Tuesday: Mostly cloudy. Top of 18C

[blargfromouterspace]

Nice to see all the responses yesterday, thanks for participating.

Lunch today is a ham sandwich, a cup of coffee and a banananana. Ham was on mega special at the shop on the weekend, it actually cost less per kilo than apples. Being a fat, meat eating bastard I bought half a leg of it.

Here's what my build looked like this morning:



That's filler all over the body. I tried my hardest to get rid of the orange peel by sanding and got very close but the filler was needed. It will look different tomorrow, I'm ready to start top-coating. Anyone want to fancy a guess as to what colour it’s going to be?

Jeremy asked about my plan for the neck – I bought one from Musikraft, it’s an all maple number with a boat-V contour and 21x6105 frets. It fits into the neck pocket as snugly as on any guitar I’ve seen. It will have a satin finish. I’m going to follow the setup procedure in the gallery section of the forum for getting it to seat properly and adjusting the truss rod.

Something I really enjoy is cooking, particularly on a Weber BBQ and especially when there’s a duck involved. Anyone else enjoy cooking? Here’s something I made on Sunday, a recipe of my own - Roast duck a’la Moroccan style. You mix together a spoon of salt, three spoons of cumin and the peel of an orange or two, finely shredded. Make four incisions in the skin, one on each breast and leg, and loosen it by sticking your finger in the hole and moving it around. If the duck grins at this stage you’ll need to kill it. Stuff the flavouring mixture along with a couple of pieces of cinnamon bark (from the Indian grocer, it’s waaaaaaay nicer than the powder) in there. Cut the orange from which you took the rind into 8 bits and put that in the cavity along with a few more cinammon sticks and a few crushed cardamom pods. Put it on the Weber with some hickory for smoky flavour. Put the lid on and a little over an hour later this is what you have.

It would have looked more appetising if I'd cut the neck off....



Amplification. What directions you’d like to see manufacturers take?

I’m an admirer of simplicity in an amplifier. I love the amps of the ‘50s and early ‘60s – volume, tone and maybe a tremolo - because I have to do is turn it on and set it so it produces a sound I like, which is very easy. Quite a few manufacturers are making amps like this still, which is wonderful. But to keep redesigning, or reissuing, the classics has it’s limitations, and with good quality tubes being harder to come by this cant sustain itself forever. I recently bought a ZT Club amp and I love it. It occurred to me that it is very modern – it’s efficient, it’s stylish, it’s high tech, it’s inexpensive. It’s also solid state (gasp!), making it very reliable and low maintenance, and it sounds fantastic. I have a feeling that a lot of work went into it, and that work was done towards a very particular goal. That's what I'd like to see more of.

Enjoy your day fellers.

[Philby]

I had a ham sandwich meself for lunch today Jamie. Double smoked gypsy ham with dijonnaise, cheese, cherry tomatoes and cucumber in a light multigrain bread. Delicious.

I also noticed from the photo of your guitar that we have identical jarrah outdoor furniture.

Anyone want to fancy a guess as to what colour it’s going to be?

I hope it's going to be Vintage White or Daphne Blue. I've seen a few Vintage White Japanese teles with the black binding and they look schweeeet. As far as the orange peel goes, do you have access to an orbital sander by any chance? I've used one with success on furniture and it would be perfect for what you're doing. They're VERY gentle and perfect for getting rid of swirl marks, orange peel, even buffing your car (using a polishing attachment of course - sandpaper might not give the desired effect).

Anyone else enjoy cooking?

Yup. Very much so. But I've never owned a barbeque until this Christmas. Now I've got a little gas fired jobbie that allows me some quality bloke time out in the backyard. Just me, a nice cold beer, a few slabs of raw meat and the bloody mosquitoes. I like a good Weber roast too. I just don't have the patience to wait for the coals to heat up. That duck looks delicious by the way. My other culinary interest is ice cream. It's a taste I developed when my wife and I spent a year in France/Italy/Spain in 2001. After getting used to Italian gelati I realised that Australian ice cream is overly sweet, filled with thickeners, preservatives and artificial flavours and generally falls short of being proper ice cream. So I've bought an ice cream maker and a few traditional recipe books and it's become a bit of a hobby.

Amplification. What directions you’d like to see manufacturers take?

