Lunch Report for Wednesday July 13th

[sirmyghin]

Haven't eaten much today, looks like lunch might be a leftover steak quesadilla when I get around to making it. For now it is the coffe in the press. I am a bit of a coffee nut, so a press is par for the course.

G&L as we know is an option shop, and by and large they have some very diverse wiring schematics. However, there are guys like me out there, where every one of those wiring plans is missing a little something. Be it a phase switch, the 4 way switch, maybe something a little more wild like master series on a 5 way switch between the neck and bridge. I think it would be an awesome idea if G&L offered a few wiring options. Some platforms, particularly the ones with control plates or pickguards are very conducive to alteration or mods. This just seems to be the one spot missing, while I love the outcome of mods I would prefer if I could pay someone to do it for me, so I can shut up and play my guitar. What is your take?


Cover songs, they are interesting beasts, and lately I have been into one in particular. I don't care much for people playing anothers song, that is not enough for me. It needs to be taken, twisted, and re-envisioned. Judas Priest did this quite well in their day, my favourite being Diamonds and Rust with particular mention to the guitar harmonies backing the vocals mid song.

[youtube]vLDazyvMMGw[/youtube]

Speaking of Judas Priest, they are currently on their farewell tour, and KK quit right before (stand up chap there). I have tickets to see them Nov.22 in Toronto. Anyone else seeing this show? Yes I realize they may be a bit over their prime, but all accounts I have heard is aside from a few high notes not quite there they still have it and it is a great show. I have never seen them before, so this is pretty much the last chance, being their final world tour (they may do some small ones in the future but this is the last big one they claim). It will be cool to see the fathers of metal as we know it, not to mention I dig the tone, my ASAT special can nail Judas Priest tones.

Back to cover songs, another gem.

[youtube]b5pY-_e8znE[/youtube]


Enjoy the day,
Kyle

[Ledergeist]

Lunch tonight - yea, I'm 2nd shift- will be our shop's annual summer cookout, Yummmmm. Burgers, Brats, etc... with the usual trimmings. It's not exactly my dream gig, but at least a few times a year they toss us a bone and feed us.

Judas Priest - While not a rabid fan, I've always liked them. Saw them early on opening for UFO, must have been around 78-79. Halford coming out on a Harley was a sure way to please a Milwaukee crowd.
I'm wary of 'farewell' tours, and at least they admit they'll likely continue, but I wouldn't mind catching them again.....

Stay Tuned
BW

[yowhatsshakin]

Howdy Kyle,

Thanks for picking up the slack today. For lunch it'll be a grilled cheese sandwich and OJ. No, not the jailbird silly!

It would indeed be cool if G&L would offer some pre-fab wire harnesses but I can also see the logistic nightmare that would give the factory. Which are popular, which not? The 4-way switch has come up many times on this forum and that would be a great addition to the factory line up. And some models lend themselves more for these modification than others. Guess it is a delicate balance between 'traditionalists' and 'tinkerers'.

Cover songs, they are interesting beasts, ...

Yes they are! And some are better than the original. Or at least, as Kyle points out, they show the song in a completely different light and become standards in and by themselves. Ones that comes to mind right away for me are Vanilla Fudge's version of the Supreme's 'Keep Me Hanging On', Joe Cocker's version of 'With A Little Help From My Friends" by the Fab Four, an Jimi Hendrix' version of Bob Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower". BTW, is it a coincidence that all these songs are from the 60's? Not sure. There are some very well made covers nowadays but nothing springs really to mind. I heard a couple of tracks of a Buddy Holly tribute recently released, amongst them a Paul McCartney version of 'It's So Easy", but I wasn't all too impressed there. Oh, here's a modern one, Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' has been done by about everybody (see link). And how could I ever dismiss/leave out/forget Johnny Cash's version of Nine Inch Nails' 'Hurt'.

On 'Farewell Tours': to demonstrate what a marketing gimmick such a label is, I always mention that I saw Tina Turner's first 'Farewell Tour' in 1985. Her 'Private Dancer Tour' that year through Europe was actively marketed as such. There have been several Farewell Tours that followed. The Stones also have been able to create publicity since the early '80's by at least never denying that whatever tour they were on might be their last. Oh well ...

- Jos

[darwinohm]

Sirmy, thanks for LR'ing today. Had a sandwich. I have been wimping around today. I mowed the grass yesterday and probably shouldn't have.

I have only made a wiring change to a couple of vintage Teles and vintage Strats from 3 way to 5 way. I did add a push pull pot to my MM John Petrucci to give it more flexibility. Not many people change the original configs and I suspect that most who do are like the people on this forum who really get into things.

