Thursday 2nd August

Lunch.
Today I had lunch with my dad at my local pub. They do a very nice steak special through the day, so we both had that - Scotch fillet, chips (that’s fries to you nothern hemishperans) and salad. Lovely. Should do me for dinner too. Dad was made redundant this week for the first time in a 45 year career. He was a couple of years off of his planned retirement date, having initially planned to retire 5 years ago until the superannuation company lost all of his (and everybody else’s) money at the dogs or something. Bastards.

G&Ls – another small part I love is the old switch tips. They don’t come off. Brilliant!


Movie villains
Got a favourite?
Mine is Albert Spica in Peter Greenaways 'The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover'. The character is played perfectly by Michael Gambon - vile, cruel, violent. Utterly despicable. This clip is from about 3/4 the way into the film, skip to the 3min mark for a great example. Avoid if you're squeamish or sensitive in anyway. If this doesn't send a chill down your spine then you aren't human
[youtube]aa0BsvQ88HY[/youtube]

Second place is Danny DeVito as the Penguin in Batman Returns. He should have got an Oscar. Watch the first minute and a half of this and you'll see why
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easy. heath ledger as the joker in dark knight. the best villain performance in a movie. ever. mads mikkelsen in casino royal is also great. le chiffre.

+1 on the Strap buttons and same goes for the old switch tips. Funny how these tiny parts make such a big difference!
I also dig the shorter metal knobs - another improvement IMO. I'm curious if all 3 of these were Leo's doing??? I wouldn't be surprised.

Cheers,
KF

Movie villains
Got a favourite?

Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet.

Toss up... Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs or The Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz.

Darth Vador in Empire.

Great looking junior earlier in the week.

Had a bowl of chicken noodle soup today. This was after chasing a mouse around the house that Sam brought in this morning. Ginny sees no humor in this but I chuckle when she is not around. Sam is definitely getting better.

Sorry to hear about your dad Jamie. I was also sent packing 10 years ago as my whole department was let go. Fortunately the company didn't go under but I took my retirement in case they did. We are all supposed to feel secure but there is no security if the banks, insurance companies and the government default. It worked out well for me but is sure stressful when it happens. I knew it was coming but it still doesn't feel any better. Hope he is okay.

There are a lot of trinkets on the G&L's that are good but I am still smitten by the body woods, especially the older ones. The neck woods are also much more interesting than any of the Fenders I own. I looked at the new Asat Classic today in butterscotch with the black pickguard and alnicos. Boy, a looker from one end to the other. Good thing I have such will power or it would be here, or is that money?--What villains? Still peering out of that cave--Darwin

I don't own an ASAT. What are the difference between old and new switch tips.

Pretty good lists, on Villains. I remember being a little kid, scared of the Wicked Witch of the West. To this day she still scares them. I believe she went on Mr. Rodgers to show the kids the make-up she used and how she was just playing a character.

But recently, a really good(acting) bad guy(script) was the Professional.
[youtube]MrTsuvykUZk[/youtube]

I don't own an ASAT. What are the difference between old and new switch tips.

The old switch tips as shown in jamie's pic is conical very much like these Legacy switch tips in the G&L Online store. And indeed they have a snug fit. The new switch-tips are hat-shaped. In all my years playing ASAT's I have had one occasion where I knocked off a hat-shaped switch tip. The fit is decidedly less snuhg there. There are a couple of models I know of that have old-style barrel-shaped tips as shown in this eBay auction. My hog ASAT Bluesboy has such a switch tip and I constantly knock the damn thing off after which I'm on my knees in my music room searching all the places where it might have disappeared. No wonder they are hardly ever used anymore; only on period correct replicas of old Teles.

- Jos

Hey Blarg. Sorry I'm a bit late to the party.

Lunch today was half of a bbq'd corned beef sandwich, water, oxygen.

