Breakfast / Lunch Report ---------> Tuesday October 11, 2011

This is the place where the Lunch Reports will be posted.
Michael-GnL-Michael
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Breakfast / Lunch Report ---------> Tuesday October 11, 2011

Post by Michael-GnL-Michael »

Happy Tuesday!

Not a lot of questions today but I am going to do an actual lunch report on what I did for lunch yesterday.

I did not eat lunch after all on Monday. Today I may have that Black Forest ham sandwich and chips. It is 2:30am here and I will need lots of coffee for breakfast with only 3 1/2 hours sleep for the day.


G&L:

I am shopping for another G&L. On Monday I spent my lunch comparing various necks with different shapes and woods.

Only based on my personal experience with 10 specific G&L guitars available to me I made the following observations:

> Birdseye necks are superior to standard hard rock maple fret boards and rosewood fret boards……………superior in the way they feel when the guitar is played.
> There is very little variance between rosewood necks regardless of radius and guitar type (Strat or Tele).
> Within the maple fret board group there is great variance.
> The difference between a 12", 9" and 7.5" neck radius is negligible to me.
> Out of 10 guitars including various ASATs, Legacys and S-500s, the Korina was the heaviest of this group.
> There is a noticeable variance in depth within the "C" shape. (front to back)
> The length of the neck can seem to vary within the ASAT family depending on detectible variances in neck characteristics, meaning a combination of shape, depth, radius, wood, fretting. This must be an illusion but some necks do appear to be longer than others and also feel longer.
> There have been two basic sets or images for the Korina line. The sets are distinguished by the color. One set is greenish and cool while the other is warm leaning towards the orange-ish browns. I was surprised to see that they are actually closer to the greenish tint, beautiful none the less. This one I saw was not the warmer tint like the images on the G&L website.
> ASATs are proportionally smaller than they appear in images compared to Legacys.
> I had a chance to examine the new serial number plates in person and unless the guitar is a 10 I would not buy a guitar with one.

#1. Running through this list what do you think? Do you have differing or similar experiences and opinions?


Non G&L:

In my quest for another guitar I have considered buying used but have been reconsidering new and even ordering custom. When you can only have a small number they need to really count. My number is 2. I could get exactly what I want for a few extra dollars. That has also lead me to consider something like a used PRS Johnny Hiland. I have not played one but I thought it might be something between a Les Paul and something made by G&L. The problem with the PRS is that even used they are more than a new G&L and the affordable PRS are typically player guitars with wear and tear.


Close Encounters:

I listened to a wide variety of music growing up. I enjoyed some of what my parents listened to like Glen Campbell, Paul Mauriat, Andy Williams and The Baja Marimba Band. My oldest sister introduced me to The Beatles and Rolling Stones. At one point she belonged to a TV Guide record club and got a hold of a Grand Funk Railroad album. It was listening to their music that inspired me to play guitar, not that the guitarist/vocalist Mark Farner was that great on lead guitar. It was the music and his vocals I listened for. At that time I did not know good from bad guitar playing and I just liked the music and chose the guitar as an instrument. I was a huge fan up until they began catering to the teeny bopper crowd.

The music industry and the public's taste in music shifted and many bands had to downgrade the venues they played. One benefit was that you could catch a good band in a smaller setting and get much closer than ever before. I was able to see (a pre-mullet) Mark Farner perform with a solo band in a bar. After growing up listening to the music and only seeing the pictures on the albums it was surreal when I reached out and he high fiver me in the crowd years later.

I was in a Target store one Sunday morning and ex-49er quarterback Joe Montana came running in to grab some items and run out as fast as he possibly could without actually being a "shopper" or being noticed by shoppers.

Another time I won tickets to see Peter Frampton at a small club. I was in line to get in and a couple of girls swooned at the person behind me. I turned around and standing in line behind me was Eddie Money. I ran into him a couple of times around the club during the night. He had an umbrella and kept doing a sort of Charlie Chaplin-Inspector Clouseau routine. I never spoke with him. I just thought he seemed approachable and down to Earth being as famous.