I'd like to see as much design emphasis on reliability as there is on cost cutting. It's a pet peeve of mine that virtually everything these days is made in China/Indonesia/Thailand etc. on the basis of cost. The sting in the tail is that the defect rate is high and the consumer often gets caught doing the quality control that no one earlier in the chain has bothered about. I've got 4 guitar amps, 2 of them are US made in the 80's to mid 90's (a Peavey solid state and Fender tube amp) and the other 2 are Chinese made during the last 5 years (a Roland solid state and Vox tube amp). The US made amps have not missed a beat. The Roland had a circuit board problem that was fixed under warranty. My new Vox AC15C1 has a severe rattle out of the box that I suspect is a dud tube but the dealer will not touch it under warranty. Their argument is that 'all combo amps rattle man - that's just the way they are'. Yes, I will name the dealer. Allans/Billy Hydes Music you suck. May all your former customers buy their gear online from the US and put you out of business. I voided my warranty by having a look inside the Vox and they have used the cheapest tubes I've ever seen. They're not even branded. They just say 'Made In China'. Do amp makers really not want to make a good impression on their customers? Luckily the Vox sounds fantastic, even with crappy tubes, so I can't wait to get some better ones in there. I wish I could get that Top Boost sound out of a solid state amp.

Keep up the good work Jamie.

[blargfromouterspace]

I hope it's going to be Vintage White or Daphne Blue....

Wrong and wrong!

I don't have an orbital sander - I'm doing it all by hand, using a cork sanding block. I've never used machines for sanding even when I was working as a house painter. In comparison to sanding every door, window frame, wall, ceiling and balustrade in the $5 million mansion I worked on all last summer, sanding a guitar is pleasant

Totally agree about Australian ice cream. It's awful. Thing I love about the Italian ice cream parlours I went to when I lived in Germany was that you can get 'lasagna' ice cream. Not lasagna flavoured, but put together in the bowl so that it looks like lasagna. I couldn't believe it.

I have stopped going to Allans/BH. Its such a crap shop. I went into the one in Balwyn a couple of weeks ago and it was so messy, there was nothing I wanted to play and the staff are spiteful. Have you ever been to Deluxe Guitars in South Melb., or 555 Music Co. in Hawthorn? Totally different experience. Lovely stuff, fantastic staff. 555 in particular is a good shop, the staff seem to take a lot of pride in the shop. They also have a lot of wet-dreamy amps. Well worth a look.

[de Valcourt]

Man, that's one heck of a good looking duck. You must have taken your time with that one to get the skin that dark without burning. So that would be a "yeah, I like cooking, too." I especially enjoy Central Asian, Mediterranean, North African, Indian...well, anything with "strong" flavors to it (as opposed to table salt, pre-ground black pepper and ketchup). If you haven't done so already, next time you make a burger, add equal portions of all spice and cinnamon (both ground yourself) and a touch of very finely minced fresh rosemary and you've got a tasty bit of beef - add your favorite killer hot sauce to taste instead of the ketchup, of course.

If your choice in food is indicative of your favorite colors, I'd say the guitar is heading towards a deep red or something on that end of the spectrum - say Cantonese BBQ rib red?

As far as amps go, I had a solid state Peavy twin something or other in my live gig days back in the late 1980s - early 1990s because it took a lot of abuse, was plenty loud without having to worry about a PA and, well, it was cost effective during my college days. Now, I like the warmth of a good tube amp and as somebody mentioned yesterday - it's plenty to have just a tone knob rather than the 15-20 different adjustables in the face of that Peavy, which is ironic considering the number of pedals I used to use as well.

As soon as it stops raining and warms up a bit I'm going to have to get the grill out of the shed and sear a tuna steak or two.

Phillip

[sickbutnottired]

I have no idea about the color. Maybe a copper like your bluesboy? With a dark stained binding? You do have a copper colored bluesboy, right? I could easily get confused with all the cool guitars running around on here.

I love food and love to cook as well. I have not one, but two weber grills, and a ludicrously huge gas grill. I like the old weber kettles, with good charcoal you can control the temp well and use it either as a grill or a faux smoker. My dad and I are going together and buying 2000 lbs of maple charcoal--that should get me through the summer.

