Lunch Report 2012-12-06
Thu Dec 06, 2012 3:33 pm
Lunch:
Hamburger. No fries (apparently I covered that earlier in the week). Brooke Bond tea (product of Unilever Hindustan).
G&L
I have three G&Ls. I think I'm done there. Maybe a mahogany-bodied L-1000 will find me and be cheap like that Dahon did earlier in the week. How cheap was that Dahon? If completed listings on ebay are to be believed (and provided the seller is reputable, I think that's a reasonable gage), it's worth over $300 used. The model was a little newer and had some different components one it, but still pretty close.
Anyone else for the most part done buying G&Ls? Why? For me, I have enough bass guitars, and I don't have it in me to tear up a six string G&L to convert it to a four string. I wouldn't rule out using G&L bass parts in the future though. I might have to put together the L-1000 + Piezo bridge bass of my dreams (neckthrough maybe?).
Anyone else going to admit actively searching for buyer's remorse after buying something? I do this often. I usually have done well, and when I haven't, I learn.
Bikes
Fine, I'll take some pictures.
Here's the $5 bike:
That's a Sears Free Spirit. It's missing the front fender and front reflector, but other than that it's in pretty good shape. From what I can gather, it's a 1979-era Huffy. The shimano three speed in the back is nice. I like the multi-speed hubs over the external gears. The ride geometry is terrible! I like to ride fairly upright, and here the seat is higher than the handlebars.
How did I end up with this bike? It was laying down in the lawn (even though there's a kickstand) about three blocks from my house. "How much?" I ask, hoping for a high number so I can walk away. $5 is the answer. I grumble. I buy. I walk it home. It has a flat in the rear, with a realy slow leak (weeks to get flat).
I wanted lights on this puppy, but how does one do this and contain costs? By percentage, you can't. It's a $5 bike. So, at least I hoped to get it under $10. Mission accomplished.
The taillight in the back was about $1.30 shipped off ebay. The batteries were $0.50 extra, so that was done for about $1.80 total. So far, so good.
I've had some cheap headlights before, and they work pretty well, but I snap the brackets like it's a hobby. It really isn't fun, though. So, I got a little creative there.
Harbor Freight sometimes has little shop lights with batteries included for $3 on sale. They're rugged for cheap plastic, but they don't mount on a bicycle. Unscrew the back of the light, take a tool and push it through the hole that's covered in the back with a magnet. The magnet pops off and now there's a mounting hole. I already had the metal front relector bracket on the Free Spirit (just not the reflector) so I mounted the light on the reflector spot. It totally works, and the light is a pretty decent headlight too.
So, with batteries for the taillight, I'm about $9.80 into this ride. The hardware to attach the headlight and the horn were just sitting around, so I donated them to the bike.
Computers
Speaking of cheap, computers are cheap. I've had $600 of montors for a dozen years now. It was originally one 19 inch CRT, but that became two, then three, then it slowly the LCDs replaced the CRTs. When refurb 1080P displays were $100 each, it was time to go to six moniors. Here it is right after I put it together (Six 20.5 inch 1080p monitors of various brands. The seventh monitor is an old Radius 1280x1024 we had sitting around, and works as the primary monitor for the R&D box it's sitting on.):
This is a screenshot of the 3x2 1080p workstation running Audacity. And yes, that much land makes audio editing really nice. I could fit another five tracks on the screen no problem, and more if I reduced the height of each track.
Total resolution: 5760x2160
https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos- ... 3740_o.jpg
The money in six monitor setups is in the monitor stands, so I fabbed the top row with junk. The left and right ones are just Guitar Hero drum stands with some aluminum brackets I made added. I think I have less than $20 in the three stands altogether.
Songsmith!
I almost forgot!
For a while, people were feeding famous vocals into Songsmith and putting the results up on youtube.
Here's some "In Bloom":
[youtube]wHduATM-o7M[/youtube]
...and some "Ace of Spades":
[youtube]mg0l7f25bhU[/youtube]
Hamburger. No fries (apparently I covered that earlier in the week). Brooke Bond tea (product of Unilever Hindustan).
G&L
I have three G&Ls. I think I'm done there. Maybe a mahogany-bodied L-1000 will find me and be cheap like that Dahon did earlier in the week. How cheap was that Dahon? If completed listings on ebay are to be believed (and provided the seller is reputable, I think that's a reasonable gage), it's worth over $300 used. The model was a little newer and had some different components one it, but still pretty close.
Anyone else for the most part done buying G&Ls? Why? For me, I have enough bass guitars, and I don't have it in me to tear up a six string G&L to convert it to a four string. I wouldn't rule out using G&L bass parts in the future though. I might have to put together the L-1000 + Piezo bridge bass of my dreams (neckthrough maybe?).