The Eagles are still having farewell concerts. The reason makes no difference to me, I just love live concerts, especially the ones available on DVD. -- Darwin

[jonc]

My choice for one of the most um "fill in the blank" cover songs:

[youtube]NN3MGN899yE[/youtube]

[sirmyghin]

Cover songs, they are interesting beasts, ...

Yes they are! And some are better than the original. Or at least, as Kyle points out, they show the song in a completely different light and become standards in and by themselves. Ones that comes to mind right away for me are Vanilla Fudge's version of the Supreme's 'Keep Me Hanging On', Joe Cocker's version of 'With A Little Help From My Friends" by the Fab Four, an Jimi Hendrix' version of Bob Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower". BTW, is it a coincidence that all these songs are from the 60's? Not sure. There are some very well made covers nowadays but nothing springs really to mind. I heard a couple of tracks of a Buddy Holly tribute recently released, amongst them a Paul McCartney version of 'It's So Easy", but I wasn't all too impressed there. Oh, here's a modern one, Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' has been done by about everybody (see link). And how could I ever dismiss/leave out/forget Johnny Cash's version of Nine Inch Nails' 'Hurt'.

Hurt was indeed a spectacular cover, the 3 piece band Ned Evett plays with also did a cover of Hallelujah live when he opened for satriani, mostly kept to but with a good solo and some great vox from ned.

On 'Farewell Tours': to demonstrate what a marketing gimmick such a label is, I always mention that I saw Tina Turner's first 'Farewell Tour' in 1985. Her 'Private Dancer Tour' that year through Europe was actively marketed as such. There have been several Farewell Tours that followed. The Stones also have been able to create publicity since the early '80's by at least never denying that whatever tour they were on might be their last. Oh well ...

- Jos

Aye, I know the game, but as long as the band hasn't given up the ghost prior (see the scorpions ) I am willing to give them a fair shot as I love live shows. Guys like me are a bit young to have caught Priest much earlier than now, coming from relatively remote regions. I made a 10 hour greyhound trip, 1 way, to see Rush's 30th anniversary shortly after my 18th birthday to put it into perspective, and met some folks there who sold me tickets as another couple couldn't make it. Quite the adventure for a small town guy at the time. Nowadays as I am much closer to Toronto (no longer that dreaded ride, 45 minutes on a bus now) I try to hit up any concert I can. We have a few on the block this year, waiting on Dream Theaters announcements, as well as probably seeing Iron and Wine in october. I would like if Vai toured later this year as I have still not seen him either. I am a big fan of his melodies and playing, very few players out there are that expressive and connected to their instruments.



Jonc- that certainly is WTH, reminds me Leonard Nimov did some equally terrible music.

[repoman]

Lunch today was a fresh tomato from the garden with crackers and cheese and some fruit-n-yogurt for dessert. But I'm still hungry.

Custom Wiring - I think a couple of expanded wiring options would be a good thing.
I've heard so many people rave about the 4 way switch on an ASAT I guess I should probably look into it myself someday.


Cover Songs - I loves me a good cover. But like you, I want a band to mold the song and remake it to their sound. I had never heard that Diamonds and Rust cover before. That was nice. A couple of my favs are the Revolting Cocks cover of Do You Think I'm Sexy and The Cures cover of Purple Haze. I admit I was a bit skeptical when I saw The Cure was doing Purple Haze on a Hendrix tribute record. But I think they redid the song in such a fashion that it became their song. Didn't Shatner put out a whole record of (dubious) covers? Time to search the interweb.

Farewell Tours - Haven't The Who done 2 or 3 farewell tours?

jeff

[suave eddie]

Ok....bizarre cover songs. I was tempted to post Shatner's version of Lucy in the Sky, which may be even more over the top than Rocket Man.

Here a couple of unusual covers.
First off is Ozzie with Dweezil Zappa going disco.

[youtube]Ye1e32J98Fs[/youtube]

And another with Ahmet and Dweezil doing Britney

[youtube]eQgqisUJu3M[/youtube]

[emieboo]

It's amazing how many times you can eat at McDonalds when your taking your daughter around during the summer.

Referring to the Dweezil Z. Covers. The Britney Spears song ain't a bad cover if you ignore the lyrics. However, the only palatable version of Disco that has ever not sucked, is when the Dead pulled it off on a whole album.

In the sixties, I think everybody did everybody elses songs on just about every album. I don't think I have ever seen an album from the sixties that didn't have at least one cover on except for a couple of Dylan albums after he started getting famous as a songwriter. Yes, I am exagerating, but there were an awful lot of covers back then.
I guess it's because everybody started in a garage band trying to play what they heard on the radio while learning these new-fangled instruments that were still a novelty for most.

