Lunch Report 1/5/13 - Apparently it is May

Morning everyone, had a pretty lazy day today apparently. Nothing like not having to set an alarm and waking up way too late. Breakfast was my usual berry smoothie, chased with a cup of coffee. I am rather proud of myself, I am down to one cup of coffee a day.



When out at camp (remote) I actually went through the toil of hauling my own coffee out there. Every run I would bring about 2 lbs of coffee to site, to grind and press, opposed to drinking the foul drip machine swill grade coffee that was camp coffee. Life is just too short to drink bad coffee. That cup was a joke, my wife bought it for me as one anyway. The joke is on her as I am using it today anyway. Hold about 1L of coffee.


I forgot to give you folks something to chew on yesterday, I'll make up for that.




That is a JPX-7 from EBMM, a very slick guitar, with a very nice non-locking tremolo. And manly manly purple, can't forget that. Hope that makes up for my, lack of digression. And to show just how huge the bongo is



We'll attempt to keep any jokes about my 'balls' to a minimum, despite how fun and youthful they may be .



G&L, I find to be slightly interesting as they managed to break into the industry with a quality instrument, at a price point not commonly contested. If we look at the industry as a whole, most of the more recent break ins (Suhr and Anderson, for example) are at the upper echelon of pricing. But G&L, offers a quality instrument, without a super premium price. A price I would consider quite reasonable in fact. It speaks a bit about the quality of the instrument presented, that a super premium price was not required to make people take it seriously. The only people who have ever not taken a G&L seriously have been salesmen trying to sell me a 'real fender', and even then not many try that card. Overall, among musicians these instruments are well recieved, and that is the most important aspect. Coming around in the same time PRS was coming up (or near enough), they managed to slide more into the good 'working man' level music instruments, opposed to the super boutique. Something we don't see all that often in an industry still worshiping 2 outmoded giants.

What do you think of that overall?


Pedals are often a fun toy, but for a guy like me they can be a bit more. I don't seek a tone, I seek tones to fit the mood and needs of the composition at hand. So I never stay long, but desire a veritable arsenal of effects I can toss on to the guitar itself. Hardly a purist approach, but I am all about the means to then end. So when I plug something into my Boogie Mark V (which is versatile as all hell) and throw my pedal board(s) in front of it, we can get going some interesting places. Sometimes the sound is the catalyst too, so I occasionally just sit down and play with them. You never know what is going to inspire you, but something has to keep us moving. Pair that with things like an Ebow and we are getting out of a lot of the limitations of guitar, those boards aren't done yet, but soon enough. I am in a bit of a self imposed acquisition lull at the moment. Let's see your boards, and you opinions on the matter.

The fit and finish of the six G&L guitars I have owned is at the level of Suhr and Fender Custom Shop; the electronics, not so much. I have always changed pickups, pots and caps to get better tone. In particular, I don't think the PTB is an improvement over conventional wiring. Materials, craftsmanship and design of the guitars are nearly perfect, though. Most of mine are older, and I wish I had a plekked G&L. I agree with your advice to buy as many G&L's as you want/need and pocket the difference. Fender's prices on new production line guitars are especially ridiculous. Who pays that?

Should disclose that I have only bought one new guitar in 41 years, a '72 Les Paul Deluxe w/case for $325. Biggest mystery is why used G&L's sell for so little. All of mine were barely played when I bought them. Why is this?

Last edited by Ldavaz on Wed May 01, 2013 9:59 am, edited 1 time in total.

^^ Changed the pickups on a G&L? Sacriledge, the MFDs were a huge sell for me. Now the non MFD models, I may be inclined to agree on, case by case basis of course. I'll bring out the swiss army knife tomorrow, now that you mentioned wiring improvements though. Prepare yourself.

^^ Changed the pickups on a G&L? Sacriledge, the MFDs were a huge sell for me. Now the non MFD models, I may be inclined to agree on, case by case basis of course. I'll bring out the swiss army knife tomorrow, now that you mentioned wiring improvements though. Prepare yourself.

