LR, Tuesday June 12, 2012

Hi gang,

Thanks for all the responses and participation yesterday. Much appreciated!

Lunch
Since I have to post this one early today, and I'm neither a breakfast man nor is it Monday, I'll have to guess where we go for lunch. So instead, I will just tell you about a regular place we frequently have lunch at. Today might still be breakfast food at the famous Hurricane Café: open 24 hours a day and they actually have some good food. I enjoy their Italian and Spanish Omelets (4-eggs although available in 12-eggs for big eaters and groups), French dip, and Meat Chili. Not all together mind you!

G&L related
This guitar was featured recently but like I said then: How long haven't we talked about the SC-1? Let me just say that this guitar is one of the most fun to play. And no guitar has taught me so much in so little time in using tone and volume controls to create your guitar tone. Guess it is out of necessity with only one pup available. One might have expected that the ASAT '50 in my collection would have achieved that long ago. But the tone control on that model is only engaged in the middle position of the completely misnames 'pickup' selector and I tend to play an ASAT Classic mostly using the bridge pup. So the '50 has not been as good of a mentor as the SC-1. Hence, the 'student' moniker for this model maybe should be changed to 'teacher'





Beyond working on that game prototype, one of the many things that keep me busy this period are some improvements to the house. You have to know that although I know how to operate a lathe, drill press, CDC machine, band saw, tumbler and what not through my history as an experimental physicist, I'm not exactly what you would call a DIY guy. That unlike many of you who I envy greatly But in talking with contractors for the home improvement projects, I did learn a lot about different materials that are out there. The roof was done last month and the deck is under construction as we speak. In all these cases, you have choices to keep it cheap with almost certainty that the same problem needs to be readdressed in a couple of years, or you can go the more expensive way (think Hardiplank, Trax, Azek) which usually involves a non-wood base material. For the roof we decided on a compromise, a 30-year roof made by CertainTeed, but for the deck we decided on using the rather expensive Azek material given the dismal state of our previous all-wood deck that deteriorated pretty fast in the 7 years we lived in this house. The bannisters will still be cedar but the deck itself is (purportedly) scratch, weather, and stain resistant.

Non-G&L related
Any home project for any of you this summer/year? How are you approaching the ever present question of price and quality? And to bring it back to instruments, does that approach translate into that domain too?

Check with you guys tomorrow.

- Jos

Edit. Copy and paste is a bad thing if the thing you copy contains an error. Fix the aspect ratio in the 'timage' tag.

Last edited by yowhatsshakin on Sat Jun 16, 2012 4:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Loving the pics, the SC-1 looks so cool.

IMO you choose wisely, you do not live in a dead wood friendly climate! The new composites are better in every way, I think--especially for decking.

I am doing a lot of landscaping this year, and the quality question is generally "how much work do you want to do?" I am opposed to shovels, so I have spent a little money to avoid digging. I have to buy appliances sometime in the not so distant future, and every time I look at them, it gives me a headache! I just want a good, simple range. No such thing exists. If you want a good quality range you get a million options, and a heck of a bill.

Guitars, I tend to get sucked into flashy things, and get a heck of a bill...

Good luck pitching the game... and great reports for being slammed!

jeremy

Yow,

I dig that SC-1. Wow. I'm a do-it-yourself'er only on inexpensive things. My big project this year is moving. Very stressful. I'm buying a 2 BR loft conversion Downtown and moving the fam to San Francisco. I love Minnesota, but for me and my work it is more like Siberia. Celebs come here to hide, but not work... I can't tell you how many jobs I've missed being out here. Don't get me wrong; Minnesota has a large, supportive music & art community. Just other competing States get most of the big jobs, ie "Gran Torino".

So, any home/condo owners out there give me a holla! We're moving this Summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Cheers,

Will

That is a fine, fine SC-1, but then again I am partial to those guitars. My roof is being replaced as I type, ( noisey! ) my deck needs to be restained and or painted or pressure washed. What else... touch up the window caseings and I get to restain part of my fence that someone decided to inscribe " **ck the free world " on a few months ago, that cost me 200 dollars to get removed plus the stain I'll have to buy plus my time. I'll start all that after my trip though.

Awesome guitar !

That SC-1 looks amazing, love the black and blonde combo.

Isn't the 'S' for soilid ('C' for color on guitars,'B' for bass on basses) ?
If I had an instrument like that when I was a student in high school (early 80's),
I would have been a solid player much earlier.

