Thursday Lunch Report 10/17/2013

Lunch: Lunch was taco salad at the local Mexican restaurant. We have very few restaurants in my little town, but we have one of the best Mexican restaurants in northwest Missouri!

Guitar: Have you played a guitar or style of guitar and suddenly discovered it's not the guitar for you? I use to play nothing but Stratocasters and S-500's. I thought they were the guitar for me, but I was struggling to get what I was looking for out of them. I now play Asat Classics and a PRS McCarty and I couldn't be happier.

Amps: Do like your amps to be simple or have a lot of knobs and multiple channels? I prefer simple amps. I have a '56 Princeton which has a volume and a tone knob. It's easy to dial in a good tone.

I apologize for being late with the Thursday Lunch Report. I worked a little late and then did all of the paperwork for the new truck I bought yesterday. After that I had a FFA Alumni meeting at 6:30 that lasted until 10:15. I'll talk about the FFA Alumni and community involvement in the Friday Lunch Report.

Steve, I would really like the lunch that you had. I had a big bowl of Chicken noodle yesterday.

I have played many styles of electric and like all of them. I can't get in love with acoustics. I use them when I need to but I never pick one up just to practice. I feel too confined or limited with an acoustic.

I set my amps and seldom change them. Even for bass work, I seldom change the settings on the amp. If I had one channel with a reverb and trem, that is all I would need.

The FFA has been around since before I was a kid and I was a member while growing up. It seemed that all us rural kids joined.

I will catch the rest of the LRs on Sunday. I am heading out to Bemidji MN for 2 night gig. Have a great weekend and thanks for your reports this week Steve. -- Darwin

Lunch: Hot Ham and Swiss with tomato and onion, on fried bakery white. Italian Wedding Soup on the side.

Guitar: I thought I was an offset Fender player, but once I got a G&L SC body in my hands, I have a new "go to" guitar, lighter than my Skyhawk, but a similar thin waist. Nothing I don't love.

Amp: Class A, single channel, all the way. Love my Riv Venus 3, looking for something smaller and even more simple for jamb sessions.

Tim- Thanks for introducing me to "The Paul"- it looks a lot like what PRS is attempting with the Starla and now the Starla S2. I'd look into "The Paul" myself- or even benchmark it as a G-200-returns-kind-of-thing.

Well, I'm a Mesa guy...so I guess we all know the answer to the amp question. LOL! I suppose it is true that a multi-knob amp is more f###upable, but I do get great tone from my amps. I don't lke transitor distortion from a box, so that is a big factor fo me. Having multiple guitars and playing several different styles means that a versatile amp is a necessity.

I so want to love Rics and Gretsch guitars but would probably never own one. Ditto any guitar with a Floyd Rose. Martin, Gibson, and G&L Legacy body...and I'm good to go.

Bill

Guitars: One of the first new guitars I ever bought was a Epiphone Sheraton (335 type) thought I loved it until I bought my first strat, sat in the case after that. Funny thing is I don't own any S type guitars right now(closest is the sc-2 I just picked up) I've been really gasing for a legacy but keep putting it off since they are plentiful, need to take care of the more rare items on the list first.


Amps: I'm in the simple camp too, my main amp is a late 70's Vibrolux Reverb, aside from the trem/reverb knobs I have Vol/Bass/Treb

Taco salads are one of my favorites. You almost cannot go wrong ordering the taco salad if in doubt. I look for chili relleno on the menu first though.

The ASAT Classic is #1 on my list and I mostly stick with the neck pickup on S-style guitars. Les Pauls are tough to beat for my preferred feel but the pickups need to be really good. I've heard tones all over the map coming out of them. Generally, the ASAT's feel good and I have found a few select G&L necks that felt different but as good as a Les Paul feels to me. Regarding the question of suddenly realizing some was not for me, I have only had the opposite experience. I suddenly realized I loved Leo Fender guitars when they had felt very foreign to me initially.

I have not found a PRS I could play. Something about the necks feel extremely awkward in my hands.

Amps: I prefer simplicity. The closer you get to full-on EQ the more likely things are to be difficult to keep to the sweet spots. I typically only like less than 5% of what is available so beyond the basics just adds up to an unnecessary bunch of knobs or sliders. I used to require a master volume but there are really good stomp boxes that make up for them these days.