Weirdest cover? Gotta be Yes doing Simon and Garfunkel's "America".(and pretty darn good.)

[Philby]

Hi Sirmy.

My favourite cover is Twist and Shout by The Beatles. The way John Lennon shreds his larynx makes you believe he wrote that song himself and he's singing it for the first time. Often the original version of a song misses the mark and it takes a reinterpretation (radical or not) to do it justice.

One of my favourite recent covers is this take on an old tune from the 80's by an Aussie band called Youth Group. Recorded in 1 take like Twist and Shout apparently.

[youtube]rQi8wEHMm5Y[/youtube]

Re. the wiring options, I'm with you there. But I can see how the options would have to be limited in the interests of keeping the workflows simple in the factory. What I WOULD like to see are some additional shielding options to make the pickups as noiseless as possible i.e. some shielding paint in the cavities, star ground wiring and Al foil or copper tape on the pickguard.

I remember watching the Crowded House farewell show live on the steps of the Sydney Opera House and buying the farewell video and CD. They've done at least 2 more albums since then! Not that I'm complaining. I love The House.

[blargfromouterspace]

Lunch time is still a couple of hours away here, but today its a left over baked sweet potato which I'll drown in butter and cinnamon and some lamb skewer/kebabs.

Wiring options: Nice idea. These mods are pretty easy to carry out, and cheap too, if you know how to do them. It could be a nice money spinner for G&L as an optional extra/upcharge.

Cover versions: I'm all for cover songs. Ever notice that it's a term used solely in pop/rock music? When was the last time you saw a conductor stand up and say 'We're gonna cover of an old Bach tune"??? And did anyone in the audience mutter to their companion that this particular orchestra are no good because all they do is cover the same stuff orchestras have been playing for 400 years? Probably not. Same goes in jazz. And traditional folk music. As Jos has pointed out there are several cover versions of songs that are far better than the originals - so many songs that the general public know as songs by a particular artist are written by other people - the songwriter they employ! Why doesn't the songwriter do it? Because they don't have the voice/personality/x-factor to make the most money/impact with it. IMO, covers aren't something to be looked down upon. Yes, there are a lot of cover bands out there giving covers a bad name but you can't let that be that the benchmark by which all covers are judged.


I love that version of Diamonds and Rust. Judas Priest do a great 'Green Manalishi' (a Fleetwood Mac song) too.

I'm fond of Elvis' version of Polk Salad Annie. Originally by Tony Joe White who sounds more like Elvis than Elvis does. I like the spectacle of this performance. Some killer drumming in this, as well as a very good example of acceptable wah pedal usage.

[youtube]FOzaVpgeHJg[/youtube]

[zapcosongs]

Wiring: If I have one pickup, a volume knob and a tone control, I have just as much as I can handle. Wiring options are of no interest to me whatsoever, but I'm a moron.

Covers: Probably due to my moronitude, I don't usually play anyone else's songs. Yep, I'm all original - which probably explains why I wank away year after year alone in my basement. Though I'm not a great Van Halen fan, one of my favorite covers is "You Really Got Me."
I remember the first time I heard this. It was "Senior Skip Day" when virtually my whole high school class showed up at a park instead of school to drink beer, play frisbee, drink beer, make out - whatever. Then the song like appears from nowhere on the radio of somebody's cheap old Plymouth. I thought YES!!! (coincidentally, we were all in and around the lake....) - ed

[gitman001]

Hey Ed, I'm with you on the wiring.... but just give me a bridge p/u and a single volume. The ultimate moron setup

I can't really bag on covers - playing in the cover band that i do has paid for the 3 new G&L's in the past 6 months. I'll keep playing them if the people keep dancing! I do have a special place in my heart for Cake's version of "I will survive" I never get sick of it (and it has a fantastic one note solo at the end - check it out if you have not heard it)

(still no sc-2 )

Scott
[youtube]cvsI3jc4pPA[/youtube]

[sirmyghin]

Lots of interesting covers come in, thanks for chiming in folks. As far as covers in the 60s being prominent, it seems to me that they were more willing to spin them then. Not trying to knock the cover band, but if you are a recording musician in an original project and you do a cover song you need to make it your own not play a note for note rendition. As far as cover bands, you are generally making money in them, doing the exact opposite of what I approve of, so who is going to argue. They are about the only type of small time bands that actually make money. You mean you can make money playing music? Unprecedent...