I just finished most the dirty work in my new music room. I laid down cheap laminate flooring
(looks great now but the veneer is so thin I expect it to be "rustic" soon). I'd go with pergo next time,
costs more but is 10 times more substantial. I've installed/sanded/finished many hardwood floors before,
I felt like I was copping out with the cheap stuff, but my priorities are music and gota save some money for that new
computer and focusrite saphire 40 ( any experience with these?).

I had some Black walnut planks and a nice piece of blue pearl granite I used to build a desk ( and day bed with the leftover walnut ). I use construction methods that holds the black walnut in place (glue,geometry) without drilling holes
so I could reuse it in the future for guitar biulding etc. It's really nice wood,high density (think cocobolo) .
The desk turned out great, the hard part was buiding it to overhang safely with 150 ponds of granite and another 50+ pounds of heavy walnut. IT worked, and it was an improvisational experience ( furniture jazz ?)
One of my goals in the new space is to keeep the floor as clear as possible so the vibe is not
cluttered . It's interesting how the look and feel of a room can effect ones music.

Elwood

I'll post pics soon

Yow,

I dig that SC-1. Wow. I'm a do-it-yourself'er only on inexpensive things. My big project this year is moving. Very stressful. I'm buying a 2 BR loft conversion Downtown and moving the fam to San Francisco. I love Minnesota, but for me and my work it is more like Siberia. Celebs come here to hide, but not work... I can't tell you how many jobs I've missed being out here. Don't get me wrong; Minnesota has a large, supportive music & art community. Just other competing States get most of the big jobs, ie "Gran Torino".

So, any home/condo owners out there give me a holla! We're moving this Summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Cheers,

Will

remember, stress is self imposed. it is as stressful as you allow it to be. if it's something you can control, stressing about it futile, instead do what needs to be done. if it's something out of your control, stressing about it is certainly futile, will do you no good. just observe how it turns out. i used to stress a lot until i realized i caused it. i have not stressed since. it doesn't help, what's the point.

Jos, Ginny made a bowl of soup for me as I was working on a home project, funny you should mention that today.

The Sc-1 is cool. The SC body is very nice and my recent SC-2 has been a favorite to play. They fit me nicely and it is quite light.

Home improvement project are continuous. Ginny has flower gardens and I helped plant some roses last night. Here are son pix of the flowers.




The white fence glare washed out the flowers along the fence.




The roses just to the right of her salon entrance.



This has been my home improvement project for the last couple of days. A gate for the entrance to the Salon so Sam and Magic can be outside during the day. I set the posts in concrete yesterday and built the gate today using a treated fence section. No missing fingers and only one wound, a pretty good day for me--Darwin

jos, i don't know about azek, but i know quite a few people that went with trax because of the advantages they claim. well, in 5 years they all have had to replace all the decking twice, and while trax replaced the materials, the labor had to come out of pocket. they had problems with warping and just plain disintegration. i mean like crumbling. apparently trax had problems with the binders they were using. now they are going back the 3rd time and dumping the trax, going with something else. so the more expensive long term solutions can be very problematic as well.


i did not know cdc machines were still in use. i though those are museum pieces only. which one did you use? 6600, 7600?

The SC-1 is one of my favporite G&Ls. First, I have a thing for single pickup guitars. Second I also have a thing for "bottom of the food chain" guitars. It is amazing how quickly many of those entry level instruments can get into your system. Problem with the SC-1 is fighting the urge to buy one in each color.

Home Repair Projects - I am still recovering from the kitchen remodel the other year. We are hoping to get some French doors I have had hanging around the garage for about two years installed this year to close in our dining room. The space is really too small to serve that purpose so the plan is to make the back family room the dining room, the dining room an office, and actually start using our living room (which at present is pretty much treated as a very big hallway. Gotta admit though it sure helps having married into a family of builders, carpenters and cabinet makers.

remember, stress is self imposed. it is as stressful as you allow it to be. if it's something you can control, stressing about it futile, instead do what needs to be done. if it's something out of your control, stressing about it is certainly futile, will do you no good. just observe how it turns out. i used to stress a lot until i realized i caused it. i have not stressed since. it doesn't help, what's the point.

Yeah, I hear ya. Just a bit overwhelmed at the moment. I'm moving to be close to my market, but trying to remain domiciled here in Minnesota for now. It's a big decision esp. with children involved... Thanks.


Cheers,

Will

Love, love, love that SC-1! I'll never understand why they never want to make another one...

I live in a rented house, so there's no way I'll be paying for any home repairs. For now the girlfriend and I can only dream about having our own place to maintain We'll buy a place when I finish uni, we're already doing some pipe-dream planning. I worked on a lot of home restorations in the past and quality materials is the way to go. I have no idea about composites or other high-tech stuff however.

