phrasing and timing, you need to know what you want to do, how long (beats) it will take, and lastly where you are and how many you have to get there.

Although this last week has not been representative due to sending a friend off and injuring my shoulder, as well as being extremely busy the previous week I do have a practice regiment. It typically involves a 1.5-2 hour practice on either guitar or bass, usually guitar. There is no point where your practice takes 'hours and hours' to maintain a skill level, it sinks in. You don't start from 0 every day, and aside from a short warm up you can just start going through the drills quicker, and with more ease, as well as at a higher tempo initially if you desire. There is also a huge mental aspect, where even things you learns and did well a year ago and haven't touched are much easier to bring back up to snuff than they were to learn. For me the name of the game is alternate picking, I like that way you can place you accents a lot more accurately than stuff like economy picking.

I have never met a famous musician, nor do I have the desire to. Frankly I don't want to bring them down to the level of mere humans. When you see them on stage, they are implacable, and immortal in their way. If you got to meet them otherwise it might shatter that. They are not people to me, they are my evenings entertainment, they are the musicians who provide me with what I want. Nothing more really. Two older groups I have seen lately that definitely still have it were Iron Maiden and Rush. There are very few groups out there who can put on a better show than Rush.

Good job this week, some pretty lengthy and diverse topics. Enjoy that hard earned weekend off.

There are lots of guitarists myths, but the truth is we all have different fingers, handles, musculature, brains, etc., which is why I abhor note-for-note tabs/interpretations. It makes perfect sense for David Gilmour to play the Comfortably Numb solo that way, but not for anybody else: there are dozens of ways to interpret and approximate that solo and the best way to play it is the way YOU want to. This sets up the most destructive guitar myth out there, namely that, if you can't play somebody else's work note for note you are not a skilled enough player. As for learning to vary your timing and phrasing, that comes with time. As you relax and become comfortable with your own skill, it'll start to happen.

The worst advice I ever got was to NEVER play an open string. It was the advice of my first classical teacher and based upon the Segovia method. When I picked up guitar again a few years ago and befriended a very gifted flamenco/classical player, he explained to me that a) The no open string rule was a load of bull crap and b) Segovia was a self-promoting hack who eclipsed every one else in PR but not skill, musicality or emotion.

With respect to G&L, I heard about the brand long ago, forgot about it and started paying attention to it again when I saw an S-500 in a local shop last winter. As for buying my Legacy, what can I say: When a reputable dealer offers you a secondhand USA Legacy in mint condition for $500 you give in to gas.

With respect to practice, I have do disagree with your don't-play-for-a-day etc. maxim. Your body needs rest and, just like weight lifters and athletes need to take days off to recover, so do guitarists. I have found that taking a week or two off every few months actually improves my playing. The first half hour of practice getting back after such a break is a bit of pain, but once I'm warmed up, I find that the break has not only allowed muscle memory to set in but has reset my brain, so I'm playing new licks and trying new chords and rhythms, etc.

I've seen plenty of great live shows, but the most energetic band on Earth these days is The Arcade Fire. Their live shows are absolute stunners. Unbelievable really. One band I'd love to see live is The Dead Weather, even though Jack White is on drums with this ensemble, friends who have seen this band say it is an unbelievable experience. Other stand-out gigs include the E Street Band, Decemberists, Dire Straits, REM, and Kraftwerk. And of course, there's Marillion, one of the best live bands out there and a truly underrated musical entity. My favourite famous musician moment was getting to hang out backstage with John Paul Jones and his band (including stickist Nick Beggs) when he opened for King Crimson a few years back. It was pretty cool to be having a one-on-one conversation with a rock legend who is not only a phenomenal player but a down-to-earth guy and a total gentleman. But I've been fortunate in having met many of my favourite players over the years. Still, my most memorable celebrity meeting was meeting my hero, author Ray Bradbury at a Los Angeles book signing, which was just mind blowing.

G&L Question - How did I hear of G&L? I was given a G&L against my wishes at about age 12-13 and have never recovered. ( I still have it.)

