Lunch Report: 01/28/2013 - Pedals & Trees

Well, it's been a bit over a year since my last one of these. Maybe a little bit longer. My name is Will and I currently live in MN, NJ, FL & CA but spend most of my time in good 'ol Minnesota. I play guitar, but originally a percussionist:





Actually, I started with cigar box harps/guitars and the trumpet/coronet. I love the horn and took to it right away, performing Davis & Gillespie at 8~9 years old. It was more about shaping the notes with air pressure than the valves... at least for me, but I could do both. However, the drummers and guitar players got the most action and I wanted in on that! * I'd also like to add that my doing so made me an idiot for dropping something I was good at.

G&L/BBE Question:

What do you think about the new pedal selection from BBE and should we create a GbL Pedal? Maybe get BBE in on our mojo? I was thinking about the new Fuzz(Windowpane™ WP-69):



However, add a voltage pot to drop voltage and sag the entire circuit. That's my idea; I'd buy one in a heartbeat!!!

Non-G&L Question

There has been a lot of coverage regarding wood sourcing and theft. This is going on almost everwhere on earth these days and a dialog amongst players should happen; we buy these things! What do you think? Should independent land owners start parting with trees? What about land stewardship?

Ok, that is Today's LR. Hope you like it!


Cheers,

Will

Will, you are back from sunny California! I had Macaroni and Cheese with the granddaughter for lunch.

Yep, horn players are not quite as exciting as the guitar dudes. I figured that out while in high school. You have some beautiful wooden percussion instruments and the Blonde doesn't hurt either.

I am not a pedal guy as such. My Carvin bass amp has a compressor built into it and I always thought it would be nice to try a compressor, but I don't like it. That is the only other BBE pedal I may like but I would probably pass at this point. Stev our lead player is always looking at the vintage green Russian Big Muffs. He thinks they are valuable now and looking at e-bay, it appears that they are.

I think we have to get smarter on sustainable woods but I don't think that the musical instruments are the problem. I still like to see exotic woods available on guitars. I have to admit the Adamas we have is a very nice instrument even though it is a layered top. Staying tuned for the rest of the week!-- Darwin

Ok, you're right. Lunch first. I had pasta with meat sauce w/ garlic bread. Yeah, it's a dinner meal, but I went there...

In band, there were many spots for horns, but only a few drums and guitar. They were always taken first! Oh well. As for the pedal, I just thought it might be cool to have a forum-designed one. Tree problems are biggest in the pulp and lumber industries, but cherry picking older, exotic woods are big for instruments and furnature. I think all builders should know where their wood comes from...


Cheers,

Will

Hey Will, nice to have you take the week reporting.

For lunch, a burrito.

I'm not much of a pedal guy myself. At lest G&L updated the image on the Soul Vibe. Man was that ugly!
I don't know what I would want in a custom pedal.

I have been hearing about tree thieves for years now. They are hard to catch. Fly by night, and do the dirty work in middle of nowhere. There is no microwave plate on the wood, so how would buyers know where it is coming from?
Not much we can do.

I like the idea for the fuzz. I've got several of them laying around. Except for the odd song where I just "throw" it in, there doesn't seem to be a lot of use for them. Of course, maybe I'm just limiting myself and need to use it more. The idea of a gnarly, sputtering fuzz does kind of appeal to me though.

RickT

Hey Will,

Lunch was a steak sandwich on my way down the highway between teaching stops. I would not consider myself a pedal junkie but i do rely on them heavily for my live sound. I think a GbL pedal is an outstanding idea! I really do like the new look of the BBE stuff - I think it is long overdue.

Non-G&L

Not to long ago I watched the Lorax with my little girls.... Maybe if everyone in the world sat down and watched/read it we wouldn't have a problem!

Scott

I like the idea for the fuzz. I've got several of them laying around. Except for the odd song where I just "throw" it in, there doesn't seem to be a lot of use for them. Of course, maybe I'm just limiting myself and need to use it more. The idea of a gnarly, sputtering fuzz does kind of appeal to me though.

RickT

Yeah, the sagging makes for some great sounds.

Hey Will,

Lunch was a steak sandwich on my way down the highway between teaching stops. I would not consider myself a pedal junkie but i do rely on them heavily for my live sound. I think a GbL pedal is an outstanding idea! I really do like the new look of the BBE stuff - I think it is long overdue.