Anyone else going to admit actively searching for buyer's remorse after buying something? I do this often. I usually have done well, and when I haven't, I learn.
Bikes
Fine, I'll take some pictures.
Here's the $5 bike:
That's a Sears Free Spirit. It's missing the front fender and front reflector, but other than that it's in pretty good shape. From what I can gather, it's a 1979-era Huffy. The shimano three speed in the back is nice. I like the multi-speed hubs over the external gears. The ride geometry is terrible! I like to ride fairly upright, and here the seat is higher than the handlebars.
How did I end up with this bike? It was laying down in the lawn (even though there's a kickstand) about three blocks from my house. "How much?" I ask, hoping for a high number so I can walk away. $5 is the answer. I grumble. I buy. I walk it home. It has a flat in the rear, with a realy slow leak (weeks to get flat).
I wanted lights on this puppy, but how does one do this and contain costs? By percentage, you can't. It's a $5 bike. So, at least I hoped to get it under $10. Mission accomplished.
The taillight in the back was about $1.30 shipped off ebay. The batteries were $0.50 extra, so that was done for about $1.80 total. So far, so good.
I've had some cheap headlights before, and they work pretty well, but I snap the brackets like it's a hobby. It really isn't fun, though. So, I got a little creative there.
Harbor Freight sometimes has little shop lights with batteries included for $3 on sale. They're rugged for cheap plastic, but they don't mount on a bicycle. Unscrew the back of the light, take a tool and push it through the hole that's covered in the back with a magnet. The magnet pops off and now there's a mounting hole. I already had the metal front relector bracket on the Free Spirit (just not the reflector) so I mounted the light on the reflector spot. It totally works, and the light is a pretty decent headlight too.
So, with batteries for the taillight, I'm about $9.80 into this ride. The hardware to attach the headlight and the horn were just sitting around, so I donated them to the bike.
Computers
Speaking of cheap, computers are cheap. I've had $600 of montors for a dozen years now. It was originally one 19 inch CRT, but that became two, then three, then it slowly the LCDs replaced the CRTs. When refurb 1080P displays were $100 each, it was time to go to six moniors. Here it is right after I put it together (Six 20.5 inch 1080p monitors of various brands. The seventh monitor is an old Radius 1280x1024 we had sitting around, and works as the primary monitor for the R&D box it's sitting on.):
This is a screenshot of the 3x2 1080p workstation running Audacity. And yes, that much land makes audio editing really nice. I could fit another five tracks on the screen no problem, and more if I reduced the height of each track.
Total resolution: 5760x2160
https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos- ... 3740_o.jpg
The money in six monitor setups is in the monitor stands, so I fabbed the top row with junk. The left and right ones are just Guitar Hero drum stands with some aluminum brackets I made added. I think I have less than $20 in the three stands altogether.
Songsmith!
I almost forgot!
For a while, people were feeding famous vocals into Songsmith and putting the results up on youtube.
Here's some "In Bloom":
[youtube]wHduATM-o7M[/youtube]
...and some "Ace of Spades":
[youtube]mg0l7f25bhU[/youtube]
Last edited by Brock on Thu Dec 06, 2012 8:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Lunch Report 2012-12-06
Thu Dec 06, 2012 4:48 pm
Brock, I missed yesterday as I drove up to Fargo to see a friend who is not doing well. It was a long day with a 460 mi trip.
I would be lying if I said that I were done buying G&Ls. It would be hard to imagine not being interested in another guitar. I have a 5 guitar stand stored in a closet and I would hate to waste it. As a matter of fact, while redecorating the room this past week, I was asked about it. "what is this doing here?" Response- none, just look at the floor.
I find your bike projects interesting. Light problem solved although is it aligned perfectly
? You are going to have a big stripe down the front if you ride this baby in the rain. This is a cool retro 3 speed bike. When I was trying to remember the brand earlier this week, I believe the 3 speed was a New Departure. This was 60 years ago when bike technology was pretty well set. They came in different colors but new innovations like baskets were years later. They were for sissies. The most vivid memories of bike riding were slipping of the pedals while trying to spin the wheel. It was a miracle that we could father children after growing up.
I will watch the videos later. I gig on both evenings this weekend and am working on new material tonight.-- Darwin
I would be lying if I said that I were done buying G&Ls. It would be hard to imagine not being interested in another guitar. I have a 5 guitar stand stored in a closet and I would hate to waste it. As a matter of fact, while redecorating the room this past week, I was asked about it. "what is this doing here?" Response- none, just look at the floor.