Villains: I'm with nut brown ale here, with the very sick Mr. Lecter - and the Wicked Witch of the West is a great one that would not have immediately come to my mind. But he's right! Also, I have a soft spot in my heart for Jaws, the metal-mouthed giant who appeared in a couple of Bond films (though if memory serves me he eventually came around).

Switch Tips: I absolutely LOVE my Bluesboy. However, as folks have mentioned, those "Top Hat" switch tips tend to fly off at inopportune times - as mine did as well. As I was searching for it I stepped on it and made of it two half switch tips. Long story short, I need a replacement. If anybody here has one, send me a PM.
Next one I get gets some epoxy or something upon installation. - ed

I don't own an ASAT. What are the difference between old and new switch tips.

The old switch tips as shown in jamie's pic is conical very much like these Legacy switch tips in the G&L Online store. And indeed they have a snug fit. The new switch-tips are hat-shaped. In all my years playing ASAT's I have had one occasion where I knocked off a hat-shaped switch tip. The fit is decidedly less snuhg there. There are a couple of models I know of that have old-style barrel-shaped tips as shown in this eBay auction. My hog ASAT Bluesboy has such a switch tip and I constantly knock the damn thing off after which I'm on my knees in my music room searching all the places where it might have disappeared. No wonder they are hardly ever used anymore; only on period correct replicas of old Teles.

- Jos

what are you guys doing to your guitars? i have never lost a switch tip. i have top hat and old style barrel type, and different ones on the strats. they all stay. i prefer the top hat for teles, they are easier to switch, but losing them? didn't know that happened to people.

what are you guys doing to your guitars? i have never lost a switch tip. i have top hat and old style barrel type, and different ones on the strats. they all stay. i prefer the top hat for teles, they are easier to switch, but losing them? didn't know that happened to people.

Like I said the top-hat flew of only once so I do not consider that kind of tip to be problematic. The barrel type on my hog exerts hardly any resistance when you try to pull it off proper, and second when switching from neck to bridge with the back of the hand it seems to 'stick' (for lack of a better term) due to the ribs around the cylinder such when you pull away the hand it flies off. But undoubtedly you will claim that is part (and a certain lack) of technique too.

Otherwise all I can say is good for you, the diabolic one. We mere mortals however ....

- Jos

what are you guys doing to your guitars? i have never lost a switch tip. i have top hat and old style barrel type, and different ones on the strats. they all stay. i prefer the top hat for teles, they are easier to switch, but losing them? didn't know that happened to people.

It doesn't happen to PEOPLE, Louis. It happened to a moron and to Jos, once. Can you forgive us? ;+) - ed

Oh boy, here is a chance for me to talk smart!

louis cyfer wrote:what are you guys doing to your guitars? i have never lost a switch tip. i have top hat and old style barrel type, and different ones on the strats. they all stay. i prefer the top hat for teles, they are easier to switch, but losing them? didn't know that happened to people.


Like I said the top-hat flew of only once so I do not consider that kind of tip to be problematic. The barrel type on my hog exerts hardly any resistance when you try to pull it off proper, and second when switching from neck to bridge with the back of the hand it seems to 'stick' (for lack of a better term) due to the ribs around the cylinder such when you pull away the hand it flies off. But undoubtedly you will claim that is part (and a certain lack) of technique too.

Otherwise all I can say is good for you, the diabolic one. We mere mortals however ....

- Jos

I have barrels, top hats and pointy one's and I have to admit I have never lost or broke one. Now keep in mind that I am a bass player. But this is what I can tell you. My Red, yes Red Z-3 with the Bigsby had a top hat from the factory. It was too high and if I really got into some surfing with the Bigsby she would hit the top hat. It didn't fall off or split but it prevented me from that magic dive, the true surf masterpiece. I replaced the top hat with a Fender barrel and now I have surf nirvana. This is the only flaw in my Z-3 and it has been solved with the barrel. I doubt that G&L will take a lot of stock in this but it is a true story and I'm sticking to it!-- Darwin

Oh boy, here is a chance for me to talk smart!