Yeah, I knew that was coming. I still have them all if that counts for anything. I also test the hell out of them and only change reluctantly. The cool thing about single-coil instruments is the variety and range of pickups available. It's a very neat side-industry, and the craftsmen are really passionate. In every G&L I have owned, there is one pickup in one position that just nails it, but rarely two, and never all three.

Coffee is good and it is supposed to aid in the prevention of skin cancer. I had NO idea... G&L's are great instruments for their price range. All of the companies you mentioned make fine instruments, but for the price, G&L comes out on top!


Cheers,

Will

As a lefty player I find that all the G&Ls I've played, needed to have lefty pops and better caps put in and then they play and sound fantastic.

I'm sure this is where they save some money over custom shop guitars.

This is true for other guitars as well, my heritage's needed new pots to work properly, not backwards.

Kyle, apparently it is May but you wouldn't know that here. We are having a snowstorm with 4 to 6 inches predicted tonight. It was 80 last weekend and the birds are confused!

I forgot to comment on picks yesterday. I generally use Dunlop Ultex mediums .73 . I do not like soft picks and have noticed that even heavier picks seem to give better tone.

Nice JP7.I had a JP 6 string, a very nice, well balanced guitar from a weight standpoint but I always thought the pickups were very bright. I no longer have it but I did like the headstock arrangement and it is shorter than most guitars. I thought the balance was perfect. It has been sold on our local CL 3 times since I sold it. Last time it was still listed in as new condition. I don't understand why owners weren't keeping it. I thought it was great but just found something else I thought I needed.

G&L is a custom shop from a build perspective and a very good buy, especially used. I have mentioned before that the high end builders are generally well done in the shielding area but at twice the price. You can do a lot of shielding on a G&L for that kind of money. The Don Grosh that I have is an extremely well though out build and is very quiet for a single coil but I can say that the Suhr Pro that I have is well done also, especially in the heel/contour area. The fit and finish of the G&Ls are hard to beat. I think that the new Alnico pickups are some of the best that I have heard.

As for pedals, I don't generally use them. I have a few but tend to do what I like with the amp instead. The Cyber Twin Se works pretty well for that. With the PA gear and everything that I have, there is too much to haul already. It would be nice to have young roadies!

I have several cups of coffee every morning but I just use the standard grocery store brand. Sometimes I like to give it a shot of Hazelnut or Vanilla to spruce it up a bit. I am probably a bit more discriminating when it comes to a cold one.

I do not use an alarm clock or wear a watch anymore. My job doesn't require either! Nice coffee cup by the way! --Darwin

kyle, those are some nice pedals. 2 f my favorite brands, tc and strymon. doesn't get any better. as you know i have a pretty substantial pedal board, but i no longer use it, just guitar-cable-amp.

We'll attempt to keep any jokes about my 'balls' to a minimum...

.... so I occasionally just sit down and play with them.

I see your balls are of different size too

I'm a pedal user, but I keep it pretty simple - Dunlop Rotovibe, Bad Bob, Catalinbread RAH, BBE Tremor, Boss DD6.

Pedals... Aside from G&L, my other gear obsession is with Moog. I don't have a permanent pedalboard, but this is most of the current lineup:



Any of these on its own covers the same amount of sounds as 2-3 top-end boutique pedals, but the magic comes when you tie the back panels together:



Control voltage (CV) ins and outs let the the controls on one pedal manipulate another. They are really a modular analog synth that works equally as well with guitars and basses as with keyboards. You can merge them into things like an envelope-controlled flanger or vibrato, modulated echoes that leave the dry signal clean, etc. It would take a very long time to run out of new possibilities.

Some of the others I've been using lately (especially on bass) are an EBS BassIQ envelope filter, MXR Bass Octave Deluxe, Eden Analog Austin overdrive, and most recently a Way Huge Swollen Pickle. I'll skip the obvious 'Ball jokes on that one...

I have been very impressed so far by the Swollen Pickle. It sounds wonderful on any of my guitars, but it really shines with the basses. Tons of fuzz, and no loss of bottom end that I can hear. I can't recommend it enough for anybody in need of a good fuzz pedal without the boutique price tag.

