Seemed like all I ate yesterday was fast food—in the car. We’re supposed to go out tonight for a nice dinner, and I’m really looking forward to it.
I’m not sure what I’ll have for lunch today, but I do have a food question. On Monday CGT mentioned grilled cheese sandwiches. And I love them, but I’m in a rut. Got any great variations on the grilled cheese sandwich? Ham or bacon is the obvious one, or changing the cheese from cheddar to swiss or something exotic. I know one woman that likes to do her GCS with a little bay shrimp or Dungeness crab on Tillamook Cheddar. OMG!!! Heaven!!!
And how about Mac ’n Cheese? I need some recipes!!!
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Yesterday, we talked about tools, and tuners. Well, tuners aren’t good without strings, so that’s where we’ll start. Here is the next installment of “Boogie Bill’s List of Greatest Inventions and Things I Can’t Live Without”.
16. D’Addario Strings: Well, I have to admit that I use Fender Super Bullets on my G&L guitars with the DF Vibrato, because I feel that the Bullet end really does help tuning stability. But every other guitar I own gets D’Addario. When D’Addario came out with their Phosphor Bronze strings around 1974, they were an instant hit. I have tried other strings since then, but I always come back to D’Addario. Ernie Ball deserves lots of kudos for developing the Slinky sets. (Back in the old days you had to buy a banjo string for the high E, and you just threw away the low 6th.) But D’ Addario’s not only sound great and last me a long time—they are available EVERYWHERE, and they are very, very consistent.
17. Big Bend’s Nut Sauce. I’ve been using this stuff since it first came out. I bought a distributor kit of 15 tubes, and gave some of them to my friends. I think I’ve used three tubes in six years, so a little goes a long way. No lube is better than a well-cut nut, but this stuff is amazing. It doesn’t turn everything black, like pencil graphite; it stays in place and doesn’t run like liquid Teflon. I use it on my saddles, string trees, tuner gears—and yes, I even use it on my nuts—even the graphite nuts! Laugh all you want, this is a GREAT product!
18. Shubb Capo. There are several good capos on the market these days, but the Shubb is Number One in my book. I can’t see paying $60--$100 for some of the “boutique” models out there, when the Shubb works so well. I’m really impressed with the 12-string version. Clamp it with the right amount of pressure, and none of the strings on my Takamine 12-string go the least bit out of tune.
19. Digital Guitar Tuner. Does anybody NOT have an electronic tuner these days? My pedalboard now sports a Boss TU-3, but I probably have 15 tuners floating around. I have a couple of Korg CA-10 Chromatics that will easily fit in a guitar case pocket—add a ten dollar contact mic and it’s a peg-head tuner! I use a Peterson Strobo-Stomp at home to set intonation. Another handy-dandy tuner is the Planet Waves Strobe Pick. It’s a very nifty thing to have when you want to try out all 346 guitars in the Guitar Center store. Or, check out your Android or iPhone marketplace—I have a really cool app on my HTC Hero Android phone—the G-Tuner tuner app. Great app, and it was freeeeeee, AND, it’s VERY accurate!!
20. Pedalboard. Got your Tuner, got a wah, a chorus, a delay and two distortion pedals—and you’re still taking an hour to manually set them on the floor in exactly the right spot? Sheesh! GET BOARD!!! I’ve got a Furman SPB-8 with a built-in 9v power supply, three AC outlets and stereo patching loops. Expensive? Yeah, but it saves me a whole lot of time and frustration, every time I want to plug into my pedals. If you don’t have the money for a fancy board—you can make one out of a modest piece of plywood, some Velcro, a power strip and a 9-volt power supply, like BBE’s Supa-Charger. I did my own, and used that board for 12 years before I got the Furman.
21. Straplocks: Now G&L’s have THE best strap button ever made; but if you have a Gibson guitar, you are just ASKING for trouble if you don’t install straplocks. (Actually, I have them on a couple of my G&Ls, too!) My personal preference is for the Schallers, but the Dunlops are good, too. Twenty bucks for a set of straplocks is cheap insurance.
22. Dunlop Tortex Picks. I don’t remember when these came out—late ‘70s, early ‘80s?? Doesn’t matter, it seems like I’ve been using them for forever. I think they might have been the first company to gauge picks in actual thickness, rather than just light, medium, heavy. They have a warmer tone than celluloid, and they are very durable. I used to use a different pick for my acoustic, but now I use the same pick for both electric and acoustic. I like Gators for their grip, and Ultex for their tone and durability too—but I always seem to come back to Tortex.
