Today is Tuesday...

Lunch: fresh, raw and still wiggling, fish from my fish tank with a dollop of horseradish on each victim--chased with a swig of super hoppy beer.

G&L: None of my G&Ls are perfect, but they're all the sh*te. Well, except for the S-500. It's probably the sh*te for someone, but I never warmed up to the small MFDs. How about you? Got a least favorite G&L?

My current fave G&L (for the past 6 months) is my '98 ASAT Special. Not my fave neck (#2), but I LOVE the sound. What's your fave for gigging, jamming at home, whatever?

What's your life passion besides guitars? Are you making it happen?

Sláinte.

--GDub

Picking a favourite is much harder than picking a LEAST favourite, and my least fave is my Classic S. It's still a good guitar that sounds excellent, but that middle pickup is a nuisance - it gets in the way of my picking and makes the switching more complicated than I'd like.

My fave is any of the others, depending on the mood I'm in. Currently its my blonde Classic. It's exactly that - classic.

Life passions are music - not just guitars - and cooking. I enjoy cooking a bit too much. I even started brewing my own beer again this month after a 10 year break from the hobby, its great fun and dead similar to cooking. I just sampled a dark lager that has finished fermenting (it's still flat, without bubbles) and it's good, a little more bitter than I'd wanted, but good.

Least favorite? That's a tough one! Each and every one of my G&Ls has been in the #1 spot at least once, and most will be there again at some point. If I had to name any as least favorites, they would have to be the swamp ash '80 F-100 and the '83 SB-2. That F-100 is a wonderful guitar, and has the distinction (FWIW) of having the lowest serial number in the Registry, but it was bumped down the list by my 'hog '81, which just meshes better with my playing style. If I was more of a lead guitarist, the ash F-100 would be right up there near the top of the list. The SB-2 is possibly my most attractive Leo-era instrument, with flame in the neck and maple body. The neck is a tiny bit fuller than my other SBs (an '83 SB-1 and an '86 Lynx) - just enough to make me prefer the others.

The two that actually get the least playing time are the John Jorgenson Sig ASAT and Gold Flake ASAT Bass. Both are incredible instruments, but I'm just not into bling I guess. They are both hanging around waiting for the right trade opportunity to come up.

Ken

Probably my least favorite G&L is my ASAT Deluxe, as I prefer either my Les Pauls or 335s for my 2HB tones. Still...it is a damn fine guitar and I have found uses for it.

A lot of times it is all about finding a niche, a suitable use,....the right guitar for the song.

No other real passions...music IS my life! LOL!!!!

Bill

I can't really pick a favorite or a least favorite , so far I like them all , Comanche , Legacy , SC 2 and a ASAT Classic in the current line up .... I do like the light weight and smaller body of the SC 2 as far as just grabbing something to play while sitting on the couch , mine are all BBE's , haven't got a Leo era yet but should have one soon


cars and guitars are the passion ..... I'm living the Dream

Thanks for jumping in GDub. Had a Greek lamb sandwich in Turkish bread with hummus and fresh greens out of the garden for lunch. It was good.

Least favourite G&L: That would have to be my S-500 too. It plays great, looks a million bucks and the older '90's neck profile fits my hand very well. But the small MFD's don't do it for me either, though the neck pup is nice. I've dropped in other pickups that I know sound good in other guitars, but they always sound ordinary in the S-500. And the output is strangely low, yet most reviews comment on how hot the output is. I haven't ruled out something being wrong with the PTB circuit. You could say it's become an ongoing experiment. The next step is to rip the PTB out and put a standard strat circuit in. But I probably should just sell it. Without the PTB and the small MFD's it's not really an S-500 any more is it?

Current favourite G&L: That's my white Legacy. It's snarly, nasal, and a total rock pig. Somehow it is more than the sum of its parts.

Music, photography and travel are my passions, but kids have put a brake on those for a while. My 7 y.o. is becoming an avid photographer of birds and cars, so recently we've started going out looking for stuff to photograph on the weekend. That's been a lot of fun. I don't know when I'm going to get properly back into music and travel again. That would require spare time.

My 7 y.o. is becoming an avid photographer of birds and cars, so recently we've started going out looking for stuff to photograph on the weekend. That's been a lot of fun.

That's awesome. My 7 year old has just gotten into playing bass in a big way. I gave him a 70s Japanese bass with a 24" scale (a bass, not a tenor!) for Christmas. I intended it more for learning to care for an instrument than for learning to play. He was frustrated to the point of tears last week over not being able to fret notes cleanly, so we sold it back to the store and picked up an old Fender Musicmaster that had been refinished (and priced to match). He has a couple of songs down already - "Tracks of My Tears" by Smokey Robinson and "Gates of Steel" by Devo - and has been plugging away at Bob Marley's "Stir it Up". I have to say I enjoy listening to him just as much as I enjoy playing.

