Lunch report: 2011-06-13 (Monday)

[Brock]

Hello all.

My name is Brock, and I am an MFDaholic. I own 3 G&Ls (first style SB-2, El Toro fretless, L-5000). I've been getting into 4 string guitars more in recent years (more on that later in the week), and most recently, I've been doing TV as a hobby.

Lunch:
Beef Sausage with mustard, Swiss cheese, and sauerkraut. I had some Brooke Bond Taj Mahal tea to go with that. I nice little lunch, I'd say.

Please mention your favorite teas.

G&L + Video:
I have two 15 minute shows on the web + Boise, Idaho public access. The flagship is called TV Cycle:
TV Cycle bicycle television

TV Cycle has a theme song. My budget is nothing, and I wanted an obnoxious theme song, so I hired myself for free. Here's the first episode, which explains things a bit and has the theme song of course. Not the best ride so far in the series, but it is a reasonably decent look around my area of the world.

[youtube]1nWRdoo-U5o[/youtube]

Question: Done any music for TV or movies? How about commercials?

So, I'm playing my L-5000 on the recording, but the video has my C.F. Martin EB-28 electric bass pictured. What?! I thought the Martin would look better (which I now question) so I used it.

Question: How much do pictures of yourself for musical purposes (like, say, album covers) sync up with what you are actually playing? Examples are fun if you have them.

The Martin does have MFD pickups in it. When I bought my first G&L (this exact 1984 SB-2 which I bought from Greg) the Martin was losing hard, so I had some split SB-1 MFDs dropped in, and the playing field was leveled. Thank you Leo Fender for creating the P-bass sized MFDs that drop right in. In at least part of the Leo-era, they were actively promoting replacement pickups:
http://www.guitarsbyleo.com/GALLERY2/ma ... temId=7313

Nowadays, some pickups can be bought online:
http://www.glguitars.com/shopping/shopd ... at=Pickups

Question: What G&L pickups have you bought separate from an instrument? What did you end up doing with them?

I may have to find some SB-2 bridge pickups to have a nice 4 string guitar made from at some point.

More tomorrow.

-Brock

[blargfromouterspace]

Hi Brock,

TV Cycle is a neat idea for a show. And well done on the obnoxious theme! It's strange watching cycling and not hearing the word 'pelaton' every minute or so. The law here requires us to wear protective headwear at all times when riding a bicycle. AFAIK we're the only country with that law. You get a fine if you don't wear one.

I like the MFD pickups but don't have them in any of my G&Ls at the moment.

[Philby]

I like the MFD pickups but don't have them in any of my G&Ls at the moment.

But it seems the ladies don't mind, judging from your avatar.

Hi Brock,

It's morning tea time here, so I'm looking forward to a home made pear and cinnamon muffin with a nice cup of milky Bushells tea. Bushells is a comfort tea for me, but I also enjoy most other types of tea. My current favourites are jasmine green tea and Twinings Prince of Wales or Orange Pekoe.

It's timely that you should mention the subject of cycling. I dusted off my 20 y.o. bike and went for a 10 km trundle through the Melbourne suburbs on the weekend. Haven't done that for years. It was good to feel that kind of motion again. As Jamie said, you have to wear a helmet or you'll cop a fine, so it's not quite the 'wind in your hair' experience it used to be. If you've seen the way Australian drivers treat cyclists you'd understand the need for a compulsory helmet rule. Mind you, I've seen some geared up 'serious' cyclists pull some crazy moves in traffic on their 2 ounce carbon fibre machines. I guess there's always an adrenaline junkie somewhere who needs to push the envelope.

I've still got MFD's in 2 of my 3 G&L's. I bought some Legacy pickups on-line to put in my S-500 and I like them much better than the stock MFD's.

[Boogie Bill]

My Seattle band did a couple of Public Access shows years ago. They turned out well and they showed them about a bajillion times--I would have people recognize me on the street from those shows.

Never done music for TV or for a commercial. I did do music for a local show on Seattle's ABC-affiliate years ago when I was in college--one of those talking-head shows they show at 7:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning. Learned a lot that day. (Hint: what you see on the box is not reality!)

I like tea, but like many Americans, I only really drink it when I'm sick! LOL! I like Earl Grey and English Breakfast, but I also have some Formosa Oolong and some silver-tip Assam around too.