I find your bike projects interesting. Light problem solved although is it aligned perfectly
? You are going to have a big stripe down the front if you ride this baby in the rain. This is a cool retro 3 speed bike. When I was trying to remember the brand earlier this week, I believe the 3 speed was a New Departure. This was 60 years ago when bike technology was pretty well set. They came in different colors but new innovations like baskets were years later. They were for sissies. The most vivid memories of bike riding were slipping of the pedals while trying to spin the wheel. It was a miracle that we could father children after growing up.I will watch the videos later. I gig on both evenings this weekend and am working on new material tonight.-- Darwin
Re: Lunch Report 2012-12-06
Thu Dec 06, 2012 7:39 pm
darwinohm wrote:I have a 5 guitar stand stored in a closet and I would hate to waste it
I did slow down as I ran out of stands. The new one didn't free up a slot either, it just gave a guitar a better home.
darwinohm wrote:Light problem solved although is it aligned perfectly
It is aligned nicely. I haven't felt the need to mod it, and that was a question going in, since I'd think they'd want the reflector aimed higher than one wants a light aimed.
A regular bike headlight rotates on the handlebar for beam height adjustment, whereas my hack has no real adjustment outside of bending metal. I guess I took the trade for durability, and so far, so good.
Last edited by Brock on Thu Dec 06, 2012 8:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Lunch Report 2012-12-06
Thu Dec 06, 2012 8:01 pm
That "Ace of Spades" spoof made me pee myself a little.
I'm done buying gear until I get better musically, creatively, or divorce-wise. - ed
I'm done buying gear until I get better musically, creatively, or divorce-wise. - ed
Re: Lunch Report 2012-12-06
Thu Dec 06, 2012 9:21 pm
zapcosongs wrote:That "Ace of Spades" spoof made me pee myself a little.
I'm done buying gear until I get better musically, creatively, or divorce-wise. - ed
one of those possibilities is easy to accomplish ed, but it may not be cheap
Re: Lunch Report 2012-12-06
Thu Dec 06, 2012 9:40 pm
Howdy Brock,
You mean one like this one on eBay? Maybe not your price but still ...
I'm certainly not sone buying G&L's yet but it is getting close. Space and the end of the list are the main reasons. I set myself a goal a couple of years back and I'm almost there. The only one that didn't meet my expectations was the hog Bluesboy I got about a year ago but otherwise no real remorse at any time.
- Jos
Brock wrote:Maybe a mahogany-bodied L-1000 will find me and be cheap like that Dahon did earlier in the week.
You mean one like this one on eBay? Maybe not your price but still ...
I'm certainly not sone buying G&L's yet but it is getting close. Space and the end of the list are the main reasons. I set myself a goal a couple of years back and I'm almost there. The only one that didn't meet my expectations was the hog Bluesboy I got about a year ago but otherwise no real remorse at any time.
- Jos
Re: Lunch Report 2012-12-06
Thu Dec 06, 2012 10:08 pm
louis cyfer wrote:zapcosongs wrote:That "Ace of Spades" spoof made me pee myself a little.
I'm done buying gear until I get better musically, creatively, or divorce-wise. - ed
one of those possibilities is easy to accomplish ed, but it may not be cheap
That yellow Legacy brought me right to the edge for a moment there. Exciting, actually. - ed
Re: Lunch Report 2012-12-06
Fri Dec 07, 2012 4:11 am
yowhatsshakin wrote:I'm certainly not sone buying G&L's yet but it is getting close. Space and the end of the list are the main reasons. I set myself a goal a couple of years back and I'm almost there.
Wow, well done Jos! Do you have a plan once you get them all? Or is it to simply enjoy them?
Re: Lunch Report 2012-12-06
Fri Dec 07, 2012 12:45 pm
yowhatsshakin wrote:Howdy Brock,Brock wrote:Maybe a mahogany-bodied L-1000 will find me and be cheap like that Dahon did earlier in the week.
You mean one like this one on eBay? Maybe not your price but still ...
Yeah, that's more than I want to spend, but what a neat bass! Ebony board too. Oh my!
Part of the problem is that I don't want to get rid on any of the basses I have, whereas with the new Dahon, the cool old Dahon is going to be sold so I'm really not adding a bike.
Re: Lunch Report 2012-12-06
Fri Dec 07, 2012 3:03 pm
blargfromouterspace wrote:yowhatsshakin wrote:I'm certainly not sone buying G&L's yet but it is getting close. Space and the end of the list are the main reasons. I set myself a goal a couple of years back and I'm almost there.
Wow, well done Jos! Do you have a plan once you get them all? Or is it to simply enjoy them?
Just enjoy them Jamie and build a studio to display them. The latter is going to be a tough assignment given the space on our lot but I think it would be worth it to at least look into the possibilities.
- Jos