This summer I signed my sons up for a touch rugby league, and ended up being drafted to coach our nine and under team. I haven't played since before my oldest was born, but the experience coaching over the past couple of months really rekindled my love of the sport.

Ken

Hey GDub

Least fave G&L for me is the 2004 hog Bluesboy combining a ASAT Classic bridge pup with a Seymour Duncan '59 SH-1. It clearly shows the correct choice Tim Page made (not without Seymours input mind you) to go with the Seth Lover in the neck on the original Blues Boy.

Fave is still the first ASAT I ever got, my '99 Butterscotch Classic. There might be better sounding guitars in my collection (paeticularly thinking of the pre-BBE ASAT III, Trinity, CLF Centennial, and Classic Alnico prototype here) but the emotional attachment to the 'first born' conquers a lot

Passions besides guitar are reading up and learning about the Apollo space program of the '60s and early '70s and biographies of great physicists (beyond keeping up with physics itself).

- Jos

My classic custom has become the least loved of the three I currently possess. It is more because of its bad habit of sounding good only with the volume half way than anything else. With the S-500 deluxe and the classic S semi-hollow I can keep my amp and effects set nearly the same (except for gain), but there's no way for the classic custom, it has too much of a personnality to bear other guitars' settings. The terrible child of the family . It's still a wonderful guitar though, maybe is it a matter of niche as said by Boogie Bill.

Gdub, missed this last night. Favorite G&L? I like all of them but my main go to in the mornings is my Classic S. Always unplugged which is what I mostly do at home. I am amazed at how many T type players that will not play a S type because of the center pickup. It is in the way for many players. It doesn't bother me but it is a show stopper for many. Plugged in I am a fan of the new alnicos. They are just plain good vintage sound. It is interesting that Jos mentioned his least favorite was the special build Hog Bluesboy. I had one and it was also my least fave. It is hard to expaline why, but I just couldn't connect with it. The neck never felt good and I have never had a G&L neck that I didn't like. I have U, V and different necks and like all of them. I must admit that I have played plugged in very little since I sold my Custom 15. I really miss it. I going to look at a 77 Fender Vibrasonic tomorrow morning and if it is what it appears to be, It may be the ticket to my fix. I miss that super clean tone from the Custom 15.

Passions?, Music has always been my passion but I seem to have a passion for everything I do. I just enjoy everything. had lunch yesterday with a several friends I hung around with in the 60's, all successful guys in their lives and no one would have predicted that in the 60,s. was gigging and these guys were following us around and all that we thought about was fun! I guess I just had a passion for life. I also found out that the lead player from our original band passed away last weekend. I talked to him 3 weeks ago and he wasn't doing well. Anyway, I still have that passion for life. You can't beat it! Thanks for stepping in Gdub, I miss the lunch reports when they are not done.-- Darwin

Favorite is an older modded ASAT. It was a 3-pickup replaced by two Dimarzio's with coil tapping. Basswood body. I have a S-500 signature that runs a close second. Least favorite was an ash Legacy Special with the Gotoh pickups. Just could not manage the tone and sold it.

I love my job in estate work and asset management and have long been an amateur historian.

I only have one G&L (Tribute Comanche) so that counts as my favourite. I played quite a few in the shop before picking the Comanche and could't really find a least favourite, I just picked the one that made me feel the most creative.

Interests outside of guitar, well at the moment electronics is a hobby that I'm pursuing. Built a few pedals (OD, phaser, fuzz and 6 knob optical tremolo) a litle while ago and currently planning a microamp build using submini tubes. As far as passions, though, music tops the list. Currently in the proces of trying to make it my life, progress to date is slow but I'm sticking at it. Changing careers is tough work!

S-500. And the output is strangely low, yet most reviews comment on how hot the output is.

When my luthier did some measurements on my S-500, he immediately noticed the magnetic force the pick-ups had.
"These are hot!". The guitar wasn't plugged into anything.

Do you think it is the design of the MDF that caused the false notion of the pickups being "hot"?

I did once measure the field strength of my WR's Z-coils, with a Hall-effect probe.
I measured at 2, 3 and 4mm from the tops of the poles, and the results were virtually identical to the same measurements taken on the Lindy Fralin blues specials in my strat, both for field strength and for change-with-distance.
This suggests that, as far as the strings are concerned, MFD's look much like Alnico5 Fenders.
And also explains why I like my Z-coils set up similar to a strat, distance-wise, otherwise I get a bit of a loss of sustain (stratitis). I've also taken to backing the middle pup off a long way; I don't much like a middle pup on its own, and only use it in combination. I've found this improves the lifetime of notes even further, and also feels better for picking.
The "Hot" rep of MFD's may come from the extended top and low responses, and the way that they're more efficient at generating juice from the strings' movement and have less losses.
I use the tone pot on my G&L pups! I use its whole range, not just the ends like on most other guitars.
Well worth the re-learning time; great pups and guitars.

