Lunch Report for Friday, Augus t12th 2011

[y2kc]

Friday is here and for many it is the start to a relaxing weekend. For others it is just another day in the quest to just get by. Being a small bussiness owner, it is just another day.
I work seven days a week most of the time but I do love it. The work is tough and not getting easier but I am driven by challenge and that is what keeps me going. I also knew that my kids had some special needs (medical) and I could not let them do without.

They say that if you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life. There is a slight flaw in that thinking because when you love a job that is 100% physical labor, you work your ass off. I am very fortunate to have this skill and rest easily knowing that it will not be outsourced to another country.

If I could pick anther line of work to do it would be in Kalamazoo Michigan working at the Heritage Guitar Factory at 225 Parsons St. I went ther last Friday and talked to the owners and toured this legendary facility. For those that don't know, 225 Parsons st. is where every cool Gibson was made. Eric Clapton,B.B. King, Jeff Beck,Peter Green, Duane Allman an even Lester himself played Parson St made creations.

At lunch , one of the owners, Marv Lamb, told me he left a cotton plantation in Alabama when he was 15 and moved with his family north to Michigan. His father quickly found work at Gibson and Marv joined him there the next year. Marv is now 72 years old and is still making these awesome guitars. He has recently been building custom ordered H-357's which are a Firebird. These are all built, like all Heritages, one at a time. These guitars are mindbogglingly nice.

There are no CNC machines just the old saws and other machines that were built for gibson decades ago. This work is basically what I do everyday. Cutting, sanding, gluing and finishing wood. This is a small company in a very depressed part of our country and somehow it looked like heaven to me. Real people doing what they love. I was really cool watching them working necks with scrapers and sandpaper so the fit so very nicely into those beautiful mahogany and maple bodies.

Question: If you could choose another career that you could do for the rest of your life, what would it be? For me it would be something wood related or plant related.

G&L Question: What it the most messed up G&L you have ever seen?

I once was out and about looking at G&L's when I saw an old f-100 hanging on the wall with nickles glued all over the body. Yes it had coins glued all over it. The salesman acted like this was not that weird and continued to try and sell me the guitar.

Next week's Lunch Reporter is Jonc. He has agreed to spend five days with us next week telling us his take on G&L guitars and life in general. Thanks Jonc.

Thanks for putting up my lame Lunch Reports this week. I am no Emmitt,Jjay or Gabe but those are really big shoes to fill and Im not going to even try. Gabe ,we miss you brother.

Take care and stay out of trouble,

y2kc

[Kit]

I am envious that you get to visit the Heritage plant and meet the craftsmen there. I found out about Heritage probably around 15 years ago. I remember seeing and gingerly playing an H535 with a curly maple top in clear finish one time in a small shop. It was way more money than I have to spend though. Luckily a few years ago I found one listed on my local Craigslist and did not hesitate to buy it after seeing it and playing it. In fact I played it last night.



I consider myself very lucky to have worked in the same profession for over 35 years and mostly enjoyed the work. I would be hard pushed to switch to a different line of work. But if I have to, I think I can make a good teacher. I am capable of explaining something such that it is understandable, and I can see the result in my children. The only downside is that we pay our teachers miserably and I can never get the financial security that my chosen profession has afforded me.

Kit

[bassman]

If i was to retire and do what I really want, I would love to play bass and just work on instruments.

I am not a great repairman wood wise and I have a lot to learn and I would love to spend the time to learn it. I have several bass and guitar projects underway and i enjoy everyone one of them.

The only guitar factory that I have been able to visit is the original PRS factory that my wife and I dropped in on back in the late eighties.

We received an impromptu tour of the place and I was most fascinated by their panto-graph carving machine to do the tops of the guitars.

I am sure that the Heritage factory is a great tour also.

[sirmyghin]

Sounds like a sweet tour, Heritage makes Gibson style guitars as they should be. Although I don't see no CNC as an upside, for consistancy reasons anyway, as long as the work is done well on either side you get a great guitar.

I haven't seen many G&Ls at all, my experience is the store I bought mine at, I don't know another who even owns one. Lots of PRS, Fender, Gibbos, but no G&Ls naturally. Not in person anyway. I let folks play mine if they are curious though, generally speaking people who play my instruments are pleased, having them all well set up helps a lot there though.

[GDub]

Hey there y2kc, sorry I haven't participated until now but I infrequently check in these days so...

"Heritage"--Oh Yeah! Since I bought it, my fave electric has been my H-137. Just played three sets with at a fair gig on Tuesday. I LOVE my TV Yellow P-90 beast.

