Lunch Report Wed 10-30. Ahead Of Schedule

Lunch was some of Gunnys home made beef stew. It was terrific. I will be home alone this evening so will make a couple of Brats on the grill.

Routine: Many of us are creatures of habit. Since retirement I have a morning ritual as such. I get up, feed the cats, shower, and then sit down and watch the morning news and sneak in some guitar practice. I will also take a nap if needed! About 8, I head out in my cave and check my e-mail, the G&L forum and get caught up on those important items. I usually have some plans for each day. I do not schedule anything before 10 in the morning. That is a strict rule I adhere to. Yesterday was mixing vocal day for our CD. I started about 1:30 pm and went until 10:00 last night. I watched the news and told Ginny I was going to bed. She told me I was too wound up to sleep. She was right. I had tunes running through my head until after 1 Am this morning. When I came out this morning, I backed up my Pro Tolls files. I back them up to 3 different hard drives just to be safe. So are you a creature of habit and what are your morning routines?? It is not easy being retired .

After backing up my files and cleaning the coffee maker (Vinegar) this morning, I found that I was ahead of schedule. That took me into fall guitar maintenance. I decided to get 4 G&L s ready for recording. I picked the Asat Special, Anico Bluesboy, Asat Classic and the Asat Classic S and did the thing to them, new strings, polish frets, wax and check the setups. Steve used an American Tele for some scratch tracks last week and I think that it sounds thin and anemic. That could be a bit subjective but it is time to get some G&L horsepower in the mix. I usually do a major maintenance in the fall and the spring. I usually check neck relief before using a guitar most anytime but they get the major twice a year due to the climate change in Minnesota. It is also time to fire up the humidifier. What do you do for maintenance on your guitar/guitars?

When changing strings on multiple guitars, I notice the differences in tuners. The G&L Schallers are excellent tuners and wind the string to the lowest point on the shaft. Very clever design to increase string pressure on the nut. The Schallers are very nice too and do the same thing by having a lower post. I happen to like locking tuners and have them on most of my G&Ls. On the USA models, Schaller locking tuners will drop right in the Schaller equipped models (G&L Logo) and Sperzel locking drop right in Sperzel models. I like them all but I find the Schaller locking tuners bring the strings down very close to the headstock and I am surprised that G&L includes string trees with locking tuner models as you don't need them. So, what tuners do you prefer and why?

As long as I am BS-ing, what about cases. The G&L cases are beautiful and I like to keep them that way. I put them on my case rack in the garage and keep them as new. For gigging I use Wolfpak cases. I have 2 Wolfpack bass cases and a guitar case. They are starting to show wear from gigging but hold up well. That is why I use them. The G&L gig bag is really a quality gig bag but the Wolfpak is more of a hard case. What are you ideas on cases?

I am now behind schedule as the cat walked across the keyboard when I was typing this in. I just realized some was missing soI had to retype a bunch. --Darwin

Last edited by darwinohm on Wed Oct 30, 2013 4:03 pm, edited 3 times in total.

No lunch for me. Went to the MD&M Conference in Minneapolis today = free stuff and food too!

Routine includes working downtown, but I live there, so not bad...

Favorite tuners are Sperzel locking ones on my OLD Legacy. Other than that, Grover Mini Locking Rotomatics...


Cheers,

Will

HI Darwin

Your cat looks like a black strap for the red ASAT. Upon closer inspection, it is a cat.

Lunch
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Cottage cheese

Routine
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Wake up early and work on composition. Go to work. Back from work, do other things not associated with work. Currently building 1176 Rev J Dual. I might build a stereo U-100 and use it as a EQ pedal. Haven't decided yet.

Tuners
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I thought Sperzel sat closer to the headstock. Either brand is fine. As for looks, Schallers are prettier.
You need a magnify glass to make sure you are doing things right on Sperzel.
Locking tuners are awesome.

Hi Darwin, Thanks for picking up the lunch duty today.

Oh, I am very much a creature of habit. Every day when I wake up I let the dogs out and sit on the back porch for about a half an hour waiting for the morning (or afternoon) fog to wear off! Then I get online and check email and read the news. Then I check out GBL and spend time looking at guitars.

Like you, I have a routine for my guitars. When I change the strings, I clean and wax the guitar, polish the frets and apply a conditioner to the fretboard and check the neck relief. On a side note, my white '86 Rampage still had the factory strings and setup when I got it. Since I've owned it I have never had to make any adjustments to the bridge or neck relief. It has remained factory fresh it's entire 27 year life!

I also have a question for you. I've noticed you've mentioned recording with Pro Tools. I have been researching recording software and I get overwhelmed. Was it hard to figure out how to use it? I'm afraid to make the jump and buy it, only to find it's too complicated for me to figure out how to properly use it.