I did once measure the field strength of my WR's Z-coils, with a Hall-effect probe.
I measured at 2, 3 and 4mm from the tops of the poles, and the results were virtually identical to the same measurements taken on the Lindy Fralin blues specials in my strat, both for field strength and for change-with-distance.
This suggests that, as far as the strings are concerned, MFD's look much like Alnico5 Fenders.
And also explains why I like my Z-coils set up similar to a strat, distance-wise, otherwise I get a bit of a loss of sustain (stratitis). I've also taken to backing the middle pup off a long way; I don't much like a middle pup on its own, and only use it in combination. I've found this improves the lifetime of notes even further, and also feels better for picking.
The "Hot" rep of MFD's may come from the extended top and low responses, and the way that they're more efficient at generating juice from the strings' movement and have less losses.
I use the tone pot on my G&L pups! I use its whole range, not just the ends like on most other guitars.
Well worth the re-learning time; great pups and guitars.

Thanks Nick. That was interesting.

I did once measure the field strength of my WR's Z-coils, with a Hall-effect probe.
I measured at 2, 3 and 4mm from the tops of the poles, and the results were virtually identical to the same measurements taken on the Lindy Fralin blues specials in my strat, both for field strength and for change-with-distance.
This suggests that, as far as the strings are concerned, MFD's look much like Alnico5 Fenders.
And also explains why I like my Z-coils set up similar to a strat, distance-wise, otherwise I get a bit of a loss of sustain (stratitis). I've also taken to backing the middle pup off a long way; I don't much like a middle pup on its own, and only use it in combination. I've found this improves the lifetime of notes even further, and also feels better for picking.
The "Hot" rep of MFD's may come from the extended top and low responses, and the way that they're more efficient at generating juice from the strings' movement and have less losses.
I use the tone pot on my G&L pups! I use its whole range, not just the ends like on most other guitars.
Well worth the re-learning time; great pups and guitars.

Thanks Nick. That was interesting.

Thanks for chiming in Meow and Nick. Nick, your observations mirror my own. The small MFD's are no hotter in terms of output than any of my other vintage style S-type pickups. In fact, they may be slightly lower when adjusted to the same heights above the pickguard as a normal S-type p'up. As Meow said, the reputation for being hot may have come from the powerful ceramic magnets used. But coupled with far fewer turns of wire, the overall output is about the same as a vintage p'up, though with much less noise and enhanced highs and lows.

Gdub, missed this last night. Favorite G&L? I like all of them but my main go to in the mornings is my Classic S. Always unplugged which is what I mostly do at home. I am amazed at how many T type players that will not play a S type because of the center pickup. It is in the way for many players. It doesn't bother me but it is a show stopper for many. Plugged in I am a fan of the new alnicos. They are just plain good vintage sound. It is interesting that Jos mentioned his least favorite was the special build Hog Bluesboy. I had one and it was also my least fave. It is hard to expaline why, but I just couldn't connect with it. The neck never felt good and I have never had a G&L neck that I didn't like. I have U, V and different necks and like all of them. I must admit that I have played plugged in very little since I sold my Custom 15. I really miss it. I going to look at a 77 Fender Vibrasonic tomorrow morning and if it is what it appears to be, It may be the ticket to my fix. I miss that super clean tone from the Custom 15.

Passions?, Music has always been my passion but I seem to have a passion for everything I do. I just enjoy everything. had lunch yesterday with a several friends I hung around with in the 60's, all successful guys in their lives and no one would have predicted that in the 60,s. was gigging and these guys were following us around and all that we thought about was fun! I guess I just had a passion for life. I also found out that the lead player from our original band passed away last weekend. I talked to him 3 weeks ago and he wasn't doing well. Anyway, I still have that passion for life. You can't beat it! Thanks for stepping in Gdub, I miss the lunch reports when they are not done.-- Darwin

What about the Rune Stone, Darwin!!??? - ed

Sorry Ed, I didn't mention that and didn't realize that it is a passion but it is. I just had lunch with 3 other researchers yesterday and it was a blast! Maybe it is time for a cold one! Glad to see you checking in Ed!-- Darwin

Sorry Ed, I didn't mention that and didn't realize that it is a passion but it is. I just had lunch with 3 other researchers yesterday and it was a blast! Maybe it is time for a cold one! Glad to see you checking in Ed!-- Darwin

Yeah, a cold one or three. Probably overdue! - ed