My uncle was a professional drummer. He was a real showman on stage. His band released a single that received a little airplay. The band settled in Las Vegas as a casino act. He ended up marrying a woman who used to date Elvis Presley. She had a few stories to tell. **

These are my closest encounters with famous people.

#2. Have you ever had any close encounters with famous people?

I had a couple of ducks as pets when I was in junior high school. At the time I also had a sheltie aka Shetland Sheepdog. The dog liked to herd the ducks like sheep.**

In this video of the Johnny Carson Show Buddy Hackett tells several jokes. The last one involves a farmer and a duck.

[youtube]KZjNXq1U5Os[/youtube]


The Farmer and the Duck featuring Chris Thile of Nickle Creek on Mandoleo and Edgar Meyer on Celleo.

[youtube]DKMvgtat4Eg[/youtube]


Looks like G&L may be trying to expand their market*:

Image


Thanks again to everyone who read all the way through to this sentence.

Have a great Day!





*made up ad
**edited to add to duck context and to remove details I did not want to be Googleable forever.
Last edited by Michael-GnL-Michael on Thu Oct 13, 2011 9:20 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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guitar_ed
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Re: Breakfast / Lunch Report ----------> Tueday October 11,

Post by guitar_ed »

Hi,

Close encounters

Musically, not many. A guitar player friend of mine introduced me to Dave Shogren and Tiran Porter, both bass players for the Doobie Brothers.

In another life, I spent 20 years heavily involved in car racing, working for the Sports Car Club of America. Through that, I met most of the important drivers from the early 1970's through the early 1990's. Indy champs, F1 champs, NASCAR champs, Le Mans winners. Many before, some after, they were famous. Fangio, Stewart, Newman, Andretti, Foyt, Petty, Earnhardt (Sr.). Diana Ross.

None of these people would know me if I bit them on their butt. In fact, I am sure they would all call the police on me.

I met Steve Wozniak in my store. He's a cool guy.

I have had many other near encounters, along the line of somebody asking me "Hey did you see" so & so? Who was just here? And me saying, "huh?"

Later,

edg
Piss off a politician, register to vote.
sickbutnottired
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Re: Breakfast / Lunch Report ----------> Tueday October 11,

Post by sickbutnottired »

Close encounters- I ran into one of my favorites, Buddy Guy in the lobby of the Marriott in Portland during the Waterfront blues festival this summer. He was waiting to check in--and the staff seemed to be ignoring him. I couldn't think of anything to say, so I said "hi, looking forward to your set tonight." He said, "i hope we don't disappoint." He has a million dollar smile, and seems genuinely kind. But it's probably hard to make too much of a judgement from a 2 second conversation.

It was kinda fun. jg
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Philby
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Re: Breakfast / Lunch Report ----------> Tueday October 11,

Post by Philby »

Hi Michael,

Lunch today will be a wholegrain salami sandwich consumed while I take a lunchtime stroll. That's if the rain lifts by then.....

G&L Question: I can't really argue with much of that list as I've never had the chance to try 10 G&L's in close succession. I'm pretty picky about the fretboard radius and much prefer the 9" and 7.5" boards. I would also agree about the rosewood boards feeling more consistent than the maple boards. I've never played a light G&L. Maybe they send the heavy ones to Australia. I played Blarg's semi-hollow Bluesboy and strike me down if it wasn't heavier than most solid bodies. I don't understand how a chambered guitar can be THAT heavy.

Close Encounters: I rounded the corner at Melbourne airport in a hurry to catch a flight and ran smack into the belt buckle of a Very Tall Dude. On looking up it turned out to be Peter Garrett, lead singer from Midnight Oil and now Federal politician. He's a fearsome looking guy but also very approachable. Airports are great places to spot celebrities. Last time I was there I walked past Julia Gillard, Australian PM, talking on a mobile phone in the middle of a car park. :yawn: I don't know where her security was? Barack Obama wouldn't be allowed to do that.

My wife and I spent some time in London as tourists a few years ago. In a single week I found myself in the same clothing shop as Noel Gallagher (Oasis) in Chelsea, and then standing next to Andie MacDowell and her daughter at a church service in St Paul's cathedral. I didn't even recognise Andie MacDowell but my wife kept nudging me and made me notice. I'm not very good at recognising famous models/actresses as (a) they usually have sunglasses on and (b) they have a kind of generic look that makes them blend into the background.