I am with Phillip on flavors. I love super big/strong ethnic flavors. And grinding your own spices is a key. So is finding cool fresh fruits and vegetables. Then there are all the cool pantry ingredients. That is one thing I totally miss about living in the city, all the specialty shops and ethnic groceries. Going to a grocery in MT and asking for pomegranate molasses won't get you very far.

The duck looks great...The guitar looks great, and thanks for the neck explanation!

[Jaystrings]

Not sure where you're headed with that color chart, mate, but if you can come up with something to match the color of that duck, it should be quite tasty looking. Looking forward to your next steps.

I'm with you all the way on simple amps, although I still like the tubes in one. I haven't actually seen or heard one like your Club, so I'll withhold judgement a bit longer. I just sold my Chicago Blues Box back to the fella who sold it to me. He has whined & moaned, even begged, for it back. Tough decision, as it was simply awesome. And VERY simple: other than the on/off & standby switches, it had one other switch to harmonically enrich it [boost mids], a bass, a treble, & a reverb knob. Clean as any Fender; lotsa volume. She spat a little grit, but needed a good boost to get into crunchland. I never really go into chrunchland, but I did put my BBE Crusher pedal thru it & that pedal just made the amp sweeter & bold as hell. Great amp. Great pedal.

The amp that impresses me most for the money is that little Fender Super Champ XD. Got tubes & effects, too. Loud enough for a bar gig, too.

Keem 'em comin'.

Jay

[blargfromouterspace]

If your choice in food is indicative of your favorite colors, I'd say the guitar is heading towards a deep red or something on that end of the spectrum - say Cantonese BBQ rib red?

Now there's a great idea, perhaps for my next build. I'll be sure to try out your burger recipe, sounds lovely.

I have no idea about the color. Maybe a copper like your bluesboy? With a dark stained binding? You do have a copper colored bluesboy, right? I could easily get confused with all the cool guitars running around on here.

Yes, that's me with the copper Bluesboy, great memory. That's me with it in my avatar. Copper was on the shortlist but was dropped because I already have one in that colour. It is a great colour.

Not sure where you're headed with that color chart, mate, but if you can come up with something to match the color of that duck, it should be quite tasty looking......

The amp that impresses me most for the money is that little Fender Super Champ XD. Got tubes & effects, too. Loud enough for a bar gig, too

Another good colour suggestion, but wrong again. Next time I got to the paint shop I'll have to take a roast duck in with me and get them to colour match it. That'd be a hoot As for it being a 'tasty' colour, it's hard to say. It's one of those colours that you either love or hate and would never, ever want a guitar that colour.
Totally agree with you on the Super Champ XD. It's a mighty tempting package.

[Philby]

555 Music Co. in Hawthorn

Thanks for the suggestion Jamie. A guitar shop with great gear AND nice staff? Surely that's too good to be true?

It's not too far from my house either.

[yowhatsshakin]

Anyone want to fancy a guess as to what colour it’s going to be?

Well, given what followed in your post, it has to be multi-flavor DuckBurst.

Amplification. What directions you’d like to see manufacturers take?

Not sure about this one. I like a switching tube amp. Gives you options and it's like having the mother-of-all-distortion-pedals under the hood. But all of that switching and other bells and whistles also give you more failure points. PRS started out with single channel tube amps. Listening to Paul at a GC visit in May 2009, the rational was that all the best recording amps were single channel and/or when recording you wouldn't switch channels but rather use multiple tracks. But now they are introducing 2-channel amps too. And no wonder. Most working musicians are gigging and to be bound to a single channel amp is cumbersome unless you use emulation software. I can see both ways, but recording and gigging are practically 2 disjoint kind of areas and hence they have separate optimal solutions.

- Jos

[zombywoof]

Man that Duck looks mighty tasty. I knew that life down there had to be just like one of those Outback Steakhouse commercials.

Amps - Repeat after me - I don't need no stinkin' master volume knob.

I think amp manufacturers are getting back to basics more these days. I would though like to see someone put out a solid state amp on par with something like a 1960s Standell.

I love old amps. While the best amp I have owned was a 1955 Fender Twin these days I favor Valco stuff, Magnatones, Silvertones and the like. The cabs are sometimes pretty flimsy and the inside can look like the aftermath of a spaghetti factory explosion but these amps put out a sound all their own. They have an edge to them you just don't hear coming out of tube amps today.