You always talk smart when it involves the subjects of 'Red' and 'Bigsby'!



- Jos

what are you guys doing to your guitars? i have never lost a switch tip. i have top hat and old style barrel type, and different ones on the strats. they all stay. i prefer the top hat for teles, they are easier to switch, but losing them? didn't know that happened to people.

Like I said the top-hat flew of only once so I do not consider that kind of tip to be problematic. The barrel type on my hog exerts hardly any resistance when you try to pull it off proper, and second when switching from neck to bridge with the back of the hand it seems to 'stick' (for lack of a better term) due to the ribs around the cylinder such when you pull away the hand it flies off. But undoubtedly you will claim that is part (and a certain lack) of technique too.

Otherwise all I can say is good for you, the diabolic one. We mere mortals however ....

- Jos

see, it happens to mere mortals too(darwin), or maybe the rune stone gave him superpowers? i don't think it's a technique thing, maybe the fact that i have the control plates turned around makes it difficult to hit the switch hard going from neck to bridge. i also have the 4 position switch with the series in the closest position, so have to go gently going to the neck, or i go too far.

see, it happens to mere mortals too(darwin), or maybe the rune stone gave him superpowers? i don't think it's a technique thing, maybe the fact that i have the control plates turned around makes it difficult to hit the switch hard going from neck to bridge. i also have the 4 position switch with the series in the closest position, so have to go gently going to the neck, or i go too far.

Turning around the control plate is something I have thought about a couple of times. Do you interchange the volume and tone pots too so it is still volume on the neck side and tone on the bridge? Or is it easier to do nothing and have the volume on the bridge side because it is easier to do swells and/or control volume? Curious me ...

- Jos

see, it happens to mere mortals too(darwin), or maybe the rune stone gave him superpowers? i don't think it's a technique thing, maybe the fact that i have the control plates turned around makes it difficult to hit the switch hard going from neck to bridge. i also have the 4 position switch with the series in the closest position, so have to go gently going to the neck, or i go too far.

Turning around the control plate is something I have thought about a couple of times. Do you interchange the volume and tone pots too so it is still volume on the neck side and tone on the bridge? Or is it easier to do nothing and have the volume on the bridge side because it is easier to do swells and/or control volume? Curious me ...

- Jos

i put the volume closest to the neck side. that is where it helps the most to do swells. but i also use a slanted switch configuration and have the tone moved a little further from the switch to make switching easier. basically a new control plate from mark rutters or taipen or luxxtone.

I had to super-glue the top-hat switch tip to one of Classic S. The fit is so loose it would just rattle off - seriously. I lost a couple of them on stage before I decided to just glue one on. I think it's because the 5-way switch in it would normally have one of those tiny strat-style conical ones and not the top-hat, which must be of different dimension.

I just remembered that when I received my Bluesboy the top-hat had somehow been cracked into two. This still confuses me as to how this happened, but left the rest of the guitar without a mark

I don't usually have problems with switch tips, but they can sometimes not fit right. I try to get the USA ones, sometimes, the metric ones won't stay on.

BTW, I also love the strap buttons, a better idea from Leo, introduced on the Musicman guitars.

Villians? John Lithgow in Cliffhanger is good. Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men, and the beast in Alien still creeps me out.

Ah but Goldeneye...Famke as Xenia Onatopp...Oooh!

Sean and Pierce are my fave Bonds.

Bill

It also happens to the gods...
[youtube]nbBcXvKvB08[/youtube]

Just Sayin.

Cheers,
KF

BTW, I'm in Seattle this week, headed home on Saturday.

If you need a reporter for next week, I can do it.

Bill

Ah but Goldeneye...Famke as Xenia Onatopp...Oooh!

Oh yeah. One of my favourite lines is from that commander she kills "Xenia.... I can't breathe!". What a way to go out!