Friday Lunch Report 10-15-10

[Elwood]

Thanks for all the replies yesterday,

It's been fun doing the Lunch Reports this week.

I'm not sure what or when Lunch for me will be today, maybe just a banana and some cashews to hold me over while we get ready for a small sound gig supporting a local country band.

They have a guy that plays a tele and pedal steel that I'm looking forward to seeing again, he really nails that smooth and spanky country twang. I had a '70 fender bassman for a while and that was when I realized what the hubub was all about when people talked about that clean fender sound. There is a sparkle
/resonance in the upper harmonics register in that circuit that alot of other amps just don't get.

I've been becoming more interested in the classic electric jazz guitar sound. To really nail it I'm seeing flatwounds are the thing to use, with humbuckers, and a semi-hollow electric through a clean amp with lots of headroom. It seems the tone knob is dialed back a bit to keep things smooth in the mix.
...and I'm guessing most jazz players use a thick stiff pick with no give.

Am I missing anything? If you have experience playing guitar in a jazz setting I'd love to hear your thoughts.

...or if you have found a great tone recipe for other genres lets hear about it; reggae ; detuned grunge ;
classic blues ; etc.


As you might have guessed I have a soft spot for the slightly bizarre.

This has led to collecting some interesting effects over the years.

I purchased a Tel-Ray Deluxe Organ Tone, partially due to seeing this set-up of John Cipolina's.
it is similar to the Modulux seen on the left...basically an oil can reverb/tremelo unit with a resonance circiut.



Here is my D.O.T. :



This is an uber rare Gerd Schulte compact phasing prototype.
I've heard that David Gilmour used one for that deep lush phasing on Dark side of the Moon.
It utilizes an opto-coupler in the circiut, after it gets warmed up you can see the light from the bulb creeping out of the cracks on the side...in the dark it looks llike something from a Dr. Who show as it pulsates slowly.



Has anyone owned any Oliver gear?
It was Jess Oliver's (of ampeg fame) venture after he left Ampeg. I had a couple heads that had insane frequency response. I had to run the treble at about 2 to get a flat rsponse...and it had an ultra-high pot that I never had to move past 0 . They were marketed towards vibraphone players so you can imagine the spectrum they might have to cover.
Here is Jesse's version of a leslie top. The thing that sets it apart from other units is has a sort of sprinkler type of movement as opposed to the smooth motion most rotating horns have. This adds a nice rhythmic component to the sound.






Do you have pictures of your effects board handy? What are your favorite little (or big) stomp boxes?


I am looking at true bypass switchers so that I can add some effects to my live set-ups with out sacrificing that strong clear tone you get when you just have a guitar,good cable, and an amp.

Here is one I've seen, any advice...suggestions?


I'm looking forward to adding a new BBE effect to my collection. I received the Crusher with my last LR duties, I'm not sure whats presently being offered...any suggestions from you recent Lunch Reporters?

Here's couple of shots of G&Ls that I have let go...I miss them , but as soon as I start playing one still here I am back on cloud 9.

An interceptor I purchased from Paavo, this guitar had some real snap and zing to its tone:


love the color on this '90 sig.:


and a lovely root beer hardtail F-100:



I'll announce my nomination for next weeks Lunch Reporter in a while.
Thanks for all the good participation this week, and especially for all the good feedback about my paintings,
it will inspire me to do some more this winter. I am already thinking about some that are inspired by G&L goodness...not sure what that means yet, but I guess that's part of the fun!

Elwood

[Madcity Fats]

Hey, that F-100 is in my collection now. Wonderful guitar. I like it so much I've since acquired another hardtail and, more recently, a DF model.

Thanks for taking such good care of her. She's one solid piece of 'hog, I tell you what ...

[Elwood]

Hey, that F-100 is in my collection now. Wonderful guitar. I like it so much I've since acquired another hardtail and, more recently, a DF model.

Thanks for taking such good care of her. She's one solid piece of 'hog, I tell you what ...

Coool!

I have three left in my collection, one hardtail and two DF's...Sometimes the switching possibilities confound me but the feel and fit is second to none.

[willross]

Great week. I lurked a bit but was busy as heck. I know what you mean about maintaining a true bypass environment. Heavy Electronics of Minnesota offers the Rodeo Loop http://www.heavyelectronics.com/RL.html I use this and the Grind Fuzz. Have a great weekend!


Cheers,

Will

[Katefan]

Sounds like you're onto a good start with that jazz setup...

NOt my cuppa so don't have anything to share other than flat wounds really are vital part of the equation imo.

I totally dig pedal steel and shimmmering clean tones...

Yeah, silverface amps are FAB in my book. I've owned far more of them than BF amps. Mainly Champs, Vibrochamps, Princeton, Deluxe and Super Reverbs...
Can't be beat imo for bang/buck ratio... tho prices seem to get higher every day.
DOn't own any currently but would like to get another Champ before I head overseas.

Pedal wise - I have a few stalwarts:

Early 80's ProCo Rat
Marshall The Guv'nor

Both are the original big black box versions and sound Great.
I have a few BBE pedals but don't use them much tho I think they're good.