Non-G&L

Not to long ago I watched the Lorax with my little girls.... Maybe if everyone in the world sat down and watched/read it we wouldn't have a problem!

Scott

GbL Pedal! Let's do it! The Lorax is a great story. I agree...

Hey Will, nice to have you take the week reporting.

For lunch, a burrito.

I'm not much of a pedal guy myself. At lest G&L updated the image on the Soul Vibe. Man was that ugly!
I don't know what I would want in a custom pedal.

I have been hearing about tree thieves for years now. They are hard to catch. Fly by night, and do the dirty work in middle of nowhere. There is no microwave plate on the wood, so how would buyers know where it is coming from?
Not much we can do.

The new pedal incarnations are nice. Although, I was ok with the old campy artwork... As for the trees, in the future maybe there could be luthier tree farms...

Hey Will,

Like your idea for the Fuzz too. But I wonder if it would be possible to use real germanium transistors instead of painstakingly emulating a vintage Ge-fuzz using silicon transistors and using Peltier elements to keep the temperature in check or even stabilize it. Maybe it would just draw too much power. But still, I'm wondering ...

Your other question is hard to answer. There is the idealistic answer and then there is reality. Even if we would all behave appropriately, it only take one person rigging the system for personal gain to have it all fall apart and come to waste. I could give a whole lecture on economic pressures, the urge to survive in ones surrounding, the 'far from my bed'/NIMBY attitude, etc. and I would still be incomplete and overlook certain important observations and arguments. All I have full control over is myself; and that at times is already hard enough. It is so easy to screw others for that matter and it takes a concerted effort not to do so.

- Jos

Tree farms make perfect sense to me. I wonder if they're profitable? Thats the only way they'll ever be planted.

I'd buy the GbL fuzz with or without a sag control. Lurid green and black colour scheme?

Hey Will,

Like your idea for the Fuzz too. But I wonder if it would be possible to use real germanium transistors instead of painstakingly emulating a vintage Ge-fuzz using silicon transistors and using Peltier elements to keep the temperature in check or even stabilize it. Maybe it would just draw too much power. But still, I'm wondering ...

Your other question is hard to answer. There is the idealistic answer and then there is reality. Even if we would all behave appropriately, it only take one person rigging the system for personal gain to have it all fall apart and come to waste. I could give a whole lecture on economic pressures, the urge to survive in ones surrounding, the 'far from my bed'/NIMBY attitude, etc. and I would still be incomplete and overlook certain important observations and arguments. All I have full control over is myself; and that at times is already hard enough. It is so easy to screw others for that matter and it takes a concerted effort not to do so.

- Jos

Yeah, germanium like my KoT V2 Jumbo... I still think some sort of GbL pedal would be interesting. Like a double effect one using Sonic Maximizer for one side, etc.

The tree debate will continue. Profits and economic stressors dominate, but we need uninterrupted forests to create oxygen and process carbon dioxide and habitat for wildlife...

Tree farms make perfect sense to me. I wonder if they're profitable? Thats the only way they'll ever be planted.

I'd buy the GbL fuzz with or without a sag control. Lurid green and black colour scheme?

I thought a sag control would be a nice touch, although I'm up for a custom OD too...

how about a gbl custom sonic stomp in a micro box. i already have a fuzz with voltage sag, sand most power supplies give that option as well.

The new pedal incarnations are nice. Although, I was ok with the old campy artwork... As for the trees, in the future maybe there could be luthier tree farms...

We've had African Blackwood tree farms for years for woodwind, specifically bagpipes. They work well.

I'm not a big pedal user either. Most of the time a Boss CS-2 and a Tubescreamer give me what I want. Looking forward to my BBE Two Timer arriving though!
I nearly went for a Sonic Maximizer on Ebay yesterday; it's posssibly the most 'useful for everyone' box that quite a few of us don't have.

I like the idea of a custom Sonic Stomp, or a Stomp/OD combo.
Or even an OD/Distortion combo in a similar vein to a Fulldrive 2, with a knob for dialing in compression, for when I just want to take one pedal out with me.
I liked the erm.... 'uniqueness' of the old artwork, but I prefer the new more sophisticated look.

Louis, a Micro-Stomp would work.

Goat, a tree farm that works!!! Also I think a 2 effect box would be great, especially with one side as a Sonic Stomp...