Wednesday May 9th Lunch Report

Today's lunch was leftover spare ribs with a side of stew. This was followed by bouts of cussing at the computer as I edited a video in Final Cut Pro. And just when I thought I had time to take things easy, a client calls and asks me if I could work in-house for the next few days. So much for a quiet life.

Today's G&L question concerns the marketing of the Ascari and the Fiorano, which are departures from the G&L comfort zone. While I'm pleased that the company is taking a stab at opening a new market, I'm somewhat skeptical of that the marketing material is playing up the lost George Fullerton-design angle. The sketches don't really look like the final product and quite frankly, now that the founders are dead, perhaps it is time to let Paul Gagon step up and put his own stamp on things without having to rely on a storied past. What are your thoughts on this?

Your non-G&L question is this: What is your favourite sounding recording and why? And by this I mean what song or album, more than any other, makes you take notice of the quality with which it was recorded, with the tones selected, the mix, etc. If you could single out one song or album, what would it be?

I'll supply my answers when I get back in but in the meantime, I am looking forward to yours.

I haven't tried the Ascari and the Fiorano models yet. I don't know why they would make a domestic version with the exception of a "CC" Edition. It's just a well-covered territory. Favorite sounding album? Well I'll go with "Who's Next" by The Who, "Led Zeppelin IV" by Led Zeppelin & "Nebraska" by Bruce Springsteen. There are a few more like Floyd, Dylan & Mac but I'll stick with these...


Cheers,

Will

Lunch here was leftover Pizza.

The marketing of the new models doesn't concern me as I am not interested in either. I think it is good that G&L is targeting the young, entry level players as it is affordable. These folks may ultimately be looking at American G&Ls. I wouldn't push the George and Leo connection as neither of them were into import models but who am I to say in the end.

The non G&L question is harder for me. I would have to say my favorites are the ones we do ourselves. We worked at getting the sound we wanted on our last CD and we did it like we wanted to. Considering we did not do it as a money maker we had that freedom. I can hardly wait for the next project which will be next winter. I have heard some terrible quality recordings over the years. In the 60's RCA had the best quality recordings and their Red Labels were hard to beat. I remember some such as A&M that gave you your moneys worth in noise. I think that Chet Atkins knew how to engineer in addition to being an outstanding musician. The tools are available today that allow anyone to do the best that they are capable of. I don't listen to much new material and If I were to pick a favorite video from recent years, it would be James Taylor, Pull Over. I thought it had everything a good video should have including some decent musicianship. Jeez, that had to have been ten years ago. I also enjoy recent videos of the Eagles. These guys are better as they get older. Hold onto that thought young 'uns. Life does get better!! Disclaimer- I may not be living proof-- Darwin

Marketing of the new models: I suppose every company has to move forward, as long as it doesnt lose sight of what makes it great. Personally they are both too pointy for my taste........ but if they are as well built as their other guitars then thats good.

favourite sounding albums..... Exile on Main Street, I love the muddy sound.
Recent albums which I think sound great (especially the vinyl versions) Bob Dylan "Modern Times" BB King "One Kind Favor" and especially Allen Toussaint "the Bright Mississippi"....especially the warm drum sounds. Feels like the band is in the room
john

my favorite sound, and i mean the quality of the recording, some people have a hard time separating liking the music vs, liking the recording, gloria estefan into the light, def leppard hysteria. dire straits on every street, mark knopfler shangri-la. some of these i do not care for at all musically, but the recording is absolutely incredible.

Louis, I agree that Mark Knopfler, Shangri-la is an incredible recording. I also think that Sailing To Philadelphia with Mark and James Taylor is an incredible recording. I believe that Mark produces most of his material.-- Darwin

I liked the sample Ascari I saw, a red one. If I didn't have my two Ibanez GR-520 Ghostriders, I could see using the Ascari as my "budget" 2 HB guitar; but I didn't like the Ascari enough to dump my Ghostriders. I think G&L branching out into this area is/was inevitable; but I don't really see them making a USA model. If a company is going to do that, then they are going to be running with the big dogs like Gibson and PRS, and I don't think they have established the foundation for that.

As for rock recordings, Heart's "Dreamboat Annie", their first album is widely known as one of the best recordings from that era. It was recorded in a little studio in the Vancouver, Canada, area on an old tube mixing board. I still find this recording a delight to my ears.

Another set that stands out for me are two jazz/fusion albums by keyboardist Neil Larson: "Jungle Fever" and "High Gear", with guitarist Buzz Feiten (yep, that Feiten). Feiten has great tone and tasty licks, and I love hearing the breathiness of Larson's Hammond B-3. If I were going to drop one more record on the platter, it'd probably be George Benson's "Breezin'". Again, the tastiest of licks and that warm hollowbody tone. Yum!