P.S. Why don't you wait to try out an Ascari if you're in the PRS type of market, Michael? I'll bet they're a great guitar.
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Aussie
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Re: Breakfast / Lunch Report ----------> Tueday October 11,

Post by Aussie »

Hi Michael ...good to se you up this week.
Apologies to you and Bill last week for lack of recent participation. After a busy period at work I took a few days off and headed South for some chill time.

G&L: Running through this list what do you think? Only ever seen two G&Ls up close and personal so can't comment really. Interesting observations though.

Non G&L Close Encounters. Having been fairly active in and around the business for a l-o-n-g time I've been fortunate to have crossed paths with a good number of local, national and international folk who have achieved levels of fame/notoriety far greater than I ever will. Most have been pretty cool, some I could easily have come to call friends if they had been around for longer, but just like broader society there have been a few tools along with the good ones. Had a guitar legend knock on my door one weekend wanting to talk to local residents about something that was very important to him. Back in the 70s I had the good fotune to play in the band pit for a play that ran for a couple of months and I got to know the lead actress who came over from the East coast quite well. She's gone on to a long and sucessful tv and stage career but I still get to catch up with her whenever she makes it over to WA.

Non G&L: Shelties (aka Shetland Sheepdog aka Miniature Collie). My parents had a male Sheltie in the 70's and we had a female in the 80's/90's. Wonderful dogs and yes, they will try and herd anything ... including young children.

Non G&L: Mandaleo and Celleo. Been anticipating these two new models for a while now but could have sworn that the promotional material said thay were being based on 30 year old and not 300 year old blueprints. I was however disappointed to see that they don't come with a saddlelock or DFV bri.... (Just kidding ... I'm actually hoping to get a good look at an Ascari at some point as I could easily have a use for one if it comes close to what I'm thinkihng).

cheers, Robbie.
"Knowledge Speaks, Wisdom Listens" - Jimi Hendrix
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blargfromouterspace
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Re: Breakfast / Lunch Report ----------> Tueday October 11,

Post by blargfromouterspace »

Close Encounters - I once walked past Tom Cruises girlfriend/wife (her name escapes me) as she was jogging through a park. I saw Nick Cave on Smith St once, and worked on his bass players house for a number of weeks when I was in W.A. Also saw Tex Perkins at the Airport. All three of these people were much taller than I had expected.

Thanks for that Buddy Hackett clip, he's a true comic genius.
-Jamie
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darwinohm
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Re: Breakfast / Lunch Report ----------> Tueday October 11,

Post by darwinohm »

Michael, first chance to respond to yesterdays report.


> Birdseye necks are superior to standard hard rock maple fret boards and rosewood fret boards……………superior in the way they feel when the guitar is played.
I like birdseye and have never had a problem.

> There is very little variance between rosewood necks regardless of radius and guitar type (Strat or Tele).
> Within the maple fret board group there is great variance.
I have found my experience to be quite different. The all maple necks that I have are the most stable and rosewood fretboards on the average need more truss adjustment. Maybe you are referring to the feel.

> The difference between a 12", 9" and 7.5" neck radius is negligible to me.
I do not find a big difference and like all of them. I do notice the different feel of vintage frets.

> Out of 10 guitars including various ASATs, Legacys and S-500s, the Korina was the heaviest of this group.
I find that the type of wood doesn't always determine the weight. There are light and heavy bodies in all the woods. One of my heaviest was an Alder Bluesboy. I have a 2010 Legacy with a Swamo Ash body that is also heavy.

> There is a noticeable variance in depth within the "C" shape. (front to back)
A while back I measured the necks of 10 G&Ls that I have. I could have sworn that there were different necks in the bunch. It turns out that they all measured about the same but I couldn't measure the profile.

> The length of the neck can seem to vary within the ASAT family depending on detectible variances in neck characteristics, meaning a combination of shape, depth, radius, wood, fretting. This must be an illusion but some necks do appear to be longer than others and also feel longer.
They are all 25.5 inch scale but the headstock length will vary by model. The F-100 return is longer than the Legacys or Asats and also require a different length case.