[jamie d]

Bet the duck was tasty.


I'm thinking a reverse tuxedo look. Black binding with a pearl white finish.

What has me puzzled is the large neck PU cutout.

Howzabout a Charlie Christian style PU?

Big thumbs up on the V neck.


I have a 1962 Fender Deluxe.

Can be sweet at lower volume, and overdriven when wound up.

Volume and single tone control. The Tremolo circuit modulates the bias on the output tubes.

Warmer sound than the later 60s/70s Fenders with the photocell tremolo..

As for amp evolution, like my 1976 Peavey Session 400. It has discrete components; I.E. individual transistors. No integrated circuits.

Very smooth sounding. Primarily designed as a steel guitar amp, it is also a favorite of jazz guitarists.

Jamie in NC

[blargfromouterspace]

Jamie - I thought you'd pick the colour, it's one I remember you saying you'd like to see on a G&L... As for the large PU route, it's so I can experiment if (when...) I get the itch to try something different. A Charlie Christian is high up the list of ones to try. It's going to have standard t-type pickups for a while.

I have an Ampeg J-20 which is a clone of a brown face Fender Deluxe, it's a very nice amp and the tremolo is to die for. There was a guy using one if those Session 400s at a festival I was at recently, it sounded great. I'm on the lookout for more SS amps. I'm GASing for an Evans AH200 at the moment. *sigh*

[bassman]

I love the duck and the Weber grill. I used to have a Weber just like that one, I got it as a wedding present 28 years ago and I remember cooking on it for a party where I had 22 people all hungry for burgers. That 22" Weber could keep up with the demand. I eventually gave it away to a friend who is still using it at his house on the river. I switched over to a Gas grill about 15 years ago. As a matter of fact I have a Weber Gas grill now and I used it tonight to do up three very nice steaks. I love cooking on the grill and I do so year round.

The color of your guitar is going to be Candy Lemon right? Its just a guess. You need something to set off that nice black binding.

Solid state amps are great when you get what you want out of them. I have several bass amps that are solid state and I can't see worrying about tubes for a working bass amp.

For guitar amps, I think that there are some good sleeper solid state amps out there that sound real good for not much money. I recommend Yamaha amps form the 70s and 80s. I own two of their bass amps that sound great and I know that their guitar amps also sound real good. I own a Yamaha G50 combo that is a great amp.

[westsideduck]

That duck looks great, I hope we're not related.

I'm with bassman on the candy lemon, one of my favorite colors, In case you don't know what candy lemon looks like...............

[Dave_P]

That duck looks delicious! Makes me long for summer so I can fire up my grill again.

I love to cook, pretty much take care of that household task. Tonight I made a whole chicken in the slow cooker, first attempt at it, I've done pulled pork, chili, beef roasts, and other things though. Chicken came out great, whole thing fell apart when I tried to take it out. Only complaint was I really enjoy a nice crispy skin, though I did stick it in the oven after, it just wasn't the same as oven roasting, but the trade off was no dry meat what so ever. Tried a new recipe, stuffed it with a sweet onion, some garlic and butter. Outside of the bird rubbed down with yellow mustard, crushed garlic, brown sugar, rosemary, and some salt and pepper.

As for color my guess is Spanish Copper...maybe

I'm with you Jamie, I really enjoy a simple amp. Some of the newer amps have so many knobs it's just mind numbing
Some manufactures still do make simple designs but they are generally in the 1-4w range (for readily available brands i.e. not boutique) I'd like to see more amps like the Ampeg J-20. I do like that solid state you picked up, did some reading on it and I like their design method.

-Dave

[blargfromouterspace]

Westsideduck - That candy lemon is beautiful. If I'd seen that picture a couple of days ago the guitar would be a different colour!


Dave - I've never used a slow cooker. I'd be interested in trying one. My nan, bless her, does slow cooking in a thermos. She heats whatever it is she's cooking in the morning (usually a curry of some kind), tips it into a thermos and leaves it until she gets home in the afternoon. It works brilliantly and uses no power.

[sickbutnottired]

Westside,

That is the prettiest f-100 I have ever laid eyes upon, in a picture even! Awesome color.

Jeremy