Ken

Pedals... Aside from G&L, my other gear obsession is with Moog. I don't have a permanent pedalboard, but this is most of the current lineup:

Any of these on its own covers the same amount of sounds as 2-3 top-end boutique pedals, but the magic comes when you tie the back panels together:



Control voltage (CV) ins and outs let the the controls on one pedal manipulate another. They are really a modular analog synth that works equally as well with guitars and basses as with keyboards. You can merge them into things like an envelope-controlled flanger or vibrato, modulated echoes that leave the dry signal clean, etc. It would take a very long time to run out of new possibilities.

Some of the others I've been using lately (especially on bass) are an EBS BassIQ envelope filter, MXR Bass Octave Deluxe, Eden Analog Austin overdrive, and most recently a Way Huge Swollen Pickle. I'll skip the obvious 'Ball jokes on that one...

Ken

This looks dangerous...and good!

Damn Ken, that backs of those pedals. I would likely get lost. Sounds fun, I have never really looked into the Moog pedals, but I may just have to. The question is ofcourse, with the price tag on those (officially scared away now), how can someone complain about a single fuzz pedal

what are your favourite Moogerfooger's Ken?
Thanks
Anthony

I have hardly used my french press since we got a nespresso machine a few months ago,I love it . I have a latte in the morning and I'm good to go.

I really think the build quality ( mostly ) sets G&L apart. I think the MFD's make them special and can't imagine swapping them out. I love my SC-2 but it has sharp fret ends that are really starting to bug me. That is the one draw back of buying online. It would have been too much of a hassle to send it back. That being said it shouldn't be that expensive to remedy. My S-500 neck is smooth as silk. I only have two pedals, one is a Marshall Bluesbreaker clone that I built myself and the other is a Boss loop station. I will eventually pick up a Catalinbread SFT pedal which is good for bass and guitar.

Damn Ken, that backs of those pedals. I would likely get lost. Sounds fun, I have never really looked into the Moog pedals, but I may just have to. The question is ofcourse, with the price tag on those (officially scared away now), how can someone complain about a single fuzz pedal

I think of these as being the "G&Ls of the pedal world". The leading visionary of synthesizer design left the company he founded and gave up the rights to his own name, but got back into the game late in life to make some of his best creations. 100% analog, mostly designed by Bob Moog himself, and built by hand in a US factory. They also suffer the same low resale value as we see with G&Ls. With a little bit of looking, you can find most of them used for less than half of the street price. About half of mine were used, but as with G&Ls that doesn't concern me due to the build quality. The ones I've bought new have been from a small Moog dealer. I typically end up paying about 2/3 of MSRP.

what are your favourite Moogerfooger's Ken?
Thanks
Anthony

Is "all of them" a good answer? Really, it depends on the sound you're looking for. I love the MF-101 Lowpass Filter on bass or guitar. With just the filter section running, you get a very smooth filtering of the high end (with the "high end" selectable anywhere from 20 Hz to 12K Hz). That alone can tame a shrill guitar pickup or move a bass into L-1000 OMG-switch territory. Use it with an L-1000 in OMG mode and you could set off earthquake warnings or cause evacuations of coastal areas. Turn up the resonance, and the sound really blooms. Run the resonance high enough, and you'll be right on the edge of self-oscillation. Add in the envelope generator, and you have the sweetest envelope filter on the market. Put an expression pedal into any of the four CV-ins on the back panel, and you have a different flavor of wah-wah pedal. Plug a low-frequency oscillator (LFO) from another 'Fooger and you have a couple of different auto-wah options.

I generally don't find much use for ring modulation in my playing, but the MF-102 Ring Modulator also works as a very sweet tremolo. If you tweak the two LFOs you can get a pulsed tremolo. Running the LFO out CV on the Ring Mod to the cutoff frequency in CV on the Lowpass Filter creates the best auto-wah that ever ever heard.

Ken

kyle, those are some nice pedals. 2 f my favorite brands, tc and strymon. doesn't get any better. as you know i have a pretty substantial pedal board, but i no longer use it, just guitar-cable-amp.