Will - Good luck with the move, hope it goes smoothly for you

Will, hope the move turns out for the best. As for the stress, it is stressful for the family, especially children. They don't usually like to move. Good luck! -- Darwin

Yow,

I dig that SC-1. Wow. I'm a do-it-yourself'er only on inexpensive things. My big project this year is moving. Very stressful. I'm buying a 2 BR loft conversion Downtown and moving the fam to San Francisco. I love Minnesota, but for me and my work it is more like Siberia. Celebs come here to hide, but not work... I can't tell you how many jobs I've missed being out here. Don't get me wrong; Minnesota has a large, supportive music & art community. Just other competing States get most of the big jobs, ie "Gran Torino".

So, any home/condo owners out there give me a holla! We're moving this Summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Best of luck in SF. But, trust me, the grass is not always greener. I've been in the Bay Area since '76 and it's time for me to escape. The halcyon days are gone. It's WAY too expensive now, and the rat race is super intense. Yes, it is a beautiful, iconic place, but... Just saying.

--GDub

Thanks. Yeah, I have work waiting for me and plan to stay thru Feb. & Grammy Week in LA and hope to stay longer. That's just a long time to be away from home and a commute would be too expensive. Plus i need to have my gear out there. I'm keeping residency in MN, but need to jump in the fire again...


Cheers,

Will

Hey guys,

Thanks for chiming in today. Couple of things:

Lunch
What do you know? We actually went to the Hurricane Café! And I greatly enjoyed my French dip and a cups of chili. With cheese and onions of course, otherwise it wouldn't be chili.

Isn't the 'S' for soilid ('C' for color on guitars,'B' for bass on basses) ?

I so far have guessed it was of 'Single Coil', and 'HG" for 'Humbucking Guitar' or something like that and 'SB' for 'Student Bass'. Still waiting for the release of Greg and Gabe's book to help me out there. And I like the concept of "furniture jazz"!

Will, good luck with the move and life in SF. For a non-American like me, I have always liked that town. But I can see where GDub comes from too. We have a little bit of the same here in Seattle although it is even more prevalent on the East side of the lake.

louis, we looked into trax and found similar kind of stories. Especially the fact that it would still stain when something (wine e.g.) and was prone to warping. Azek is a reasonable new construction material made out of PVC. I will keep people posted how it hold up so we can all learn but we thought it was worth taking the risk.

And for all the others who are in the midst of home improvement project, good luck to you all!

Turns out they (almost) finished the deck, so I can share some pics.



Thanks again folks,

- Jos

Last edited by yowhatsshakin on Sat Jun 16, 2012 4:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I dig that deck. Thanks for the well wishes too. I plan on bringing the halcyon days with me...


Cheers,

Will

A very cool looking SC-1 there. Great players, for sure.

This summer we're having a double garage built between the front of our house & our mailbox. I inherited a Chevy truck when father in law passed a few years ago. No place to park it. Mother in law passed about a year ago. The estate is about settled & we're using our part to get that truck out of the elements. The extra bay will be for guests parking or kiyaks. Adding a small finished area upstairs to put guests or just a spiritual retreat. The builder is glad to get the work & materials have definitely increased in price since previous projects.

Thanks for posting up the SC-1. What a great era, and series of instruments. I have an '84 SB-2 (this exact one: http://www.ggjaguar.com/sb-2-84.htm ) and it's my favorite of the G&Ls I own.

-Brock

Isn't the 'S' for soilid ('C' for color on guitars,'B' for bass on basses) ?

I so far have guessed it was of 'Single Coil', and 'HG" for 'Humbucking Guitar' or something like that and 'SB' for 'Student Bass'. Still waiting for the release of Greg and Gabe's book to help me out there. And I like the concept of "furniture jazz"! - Jos

That makes good sense too, +1 on the book.
I just noticed my typo...the relics could be designated as their Soiled C(olor or Coil) line of instruments

Thanks for posting up the SC-1. What a great era, and series of instruments. I have an '84 SB-2 (this exact one: http://www.ggjaguar.com/sb-2-84.htm ) and it's my favorite of the G&Ls I own.

-Brock

Brock,

That is one fine looking bass And you're correct in your remark about era and instruments. So to please you, check out today's (i.e Wednesday June 13) LR

- Jos

This summer we're having a double garage built between the front of our house & our mailbox. ...

Howdy Jay,

There is something to be said for someone to be able to collect their mail in spite of the element Good luck with the project.

-Jos