23. Pick Holder. One of the coolest gizmos ever! I use a Pic-Clip that clips on my mic stand and keeps a spare pick handy should I drop one. I think it will hold about 5-6 picks. Sure, you can use a piece of tape, but I’ve gotten my fingers stuck to the tape and sent the picks flying—without getting one.
The old ones were made of hard plastic. The original design was bought out by Jim Dunlop and they are now made of a more durable, softer rubber. At a jam, I’ll just slip an extra pick under the pickguard of my Legacy on the treble side—and then whine about not having my Pic-Clip!!!24. Atlas Sound LO-2B: I’ve been telling people about these since I read an article about the Grateful Dead back in the early ‘70s. The Dead always had state-of-the-art PA systems, and the little LO-2B adaptor actually IS the “Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread!!!!” Okay, you got a mic, got a stand, got a mic clip. You don’t want to be screwing that mic clip on the stand at every gig. And if you are touring and you leave the mic clip on the stand—it WILL get broken. (I speak from experience!) Enter the LO-2B. One part screws on top of the mic stand, the other half into the base of the mic clip. Now the mic clip just slips over the part on the stand and locks into place. Push the button to release the clip and remove it from the stand for transport. It is FAST; it is secure. I use one between my mic boom arm and the stand, and then again for the mic clip. You can find them now from On-Stage Stands—but the old Atlas Sound version isn’t compatible—probably the new version is metric.
25. Shure Microphones: Yeah, yeah—there’s Beyer Dynamic, and AKG, and Sony, and Audix, and Audio-Technica, and EV, and Sennheiser, and, and, and…HEY—you wanna be ROCK STAR?? Well, young man you need a Shure mic!!! Buy as many of those mics and you need for your recording studio; but the odds are that you will encounter the ubiquitous SM-56, -57, and -58. (BTW, “ubiquitous” means, “Everybody in the world has one!!!”) And there are lots of reasons why, and that’s why they are the standard. The SM-57 works on damn near everything--guitar, drums, horns, etc. If you record an electric guitar—shove a 57 in front of the speaker about 30 degrees off angle—done! If you are a singer, you better know how to use a 58. If you have four guys singing in the band and only one monitor buss—everybody should be using he same brand and model of mic to minimize feedback and phase cancellation. And the odds are, three of the four guys will have SM-58s. So don’t be that fourth guy. Go get a SM-58 for your vocals, and an SM-57 for your guitar and keep them in your kit—for the gigs where your XYZ mic won’t cut it. (And yes, I have pounded on something with a Shure microphone!)
26. RocknRoller Cart: Miss Leslie got me one of these for Christmas about eight years ago, and I have used the heck out of it! It virtually goes to every gig. See, I’m OLD; I’m FAT; and I’m a little bit broken from a car accident back in 1981 that still affects my upper back. I bought a lightweight tubular hand-truck many years ago, and that helped a lot. The hand-truck is really good, but the RocknRoller cart is better. I have the small one, and it folds up really compactly. (Be careful though, you can pinch your fingers if you’re not careful!) It weighs 15 pounds and can carry 350. It’s versatile—use it as a cart or as a hand-truck. It is so handy, you’re gonna wanna get those Marshall 412 cabs out of the back of the closet and start taking them to the gigs—‘cause the RocknRoller makes them really easy to move around. So save your back—get a RocknRoller cart!
27. A Great Guitar! Okay, a shameless plug for the people who sponsor the board. I really love my G&Ls. I play Legacy bodies, though I do have one lonesome ASAT Deluxe. As a vintage Strat player, the Legacy is the guitar I wished the Strat was. To me, the Legacy has the right combination of upgrades that address the weaknesses of the Strat. It has the upgraded features I want, without losing the flavor and essence of a vintage guitar. I love the quality! I love the finishes! I LOVE the VALUE!!! Trust me, when I hit it big and get to plug my new record on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno—I’ll have a Legacy-bodied G&L in my hands!!
What about you? What guitar will you be playing in your MTV video?
Okay, that’s the list for today. Thanks for the comments. I hope you’re getting some ideas from my list. I was out running around yesterday—I put 240 miles on the car—and I apologize for not commenting on your comments, but I did read them all. I will check in today—I always look forward to reading your comments. And the final part of the list will be ready for your viewing pleasure on Friday.
Have a good one!
Bill