Random answers to lot's of great questions.
Qi - Myths - Dr. Fingers you will over come the digit dilemma. There are so many myths out there. 'Real' players don't read, 'real' players don't use capo's, real players use tube amps, real players blah, blah, blah. BS all of it. It's M-U-S-I-C, rules are not real relevant.

ii - I heard this saying attributed to Fritz Kriesler, except I thought It was "If I miss a day of practice I notice, If I miss 2 days the audience notices and if I miss three days the critics notice." For me, working in fits and spurts is profitable. I have a power practice I do-but the biggest thing it does is remind me how much I like to play. It does help. If you are working something specific you can make progress in a very short amount of time.

iii - I have never run into someone accidentally like that. Great stories, though. Nicely played with Tony, who is my favorite to play with Ozzy BTW.

iv - Great shows - Willie, Don Williams, and my favorite - Buddy Guy. I did meet Buddy and his guitarist (Ric Hall) and they both seemed genuinely nice. I saw the stones in '01 or so. I thought they were great, major production. I would say the same for Paul McCartney. Huge productions, but well done and both have plenty of 'solid' (sarcasm) material to get though a fairly lengthy show.

whew - great week. and great get for next. I look forward to hearing Bassman expound on exactly how it is he keeps getting to much bass in the mix. Is that really possible?

I first discovered G&L while researching on the web for the perfect tele for me, turns out it doesn't telecast but it does shoot down satellites

just like you I have heard the small finger myth, and the big hand myth and all I can say is the only way to remedy that myth is to wrap your hands around every guitar you see.

I am very relaxed about my practice regime, perhaps too much so. I pick it up practice a song that catches my fancy or play a few chords in the key of G or C or slap my capo on some where fun and go from there.

Any time I am around anyone with even an iota of fame my IQ drops a bazillion points and I can't think of anything more interesting to say then "hello" or "good show tonight" and of course if someone else has already spoken "ditto".

A bad sound guy can really ruin a night, I was at a concert with a friend of mine who works for an AV company, the band we were seeing was EQ'd so badly even the acoustic and vocals were distorting in the mix. Ticked my friend of so much I though we was liable to punch out someone and bring things to a reasonable level himself.

You heard it here folks, G&L biscuits. the G&L logo in chocolate on one side and "the finest biscuits I have ever made" on the other.

I have met or backed up: Jerry Lee Lewis, The Coasters, The Drifters, Robert Bell of "Kool and the Gang" (Celebrate), James Jamerson and Danny Gatton. All were very nice people as I met or worked with them but I am sure everyone will have their good and bad days. Jamerson actually complemented me on my playing back in 1980 when I was performing in LA and Gatton worked on my 1966 Fender Precision bass (he made a brass nut for it in 1974) I actually went to his house and repair shop in August of 74. I have never seen so many 1952 Telecasters in one place!

Wow man! Impressive. With a list like that, I feel compelled to ask you for your autograph
If you have any recordings (YouTube or Mpegs) of you performing with these people - put up a link or please do send me a PM with some pointers as to where to find your music.

G&L's: I blame Ron Stoehr, store manager of the now defunct The Zobrist. The man has caused me to spent large amounts of money

I'm sometimes too busy to be able to really practice every day, i.e. go beyond the 10 minutes of noodling. But then again, I'm not a professional musician. I read that Pat Metheny is even practicing and warning-up when he has to play 'Happy Birthday' at a party. Don't know whether that was tongue in cheek, but knowing the man a bit, he takes his craft serious.

I used to run into Dave Matthews frequently at his favorite coffee house in Seattle. Always had pleasant observations.

Great concerts I remember: Pat Metheny about every time I see him, with Group or any other setting. Funnest event was before going on tour with the PM Trio in '00, he had a couple of general rehearsal gigs in Olympia, WA. I had talked to him many times before when at the North Sea Jazz Festival and it was fun seeing him do his thing about 10 feet away and talk to him again afterwards. Other memorable concerts: Comsat Angels, Bill Frisell by himself on acoustic guitar, John Scofield doing his thing, Clapton, Queen, Keith Richards with the Stones (many times) and with the X-pensive Winos in '92, Tears for Fears, Sigur Ross, Santana outperforming Dylan in '85, etc. etc. Latest concert I went to was the Tedeschi Trucks Band. Derek Trucks just makes me cry when he is telling 'stories' on his SG.

- Jos