Lunch Report, Wednesday April 18, 2012

Lunch- Pizza and salad at a staff party here at work. There is nothing like a free lunch. Or maybe there really is no free lunch.

Report: Hey, Thanks for all of the replies and comments yesterday. I finished my taxes and found ac error in my daughter's taxes that almost cost her 800 bucks, so it was a good day, although a busy one.
I don't have an Ipad and I have not really embraced Ipods although my son bought me an Ipod touch last year for a Christmas present.
I am slow to embrace the"Apple universe" so to speak.
I am still using CDs and listening to broadcast radio for most of my music needs.

G&L questions:How many of you have BBE effects pedals and what to you think of them?


I want to post some Youtube links of my current band Capital Blues Ensemble. This band has been aproject of my good friend John who is an excellent guitarist and the guitar player to whom I sold my '93 Legacy. I have also known John for 43 years and we went to the same High School and we have been playing music off and on since 1970:

Here is a song from our last gig with me playing my L-2000 and John on his Legacy:

[youtube]uVgLCikqZJU[/youtube]

I am also in a 4 piece band called RAGs. RAGs plays a variety of music like Rock,Soul and Country.
Here is video of us at a local open mike:

[youtube]8g5C9x2HqkU[/youtube]

Have a great Wednesday everybody.

bassman

I've got some pedals from my lunch report duties and they sit on a shelf and don't get used, I try them out and then put them away except for the Sonic Stomp, I highly recomend this box in front of older tube amps, LOVE it!

Love John, everytime I see one of your vids he's always smiling and looking like he's having a great time entertaining the crowd. And take care of that harp player, the're hard to come by and you can't have a well rounded blues band without a good harp player.

gary

i posted a reply a half hour ago and now it's gone. grrr.

i posted a reply a half hour ago and now it's gone. grrr.

I was thinking that happened to me last week. But decided I must have forgotten to hit the post button. Maybe not!

Boxes, I use the Sonic Stomp all the time. I also have a two timer delay, and a double barrel. I think I may make friends with the double barrel.

I can't wait to hear Jambalaya, I love Hank!

For my recent LR duties, I chose the Double Barrel. I haven't found a great use for it yet,
but I might find a point in the chain that needs a little attenuation on the top or bottom.
Where are you using yours Sickbutnottired?
I liked the soul vibe, but it was lacking some presence with my rig , the crusher was o.k.
but it was a bit grainy for me. I used to use the rack maximizers , but they had a hiss that came in with the
highs , I liked the low mid punch it gave...might be better in a parallel set-up instead of in series.
They all seem to be built like tanks.

Thanks for sharing vids ! My last band was real rough at times, I'll see if I can find a
video that shows the smoother side.

Bassman, LOVED the Capital Blues Ensemble. I'd go see you guys any day of the week. Really entertaining music, played damn well by all of you. It's endings like that that keep crowds wanting more.

I have a BBE Tremolo which I can't fault. It sounds exactly like it should and the two speed settings are pretty handy. I use a BBE Supa Charger for powering my pedals. Also have a G&L Buckshot OD, which is nice enough for a Tube Screamer type pedal.

Bassman, I just viewed the videos and thanks for posting. You cannot beat a good four piece rock band. I loved it. The blues work is great even though I am not a blues fan. Good stuff

I have a soul vibe which I haven't used. I always use the sonic stomp and an 882 I for the vocals. Great products.-- Darwin.

Playing "ketch-up"....

Monday

I may be one of the rarest pickers on the planet--I LOVE active EQ on guitars. Back in the late 1970s, there was this little gizmo that was an active preamp for Strats. Wasn't too bad, but not great enough for me to keep it in my 1960 Strat. I liked the concept, so when Leo brought out the active Music Man Sabre, I was hooked. There are just so many tones in that guitar. I "normal" my controls with the BRITE switch ON, T=10 and B=5, just like I do with the G&L PTB system. The Sabre is VERY bright, so I can turn down the amp's PRESENCE and TREBLE controls--this actually acts like a Dolby tape-noise reduction unit. The Sabre's preamp is a VLN design; with the low impedance HB pickups and a buffered output--it's quiet. I can drive a hundred feet of cable and 56 pedals with minimal loading. And with my normal control settings, I can go from jazzy woman tones, to tele twang, in just a very few quick movements of the hand.

I think my three pickup Sabre is pretty close to the ultimate Strat, in my mind. Too bad Leo didn't have the DF Vibrato for the Music Man guitars. He was really late bringing his DF Vibrato to the market--especially with EVH's unique use of the Floyd Rose. I tend to think of the stock Sabre as the penultimate evolution of the tele design--that really makes more sense--though I think Leo might have brought a three pickup version to market had not MM gone under.

And he would have had to make some changes in the preamp for the hard rock crowd. A mid-boost EQ circuit would have made a lot of sense to me. I've even wondered whether the circuit board from the old Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer compressor would fit in the cavities of the Sabre.

Hmmmm......Project!!!

Done right, an active circuit can bring a lot of benefits to the player.

I AM on YouTube, and no, I ain't tellin' anybody how to find it. I do think it can be an asset.