Bill

One of my favorite albums in terms of the recording is Charles Mingus's "Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus". It can't be easy to record an unamplified upright bass in a room full of blaring horns, but somebody at Impulse! records managed to pull it off. If anybody asked me to recommend a jazz record to listen to, this would be in my top three picks for both the music and the sound quality.

I just came across a new singer/guitarist from the UK, named Rob St. John. He just released a track called "Your Phantom Limb" that has so many subtle things going on with his guitar that I can listen over and over. I can understand about five words on the entire track, but with the quality of the production it doesn't matter to me. I think there is some sort of Moog-ish filtering going on in the background, and very selective use of an echo on a couple of notes. The sound quality on this video barely conveys any of the sonic complexity of the recording, but it gives a bit of an idea:

[youtube]2kcfJmsnDfI[/youtube]

Ken

Last edited by KenC on Thu May 10, 2012 6:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

OK, so that didn't work. I give up. Time for sleep.

Ken

Do you have the "disable BBcode" box checked?

[youtube]2kcfJmsnDfI[/youtube]

One of my favorite albums in terms of the recording is Charles Mingus's "Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus". It can't be easy to record an unamplified upright bass in a room full of blaring horns, but somebody at Impulse! records managed to pull it off. If anybody asked me to recommend a jazz record to listen to, this would be in my top three picks for both the music and the sound quality.

I just came across a new singer/guitarist from the UK, named Rob St. John. He just released a track called "Your Phantom Limb" that has so many subtle things going on with his guitar that I can listen over and over. I can understand about five words on the entire track, but with the quality of the production it doesn't matter to me. I think there is some sort of Moog-ish filtering going on in the background, and very selective use of an echo on a couple of notes. The sound quality on this video barely conveys any of the sonic complexity of the recording, but it gives a bit of an idea:

[youtube]2kcfJmsnDfI[/youtube]

Ken

ken, that sounds nice indeed. the voice has a bit of proximity effect on it, but not excessive, just enough to make it big and full. does hurt the clarity of the words though. there is some really stange things going on rhythmically with the background vox. i don't know if it's intentional, but it's kinda disruptive.

I'm a little late to the game. Haven't been around much the past few weeks. Things have been uber busy at work.
I really don't have too much of an opinion on the Ascari and the Fiorano models. They seem like nice enough guitars from what I've seen. If they introduce a younger or different segment of the population to G&L then that's a good thing, right?


I still love the sound of the 1st 4 Zeppelin records. Mostly for the unmistakable sound of those drums! For something newer, I'll go with the Wilco records. Especially Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and Ghost is Born. Every time I listen to those records I hear something new. There's a ton of different things going on in each track but it never sounds muddy to me. I'll have to check out some of the other recommendations made above. I have that Heart CD somewhere and haven't listened to it in years.

Jeff

Hey Folks. Will and Repo Man: The question about how albums sound was inspired by Led Zeppelin IV. When I put on the vinyl version, I can almost hear the room in which was recorded. There's a third dimension to the sound that blows me away after all these years. I love the way the guitars sound on Stairway to Heaven. The crisp acoustic intro, the Fender XII that plays off the Fender Rhodes piano, and then that gorgeous Telecaster tone for the solo. As for the drums, well, it says a lot that Bonzo's snare on When the Levee Breaks is one of the most sampled instruments of all time.

Will: I also agree about Nebraska. The rawness of that 4-track cassette recording brings out the pathos in the songs. I would, however, love to hear the version of the album recorded with the E Street Band.

Louis: I agree that some of the best sounding stuff is not necessarily what we like and I concur that On Every Street is a terrific sounding album despite the lacklustre songs.

Boogie Bill: Dreamboat Annie is an incredibly warm album. The vocals and that banjo on the title track continue to blow me away after all these years.

As for the other suggestions (Mingus, Dylan, Wilco, etc.) I think I have a lot of listening to do in the coming days and weeks.

Thanks so much folks.

Do you have the "disable BBcode" box checked?

No, I just needed to reload the Flash plug-in. I couldn't see the video, but now I can.

there is some really stange things going on rhythmically with the background vox. i don't know if it's intentional, but it's kinda disruptive.

A lot of the sound from the original recording doesn't come through on the YouTube clip. In the original you can hear a bass guitar playing a simple pulse up around the 12th fret that ties the rhythm together. It's barely audible in the clip. There's also some sort of moving filtering going on behind the main guitar track, sort of like a Moogerfooger MuRF pedal.

Ken