Lunch: Today I feel like Frodo, going on a new journey to new lands….that does not involve…wait for it…bacon! I know what you are thinking “Has Dr B lost his mind?” Well, perhaps so. However, I felt I would play Russian roulette at the sandwich bar on campus and try something totally new. It did not go well. I ended up with some abomination of a sandwich called “a spicy meatball sandwich”. It was awful. As it was a bread sandwich and not a toasted version – dunking was off the cards. I guess some experiments always go wrong. It was washed down with the usual awful coffee and a choc biscuit that dunked fine with just the right combination of melting outer chocolate (due to the dunk) and crispy / crunchy inner chocolate. For a brief moment my lips were like that on a 3-year old, covered and smudged in melted chocolate…..oohhh how nice.
On a food related (though not lunch related) topic. I have finally worked out the perfect fried steak recipe (would work grilled as well). If you like your steaks (and I do) – try the following.
1 – get a rib-eye cut of steak that is at least 1.5inch thick (needs to be thick).
2 – get a pan nice and hot
3 – only season the steak just before it goes in the pan – bit of salt (for charring) and pepper. Never put salt on a steak long before cooking – it ruins it.
4 – do not refrigerate the steak – cook the steak from room temperature and not fresh from the fridge (crucial for it to be really succulent).
5 – cook to medium / medium rare. If you like well-done, don’t bother with rib-eye, its too expensive if you like burned meat.
6 – about 4 – 5 mins per side should be sufficient for medium cooked steak.
7 – only flip the steak once in the pan – otherwise it will go rubbery.
8 – for the last 60secs or so, add a knob of butter and baste over the steak.
9 – let the steak rest for 10mins before serving or carving into strips and eating.
10 – it should be soft and pink in the middle, charred on the outside – lovely job!
Nice!
PS – I think you guys in the USA also have Kobi (is that correct spelling?) steaks but we don’t have them here (or I’m not aware of them). Is Kobi a breed of cattle or a specific cut from any cattle? Apologies if this sounds a bit thick.
G&L topic: A slightly different track today. One of the things that often frustrates me is how few people out there (at all levels) do not know about G&L or even talk a lot of nonsense about them. I get infuriated when people refer to them as ‘F**der copies’ and equate them (even the USA models) with low level copies from other manufacturers. So there is a lot of ignorance out there and a lot of mis-information. This forum is a welcome antidote to that – but I worry about it not being ‘visible’ enough. So how would you guys feel about writing a “Rough Guide to G&L” as a kind of internet PDF document? Maybe (with Craig’s help) we could all contribute a page on different models (those we know and have experience of). It would just contain the basics – but also some important facts and truths about what these instruments are. It could be vetted and approved by G&L – and could include pics of your own instruments and / or profiles of you – the player. The important thing is to have a single document (a single point in space if you will) that discusses G&L, the products etc. You might think – well, is this not covered on the website or even across multiple threads here – and indeed it is.
However, I work in science and education at the University level and I have a lot of experience in how people engage with information and some repetition is no bad thing. I also think it might add kudos for G&L as it would be known to be written by enthusiasts and musicians themselves rather than by the company (though of course – it should be OK’d by them).
I would envisage a well illustrated PDF document with some history, some overview of changes in models etc, and some coverage of them with features etc and perhaps some profiles of some of you guys (some technical info as well). Something written for enthusiasts, by enthusiasts. It could also be something we can simply link to in forums etc when people ask for some information rather than having to get into lengthy conversations all the time. Any thoughts? Is it a bit redundant? Would you be willing to contribute something to it if we did it? I would be happy to add my bits (for what they are worth) and even edit it or oversee it – but not if the enthusiasm is not there from the community.
nonG&L topic (i) Band etiquette and politics. The non-musical aspect of being in a band. Lets face it, most excellent collaborations and band bust-ups are between guitarists and lead singers. Something about egos perhaps.
There is nothing wrong with ego. You need it to get up there on stage, you need it to take the flack, so I am not saying ego is a bad thing – it probably fuels creativity to some extent. However, do any of you have any interesting stories about being in bands and the mad behaviour you have encountered along the way by your band members (no names – just the stories please). A singer who thought he was Jon Bon-Jovi perhaps? A guitarist who insisted on playing too loud or filling in all the spaces in the music with licks and not having the common sense to simply leave gaps….? Maybe you had a situation with too many guitarists in one band and all wanting the limelight? Someone taking things too seriously….or perhaps not seriously enough? If you have experience of playing in lots of bands over the years and you have seen these sorts of things – let the rest of us know what to expect. Gives us a ‘Band survival guide’ and a ‘things to watch for so you know your band is going to implode’ guide. Any Spinal Tap moments? nonG&L topic (ii) I have come to the conclusion, as I learn more about tasteful playing, that George Harrison was a quite excellent guitarist and somewhat underrated in the popular music media. He lived in the shadow of the other two to some extent and yet for me, his playing is very tasteful and he was centrally involved in some of my fav Beatles tracks (i.e., While my guitar gently weeps, and yes I know EC did some guitar work on it but it was written mainly by George as I understand it). He also had a good album out in the 80s I think…..Cloud 9 I think it was called???? In relation to our other topic – he must have been very tolerant of the other two dominant forces in the band – and yet he was quite happy to just do his thing. That sort of attitude I think gave the band a lot of success. Irrespective of whether you are a Beatles fan or not – what are your views on George’s playing and his attitude to working in a band with two other huge egos……any lessons there for the rest of us?
-Darwin
. I think F**der are dinning out off past glories. I have not been impressed by ‘off-the-shelf’ USA F**ders for a long time. Lots of my musician friends have had problems very soon after purchase – so much so that they are now venturing into new areas for guitars. You could argue that may be the retailer has not been doing their setups correctly. Fair point. But other brands sold in the same store do not lead to these issues (or at least not yet). So this is unlikely to be the whole story. Also, as further evidence for my case, I have been informed by one retailer that the F**der custom shop is currently swamped with orders from individuals and shops. If their off-the-shelf units are sooooo good, why are more and more players by-passing them for entry level custom shop units? This was a F**der retailer as well complaining to me that there was an ever increasing waiting list, not for standard units, but for custom-shop units even for them. 
You are going way beyond what I actually said and please read the above. I never said what you seem to think I did – so I really must correct you on that one. 
Indeed, it seems that you may well be building your own straw man here by jumping to such a conclusion that is simply not based in what I said. Let me be clear, I am comparing G&L (USA) to entry level F**der Custom-shop. The G&L has bags more features and costs way less. The numbers speak for themselves. 