> There have been two basic sets or images for the Korina line. The sets are distinguished by the color. One set is greenish and cool while the other is warm leaning towards the orange-ish browns. I was surprised to see that they are actually closer to the greenish tint, beautiful none the less. This one I saw was not the warmer tint like the images on the G&L website.
I suspect that is a photo problem but expect that the color can vary from guitar to guitar.

> ASATs are proportionally smaller than they appear in images compared to Legacys.
I thought that was addressed in an earlier post. Possibly to do with aspect ratio.

> I had a chance to examine the new serial number plates in person and unless the guitar is a 10 I would not buy a guitar with one.
I said the same thing and I now own two with the plate. There has been a lot of discussion about this on the forum. I still do not like them and would much prefer the water slide but in the end it was not a show stopper but close.

You mentioned a PRS Johnny Hiland. I have one and it is a spectacular guitar. The neck is a bit wider at the nut and I have the thin neck. The tonal quality of this guitar is very nice and I do use it sometimes for gigging. The only negative for me is the location of the volume knob. I sometimes hit it while playing. I had to adjust a bit for that. They are quite expensive and used ones are not easy to find especially if you are looking for a "10" top.

I like to buy used guitars but of the 13 G&Ls that I own, 5 are new and only because they are limited/ hard to find models.

Have a great day. -- Darwin :thumbup:
Michael-GnL-Michael
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Re: Breakfast / Lunch Report ---------> Tuesday October 11,

Post by Michael-GnL-Michael »

guitar_ed,

I had a friend in high school who knew Tiran Porter.

Mentioning Steve Wozniak jogged my memory. I also met a local newscaster. Name? Funny thing was he appeared conservative on camera but sported a pierced nose ring when "off duty."

__________


sickbutnottired,

"Looking forward to your set tonight" is about the best thing to say short of something clever and witty that only someone who made a living being clever and witty would think of.

___________


Philby,

Funny about that hollow body being so heavy.

There were a couple semi-hollow bodied guitars, in fact the best feeling guitar in the group was a hollow-body in addition to being the most expensive. There was another hollow-body but this third one did not have an f-hole like the others. The body was lighter than the neck. The neck on that guitar was unplayable to me as well. Made me very concerned about buying without the ability to handle the guitar beforehand.

Peter Garret definitely has a villain out of Mad Max look. The airport local reminded me of another encounter I had with Linda Evans of Big Valley, Dynasty and Yanni fame.

The Ascari? not yet at least.

__________


Aissie,


"disappointed to see that they don't come with a saddlelock or DFV rbi…."

MFDs… haha

__________


blargfromouterspace,

Nicole Kidman? Considering her introduction in the USA as just another girl interest in a T Cruise film, she is an astounding actress. She becomes different people when so many just act.

___________


darwinohm,

Yes the feel of the neck including both playability and sense of consistent form.

I played 5-6? rosewood fretboards and they were all very close to one another including a Tribute. The maple fretboard group included the best, 2nd best, 3rd best and one that was unplayable, thus the top three and the one at the very bottom of the list.

The weight was just an observation and all of this is limited to this specific group of guitars. Another group might very well produce completely different impressions.

The ASAT proportion I was referring to was not regarding one particular image that could have been distorted. I entered the store with a preconceived idea of an ASAT. I had not played one and had ignored and avoided them previously. Upon my first careful examination of them I noticed they were smaller than I had thought. I expected them to be larger based on the impression I gathered from images and disinterested glances made in the past.

Just going by what I observed in the wood I suspect all of the Korinas are going to be greenish in tint with a clear / natural finish.

I am going to make a point of tracking a Johnny Hiland down so I can handle it in person. I might like it so much I will find it worth either the expense of one in decent condition or the expense and compromise of one that has wear and tear. I will never be able to play as fluently on a Strat or Tele style guitar as I did on a Les Paul. Something in between would be fantastic to have around.




Very sorry if I missed anyone!

Thanks to all who stopped by,

Michael