You have seen the light! For playing blues nothing beats a good tube amp pushed a bit into natural saturation. I know pedals do have their place if you are playing pop or other types of music that require specific sounds, or if you are in situations where you can't crank your amp loud enough to take advantage of its natural drive. Lucifer, you have some great amps. I'd love to hear you demo some of them without any effects, especially your new one that you raved about. I hate it when I see someone demos an amp or guitar and it is altered by effects.

I have hardly used my french press since we got a nespresso machine a few months ago,I love it . I have a latte in the morning and I'm good to go.

I really think the build quality ( mostly ) sets G&L apart. I think the MFD's make them special and can't imagine swapping them out. I love my SC-2 but it has sharp fret ends that are really starting to bug me. That is the one draw back of buying online. It would have been too much of a hassle to send it back. That being said it shouldn't be that expensive to remedy. My S-500 neck is smooth as silk. I only have two pedals, one is a Marshall Bluesbreaker clone that I built myself and the other is a Boss loop station. I will eventually pick up a Catalinbread SFT pedal which is good for bass and guitar.

Could be just fret sprout, I get a lot of that living in Southern ontario. Just file em back a touch and you will be good to go. A small end dressing file can let you do the work delicately, without damage. As far as Latte's go, I prefer dairy not to meet my coffee.

Eddie - The light is playing blues? I thought that was rehashing stuff as you can't see past innovation or creativity . I'll just stay over here and not play the blues. I do seem to recall a lot of blues artists using screamer type pedals to slam their amp though... Not to mention a lot of delay variants...

Eddie - The light is playing blues? I thought that was rehashing stuff as you can't see past innovation or creativity . I'll just stay over here and not play the blues. I do seem to recall a lot of blues artists using screamer type pedals to slam their amp though... Not to mention a lot of delay variants...

I know that Lucifer plays blues. I play primarily blues-oriented music. I am not much of a pedal user. I know that Lucifer had an extensive pedal collection and I was a bit surprised to see his comment. It probably has to do with the new amp he obtained recently. I do realize that many modern blues players use pedals, but my favorite tones come from the old school players that played sans effects--Albert, B.B., Freddie King, early Clapton, etc.

I have nothing against pedals--as I said, they have their place.....I personally like things simple--two knobs on my guitar, five knobs on my single channel amp and generally no pedals.

Also, I did not say that "seeing the light" is playing blues (although blues is the basis for most rock guitar--even country--Nashville and Memphis are not that far apart). If you don't like blues, that's fine--I'm not going to trash your musical preferences.

Did not mean to derail your thread

I am just giving you a hard time Eddie. Deep inside every guitarist there is a 40 year old blues wanker, we just need to do everything possible to stop him from getting out.

kyle, those are some nice pedals. 2 f my favorite brands, tc and strymon. doesn't get any better. as you know i have a pretty substantial pedal board, but i no longer use it, just guitar-cable-amp.

You have seen the light! For playing blues nothing beats a good tube amp pushed a bit into natural saturation. I know pedals do have their place if you are playing pop or other types of music that require specific sounds, or if you are in situations where you can't crank your amp loud enough to take advantage of its natural drive. Lucifer, you have some great amps. I'd love to hear you demo some of them without any effects, especially your new one that you raved about. I hate it when I see someone demos an amp or guitar and it is altered by effects.

not a demo, but you get an idea. this is the two rock pushed a little bit.

[youtube]h0ru2Arswzc[/youtube]

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That's what I'm talking about! Great sounds without having to do the pedal dance--just a twist of the volume knob.

Too bad it's just "rehashing stuff as you can't see past innovation or creativity".

Sounds good Louis !!

Nice playing Louis and thanks Ken you might have started something .

i'm a day late but nice playing LC

What is the great new fangled amp?

i'm a day late but nice playing LC

What is the great new fangled amp?

a two rock custom reverb signature v3 50w with dual tube rectifiers.

[youtube]vdKpijjrgnk[/youtube]

Duuuuuuuuuuuude.......

Louis, I'm catching up on posts here tonight. Nice work in the clips.!!!!!-- Darwin