Thanks,
Dave

Lunch:
On campus so ate at the new Panda Express on NDSU w/ a colleague. Beef and peppers, some surf and turf thing and fried rice. Pretty good as far as campus dining is concerned.

Routine:
Earlier this year, I committed to a regime of writing code on a side project everyday for 30 days; this is on my free time so nights after the kids are in bed. I stuck to it and was kind of surprised that I actually finished something (or at least it works, I should say). Sometimes I'd only have time/energy to edit a word or a line. But other times I'd get in a groove and really TCB. That side project (among other things) just landed me a new job. I'm still reeling from the positive effects of doing a little bit every single day and am planning my next 30 day sprint. Powerful lesson that I'd wished I'd understood 20 years ago.

I also play guitar most evenings. This plan often gets squashed by family duties but that's OK.

Guitar maintenance:
Well, I'm hoping to improve in this area. I've read through the original '80s manual and I think I can handle those instructions so I'll be purchasing the measurement tool (I don't even know what it's called; the spacer thing) and I'll put together a tool kit so I can properly maintain my two G&L's.

What tuners do you prefer and why?
No preference; the tuners on my 2 guitars seem to work . Although I really like the look of the black tuners that are on those Broadcasters I see on eBay. Those guitars are so cool.

Your cat looks like a black strap for the red ASAT. Upon closer inspection, it is a cat.

LOL... Meow ,you need to feed yours .
It's looking thin.

I am NOT a morning person! I do have a bit of ritual though. The contact lenses go in and I stumble downstairs to grind the decaf Starbucks for the coffee pot. While it's brewing, I check my blood sugar and the take my A.M. pills, followed by one cup of Cheerios in almond milk.

I have my first cup of coffee...and by then it's almost time for my mid-morning nap!

I like most tuners, and I think most will work well for a long time if properly maintained. I would give the nod to Sperzels as the best locking tuner, but the Schallers are very good, too. Keep in mind that a split-post tuner IS a locking tuner--it's very difficult for that string to move if it is installed correctly.

I love the Grovers on my old Martin, and the Mini-Grovers on my Takamine and DanElectro 12-strings are marvelous. And the on a Reissue Les Paul, nothing but a Kluson-style Keystone tuner looks right. Some of the new repros are very good.

I do similar maintenance on my guitars, but with the mild temperate clime here in the Pacific Northwest I don't need to adjust the rod very often. And the poly finishes don't require as much polishing. I like to wipe off the strings and remove the sweat from the neck and body as soon as I get home from the gig. It helps me decompress a bit, too.

Bill

Thanks all. I didn't realize that part of the post was missing until most of you had responded. The cat walked across the keyboard when I was posting so I lost some of it. As I mentioned in the edited version, I was now behind schedule!

Tim, It is easiest to be a creature of habit and I am approaching master status!
The split shaft tuners are good. I also have some vintage GOTO locking tuners that I really like. The split shafts do not slip.

Will, I knew that you had moved but hadn't heard from you in some time. Glad you are settled in downtown. My son lived there for several years. I don't have any Grover locking but will probably end up with some.

Meow, that is a cat! She is always checking out the guitars when I work on them. I agree the Schallers are prettier than the Sperzels. I love locking tuners for string changing.

Dave, another creature! I also have several guitars that have very stable necks. One is a BEM S-500. The Parker is very stable and the Gretsches don't seem to change. As for the recording, I happened to get Pro Tools in 2007 and it was an experience to use it. I did a CD on my own just to learn the software. I love Pro Tools but it is somewhat expensive and there may be better options out there today. I would talk to a few people who have home recording equipment. Pro Tools is designed to help in the manufacturing and production of music and I only use it for recording. It is great for editing and making CDs. I am on an older version and have no intention to upgrade, much like my Mac.

TF, I believe you are a NoDak person. Good to see more folks from this area. Glad that the extra work turned out to be a bonus for you. You have the same climate issues that I have with the guitars.

Elwood, I agree, the cat in Meows picture need a fix!

Bill, I have suspected for a long time that you were not a morning person . A good fix of coffee and noon can do wonders. I happen to be a morning person and Steve, our lead player, is a night cat. It is a conflict when we are recording as he likes to start late and go all night. I would like to start at 10:00 am and be done by 7 pm. He is just coming alive at 7 pm.

BTW, I just ordered a WR bridge pickup from the G&L online store for my Asat Z-3 with the Bigsby. It just may be the cats meow!

Thanks again everyone for your comments. My plan for today is to decompress and plan for tomorrow!-- Darwin

Darwin,
The WR back pup will indeed endow your Z-3 with the third ball.
Just don't let the cover move at all while installing it (don't even think about taking the cover off)! The winding is very close to the inside of the cover, very likely touching it and connected by wax. Care! Amazingly versatile pickup, just great.