I don't really have good pics of my current band, and we've not done any video. If you can get good audio, video is a great tool to sell your band to prospective music buyers.

I haven't bought any pickups from the G&L store--hey, all my G&L guitars have G&L pickups on them already!!! Yeaa!!!

I did buy a set of Legacy Special Gotoh Blades Pickups from DP member Maniac a few years ago. They are currently living in one of of my Legacys--an older 3-bolt, 3CSB, alder, RW model that had the Duncan SSL-2s. I love these pickups. I might sell that guitar, but I'd probably keep the pickups.

Bill

[darwinohm]

Brock, welcome as LR. I had way too much for lunch. Had lunch with the fellow I used to work with.

I had heard the theme to Cycle TV before but listened again and it is catchy. I watched the video and it is cool. You have to have good camera brackets and plastic is not durable when it gets cold. I giggled every time that you blew a stop sign although you stopped at a main intersection. Public TV here may not endorse that but it was great video of your area.

I have not filmed for TV or made commercials but media is important. The last decision I had to make on the two CDs that I have done recently was the artwork to go with the theme of the CD. My first was called "Instrumentals That I Remember (Kind Of)". I was old guitar instrumentals and I love guitars so here is the layout I used.

Cover and CD


Inside


Back



and the next CD was of our band which we called "Notables By The Senior Class"
We are all well over 65 and I used Cars from the 60's as the theme. Here it is.
Cover and CD


Inside


and back


No one else in the band had any ideas so I just did it and they liked it so I guess it worked. I think that the graphics and layout is almost as important as the music content.

MFD pickups are great, both the big and smaller. I only have one Legacy that has different pickup and it has Kinman Blues in it. I like them but have not giged with them. I will in July as we have three gigs so that will be the test.

I was not aware that Martin made a bass. I bet that it is a cool rig, especially after the mods. Keep the productions coming Brock!!!!!---- Darwin

[Brock]

I giggled every time that you blew a stop sign although you stopped at a main intersection. Public TV here may not endorse that but it was great video of your area.

Not stopping at stop signs is fully legal in Idaho on a bicycle. More about that here:
http://www.miabirk.com/blog/?p=825

That author disagrees with the stop light = stop sign section of Idaho bike law. I disagree with the disagreement.

I was not aware that Martin made a bass. I bet that it is a cool rig, especially after the mods. Keep the productions coming Brock!!!!!---- Darwin

Here's a Martin ad from the time:
http://web.archive.org/web/200701160124 ... may2-4.jpg

It's nice to know I'm not the only cover art junkie out there! I put a disproportionate amount of effort into the artwork than the recording. Then again, your recordings are FAR superior to mine, so your balance is more reasonable.

-Brock

[zapcosongs]

A certain traditional oolong that I cannot pronounce. - ed

PS: TV Cycle Rocks!!!

[Ahryn]

Now that is how you make a theme song, obnoxious catchy and I wouldn't mind hearing a different one for any theme episodes of TV CYCLE!

haven't done any work in the music industry but I appreciate those that do, in a day and age when any company could just use a 30 second riff from a classic rock song it is good to know that there are men and women out there still making a living out of filling silence and conveying an idea in a limited timespan.

the only musical pictures I really have right now is of my ASAT to prove its existence, might I say though Darwin your albums look really nice and sellable, you know how some albums that some people put out look like they were hastily made and have nothing really eye catching or anything to do with the band really.

haven't really bought any MFD pickups but considering the ones in my ASAT special deluxe sounds exactly the way I want and have searched for it would make sense that I would want them in everything else, I wonder if Leo was ever working on any MFD acoustic pickups....

[Aussie]

Done any music for TV or movies? How about commercials?

When I was around 16yo I co-wrote and played on a theme track for a Sunday morning radio show for teenagers that ran on the local ABC radio station. I worked on the show with my bass player mate who I've played with ever since and a couple of young ladies who have gone on to much bigger and better things in the music industry.

How much do pictures of yourself for musical purposes (like, say, album covers) sync up with what you are actually playing? Examples are fun if you have them.

Think I may have posted these before.