Here's a pic I snagged from the Wolfe Guitars site just before I bought #14 (the 1st in TV yellow!):



FTR, they dialed back the yellow in subsequent TV yellow versions, but I VERY happy that mine is the color that it is. Great guitar!!

--GDub

[willross]

If I could do anything else? I'd desperately be trying to do what I've done before. No changes here...

Besides seeing that ASAT w/ the rough neck, all is well. Maybe a thinner coat...


Cheers,

Will

BTW, love that TV Yellow! I'd prefer a darker one too if there were a choice.

[stagecoach]

The nickles on the guitar could be someone trying to copy Dale Watsons Tompkins guitar. I believe the story goes like this - He was in Europe just before the Euro cam in and had all this change that was worth $0, so he decided to stick it on his guitar and it grew from there.



As I have said before I don't get to see any G&L guitars, but I think those people Tim posted about should be shot . Destroying great guitars like that

What would I like to do if I could change jobs. How about working in a music store. Thought that could always have been on the cards. Having people come in to buy guitars and steel those licks and in the down time practice more.

[zapcosongs]

Kit: Stunning Heritage!

gw: The color of yours is PERFECT. Just rock it!

Regarding alternative careers, great question. I've often wanted to be a farmer, a chef, or to teach Political Science to college punks or basic legal principals to MBA candidates. Also, I've always been interested in meteorology (for you drummers out there, that's the weather;+). I'm a modest guy, but I often do better in accurately predicting winter storms in particular than the folks that get paid to do this stuff.

Great week, Casey. That tour and lunch that you had is something to tell your grandchildren about. Thanks. - ed

[blargfromouterspace]

I'd love to get my hands on a Heritage guitar. That Black Beauty posted in the guitar porn section is something else.

I've had a whole bunch of jobs in the past but have given them all up for varying reasons. Ideally I'd love to get paid enough to make a living playing guitar in bar bands but that's not going to happen here. I'm currently studying to be an electrical engineer so I guess that'll do. As long as it's a 9 to 5 thing, leaving me enough time for music.

[sam]

Another career?
Open the cycling / hiking shop (focus on road bikes) that I bailed on out of college. Would have a small stage in a the corner of the shop for solo or small band performances and house G&L guitars!

Messed up G&L?
Not really. Have seen a few that were obviously misstreated, but none with nickles or other atrocities.

Great week Casey! My only complaint is now you are followed by jonc, another smart guitar player that will only make me wish I could pay tuition and be a student again.

TGIF!

[yowhatsshakin]

Howdy Casey,

I still wish I would have been able to make a career as a physicist in academia, nuclear physicist to be be specific, but alas. Second options was always to be a professional guitar player, at least in my dreams. But don't worry. I ended uo just fine and dandy as a software developer with a coterie of young developers around me.

G&L Question: What it the most messed up G&L you have ever seen?

Love Tim's answer. Haven't had too much experience with messed up G&L's but I think this 'George Fullerton' ASAT[sic] is pretty messed up.

- Jos

[Boogie Bill]

Sorry, I didn't have as much time to participate this week, as I was busy getting ready for a couple of corporate parties that my band played at on Thursday and Friday. It went REALLY well, except for a few glitches with the PA and a bad footswitch cable for my Mark IV. AND, it looks like we're going to get at least a couple of future gigs from happy party animals--very satisfying. The event's were outdoor; and even though we don't have the killer heat that's affecting most of the country, it was still 80F. Took a lot out of me: I've got a little but of sunburn on my arms and face, thanks to a course of antibiotics I'm taking; and I'm feeling sore and beat up from moving all the gear. I'm getting to old to rock and roll. And I can't wait to do it again!!!!


Well, any S-500 or Comanche without its factory MFDs counts as messed up in my book. Seen a few G&Ls that were naturally reliced, but nothing too bizarre.

I've had ONE guy who thought the addition of a third pickup to one of my MM Sabre IIs was an abomination. (The pickup is a Sabre bridge pickup, and looks like a factory guitar.) Everyone else who has seen and played the guitar loves it. So, mods are always a tricky thing. I agonized over routing the Sabre, but I'm very glad I did that one. Mike Lull in Bellevue, Washington, did the work for me years ago; and like I said, it looks factory. Mike is a real PRO.

I like Heritage guitars, though I don't believe there's a dealer in my area. I like their 535 and 555 (and their jazz boxes) better that their LP models. They really are a great value, like G&L. A Legacy is Number One for me, but I do love my Gibson Les Pauls and my 335. A few years ago, I had some negative experiences with a few used Heritage guitars. They copied Gibson TOO well--including even the finish flaws!! LOL! But, the new guitars seem to be much better and more consistent.

(So maybe it's a good thing I DON'T have a dealer close to me!!!!)

Great job Casey!

Bill