Tuesday
Miss Leslie is a CPA, and has survived the deadline, though not without a struggle. She caught a terrible head cold, and her voice sounds like she is going thru puberty. She went to the Chiro guy this afternoon--her back is killing her tool

No Ipads, pods, phones or Apples in this house. Our phones are Androids. I love the G-String guitar tuner app. It has saved my butt several times.

I hear you about not getting enough pay in the clubs. We're making less than what I was making back in the '60s and '70's--without being adjusted for inflation! It's a job that people will do for free, and the club owners aren't smart enough to realize that "free" isn't always the best deal. Going around with someone now who wants my band to do a private party--he thought he could get us for less than $100 for a three hour gig. I sat him down and explained to him my time and my costs of doing the gig (like gas, music, CDs and strings; practice time; set up and tear down time), added it up and showed him that we were making less than minimum wage. Then I told him about the 45-years of experience, and the roughly $50,000 I have invested in equipment--and point blank asked him if he thought I was getting paid appropriately. (He's a banker.) He was obviously shocked at the numbers--a real wake-up call. I think he'll come around, but he's not happy--and it REALLY pisses me off because...HE HAS THE MONEY! And the party is for HIS MOTHER! (What a cheapskate!)

I don't know what the answer is, other than making sure that the band is starting up on time, looking sharp. Put on an entertaining show. Do preventative maintenance so you're not having equipment breakdowns; and know how to use your gear so you're not killing everyone with feedback. Be nice to the staff and the audience. Watch your volume levels. NEVER, EVER take breaks that are longer than 12 minutes. NEVER get into a tiff with a band member in front of an audience. It may be a hobby band, but have sense enough to act professional. Wait until AFTER the show to do your drinking and drugging.

I make it a point to sell my professionalism--heck, anybody can play the gee-tar. (Though I can actually play it well and sing on key to boot!) Run your band like a business, even if it's just for fun.

Today

My only complaint with the BBE pedals is that they are too big, and too heavy. I would really like to see them keep the durability in a smaller, lighter package. I have a Green Screamer, Crusher, Opto-Stomp, Soul Vibe, and the Sonic Stomp. I would love to have the Two-Timer, the Wah, and the Mindbender.

I LOVE new toys!

Bill

I loved the Rags show I caught in Germantown last spring. I played Sugaree over and over for the next 2-3 months. Will you ever get out toward Annapolis?

I have three BBE/G&L pedals. My first was a tabletop version of the 264R Sonic Maximizer, from back in the early 2000s. I got it to clear up my electric bass sound. It does the job, but the rear-mounted control layout isn't very well suited for an effects chain and now it sits on the shelf (it actually did a very nice job between my ASAT Classic and Jazz Chorus as well as in my bass rig). One of my next purchases will be a Sonic Stomp, which I hope will make enough of a difference to be an "always on".

I received a Bench Press for LR duties last year, which I intended to use as a limiter after delay pedals. It works very well for that purpose. I've played around with using it as a compressor too, and have been impressed (again, between an ASAT Classic and a Jazz Chorus). Understandably, it doesn't edge out my Carl Martin as the main compressor. If I didn't already have a compressor and was looking to spend $100-$150, the Bench Press would be my first choice.

My latest LR pedal is a Double Barrel. The controls aren't intuitive (minimum effect from the treble and bass roll-offs comes at the highest setting), but they seem to do a good job. It really kicks the pre-amp on my Blues Junior. The ASAT Classic (which has gotten a lot of playing time lately) is much much brighter through this pedal. With a Leo-era maple body ASAT, it can push my Blues Junior to the point that the amp's volume control no longer has any effect. Backed way off, it does a really good job as a clean boost.

Ken

let's try again. i have 2 bbe pedals, the sonic stomp and the soulvibe. i like both of them, but the soulvibe will be replaced soon. the size of these bbe pedals is just too much of a deterrent. i can fit 2 other pedals in the place of one bbe. i think bbe is really falling begind not offering the small footprint pedals like a lot of other companies. the lovepedal minis, the 7 sisters, the malekko mini line and so on. even the single size tc and mxr's are much better. and some companies are even thinking about jack and power supply placement, like staggering or putting them on top to be able to minimize footprint.

Hey Bassman,

The Capital Blues Ensemble was cooking! I really enjoyed it. As far as BBE stuff goes, i took the rack mount Sonic Maximizer last year for LR duties (for the PA) and have been really happy with it.

Some "Ketch-up" from me also...

Wednesday'

About 7 years ago i drank the Apple Kool Aid and have not looked back since. Currently i have an iMac, AppleTv, MacBook, iPhone, iPad and 3 iPods. But really, at the end of the day they are still computers, and just like a guitar, it is up to the end user to deliver its full potential. I love the fact that Apple products just work, and work well together... I have not had to do a hard reset, had driver issues or spyware / virus issues in 7 years! That puts a smile on my face

Have a good one

Scott

Where are you using yours Sickbutnottired?

I am a pedal newb, but so far I have been putting the Double Barrel at the end, and setting it kick up the high's a little--for just a little gain and a little bite.

j