A Brief History ...
This is a collection of old tracks that i rediscovered only a few years back on a long lost cassette tape with some of my recordings from the '70's and early 80's. The guitar on the cover is one of mine but wouldn't have been used on anything on the cd
<

Older But No Wiser
Well I didn't look exactly like the cover (which was a rendition by our vocalist of our vocalist) but I did have a mowhawk for a time in the '70's ...


cheers, Robbie

[sirmyghin]

That is some right crazy law there Brock, I suppose they won't stop anyway (and most don't), so it will help driver expectations in a way.

No actual albums/tv/comercial from me, I am going to try and master a bunch of tracks for my Dad at some point as he would like to hear what I am up to but other than that nothing.

I would also like to get ahold of a SC-2 bridge pickup, it is supposed to be hotter than the ASAT special one, and I would be interested in trying it out again it. It is not available from their store however.

[Brock]

That is some right crazy law there Brock, I suppose they won't stop anyway (and most don't), so it will help driver expectations in a way.

It's not crazy, it's actually great because:
1. When you cycle, you look out for cars period, whether they're in the right or wrong.
2. It encourages cycling, which has lots of side benefits for the community (reduced congestion, road wear, smog, etc.)

I'm a huge fan of the Idaho laws, and it's no wonder other states want them. Go Idaho!

[bassman]

Nice ride on the bike. Is it legal to ride bikes on sidewalks in Idaho?

I like bicycling too. I will put my 3 speed Raleigh Sports up against your one-speed Schwinn any day.

I actually have a 1973 Schwinn World Tour 10- speed bike with a chrome-moly frame. It is a nice bike but I have to get the shift levers fixed.

You need a sense of competition for the next TV cycle show!


Insert bassman Nag:
You should wear a helmet!

Picturing the wrong bass: I am guilty of this due to a bass color! On the Capital Blues Ensemble CD, that I played on in 2009, I used my G&L L-2000 for the whole album but I am on the Album cover using my Lake Placid Blue Precision Special.

The idea was to feature the color Blue for a Blues band. Yea, real original, I know. LOL
http://capitalbluesensemble.com/CBE%20Album%20News.html

[Dave_P]

Hey Brock, good start! two of my favorite things tea and bicycles!

I'm a big fan of tea, grew up drinking Red Rose with milk and sugar but now I prefer just good ol' Tetley black tea with nothing added. I also enjoy many Asian teas oolong, white and green. Right now I have "Eastern Beauty" oolong and "Yin Zhen Silver needles" white tea lying around the house but I don't drink them as much in the summer.

Bicycles: I just started really riding about 3-4 years ago, got my first road bike fell in love and now it's a regular hobby. Did some long distance stuff MS150 (150 miles over two days), Ironman (112 miles ~7 hours) but mostly I stick to around 20-25 miles. I always go out with a helmet, not sure if it's the law or not but I feel a little safer. Although going down a hill at 30+mph, I'm not convinced the helmet would do much

[Brock]

Nice ride on the bike. Is it legal to ride bikes on sidewalks in Idaho?

I like bicycling too. I will put my 3 speed Raleigh Sports up against your one-speed Schwinn any day.

That's a good bet. I gear out the Schwinn often. I even run lower air pressure in the tires in hopes of having more resistance. I try to keep the body up for passenger loads.

Insert bassman Nag:
You should wear a helmet!

I do on rare occasion.

Picturing the wrong bass: I am guilty of this due to a bass color! On the Capital Blues Ensemble CD, that I played on in 2009, I used my G&L L-2000 for the whole album but I am on the Album cover using my Lake Placid Blue Precision Special.

The idea was to feature the color Blue for a Blues band. Yea, real original, I know. LOL

...another G&L gets overlooked come photo day! In hindsight, due to the video effect used on the bass in the intro, I almost certainly could have used the L-5000 for that part. If I ever re-shoot that, the L-5000 may see justice.

[Brock]

Hey Brock, good start! two of my favorite things tea and bicycles!

Hellz yeah!

Bicycles: I just started really riding about 3-4 years ago, got my first road bike fell in love and now it's a regular hobby.

I'm doing the opposite of normal in that my rides for the most part are getting heavier, not lighter. The Schwinn (my light bike) should be at a bit over 50 lbs currently. My friend Bob's bike broke down a couple days ago so I hauled him and his bike around on my pedicab. He has a Worksman Cycle Truck that has to be over 50 lbs and then he's probably around 200. So, add on myself and the pedicab, it was probably somewhere around 630 lbs rolling.