One other fave of mine is a No name Japanese Univibe Clone that someone repainted blue & grey and wrote The zapper #1 on the side. DOn't know what make it is but its 1 knob wonder & proly from the late 70's. SOunds Great too. Picked it up for $10 at Kobe's Swapmeet in SD a couple of years ago.

Would post a pic but not sure of its current whereabouts.

Here's a pic of Char w/ the '87 ASAT neck on her taken at my girlfriend's flat in NZ. I scored the Guv'nor over there for ~ 45 US funds in a small mom & pop music shop in the outskirts of the north island.

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THe samick ss amp I got free from some friends of ours over there.
It actually sounds pretty good believe it or not - I was stunned... some SF champs tones there...

I located a mid 70's Music Man 410 over there but its pricey even with the favorable exchange rate. NZ dollar is bout .72 cents to the US greenback.
Still may find a way to procure that once I'm settled...

Sweet F/X and axes - esp the seafoam green S-500. Crikey Dick! - you have/had a LOT of G&L's!
Cool echo unit. Nice Score.
Never had any Oliver stuff but had a few of those echos units... all but one was scratchy tho. Remember reading Art Thompson in GP talking bout those units. Apparently, the conductive fluid in those is higly toxic so best not to open up the can. That and Red M&M's... Gotta LOVe the 70's!
Speaking of - I've had a few of those Maestro Stage Phasors o pictured in Jim's rig. Zeppelin used those back in the day -very COOL pedal.

Great Job on LR Duties this week - Thanks for the fun & fotos!

Oh, Btw, havent hear back from Mac yet but will post the pics if & when I get the go ahead.

Best of Luck w/ your sound gig.

Cheers,

Kf

[zapcosongs]

Damn, Elwood. You never cease to amaze. Wow!

I'm not a big fx guy (truth be told, I play mostly acoustic these days due to sleeping children) but if you're looking for a BBE pedal recommendation, I've really enjoyed the Green Screamer I got the time before the last time I did LR duties (the Sonic Stomp I got more recently remains sealed, but I'm expecting some vintage amps to arrive via trade next week and plan to unleash the new pedal as part of the celebratory festivities).

When I do indulge in stomp box goodness, I rely on my old (Thomas Organ Co.) Vox King Wah, Japanese Boss CE-2 Chorus and the Screamer. I (perhaps stupidly) sold a cool DOD bi-fet pre-amp, and a vintage Ibanez AD-80 (w/ hard to find AC power cord) and I kind of miss both of these. But what the heck? ;+)

Hey, if I recall, you bake bread too? Man, there's a lucky girl out there someplace.... Enjoy your weekend. You have some way-cool stuff and we look forward to seeing more of your artistic efforts! - ed

[sirmyghin]

Those are some whacky effects Elwood, all too dang huge for me to consider though.

As far as true bypass loopers go, don't spend an arm and a leg. There are no secrets or voodoo magic in them, they are pretty much all 3PDT switches, occasionally with LEDS (that require a power supply to run, can be used without). They are all pretty much identical, minus the price. Loopmaster makes some good optioned ones, great price too.

For pedals I love the new company Strymon, then there are a lot of neat toys from EH (freeze, POg, I own a bass microsynth too). I wouldn't trade my El capistan (from Strymon) for anything. It is effectively a extremely awesome tape echo modelers, and it is pretty spot on. Does both fixed,single and multi head stuff, as well as a tape style looper. Controls respond a bit differently in each mode.

[Madcity Fats]

I have three left in my collection, one hardtail and two DF's...Sometimes the switching possibilities confound me but the feel and fit is second to none.

I know what you mean. I find that they're great for songwriting (though song completing is another issue, but that's more my problem) due to all the tonal options and fantastic for recording because you can dial in so many different tones. Don't know that I'd want one as my main gig guitar, but that doesn't really come up much as I'm more a bass player.

[sam]

Hey Elwood,

Great week this week, and again you have some very cool stuff under your roof!

Thanks for the Ampeg history lesson, they had nice stuff.

Have to pass on LR nomination next week, see my nomination in reply to your post.

[guitar_ed]

Hey Elwood,

I love that pic of Cipolina's rig. I had the pleasure of hearing it one night. He was getting sounds & effects out of that thing I have only heard from studio work. But he was doing it live, right in front of me. Played with a band called The Dinosaurs. People who had all played the SF scene with Joplin, Moby Grape, Country Joe McDonald. It was a great night of music.

Later,

edg

[Elwood]

Hey Elwood,

I love that pic of Cipolina's rig. I had the pleasure of hearing it one night. He was getting sounds & effects out of that thing I have only heard from studio work. But he was doing it live, right in front of me. Played with a band called The Dinosaurs. People who had all played the SF scene with Joplin, Moby Grape, Country Joe McDonald. It was a great night of music.

Later,

edg

Holy Moly!!
I would have loved to see that, but I'm guessing I was only 3-4 years old then, what year was that?

I'd love to hear about other gigs you saw in the hayday of the SF scene.

gotta run,
Elwood